Master Mardoc then pulled himself back to the present as he began to explain, his hands already moving around the forging room, shifting tools from one place to another in preparation for the forging process, "You see, lad, we have two paths before us regarding how I can repair your sword."
"Two paths?"
"Yes, two paths," confirmed Mardoc, just as he placed a steel-like tong near the forge. "The first is to repair your sword in a 'classic' sense, and by the end, the result would be 80–90% similar to your current one in terms of strength, durability, sharpness, and more, with the sword spirit being entirely preserved. This would be the free 'offer'. The other…"
Scrrrch.
A screeching sound resounded as Master Mardoc momentarily stopped speaking to use an obsidian rod covered in runic inscriptions to stir and mix some kind of black, iron-tinted sand in a large, nearly human-sized basin.
The sand seemed to swirl unnaturally around the rod in a display that defied all laws of physics, continuing this motion for a short while before he placed the obsidian rod back down and resumed speaking,
"The second would be to nearly entirely reforge your sword, you see while the craftsmanship of your sword is absolutely top tier, same for the materials, there is a problem… it being that, weirdly enough, there isn't a single trace of Qi-attuned material in your sword!"
He shook his head, "Even though the metals they used seem to be of extremely high quality, they also seem to be entirely 'mortal', without a single trace of Qi!"
He rubbed his long, unruly beard in confusion, "This is truly puzzling, I admit, I don't know why somebody would want to waste the master craftsmanship used on this sword by doing this…?" and by the end, he was more mumbling to himself than explaining anything to Mikael.
As he listened to Master Mardoc, Mikael of course knew the answer to his puzzlement, but he didn't say anything, as it wasn't necessary and he wanted to stay focused on the subject at hand today rather than drift into a discussion that could easily stretch into a week—which was exactly where things were headed if they kept veering off into side topics...
After some more mumbling to himself, Mardoc continued, "...If your sword were reforged using better, more Qi-attuned metals and materials, your sword could leap from a 'mortal grade weapon' to a 'cultivator sword', easily multiplying its prowess!"
"And that's with using low-tier materials—if I used stronger ones, the boost would be even larger. In this fashion, you could have your sword's masterful craftsmanship preserved at 80–90%, combined with it becoming a true cultivator weapon, and with the use of the Spirit Preserving Liquid, your sword spirit would be entirely preserved and the blade would become far more formidable."
The smallest hint of a smile appeared on Mikael's lips, after all, hearing that his loyal sword, Sangrelia, could become multiple times stronger was an unexpected surprise he took delight in, though of course, that was only assuming her spirit could be preserved, otherwise, even if she ended up weaker, he would still have contented himself with a 'simple' repair.
Clank.
The loud sound of a crucible being dropped near the forge resounded, Master Mardoc having never stopped preparing himself for the forging process even as he talked to Mikael.
"The only thing that's worse compared to the 'classical' repair in the reforging path is that it would cost you some contribution points…" he raised his head to look at Mikael, "...with the price varying depending on which metals you want to use for the reforging process—the higher and more powerful they are, the higher the cost will be."
"After all, while I can accept some losses on my side by using the Spirit Preserving Liquid and working for free if it can satisfy my curiosity and potentially help develop my forging skills further, actually giving you the metals for free…"
He took a small pause before shaking his head, "It would be too much of a loss, especially if we're talking about the truly high-grade ones that each cost a fortune, so the materials we'll use will depend on your budget."
'Understandable,' inwardly noted Mikael, before he outwardly nodded to show his acceptance.
After that, the two men delved into a fairly long conversation, discussing which materials and metals to use, why certain ones were better than others, and everything else that needed to be addressed.
It was mainly Master Mardoc who spoke, explaining which materials should be used for each phase of the reforging process and why, taking the time to lay out the strengths and drawbacks of each option while offering expert recommendations grounded in years of experience.
Eventually, after careful thought and no small amount of listening, Mikael chose to follow most of Mardoc's advice. He was the expert, after all. But even so, Mikael insisted on placing special priority on materials that would reinforce Sangrelia's durability, even if it meant sacrificing some of her raw edge or power. What mattered most was that she never 'broke' again.
Every choice was made with Mikael's budget in mind, which amounted to 90% of his entire contribution point savings, and without hesitation, he poured nearly all of it into Sangrelia's reforging, leaving only a small amount behind in case some desperate need ever forced him to rely on that last reserve.
And then, without wasting any further time, both men began the reforging process of Sangrelia.
It began with Mikael taking a moment to reassure Sangrelia and explain the reforging process that was about to begin. She likely already knew, at least partially, thanks to her ever-growing sentience, but it was better to make sure, so she didn't 'fight back' and inadvertently complicate the process.
Afterward, Master Mardoc dripped a generous amount of Spirit Preserving Liquid across Sangrelia's blade, grip, handle, and every other vital part. Of course, the liquid didn't only touch the material plane that housed her cracked sword form—it also reached into the invisible, gently wrapping itself around her spirit to ensure she would remain protected throughout the forging process to come.
Mikael also aided in the preparation by dripping some of his blood onto Sangrelia's blade while softly speaking to her, making sure she 'wouldn't worry'.
Vmmmm.
Sangrelia vibrated softly in response, prompting a small smile to appear on Mikael's visage.
While Mikael calmly reacted to Sangrelia 'talking', Master Mardoc's reaction was undoubtedly less… tame.
That was the least that could be said, because the moment Mardoc saw this scene, his eyes bulged and his mouth hung wide open, 'This sword truly gave birth to a spirit!' he thought in shock. Previously, he had mostly believed Mikael, but a part of him still wondered whether there was truly a spirit—yet seeing this with his own eyes left no room for doubt.
Knowing that he was truly working with a weapon spirit, and that this spirit resided within a sword of such incredibly masterful craftsmanship, pumped him full of excitement, and his movements grew noticeably more lively as he resumed his work.
In this fashion, it didn't take long before Sangrelia was entirely covered in the Spirit Preserving Liquid, and at that moment, she glowed with a beautiful purple light, emanating a certain aura that was difficult to describe.
At that instant, the most important preparatory step was complete. Afterward, Sangrelia was dismantled, her blade separated from the rest, and then—
Sangrelia's blade was carefully grabbed by a pair of steel tongs and placed into the basin filled with what Mikael had learned was called Obsidiron Dust, a special kind of 'iron sand' capable of removing impurities from weapons, armor, and other crafted items—precisely why Master Mardoc had chosen to plunge Sangrelia's blade into it.
What followed was the use of the obsidian rod to control the swirling movement of the Obsidiron Dust, guiding it to slowly grind away the impurities embedded in the blade.
It didn't take long for this grinding process to finish, and the moment it was done, Master Mardoc swiftly used the steel tongs once again to lift the now purified blade and move it directly into the blazing forge.
TCHSSHHH!
Sangrelia 'hissed' as the forge's flames began to slowly heat her, gradually tinting her blade with an orange hue—but the transformation remained sluggish, as even with the forge being powered by a Fire Elemental Crystal, it wasn't enough to bring Sangrelia to the required temperature quickly.
Knowing this, Master Mardoc waved his hand, and from his body emerged a crimson-red flame. Instantly, the already nearly unbearable heat of the room soared past all limits.
Instinctively, Mikael took a step backward, cautiously eyeing the flame from which he could feel not only overwhelming heat but also a genuine mortal threat.
Catching Mikael's caution, Mardoc laughed, "No need to worry, this little treasure is under my total control." A moment later, he proved his claim by waving his hand, prompting the crimson-red flame to obey and swiftly dive into the forge.
Hiss.
A sharp hissing sound echoed as the crimson-red flame moved, distorting the air around it by sheer presence, but the moment it entered the forge, the temperature sharply dropped, returning to its previous, relatively 'comfortable' level.
At that same moment, changes began to take place inside the forge as the crimson-red flame wrapped itself around Sangrelia's blade, which quickly began to heat, shifting from black to yellow and steadily edging closer toward orange with every passing second.
Master Mardoc watched the scene with a glint in his eyes, "This is the 97th-ranked flame on the Earth-Grade Forging Flame Rankings—Crimson Heart Flame, my greatest treasure!" he declared, pride slipping into his voice despite himself.
"Impressive!" exclaimed Mikael, a note of 'awe' in his voice that made Master Mardoc smile as he focused on his work.
What the blacksmith didn't notice, however, was that the moment he looked away, Mikael's previously 'awed' expression melted back into its usual calm and indifferent one—the reason?
'No clue what this Crimson Heart Flame, which is 97th-ranked on some kind of Earth-Grade Forging Flame Rankings, even means… but it should be pretty impressive, I guess. Anyway!' he inwardly shrugged, not really caring much about it, his attention fully focused on Sangrelia, who was currently being reforged—something far, far, far more important.
Soon enough, Sangrelia's usually black blade gained a bright orange tint, and at that moment, Master Mardoc's Qi flared as the intensity of the Crimson Heart Flame visibly diminished, held at a controlled level just strong enough to maintain the current temperature without increasing it any further.
In the next moment, Master Mardoc tossed a cluster of metals into the furnace beside Sangrelia's blade, and the Crimson Heart Flame immediately responded by coiling around them, beginning to melt them down.
It didn't take long before most of them were reduced to liquid, each droplet suspended in midair by Master Mardoc's Divine Sense, save for a single piece of black jade that remained relatively intact.
A piece of black jade that Mikael immediately recognized, having seen it during Master Mardoc's earlier explanation and even having 'purchased' it himself for Sangrelia's reforging—it was Molteniron Jade, a Peak Grade Spiritual Foundation Metal renowned for its exceptional durability.
Fssshhhh…
The intensity of the Crimson Heart Flame surged around the Molteniron Jade, its heat pressing down on the stubborn material.
It took two long, intense sticks' worth of time before the black jade finally melted, following the path of the other metals and becoming a thick, black-green liquid that floated alongside the rest.
Author Note:
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This chapter was both easy and hard to write, it was hard because I had to research how real life blacksmithing is done to not write too much nonsense but at the same time it was easy when I had the framework so to say in mind.
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