Chapter 1019 (2/2)

It only took about ten minutes to draw out a rough sketch of what he wanted. Then it took about a half an hour for Randidly to create a satisfactory Engraving pattern that would power and animate the small spider assistant that he quickly created.

Honestly, he could have made the Engraving in less than thirty seconds if he used some of Randidly’s newer Engraving structures, but Randidly wanted to outsource the work of creating these miniature assistants. Therefore he had to simply the Engraving so someone who was beneath his Skill Level could manage it.

Although it was extremely aggravating to oversimplify his Engravings to the extent that someone around Skill Level 80 could manage it quickly, Randidly knew that it was the right choice. Immediately he walked out of his workroom, found Tatiana, and asked her to offer quite a bit of money for some of Erickson Steel’s workers to assemble these.

Then he returned to his own. The emerald fires continued to hang in the air, watching his every move. From his interspatial ring, Randidly removed a very old set of plans.

After a single glance, Randidly snorted at how clumsy the markings of the Engravings seemed. Almost immediately, he tossed the plans to aside and began to create from scratch. Most of the technical details were the same, but the specs of what he envisioned would likely be double of the original plans, just by the virtue of the added efficiency Randidly could add with Engravings.

This time, Randidly had no limitations on the complexity of his Engravings. This would be only assembled by him, so he didn’t need to hold back at all. All of the tricks that Randidly had learned from Levelable Engravings and from creating large Skill Engravings were brought to bear on this project.

When Randidly finished, he didn’t pause at all. He instantly pulled out metal and began to forge this long-promised vessel.

Emerald fire melted the metal down into gleaming liquid while Randidly used Influence of the Molten Core to shape it as he wished. Then he pulled out a heavy darksteel hammer he had obtained from Sam and began to beat each individual sheet of metal into a very exact shape.

No sooner had he finished one piece than he went to work on another. The sound of his workshop was filled with the ringing of metal slamming against metal. When he was prepared to set the metal, Randidly extended a sharp claw from Chulroon’s Chisel and opened a deep gash in his right wrist. His blood flowed freely down onto the metal, quenching its thirst for meaning in a vicious hiss.

Randidly pushed the limits of his physical Endurance as time slowly passed. The longer he forged, the faster he moved. He was accelerating through the motions. His body became a blur as he freely manipulated the floating metals to drift toward him when he was ready to handle them.

Clang, clang, clang.

Somehow, the noise of his hammer on metal seemed to sync up with his rising heartbeat. The emerald flames danced slowly around Randidly’s blurred form, throwing strange shadows on the wall. Behind Randidly’s back, the blurred forms of Yggdrasil and the Grim Chimera appeared, watching the strange performance with interest.

The air inside the workshop swirled and dance. Motes of light drifted around Randidly, as though pulled by strange currents.

Randidly could feel it too, but he didn’t dare spare the attention for the shifts occurring in the Ignition Essence image. For now, he simply accepted that some of the images from his Alpha Cosmos and from the network created by the Crown of Upheaval and Gloom were filtering toward the Ignition Essence.

Randidly trusted the process and didn’t study it too closely. His images, if nothing else, would ensure that the Ignition Essence wasn’t needlessly corrupted. From their presence, it seemed like they approved of this. Therefore, Randidly simply continued to forge.

What is within, without. What is without, within.

When all the metal was finished, Randidly cracked the knuckles of his right hand and immediately transitioned into Engraving. Sweat dripped off his brow and puddled on the floor. Even with his powerful body, Randidly had to release several heaving breaths in order to steady himself.

It was good, to push himself like this. But he couldn’t take a break for long. There was still more work to accomplish today. And hopefully before nightfall.

Unfortunately, Randidly couldn’t get an even density of Mana to condense on the fingers of Chulroon’s Chisel, so it was only with his right hand that he could draw the complicated lines of the Engraving.

But on the other hand, that meant that the uniformity for the entire construction was immaculate. Although Randidly continued to move rapidly, it was the rapid movements of an experienced artisan. At this point, Randidly had spent the greater part of six months doing almost nothing but Engraving. This sort of task was something that he could do in his sleep.

After finishing, Randidly grinned down at his creation. The Mana flowed along the metal portions like luminous eels, carefully checking the extent of its new shape for weaknesses and flaws. Finding none, it settled down until it was activated.

That’s when you know the Engraving is a good one, Randidly thought fondly as he looked down at the metal. When it tries to destroy itself to escape. All that’s left now… is one last deal.