God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The fact that he could also directly influence the material without having to worry about making direct contact with the material was very good as well. However, thanks to the high density of metal elements in the refined metal, he couldn't control it on a structural level.

As such, he had to resort to hammering, folding, and chiseling for the components that required much detail.

The casing was not meant to be very big. It was egg-shaped and would contain all the other parts and constituents. It was smaller than a palm and about three fingers wide.

As such, it didn't require much attention. However, there were a lot of the in he to consider when creating what he wanted to make.

The most important thing was figuring how how to make it as destructive as possible. There were many ways to do that, one being the addition of small metal balls. However, that would be very inefficient.

Cain had his brows furrowed as he began making the next component. The trigger or release function of the bomb. This part had to be made mechanically, as he had no inkling of what type of runes to use to cause the device to detonate automatically.

As such, he was going to add conditional runes to the magic circle that would be used on the device. This conditional rune would trigger the metallic component, which would then trigger the runic component that would make the explosive... explode.

Cain worked very meticulously, drafting out different plans in his mind and scraping them out. He shifted the design, restructured, and rebuilt.

This went on for about three days straight. During these three days, he didn't have anything to eat, or drink. He also didn't have a single wink of sleep.

Despite all these, his eyes, as bloodshot as they were, seemed to burn with furious passion.

His hand hammered away, and his mind molded and shaped the metal to his desired form. No single piece of metal was wanted, as he could always reuse the scraps.

At the end of the third day, he finally finished the final component with a sigh.

'This will make a total of a hundred of them...' Cain thought to himself.

A hundred was not a bad number at all. In fact, it was very good. He had discarded his worn shirt a long time ago, and the heat within the foreg had built up to ungodly temperatures. Hence, the film of sweat clinging to his body made him look like a toned deity that fell from the skies.

However, he wasn't concerned about that at all and continued to focus on what he was busy with.

The next part came down to the assembly...

This part was the most painful, as Cain realized he had to spend even more system points.

With a total of fifty thousand system points, he bought a hundred grade 9 flame elemental mana shards. These were the explosives.

Normally, the energy stored within mana shards, although volatile, is still kept contained. Cain wanted to draw all of this energy out at once, which would result in a small-scale explosion. However, this explosion will be powerful enough for what he wants to do.

The power within a grade 9 mana shard wasn't something to be laughed at, despite it being of the weakest grade. It was the center of power for a normal-grade creature. Hence, it contained a decent level of energy stored within. Using a grade 8 mana shard seemed like a waste as well.

Since he had already created a section for the mana shards to sit within the explosive, it was now time to create the trigger. The explosive's initiator...

This was the most important part of the device. Since he had no idea how to create a rune that would work as a trigger, he had to make use of physical means.

By using a conditional rune, he could place another rune onto the trigger, such that once that condition was fulfilled, the rune on the trigger would activate, which would then lead to a physical reaction within the explosive, which would then trigger another rune within the magic circle, which would in turn, activate the conditions for the explosion to occur.

The reason he had to go through all the extra steps was because runes or magic circles that could trigger another magic circle, or rune, just like {Seal}, required very high levels of knowledge and experience to transcribe and create. Those were things he was grossly lacking in.

Hence, this process took very long, managing to drag out for over seven days. Despite him saying he was only going to spend seven days at max, he had already spent more time and he wasn't even done yet.

Cain had a tired look on his face as he proceeded to the last part of the creation process...

Drawing the runes and assembling the magic circle. Although he was no stranger to drawing runes, these runes were not only incredibly hard and complex to draw, he also had to use the technique of rune transcription he had learned in the prison realm that Lyx was trapped in.

Although it was quite easy for him to do this with metal he had created using the {Divine Essence of Metallurgy}, it wasn't not an easy task when he wanted to meticulously inscribe the runes onto very small components.

Not only was it mentally draining, it was also physically tiring. Despite his transforming physique, it was by far, the hardest thing he had done his entire life.

Two more weeks later, and finally, after nearly a month of struggle, he was finally triumphant...

***

"Ha..." Cain exhaled a soft sigh as his tired eyes gazed at his not so beautiful creation.

"What should I call you?"

The explosive device had taken on the shape of an egg with a round top that stuck out slightly. Its surface was covered with runes, and if one could see the interior, it was also covered with runes as well. The runes were linked to the glowing mana share at the center, as well as a small, black device that was strapped to another compartment within the explosive.

"I think Black Egg is a nice fit..." He murmured to himself excitedly.

{Congratulations to host... You have created a Special grade magic tool, the Black Egg}.

{+500 to Mana}.

{+200 to Spirit}.

{You have acquired a new skill, Magic Craftsman...}

***

{Black Egg}: A magic device created by a human. Not very efficient, but does decent explosive damage.

***

Cain stared at the fifty {Black Eggs}, pride in his gaze. Out of the initial hundred of them, fifty had been destroyed due to experiments and failures. Despite the offensive words of the system, he wasn't even a bit upset. He was very satisfied with how the explosives came out.

He had even gotten a new skill that's to it. To say he was overjoyed would be an understatement.

The heat within the forge had been unbearable for a long time, so he decided to leave. He walked back to the furnace and flipped the lever. Immediately, the fire coming from the eyes and mouth of the dragons were extinguished, and the flames burning behind it vanished as well.

The heat within the first also disappeared swiftly as well.

"A magical piece of engineering..." Cain said asheadmored the featured of his forge.

Once he had done that, he began ranging the place and putting all the things within it in order.

He grabbed all the excess metals he didn't use and areanged them into a neat pile in a far corner of the forge.

Once he was done, the forge was looking incredibly tidy...

With a nod, he decided it was time to leave. However, he was a bit hesitant. He had truly enjoyed his time working within the forge. When he was within it, his desire to create outshone every other thing.

He had rarely struck with the hammer, but that feeling made his bones tremble with exhaustion because the metal was so tough and hard to work with.

He had to stand close to the blazing flames if the forge in order to heat the metal up to acceptable temperatures, until it turned a bright yellow from its originally black.

The metal took a long time to reach that point. However, once it did, it was very easy to work with. But he also had to bear the immense heat during this process.

However, he had done all of this, with a smile burning brightly on his face...

And then, the runes...

His fingers were still sore, but he had enjoyed every bit of it. He got to make full use of all his abilities. He had to think of hundreds if different runic combinations that would work. Each attempt, and each subsequent failure only motivated him to try again.

And then, his first real creations were birthed. Just thinking about it made him feel an abnormal sense of pride.

His face was stoic, but his eyes burned madly. Taking a deep breath, he proclaimed loudly,

"I'll be back..."

Turning around, he stepped through the door to the forge with a spring in his steps...