After infusing the Gift with the structure of the sword, Elijah took out the hardening metal from the mold and placed it on the anvil.
Meanwhile, Lucas circled around to the other side and started weaving his hand over it.
He may look insane, but in reality, he was using fire and heat to dent the fiery hot structure of the incandescent blade, creating intricate glyphs on its surface.
He was craving runes on it.
They had already done the math and created perfect runes to engrave on the sword beforehand. Lucas had also already memorised them. All that was left was for him to carve it on the sword.
After multiple glyphs appeared on its surface, Elijah brought out a smithing hammer and started pounding the orange-hot metal.
After a while, he used the tongs to place it back in the furnace before bringing it back out and pounding it with his hammer again.
Lucas didn’t stop weaving hand signs even for a second. He needed to constantly create runes on the sword, even if relentless hammering and heating would destroy some of them.
Runes getting destroyed was all part of the process, after all. Why? Because the runes needed to be engraved not just on its surface but on the whole sword, including its insides.
So even if the sword breaks and the runic pattern disrupts on the surface, it could still be functional to some extent instead of just being a chunk of sharp silver metal.
Exhausted, Lucas wiped the beads of sweat on his forehead and stole a quick glimpse of his surroundings.
All around him, Cadets were in a similar situation. Everyone was working in duos. Some were smithing, while some were casting like him.
There were some who still hadn’t returned from retrieving the material for their forging process. They were already as good as failed since there was only a little more than an hour left. There was no way they could return and forge in that short period of time.
Actually, now that Lucas paid some attention, he could see that they were the only duo in the lead.
“We might be the first ones to pass,” he mused out loud.
“Focus on weaving, Lucas,” Elijah reminded him.
The silver-haired boy rolled his eyes and got back to weaving hand signs.
†
Finally, after half an hour, they were almost done. On the anvil in front of them was a paladin sword, its blade covered in shimmering white runes.
The sword still needed to be embellished and hilt-wrapped to be perfectly presentable, but it was done.
Both Lucas and Elijah were on the floor, huffing and puffing with big beads of sweat covering their faces.
“It’s way too hot in here,” Lucas sighed, getting up.
“Obviously,” Elijah followed and rose to his feet. He grabbed the sword and tried swinging it around a few times. “I think this is good.”
“It’s better than good,” Lucas scoffed. “I think we just created a masterpiece.”
“Indeed,” Elijah nodded. “But have you thought of what name and description we should give it?”
Lucas gently placed a finger on his chin, deep in thought. He looked at the corpse that he had dismembered a few minutes ago and narrowed his eyes.
This dead body belonged to a fallen soldier who died while serving on the frontlines. His corpse was retrieved and sent back to the academy for forging relics since he possessed a Gift. It was in his military contract.
Instructor Matterhorn – their unarmed combat arts instructor and, to Lucas’ surprise at first, also their forging instructor – provided them with his corpse.
The whole class got one corpse each. But no one was told the name or the background of the soldiers they were going to carve open.
Instructor Matterhorn said knowing the name could make you feel attached to someone. And inhumanly cutting open a corpse and extracting what was once theirs won’t do well if you’re attached to it.
So, it was better to know nothing about the corpses and simply refer to them as Subjects. The one that Lucas and Elijah were given was called Subject 17.
Lucas sighed. “Faith Breaker.”
“What?” Elijah frowned.
“Let’s call it Faith Breaker.”
“That’s a good name for a sword. And what about the description?” Elijah asked.
But before Lucas could answer, the main gates of the spacious chamber swung open, and two cadets clad in blue and white uniforms similar to Lucas’ barged in.
Everyone present shifted their attention to the duo who had walked in.
One of them stepped to the front of the chamber under everyone’s gazes and announced in a loud voice, “Lucas Morningstar, the president is calling for you.”
Lucas let out another sigh. He looked at Elijah with an apologetic expression. “Can you finish this up by yourself?”
Elijah chuckled. “I was the one who taught you how to name things using runes. Of course, I can do it by myself.”
Lucas rolled his eyes, walking away. “Fine, geez! No need to be so egotistical.”
†
“I was in an exam, Nero!” Lucas shouted, storming into the president’s office.
Behind a large desk sat a lean young man with a handsome face and raven black hair.
He pitched his piercing gaze on the young wolf and grinned with joyous glee in his dark eyes. “Lucas, how are you?”
“Was fine until now,” Lucas sneered. “Why did you summon me?”
“Well, it’s been so long since we talked. So, I thought of catching up,” Nero’s grin widened.
But upon seeing Lucas’ blank face, he stopped smiling and sighed. “Okay, fine. I called you because the government sent their orders.”
“Orders for what?” Lucas asked.
“What else?” Nero shrugged. “They want to deploy you to the field. The mission they sent is of the level of continental security. It’s even above my clearance, so I could not see its contents.”
“Obviously,” Lucas nodded. He lingered for a second or two before turning away and walking toward the door. “Forward me the details. I’ll take it. Not like I have a choice anyway.”
With that, he headed out of the office. But before he could close the door behind him, Nero spoke up.
“Lucas… Are you finally ready to tell me why you and Amelia fought three months ago?”
That made the silver-haired boy halt in his tracks. He stayed silent and motionless for a while before saying, “It doesn’t concern you.”
“Your fight destroyed two entire dorm buildings. Several cadets were injured. Since I’m the president, not only have I had to cover for the both of you in front of the media but also–”
Thack–
Cutting Nero off, Lucas slammed the door behind him and walked away, not bothering to even listen to the complete statement.