The Exalt Cultivation Fantasy

Act 1: Blue Ocean Pavilion - Chapter 145: Refinement Complete

"The more materials you work with, the more complicated the structure," Draven said to Oscar while sipping some tea.

"Huh?" Oscar munched on his day's rations. "The structure?"

"The azureiron you hammered on required you to find the correct points to hit to shape it further. The materials from Exalt Beasts and other ores are similar, but some may be quite a puzzle to unravel. As a fabricator, you must hit the correct places to refine it." Draven explained.

Oscar nodded. "The azureiron is one of the basic ones, so something like an ore required for grade two armaments may be harder to mold and shape."

"Exactly. The alchemists have a similar principle. From the outside, it looks like they're mindlessly pouring in Ein, but it's a delicate process in which they are fiddling with the cauldron's contents similarly to our hammering."

Oscar listened attentively and asked, "How complicated does it get to unravel the points that need to be hit."

Draven crossed his arms and shrugged. "Think of one like a tangled-up spider web. All kinds of strings intertwining and bundled up. It becomes a matter of hitting certain ways to unravel those strings to expose as many points as possible, then strike the correct one."

"It's like cat's cradle?" Oscar asked.

"What the hell is cat's cradle?" Draven tilted his head.

Another month passed as Oscar made steady progress in refining the azureiron. The process grew more complicated as it got thinner. The clear points, like stars in the night sky, were not obscured under a small web.

The entanglement was not overly complicated, but Oscar had to constantly maintain a clear picture by tapping repeatedly and pondering the correct place to hit. Sometimes he hit wrongly, and the azureiron broke apart, only to be melted later for other purposes.

It was a strange process. Oscar felt many lines coursing through the azureiron, tying themselves up or crossing each other. He had to hit one of the intersections to unravel or a line to sever it.

If he chose wrongly, the azureiron could be broken and used as scraps. But, if he were correct, it would have a domino effect that changed the formation of the lines and possibly revealed spots that Oscar could hit.

Oscar noticed as he kept progressing that large sparks would burst out from the azureiron and fall to the ground or anvil.

'These are the impurities that we hammer out. So the black soot was all the remnants of the impurities.'

Oscar smiled under his helmet and continued his cycle of delicate tapping and heavy pounding. The azureiron was almost the height of half his thumb. From the reactions and the picture he drew in his mind, Oscar realized there was only one more complication to unravel.

He slammed the hammer on the correct spot, and the azureiron was complete. Oscar tapped it all over again to make sure but found that the response was the same all over. Not static or clear, just regular clanging of metal.

"Well done." Draven eyed the azureiron that was now a thin plate on the anvil.

Oscar gripped his hammer happily and was about to cheer when Draven's next words doused his spirit.

"Make it thinner."

"Thinner?" Oscar traced his finger along the azureiron. Doubting himself, he tapped again but found no indications of any good spots. "Won't it break if I try?"

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"It definitely will," Draven spoke plainly, making Oscar frown.

"If so, then what can I do to make it thinner? Look at all the black soot that fell off of it." Oscar pointed to the piles of black soot that had built up around him.

"When fabricators reach this part, they can melt it as is and have a good quality armament, but this is where you can take it a step further. You may not realize, but there are deeply rooted impurities that cannot be seen, so minuscule that one might ask, why bother? However, strive for that perfection." Draven cleaned the black soot off the anvil.

Oscar was engrossed in Draven's words, but then he realized that Draven didn't answer his question. "Master, you didn't answer my question."

"Tch. I was hoping you would just go into it and break this one."

"Please just tell me, Master." Oscar felt his master had too much fun playing pranks on him.

"Fine. Fine. This is where delicate Ein control is needed. Focus your Ein and hit the azureiron, but not in a powerful strike to one spot. The Ein must spread and hit the azureiron evenly across its surface. Surely with 'Ein Awaken' and the control it provides, you can do this simple task." Draven cleaned Oscar's hammer and passed it back to him.

Oscar held the hammer softly and faced the plate of azureiron. He tapped it lightly, scraping his hammer against its surface.

"Spread it out." Oscar lifted his hammer and was about to strike, but Draven stopped him.

"Eight hours are up. Time for sleep." Draven was very persistent in adhering to the schedule, even if Oscar made great progress.

"Can't I try one hit?" Oscar bowed and requested.

"Fine, one hit. But don't lose sleep if you break it." Draven held up one finger.

Oscar swung it without much power, but it resounded powerfully on the plate. His Ein surged and pounded down on the azureiron all over its surface.

Oscar was relieved for a moment but jolted up when he heard a crack. Cracks began forming on the azureiron like a web, breaking into many thin tiny pieces. He could not speak, only leaving his mouth open in the horror of what he had done.

"Too bad." Draven dragged the lifeless Oscar back to his room.

The next day, Oscar pounded fiercely to get the fresh azureiron to the same state as yesterday. Once the ore had reached the same condition, Oscar halted his hammer and sat down on a stool, crossing his arms and staring at the azureiron.

'The last time, my Ein was most likely distributed unevenly. The hardest part is the fact my Ein will naturally be stronger on the point that is hit. Wait a moment.' Oscar looked at the small hammer in his hand and turned to Draven.

"What is it?" Draven was like an immoblie statue.

"Don't we have a bigger hammer?" Oscar asked. "There's no way professionals use only one tool. If I spread my Ein evenly on the surface of a large hammer that covers this plate, then there should be no issues."

"Nope, there are variances, but none of the size you are referring to. That plate is already stretched out quite big. Also, this is a great exercise for your Ein usage."

Oscar continued to stare at the azureiron plate, tapping his hammer on the anvil to keep himself busy. His thoughts were stuck on the problem. Reflecting back, he failed even with 'Ein Awaken', which showed his shortcomings.

'I focused too much on using Ein Awaken to focus my Ein on finer points rather than this broader stance. I've already spent two months here; I have four months left. There must be another way.'

Oscar felt the helmet was very stifling while his head was perplexed by his thoughts. He held the helmet in place as he shook his head around inside. It provided a brief respite as he let out a breath of relief.

'What if I don't touch it?' Oscar cleaned his hammer. 'Could I stop the hammer right before it strikes and just send the Ein forward like a tide?'

Oscar stood up and decided to give it a try. He charged a great deal of power and swung the hammer, stopping before it could make contact. His Ein spread and flowed out all over the azureiron and fell onto it.

This time, the azureiron did not crack from the Ein imposed on it, but it was unchanged. Not even a single spark came forth.

'Is there not enough weight? Is the Ein by itself isn't enough to shape it? It requires a physical touch.'

Oscar sat down again to contemplate. He stared at his master, Draven, and thought that the Ein of a Marshal Exalt would definitely be enough to pound this azureiron from a distance.

'Though, he probably needs to use his physical power to facilitate the process for higher-grade materials. Physical power?'

It was like the gears started working in Oscar's head as he shot up with a glint in his eyes. He gripped the hammer; his hands were shaking from excitement. There was one thing he didn't try, a move that spread out in waves.

'Shattering Wave'

Oscar combined his Ein with this scattering technique that blanketed the azureiron. The concept of the 'Shattering Wave' was that it was a shockwave that flew like a crashing wave.

The pressure bore down on the azureiron as Oscar watched nervously. This should be the boost of physical power needed.

His theory was correct!

The azureiron let out a couple of sparks that fell onto the black soot. It was slight, but its height decreased.

Oscar clenched his fists and pumped them in joy. He finally did it!