God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

However, the metals he had gotten from Pudding were in lumps, so they would have to be melted down. Beating them down to shape after cooling would take too long, so he preferred the first method.

Mana poured out of the soles of his feet.

The power of the forge was activated.

Heat waves rolled over him as flames shot out of the dragon maws.

The first materials he wanted to treat, were the {Lunar Steel}, the {Blood Obsidian}, and the {Earth Gold} metal ores.

Both materials would serve as the base of his desired weapon, but making an alloy from all three of them would perhaps see an increase in their respective properties to create a material that was a grade superior to all three.

Cain picked up a lump of the {Earth Gold}. It didn't look anything like gold. Its surface was a dirty brown color, and it looked more like a rock than anything else.

He frowned,

'This {Earth Gold} contains a ton of rich metal essence, so melting it down is going to be very hard.'

He decided it would be the first metal to be introduced to the flames.

With his mind, a lump of {Earth Gold} flew over to the heating crucible. The flames flying out of the dragon maws increased in intensity.

Slowly, the brown, rock-like metal began heating up.

'The {Lunar Steel} seems far more delicate than the {Earth Gold}. The {Blood Obsidian} on the other hand seems more like a rock as well. However, under extreme heat, its physical properties will become more magma like.'

These metals were simply normal metals that had been influenced by mana, their physical and material properties forced to mutate.

The world itself was being mutated by mana, not just beasts and humans.

After the {Earth Gold} had become hot enough, he added in the {Blood Obsidian}. The ore of the {Blood Obsidian} was black, with blood-red veins stretching across the material like cracks.

The {Earth Gold} had already become more molten at this point. The heat was incredibly intense, and it was now suffused with a red hot glow. Not only that, but its dirty brown exterior had melted away, revealing a radiant golden core.

The flames from the dragon maws were no ordinary flames after all.

Upon adding the {Blood Obsidian} into the melted {Earth Gold}, the resulting reaction was immediate.

A wave of heat washed over Cain, forcing him to get rid of his top layer of clothing.

The metal began to glow brightly for a moment, before all the glow was absorbed. The metal sludge blackened, and was covered with glowing red hot lines instead.

Despite this change, Cain could tell that the resulting substance was incredibly hot. Due to the properties of both metals, all the heat was getting trapped in side, with no way to be released.

Wiping the sweat off his brows, Cain placed a lump of {Lunar Steel} into the crucible.

BANG!

Cainnwas launched back by the force of the explosion, smashing his back into a wall.

Blood ran down his lips.

After taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he let out a sigh and picked himself up, wiping the blood from his lips and chin.

'The combination of the {Earth Gold} and the {Blood Obsidian} is far too volatile. Perhaps I should have let it cool down before adding the {Lunar Steel}? Since the {Lunar Steel} conducts energy almost perfectly, it ended up exploding when all the energy stored within the {Earth Gold} and {Blood Obsidian} alloy was released all at once.'

Although the first trial ended in failure, Cain wasn't worried.

After all, this was why he made sure to get a lot of materials on standby.

By understanding the nature of all these materials using the {Eye of General Observation}, understanding the root of his errors and learning from his mistakes was made one step easier.

In the end, it took him a full day to find a combination of the metals and a suitable procedure that could work.

However, he wasn't worried about the time that had passed. Because in the outside world, merely a few hours had gone by. That was the true power of the {Draconic Blast Furnace}.

Cooling the mixture of the {Earth Gold} and {Blood Obsidian} had been the smart move to make, but the greater issue he had faced, was finding the right amount of {Lunar Steel}.

Due to the low amount of resistance it had to the flow of mana and other energies, the metal itself had to be used sparingly. There also wasn't a lot of it to use.

Still, it was a wonderful material, although working with it was a headache. After a few more explosions, Cain finally managed to find what he was looking for;

A base for his weapon.

The final product was a material with almost the same look and feel as steel. However, this material was subtly different. Perhaps it was due to.the influence of its magical properties, or something else.

But with a glance, one would be able to tell...

He gently lifted the crucible out of the dwindling flames with his mind and gently poured the metal over to a cast before waiting for it to cool.

Once its temperature has dropped enough, he picked the slab of metal up.

It was roughly the shape of the sword he wanted.

"This is good."

A satisfied smile appeared on his face. But it was far from over.

Because this was just a single part of making a magical weapon fitting for him.

After a lot of time spent experimenting, he finally got to figure out the properties of the Mystic Grade metal, {Uriu}.

Not only was it incredibly hard, almost indestructible, even, it also had the ability to conduct energy in a way that was quite different from {Lunar Steel}.

{Lunar Steel} possessed a threshold in the density and volatility of energy it could accommodate. Anything that surpassed its limits would lead to the explosive destruction of the material.

Hence, it was more suited for conducting power from non-elemental mana energy sources.

{Uriu} on the other hand seemed to prefer them more violent.

Cain had tried this with Demon Matter, and the results had blown him away.

Demon Matter was just as much of a violent energy as Devil Essence. In fact, they were very similar in nature to one another.

When he had poured it into the {Uriu}, it had absorbed it all. It had done this through a process Cain had termed circulation.

The internal magical structure of {Uriu} was what made this abnormal process possible.

It could circulate energy through itself seemingly infinitely. {Lunar Steel} could only allow a single continuous flow, which was why its threshold was considerably lower compared to {Uriu}.

'No Wonder it is a Mystical grade material. It is indeed the stuff of legends.' Cain thought to himself.

The blade itself would be comprised of a hundred percent {Uriu} core. With these four metals as the base, Cain began working on the other details, shaping, cutting, filing, and beating the sword into shape.

A few days later, he was done with that as well...

He had finally arrived at the most important part of crafting a weapon;

Drawing the runes.

The runes were arguably the most important feature of the weapon, even dwarfing the importance of the materials in some sense.

Because what made the weapon truly magical, was the runes and different magical symbols engraved into the weapon, giving it a soul and purpose.

'What runes should I give it?'

Every weapon has a limit to the amount of runes they could take. With materials of this quality, Cain didn't doubt that the weapon could take a lot.

However, he had to make them count if he wanted to create a truly marvelous weapon.

He sucked in a deep breath and got to work.

He decided to give the weapon just three attached abilities. These abilities would compliment his skill set and spells even more. They would also bring out the most potential from the materials used in crafting the weapon.

The more he thought about it, the more he knew his decision was the right one.

This way, the blad would serve its purpose well.

The {Scale of the Abyssal Flame} was a marvelous weapon because it had served perfectly as a blade. It could pierce through the toughest of defenses, and cut down his foes when he needed it to.

It was a shape to see it destroyed, but he knew it was for a good cause.

Engrossed in drawing the runes, ten days went by in a flash.

***

"It's done."

Letting out a weary sigh, Cain leaned backwards. A series of loud pops and cracks came from his back as he adjusted his posture. Having been seated ina single spot for so long, his bones aches and longed to be put back into their original positions.

Still, it was worth it.

Staring down at his new weapon, Cain felt filled with satisfaction.

"So this is what a proud parent feels like." He said to himself with a smile.

With a grunt, he lifted the blade up.

The blade was rather huge and thick, much like the {Scale of the Abyssal Flame}.

In fact, he had modelled the blade to a similar shape as his old one.

However, it was quite different from the last.

First, it wasn't pitch black with several crimson runes and markings all over it.

Instead, this weapon was the the color of steel with a dull gold interior. On its own, it wouldn't have looked remarkable, if not for the unique pattern of the runes that filled its surface.

On its hilt was a small engraving of a dragon, its terrifying maw open to expunge the new, beautiful blade.

It was simple, yet beautiful.

With a grin, Cain opened the system notice that had popped up a while ago.

***

{Congratulations to Host... You have created a Mystical grade weapon}.

{+10,000 Free attribute points}.

{Your skill, Neophyte Blacksmith has been evolved to Tier 1 Advanced Blacksmith}.

{Host, please give your creation a name...}

***

Cain grinned, his eyes sparkling with anticipation,

"Let's call you..."