novelraw Chapter 132 - 131 - Demon Forged
Chapter 132 - 131 - Demon Forged
In the 2 months since settling with Starfire House, Lind had been working day and night to improve. It took a week to finally make a grade 2 armor but it took another week to repeat the success. After that it was a floodgate.
Delenn made him make 100 grade 2 items before he had his badge upgraded to silver. It took a few more days to reach the peak after only a month. Grade 3 had been a nightmare. Much like elixirs, Lind had to grasp the increase in quality and it took everything he had to forge a single item even if it failed.
Delenn also had to stand over him as he worked with grade 3 materials. His cores finally reached the beginning of peak tier 9 when he succeeded. He was just a sliver shy of the peak but it was coming. Once there, he would have to work to keep his foundation down as he began the final journey to the peak of tier 9 Soul Realm there as well.
He could break through at any time but his talent as an innate cultivator seemed to finally evolve. He was unsure why it changed but instead of pushing him at a hectic pace in a stable manner, it now sought harmony with his cores.
It made things far better compared to before, yet it still tried to push him forward.
The final month took a strange turn at the halfway point. Lind had been forginge with grade 3 materials when he noticed an ore in Delenn's storage that was different. He had picked it up and realized it was not from the soul cultivation but the demon path!
She revealed that it was not unusual for people to think forgers could cross paths and brought materials in the hopes weapons or armor could be made from it. Demon Forgers did exist but were just as rare if not more so as most demons focused on battle.
Lind had made progress with grade 3 but he accepted that unlike elixirs, he would be pushing his luck to even maintain low grade 3 in forging. It made the difference between the 2 professions clear to him. It also showed the similarity between alchemy and refining.
His mother was apparently a low grade 3 alchemist before she broke through to the World Realm a year ago. The apprentices at Sunlit Forge and Myriad Treasures were mostly World Realm when working with grade 3 items. He wondered how they were all doing as Annabelle told him how crazy things were in Cimmeria now.
Delenn had insisted on teleporting him somehow he did not fully understand when he returned to the sect and on his way back, the strange effect that made him invisible made it hard to overhear conversations.
Lind instead spent the last 2 weeks on a theory. He had once been asked if he knew the relationship between demon elements as well as his own. He did not, but he had ideas. He had written it all down and shared it with Elder Yi.
It was a theory and he wanted to test it!
Lind then had Shoti assign missions to gather grade 1 and grade 2 materials. Delenn shook her head but she had agreed that he had mastered his forging as far as he could go. Whatever he did in the contest would be up to him, so she instead indulged his project.
She even showed him what she had attempted out of her own curiosity but it failed spectacularly. It was the first time Lind had seen her fail at forging.
It was instructive though. His Eyes saw her try to infuse her elements into the metal but it rejected it outright. The process had been interesting to see and Lind had been given ideas.
A week of attempts with grade 1 resulted in slag or explosions but not as powerful as before. Lind had better control and had learned much after 2 and a half months of solid forging. Lind recalled all he had learned from that Ruin Spirit at Lotus Academy and his own Earth knowledge.
He could not refine his Qi like a demon, but he understood it. He used his Touch to feel out the metals and realized it did not reject the talent as it had so much else. It made Lind really push himself and he began to have an idea.
Lind took the idea of his 6 elemental core and changed it to a diffuser. His idea was based on Earth science but that science was still true here. Qi made things possible that science could not easily explain but that was simply the limit of knowledge available to researchers on Earth.
Lind spent a few days playing with his new idea and finally saw results. Inside of earth was metal, inside of air was poison, inside of water was acid, and so forth. It worked! It was nowhere near the purity or ability of a demon, but that was not the point. For forging, he needed demon Qi to manipulate and change demon materials.
Striated iron was full of shadow Qi for instance and now Lind played with it like playdough! Delenn was shocked as she watched Lind succeed in making a medallion at mid-grade 1 of demon Qi and material. She evaluated and saw it simply absorbed Qi faster for a Body Refining Realm cultivator.
Lind had done it!
He spent the last few days pushing his diffuser to the best of his ability and finally did what no soul cultivator had done in refining or forging ever, he forged a peak grade 2 demonic sword.
It was laced with poison and cold fire while shadow made the cultivator hard to find. Delenn stood in awe as she appraised the sword and knew any demon that had such elements would be pleased.
Like grade 3, however, the process exhausted Lind just to make the single item. It took far more Qi to diffuse and control as faux-demon Qi.
"If you did this in the competition, you would be offered anything you wanted, Lind Frey." The word apprentice was dropped from his name and Lind realized it was the end. The agreement was for the competition only and he had far surpassed either of their expectations.
"Can I return to tell you about it?" Lind hoped he would not be banished from this place forever. He would likely be on a long journey compared to any other cultivator and would want to return if he could. He felt a gentle hand ruffle his dirty blonde hair suddenly.
"Idiot. You were my student and are always welcome here. If you somehow break through to the World Realm, I would be happy to teach you the next phase of your training. Grade 3 for a Forger is just as much a watershed as cultivation finds the World Realm itself." Lind smiled wide and nodded happily.
A bright blue jade slip was put into his hands as he felt a profound flow of Qi appear from it. Lind's Eyes followed it for a bit but then the Immortal formations obscured it from him.
"This is a special communication jade. It is tied to you alone. If you lose it or someone else tries to use it, it will shatter. Call out to me if you have questions on your journey." Lind felt warm inside as he put the jade into his storage ring. He then looked at the ring in wonder.
"Forged. Storage rings are forged!" Delenn smiled at him as she nodded. No wonder they were so rare! Lind also realized why they did not exist in the mortal realm before as it must take all 6 elements to make it work.
A new fire lit in Lind's heart but he felt a chop to his head right away.
"Don't even think about it! Forging a storage ring is not simple and even a peak grade 5 Forger would exhaust their Qi before even bringing the lowest known ring into existence." Lind swallowed his saliva at the shock from that revelation. Rings were that hard to make?!
He pushed it to the back of his mind as he got ready to leave but then a thought occurred to him. Lind bowed to Delenn from his waist 3 times as procedure required as he ended his apprenticeship. He then pulled out extremely rare peak grade 3 materials.
The final item he brought out was the beast core from something called an illusion python. It was a much higher realm beast than the stone dral Lind had interacted with before but his instincts told him it was what he needed. It had nearly wiped out his fortune from the sales of his remaining grade 2 elixirs in Sarth and Indelia.
Delenn watched as Lind went from student to a master in his own right. His harmony began to resonate with the core and his aura changed. Unlike before, Lind understood what he was doing this time.
The trick to bypass the mortal realm limits was the beast core. It was the door through which he could comprehend a more profound essence. Lind was pulling in the much higher quality Qi from around him and Delenn watched in awe as Lind changed from a mere mortal into one of her contemporaries to her senses!
Lind himself did not realize the oddity when he followed his instincts. He was far stronger than the last time and he was pushing himself far beyond what he did before. Outside of the alley, many cultivators suddenly found the Qi in the air thinning at an alarming rate but no one could trace why.
Inside Delenn's dimension, she felt the Qi flow and was flummoxed as it was far too dangerous to stop Lind. She had seen many cultivators reach such a state and pull of conjuring attacks or actions that went far beyond their current abilities. She had never seen anyone do it intentionally until that moment, however.
The essence from the herbs, stones, and even a wisp of emerald flame were floating in front of Lind's body. The beast core remained solid but she saw it finally crack as Qi flowed out. She realized his work making 6 elemental cores had made him grasp the subtleties of beast cores far more than before he started.
When did he find the time to test that?!
Lind felt the essence was trying to slip away from his control. It was far more powerful than him but he let his harmony flow and suddenly his eyes blazed with emerald light. He stood up and Delenn suddenly felt like she had found another Immortal Realm cultivator.
Light blazed that blinded anyone looking at it. A profound wave of Qi flowed outward and Lind stumbled but still stood. He looked pale and covered in sweat as he carefully stoppered 4 vials before collapsing on the ground.
Delenn was too shocked to catch him in time but she quickly checked him over and saw he was simply exhausted. How he withstood that process, she did not know but she looked at the shining vials in awe.
She knew what she was seeing but it was impossible. Breaking grades was feasible within a realm. Grades 1-3 in production required comprehension of elements, materials, and perseverance, yet it was doable.
Breaking the realm, on the other hand, was impossible to her mind. No mortal realm cultivator could create Heaven or Immortal grade counterparts to any mortal grade item. She had heard that under enlightenment, Lind had made a peak Heaven grade 2 elixir but assumed his teacher had been involved.
Now, she knew it was just Lind. She picked up a vial and used her long experience to estimate and nearly dropped the vial she was holding.
Peak grade 4! It was peak grade 4 and it was a Heaven Realm item!
She turned to the slowly recovering boy and was wondering what he was. No normal person could do what she held in her hands. She then recalled the emerald flame. The harmony unique to 6 elemental cultivators born in the Soul Realm did not exist for cultivators that had to add missing elements later.
Was that the difference? Was that why he could forge demonic metals?
"Mistress. The elixir should work on you if you allow it. All 4 are yours." Lind weakly drank some elixirs of his own to recover as she looked at the silvery lit liquid as she looked at him in confusion. "I call it, Visions of Home."
Lind smiled as he waited for it to sink in before her hands shook. She drank the first vial and then absorbed it. Normally, a grade 4 elixir would have no effect on her, but a Heaven grade 4 was still just barely in range. It also helped that she allowed it to take full effect.
Her mind lost sight of Lind and when her vision cleared she recognized where she was! The fog enshrouded peaks where the shadow of a citadel could be seen as the sun blazed in a bright blue sky!
The mountains were full of colors as the elements were so powerful that it was possible to find a literal range of shadow mountains or lightning swamps if the conditions were correct. The cold breeze made tears form as she turned and saw something she had not seen in hundreds of thousands of years.
The never ending storm of the Iced Valley. She was born in the coldest part of the Enshrouded Ravines. It was a range of mountains where only the truly bold or foolish would go for the secrets hidden in the icy fog. Her people had settled there to be free of the pressure of super sects and war.
The Enshrouded Ravines were left alone as there was no tactical use for them save any resources someone might need. It also made the cultivators hardy and powerful faster than most. She cried as she could see the rope bridge stretched out across the valley to the various homes cut into the stone walls.
They were above the valley floor where frost drakes and silver bears waged war for territory and avoided drawing the attention of anything truly powerful.
The vision began to break apart and the alley returned as Lind stood there calmly. He had watched her the whole time but said nothing to break the spell of his elixir. In the wrong hands, such an elixir would trap a cultivator in a vision forever if they were weaker than its realm, but for Delenn, it was a chance to see home once more!
"Thank you, Lind Frey. Thank you so much!" He bowed once more and vanished as she sent him back to the sect to recover and prepare. The 3 remaining vials were carefully stored as Delenn reveled in her recent memory vision. He missed his home. He made it because she could not go home.
Hope bloomed in her chest for the first time since she was trapped in this mortal realm. Whether it was simply a reprieve from being stuck in the alley or a real glimpse of what Lind could become, only time would tell.