Salamandr

After the massive progress during the past year, Blanc and Helena are planning to explore a fourth of the total area of the Forest of Echoes.

So currently, Blanc is helping with the final preparations for the planned expedition.

One such preparation is the creation of an enchanted weapon for Helena.

Finally, Blanc was able to purchase an ignition ruby from the Petaldream Chamber of commerce.

Although a regular ruby would have been able to create an enchanted weapon for Helena, Blanc doesn't like doing things half-assed.

If they would make an enchanted weapon, then he will make a high-quality one for Helena. One that can be called a national sword in the future.

For this, he made sure to get an ignition ruby which has a high chance to ignite depending on how ferocious your slash is.

Knowing Helena, this ignition ruby is the perfect match for her fiery personality and aggressive fighting style.

It wasn't easy to get his hands on an ignition ruby though, they had to pay a lot of extra to the Petaldream Chamber of commerce in order for them to secure an ignition ruby for Blanc.

It was finally delivered yesterday and they have all the materials that they needed to start the creation of the enchanted weapon.

After making sure that there was no more work that needed to be urgently done in the town hall, he headed to the blacksmith's workshop.

"Doran? Are you here?"

"Oh! Hey mayor! Is the ignition ruby finally ready?"

"Yes, it's here inside this box. Just double checking, are the materials complete now or is there something that you still need before you can start crafting the enchanted weapon?"

"The materials are complete now mayor. Quickly! Give me the ignition ruby! I'd like to try using this baddie as soon as possible!"

Blanc smiled upon hearing Doran's enthusiasm. This is a really good mentality to have especially as a blacksmith.

If he's the type to cower when given a rare material to work with, then it would be hard for Blanc to trust him.

Fortunately for him, this guy doesn't even think about failure and all he's thinking about is the new experience in using a rare material such as the ignition ruby. 

Such an attitude will significantly increase the weapon crafting success rate. 

"Can I watch the process? How long will the creation of this sword take?"

"I would prefer to work alone. As for how long, it should take about two days."

"I see, I won't bother you then. Good luck!"

After receiving the ignition ruby from Blanc, Doran was practically smiling from ear to ear as he quickly locked the door of his personal workshop.

He had met Helena many times before and he had envisioned the perfect weapon for her.

Doran immediately drank stamina and focus potions before he got to work.

This is a good suggestion that he got from Blanc.

Drinking the potions will not only raise his confidence but also his actual stamina and focus.

These things will matter during the most important parts of forging the weapon because if he loses focus due to exhaustion, he might fail to create the enchanted weapon.

After drinking the potions, Doran started to heat the mithril ingot.

Then, after half an hour of heating the mithril ingot, it finally reached the ideal malleability.

Doran kept on hammering the malleable mithril ingot until it took the form of a Greatsword.

Weirdly, the Greatsword currently has space on the edges.

It seems that the cutting edge of the Greatsword will be made using the ignition ruby.

After a few more complex processes, Doran was finally able to prepare the ignition ruby cutting edge and the main body of the Greatsword which is made of mithril.

Here comes the hard part.

Doran needs to integrate the ignition ruby cutting edge and the main body of the Greatsword.

To do this he had to reheat both parts and then combine them.

This part is hard because if he makes a mistake here, it will affect the durability of the weapon. 

The weapon had to be tough, because if the weapon breaks in only a few clashes against the enemy's weapon, then there's really no sense in it being an enchanted weapon.

Doran made full use of all his accumulated skills as a blacksmith and finally successfully combined the two parts.

The Greatsword is starting to look wonderful.

It had fiery red edges while the main body is the silvery-blue color of the mithril ingot.

Doran continuously refined the Greatsword until he was confident that it was now sharp and durable.

He set aside the blade for now and made a hilt that resembled fire.

After he finished the hilt, he started to integrate the sword blade and the hilt.

After a few more hours, Doran was successful and there was only one last thing to do.

For the last step, he has to continue to sharpen the edges using whetstones.

Unbeknownst to him, two days have already passed since he started working.

He didn't even check his own condition since he was fully enjoying the creation of the enchanted weapon.

Doran's body is in pretty bad shape now since he hasn't slept for two days.

Blanc was also starting to get worried and he was pacing back and forth in front of the blacksmith's workshop.

Fortunately for Blanc, his worries didn't last much longer because, after a few more minutes, the door of Doran's workshop finally opened.

"Doran! How could you be so reckless! You didn't rest at all?"

Blanc couldn't help but reprimand Doran for his recklessness.

"Oh? Mayor! Look at my greatest masterpiece! I can confidently say that this is the best sword that I have ever forged in my entire life!"

Doran was still smiling with pride and joy even though his body was exhausted and there were huge dark circles under his eyes.

After seeing this, Blanc just couldn't stay angry at the man anymore.

"I see, I'm glad you had fun. Also, thanks a lot for doing this for us, we really are extremely lucky to have you here in Resonance town."

Hearing Blanc praising him, Doran became even more happy.

"You need to rest for now Doran. Your body is in a pretty bad shape right now."

"Rest? What do you mean? We still have to test this! Let's go and meet the general!"

Blanc tried persuading Doran to rest first but it was no use.

  He knew that this eccentric guy had his own way of doing things so he knew he couldn't force him to do something that he didn't want to.

After a few hours of traveling, they finally reached the training ground inside the Forest of Echoes.

Helena saw Blanc and Doran together with a few elite warriors as escorts. 

Her eyes constricted into vertical slits and she became excited after seeing Doran holding a Greatsword.

She knew that this was her very own enchanted weapon.

Helena rushed excitedly towards Doran

"Blaaaaancc! Doooraaannn!! Is that my new sword?"

Seeing Helena rushing towards them excitedly like a child, Blanc chuckled. This girl is really too cute.

"Oh? General! Yes! I, Doran, have finally finished your enchanted weapon!"

"Ohhhh!!! Can I give it a try? What's the name of this weapon?"

"I call it "Salamandr". Please give it a try!"

*ROAAAAAAARRRRRRR*

Helena was having trouble looking for a target when suddenly, a mutated bear attacked the training camp.

It was the perfect target for Helena to test her new enchanted weapon, Salamandr.

"Aha! You'll do nicely!"

Helena quickly rushed towards the bear and gave it the hardest slash she could make with her physical strength.

Helena was shocked as the Salamandr's edges started to emit smoke and produce sounds that resembled firecrackers in the middle of her slashing motion.

After emitting smoke for a few milliseconds, it suddenly started to ignite as she slashed the bear cleanly in half.

Shockingly, it didn't end there. The bear's body started to be devoured by the fire and after a few minutes, only the ashes of the bear were left.

Total annihilation!

The eyes of the soldiers who were watching almost popped out of their sockets in utter disbelief.

"Holy shit!!! Did you guys see that?! Blanc?! Doran?! Damn! I really really like this sword!"

"NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Did you see that mayor?! That's the power of my masterpiece!"

"General Helena! I'm glad you liked the sword! Please do take care of it, it's my greatest work!"

"Yes! Of course Doran! I will take good care of Salamandr!"

Doran and Helena were practically jumping up and down in elation after witnessing the overwhelming power of the Salamandr.

As for Blanc, he was glad that everything turned out well.

It really wasn't easy gathering the necessary resources for the Salamandr.

With this, they finally have everything they need in order to explore the deeper parts of the Forest of Echoes.