Rakna lifted a dark blue and silver hammer and struck down on a heated piece of material, a hiss of air coming out of his mouth as he exhaled. His eyes were marked by a golden cross, their focus entirely on the forging process.

“Stronger,” the therian muttered as he lifted the hammer again.

“Got it,” Natsu replied from inside the hearth and increased the heat of his flames, wrapping them around the rectangular object that was slightly stretched in the middle like an arrow. “This will be the last weapon, right?” The Celestial Blaze asked.

“Yes. These weapons should last everyone quite a while. Forever, in the best case. Even if they’re not as good as Sonata, they can still evolve at a satisfying pace.”

“Thank god, that’s all we’ve been doing since that compound was completed,” Natsu sighed. “Even for me, three days in a row is too much. It’s even worse than when you were just practicing…”

The sound of the hammer striking resounded again and Rakna snorted. He put the tool down and picked the heated material with his bare hand by turning off his heat receptors and transforming the nanomites of his fingers into a silver-bluish metal.

He inspected it with Crystal Sight and Eye of Symphony before turning around. “Okay, that should be enough. You can stop now,” he said and put down the metal piece on the workbench, aligning it with exactly fourteen other identical pieces and a sword’s hilt.

“Splendid news,” Natsu said and the flames emerged from the hearth, reforming into a small dog who promptly stretched his limbs. “Well, I have no muscles to stretch though…” He muttered to himself and strode toward his master. He jumped on the workbench and observed the unfinished weapon as Rakna sharpened the last piece and added the necessary runes.

“How is it, My Lord? Any errors?”

The therian mused silently for a few minutes before nodding. “It’s good. Now, I just need to chain up the enchantments and the weapon should finalize itself,” he said, and soon after he said that, a chime resounded in the training floor, coming from the elevator.

Natsu turned his head curiously and saw the doors open. “Hi, Rara~” A certain eccentric vixen greeted as she walked out. “I’ve come to play,” she grinned and the Celestial Blaze groaned.

“Not that woman…”

“Oh, Nat, you’re here too!” Kara cried out and happily rubbed the pup’s head.

“Leave my head alone, you crazy minx!”

“You know you love me,” she retorted smilingly.

Rakna simply snorted at the comedic exchange, still focused on his runes. Kara noticed that and skipped over to peek over his shoulder. “Oh? An Urumi? Is it the definitive version for Nyx? This is the last one, isn’t it? You already made the greatsword, the spear, the dagger, and… oh, yeah, the gloves!”

He grunted. “Don’t remind me of those gloves… Such a pain to make,” he grumbled and injected a strand of mana into the hilt. Then, it lit up and began to produce energy on its own. He sighed. “It’s done… back off a bit, just in case,” he added and Kara laughed.

“Yes, we wouldn’t want to do a repeat of last time. It wasn’t pretty.”

“If almost blowing my head off is just ‘not pretty’ for you, sure. Let’s say that,” Rakna deadpanned and the vixen laughed further, not forgetting to take their distance from the workbench though.

Then, the sword hilt on the table abruptly released a thick string of blue energy. It twirled around as if it was trying to find a target then swiftly shot to the first small blade piece. It went through it, making the runes glow, then continued to the next piece, until it reached the last one that had just been made.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the string of energy was sucked back in by the hilt. The blade pieces were seamlessly tensioned and assembled as the weapon settled down.

Rakna sighed in relief. “Good. It didn’t explode,” he muttered and checked the sword’s description.

❮ ◈ ❯

Designation: Weapon/Whip Sword

Name: ---

Rarity: Red

Attack Power: +1300

Magic Power: +300

Durability: 100%

Description:

A weapon designed, forged, and enchanted by a Legendary being with a godly perception of dimensions and mana flows. It was crafted with mithril and a mystic piece of material capable of indefinitely generating and storing an energy called Eion.

Perks:

- Eion Energy Production: The weapon constantly generates energy and is incidentally able to regenerate the systems composing it with time.

- Basic Sword Intent: The maker’s sword intent was infused into this weapon at a basic level, increasing its inherent sharpness.

- Basic Magic Conductor: Mana can be channeled through the weapon to enhance the casting of spells and increase damage.

- Flawless Dimensional Stability: The technique used during its forging has maximized its dimensional stability and durability to extreme extents. The incredible skill of the maker and the material used in the crafting have allowed this weapon to possess a vastly greater power against all sorts of physical and magical defenses.

- Blazing Frost: Due to the irregular and special mana used during its forging process as well as the refinement of a Celestial Blaze, this sword has developed ingrained enchantments capable of fighting any element weak to both ice or fire.

- Superior Rune Carving: Thanks to the exceptional integrity of the material, fifteen double-runes runes, one triple rune, and one folded triple rune have been successfully carved into the weapon and its multiple parts. The runes do not need mana to operate; they are fueled by the weapon’s intrinsic energy.

(15x) Union Rune + Control Rune => Object, State, Link, Self + Object, Motion, Control, Wielder.

Union Rune + Energy Rune + Transmission Rune => Object, State, Link, Self + Force, Momentum, Creation + Object, Self, Link, Triple, Execution

Command Rune + Energy Rune [Overload] + Shape Rune [Union] => Object, State, Limit, Tuning + Force, Momentum, [Overload], Creation + Form, [Union], Wielder, Motion, Execution

Note: Evolvable. This weapon is capable of cannibalizing other equipment to increase its own strength. With slight luck, it is possible to assimilate shapes and perks from particularly powerful items. There is a limit to the assimilation rate based on the user’s level.

❮ ◈ ❯

Kara whistled as she read everything. “The more I see it, the more impressed I am. Your growth in the past two weeks when it comes to runecraft and smithing is truly unbelievable.”

“Hm, it’s all right,” Rakna shrugged and she chuckled. He then raised the sword upright and traced the unified blade with his finger. He poured some of his mana into it to link himself with the runes and swung it in the training floor’s direction.

The blade lit up with a blue light and separated the sections of the blade. Then, in a flash of azure light, a gash was opened up in the ceiling and floor, and in the blink of an eye, the whip sword was reformed.

“Doesn’t seem to have anything wrong with it,” the therian commented. He said and put the sword down on a stand for Nyx to pick up later. At the same time, the damage he had made was already fixing itself thanks to the Prima Shards that had been incorporated into it; this was an additional experiment for Harvest, with which they could not only build anything but have it mend itself afterward as well.

“I can’t wait to have that at home,” Kara commented while Rakna was tidying up things.

“Well, you’ll have to wait a few days. Gaelius and Evelyn still have to smoothen up a few things and after that, you’ll get full control and you can do whatever you want.”

“Mhm, I know. I’m done with the preparations already. I have been hyping up the public by selling your name to everyone,” she said with a small grin. “I’m jealous, honestly. The kind of publicity it gave to just mention Rakna Xiorra and Obsidian was obscene. Despite not even reaching the 100th Plateau, you managed to turn into some sort of hero for children and a role model for the rest.”

Rakna huffed in amusement. “Is that so?”

“Yep. And, even better,” she smirked. “Did you know you have a fan club now?”

“…excuse me?”

“You heard me right. Plenty of ladies have a crush on you and formed a club to spread their faith to the world,” she replied whilst waving her finger.

“…I don’t like the way you said ‘spread their faith’. And which ‘me’ are you talking about?”

“Well, your actual identity, of course. But…” She paused. “Well, you have a point. I believe Obsidian has a following as well. Even the fake twin brother you made, Karna, has one. Even if you only got to appear once on the news like that. You are quite a topic on social media.”

Rakna twitched. “I never thought I’d ever hear the words ‘social media’ again.”

“Hahaha, well, deal with it, Rara. They’re everywhere. Maybe you should make an account?”

“Hard pass.”

She giggled and looked around. “By the way, is the lioness not with you today? She’s usually stuck on your head or something.”

“Higure’s outside going through her evolution with Tyran. Pronos’ watching over them. It seems that Wilden cannot evolve the same way that Pets like Pronos, who came to the System together with Hosts, can. But they do have an extra feature to their Ascents.”

“That’s true,” Kara nodded. “But why do you sound so sullen about it?”

“…” Rakna stared at her with a scowl. “Really?”

She tilted her head at first but then realized something. “Oh! I see. You know that she will probably unlock her human form. Oh my, Rara, are you nervous?” She asked with a smirk.

“Let’s say that I’m coming up with contingency plans in case I’m assaulted,” he deadpanned.

“Hmm, but then that means, I have you all for myself right now?”

Rakna froze as he was reaching for one of the extra Prima Shards to store it. He mechanically looked at the vixen and his eyebrow twitched. “…Natsu’s here--”

“I’ll be seeing myself off, My Lord. Good luck,” the Celestial Blaze cut him off as he withdrew behind the closing doors of the elevator. The training grounds promptly fell silent, with only the sound of the elevator cage going up gradually fading away.

“That little…” Rakna muttered under his breath and Kara grinned widely.

“Now, now, what shall we do?”

“…”

“{If that makes you feel better, I will retreat in your soul once you two start to get steamy. I highly value others’ privacy,}” Fray stated very unhelpfully and Rakna really wished he could punch his face right then and there.