The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

"Then I will stand by as the judge." Gol-4 nudged Oscar to place on one of the anvils and faced Orden, who had changed into his fabricator uniform.

Orden suddenly laughed and turned to Oscar, his eyes covered by the black glass visor. "I am shaking with anticipation. We will not craft armaments together because I want to observe you as much as I know how much you want to observe me. I will go first. Sit down and enjoy, Oscar. I know for a fact that I will."

Oscar, dressed in his fabrication uniform and brandishing the two-star badge on his chest, knelt on the floor with his hammer resting on his legs, resembling a disciplined knight waiting at standby. He nodded and returned to his stoic stance, not moving a single inch. He had no wish to do anything other than watch Orden's skill in fabrication, and his eyes focused not to miss a single moment.

'Show me, Orden. I can already tell you're far better than me at forging armaments. This contest is just a formality. You simply want to see other fabricators at work. I understand because I'm the same. The only difference is that I wouldn't have wanted to do it now. But really, I can't wait.'

Oscar gripped his hammer and smiled underneath his helmet. As fabricators, he and Orden had an insatiable curiosity about others' works and processes. It was engraved in their very being to want to see an armament created by another's hand.

"I will create a sword," Orden reached into his space pocket and pulled out some extra ores he always had with him, along with a long claw and some cores. "Using this truesilver ore and claw of a Lower Elite Exalt Beast that I slew earlier. As for quenching, I have some spare Frostin Oil."

Seeing the collection of items Orden had laid out, Oscar admired his work ethic and passion for fabrication. He felt slightly inferior for not having brought the same kind of enthusiasm. A truly dedicated fabricator would always have these tools and materials on hand. "I'm ashamed to say I didn't bring any quenching oil or ores. I'll have to use Erik's later."

"That is alright. Luckily, I'm here to provide the missing pieces but less talk. I need to focus." Orden's voice grew deeper than it already was, and his hands moved quickly, tossing a truesilver ore into the furnace. The giant crouched down to see into the furnace's flames, and the ore inside started to glow and become redder. Not a single sound came from Orden and Oscar, nor did they move, but let the time pass in this manner.

Wanting a closer look, Oscar stood up and walked silently behind Orden to see the beautiful truesilver ore within the furnace. A deep orange glow had replaced all traces of its pure silver color with a yellow center like the two suns during the late afternoon. Then, Oscar noticed the ore was finished heating up.

Just as Oscar had thought so, Orden swiftly moved his hand with tongs and took out the heated truesilver. Oscar maneuvered silently away, practically on tiptoes, from Orden as the truesilver was placed atop the anvil. Then when Orden lifted his hammer, his anima came forth and combined with it.

'That Meld Stage hammer multiplies his strikes up to twenty times. Isn't that a horrifying cheat for refining ores? But how would he handle unraveling the nodes?'

Orden swung his hammer down, a simple strike without the added weight boost and earthen echo but multiplied twenty times. The truesilver ore gave way to the hammer without resistance and had a large dent. After a few more strikes, the truesilver ore fell to half its height.

'In just four strikes, he already got the ore this low? In not even a minute, he's at the stage to unravel the formation within.' Oscar watched in awe, his eyes shining like a child seeing a wonderful performance at a theater. Not just awe but also a fierce competitive desire welled up in Oscar. 'I can't replicate that, but if I become strong enough to match his twenty-multiple strikes, I can achieve the same result.'

Like any good fabricator, Orden tapped the truesilver ore to get a feel of its formation, and then he struck a spot, not making a large dent like before, but still a good result. The more shocking move was that Orden did not pause to get another read on the formation but struck another point instantly. Contrary to usual expectations, the ore did not crack but gave way to Orden's seemingly reckless strikes.

'What is going on?' Oscar thought as Orden kept swinging without pause, yet the ore kept getting thinner. He became confused at how Orden could be so unhesitant about it, but then the revelation came to him. 'Is that even possible? He's lowered the multiple to perhaps two or three, but they still all happen in a split second. The first strike unravels the node, but the subsequent ones give him the makeup of the formation.'

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But that wasn't the most impressive feat for Oscar. Somehow, Orden could see the formation and instantly find the next point without thinking about it. It did not matter if one could find the new setup of the formation as they hit the ore if they could not find the weaknesses in time. 'His anima is amazing, but his insight and intuition are just as incredible.'

The workshop became noisy for the first time in thousands of years as Orden continued to swing his hammer. He completed the refinement using his earthen echo to finish off the deep-rooted impurities, and Oscar could tell it was 100% pure. The process continued to the large claw, which turned to pellets in the kiln and the stripping of the beast core's formation.

It all came together as Orden melted the claw pellets and the refined truesilver in a crucible and laid out the mixture into a clump on the anvil, letting it cool for a moment before he placed the beast core's formation piece on top.

Standing on the opposite side of the anvil, Oscar watched each hammer strike of Orden. When Orden mentioned how he saw his formations as a person, Oscar grew curious about how it worked and was not disappointed. Even to an outsider like Oscar, Orden's formation was clear and representative of his preference.

The beast core' formation acted as the heart, and from there, Orden placed the nodes to represent the other organs, linking them together. The formation became increasingly complex and took around thirty minutes, but everything was there. The sword came into its shape, but the formation on top looked like a person.

With a final strike, the formation became completed and shone brightly. Orden dipped it into his Frostin Oil, expelling a burst of Ein and smoke. The silver blade revealed itself, a grade-two armament. "I'm finished. Now it's your turn."

Oscar rested his hammer on the anvil, which was still hot from Orden's forging. He walked over to the sleeping Erik, tucked away in a corner away from the heat, and dug into his space pocket. "Sorry, Erik. But I need some ores. Viridium? That's good."

After borrowing Erik's ores, Oscar tossed the viridium into the furnace and took out the fang of the Sergantis and its core. Turning to Orden, Oscar's glass visor reflected the furnace's heat. "I will make a sword like you. Watch closely."

"I can't wait." Orden laughed.

As before, they fell into utter silence for Oscar's work and waited for the viridium to heat up. Once the viridium finished in the furnace, Oscar took it out with tongs, placing it on the anvil. He began to hammer at it with his Adamareis-empowered arms, blowing into a concentration of Ein thanks to his Ein Awaken.

'Interesting. I knew Oscar had great physical power thanks to his unique techniques, but his Ein is also well trained and can concentrate well into a single point. Master mentioned this before but refused to teach me, saying slow and steady was the best. The Awaken. Where did you learn that? No wonder you held on that long during our battle; you lost Ein at a lower rate than I did.'

Orden was taken aback at how cleanly Oscar refined the viridium. Unlike his wide swings of power, Oscar's had grace and was like a dance. However, the speed was not on par, as it took several minutes to reach the halfway point.

'His strikes are beautiful. There's not a single wasted movement. I still have a long way to go for that, but you are already one hell of a master. Damn, I must have looked like a brute compared to you.' Orden smiled.

Oscar tapped the viridium multiple times and resumed swinging, pausing to feel the changes. Compared to Orden's strikes, which were like uncontrollable flames that never stopped, Oscar's were like a flowing river with twists and turns but still ending up at the end.

'His refinement time is far longer than mine, but the result so far is equal to mine. Time doesn't matter, so long as the armament is completed. How will you refine the deep-rooted impurities? You mentioned you only went so far as 94% purity.'

Oscar swung again, letting out his 'Shattering Wave' laden with Ein to pound down the thin viridium. The process took quite a while because Oscar needed to rest up for his Adamasreis to return each time. But the results spoke for themselves as the viridium continued to spew out impurities.

'In terms of refinement, he's not lacking at all, but he doesn't have the means to reach the 100 purity. Quite a shame, really.' Orden saw Oscar quit on continuing the viridium and begin working on the Sergantis fang and core. They were no match for Oscar's prowess and were refined.

Once everything was ready, Oscar placed the Sergantis core's formation on the laid-out mixture. As he did before, Orden came to the opposite side of the anvil to watch closely. Oscar smirked and thought about a suitable constellation for the sword.

There were many stars in the night sky and hundreds of constellations. Oscar honed in on his memory and found a suitable one, a depiction of a kneeling knight with his hands on his sword stabbing into the ground. He started to envision that sword and the stars within, filling it up with more auxiliary stars to suit his armament.

Unlike Orden's complex formation of a person, Oscar's constellation formation was simple and formed in a shorter time than Orden's. This feat surprised Orden, who also had a built-in intuition thanks to his hammer anima.

'What an amazing formation. Like a painting of the night sky.' Orden could not tear his eyes away from Oscar's formation.

With the formation complete, Oscar quenched his sword and revealed it to Orden and Gol-4. It was a beautiful emerald blade that glimmered as if stars were in it. He placed the sword next to Orden's and asked Gol-4, "Judge them."

Orden turned off the furnaces and kiln and waited for Gol-4's decision.

Oscar took off his helmet, wiping the sweat off his brow and feeling relieved that he got it on the first try.

Gol-4 stared at both swords and made a mechanical cough, grabbing their attention. "The winner is…."

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