It was approximately 9 AM the next day when Bai Zemin finally finished his main weapon.
His expression was serious while his breathing was slightly agitated after so many hours of continuous work, coupled with the excitement of having seen the records of the greatsword before him, caused the normally calm Bai Zemin who only lost his cool at extravagant treasures at the level of the small blue flame still burning mischievously in the furnace to not know how to react.
The greatsword before him had been crafted using the precious Rank 2 metal called Lapiodite as its main material. However, instead of being completely black, the blade of the greatsword was scarlet just like the previous greatsword he had forged in the past. This was because Bai Zemin had melted the bones of the Second Order goblin named Geminder and then poured over the hot metal; when both materials cooled, not only had the blade turned completely scarlet but even the previously purple lightning had now turned bright red.
The bright red lightning flashes were like little children playing hide-and-seek since most of the time they were hidden inside the blade of the weapon. However, when they surfaced to show themselves to the world, the magical power was high to the point where the surroundings trembled slightly as proof that the current world had difficulty resisting the full power of the greatsword.
Aside from several Lapiodite fragments, the bones of Geminder, the scales used to create the greatsword had been melted back together and integrated as a cover for the blade. In addition, Bai Zemin had added two large fangs of the Infernal Scaled Dragon to the tip of the blade, which gave the weapon a significantly more dangerous appearance than before.
At a length of 1.70 meters, the new greatsword was considerably similar in shape to Bai Zemin's Blazing Scale Greatsword before he decided to melt it. The most noticeable difference would be that just below the hilt there was a hole waiting to be filled by something.
"Now all that's missing is this... A beautiful jewel!" Bai Zemin exclaimed as he pulled out a Soul Stone.
But this wasn't just any Soul Stone.... It was a Second Order Soul Stone!
Bai Zemin only had two of these priceless Second Order Soul Stones and he treated both of them as national treasures. Under normal circumstances he would definitely not dare nor would he be willing to use them, however, the weapon before him warranted such an investment.
The greatsword before Bai Zemin weighed so much that the ground had cracked and when he tried to lift it earlier he realized that even with his current Strength he could only wield the weapon for a maximum of 30 minutes before his Stamina was completely drained; that's how heavy it was.
He estimated the overall weight of the weapon to be approximately 6 or 7 tons, which was a tremendous increase compared to the greatsword he used before. This sharp increase in weight was due to the fact that not only did Bai Zemin use more materials but by using several Lapiodite fragments, the weight of the weapon increased dramatically as these metals added their own weight x2 with the Earth's gravity as the focus for each fragment used.
He had put all his heart and care into creating the weapon before him. Therefore, since he had already come this far and only lacked one more object to complete the creation, he was willing to take the risk involved in what he was about to do.
With great care on the level of care that a person would treat a small newborn baby, Bai Zemin gently pushed Geminder's Soul Stone and placed it into the hole between the hilt and the blade. This was the most valuable Soul Stone in Bai Zemin's possession, even more valuable than the Soul Stone of the Archaic Bear Second Order since Geminder was of a far higher level than the Archaic Bear and thus the Soul Stone was far more valuable despite belonging to the same rank.
This was the first time he had worked with a Second Order Soul Stone, however, it was not the first time he had conducted some magical forging.
Bai Zemin felt the Soul Stone begin to glow and he immediately used every ounce of his Mana and every drop of his Magic, surrounding that bright light. The energy contained within a Second Order Soul Stone was immeasurable and unmatchable in comparison to an Unclassified or First Order Soul Stone. Bai Zemin felt his Mana drain rapidly as the wild energy fiercely struck the walls of Mana he used to surround it.
Bai Zemin gritted his teeth and shouted, "Whether by hook or by crook, you're going in there!"
With a single thought, his Mana was completely drained and his face immediately turned sickly pale. Bai Zemin almost fell over as his eyes rolled for a moment at the abrupt loss of such a large sum of Mana. However, he knew in his heart that one slip up now meant not only failure but also the loss of the Second Order Soul Stone.
With sheer force of will, he pushed the Mana that had just left his body using his Magic and forced the energy of the Soul Stone that was trying to escape back to where it came from and then made the energy begin to surround the body of the greatsword.
Flash!
The Soul Stone flashed and the greatsword shimmered a moment later, then, everything went back to normal.
"Do...ne..." Bai Zemin took several steps back with a bloodless face before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his mind went blank.
Just before he collapsed to the ground and passed out, several messages flashed across his retina.
---------------------------------
['Crimson Thunder Dragon's Last Words' has been successfully created.]
[Skill First Order Blacksmithing level 3 has been forcibly leveled up after surpassing the necessary requirements.]
[First Order Blacksmithing level 3 ---------------> First Order Blacksmithing level 5.]
[The chance to forge Rank 1 equipment is increased to 90% and the chance to forge Rank 2 equipment is increased by 10%.]
---------------------------------
Beyond that, Bai Zemin does not know what happened as his mind fell into a deep sleep while his soul recovered the lost Mana by absorbing energy from the world.
( Author's Note: No, don't forget to show the stats of the greatsword. It will be revealed much later c: )
* * *
When Bai Zemin opened his eyes again, he had no idea if it had been only a couple of hours, days, weeks, months, or years. All he knew was that the day was about to end as the sun was slowly setting on the distant horizon.
"Phew..." Bai Zemin slowly sat up and found himself in his own room inside his villa.
His face had mostly regained its color but his lips were still slightly pale as proof that his Mana had not yet fully recovered. After all, Bai Zemin's Mana was simply too large to recover so quickly. The greater the Mana of an existence, the lower the chances of consuming it all and the longer one could maintain activated skills as well as the greater the number of skills one could use in combat at the same time, consequently, however, the longer the time required to recover and replenish the Mana reserves.
At least this served to confirm that it had not yet been 24 hours since he fell unconscious.
"But who is the person who carried me all the way here?"
Bai Zemin was about to get up when his door was slowly opened.
"Oh? I see you're better now."
A beautiful woman with blonde hair as light as the golden rays of the sun walked into the room and then closed the door behind her.
"... So it was you who brought me here, Evangeline." Bai Zemin chuckled before saying gratefully, "Really thank you for protecting me while I was out."
One of the few people Bai Zemin knew he could trust and didn't need to fear suddenly being stabbed in the back was undoubtedly the beautiful lady before him, Evangeline.
Evangeline had mysterious goals but it was clear that she needed someone like Bai Zemin to take over all of Russia. Besides, she was taking care of several young children who were now attending school thanks to the kindness shown by Bai Zemin so she was not alone and had people to worry about.
Betraying Bai Zemin would only do her more harm than good and she really had no reason to do so. Besides, while the relationship between the two was not exceptionally close, they both respected each other and got along well; as far as Evangeline was concerned, Bai Zemin was a leader worth following and to him, she was a valued subordinate he could rely on in times of need.
Evangeline simply shook her head before standing silently.
As she looked at him, Bai Zemin took the opportunity to look at her.
She wore a tight leotard that covered her upper body, dark leather gloves that covered from the tips of her delicate fingers to the boundary between her arm and forearm, at the bottom, she was wearing black leather shorts that squeezed her small but firm backside tightly, exposing the entirety of her thighs and only covering what was necessary.
Although Bai Zemin knew that the reason she dressed like that was to move more comfortably at necessary times, to lighten the load to increase speed and to avoid restricting limb movements, he couldn't help but think that she was quite daring to wear such tempting clothes in broad daylight.
Were it not for the pair of different colored daggers on the purple leather belt cinched around her small waist, he was sure that many men might try to commit follies to feel the smoothness of those smooth and delicate looking legs that seemed to reflect the sun's rays.
"Bai Zemin."
Evangeline's soft but indifferent voice made him snap out of his inner thoughts. Just as his black eyes met her bright emerald eyes and he secretly wondered if his glance had been misunderstood, Evangeline said in a somewhat strained voice:
"That giant sword.... What's up with that?"
"... Ah, that sword." Bai Zemin nodded and seeing the shock in Evangeline's eyes he couldn't help but laugh as he felt proud of his accomplishment. "That sword will be my main weapon.... Although I didn't see the information attached to the weapon, I more or less know what awaits me since I was the one who forged it myself."
"... Your main weapon...?" Evangeline looked at him dumbfounded and said in shock, "Just those gloves that were on the work table alone are more than worthy of being anyone's main weapon but really.... You actually forged a monster like that sword?..... Will an enemy worthy of forcing you to wield it even appear?"
Bai Zemin stood up and stretched his body before looking at her and answering her questions, "Evangeline, with the world constantly changing, you should know well how things work now. We are here now, chatting amongst ourselves but the next second you and I could be devoured by some wild beast or evolved zombie.... It never hurts to be cautious."
"No, no, no." Evangeline shook her head and said with wide eyes, "You.... You really need to see the stats on that giant sword of yours."
Bai Zemin couldn't help but frown slightly as his smile slowly retreated from his face.... Was the weapon he had created impressive to the point where even the ever calm and composed Evangeline would show such reactions?
"To begin with, you're able to lift it?" Evangeline frowned and said quietly, "I tried to lift it off the ground but I couldn't even move it an inch. A thing as heavy as that giant sword can even be wielded properly?"
* * * * * * *
Thank you very much to everyone who voted for Blood Warlock with Golden Tickets! <3