Chapter 533 - Forged Anew
Dave showed up at Andre's smithy, Ralph was already there, patiently sitting on a stool and waiting for the old man to finish his work.
Dave approached the two and didn't speak. Andre was a great smith and the least disturbing would probably cause him to get angry and lose focus on the work he was doing, especially due to what was currently happening.
In Andre's new forge in the east, the smith had an entire room for just himself to use. All the smiths were not even hammering outside as they have been ordered to leave Andre to do something he needs focus on.
In front of Andre was a furnace that emitted flames darker than black. The flames consumed all light, and Andre was using them to re-smelt a weapon that didn't look like its old self anymore.
The Rift Maker was a long obsidian colored katana, but right in front of Dave and at the hands of the smith, all that was left of it was the blade, looking like it was being brutally mishandled at the hands of the giant man. The hammering the blade took would make any sword in the world wince, especially since every strike was powered by an undead half-giant man.
However, Andre was the best at his work, and even with the odd look of the sword, the smith's focus never wavered, every strike, like the beating of a heart, constant, repeating and held the same ferocious strength of the last blow.
Andre would occasionally put the sword back into the flames until it turned red, then it turned black from the flames once again. He would dip it in a vat full of ice and Blood Stones, then strike at it again and again. The katana was already a sharp and thin blade, it didn't have a great deal of material on it. Yet with the occasional addition of Oprenieum, the material that the Undead had an exclusive right to mine since they have killed the Dogaron, the creature that guarded it. The length of the blade was elongated enough that it no longer looked like a katana.
This was definitely Ralph's request. He never was a fan of eastern swords, and to his defense, katanas were good weapons, but they are not the best. This is a simple hard truth, a confrontation between a katana and a European sword of the same material would undoubtedly end with the katana split in half. The eastern sword is decent and has good slashing, cutting, and piercing properties, but only good. It was not the best in either of the categories. A rapier's piercing power is so great that plate armor could do nothing to fend against the needle tipped weapon. A Zwihander's destructive power could crush a horse's charge, cut its legs, and doom the horse's rider. A falchion's speed and slashing power could rip an arm in a single slash with minor difficulty. All weapons had their unique traits, and the katana falls behind when contending against any of these weapons in their unique traits and specialties. For ralph, he was a great-sword user. The weight behind every blow is important and the katana could not cope with Ralph's barbaric strength nor could it tend to his needs in battle. A katana is best for a nimble adaptable user. Though it falls behind many weapons it's unique in its ways. The katana, is a jack of all, master of none type of weapon. And is best used in the hands of someone capable of adapting to all situations. For this weapon was not meant to confront people head-on, but it was made to be used as a type of art, it's a weapon that would rather parry than deflect.
The hammering continued for half an hour, in which Dave sat next to Ralph and the two waited.
Soon, Andre took a deep breath and said, "Finally done." Andre stood up and turned to Ralph just in time as the black flames went out and were snuffed out of existence, never to be seen again in this world unless Asmodeus were to visit this place.
The sword in Andre's hand was at least a meter four feet and a half. It was a double-edged sword, and the hilt was yet to be equipped on it and the weapon yet to be polished, but the most important bits of the weapon has been done.
Andre took more time to equip the weapon with a proper guard and a hilt, a Blood Stone jewel pommel, and polished it until it shone, not bright, but dark. The weapon's color never changed, it has even gotten darker. This weapon's darkness reminded Dave of the Undead King's own weapon. Yet they were slightly different.
The Undead King's weapon exuded a dark chaotic aura whenever it was revealed into the world, but this weapon, its aura was concealed and tucked tightly around it, controlled and collected.
"This is one of the finest weapons I have made, perthee be careful when using it. And don't you dare abuse it, it is impossible to restore it if you were by some ungodly amount of absurd bad luck manage to break it."
Andre handed Ralph the weapon and the latter was too excited to use it.
"Duel me!" Ralph said.
"Hold your horses, at least wait until I get my own armor repaired."
"You'll be the death of me prince, I'll need a few hours rest after using Disas Obascus Fervis," Andre said.
"Huh, I thought undead don't tire," Ralph said.
"I have not exhausted myself, it is impossible to do so. But the chaotic nature of that fire messes with one's mind, and a lot of time focusing on it will make me quite sloppy and I wouldn't want to be sloppy when fixing the War King's armor."
"Ah man, I just wanted to try out this sword skill," Ralph complained.
"What skill?"
"Here look!" Ralph said and shared with Dave the weapon's status screen.
***
Cursed Rift Maker
Tier: Godly
Conditions:
Fu Temple Disciple
Level 450!
Category: Weapon
Type: Great-Sword
Requirements to handle: Space Lord Legacy Holder. Finished the Fu Temple intermediate training.
Mandatory requirement to use the weapon: 750 STR
Damage: 4,000-6,000
Damage modifier: 20% STR
Skills:
(Passive): [Limitless Within Limit] The Cursed Rift Maker has a space around it that cannot be breached, the weapon will never receive impact and it's cutting power is greatly enhanced. [Limitless Within Limit] can be used as an active ability to increase the range of the space to cover the user for five seconds granting them immunity from all sources of damage, magical or physical.
[Rend Space Seven-Fold] The ability to slash at space seven times, slicing it and rending it. Space will be fused and the damage will be proportional to the user's strength, the enemy's defenses, and the strength of space in the specific location.
***
This weapon was used by the FU Temple, blessed by the Space Lord, and reforged using Obascus Dias Fervis, the dark flames, it has gained access to hidden properties of the Space Rule.
***
"Nice passive ability man, this practically makes it impossible to break."
"No, it does not." Andre shook his head.
"Why, I mean if it creates an infinite space around it wouldn't that make nothing able to even touch the blade?" Dave asked.
"Let me show you an example, where is Durandal?" Andre asked.
Dave pulled out his sword.
"Try touching the edges of the swords together."
Dave tried but the two weapons didn't come close, there was a distance smaller than an inch between them, but no matter how much strength Dave poured into his arms the weapons refused to collide.
"It's not about strength, your strength doesn't compass the infinite. But ask your weapon to strike."
"Ask? You mean like, ask, ask? Talk to it?" Dave questioned dumbly.
"Yes, a weapon as old as yours is sentient, it will listen to what you say. You should know this by now, it was made by a god it's not a simple weapon."
Dave doubtfully spoke, "Alright Durandal, can you hit that sword?"
"LIGHTLY!" Andre shouted. Yet before his words could even register in Dave's ears. Durandal managed to go past the inch distance and swat the sword out of Ralph's hand.
"What just happened?" Ralph jerked back.
Andre hurried to the fallen Rift Maker and took a deep sigh of relief. "Thankfully, your sword is not stupid. It didn't damage the rift maker."
"Can you explain what happened right now?" Dave asked.
Andre gave the sword back to Ralph.
"This sword coats itself with the infinite, and your sword is made of the infinite so it could cross the distance."
"It's either I'm getting dumber or I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Basically, your weapon was made using a black hole, and it is said to be infinite, this just proves it. Also, it has the weight of the Universe, which also is infinite ad ever-expanding. The lore behind a weapon is not simple, it has different meanings. So, if the Rift Maker coats itself with the infinite, the finite cannot touch it, but if you use your sword which is made also of the infinite, it can do so with ease. And believe me, there are things in this world that are similar to your sword, and some of them are not even weapons."
"I'm feeling dizzy but I think I understand. So, Ralph my man, better not hope your weapon can contend against mine. You'll break it," Dave grinned.
"Don't also be too sure about that, Durandal is not fully unsealed, it can only break through the Rift Maker's defenses for limited times. You should experiment, but I bet it can do so three times. Once you fully unseal it, you'll be able to break through the limits of the world. But you don't have the strength required to wield such a destructive power yet."
"You have any idea what's the required strength needed to unseal Durandal?" Dave asked.
"Yes."
Dave's eyes sparkled, he only unsealed Durandal once, and it was when he used the [Balance Breaker] Forbidden Chapter, and now there was hope that he could do so once again. He always wanted to re-use that might that the sword had shown once.
"You'll need to be on equal footing with the one that made this weapon."
"Huh? Basically, I need to become a god."
"Exactly. Not so realistic. But still, that's the only way, the forbidden chapter was a one-time use. You can't do it again, and thankfully so, otherwise, without proper power and control you'll destroy this very world using that sword's real weight."
"Yeah, Nick said something about that. Guess I'll have to ask him about this if he has an idea. Speaking of Nick, he said Ashkar made a move, once Andre is done, let's go and visit that guy. It's a good opportunity for you to scratch that itch and use your sword man."
"Yeah, I'm down for that."
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