Yusa was explaining Ao the offer she'd received from Halie. Hearing that made him start to ponder.
"Well, there is no doubt this is a good chance. But you saw just now that was the leader of the Carnage Team, the one ranked first in the Sky Rank System. Even so, I couldn't help but think how weak he was. Of course, Yule Continent is seen as the weakest continent, so the competitors in the rcenary Selection and the Martial Gathering after it are bound to be much stronger. But even so, for you who have a strength similar to mine, I still think you should aim at the Divine Path Sect first."
Yusa nodded. That's what she was thinking too. Ao then comnted:
" If that Six-Star Runestones Formations Master really wants you as a disciple, I doubt he will change his mind in just three months both competitions take place."
"Do You think so?"
Ao nodded.
"I refuse to believe he will find soone as good as you anyti soon. Who out there can match the power of the Spiritual Energy ridians? They are the main reason why he got so impressed."
Yusa took a deep breath and nodded.
Later that night, she gathered with Shinja and Krune and told them her plans. Krune heard that and simply said:
"Isn't that good? Having a backup plan when things don't go the way you planned to. That's the right way to go."
Shinja also nodded.
"I concur, you don't know if you have enough strength to enter the top 10 of the rcenary Gathering. The sa goes for Ao and even Krune, and let's say that only Krune and I go to the Divine Path Sect entrance exam. and if we both failed, we would co back after that anyway."
She said that she doesn't believe the Divine Path Sect would give up on Krune once they find that he has an Elental Core. Even if he failed the exam, they would still take him in. But she didn't say those words not to make things difficult for Yusa.
"Then I will do that! Besides, who knows, I might really enter the sect."
She then just laughed.
Everyone went back to their own things after that.
There was only one day remaining before they departed for the rcenary Selection. That day, Krune went back to the Blacksmith Hall to take the exam. He wanted to know if he could beco at least a One Star Blacksmith, already.
Marcus was the examiner at that ti around. He was the one who had told Krune he could do the Blacksmith Exam in the Hall, so he wanted to see how much he'd improved in just six days.
"Very well! Your job is to forger a simple Divine Imprint. The materials are all on the table. Although it takes so ti until you to forge a Divine Imprint good enough to resist the forging process without changing, a simple one should be easy to accomplish."
Krune nodded. If it were just a basic Divine Imprint, he was confident that he could forger one.
Divine Imprints could be forged through the use of blood and Divine Sense. As for the materials, in fact, as long as it were good enough to resist the battle of the cultivator specific level, that was good enough. So Krune used one of the common materials available, Spiritual Iron, a type of tal that could be found almost in any Blacksmith store.
'To forge the Divine Imprint, I will have to fuse so of my own blood inside the ore without losing the blood or the tal characteristics. My blood will be the container which will keep my Divine Sense inside, while the iron will be the protection.'
Krune started straight away. With the help of the equipnt in the exam room, he could check the Iron temperature all the ti, using his own spiritual energy to manipulate the fire elent. The Iron temperature slowly increased. The trick was to protect the blood with their spiritual energy so that the hot iron wouldn't destroy it. For Krune. Who has the All-Encompassing Soul Technique and the Spiritual Energy ridians, it was a too easy way.
After the right temperature was achieved, he started hamring it while applying a few drops of his blood. Divine Imprints aren't anything big. In fact, they are very small. Even the hamr used to mold it was a lot smaller than normal hamrs. All to precisely control the Divine Imprint creation.
Marcus was looking at the process and was really impressed. Krune's control over the fire elent far exceeded his expectations. He was even using wind elent at the sa ti to increase the effectiveness of the fire elent without damaging the blood properties.
'This is far above what a One Star Blacksmith can do. If he finishes this Divine Imprint like this, it won't be a problem to give him a Two- Star Blacksmith Badge straight away.'
Ti passed, and slowly the Spiritual Iron took the form of a circle. Its color also changed. One could see that it was sowhat blood- red now. But Krune noticed one thing when he used his Divine Sense to check the fusion of the blood and the iron. He could see that although they are fused together now, their properties aren't exactly the sa. If he wanted, he could use his powerful Divine Sense and Spiritual Energy ridians elent control to forcefully match each other.
'I see! It is because blood also has iron in its composition. No wonder they use blood to keep the owners' Divine Sense. Let's give it a try!'
Krune stopped hamring at this point. The Divine Imprint had already taken the desired form. So he started infusing his Divine Sense into his blood, and, at the sa ti, match the two tal properties together. Fortunately, both tals are iron, so it was a lot easier than he thought.
As soon as Krune started to match the properties of the blood iron and the spiritual iron, Marcus's jaw almost dropped on the floor.
'I see! I spent all night forging and haven't take a break yet. I'm hallucinating now, yes, that must be it!'
He took a deep breath, used his spiritual energy to clear his mind, and only then took a look inside the Divine Imprint with his Divine Sense again. But nothing changed, Krune was still matching the two irons properties, and it won't be long before he finishes.
'Impossible! This isn't a thing you can do with elents alone. He would need to have a Divine Sense that matches an early stage Core Formation Realm. But he is obviously at the 7th stage of the Foundation Establishnt!'
Krune had no idea about what Marcus was thinking. He just wanted the One-Star blacksmith badge for now. After the rcenary Selection, he will focus even more on his blacksmithing and try to get to the level of a Three-Star before the Martial Gathering. With so luck, he might be able to finish his Hexagonal Flying Shields before it starts.
A few minutes later, Krune finally finished the process. He then cooled down the Divine Imprint and passed it over to Marcus to check how it was. He was pretty confident he would get his One- Star badge today.
Marcus looked at the Divine Imprint on his hands and took a deep breath. He knew Krune wasn't a blacksmith. He really started to practice it six days ago. He turned to Krune and asked:
"How did you know that the Spiritual Iron and the iron in the blood properties could be matched?"
Krune answered straight away.
"I didn't. But when I was getting close to the end, I noticed I could forcefully match them during the fusion process using my control over the fire elent and my Divine Sense to check the process. I didn't know whether it was a good idea, but it seed the right thing to do at that ti, so I did it."
Marcus heard that but couldn't believe it. The study materials given for new contestants don't include the properties of blood and tal matching process. It should be sothing you can only do after your Divine Sense is strong enough to perceive those properties inside the tals. Usually, it would only happen once you enter the Core Formation Realm to have a Divine Sense as strong as a Core Formation Realm cultivator while still in the Foundation Establishnt. Just what kind of monster did he find?
"Your exam is over. You did a great job with the Divine Imprint! In fact, the properties matching process should be sothing only Four-Star Blacksmiths at the Core Formation Realm can do. Although you really did that while using one of the easiest tals, you haven't forged any weapon or armor yet. So I can't be sure you really achieved that level. So, for now, I will give you a Three-Star Badge."
Krune didn't mind at all. In fact, he was ecstatic. It ans that he, at least, has the ability to make a Divine Imprint good enough to resist the forging process of his shields without suffering any changes.
"I will be leaving for the rcenary Selection tomorrow. Do you think my Hexagonal Flying Shields could be completed before that?"
Marcus shook his head.
"Although they aren't hard to make at my level, it would still take so ti. Thirty-eight shields would need at least one week for to finish. So you might as well ask soone else later. It will be good if you have all 38 forged for the sa person as well."
Marcus pondered a bit and then said.
"The rcenary Selection will take place inside a danger zone, so there won't be any blacksmiths there. But, after it is over, the contestants of the Yule Continent will co back here first before leaving to do their own things. At that ti, you could co back, and we could work on it together."
Krune heard that and nodded his head.
"This is good for too, I will pass by when I'm back."
Marcus nodded and brought Krune to the office where he could get his badge. Since the examination had a Five-Star Blacksmith overseeing, there was no need to contact the Blacksmith Headquarters in the Yule continent. In just thirty minutes, Krune's badge was done. After getting it, he went back to his room. He wanted to take so rest before their departure the next day.
After seeing Krune off, Marcus was back into the Blacksmith Hall. He went directly inside the office of the Six-Star Blacksmith, the place's supervisor, Jorge Lanil.
Noticing Marcus entering his office, Jorge stopped what he was doing and asked:
"Is he gone now?"
Marcus nodded.
"I just saw him off. I gave him a Three-Star Badge just like you said."
Jorge nodded.
"That is good enough. According to what I know, he is a Four-Star Alchemist as well as Formations Master. Now, he showed enough talent for us to give a Four-Star badge as well, but I can't do that."
Marcus couldn't help but ask why.
"Because I believe he can beco one as long as he wants, he can co back and practice so ti more and apply for a Four-Star test. If he doesn't do that, it ans he doesn't want to be a Blacksmith to start. You told him it was because he hasn't forger a weapon or armor to that level yet, right?"
Marcus nodded.
"But, in the end, he didn't ask you to give him a chance to forge them. He only wants to be able to make a Divine Imprint at the right level and have soone forging the equipnt. In that case, there is no need to give him a Four-Star Badge."
Marcus then asked.
"But isn't it bad to let such talent go like that?"
Jorge heard that and laughed.
"No problem at all! He will probably want to make sothing himself in the future; at that ti, he will co back to forge. I'm looking forward to what he will do when he really puts his mind on that."
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