Yusa was explaining Ao the offer she'd received from Halie. Hearing that made him start to ponder.
"Well, there is no doubt this is a good chance. But you saw just now that was the leader of the Carnage Team, the one ranked first in the Sky Rank System. Even so, I couldn't help but think how weak he was. Of course, Yule Continent is seen as the weakest continent, so the competitors in the Mercenary Selection and the Martial Gathering after it are bound to be much stronger. But even so, for you who have a strength similar to mine, I still think you should aim at the Divine Path Sect first."
Yusa nodded. That's what she was thinking too. Ao then commented:
" If that Six-Star Runestones Formations Master really wants you as a disciple, I doubt he will change his mind in just three months both competitions take place."
"Do You think so?"
Ao nodded.
"I refuse to believe he will find someone as good as you anytime soon. Who out there can match the power of the Spiritual Energy Meridians? They are the main reason why he got so impressed."
Yusa took a deep breath and nodded.
Later that night, she gathered with Shinja and Krune and told them her plans. Krune heard that and simply said:
"Isn't that good? Having a backup plan when things don't go the way you planned to. That's the right way to go."
Shinja also nodded.
"I concur, you don't know if you have enough strength to enter the top 10 of the Mercenary Gathering. The same goes for Ao and even Krune, and let's say that only Krune and I go to the Divine Path Sect entrance exam. and if we both failed, we would come back after that anyway."
She said that she doesn't believe the Divine Path Sect would give up on Krune once they find that he has an Elemental Core. Even if he failed the exam, they would still take him in. But she didn't say those words not to make things difficult for Yusa.
"Then I will do that! Besides, who knows, I might really enter the sect."
She then just laughed.
Everyone went back to their own things after that.
There was only one day remaining before they departed for the Mercenary Selection. That day, Krune went back to the Blacksmith Hall to take the exam. He wanted to know if he could become at least a One Star Blacksmith, already.
Marcus was the examiner at that time around. He was the one who had told Krune he could do the Blacksmith Exam in the Hall, so he wanted to see how much he'd improved in just six days.
"Very well! Your job is to forger a simple Divine Imprint. The materials are all on the table. Although it takes some time until you to forge a Divine Imprint good enough to resist the forging process without changing, a simple one should be easy to accomplish."
Krune nodded. If it were just a basic Divine Imprint, he was confident that he could forger one.
Divine Imprints could be forged through the use of blood and Divine Sense. As for the materials, in fact, as long as it were good enough to resist the battle of the cultivator specific level, that was good enough. So Krune used one of the common materials available, Spiritual Iron, a type of metal that could be found almost in any Blacksmith store.
'To forge the Divine Imprint, I will have to fuse some of my own blood inside the ore without losing the blood or the metal characteristics. My blood will be the container which will keep my Divine Sense inside, while the iron will be the protection.'
Krune started straight away. With the help of the equipment in the exam room, he could check the Iron temperature all the time, using his own spiritual energy to manipulate the fire element. The Iron temperature slowly increased. The trick was to protect the blood with their spiritual energy so that the hot iron wouldn't destroy it. For Krune. Who has the All-Encompassing Soul Technique and the Spiritual Energy Meridians, it was a too easy way.
After the right temperature was achieved, he started hammering it while applying a few drops of his blood. Divine Imprints aren't anything big. In fact, they are very small. Even the hammer used to mold it was a lot smaller than normal hammers. All to precisely control the Divine Imprint creation.
Marcus was looking at the process and was really impressed. Krune's control over the fire element far exceeded his expectations. He was even using wind element at the same time to increase the effectiveness of the fire element without damaging the blood properties.
'This is far above what a One Star Blacksmith can do. If he finishes this Divine Imprint like this, it won't be a problem to give him a Two- Star Blacksmith Badge straight away.'
Time passed, and slowly the Spiritual Iron took the form of a circle. Its color also changed. One could see that it was somewhat blood- red now. But Krune noticed one thing when he used his Divine Sense to check the fusion of the blood and the iron. He could see that although they are fused together now, their properties aren't exactly the same. If he wanted, he could use his powerful Divine Sense and Spiritual Energy Meridians element control to forcefully match each other.
'I see! It is because blood also has iron in its composition. No wonder they use blood to keep the owners' Divine Sense. Let's give it a try!'
Krune stopped hammering at this point. The Divine Imprint had already taken the desired form. So he started infusing his Divine Sense into his blood, and, at the same time, match the two metal properties together. Fortunately, both metals are iron, so it was a lot easier than he thought.
As soon as Krune started to match the properties of the blood iron and the spiritual iron, Marcus's jaw almost dropped on the floor.
'I see! I spent all night forging and haven't take a break yet. I'm hallucinating now, yes, that must be it!'
He took a deep breath, used his spiritual energy to clear his mind, and only then took a look inside the Divine Imprint with his Divine Sense again. But nothing changed, Krune was still matching the two irons properties, and it won't be long before he finishes.
'Impossible! This isn't a thing you can do with elements alone. He would need to have a Divine Sense that matches an early stage Core Formation Realm. But he is obviously at the 7th stage of the Foundation Establishment!'
Krune had no idea about what Marcus was thinking. He just wanted the One-Star blacksmith badge for now. After the Mercenary Selection, he will focus even more on his blacksmithing and try to get to the level of a Three-Star before the Martial Gathering. With some luck, he might be able to finish his Hexagonal Flying Shields before it starts.
A few minutes later, Krune finally finished the process. He then cooled down the Divine Imprint and passed it over to Marcus to check how it was. He was pretty confident he would get his One- Star badge today.
Marcus looked at the Divine Imprint on his hands and took a deep breath. He knew Krune wasn't a blacksmith. He really started to practice it six days ago. He turned to Krune and asked:
"How did you know that the Spiritual Iron and the iron in the blood properties could be matched?"
Krune answered straight away.
"I didn't. But when I was getting close to the end, I noticed I could forcefully match them during the fusion process using my control over the fire element and my Divine Sense to check the process. I didn't know whether it was a good idea, but it seemed the right thing to do at that time, so I did it."
Marcus heard that but couldn't believe it. The study materials given for new contestants don't include the properties of blood and metal matching process. It should be something you can only do after your Divine Sense is strong enough to perceive those properties inside the metals. Usually, it would only happen once you enter the Core Formation Realm to have a Divine Sense as strong as a Core Formation Realm cultivator while still in the Foundation Establishment. Just what kind of monster did he find?
"Your exam is over. You did a great job with the Divine Imprint! In fact, the properties matching process should be something only Four-Star Blacksmiths at the Core Formation Realm can do. Although you really did that while using one of the easiest metals, you haven't forged any weapon or armor yet. So I can't be sure you really achieved that level. So, for now, I will give you a Three-Star Badge."
Krune didn't mind at all. In fact, he was ecstatic. It means that he, at least, has the ability to make a Divine Imprint good enough to resist the forging process of his shields without suffering any changes.
"I will be leaving for the Mercenary Selection tomorrow. Do you think my Hexagonal Flying Shields could be completed before that?"
Marcus shook his head.
"Although they aren't hard to make at my level, it would still take some time. Thirty-eight shields would need at least one week for me to finish. So you might as well ask someone else later. It will be good if you have all 38 forged for the same person as well."
Marcus pondered a bit and then said.
"The Mercenary Selection will take place inside a danger zone, so there won't be any blacksmiths there. But, after it is over, the contestants of the Yule Continent will come back here first before leaving to do their own things. At that time, you could come back, and we could work on it together."
Krune heard that and nodded his head.
"This is good for me too, I will pass by when I'm back."
Marcus nodded and brought Krune to the office where he could get his badge. Since the examination had a Five-Star Blacksmith overseeing, there was no need to contact the Blacksmith Headquarters in the Yule continent. In just thirty minutes, Krune's badge was done. After getting it, he went back to his room. He wanted to take some rest before their departure the next day.
After seeing Krune off, Marcus was back into the Blacksmith Hall. He went directly inside the office of the Six-Star Blacksmith, the place's supervisor, Jorge Lanil.
Noticing Marcus entering his office, Jorge stopped what he was doing and asked:
"Is he gone now?"
Marcus nodded.
"I just saw him off. I gave him a Three-Star Badge just like you said."
Jorge nodded.
"That is good enough. According to what I know, he is a Four-Star Alchemist as well as Formations Master. Now, he showed enough talent for us to give a Four-Star badge as well, but I can't do that."
Marcus couldn't help but ask why.
"Because I believe he can become one as long as he wants, he can come back and practice some time more and apply for a Four-Star test. If he doesn't do that, it means he doesn't want to be a Blacksmith to start. You told him it was because he hasn't forger a weapon or armor to that level yet, right?"
Marcus nodded.
"But, in the end, he didn't ask you to give him a chance to forge them. He only wants to be able to make a Divine Imprint at the right level and have someone forging the equipment. In that case, there is no need to give him a Four-Star Badge."
Marcus then asked.
"But isn't it bad to let such talent go like that?"
Jorge heard that and laughed.
"No problem at all! He will probably want to make something himself in the future; at that time, he will come back to forge. I'm looking forward to what he will do when he really puts his mind on that."
