Chapter 160 - 157 : Master Blacksmith (2/2)
Unlike the inpatient Jackob, Anastassia stared at the axe in his hands and turned to look at Arthur, who looked at Jackob's surprised expression with a proud look and a smirk hanging on his face.
”This is?”
The only reply to her question was a shrug from Arthur so she could only walk to the small box and open it. There, under a smooth looking purple cloth, laid a pair of daggers, their hilts were made from a gray material but what caught her eyes is the sharp jet black edges. They were a bit too long and curved a bit, she also noticed a circle with a seven-edge star inside of it.
Just like Jackob, she stretched her hands and held the daggers, the feeling was smooth and opposite to Jackob, the daggers were as light as feathers.
To begin with, Shadow Stones were a liquid, even after solidifying, their weight diminishes the older they are, it was noted that in some chaotic worlds, these Stones would be found floating high-up in the air in place of deep underground.
Recently, Arthur noticed that she broke through to the late stages of the Heavenly Realm, only a step away from being a Deity. For someone who doesn't rely on possessing, it's considered a good cultivating speed, although compared to Lucy, she's a bit lacking.
Lucy managed to do what no one could do, fuse two opposite attributes and use that result to fight, the potency and effectiveness were extraordinary and albeit the high cost, it still allowed her, an Immortal to fight on par with Lissandra, who was a fully-grown God.
There was also the case where her stats are augmented due to the soul-link, nonetheless, it was by her own efforts and skills that she withstood the attacks of a God and assisted him in his operation.
...
”This is incredible! I can feel the infinite power surging in my body hahahaha! I want to smash things now!”
Jackob happily swung his new axe but in mid-swing, he was stopped by Anastassia who appeared in front of him and blocked the axe with the tip of the black dagger.
She knew that he was rather reckless and just that swing would destroy this room if he is not careful.
”Thank you for these weapons. Even without any tests, I can feel that they are totally fit for us.”
Anastassia seriously bowed at Arthur, showing her gratitude but that only made Arthur wave his hands and moving the chains with them whilst laughing and replying
”Hahaha there is no need to thank me, we are long-time friends. I took your skills in consideration so they shouldn't hinder you if you get used to them, especially you Jackob, with a bit of effort, it won't be a problem to fight a Spirit Realm with Skullcleaver.”
Jackob nodded continuously as he scratched the back of his head embarrassingly. Not only did he swing without holding back, he also swung at the direction of Lissandra, who stood there motionless and dead silent, he couldn't help but feel guilty and awkward when he realized what he had done.
”Then we'll be off.”
Anastassia glared at Jackob, clearly telling him to leave with her as he was still nodding with his two eyes glued to the axe in his hands. As for her, she sheathed her daggers and put them under the dark sleeves on her waist. She didn't show it but she was honestly pleased with this pair of daggers as it was true, the moment she held them, she could feel the boost.
She just needs to sheath them for the system to activate the stats of the weapon equipped.
As they left the room, Anastassia stopped Jackob and coldly stared at him while smirking
”Look, you have a new weapon so let's have a friendly spar.”
The joyful smile on Jackob's face stiffened and the hold on his axe tightened, a drop of sweat appeared on his forehead as he looked around in panic. He didn't give any reply, instead, he grabbed his axe and darted off the place.
It is, however, unfortunate for him as Anastassia softly smiled and disappeared from the hall in hot pursuit
************
Two days later, Arthur finally completed his preparation and did whatever he needed to do. Lissandra remained dead silent and except eating whatever Arthur handed to her, she literally did nothing.
He tried asking her a few more times but it was totally futile so he busied himself with the plan and didn't pay her any more heed.
He didn't need to warn Anastassia about enemies or Sect affairs as he knew she could handle them all so he just gave her the batch of grenades, mines, and flash grenades and departed to the North with Lissandra.
Arthur didn't specifically organize a small meeting to say farewell as he hated them so he just went to Robin and talk over a few things with her but he was surprised to hear from her that she left the management of the E-clips Company in the East to the little boy Rey who insisted on doing that. Honestly, Arthur didn't trust the devilish boy at all but it was Robin's choice so he wasn't going to interfere.
---
”Why do I think that it'll be a long time since we'll see him again?”
Jackob muttered those words as he watched the disappearing Dark Cloud on the horizon along with Anastassia, who was silently standing next to him.
”Instead of worrying about that go train with your toy as you can't even wield it properly, it's a waste in your hands.”
Anastassia snorted and disappeared into a black mist that soon dispersed due to the whistling wind.
....
At noon the very same day they departed to the Demon Continent, the Dark Cloud entered the perimeter of the Demon City and in just seconds, it had already dived underground and arrived inside the cave. To make it easier, Arthur had already dug a special route to not circle around the countless rat-infested tunnels. He made a large hole from the first tunnel underground going all the way to the cave, one jump would suffice to arrive there, but that only applies for those who can survive that jump.
The only presence he felt in the cave was Gutcha, who was still pinned down by the vines and paralyzed by the poison, Arthur wouldn't let such a dangerous foe roam free even if there is a cage made of thorny vines around him.
Taliya didn't seem to be here but from the appearance of Gutcha, he noticed that the head maid used some torture means to get some information out of Gutcha's mouth albeit the fact that he forbade her to get near him.
'Ha! Talk about a stubborn woman, at least Lucy is stubborn but will listen to me if I tell her not to do something...”
Arthur shook his head while letting out a long sigh, at least she didn't straight out kill him or the plan to take her along would never work. He needed Gutcha as he is extremely crucial for the plan.
He wasn't sure how strong the enemies were, if the leaders of Gutcha's tribe is a God and adding the countless warriors with him then it'll not be easy for Arthur to save the prisoners, he would be able to escape and would also be able to annihilate the whole territory with a Rizaki but that would injure him and most definitely kill everything as it did not discriminate.
”Hey, are you still alive?”
He could feel the heartbeat of Gutcha but the latter seemed to be unconscious. He had multiple blade wounds on his arms and legs and an unpleasant bloody hole in his left shoulder. Taliya was really merciless, maybe it was a dumb move to leave him exposed to her treatment.
Seeing the hideous monster in such a state, Arthur was forced to take out High Healing Potion and feed it to the unconscious Gutcha. The warm red liquid entered the huge mouth of the monster and in just a few seconds, the miraculous effect of the Potion began showing.
Even to Arthur, an injury suffered from a God would heal Gradually with or without a Potion but it's certain that it'll fasten the recovery by a fair bit.
In fact, Arthur's Vitality is insanely High, even a God wouldn't have that high recovery as it is one of the hardest stats to increase. It is only thanks to his High Vitality that he recovered in merely a few days after being injured by the Spatial Tears and the enormous explosion.
The blade scars began healing bit by bit and the bloody hole was slowly but surely closing. Arthur didn't pay any more attention to Gutcha and walked to Lissandra, who was still in a dead-like state.
The woman was always looking down since her black hair was quite long, it covered her face and made her look a bit scary, but with a well-proportioned body fitting to a God which is probably the only thing she kept, no one would think she has an ugly face.
Since talking to her wouldn't help him, Arthur just retrieved a small bed and a table filled with food and put them near Lissandra. She doesn't react but she still eats her fill every day and that at least showed that is not completely broken.
...
The day of the departure is growing near and the final preparations are almost done, what is left is something that Arthur wanted to craft for himself, it'll be impossible to use with these annoying chains on but he'll keep it just in case.
With the use of his blacksmithing, Lost Magic, rare and unique materials and many miscellaneous skills that are helpful for crafting, he began at last.
Material after another was taken out of the storage rings, some were melted some were used immediately, Arthur was so busy that he didn't notice Taliya, who had arrived a few minutes ago but as to not disturb him, she stood in a corner and simply watched.
His sense was retracted and his attention was wholly focused on what's before him. At some point, when an unknown amount of time has passed, sweat drops trickled down his forehead, indicating how Mentally Exhausted he was.
This long and certainly burdensome and tiresome process was done exactly five hours later when a long string of notifications popped in front of him.
Congratulations! You have created 'Star'.
For creating a special weapon, you obtain +50 Creation.
...
Arthur calmly contemplated his new creation with a soft smile on his face. He didn't even bother to test it, he just took out a small red cloth from his storage and wrapped the weapon with it then he put the weapon in the one storage ring he never used.
It was his engagement ring, Lucy gave him one and he gave her one too. It was a low-quality silver ring but for Arthur, its worth is much more than any other storage ring.
He tapped the silver ring as he dazed off, lost in thoughts and was only woken up when Taliya walked up to him.
”Ah, you're here?”
Taliya cast a glanced at the healed Gutcha and replied with a snort
”Hmpf! I have been here since a few hours ago.”
She didn't want to admit it but seeing Arthur craft something with various unknown techniques and skills, she was quite engrossed and didn't sense the time passing, it was only when he was done did she remember that she was standing for five straight hours.
She caught sight of Lissandra, who was quietly sitting on a bed at the side but that only made her annoyed as her opinion of Arthur kind of dropped a bit, seeing another woman with him, she thought that he's collecting them on the purpose of having 'a comrade to pass the time with'.
”Alright, enough useless talk, I'll start explaining the plan so you better listen up closely, and if you are unwilling to follow it to the very letter, I'll not bring you along.”
Arthur walked to Gutcha and gestured to Lissandra and Taliya to come. He was only afraid that Taliya would lose control and start rampaging if something were to happen to her niece, that would ruin her plans. There was the possibility of Gutcha backstabbing them but fortunately, he found a way to counter that.
With a strong enough slap from Arthur, Gutcha was woken up from his unconsciousness, he looked around dazedly and the moment his eyes landed on Taliya, he couldn't help but curse at her
”You crazy evildoer!”
He already told Arthur everything he knew but when he left, Taliya started torturing him and asking him questions that have no sense or simply cannot be answered by him yet she still persisted until he fell unconscious.
Taliya maintained an expressionless face as if she did nothing and stared at Gutcha with cold eyes, forcing him to shut up.
Arthur didn't mind and ignored what just happened when everyone calmed down and he could hear nothing but silence, he started explaining the exact process of the operation.
”The plan is simple if you follow what I say. We three are hostages brought by Gutcha when a fight occurred which resulted in the death of his comrade. Since we're hostages, I don't think they'll kill us but will imprison us with the rest, which will let us confirm the identity of all the other hostages.”
Lissandra didn't show any reaction but Taliya wasn't totally convinced so she retorted
”What if they decide to kill us instead?”
”They won't, unless you purposely provoke them and at that time, I will not step out to save you, each their own when we are there.”
Gutcha was flabbergasted as he heard that Arthur and co were planning on letting themselves be held prisoners. He found the idea idiotic and too favorable for himself, however, before he could have any malicious thoughts, Arthur raised his hands and an orange creepy looking thing appeared. It had flames on its top and its insides burned with raging flames. Its size was small than a fist and the second it appeared, it dived straight at his chest and entered it. He closed his eyes, expecting to feel pain but naught came, it's as if nothing happened.
”W-what did you do?”
Gutcha didn't know what happened but he wasn't dumb enough to think that the creepy thing with scary facial features that entered his chest was nothing but a small show.
”It's just a precaution and a warning. If you try anything out of place, say anything which does not comply with the plan, I assure you that by the next second, your body will exist no more.”
The bound monster gulped his saliva and stared fearfully at his chest, he could feel nothing but that was for the best as Arthur implemented a ticking bomb inside of him, the one and only Sensor Detonator.
He was able to successfully reduce its size and potency, it can enter a target's body and wait for him to detonate it. He ordered it to detonate if the distance between him and Gutcha reached a certain limit as in this way, Gutcha can't escape or act against him or he'll just meet his own demise.
....
Arthur passed the next hour to fully explain the plan to the very last detail without forgetting to warn Taliya to not act rashly again and again. Gutcha didn't dare oppose anything and would continuously nod his head whilst swearing to do his best to let them successfully infiltrate his tribe without bringing any suspicions.
The long talk just ended and when Arthur was going to take out the Book of the Damned to try something, A blue streak of lightning flew straight at him and entered his consciousness.
Astrith had returned from his missions and instantly resumed his evolution after telling Arthur that he disposed of every single member of Gutcha's Race that was hiding on Astria. He didn't search every corner of Astria as that would take a very long time even with his extreme speed, however, with the help of Gutcha, who provided various hideouts of his comrades, the wolf was able to easily locate them.
To Arthur's surprise, all of the other comrades of Gutcha resisted and fought to their last breath, which made him think.
'Is this Gutcha a smart person or is he just so cowardly and afraid of death that he would denounce his comrades?'
He saved his own life by telling the truth but at the same time, he had forsaken his own tribe and comrades. Arthur didn't know that Gutcha didn't hold any special connection with his tribe so he presumed that this hideous looking monster is just a coward who, like everyone else, would do anything to not die.
With the threat of these monsters gone from Astria, Arthur felt a bit of relief as another invader was taken care of.
....
Arthur took out the Book of the Damned and summoned the rotten hand, which stretched out of the yellow and old looking page and wriggled in the air. He sat in front of the book and closed his eyes, crossing his legs and putting his hand down, he focused and would take out a few materials out of his storage every now and then.
The concept of the rotten hand is easy, it would block any incoming attack if possible then store that energy and release it when the user wills it. The released energy is usually a big blast or some kind of beam, but Arthur wanted to store energy but release a small concetrated result.
He took out a small red ore and raised it to the hand whilst unleashing astronomical amounts of Ancient Fire. The Red Ore and the Flames released by Arthur were fully absorbed by the rotten hand, which in return pulsated with a red light. Arthur patiently waited for the result to come out and only after an hour did a small red object come out of the disgusting skin of the hand.
Seeing that the result was what he wished for, Arthur felt ecstatic and without further ado, he took out another Red Ore and repeated the process.
-----
The morning of the sixth's day, Arthur opened his eyes after a long meditation and said with a voice neither too loud or too low but enough for the people present to hear him.
”It is time to depart.”
Gutcha said that if he wasn't defeated he had to go come back to his tribe to report every week and if something happened, the delay can be prolonged to ten days. The ten days didn't pass yet but Arthur didn't want to stretch it to the last second as the plan would seem plausible only if he came back right now.
He was ambushed and lost his comrade by he managed to get rid of the opposing parties and caught those who surrendered. As for Arthur, he was one of the ambushing enemies, however, he was apprehended by Gutcha and chained to restrict his movements.
Quite a simple plan indeed but it all fell on Gutcha's way of describing what happened. Taliya also needs to hold back her anger and act calmly, it would be perfect if she acted like the current Lissandra.