Chapter Eighty-Three: Forging Weapons

The reason he performed the process so slowly was to let Blackfeather see it clearly.

"Concentrate all your magic power on a single point and unleash it in an instant—like this."

He cast a wind spiral into the distance. With a sharp buzzing sound that split the air, the wind spiral first pierced through the wind barrier, then, without losing momentum, tore through the outer shield and continued flying even farther away.

"Oh..." Blackfeather stared, dumbfounded. He seemed to understand now: an attack focused on a single point was far more powerful than one that looked impressive but scattered energy wastefully.

After the wind shield and barrier were torn open, they quickly flowed and gathered together again.

"I want to try once more," he said.

Cloudmist nodded and stepped aside.

"If you wish to concentrate your power into a single point, the best way is with a Mana Slash."

Once again, he gathered all his strength, channeling it to the tip of his staff. This time, he didn’t rush to swing. Instead, he tried to condense and compress the power. Soon, he felt an explosive force building at the staff’s tip, ready to burst forth uncontrollably.

"Mana Slash!"

The strike was so swift that its trajectory after leaving the staff was invisible. Ten yards away, a horizontal flash landed upon the wind barrier, slicing a gap straight through its center. In an instant, the gap closed, the lingering force of the Mana Slash dispersing to both sides.

"Just so," said Cloudmist. "It seems you’ve grasped the technique. However, the force is still not strong enough, nor is the power perfectly concentrated. Imagine—if you could focus all the power of your Dark Storm into a single point, what would happen?"

Blackfeather was taken aback. "Concentrate the power of a Dark Storm on a single point?!"

He had never considered this before.

The Dark Storm was a sustained, wide-range attack spell. If all its power were gathered into a single point and unleashed in an instant, the resulting force… was unimaginable!

He also understood now the true terror of Cloudmist’s Wind Blade Slash. Though it appeared simple and unremarkable, it must have compressed an unimaginable amount of power.

"Very well, let me try."

Now with a clear goal, he gathered the dark energy within his body in a more controlled manner.

Closing his eyes and calming his mind, he drew in the energy that had drifted outside of him, feeling it circulate through his body. The black mist that had been rising from his shoulders faded, flowing steadily toward his arms.

As the Dark Storm was about to erupt, the pressure inside him surged. But he continued to quietly accumulate and condense it, channeling all of it to a single point at the tip of his staff, not letting a trace leak out, until a dazzling flash burst forth.

Now!

At that moment, Blackfeather opened his eyes. A streak of black light, faster, brighter, and purer than before, shot from his hand. It reached the wind barrier in a heartbeat. Like slicing through a flowing waterfall, the instant the Mana Slash passed, the wind above and below stilled—the barrier was split in two, and the Mana Slash sped off into the distance.

"I did it!"

"Very good, very good," Cloudmist applauded.

Though the severed barrier instantly closed again, and the Mana Slash vanished upon striking the shield behind, the result was clear.

"If I’d been standing behind that barrier, I’d have had no way to dodge that strike. It seems you’ve learned the essentials. Practice as much as you can in the next few days."

"Thank you, Teacher!"

Blackfeather expressed his gratitude sincerely. Then, scratching his head, he asked, "Teacher… when will I be able to split a mountain?"

Cloudmist chuckled. "It’s not difficult to split a mountain—just requires enough magic power. But such feats are flashy and meaningless. On a real battlefield, especially against an enemy a hundred times stronger than yourself, you’ll come to understand that combat skill is what matters most. While you’re still at the Academy, accumulate all the experience you can."

"I understand, Teacher. I’ll practice diligently!"

The restoration of the Great Wall was soon completed, and the demons were driven far from the Red Earth Desert. Blackfeather, Yi Xin, and the others remained at a camp near the Wall for several more days.

The warriors of the Dragonkin and the Luminous Elves did not leave until the Wall was fully restored. The teachers from the Academy of Magic were also preparing to depart.

One day, Lord Chiyan and Lin Aohun returned from the eastern side of the Wall with their guard company—an impressive, triumphant procession.

Lin Aohun’s first action upon his return was to seek out Blackfeather. In the depths of the dark forest by the camp were scattered villages, known as the Villages of the Wicked. As the name suggested, those who had been banished from all continents for unforgivable crimes found refuge here. The two of them picked a random blacksmith’s shop and walked in.

Lin Aohun kicked over a frail blacksmith by the door and shouted, "Clear out, this place is being requisitioned!"

The man tumbled across the ground, trembling as he saw Lin Aohun’s silver armor, crimson cloak, and the bloodstained hammer. He realized this was one of the Wall’s guards—someone not to be provoked.

"Yes… yes… we’ll leave immediately…"

The blacksmiths inside slunk out in embarrassment. Before the wicked, the "righteous" sometimes looked more like bullies.

"Wait!" Lin Aohun grabbed one blacksmith by the collar and tossed him back inside. "Leave someone quick-handed to help us out."

"Blackfeather, my friend," he turned and beamed, his fierce manner melting into joy, "I’ve got all the materials ready to forge your weapon!"

Blackfeather broke out in a cold sweat.

Lin Aohun slung a heavy pack onto a workbench by the door and tipped it out with a clatter: demon bat wing bones, sea serpent scales, giant mantis claws, desert scorpion stingers… a jumble of materials, along with several large chunks of metallic ore.

Though the shop was rudimentary, it had all the essential tools. Weapons and forging implements of every kind hung on the walls, along with molds for enchanting.

Lin Aohun began by smelting the dark metallic ores in the furnace and explained, "These might look ordinary, but I found them at the mouth of an abandoned mine deep in the desert. They contain traces of dark magic crystal."

"Dark magic crystal?" Blackfeather had heard of it—an almost extinct, rare material on the continent, imbued with potent dark power. Had it been pure ore, its force could destroy the world—if only it could still be found.

"There are mines deep in the desert? Was this land inhabited in ancient times?"

"That I can’t say. Hand me your staff—we’ll use it as the base for forging."