The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Draven did not move but stared at Oscar, who was celebrating his success. He smiled under his helmet, seeing his disciple's good progress and adaptability. Finally, he moved his feet and flicked Oscar's helmet to cool him down. "Calm down. Finish off this plate, and we can move to the next step. Good job on layering your Ein over the 'Shattering Wave'. But never stop trying to accomplish the same feat with Ein alone."

Oscar nodded and finished the azureiron, turning it into a thin plate half the height it was before. Before taking more swings, Oscar turned to Draven and asked, "How do I know when it's finished? I don't want to break it past its limits accidentally."

"From this point on, it's a feeling. As you continue to work with materials and refine them, you'll develop a sense of when it's ready. You can stop right now. It's pretty much finished." Draven took up the azureiron plate with the tongs and dropped it into a new crucible to melt it down. "Now it's pure and in the best condition to create an armament. Come here."

Oscar came forth and peered into the crucible; the azureiron was melting into a hot viscous liquid, almost like molasses. Off to the side, Draven passed him the tongs.

"We don't have to let this keep melting. Pour it into the mold over there." Draven pointed to a metal plate with an indent of a shape.

Oscar did as instructed, feeling the heat travel up the tongs to make his whole body sweat. He poured the entire contents of the crucible into the mold, but some bits were stubborn, and he shook it to get the small bits out.

Draven took out a water basket with frost forming on its edges. He took out the hot metal and doused it in this frosty water, spewing smoke everywhere. "This is glacial oil, very cold and useful for quenching the metal."

Oscar waved his hand to blow it away, but the smoke persisted. When it settled, he saw Draven drop a small but thick bar of refined azureiron on the table.

"To the next step." Draven reached into his space pocket and pulled out a large black turtle shell, dropping it on the anvil. "Refine this shell from the Exalt Beast, Ashback Snapping Turtle. It is an Apprentice Exalt Beast."

"Is it similar to what I did to the azureiron?" Oscar stared at the buckler fragments in the corner of the workshop.

"Not entirely." Draven tossed Oscar a new hammer. "You'll be using the standard hammer that Fabricators use. It allows for easier flow of Ein into it to facilitate the refinement process."

Oscar held the hammer, swinging it around slowly to get a feel for it. It was a hammer with a black metal handle and a silvery-large head. "It feels nice. Are there different hammers?"

"Hammers are like armaments, so the higher grades provide better forging. That is why people with a hammer anima are often said to have the talent because it's more natural for them, and their anima can be a boon when used."

Hammers, anvils, and other tool animas were highly regarded by fabricators. The control over the Ein in an anima was superior, and their forging would be further elevated if their anima mastery advanced to the meld stage or integration stage.

"Does Master have a hammer anima?" Oscar was curious about his master's power.

"You can guess as much as you want." Draven declined to answer and waved Oscar to the anvil. "Back to the topic. When using the parts of an Exalt Beast, there are always traces of its will that retaliates and interferes."

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Oscar nodded, recalling the Night Raptor's blood that coursed through his body. That blood went on a rampage until Oscar destroyed the beast's will, the source of the blood's frenzy. But even after the will was gone, the blood was still wild but without motive.

Draven placed the shell in the furnace, igniting it on fire. "We undergo a similar process to the azureiron, but this time, instead of being idle, it will bite back."

Oscar observed closely as the shell reached a red-hot color. Once it was on the anvil, he was instructed by Draven to hit it with the hammer at this spot. He raised the hammer and sweated in anticipation of what would happen.

As his hammer fell and collided against the shell, Oscar felt a slight rebound reverberating through his hammer to his hands. In his mind, he heard the furious roar of a creature. It was the Exalt Beast's will, fighting back.

"Hmph!" Oscar exerted his Ein and Reis to overpower the rebound and slammed down on the shell. The shell cracked slightly under Oscar's hammer, making Oscar sweat bullets. "I screwed up."

"No, it's fine. Refining the Exalt Beast's shell is to destroy its remnant will and reduce the artifact into a fine powder. Higher grade Exalt Beasts require far more heat and effort to break its will and material." Draven gathered the shell fragments into a pile. "Tap it and find the formation. Then hit its weak point."

Oscar resumed, tapped to find the formation, thought of the weak spot to unravel the formation, and hit, breaking through the rebound he felt each time and dispersing more of the beast's will. He thought about the Night Raptor's blood and paled from thinking of how incredibly risky that was.

"This Exalt Beast is weaker than you and, thus, unable to withstand your power with just a remnant of itself. The more powerful it is, the longer it will take to break its will." Draven explained from the side.

"Master, how do alchemists achieve the same?" Oscar was curious about the other profession.

"Their methods are unique as well. Some plants and herbs naturally have stable Ein, so they need no concern. But for others, the alchemist needs to heat it in a cauldron while using their Ein to tame the wild Ein." Draven gathered all the powders after Oscar was finished hammering the shell into dust. "That can be done while creating an elixir, but a beast's blood must be refined beforehand. The blood is poured through a sieve that drips slowly into a vial. The alchemist concentrates and purifies the building liquid in the vial. Dispersing the beast's will every time."

Oscar listened and finally finished reducing the shell to a powder. His master poured the powder into a brick kiln that was burning a yellow flame that extended out the top. The flames roared as the opening on the bottom was sealed.

"Now we wait until the flames start to die. By the way, these flames are special grade-one yellow flames. You'll need to create better flames from special wood or another source for higher-grade beasts." Draven cleaned the anvil.

Oscar sat down and waited patiently with his master. Both stared at the roaring flame that still burned through the kiln. In an hour, the yellow flames started to flicker and no longer showed above the kiln's top.

"Take a basket of glacial oil and pour it down until there is no more light within the kiln," Draven instructed.

Oscar took the basket of frosty liquid, feeling a cool sensation that provided much-needed relief. He poured it down the chimney-like opening of the kiln, releasing a large cloud of smoke, but Oscar did not stop pouring until the small sparks of flame he could see were gone.

Draven opened the bottom hatch and reached in. He pulled out a large slag of unknown material and placed it on the anvil. "This is the result."

Oscar held the slag in his hands, feeling its rough surface but was confused by what they had made.

"It's very weak; crack it with your hammer without Ein or Reis."

Oscar swung his hammer, and the slag broke apart like a sand castle. There were small pill-sized bits that didn't match the soft material of the slag. Oscar held some between his fingers.

"First step was to destroy the beast's will and reduce the material into powder. The second step was to burn it in the kiln to make the material rebind into this slag. Finally, we end up with these small pellets, but it is the best form of the shell that exemplifies its toughness. If we tried it with fangs, the pellets would be well suited for a sharp edge. Gather all of them."

It was tedious, but Oscar crumbled every bit until he found pellets. He gathered them into a small basket, forming a small mound the size of his fist. He could not believe that the large shell had become this small result in front of him.

"What now?" Oscar asked.

"Now comes the hardest part." Draven crossed his arms. "It's time to make an armament."

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