Chapter 963 - Crystal Greatsword
By the time the minotaur’s shouting brought the patrol to the smithy, Han Wu was already forging.
He pulled a large block of fused transparent crystal from his small bag and heated it in the furnace. Once it softened, he took up the forging hammer and struck it blow after blow.
The crystal quickly took shape under his skilled hands. He was making a greatsword, as his proficiency with it was higher than with any other weapon.
When the patrol arrived and saw Han Wu mid-forge, a guard who knew the minotaur asked, “Old Bull, is he the one trying to steal your furnace?”
The minotaur held up a hand in front of the guard’s mouth. “Wait, wait. Quiet. Let me watch for a while longer.”
Han Wu continued without interruption, his hammer ringing against the crystal. Every so often, he pulled out crystals of different colors and fused them into the forming greatsword.
The rhythmic clanging rang like a symphony, and the minotaur listened in a trance.
“That’s definitely dwarven technique. I’d stake my life on it. That is dwarven craftsmanship,” the minotaur blurted out to the patrol guard.
The guard saw the minotaur’s trance and decided not to bother. He withdrew from the smithy, leaving the minotaur to watch Han Wu work with total concentration.
About an hour later, Han Wu put down the hammer and set the diamond-shaped shard from the ore basket into the blade. As the shard locked into position, a network of veins lit up across the greatsword’s surface, and the life-draining sensation grew far more intense.
Han Wu lifted the finished blade with a satisfied nod. The greatsword was complete.
The minotaur was stunned. He’d initially only recognized the dwarven portion of Han Wu’s technique, but he was quickly realizing that dwarven craftsmanship was the least impressive part of the entire process.
He couldn’t make sense of anything that followed. It couldn’t parse the technique that Han Wu had used to embed the shard, nor the cause of the glowing veins. The minotaur couldn’t help but feel that his many years of smithing had been a complete waste.
“I’m done,” Han Wu finally said, pulling a Rank 2 Fire Stone from his bag and setting it down as payment for using the forge.
The minotaur rushed forward to stop him. “Master! It’s an honor to have you forge in my shop. Please forget the fee. If you truly insist on paying, I have a small request. I’d like to learn the dwarven forging technique you used.”
Han Wu gave the minotaur a look that seemed to say, “Does something that basic need to be taught?”
The minotaur’s face flushed red. Recognizing the dwarven technique was the extent of his knowledge. He truly couldn’t figure out the patterns in Han Wu’s process.
Ignoring him, Han Wu set down the Fire Stone and made to leave.
“Master, don’t you want to know where that shard in the ore basket came from?” the minotaur hastily asked.
That stopped Han Wu in his tracks. The diamond-shaped shard was remarkable, which was exactly why he’d forged it into the greatsword. If he could find more, the blade would become even more powerful.
“Tell me, and I’ll teach you the technique,” Han Wu offered.
The minotaur was thrilled. Under Han Wu’s guidance, it took him only half an hour to learn the dwarven forging method. Equipment forged using the technique came out at a noticeably higher quality than his previous creations. The minotaur could barely contain his joy, so much so that he nearly broke out into a dance.
Han Wu then reminded him to keep his end of the deal.
“Those ore chunks were mined from the quarry north of Galewind City,” the minotaur said earnestly. “That one shard was found among the ore, meaning there could be more down there.”
Han Wu nodded and headed straight for the quarry north of the city.
Once inside the quarry, the Desolation Manifestation scanned the surroundings and quickly located multiple shards. As Han Wu collected them one after another, he realized they could be pieced together into a broken longsword.
The blade was pitch black, as if it could swallow light itself. Even shattered into dozens of pieces, the reassembled fragments still radiated an aura that shook Han Wu to the core. He could only imagine this sword’s true power when it was whole. At minimum, it had to have been at the level of a 9-Star God-grade Divine Weapon.
There was no point in dwelling on it for long. The sword was broken, and restoring it would take tremendous time and effort that Han Wu wasn’t willing to sacrifice. Instead, he gathered all the fragments and fused them into his newly forged crystal greatsword, piece by piece.
Once every last fragment had been absorbed, the crystal greatsword turned pure black, an unsettling aura radiating from every inch.
Han Wu tested it on a nearby tree, one with a trunk as thick as a bowl. Despite keeping his swing light and merely scoring the bark, the tree immediately withered, its life force flowing through the crystal greatsword and into Han Wu’s body.
The sensation was incredible, warm and intoxicating, like sitting in a sauna. Han Wu almost got lost in the feeling, but he hurriedly snapped himself out of it. He couldn’t afford to become addicted to that kind of pleasure. That was a path to losing himself.
The crystal greatsword could drain a target’s life force and feed that energy back to its wielder, bringing with it a rush of euphoria. It was designed to encourage its owner to keep hunting and killing. In this regard, it was no different from a cursed blade.
Han Wu didn’t hold that against it. If the crystal greatsword grew stronger, he benefited too. The blade was his, and if he ever fell under its spell, he’d only have his own weak willpower to blame.
Of course, that would never happen.
As if sensing his resolve, the crystal greatsword voluntarily stopped its life force drain. That told Han Wu that the blade was sentient. Perhaps the intelligence came from the original longsword’s Armament Spirit.
None of that mattered, though. The most important thing was that Han Wu had a powerful new weapon.
After some contemplation, he decided to drop the hook claws and the Toxic Claws skill. He’d replace them with something better suited for the crystal greatsword.
He ended up choosing a skill that he hadn’t used in a long time: Spectral Dash. Combined with the crystal greatsword, it would unleash devastating power. He was out of White Soul Coins, though, so swapping skills and equipment would have to wait.