Chương 129: Chapter 126: New Trouble

Lucan helped him in the meantime by filling the runes on his sword with the liquid crystals. It took Thalion nearly half an hour to finish transforming the first crystal. He already felt much weaker, with so much of his blood used for the process. He had previously attempted to use blood from the sanguine thorn, but it had very little effect on the crystal and didn't change much at all. Perhaps it could work over time, but he didn't have that much time.

He wanted to complete the crafting and body-tempering before their journey to the fourth stage. So, he continued his work on the other crystals. Thankfully, his blood regenerated quickly, and with the Heart of the Sanguine Archon, the new blood grew increasingly potent. Hours passed as Thalion hammered his blood affinity into the crystals. He stopped after finishing six crystals, knowing the power of these combined crystals would double the strength of the one connected to his blade before.

"I think I need a little pause before the final process," he said to Lucan, who nodded in agreement. It wasn't that he couldn't push through; he simply wanted to be strong enough to withstand potential injuries if the crystals exploded. Thalion sat down to meditate, speeding up the empowerment of his newly regenerated blood. Meanwhile, he placed his blade inside a magic circle to absorb additional mana. It wouldn't make much difference, but every little bit helped, so why not use it?

While he was midway through his blood purification, he received a message from the other council members. Maike had called an emergency meeting. So, Thalion and Lucan stopped the crafting and hurried to a large, grand building that Thalion had purchased specifically for council meetings. He hadn't wanted them always gathering in his tower, even though the underground was well protected by multiple runes. When they arrived, all the others were already there waiting.

Everyone's attention was on Maike, who looked utterly exhausted. Her hair was burned in places, and her clothing was ripped in multiple spots.

"What happened?" Kaldrek asked, concerned—voicing the question that was on all their minds.

"We've encountered other humans," Maike huffed, still out of breath.

"Wait—I thought we were the only large human camp? We haven't even spotted a small camp in weeks," Elise exclaimed in shock.

"And why would these humans attack you? Have they gone mad?" Edrion, one of the guards, asked loudly.

"Yes, they have gone crazy," Maike replied.

"It's a human base led by three brothers and their sister. The camp isn't as big as ours, but it's fully militarized. They rule with an iron fist. I only spoke briefly with one of their hunting parties. Before I realized the situation, I told them about our safe, peaceful base. Now, I fear they'll come for us," she said quickly, her voice cracking.

"It's fine. I believe Thalion can handle this situation," Kaldrek said confidently, attempting to calm the still-shaken Maike. All eyes turned to Thalion.

"How far is this human camp?" Thalion asked, hoping there was enough time to finish his sword before the fight. A war was really not something he wanted at the moment.

"It took me a little over two days to return here at full speed," Maike answered, tears running down her cheeks.

"But they could already be on their way. I have no idea what their capabilities are."

"Didn't you purchase additional defenses this week?" Kaldrek asked hopefully. So far, their base only had a few magic circles and a dome-like shield surrounding it.

"No, I didn't," Thalion admitted.

"We have a few more problems to consider. What if they invade under the guise of survivors? We'll need stricter controls over weapons and must detain or monitor any new, strong arrivals," he concluded, realizing the situation was more complex than it initially seemed.

"I'll notify the guards immediately," Edrion said, nodding with urgency.

"I also want to position the skyships around the perimeter to spot them early enough," Thalion added.

"We should send some scouting vessels in their direction for further reconnaissance," Kaldrek agreed, taking the matter seriously.

"Why did they try to kill you, Maike?" Isolde asked, looking at the still-shivering woman.

"The only logical explanation is that they wanted to stop me from reporting to all of you," Maike replied, her voice trembling.

"I don't believe that," Elise interjected.

"Maybe it was just a misunderstanding." She was immediately met with disapproving looks from the others. Yeah, no one believed that.

"What should we do next? Is it even safe to send out hunting parties?" Korven, another scout, asked, his voice tinged with worry.

"Nah, in the end, we have the numbers, and the scouting parties could also help us spot these people. It's important to inform everyone about what happened," Thalion said in a calm tone.

"We can't do that! What if they decide to help them for better rewards after they conquer this base?" Isolde exclaimed, but so far, no one supported her concerns.

"There's nothing we can do against something like that," Thalion sighed. He wasn't particularly afraid of these people. As long as he could finish his sword, he would be more than prepared. For now, not much had changed. They sent out their scouts, and Thalion informed everyone about what had happened to Maike. Furthermore, they encouraged everyone to train as much as possible, remain wary of new arrivals, and head out in larger hunting parties.

They just needed to hold on until the system shop arrived; by then, things should become far more manageable. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He checked the total survivor score, which was currently at 101, 004 survivors. Perhaps this stage was far larger than they had initially thought, and these people weren't the only ones who might come after him in the days ahead.

Regardless, Thalion had worked hard on empowering his blood during the council meeting and was now ready to finish his blade. Back at the smithy, they had prepared the right template to combine all the small crystals. Thalion began by filling it with his blood, then added the original crystal from his sword along with the new ones he had prepared. As before, he hammered the crystals together until they gradually fused into one.

They had considered combining the crystals in their liquid form and then hardening them into a single crystal, but another smith had already tried that, and the resulting crystal was significantly weaker than expected. That was why Thalion was now hammering the crystals manually into a single entity. After fusing three crystals, the entire process became increasingly dangerous. The large crystal started to release waves of red mana at intervals. Despite this, Thalion pressed on, undeterred.

It was maybe a bit crazy and risky, but sometimes you need to welcome them for greatness.

"Holy shit, I thought it was going to blow up," Lucan said as Thalion finished with the final crystal. A powerful mana wave surged out, nearly destroying half the smithy. They had wisely moved all the important tools and materials aside before Thalion even began integrating the last crystal. Next came the runes on his sword, now made from liquid crystal that had hardened. This part of the process required a considerable amount of his blood, but it wouldn't be as taxing as the crystals themselves.

"Haha, let's get ready for the finale," Lucan laughed loudly once the last runes were finished and turned red after being fused with his blood. The blade now gleamed in a very dark red, with crimson-red runes etched along its surface. The entire weapon radiated power, far exceeding what it had before Thalion began the process. Lucan was right; it was nearly complete. Thalion waited briefly to allow his blood to regain some of its strength.

Then, while empowering the toughness runes on his armor, he prepared for the final step. Using a vine from the sanguine thorn, he carefully grabbed the crystal and stood nearly thirty meters away from the blade. Slowly, he positioned the crystal above the small indentation in the sword hilt and let it drop. The moment the crystal touched the blade, Thalion summoned a powerful mana barrier in front of himself—and not a moment too soon. A shockwave erupted from the sword, slamming against the shield.

The barrier held briefly but then shattered, sending both Thalion and Lucan flying backward into the smithy walls. The shop's windows shattered, but the walls absorbed the force of the shockwave without showing any signs of damage.

"Holy shit, did it blow up?" Lucan asked after a moment, groaning as he stood up and downed a healing potion. Thalion's vision was still tinted red, but his body healed quickly despite the impact of his head slamming into the wall behind him. You have forged a blade of rare power Blade of the Blooded Templar (Celestial)"Oh my god, it worked!" Thalion cheered, raising his hand triumphantly in the air while still sitting on the ground.

"It's even of celestial rarity!"

"Good job," Lucan said with a grin, "that's two rarities above mythic. Haven't seen such a powerful F-grade weapon yet."

"Wait, you can see that it's F grade? I don't see any grades on the blade," Thalion asked the smith, clearly surprised.

"Yeah, it's something to do with my class. The blade will count as E grade the moment even one material in it reaches E grade," Lucan explained quickly while searching for the sword amidst the dust cloud that had been kicked up. Thalion didn't need to see it himself; the blade was still bound to him by blood. He simply called for the weapon, and it flew into his hand. The moment it landed, a surge of power traveled up his arm, almost knocking him out.

The sword looked almost the same, except its color had shifted to such a dark red it was nearly black, with crimson runes etched along the blade. The weapon's sheer power was overwhelming, and Thalion was eager to test it—but not here. There was still body-tempering to finish in the gravity field before the impending attack from the other human camp. Returning to his tower, Thalion placed more wind crystals into the black pillar and made his way toward the gravity array.

He would have preferred to experiment with various enhancements, but time was against him. It was crucial to become as strong as possible before the clash with the other humans. The gravity array had fifty levels, each representing a different degree of difficulty. To Thalion, it appeared as a massive magic circle etched into the ground, far more intricate than any standard magic circle.

It could be activated by pushing mana into one rune and deactivated by channeling mana into another—a handy feature, especially if someone became immobilized by the array's effects. Thalion activated the circle and immediately set it to the second difficulty level. Even this modest increase nearly overwhelmed him; it felt as though a blue whale had been dropped onto his shoulders. His muscles strained, and he prayed his bones wouldn't give out.

"This must be designed for heavy warriors, but it's not bad. Maybe it's even useful for early E-grade practitioners," Thalion mused, considering its potential applications. He realized he could even use it while in his Umbral Predator form, or perhaps as an eagle. Additional stats would undoubtedly help if he aimed to evolve into a wyvern at E grade. He also considered adding reptilian features to increase his chances further. Initially, he had worried about becoming too exhausted during the training session.

However, his body's incredible regenerative ability, fueled by the reserves of the Outsider bound to him, quickly dispelled that concern. The regeneration was astonishing, allowing him to heal injuries rapidly and push his body far beyond normal limits. His muscles were developing rapidly with this training method. Before, Thalion had been a bit over 1. 90 meters tall and reasonably muscular, but nothing extraordinary.

Now, his physique was changing drastically, though he didn't yet look significantly different outwardly. The results were undeniable: after just five hours of training, his strength stat had increased by 32 points. The gains were extraordinary, and though his muscles stopped visibly growing, the strength notifications kept coming. With this, Thalion decided to continue body-tempering. Greater strength would give him a significant advantage in close combat, especially when wielding his new sword.

He stood on the circle for hours until a message from Maike interrupted him. By that point, his strength had increased by 62 points, and his body showed no outward changes—a curious contrast to the initial stages of body-tempering, when physical transformations had been more evident. Unfortunately, the news was bad enough to halt his training. The enemy had arrived. Five giant skyships, armed for battle, were closing in. Thalion estimated they were still a few hours away.

Determined to make the most of the remaining time, he resolved to complete his skill fusion with eagly immediately. Those could be very helpful in airborne battles. Activating the ancient skill fusion ability he had purchased in the system shop, Thalion combined Feather Glide and Tempest Shroud. Tempest Glide (Epic) Harnessing both the agility of the wind and the power of the storm, Tempest Glide allows the user to soar gracefully while cloaked in a swirling shroud of turbulent air and mist.

While gliding, the user is surrounded by a vortex of wind and mist that deflects weaker projectiles and partially obscures their form, making it difficult for enemies to land a precise hit. The tempest veil enhances maneuverability in the air, enabling quick directional shifts and bursts of speed.

"This was better than expected," Thalion noted, marveling at the skill. Its rarity had been upgraded, taking the best qualities of Tempest Shroud while combining them with Feather Glide. Time to get to the other skills those fuckers would regret interrupting his cultivation.