Chapter 118: Mountain Forge, Book of the Spellweaver

Seated before the desk in her room, now repurposed as a compact workbench, Avia meticulously manipulated a miniaturized Mage Hand. With agonizing slowness, she embedded tiny components, each etched with intricate magical circuits, into a heavy metal book resting on the tabletop.

Piece by piece, she filled the pre-carved grooves designed to house these circuits, sealing the final component into the cast-metal tome with seamless precision. Avia dispelled her Mage Hand and exhaled, a long breath of relief.

She lifted the heavy metal book—a weight that felt significant in her hands—and channeled a modest amount of mana into the power slot reserved for high-purity mana crystals.

The entire volume shuddered slightly, and then, from the seams in the metal, a rhythmic, pulsing light began to flow, mimicking the steady cadence of a heartbeat.

Invisible to the naked eye but crystalline under Avia’s observation spells, a stream of mana circled the book’s exterior. She had succeeded: replacing the physical mana rails with an externalized, non-corporeal flow.

These fully externalized circuits required no physical conduits, largely mitigating the intense heat and instability caused by mana overload. The book’s capacity for stress had been vastly increased.

Now, the only remaining hurdle was the intense heat and unstable load generated by the dense mana flow near the core—the heart that supplied power to the entire system. A core component, powerful enough to withstand such immense pressure, was the final key to completing this project.

And that was something beyond the capabilities of her small workshop, or even the equipment at the Night’s Edge alchemy lab.

Fortunately, she had already arranged with a professor at the Stevenson Academy of Magic to borrow their forge today, where she would craft the final piece for the book she was preparing—a gift that would grant Wang Yu the ability to cast spells.

Pushing open her door, Avia called out to Wang Yu, who sat on the living room sofa, deeply engrossed in a copy of *Void Research Notes*. Together, they set off for the Stevenson Academy.

Wang Yu had been idle of late, spending his days alternating between physical training, accumulating knowledge, and refining his Ripple technique.

He had discovered that his Void energy seemed to have hit a ceiling; meditation and spellcasting no longer yielded any progress.

Unless he continued to slay special entities with his Void Blade bracers, the only other path to increasing his reserves was to expand the lake of energy within his mental space.

Yet, through simple exercise, his storage limit remained stagnant. Wang Yu had tested it: his capacity was perhaps half that of a standard novice apprentice wizard, even after two increases from slaying special entities. It was, frankly, abysmal—bordering on the bizarre.

But Wang Yu was a collection of peculiarities, and he paid it little mind.

Meanwhile, his development of the Ripple had seen progress. The range he could influence without Void augmentation had expanded to four meters, and the Ripple itself could now carry more force, becoming increasingly fluid.

His physical conditioning never ceased. With the aid of body-tempering potions, his growth was rapid; his raw physical strength was now on the cusp of reaching the threshold of an official knight.

Strangely, however, despite the swift physical gains, his Battle Aura showed no signs of quantitative or qualitative change.

But today’s focus lay elsewhere. This trip to the academy with Avia was to borrow their alchemical equipment, to forge the final component of the girl’s creation, and to bring this masterpiece to life.

Winter had arrived with ferocity. Since the first snowfall, the blizzard had barely relented. The moisture from the Endless Sea, caught by the northern winds and swept over the Santa Ana peaks, had blanketed the earth in an infinite shroud of white.

The residents, initially charmed, had grown accustomed to it, and eventually, weary. Fortunately, the world’s supernatural forces ensured that firewood was never in short supply; even those in the city walls were in no danger of freezing to death.

Most citizens used the cold winter to rest and recuperate. It was a rare time of stability for the Royal City; the ceasefire at the front had brought soldiers home in droves, and the strength of the Night’s Edge was at an unprecedented peak.

Walking the streets, Avia and Wang Yu saw little beyond aimless pedestrians, patrolling city guards, and members of the Night’s Edge.

Upon seeing Wang Yu, the Night’s Edge members would offer a salute. Having been promoted within the Special Operations Unit, Wang Yu was theoretically authorized to command these rank-and-file members.

Moreover, after the battle with Colin, the Special Operations Unit had gained a reputation within the organization, and many members looked upon them with a mixture of respect and awe.

Reaching the academy, Wang Yu and Avia exchanged a word with the guards and were admitted. One was a student, and the other had been cleared by Zieg; entering the finest academy in the Royal City was now a simple affair.

Wang Yu was unfamiliar with the grounds, so Avia led him through the sprawling, picturesque campus. The snow-covered landscape, draped in silver, combined with the academy’s atmosphere of relentless academic pursuit even in winter, gave Wang Yu a faint, nostalgic illusion of his old high school campus.

He shook his head and chuckled; he hadn’t expected that in another world, he would find scenery so reminiscent of his student days.

Arriving at the entrance of a building, they found a short, elderly man waiting. He wore a thick sweater and glasses, his eyes sunken and his complexion sallow, as if he had been deprived of sleep for days. He looked utterly drained.

"Professor, have you been neglecting sleep for that sample again? Please, don't do this. Wendy will worry about you."

Avia approached, her voice laced with concern as she looked at Weber Lanchi, her mother’s old acquaintance and her own mentor.

"I am fine. Results are imminent. You may be my most talented student, but do not hinder me. Wendy worries over nothing; she does not understand," Weber waved a hand impatiently, clearly repulsed by the unsolicited concern.

"Take the item and go. I must return to my research. Once you are finished, just return it to my assistant." The old man tossed a metal plaque to Avia and turned away, his haste evident.

Wang Yu stood beside Avia, seemingly glancing at the passing students, but his attention was entirely fixed on Avia’s mentor. His Ripple, expanded to a four-meter radius, completely enveloped Weber Lanchi.

Avia watched her mentor’s retreating back with worry. Once Weber had locked the laboratory door, she turned to Wang Yu. "How is he? Is there anything wrong?"

Wang Yu shook his head. Under the perspective of his Ripple, he saw nothing. Aside from a powerful magical aura, there was no trace of aberrant Void energy on Weber Lanchi.

Even by Wang Yu’s observation, the professor’s physical condition wasn't terrible; for his age, he was quite robust, though clearly suffering from the effects of chronic sleep deprivation and high-intensity work.

Avia had spoken of her mentor’s condition before, and Wang Yu had been wary, but today’s encounter suggested the man was merely a professor obsessed with the science of "resurrection," with no apparent connection to the Void.

"I see. I hope you're right." Avia still felt a lingering unease, but she knew Wang Yu would never lie to her.

She also understood the power of Wang Yu’s Ripple-based observation; it was formidable, and nothing had yet escaped it. If Wang Yu said there was nothing amiss, she could tentatively conclude her mentor was safe.

"Let’s head to the academy’s forge, then. I’ve already spoken with Master Yale. He’ll help us use the Mountain Forge to complete the core component."

Setting her worries aside, Avia led Wang Yu toward the academy’s forging workshop.

The forge was located in the school’s basement, the heart of its alchemical instruction.

As they entered the vast subterranean space, Wang Yu was greeted by a wave of scorching air and the familiar, sharp scent of alchemical reagents.

The air was filled with the cacophony of hammers, the gruff shouts of instructors, and the rhythmic clatter of industry—a chaotic yet strangely ordered symphony.

Passing through the main hall, moving past groups of students listening to lectures on forging techniques, Avia and Wang Yu used the plaque Weber had given them to descend to a lower level. This area was closed to students, reserved for experiments and the forging of special orders for the Kingdom.

Pushing open the heavy metal door in the corridor, they were met with the sight of a man with a muscular, bare back, hammering metal upon an anvil. Wang Yu froze for a moment.

"Master Yale, it is Avia. I’ve come to forge the part we discussed." Avia spoke up while Wang Yu was still stunned.

"Oh, right. I’ve just finished the Hellfire Ingot for the main body of your design. If not for the demon invasion, I might never have been able to create a metal with such terrifying heat resistance."

Master Yale turned, revealing a physique of chiseled, corded muscle and a face of exquisite, neutral beauty, framed by long, pointed ears. Indeed, the master smith, who had tied his golden hair back with a cloth, was an Elf.

Wang Yu’s momentary shock stemmed from the fact that this muscular, handsome man was a master smith—and an Elf, at that. He had expected a dwarf.

No, he realized, he was falling into stereotypes. Dwarves simply had the physical advantage; but with more dexterous fingers, sharper minds, and heightened mana sensitivity, Elves were equally gifted in alchemy. It was merely their nature that often led them to shun the forge.

For this Elven Master Yale to become a master of the craft, through sheer perseverance and passion, was only logical. And compared to the traditional, slender Elves, this muscular, handsome man deserved nothing less than the word "dashing."

Master Yale clamped the "Hellfire Ingot"—forged from materials salvaged during the demon invasion and high-grade ores—and carried it to the corner of the room.

He triggered a mechanism, and the wall slowly receded, revealing the awe-inspiring Mountain Forge, a collaborative masterpiece built by Stevenson Academy and dwarven craftsmen at the school’s inception.

It was a colossal iron monster, occupying a space the size of a building carved out beneath the workshop. A spherical behemoth, it was connected to a web of mana conduits and stabilized by a myriad of metallic instruments.

Gazing at the ten-story-high magitech furnace, Wang Yu felt a sense of profound shock. This was the pinnacle of the world’s technology—in no way inferior to Earth’s, but built upon a unique, indigenous foundation.

At the heart of the furnace burned a flame catalyzed by vast amounts of mana. Wang Yu could not fathom the temperature, but the sheer scale of the machinery required to stabilize it suggested that if the brilliance within were unleashed, the entire subterranean center would be reduced to ash.

The fire roared, so dense with energy that the flames were no longer visible, only a blinding, piercing light. This was the light after being dampened by layers of lenses; to look directly at it would blind even a dragon.

"Mountain"—it was the perfect descriptor for the furnace’s presence. It was as vast as a mountain, and its power was equally insurmountable.

"BOOM!" A thunderous roar shook the entire workshop. It was the sound of the auxiliary forging hammer striking the Hellfire Ingot. The massive hammer descended with ruthless, frantic force, pulverizing the impurities within the metal.

This hammer, crafted from a special dwarven alloy, was known as the Thunder Hammer. Its strikes produced sparks brighter than lightning and sounds more terrifying than thunder; with every blow, the very earth trembled.

Wang Yu was stunned by the sheer might of the machinery. A primal, masculine fascination set his blood boiling. He finally understood why Master Yale loved forging—perhaps it was this mortal power, rivaling that of the gods.

Once forged, the metal was pushed by a mana-constructed hand into the heart of the Mountain Forge. Even the Hellfire Ingot, with its terrifying heat resistance, could not withstand the concentrated energy within, gradually melting into a blinding, luminous liquid.

Alchemy, a technique where different environments produced wildly different variables, could rarely be quantified; it relied on intuition—the very definition of alchemical talent. This was why alchemists were so rare.

Pharmacology, having been cast out of the alchemical field, was the only discipline akin to chemistry, where controlled variables allowed for perfect replication.

The Mountain Forge, however, was a magnificent work that challenged the entire field of alchemy single-handedly. Its internal environment pushed "variables" to the extreme; because the conditions were, in a sense, absolute, all other influences could be ignored.

The Mountain Forge possessed "non-randomness," a terrifying trait in the eyes of the alchemical community, and the very reason for its greatness. It was a miracle of this world’s technology.

The molten Hellfire Ingot was shaped by hands of mana, and under Master Yale’s manipulation, a perfectly formed component was completed.

Then, with intricate arrays, Master Yale engraved the magitech circuits into the metal as if operating an industrial machine. Ten minutes later, a spherical, deceptively simple energy core made of Hellfire Ingot rested in Avia’s hand.

As this component, seemingly unremarkable yet possessing an internal complexity nearing the absolute zenith of current alchemical science, was embedded into the core of the metallic tome, the book attained its final, complete form.

"Let us call it the Weaver's Grimoire," Avia murmured, watching the magical apparatus stir to life under the pulse of its mana crystal, a satisfied smile gracing her lips as she bestowed a fitting name upon the work, reflecting the very essence of its nature.