In the morning, Rakna and Old Wang came out of the smithy with a groan as their head was aching from all the knowledge they had to digest.

The only thing they had even spent a minute to do practical practice instead of theory was on the chakram Rakna had forged. Other than that, they had listened to the lioness speak for hours, going through each of the characters, and sometimes giving irrelevant anecdotes about them.

“Well, this was not what I expected to do today but I now got ideas on some designs,” the old dwarf commented and yawned. “Good thing I don’t open my stall on Sundays. I’m going to retire for the day. See you, sonny. As thanks for the occasion, I’ll give you one of my works when I finish it. Look forward to it.”

“I will,” Rakna nodded and left the blacksmith’s house. The sun was rising but he still could see the setting moon that was near completion. Just looking at it now gave him an itching sensation. He tore his gaze away and instead took a second look at the chakram he had made.

❮ ◈ ❯

Designation: Throwing Weapon/Chakram

Name: ---

Rarity: Green

Attack power: +75

Durability: 100%

Perks:

- Half-Dimensional Structural Stability: The technique used during its forging has heightened its dimensional stability to make it remarkably robust. However, due to the lack of experience of the maker, it is not as strong as it could have been.

- Cold Blade: Due to the very irregular and special mana used during its forging process, the weapon has gained faint traces of enchantments making it more defiant against magic and fire in particular. It is also cold to the touch.

- Rune Carving: A four-letter rune composed of Bind, Motion, Soul, and Weapon. This weapon is directly connected to Rakna Xiorra’s soul and will always return to him whenever it has been thrown, whether it is by his hand or not.

Description:

A weapon forged by a beginner blacksmith and rune user, Rakna Xiorra, with high-grade steel.

It is a weapon with deadly sharpness to it, coupled with resistance against both offensive and defensive magic due to the dominance of the Cold Star element. It possesses outstanding structural stability and will always fly back to its creator.

❮ ◈ ❯

The downgrade of the structural stability wasn’t surprising to him but the Cold Blade perk had been an interesting discovery. There might be other ways he could use his star magic as a ‘forging tool’. As for the rune, Higure had eventually told them that depending on the quality of the object, there was a limit to the number of both runes and characters that could be on it before it just could not support their power. The chakram’s limit was precisely a four-letter rune.

All in all, it was a good weapon. Even to the current standard of Sonata. Though he wouldn’t use it as a material to evolve it. On the other hand, it might be a good idea to make it assimilate the perks of Alzero. In any case, he had already decided to use the Dreorin Greatsword for the next evolution and he could do it anytime now that he was level 40.

“For now, though, I need to prepare for tonight,” he muttered as he walked on the streets of Black Steel. He pulled up his friend list and called someone.

“Rakna? What’s wrong?” Gray’s voice sounded from the other side of the line. “Please don’t tell me you found another Abyss member or something.”

“Tonight is a full moon,” he bluntly said.

“…ah shit,” the clown immediately face-palmed. “How could I forget that? Normal werewolves are already a pain in the ass during full moons, I don’t even want to imagine what it will do to you.”

“Is it that bad?”

“You have no idea. A matured werewolf of good bloodline during a full moon could contend against someone stronger than them by at least a hundred levels. You can imagine the damage if a thing like that goes berserk, right?”

“Yes…”

“So? Are you calling me to help you? You know you could just stay indoors. While all werewolves feel a compelling urge to go out in full moons, someone like you should be able to resist it. Though, once again, I have no idea how you would actually react.”

“Nevertheless, I want to see what it does to me so I can be prepared in the future. I don’t want to be in the dark about my own abilities.”

“Yeah, I can understand that. All right. I assume you need someone to keep a check on you. Your friends don’t cut it because of how powerful you are, so that leaves me. Hmm, honestly, I’m a bit busy right now. I’ve already left the First Plateau and I don’t know if Vegas is still in the Fifth but even if he was, he’d probably be researching that plague.”

“What do you propose then?”

“Have you forgot already? You have a bunch of people you can ask for.”

“Well, I could ask foxy but she’s also… ah,” Rakna realized. “Right, the guild chat.”

“Yep. Ask them. There’s probably one or two that would be happy to help.”

“I see. Thanks.”

“No problem. And stay out of trouble if you can. I did say we would protect you but I don’t want to shed blood futilely.”

“Got it.”

“See you then,” the cyborg said and ended the call. Rakna then opened the guild chat and sent a message without pause.

❮ ◈ ❯

Obsidian has joined.

I need a favor. Is there anyone who can head down to the First Plateau tonight?

Well, well, look who’s decided to deign us of his presence. I heard what you did to the Abyss Téras by the way. Nicely done.

I have to agree, but the boy is clearly not here to deal with your attitude.

Sheesh, no need to bash me.

You speak of a favor, Obsidian, what does it entail?

How much has the clown told you about me?

That you are a never-seen-before breed of werewolves with nine tails and star magic. To be fair, I didn’t believe it at first when he told us.

Hahaha! That would make for an awesome fight! So, what do you want, kid?

Tonight is a full moon.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

Ah.

Why’d you break the chain!? And stop lurking like that!

Calm down… Anyway, what you need is someone to restrain you if things come to the worst? Am I correct?

Yes.

I’m afraid I can’t help today… What about everyone else?

While I’m eager to meet the newbie, I can’t.

Same.

I don’t mind doing it. Maybe he can give me a challenge under the full moon’s influence. I wouldn’t want to miss that. Hey, kid, tell me when and where you want to meet.

When the sun sets; 9PM. Outside of Black Steel at the station.

I’ll be there.

Thank you.

Obsidian has left.

❮ ◈ ❯

Rakna closed the window with a sigh and looked around at the pedestrians. As he passed by the vitrine of a shop, he remembered something and placed his hand on it. No one paid attention to what he was doing and he mumbled under his breath, “[Reflect My Core, Antanasia.]”

In the split of a second, he was back inside the mirror world and he was able to confirm what he was speculating in an instant. The black and white world was as silent as ever but compared to the training room, this place had more… ‘movement’.

It seemed that even people were reflected. “Not real, huh? Not surprising,” he muttered as his hand passed through someone as he tried to grab their shoulder.

“{Indeed. Antanasia recreates the real world without substance. You should be happy that you can even see them in the first place. Sadly, you are unable to hear what they say or even plot a sneak attack on them unless they are standing next to a reflective surface.}”

“It’s still useful for spying,” Rakna said as he continued to walk on the streets of what now looked and ‘sounded’ like a ghost town. There were plenty of reflective surfaces in Black Steel and since they were the only things that had color in this grayed world, it gave for an interesting sight.

After a few minutes of walking, he began to feel the rejection of the dimension affecting his body but it wasn’t as bad as last time. Not only was he in a crippled state at the time but his attributes had also increased by a substantial amount.

“Higure, how long can I expect to be able to stay here in the future?”

“{Hmm, by level 100, you should be able to stay for easily an hour. Even more so if you assimilate and assign more attribute points. Later on, even days will be possible. For now, without damaging your body, I’d say you can stay for about ten to twenty minutes. However, keep in mind that this may not be the same for the other layers.}”

“I guess I’ll see it for myself,” Rakna replied as he activated Antanasia on the closest spot to the Pavilion he could use. He waited for there to be a minimal amount of people that could see him before heading straight to the private section.

When he entered, he saw that Evelyn was still sleeping on the couch, drooling on the blanket he had put over her. He snorted in amusement as he walked to her. “Seems like Flavia didn’t want to wake her up,” he commented and took a seat nearby. “Though she took Pronos and Tyran. Well, as long as they have fun.”

“{That’s true. So, what are you going to do until the night? Meditate?}”

“Hm, maybe a bit later,” he responded and pulled out the book he had put off, conjuring a green hexagonal shield at the same time. “I’m not tired yet so let’s continue this while training GHB.”

“{Oh, yes… I had almost forgotten.}” Rakna snorted and took his time to turn the pages to where he had left, skimming over paragraphs to refresh his memory. When he reached the page that he had bookmarked, Higure raised her voice again. “{Before that… if you agree, I would like to know what the young lady was about to tell me yesterday evening,}” she requested with a solemn tone.

Rakna’s hand paused and he hummed, not giving any obvious reaction to her words. “Why?”

“{Hmph, why do you think?}” She retorted with a bit of mischief.

“I wouldn’t know.”

“{Please, devourer, I know you are cynical, but you are not ignorant. You should know what others feel. I would even say that you understand people more than most. I ask because I’m concerned and I would like to learn more about you,}” she said with an unusually serious tone. “{Is that too much to ask?}”

Rakna stared at the page of his book for a minute before responding, “I didn’t stop Flavia from saying anything because it is a past that hurts me. I stopped her because, on the opposite, I don’t want her to be sad by retelling it more than necessary. That applies to you. Sometimes, it’s better to hide things, not to protect yourself, but the ones around you. As you say, I understand people… sometimes more than I would like to.”

“{…I see. So, I’m the one being ignorant here, huh?}” She snickered.

“It’s a shame you weren’t here when I told my past to Kaelith. Rexam or Fenriu most likely have a vague idea of the reason.”

“{Well, they’re not very eloquent, are they?}” She jested, looking back at the two whelps behind her in the soul realm. Fenriu opened one eye from his position and huffed while Rexam chirped cutely with a tilt of his head. “{Guh…}”

“If you want to know that much, the reason why Flavia avoided our house, more so her grandfather though, was because of how I was at the time. You haven’t seen me under the effect of Obsidian Blood yet, have you?”

“{Obsidian what?}”

“Whatever. Just imagine an emotionless version of me, yes, even more than now, lusting for blood, carnage, and revenge. That’s what I was at the time, and also what they met. No surprise that they avoided our house.”

“{Hmm… in that case, what happened for Flavia to be comfortable enough to even make breakfast for you two?}”

Rakna smiled internally. “That woman was afraid but she held a certain determination that I find rare. She never came close to our house for sure but she would try to talk to me when I crossed her on the streets back home. She fidgeted, stammered, and was clumsy in her interactions but she tried her best. She even put a card for news’s eve in our letterbox.”

“{Truly, a sweet girl.}”

“Yes. But I could see it. She was still careful around me, taking the warnings her grandfather had given her to heart, which I have no right to blame. But despite that, she appeared intent on getting through me. I didn’t get her motive at the time but she… together with Allan, was one of my first and only friends… She later told me that she felt a deep sense of sorrow around me and that she believed it was the right thing to try and help me.”

“{Is that what brought you closer?}”

Rakna closed his eyes. “Not exactly. An incident broke the monotony of her awkward interactions with me. Around four and a half years ago, I was… ‘hunting’ some people and by a stroke of luck, I found them the day they had abducted Flavia to blackmail her grandfather.”

Higure gasped. “{Those… people, what were they?}”

“Terrorists. Though, not the crude and trigger-happy kind. They were organized, had influence and power. Ones that I had a vendetta against. When I found their base of operations, I was since then far lost in my thirst for blood. I normally could keep control of myself, but when I saw her lying on the ground bruised, I snapped.”

“The next thing I knew, I was choking to death the last one of their group. Flavia woke up and saw in horror what I was doing. That day, when I saw her crying expression, begging me to not kill, to not become a murderer, was probably one of the biggest reasons I’m not completely mad today.”

“{…}”

Rakna sighed. “Anyhow, after that happened, she got bolder and began to visit our house. She even had gotten permission from her grandfather. Who would have thought saving his granddaughter would have changed his opinion of me?” He quipped sarcastically and Higure chuckled. “Well, you know the story now. Happy?”

“{Honestly? I am. Thank you. I think I understand you better now.}”

“Oh? Good for you then,” he uttered as he finally began to read his book.

“{Indeed…}” She whispered and smiled to herself.