Then, using his steel tongs and Divine Sense, Master Mardoc moved Sangrelia's now orange-hued blade—along with the various molten liquids—toward a strange 'anvil'.
At its core, it was a classical anvil in form, but several small modifications had been added: a raised border surrounded its edges, and a series of obsidian bowls were connected to it through thin tubes. From the way it had been built, it was clear that liquid was meant to flow from those bowls onto the modified surface of the anvil.
Mardoc gently placed Sangrelia onto the anvil, while the melted liquids were separated from one another and distributed into their respective bowls.
Without wasting time, he moved toward a pedestal enclosed behind reinforced glass and containment arrays. Then, after extending his Divine Sense to 'prove his identity,' he took hold of the majestic black-and-purple hammer, its surface adorned with beautiful and mysterious runic inscriptions, which lay within.
KLANG!
The hammer struck Sangrelia's surface, a deep metallic resonance echoing through the forging room as sparks exploded outward, and then—
Clang–clang–clang.
The hammer repeatedly struck Sangrelia's blade, loud metallic impacts ringing through the air as the weapon was slowly but surely shaped by Mardoc's powerful blows.
'What the?' Mikael inwardly exclaimed as he observed the reforging process—not because the scene itself was unexpected, as this was exactly what he imagined from a blacksmith, but because he could sense something.
He didn't know what this 'something' was, and while his normal senses didn't detect anything unusual, both his Divine Sense and his instincts were picking up on something subtle, something real, though he just… didn't know what.
Momentarily, he closed his eyes to focus on the strange sensation before reopening them a few moments later, his gaze now fixed on Master Mardoc's form as he finally found the source of this strange feeling.
'Intent,' he inwardly exclaimed, having recognized it—and how could he not, after all?
This was the same sensation he had felt when he touched the door of Sword Intent, and once again when he passed by the black-metal door of the Forging Hall, though compared to the sharp clarity of Sword Intent, the 'aura' currently emanating from Master Mardoc felt far closer to what he had sensed near those ancient doors, saturated with a similar yet distinct presence.
'So he's using Forging Intent! Which is exactly what emanated from those doors… so those doors also have Forging Intent!? How the fuck does that work—how does it even make sense?' he inwardly muttered, his curiosity about these 'mysterious doors' momentarily spiking before he ultimately decided to shelve the question for later, his gaze never leaving the figure of the master blacksmith, only for a slight frown to form a few seconds later.
'No… it isn't Forging Intent. At least not the complete one. I can feel that some of his strikes carry Intent while others are completely devoid of it…'
For a moment he was confused, but quickly enough he connected the dots and understood.
'I see… he doesn't truly have Forging Intent, but he should have touched the door like me, and even compared to me, he should be far closer to truly comprehending Forging Intent—because at least one hammering out of three carries Intent!'
As he realized this, a hint of a smile appeared on his usually cold expression, because Master Mardoc having Forging Intent was an extremely unexpected, yet undeniably pleasant surprise.
After all, this meant that Sangrelia would be reforged under a master blacksmith who had begun to touch upon Forging Intent, and under the miraculous properties of Intent, that would without a doubt result in a reforging far superior to what he had originally expected.
Considering that, how could he not feel happy?
Mikael quietly observed Master Mardoc working without daring to disturb him, watching as the blacksmith continued to hammer Sangrelia—and once her blade's coloring dimmed, he would promptly return her to the forge, reheating her to critical temperature before resuming the hammering process.
This cycle repeated for at least 1 to 2 hours until, instead of continuing to strike Sangrelia, Master Mardoc began selecting portions of the molten liquids that had been stored in the temperature-preserving bowls and carefully dripped them onto her blade.
Sangrelia greedily 'drank' these rare and powerful liquids, and under Master Mardoc's continuous cycle of hammering and reheating, now enhanced by the infusion of these high-quality metal essences, she steadily grew stronger—each completed cycle pushing her one step stronger, one step more durable, one step more perfect…
In this way, days began to pass quickly in the burning hot forge as Sangrelia continued to be reforged, brought higher and higher with each cycle. Of course, she wasn't only hammered and heated repeatedly—there were other crucial steps as well, like…
Grinding the blade to make it as sharp as possible, hardening it by plunging her into a pool of Stillheart Lakewater, tempering her by letting her be exposed to the extreme heat of the Crimson Heart Flame, and of course, the infusion of Mikael's Qi and blood into her.
Of course, that didn't mean the other parts of Sangrelia were forgotten—of course not!
They too had been reforged to become far, far more durable, with the main material used in this process being a Peak Grade Spiritual Foundation wood known as Ironwill Barkwood, itself renowned for its extreme toughness even among other Peak Grade Spiritual Foundation materials.
In this way, time passed swiftly, and soon enough, it had already been 6 days since the non-stop forging had begun… and things were finally arriving at their end.
"This is the final step and then and only then will your sword be considered completed, but at the same time..." he took a small pause before his serious gaze focused on Mikael,
"It's also the most draining step on the Master of the weapon. If your strength and/or willpower isn't strong enough, things will go badly… the less severe case is that the reforged weapon housing a spirit will refuse to accept you as the Master, and the worse… could even lead to your death if you push yourself too far!" seriously warned Master Mardoc.
Mikael gave a small, serious nod, his expression the epitome of concentration and focus as he knew what he had to do and how important it was.
Slowly but surely, he extended his hand before finally positioning it atop Sangrelia's nearly finished form.
"Hiss"
An instinctive, pained hiss escaped his lips despite himself as he felt small 'spikes' extend from Sangrelia, directly piercing into his hand in a rather painful fashion; of course, to him, he was used to this level of pain, but he still instinctively reacted—hence why a hiss escaped him.
The next moment, things took a turn for the worse, as the spikes already piercing his palm began to siphon him; he felt his everything—Blood, Qi, Energy, Mental Strength, and more—be drawn out from his Body, Mind, and Soul, and rapidly siphoned and absorbed by Sangrelia.
These sensations were horrifyingly painful, far beyond what words could describe, and of course, as misfortune never comes alone, this wasn't the end, as he also felt a deep bone, mental, and soul-heavy sensation of heaviness and tiredness.
Intrusive thoughts appeared in his mind, 'Sleep, let it all go, stop fighting against the soft melody of sleep, you just need to let go of this sword and all this pain and tiredness would disappear!'
All these thoughts and far more passed through his mind, trying to make him abandon his current endeavor and stop 'needlessly' suffering anymore, but—
Except for a small, nearly imperceptible twitch of his body as the process began, Mikael remained standing upright, his expression indifferent.
It was as if nothing—neither the horrifying pain nor the exhaustion nor the traitorous thoughts, which he knew to be coming from Sangrelia 'testing him'—could move him, not even a single bit, and in truth, it was… the case!
After all, while this was an experience that would have caused even a battle-hardened veteran to instantly break under such horrifying sensations, for Mikael…
It wasn't even comparable to the pain he had endured after his first use of Blood Ignition and the eternity-like recovery that followed—and did he break at that time? The answer was painfully clear when you saw him still alive and sane to this day, so this pain and tiredness?
It was nothing!
He didn't break at that moment, so he certainly would not break now.
'This lad is crazy!' thought Master Mardoc in shock as he eyed Mikael, who endured this pain without flinching, not even a little bit, and at that moment, a hint of respect for this 'crazy lad' was born in his heart.
Mikael, unaware of this unexpected development, had all of his attention focused on Sangrelia, who was continuing to rapidly siphon him, sapping more and more of his energy by the second as her aura grew stronger and stronger.
At the same time, he felt the bond he had with his loyal sword rapidly reinforce, and he felt more and more in tune and connected with her.
'Fuck this hurt, Sangrelia!' inwardly cursed Mikael, even as he kept his outward composure intact.
In this fashion, seconds bled into minutes, and as time flowed on, Mikael's expression began to shift, his features growing increasingly strained as he struggled more and more just to remain standing.
"Sangrelia, I think you've eaten enough, no?" he murmured in a low voice, eyes drifting downward.
He received no response, the siphoning sensation remaining just as intense—but compared to a few minutes earlier, Mikael was now far weaker, far more fatigued, and though enduring it had become increasingly difficult, he still forced himself to endure… and endure… and endure, knowing just how important it was that he held on for the final step, no matter how draining it was.
'She's currently working on instinct, absorbing my energy… I just need to hold on until she "wakes up," and she'll have been successfully reforged,' he thought to himself, a mad glint in his eyes as he kept his hand on Sangrelia's blade, even though a 'wiser man' would have withdrawn long ago.
Time continued to pass, with Mikael visibly growing weaker and more tired by the moment, until Master Mardoc finally opened his mouth.
"Lad, I think you should stop here. It's clear that the sword is too powerful for you to bond with in a single attempt. It would be better to make multiple tries and gradually form the connection—while the end result would be a little weaker, it would still be excellent," he advised wisely.
Mikael swayed unsteadily before placing his second hand on the 'table' where Sangrelia rested, using it to brace himself as he turned his head toward Mardoc, a fierce glint in his eyes.
"I'm good, I'll endure."
Then, without waiting for an answer, he turned his gaze back toward Sangrelia.
Master Mardoc let out a small sigh before murmuring, "Your choice."
In this fashion, time continued to pass quickly, and just as Mikael's legs seemed about to fail him, something happened.
HUM.
A deep, sudden hum rippled through the air as Sangrelia's invisible transformation reached completion. The next instant, an explosive surge of purple, bloody-red power burst outward from her reforged body, a shockwave so fierce it made the very air crack beneath her strength.
Mikael barely had time to react before the force slammed into him, sending him stumbling several unsteady steps backward. He would have fallen if he hadn't caught himself against another table, his black and silver Taoist robes fluttering wildly in the 'wind' stirred by her outburst—but at that moment, he didn't care about any of it.
At this moment, he didn't care about any of that, all of his attention focused on Sangrelia. For a moment, he remained immobile, before slowly, a hint of a smile formed on his visage, and then—
His lips parted, and a soft, "Welcome, Sangrelia," escaped him as his gaze remained fixed on the reforged sword lying on the table, meters away from his. His eyes traced her form, and the least that could be said was that… she had changed.
Author Note:
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The reforging process of Sangrelia continue and I think that I have gone too much in the details of the blacksmithing process and because of that the reforging process was drawn out for too long… but I maybe you think something else (Honestly don't think but I can always hope right?)
Anyway even with the somewhat slow pace I hope that these reforging chapters were still interesting.
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— End of Chapter —