"I have a job for you."
Leoric immediately raised both hands.
"Sorry! I’ve already spent all that money. I’ll pay you back later."
...
...
Aster blinked in confusion. "What?"
Leoric looked just as confused. "You didn’t come to return the weapon?"
"No!"
Leoric let out a long sigh of relief before laughing. "You should’ve said that sooner! You nearly scared me to death. So, why are you here?"
"I want you to forge a weapon for me."
"A weapon? Of course! I can make almost any weapon," Leoric replied with a cheerful smile.
Without another word, Aster took out the S-Rank Queen Iron Crab Core.
A brilliant crimson light instantly illuminated the workshop. Leoric instinctively covered his eyes. When the light finally faded, he slowly lowered his hand and stared at the glowing core in disbelief.
"T-This... What is this?"
"I want you to forge a weapon from it."
Leoric remained silent for a moment before shaking his head with a bitter smile.
"I’m honored that you think so highly of me... but I’m not skilled enough to forge a weapon from something like this."
He pointed toward the back of his workshop. Broken weapons, twisted metal, and countless failed inventions were scattered across the floor.
"All I make are strange inventions. They’re creative, sure... but they’re impractical and useless in real combat."
Aster smiled and patted Leoric on the shoulder.
"The weapon I want is also something strange."
"...I think you’re the only person who can make it."
"B-But..."
"At least hear me out."
Leoric thought for a moment before finally nodding "...Alright. Come inside."
After entering the workshop, Leoric asked,
"So, what’s your plan? What kind of weapon do you want to make?"
Aster smiled.
"Technically... it’s not one weapon."
"It’s a combination of several weapons."
Leoric frowned.
"A combination of multiple weapons?"
"Listen, If you combine too many weapons into one, it’ll be extremely difficult to make every function work properly. Even if it does work, it’ll probably be awkward to use and much weaker than the original weapons."
"You don’t have to make every function perfect," Aster replied confidently. "Just make something that can barely imitate each weapon’s function."
Leoric looked at him for a long time before finally sighing.
"...Alright. We’ll give it a try."
The two sat at a table with stacks of paper and several pencils.
"What if the spearhead goes here?"
"No... the balance would be terrible."
"Then let’s move the hammer to this side."
"Hmm... what if we curve the frame?"
"Oh! Then the chain could run through the center."
"Wait... that might actually work."
One blueprint after another was crumpled and thrown onto the floor. By the time the sun began to rise, the workshop was filled with discarded designs.
Finally...
"This is it."
"I think this might actually work."
Leoric studied the blueprint one last time before letting out a helpless sigh.
"This design is unbelievably complicated."
"Even an expert blacksmith would need countless attempts before successfully forging it and It’ll consume an enormous amount of materials. For the trial and errors"
Aster smiled.
"Don’t worry."
"I brought plenty."
He immediately took out the Queen Iron Crab’s massive claws that he had kept instead of selling at the auction house.
Leoric’s eyes widened.
"That’s... enormous."
Aster smiled.
"What do you think? Will it be enough?"
Leoric carefully examined the claw before nodding.
"...I think it’ll be enough."
Without wasting another second, Leoric changed into his blacksmithing clothes and picked up his hammer. He lit the furnace and tossed pieces of the Queen Iron Crab’s claw into the blazing fire. Minutes later, the metal glowed bright red.
Using a pair of blacksmith’s tongs, he carefully pulled the burning metal from the furnace and placed it onto the anvil.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Each hammer strike echoed throughout the workshop.
Hours later...
Leoric silently examined the finished piece. Beside him, Aster waited with anticipation.
After several seconds... Leoric slowly shook his head.
"...It failed."
Aster simply smiled."It’s alright. We’ll just try again."
Leoric nodded "...Right."
The second attempt failed.
The third failed.
The fourth...
Failed again.
Even so... Neither of them gave up.
The constant sound of hammering gradually attracted the attention of the senior blacksmiths.
One of them picked up the blueprint. "I have no idea why anyone would make such a ridiculous weapon..." He smiled. "But it’s an interesting challenge. I want to try too."
One by one, more senior blacksmiths joined them. Soon, nearly the entire workshop was helping forge the impossible weapon.
At the same time, Leoric became acquainted with many veteran blacksmiths, learning from each of them throughout the process.
Finally... One prototype was successfully forged. Everyone stared at it before smiling with satisfaction.
Leoric turned toward Aster.
"Now... It’s time to forge the real one."
Aster nodded.
"Yeah."
He carefully took out the S-Rank Queen Iron Crab Core.
The entire workshop fell silent. Every blacksmith stared at the glowing core with excitement. An opportunity to work with an S-Rank Core was incredibly rare.
Normally, only master blacksmiths were trusted with such precious materials. Everyone worked with extreme care, combining the S-Rank core with the remaining Queen Iron Crab materials.
Hours passed.
Finally...
The weapon was complete.
"We did it!"
Cheers erupted throughout the workshop.
Leoric carefully polished the weapon one final time before handing it to Aster.
The weapon stood nearly half of Aster’s height.
Its central frame curved like a reinforced bow, allowing it to be held comfortably from the middle. One end was fitted with a razor-sharp sword blade, while the opposite end carried a long spearhead. Mounted horizontally beside the spearhead was a heavy hammerhead, and behind it rested a broad metal plate resembling a compact shield.
A durable iron chain stretched from the center of the shield to the opposite side of the weapon, ending in a wicked grappling hook attached near the sword end.
Hidden within the central grip was a trigger mechanism that allowed the grappling hook to launch and retract, making the weapon both versatile and unpredictable.
Aster hold it and looked at the system
Skill:
Slash level 40: Manifest 5 slash per second if holding a sword. Range 115m
Strike level 25: Manifest 5 strikes per second if holding a Staff/Stick. Range 40m
Parry level 25: Manifest 5 parry per second if holding a greatsword. Range 40
Bind level 25: Manifest 5 bind per second if holding a Chain. Range 40m
Grapple level 25 : Manifest 5 Grapple per second if holding a Grappling Gun. Range 40m
Palm Strike(Master) level 25: Manifest 5 Palm Strike per second if holding Arms. Range 40m
Pierce Level 1: Manifest 1 Pierce per second if holding a Spear. Range 1m
Smash Level 1: Manifest 1 Smash per second if holding a Hammer. Range 1m
Stab Level 1: Manifest 1 Stab per second if holding a Stab. Range 1m
"Give it a name," Leoric said.
"Yeah!" "Come on, name it!"
Everyone in the workshop nodded in agreement.
Aster lowered his gaze to the newly forged weapon. His fingers traced its cold metal as he admired the masterpiece born from countless failures and countless hours of hard work.
After a brief moment of silence, he smiled.
"Aegis Fang."
The instant those words left his mouth
BOOM!
A brilliant crimson light erupted from the weapon, engulfing the entire workshop. A powerful pressure swept through the room as the metal trembled violently, and mysterious runes began to glow across its surface.
System:
Skill
Crab Hook Level 1: Manifest 1 Crab Hook per second if holding the Aegis Fang Range 1m