Enlightened

"System create the final creation legacy treasure..." James said to the system.

[Ding!!! Creation Error...] The system notification rang as the procedure failed before it even began.

"Huh?, What is the problem." James asked the system.

[Ding!!! For the last treasure, the host must create the model before the treasure can be processed. This requirement will serve as the means to prepare you for the manual blacksmithing process. This is the last treasure that the system can generate. If the host can enhance their skill in soul manipulation before the system fully merges with the in-game system, more treasures can be generated. But as a safety precaution for the inevitable failure, this tutorial is generated to prepare the host for manual equipment creation.]

"Okay, I guess, so how do I start. Do I have to read a manual or something?"

[Ding!!! Due to the automatic creation of the legacy treasure, all the host needs to do is focus and mold out the shape and impact the functions the equipment is supposed to create. Due to the lack of any atmospheric energy, the host will have to use their passive soul power in the soul eyes.]

"How will that affect my vision?"

[Ding!!! Depending on the rarity of the equipment, the larger the soul power used but if in the process the host uses all their soul power, their soul eyes will revert to their normal eyes for a specific period until the soul power is generated.]

''Okay, if that is the only side effect, I guess I can handle that"

[Ding!!! Will the host like to start the forging process?]

"Yes" James replied affirmatively as he closed his eyes in a bid to help him focus on the task at hand.

[Ding!!! The request has been processed]

In James' room, a whitish murky light filled up the room as everything in the room began to have a sort of magical glow. The stuff in James' room floated up as everything felt lighter. The concentration of the light was the deepest around James' body and the lightest was further away from him. James floated up in the sky as his hand started moving dexterously. The whitish murky light started concentrating as the little strands of light started coming together towards James as his hand moved around.

'' Haaa, this feeling is so exhilarating. I feel lighter than usual. The is this inner feeling that I could do anything I want to if I am in this state. Soul magic keeps getting more mysterious in my eyes and its physical appearance doesn't help any better. With this murky look, it grants a mysterious look to my soul power. I can't wait to be able to have the minimum skill to manipulate my soul magic, I bet there are more things that I could do with my soul magic" James said out loud as he continued fiddling with his soul power.

[Ding!!! The host has reached 30% completion. The host is currently able to connect with his soul power which serves as the barrier which is broken to grant 30% completion of the legacy treasure. ]

'Huuuu this won't be easy as I thought ' James said after he heard the system notification. He thought he was done with all the legacy treasure forging. But now he realized that he was just 30% through, he finally remembered that this was his first experience having to control his soul power. Gathering of the dispersed soul power might sound easy and all but that was not the case. With the release of soul power from his eyes, the more strain he felt on them. He also needed to concentrate his soul on the dispersed soul power before he could gather them around him. All this needed extreme focus, had it not been for his previous experience in the magic world where he gathered mana in addition to killing beasts to grow stronger, this process would have been a far more difficult ordeal.

The harder James focused, he realized the more the concentration of soul power gathered around him. He drew the soul power that had scattered around closer to himself till it was about two meters in front of him. The soul power now had a thicker glow as the concentration finally reached its peak. James was currently floating in the air as the soul power drew closer to him

[Ding!!! The host has reached 60% completion. The host is currently able to gather his soul power in a very small radius around him. This signifies the 60% completion of the legacy forging]

" Huu I am getting closer than I thought, the more I do it the easier it seems to get. It seems this is the final procedure, then I should reach 100% completion."James said as he hang onto that feeling as continued what he was initially doing. With the goal in sight, James was as motivated as ever. The concentrated soul power continued reducing in distance from James as it became much more concentrated. This process continued for a while until the soul power was finally coagulated into a deep white murky ball right in the palm of James. From a glance, the ball looked to lack power but if one was at the receiving end of it, one will think otherwise.

[Ding!!! The host has reached 90% completion. The host is currently able to gather his soul power in a very small radius around him. The soul power is currently a 10 cm ball that has not extinguished proving the level of skill the host has reached. This signifies the 90% completion of legacy forging]

"Huh? I thought I'll be done when my soul power is concentrated enough. I thought all I got to do was imagine and it will become a possibility. Come to think of it, how is the system able to quantify the completion of the stages of forging with my soul? I thought knowledge about soul strength and soul power was a mystery?" James said as he thought critically about all the experiences he had with the system.

[Ding!!! The host cannot complete a trial for manual forging without doing any actual work. That will make the trial unnecessary.] The system said with an emotionless voice.

[Ding!!! The system is using the original system of distinction used in practicing control of elements back in the magical era. The system doesn't have any information on soul magic but since your soul power is considered an element, the elemental systems are used to classify it.]

"Okay, I get it now. But how can I do manual forging if I don't have the materials" James said to the system in an annoyed tone.

[Ding!!! The system has no information on soul magic.]

[Ding!!! It is the advice of the system to continue the forging process in the game where mana could be used as the material as in the first scenarios. But this will result in the loss of forging progress since the whole process has not been completed and accepted. The host has a minimal amount of soul power to create what he has in mind.]

"No, I need to get this now. It will be important for all of us, especially Lisa. I can't go in-game today, I planned to do that tomorrow"

[Ding!!! Then the host must figure it out himself.]

"Haaa, fine. I guess I'll be doing that for the most part." James said as reentered his focused state as tried compressing the soul power even more. But to his surprise that was the limit that the compression could go.

"Okay, if this is supposed to be manual the is supposed to be some swinging and body movement. I guess I could try this...." James said as he tried changing the shape of the ball-like soul power into something of a different shape. After continuous trial and error, about the 10th time, James formed his desired object. Currently in his hand was a white forging hammer.

"From the novels, Old James read after he came back from school, the soul is something that can birth life and is the component that holds every other aspect of the human body together. I hope my gamble is correct else I'll lose all my current progress" James said as he tugged on the empty air as he focused and envisioned what he wanted to forge. He swung the forging hammer continuously at where he tugged with his hand and repeatedly struck, at first nothing of significance happened but as he continuously struck the hammer a clinging sound continued to ring as what he envisioned was coming into existence. Unbeknownst to James as he tugged onto the air and first had the idea to use the empty air as a material, he had entered an enlightened state where he had perfect control of his soul power momentarily. This felt like the first time he awakened his dark element after awakening his shadow element in his past life.

[Ding!!! 100% of the forging process is completed]

[Ding!!! The host has created the creation legacy treasure (...)]

All these notifications rang but James didn't hear them since he was still in his enlightened state. When he opened his eyes he was in for a huge shock when this happened.

Around James, the soul power on his left side was pitch black and the soul power on his right side was murky white.

"What the fuck? How did my soul power disperse and why are the two different shades of colors for my soul power?" James cursed as looked around his room.