Ray began.
Three crisp rings rang throughout the room as he lightly tapped the tal with his hamr, breaking the silence.
Power pooled at Ray's feet and ran up his spine, surging into his arm then his wrist. Ray twisted his body, the air whistling past as he simultaneously swung his two hamrs in an explosive strike.
Two booms thundered out, the sound loud enough that the entire room and glass window panes trembled.
My god! Is he forging or is he trying to smash apart that table?
Harold's eyes flashed in surprise as he felt his body resonate with Ray's strike. He then frowned, quickly releasing a strange aura to dispel the sensation.
Ray whirled around, using the montum of the rebounding force of the hamrs to attack the heavy silver with greater ferocity than before.
The room reverberated with the resulting blasts of sound. If one listened carefully though, one could hear quieter, fragnted rumbles.
The thunderous booms and subdued rumbles slowly fused together into a fantastical rhythm, every beat of his strikes wild and deafening. Still, it made everyone's blood race and their fingers twitch.
Ray continued to rain his hamrs down on the tal, each swing powered by his full strength. The heavy silver began to shrink under his furious tempest, slowly revealing minute transformations that began to shine with a muted brilliance.
Harold knitted his brows, turning to Seraphina as he asked, "Have you ever seen forging like this? I don't seem to rember blacksmiths doing it this way."
Seraphina was similarly bewildered. "I agree, that's definitely not a normal forging technique, but it does seem familiar. I think I recognize it. Though it looks wild, it has a delicate rhythm to it. Do you hear it? This brat's hamrs aren't bad. They have the rare stacked hamrs effect, and he can actually fully control them. He's definitely a third-rank blacksmith at the very least. The Blacksmith's Association has done well to hide a thirteen-year-old third-rank blacksmith like him!"
Harold smiled, his eyes curving upward with satisfaction. "As expected of my granddisciple."
Seraphina rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, yeah, he's your granddisciple. Just don't fight with over that girl."
He snorted in response. "She's also my granddisciple. Seeing how your relationship with her is already so strained, I don't think she'd be willing to accept you as her master. You know the saying, when the heavens bring calamity, there is a chance of forgiveness, but when one has sinned, there is no escaping punishnt."
Ray's hamrs flew faster and faster even as the two spoke, whirling like a tornado as he hamred the heavy silver without end. The tal shrunk rapidly under his assault, its vein lines becoming more distinct while the booming sounds turned into sharp rings, a clear sign of the tal transforming on a fundantal level.
The three Central Academy elders were powerful individuals, but none were blacksmiths. If Nigel was present, he would be thoroughly speechless.
Ray had hundred refined the heavy silver in ten strikes. His hamrs continued to gain montum with every strike until soon, the forty-eighth strike fell.
A blast tore through the air, quickly followed by a soaring pillar of silver light.
Everyone present could hear the heavy silver cheer as the light flew up like a roaring dragon.
Ray's arms finally stopped. His eyes flashed purple, two purple soul rings rising from underneath him.
"He thousand refined it with spirit! It's first-grade thousand refined!" Benedict finally broke his silence, his eyes filled with shock.
Neither Harold nor Seraphina were blacksmiths, but as powerful experts, they had a rudintary understanding of blacksmithing and were similarly dumbstruck.
A fourth-rank blacksmith had to second-grade thousand refine a tal, but this heavy silver possessed spirit and was first-grade thousand refined! This ant Ray was at the peak of the fourth rank! This was a far more shocking than his combat prowess or his leadership skills. There wasn't no better word to describe him than a 'monster'. In fact, he was a monster that surpassed all other monsters!
Purple light shot from Ray's eyes as he stepped to one side of the tal. He tapped it lightly. A crisp, tinkling sound rang through the air.
As if resonating, the heavy silver sang in response.
A far different scene then played out. Ray began circling around the tal, tapping it lightly. Each knock carried a spark of white light, as he had imbued soul power into his hamrs.
anwhile, Silverfalls Vine wrapped the scorching hot tal. The strands shriveled, burning under the tal's heat. Still, not once did Ray's expression waver. He continued to circle the tal while gently tapping it.
"You two have made a ss of things," Benedict sighed as he glanced at Harold.
Harold looked over. "What do you an?"
Benedict shook his head and explained solemnly, "I dare say that this kid is the greatest blacksmithing genius in the history of the world. At the tender age of thirteen, he's already at the peak of the fourth rank. This is simply unheard of! But, this kid is actually trying to spirit refine! Spirit refining is far different from thousand refining as one has to infuse life into the tal using one's martial soul as the bridge. When tal has spirit, it's nothing more than first-grade thousand refined. But, if it has both spirit and life, then things are completely different. This is impossible to accomplish unless the blacksmith has enough soul power.
"Usually, blacksmiths don't even entertain the idea of spirit refining before they have four soul rings. Even then, the chances of failing are high. Every spirit refining is a major ordeal for blacksmiths as they must harmonize soul power, life force, and tal together, and this process is taxing on the mind. This child only has two spirit rings. He isn't ready to even attempt to spirit refine! If he fails, he'll face a major backlash that may be impossible to recover from." Benedict groaned. "You two really have done it now. If this destroys his future as a blacksmith, you will face Caius's wrath."
Harold began to panic. "Can we still stop him?"
Benedict shook his head helplessly. "We can't, he has already begun connecting his life force with the tal. Any disturbances while he guides life into the tal will harm him, and he might even die. All we can do now is pray this child's failure won't be the end of his life as a blacksmith."
Harold spun to glare at Seraphina. "This is all your fault!"
She, however, didn't take it lying down. "Why didn't you stop then? How was I supposed to know blacksmiths are so strange, or that this brat is such a monster that can try for fifth-rank right now?"
Ray was oblivious to the discussions of these three elders, imrsed in his own world.
tal gains a spark of intelligence from spirit after being thousand refined, and it was the martial soul's job to fan it, bridging the gap between it and life.
The heart as the hamr, the martial soul as the guide, their minds beco one in ten thousand refinents of life. This was Spirit Refinent.
The difference between spirit and thousand refining was as great as night and day, much like the power of a one-word battle armor versus a two-word's.
Once spirit refined, the tal sublimated to another level. It was for this reason that fifth-rank blacksmiths were rarer and no weaker cha craftsn or designers of the sa rank.
To break through the fifth rank, Ray only needed to successfully spirit refine once. This was considered a major milestone for any blacksmith.
Three years ago, Gilbert had attempted this, and though he succeeded, it ca with a price. Unknown to Ray, the man had sustained several injuries as a result and could not endure more advanced forging requests from then on.
Nigel would never have permitted Ray to spirit refine if he were present. For this process, the demands placed on the blacksmith's mind were imnse. It could be dangerous for a soul master at Ray's level..
Fortunately, Ray was no ordinary blacksmith.
Compared to his peers, his spiritual power towered over the rest at over two hundred points. With this, he could keep a clear mind as he poured his heart and soul into forging.
Imrsed in his connection with the heavy silver, he could feel its joy and timidness. It was afraid of taking the next step, but Ray coaxed it along.
One step to the heavens! Ten thousand refinents of life!
The ten thousand refinents of life was to continuously connect with the tal. Each tap preserved the spirit of the tal, pouring soul power into it to obtain life.
Cultivating intelligence in tal was similar to that of soul beast. For soul beasts, there was a slight difference in intelligence between a ten-year soul beast and a normal animal. However, a soul beast's intelligence skyrocketed once it reached the thousand-year level, until breaching the ten-thousand year mark. At that point, its intelligence rivaled a human's. From there, it accumulated wisdom until it reached the ten-thousand-year level where it was no less intelligent than a human.
Higher leveled soul beasts weren't stronger just because of their energy growing, but also due to their increase in intellect.
tal was no different. The greater its spirit, the closer the tal was to obtaining its own ego and changing on a fundantal level.
Oddly, under Ray's gentle taps, the heavy silver trembled. Each tap coaxed a burst of light, a pattern of a whirling cloud pushing its way into existence on the tal's surface. As its bulk shrunk, the silver grew brighter and brighter.
This signified a successful spiritual connection between Ray and the heavy silver, hinting at a smooth process until the end.
Now it was a matter of maintaining this connection and leading the heavy silver to transform and complete its refinent.
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