Born in Blood

Liam instantly went back to the magical beast corpses, pensive as he decided what to pick.

It was obvious he was gonna go for a Rank-2, since he could easily afford it.

'Albino Python, Lake Beaver, Earth Boar. The first being of the wind element, the second of water, and third of earth.' Musing over it for a few moments, Liam eventually decided on the first option.

Rogan nodded and grabbed the snake, placing it on the metal anvil and taking out a sharp cutting-knife from his space-ring.

It was a mere 4-inch blade, yet it was covered with inscriptions that bolstered its sharpness to a terrifying length.

The knife cut through the python like butter.

"A katana and wakizashi. 23 inches for the former and 11 inches for the latter..."

Rogan uttered words continuously under his breath while skinning the snake with ease.

He separated the fangs, bones, flesh and core immaculately. The skill and grace he did it with didn't match his muscular physique, and his experienced eyes seemed to be completely absorbed in his work.

The same went for Liam, who was captured by the art of forgery — paying the utmost attention to Rogan's handiwork.

After completing the separation and organizing all the components, Rogan took a black hammer off the wall. The hammer was covered with similar inscriptions, radiating strength — and looked similar to Mjolnir.

Liam's interest was piqued.

Rogan began with the metallic scales, putting them all in a straight line and rubbing dark oil grease over them, before hitting it with the hammer.

Loud bangs resonated through the air, however, instead of becoming uneven and ruined, the scales wielded together to create a long, thin, and perfectly flat piece of metal.

'How does that even work?' Liam wondered briefly, before paying attention.

After doing so, he took the shiny metal piece and dipped it into the magma cauldron, causing it to glow red with heat. He continued hammering it until it began to take the form of a sword.

He repeated the process sixteen times, until the sword resembled a full-fledged katana.

He shaved away the excess metal from the piece and purified it, then grabbed the snake flesh, bones and fangs, and continuously mixed them together with the metal piece until it blended inside.

At the same time, he used the snakeskin to create a handle, wrapping it around a cloth until it took a solid form.

It took two hours until he finished doing the same with the dagger, but since Liam was just as absorbed as Rogan, he didn't notice.

By the end, all the materials were expended except the snake core, which he took out to complete the final step.

Rogan closed his eyes as he held the core, and the azure colored 'Ora' inside of it oozed out like gas and entered through his forehead.

'Don't tell me… he's absorbing that into his mental sphere?'

Following this, Rogan went through a series of pained expressions. His eyes were closed all throughout, but it looked as though he was going through a mental clash.

Gradually, color returned to Rogan's pale face, allowing him to grab the blades and clench them tightly.

The 'Ora' that he had absorbed through his mental sphere left his head and burst forth through his mental waves.

It wrapped around the blades — parts of it entering it and causing it to faintly glow — while other parts were lost due to a lack of control.

The 'Ora' in his arms left his body and entered the blades like tendrils, briefly enveloping them before disappearing inside of it.

Only after he was done, did he stretch the weapons forward.

"Come, hold them." Rogan's tone was quieter than before, but his eyes were still full of life.

Liam happily obliged, grabbing the blades and waving them around.

The end products looked extremely clean.

The katana and wakizashi both had a white stripe along the edges. The aesthetics of the handle and blade formed an expensive and posh appearance.

The blades felt perfect in his grip.

"Mind telling me about the forging method now?"

Rogan heaved a long, tired sigh. "As I've said, it's an unorthodox method of forgery by the name of Primordial Forging. In essence, it consists of taking over a magical beast's 'will' and making it your own. Once that's done, I can imbue that will onto a blade.

"This technique has multiple issues with it, however. The first being the short life-span of the creations made from it. Secondly, subjugating a magical beast's will is a lot more difficult than it seems. You quite literally have to fight with it in your head, which can cause weakness to the mental sphere walls.

"I won't lie, it's covered with flaws. The only reason I use it today is because it's been passed down from my forgery masters — who spent their entire lives attempting to perfect this art. I've barely fixed a few mistakes myself during my decades of practicing it, but it's still lacking."

Liam took a second to process everything, glancing at the pristine blades in his hand.

"There has to be a silver lining, right?"

Rogan scoffed proudly.

"Although it has its problems, it's capable of surpassing every other forging method in terms of raw power and potential. Magical beasts are limitless, after all."

Liam smiled.

"When can I start?"

Rogan smirked in approval.

"First, memorize the forging method." He said, taking out an old, worn down parchment from his ring. "Then we can begin with the basics."