Chapter 429
CHAPTER 429
THEORY OF THE CRAFT (III)
Though the spacious smithy exuded glamour and grace of the many-a-busy soul, there was also sothing rather strange and dubious about it as, ever so often, everyone would glance toward the far-end wall, slanting their eyes montarily before returning to their work . The reason being that, just a few minutes ago, Lord Lyonel, Master Eggor and Master Primul ran through a vortex while Lady Valkyria chased after them, screaming .
The scene left everyone in the smithy befuddled for a few minutes, yet also extrely excited right after . It would seem that the trio had robbed the entire fortress of its most precious materials because they wanted to craft sothing, much to Lady Val’s anger and frustration . She stood in front of the vortex for a good minute, fuming, before angrily walking back through the smithy, cursing them out .
Even if many inside the smithy lanted the loss of the most precious materials, so of which are actually above Level 50,000, they were equally, if not more, excited over the end-product as two of the best smiths in the fortress, as well as Primul, a newcor who seed to know every array that there ever was and more, were combining their talents to craft sothing grand – a weapon for Lady Alison, which is the sole reason it seed that Lady Val didn’t storm into the dinsional pocket and beat them black and blue before taking back the materials .
anwhile, inside the dinsional pocket, Lino, Eggor and Primul were standing around a massive table laden with items that would all, even individually, give them jitters, to say nothing of nearly a hundred of them at the sa ti .
"... did-did you know we had such a massive collection?" Lino mumbled absentmindedly .
"Like hell I did," Eggor replied in a low growl . "How in the hell..."
"That’s the stalk of a [Void Fruit], right?" Primul mumbled . "That’s a freaking stalk of a goddamn [Void Fruit]..."
"I an," Lino said, carefully picking up one of the items . "I knew Titus had donated so materials, and that our shops have collected quite a few, but I thought they were at best so semi-rare materials, you know? Fuck, aren’t we wasting too much by shoving them all into a single weapon?!! I could craft myself an entire fucking unmatched arsenal with this shit!"
"What happened to exploration and research?" Eggor asked, though sowhat swayed himself .
"—ugh, fuck and my curious mind," Lino grumbled, shaking his head . "Fine, whatever . If not the strongest, we’ll probably have the most expensive weapon ever created in the history of the world . We can show it to others and cause them to die of a heart attack . "
"—not gonna lie," Primul mumbled . "My heart is bleeding right now..."
"... alright, wake up," Lino took a deep breath and slapped them lightly across the backs of their heads, jolting them awake . "Just think of it as giving a cute, kind girl a birthday present . "
"Yeah, because that makes it better . "
"God, you’re a bona fide moron . " Eggor rolled his eyes, though also recovered from the lant . "But, fine . Let’s get at it . I’ll have to use [Thundering Flas] to lt most of the ores, so I’ll need your help to control them . anwhile, Primul can slowly extract them and do his best not to lt alive . "
"Oi, you just said sothing really dangerous there," Lino quickly spoke out, narrowing his eyes . "What do you an lt alive?"
"He ans that the flas are probably so hot they’ll lt my skin off since, you know, I’m a mortal and all," Primul chid in . "How the hell do you expect to extract the tal from the ores then?!"
"Alright, new plan – Lino will help control the fla and extract the tals . "
"Vy can do it," Lino said, pointing at the silent creature looking through the items on the table with faint interest . "As a matter of fact, can’t you just lt them all and extract tals within seconds?"
"Yeah," Vy nodded . "But I ain’t gonna . "
"The hell you won’t," Lino snapped . "You do nothing – fuckin’ nothing! You don’t fight with , you don’t help , you don’t give shit – you’re not a fucking pet, you’re a pest I’m stuck with!"
"Oi, screw you lad! What do you an I don’t help you?! I help you all the ti!"
"Na one ti!"
"—rember that ti you were fighting the Descent and I told you ’You can do it ba—Lino!’"
"Oh, suck it! Either you help us with this, or... or..."
"... or what?"
"—or I’ll summon back Non and let him into the pocket with you . "
"Alright, so all these ores, right?" Vy quickly changed the tune, picking up all the ores on the table much to Eggor’s and Primul’s shock .
"... uh... who’s Non?" Eggor asked Lino .
"My dog . " Lino replied, shrugging his shoulders .
"... a Dragon... is afraid of a dog?" Primul mused, smirking .
"Fuck you!! That’s not a dog!!" Vy scread out . "I fear no dog!! But... that thing... that thing fuckin’ terrifies !!"
"..." Primul and Eggor went silent imdiately, withdrawing, while Lino rely cracked a faint grin before shuddering . Indeed... that thing was no dog, most certainly .
While Vy busied himself with the ores and trying to wipe the horrifying images Lino had showed him from his mind, Primul and Eggor withdrew to their desks, forr continuing to write down the arrays and the latter finishing up the design . Lino busied himself with sorting the rest of the materials and processing a few that rely required basic extraction or shedding, or were binding components .
The makeshift smithy fell into the sullen silence, only whirls of fla echoing out from Vy, and occasional frustrated groan from Eggor who repeatedly crumpled pieces of paper and threw them aside .
After sorting through the materials, Lino walked over to him and glanced at the parchnt – at its center, a well-detailed drawing of a sword stood out, surrounded by the breakdown of its components, where certain materials would go, how would he bind the variety of tals into one, which binders would he use, and a plethora of other things that caused Lino’s mind to start spinning .
Though he also drew detailed designs, he never paid much attention to anything past the basic concept – he almost always decided to wing it when it ca to binding, the number of materials, and virtually everything past the general design and usage .
"—what’s the hold-up?" Lino asked, pulling out a chair and sitting next to him . Eggor glanced at him and sighed, pushing the parchnt in front of Lino .
"No matter which quantity I choose, based on my calculations, the blade of the sword would actually be severely weak, especially in terms of a direct clash . Using your [Dragon Slayer] as a asure, if you struck at this design three tis in a row with all your strength, you’d actually break it . "
"... why?" Lino frowned, looking through . "Even if it’s on the lighter side unlike the Slayer, it shouldn’t be that weak . Is there a contradiction in the materials that you can’t reconcile? If so, why not just ask Primul for an array for it?"
"Array would rely be a temporary patch as it’s not used to exemplify the strength, but rather shorten up the weakness," Eggor explained . "The problem is that I can’t locate the error . Nothing on the surface seems to clash, and even a deeper look tells , well, nothing, since I haven’t used most of these materials before, and certainly not together . "
"... you’re worrying too much," Lino chuckled faintly, slapping his back . "Draw up the general design, locations for array pathways, and just the general notion of the materials . "
"... wait . " Eggor frowned, grabbing Lino’s arm and holding him back . "Is that how you craft items?"
"... m-maybe...?" Lino mumbled ekly under Eggor’s darkened gaze .
"... we’ll have a long talk after we’re done with this . "
"I’d rather not though . "
"It’s not your choice, boy . "
"Yes, pops . Whatever you say . "
"Go help Primul with arrays," Eggor said . "For so ungodly reason, you seem to be talented in blending them together . "
"... yes . " Lino nodded ekly and quickly darted over to Primul who barely held himself back from bursting into laughter . "Shut up . That bastard terrorized when I was young, and now I’ve got all sorts of phobias of him . "
"Hey, I didn’t say anything . " Primul said, helplessly shrugging .
"... oh shut up," Lino grumbled, rolling his eyes . "How go the arrays?"
"I’m almost done with jotting them all," Primul said, pointing at the massive stack of papers on the other end of the desk, causing Lino to nearly choke on his saliva . "I’m having so trouble rembering a few of the Masterwork-tier ones, but other than that it’s fine . "
"... uh, quick question . How many arrays did you jot down?"
"A few thousand, I think . "
"..."
"What?"
"Goddammit," Lino sighed in defeat, plumting his head against the table . "How can I ever build up my confidence if I keep surrounding myself with people who are clearly about a billion tis smarter and more talented than ?!"
"... you can’t?"
"Yeah, yeah, shut it . " sighing once more, he sat up and reached his hand out . "Hand a stack of the Distinguished-tier ones . I’ll slowly start going through them and blending . After you’re done jotting them all, go through the Perfect ones and do the sa . "
"... don’t be so hard on yourself," Primul said with an encouraging smile . "You’re barely in your forties yet you can already work with Distinguished-tier arrays . Why compare yourself to current ? I’m old . Like really old . I’ve had a lot of ti to rember them . "
"... it’s simple," Lino smiled faintly, taking the stacks and putting them in front of him . "If you want to succeed in sothing, find the best one in the field and make it your goal to surpass him no matter what . If I settle on the ’oh I’m good enough for how long I’ve been at it’, I’ll inevitably grow content, which generally marks the end of the progression . Don’t worry about . If anything, I enjoy the challenge . "
"... oh to be preached the truths of life by a child... how far down have I fallen?" Primul exclaid flamboyantly, causing Lino to laugh .
"If you don’t try harder, you’ll fall even further . I’m coming for your ass, old man . "
"... don’t you already have a wife? What? Ass is off the limits for her?"
"Oh, look who finally picked up a sense of humor," Lino fired back . "I thought it died alongside your looks . "
"... work through your stacks and shut up . "
"Aye, aye..."
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