He had summoned a vile flame that seemed alive as it happily bit into the ores, trying to corrupt them. With every pulse of demonic energy, the room felt more and more oppressive.
Bone shards were even swirling around him gave him an unfathomable look.
”There you go, eat your fill!” Jack lovingly murmured as he kept feeding the flame. Was this part of the technique, or had he just gone insane?
What came next was even worse. With a wave of his hand, countless skeleton soldiers started rising, their empty eye sockets filled with greed toward the living.
That’s when he started distributing hammers…
”?!?”
— Clang! Clang! Clang! —
What kind of spectacle was this?! The obviously evil creatures were now obediently laboring. Their coordination was so great that it begged to question how he had done it.
”Oh! He copied my technique!” The Elder Disciple suddenly chimed in, proud.
As the Old Blacksmith watched, his heart hovered between utter fright and excitement. This was entirely new territory!
Forging —> Act of Creation
Necromancy —> Art of Destruction
How he had managed to fuse both was beyond him. Necromancers would usually only ever create items out of despair and sorrow, but he was different.
”How is it?” Jack couldn’t help but give a proud smile as he finished his best weapon so far, a short broadsword that looked positively evil.
”It’s alright for a first-timer, but it’s garbage otherwise.” The master hurriedly replied. Even then, Jack knew he had done a good job because….
[Congratulation! Acquired Demonic Smithing F!]
[Who needs friendship and a pure heart?…]
[You got minions and demonic energy!]
[Ding! You’ve created a profession!]
But, while the old man was playing it cool, trying not to inflate his ego…
”Brother, please teach me! Your skeletons are immune to fire, right?! That’s what I’ve been searching for! Plus, wouldn’t I have even more hammers then!!”
”….”
Was there a need for more hammers? He already used ten of them! At this rate: Forging —> Unlimited Hammer Works.
The poor plant disciple came closer to Jack’s flame in his excitement. As he brushed against it, disaster struck.
His arm suddenly started rotting, corruption invading it. A second later, the regular vines had turned into man-devouring vines that bit at everyone like mad dogs.
”W-what is this?!?” The poor grass elemental flailed around, panicked.
— Slash! —
The old man decisively made a move, cutting the limb directly, before sending a torrent of flames toward it, incinerating it.
”Tch— Be careful, will you! You, control your flames, and you, protect your own energy.” He reproached.
Just like that, Elder Brother was sent back to the florist for recovery, leaving the old and young together.
”Sigh, you’ll have to control your energy. This Demonic Fire of yours is akin to a poison that may erupt anytime. Do you know what this means?” He gave a meaningful glance.
Jack nodded solemnly. Right now, even he wouldn’t dare to wear the gear he crafted. The Demonic Energy would await the best moment to strike and could even kill its user.
”I see. That’s why you said the road would be rough, eh?”
”Exactly. How about it, want to give up?”
”Pfft— As if!”
The two shared a look as the non-stop hammering restarted.
Jack had been planning to use his affinity with the two to request them to forge him something…but suddenly, he found himself wholeheartedly consumed by the task.
Besides checking up with Lilly from time to time, he forgot about the world. He even dismissed the subordinates that messaged him.
- CPR Dude: Boss, there are guilds causing trouble for us ever since you left. What should we do?
- Jack’O: I’m busy. Figure it out between yourselves. I’m sure the Head Cultist has plenty of ideas too.
He casually replied, not knowing that on the other side of the message, a cultist was now dancing in joy with an evil grin on his face. “Saw that! Project Genesis is a go!!”
Either way, Jack did not care. He only wanted to figure out how to control this energy, to manipulate it into doing his bidding, and nothing else.
Thus he kept working, not even minding his fellow blacksmiths’ concerns…
— Clang! Clang! Clang! —
”You’re still here?! How long has it been?!” — Not long enough, for he hadn’t succeeded yet…
”You should definitely take a break!” — He’d stop before dying IRL…
”You look like a damn ghoul!” — This was nothing new…
”Brother, you’re crazy!” — Thanks for the compliment…
The more he worked and the more he realized how incredibly hard this was. The Demonic Energy would be tame under his control but go crazy once it left his body.
How could he improve further?! The old man was trying his best to help, but even he was stumped.
Jack was akin to a youngster playing with fire and wondering why it burned. The problem was that it was so much easier to start/extinguish the flames than to control them.
What was he missing? Just what was he…
”Brother, it’s a shame you can’t hire guards to keep your flame in check, haha.” At some point, the plant being casually joked.
”?!?…That’s it! Hahaha” Maniacal laughter later, Jack returned to work, leaving his companions utterly puzzled.
What happened next made them doubt his sanity. Over the course of the few days, he became strange. The man who used to be scheming and in control became a mess.
”C’mon, stop messing with me! Just a little more” He started mumbling to himself as if he had lost his mind.
[Skill creation Failed!]
[Skill Creation Failed!]
[Skill Creation—]
”Shut up, shut up, shut up!” He even started shouting at empty air. No matter how worried the others became, he kept pushing himself until…
[Congratulations! Accomplished a miracle!]
[Created New Skill: Soul Imbuement!]
[Demonic Smithing Ranked Up!]
[Your Sanity Went Down!]
He started chuckling like a madman. Through sheer perseverance, he had managed to bring forth a skill that wasn’t supposed to be in the game just yet.
This would send a portion of his soul into the things he crafted, assuring the Demonic Energy in the items wouldn’t go out of control.
It did weaken his soul, but whatever. He was finally ready to begin crafting his own gear. He was finally…
[Bringer of Chaos Activated!]
[Your Perseverance Moved the Dead!]
[They Feel Envious! The Dead Are Rising!]
”#$%?/$&!”