Chapter 138 - Level 1 Artifact
Bailey and Bradley stopped everything they were doing and came forward to greet Dror.
" Major…
"
"Major..
"
Dror was happy to see that both of them were as hardworking and diligent as ever.
"I can see that you are progressing well.. is that the level 1 low grade magical artifact spear of fire that you are working on..
"
Dror spoke while inspecting a two and half meter long black spear with red veins passing through them.
The tip was sharp and the spear itself exuded a sharp aura that could pierce through steel armors like through tofu.
Bailey was good at forging and Bradley was better at inscribing runes.
Bailey had already folded and hammered the ore, for a hundred times before molding it into the spear and now they were preparing to inscribe the rune.
The ore was a special iron which has been born in lava mountains with an affinity to the fire element and was one of the best materials to forge a spear of fire.
This was one of the basic artifacts that a level 1 artifact master forged in large numbers, but since Bailey and Bradley were not yet level 1 artifact masters this was something shocking.
Of Course it clearly took both of them working together to reach this point of forging while both of them were around level 8 blacksmith's.
If they could complete the process they could be said to have reached level 9 and to reach level 1 artifact master they will each have to forge the artifact themselves from scratch without any help.
Inscribing the rune was the most important part of artifact forging, if the rune was inscribed perfectly then of course the artifact would be much stronger.
As for inscribing runes one needed all kinds of rare minerals and materials, to form a liquid essence, which would be used to draw the rune with special technique.
To draw a perfect rune for a level one artifact one needed to be at least in the True warrior realm.
Someone in the warrior realm would find it very difficult to inscribe such a rune on the weapon, clearly the brothers were hoping to inscribe an imperfect rune.
But still, even inscribing an imperfect rune was almost impossible for someone in level 8 blacksmith and level 7 warrior level.
The artifact master profession was also a money burning profession like alchemy, in the initial stages, it required a lot of money to experiment with and gain better understanding and proficiency.
Clearly these brother have pooled out a large amount of their whole savings to buy the materials for this endeavor and if the rune inscription failed all the precious material used to create the rune essence liquid would also go to waste, only the ore might be left usable and that to after folding and hammering it again.
Dror knew both of them were crazy about forging so he didn't know what to say, this was a very risky endeavor for someone like them at their current level.
Dror could only sigh in his heart
" Hmm… It is a good thing that I am here, but if I let both of them be, they might go bankrupt in no time. They will not understand if I lecture them and might also feel discouraged, I will wait for them to fail and when the moment is right I will interfere and salvage the situation, they will probably be more open minded by then..
"
Dror said with a smile
" go on... I will also witness your forging skill..
"
By now three more people arrived in the smithy, these were people from the technological weapon department.
" Major.. Major ..Major..
"
The three of them gave a salute to Dror and nodded at Bailey and Bradley.
Throughout the star system The modern weapon technology and artifact masters were at loggerhead at times.
Of Course the modern weapon technology was weaker against the artifact masters, after all the discipline was only toddling compared with history of artifact masters, and people even considered it as a part of the greater discipline of artifact forging.
Even though there were arguments and quarrels, both these disciplines worked together on many aspects and were bonded together.
Even though they both had their own sections inside the young dragon company. They still worked in an amicable relationship with each other.
And the three people from the technology weapon department were here to show their support for the Bailey and Bradley brothers new endeavor along with greeting the Major.
Bailey took out the cupel containing the rune essence liquid which was formed from smelting high grade and supernatural minerals like mithril.
As soon as the cupel was out of the furnace, the rune essence liquid started cooling down, Bradley didn't wait as he needed to inscribe the rune before the liquid completely cooled down and solidified.
He burned his warrior essence along with the artifact master technique, to lift the rune essence from the cupel and started forming rune designs in the air.
The rune design for the spear of fire itself , was in the shape of a beautiful spear formed by different tiny runes.
By the time he had formed the spearhead of the design, Bradley was sweating non stop and started trembling slightly as if he was holding up an elephant from sitting on his head.
Forming a rune not only required intense warrior essence but also a very high level of concentration and understanding of the rune itself.
Noticing that his brother was going to fail, Bailey came forward and placed his hand on Bradley's back and started transferring his own warrior essence.
Even though Bradley was still having trouble he still held own and started forming the rest of the rune design, but by the time it had only reached only one by third of the design both the brothers were finding it difficult.
Even though Bailey was still supplying the last bit of his warrior essence, Bradley was finding it more and more hard to form the rest of the runes.
At this point Bradley will most likely fail even if others were to supply more warrior qi.
Dror knew it was time for him to make the move and he came forward to place his hand on Bradley's shoulder and a green aura started flooding into Bradley's head and body.
Soon Bradley started recovering as if all the headache and tiredness he was feeling just a moment ago was swept away to be replaced with a calm and cool refreshed feeling.
Bradley continued inserting the warrior essence and brought back the cooling down rune essence to its liquid form and started completing the design.
Still it took a lot of effort for Bailey to complete the whole process and when he finally pushed the whole design into the spear, he fell down and started gasping for air.
Of course Dror had held back in supplying the wood elemental essence which was continuously healing and helping Bradley, so that he would understand the difficulties and strain involved in the process.
Bailey was not any better, his face has also become red after draining his warrior essence.
But both of them had beaming smiles, so did everyone else present to witness the process.
The spear remained the same but if one was to supply it with warrior qi, the rune design that was hidden inside it will start glowing and the owner will be able to perform a specific technique called explosion spear.
The spearhead will have a raged explosion producing a huge amount of heat and fire, with the tip of the spear containing the major power.
The owner could utilize the move in myriad ways, and the explosion itself was no less than a technique used by some one at the peak of the warrior realm.
Even though the brothers were able to complete the inscription, it was not a perfect inscription and the embedded technique would only have the strength of someone in the peak of 8th level making his move.
Everyone from the technology department came forward to congratulate the brother, but Dror had a strict face.
"Now, do you understand your own mistakes..
"
Both the brothers could only lower their head and carefully listen to the rest of Dror's lecture with rapt attention.
Dror didn't just reprimand them but he also explained the mistakes in the way they executed the whole process and he didn't forget to add some extra knowledge, which was helpful not just to the brothers but also to the other three.
After the lecture Dror took out the new magical Forge that he had acquired.
The people around almost had their eyes popped out after seeing, artifact.
It was a cuboid in shape with around 1.5 meter in length and breadth, there was also an anvil on top of it.
The whole artifact was pitch black in color with all kinds of formations and runes, glowing every now and then.
There was one opening through which one could see a bright red magma, that was giving out a bright red color.
This was a special kind of magma with high grade fire elemental essence in it that can only be found in the lower mantle or outer molten core of a planet.
Anyone who looked inside the forge could feel their eyes burning but no heat was exuded out of it with the inscribed runes and formation completely isolating the heat inside.
Bradley yelled out
" a core magma magical forge..
"