Chapter 147: Chaotic Blades

｢Unnamed - Shortsword

Rank: Epic

Durability: 500,000/500,000

Passive 1 - Shadow Kill: Every strike towards a weak point is an automatic critical hit. The execution chance is increased by 20%.

Active 1 - Void Blade: Send out a condensed wave of void energy in the form of a slice which deals 100% void damage. Cooldown: 1 minute.｣

Draco almost fainted when he saw the results. The method of crafting Epic items, and probably those above it, had already been laid bare. The most important bit was that the base weapon had to start out as an Epic, the resulting passive and active skill depending on the enchantment.

Draco's first half of the double enchantment had been Sword, Darkness, Strike Deep. He expected a passive that would deal around 30% darkness damage with each strike, but instead, he got this absolute MONSTER of a passive that made this Epic sword suddenly feel Legendary.

As long as one found the weak points of a monster, every strike would crit, which meant 300% damage. Putting aside the strength of the wielder, a crit with an Epic item was a really terrifying concept.

Then there was an increased chance for the execution. Assuming the wielder of the item only had the default 0% chance, every 1 in 5 hits could now instantly kill any enemy once they fell below 30% HP, as long as the wielder hit a weak point.

However, while that sounded great, how many players, or even NPCs, could do so? How were you supposed to find a weak point in the first place? Boundless was not the type of game where your enemies would walk around with shiny red parts of themselves exposed which screamed 'weak point: please hit me here'.

Places like the eyes or head did not qualify as weak points in Boundless. Every race had a weak point somewhere. Some individuals within a race even had ways to nullify these weak points or shift them around.

However, the reason Draco was excited was because he had enchanted these items with a specific someone in mind...

Of course, it was Eva!

Why would he put a void and darkness enchantment on a weapon, or even make it a shortsword, if it wasn't for his soulmate? He knew her preferences, and wanted to craft something for her that he knew she would love, which was an Epic item to boot.

However, the sad part was that player made Items could not evolve like the ones found in drops or Treasure Chests since they did not have any lore behind them.

For example, Mjolnir, Pair Dadeni and the rest that could be upgraded with experience points all had rich histories behind them, whether in the real world or in Boundless' fictional history.

This Epic shortsword had just been born, so it could not be upgraded until it left a story of its own and passed through many hands.

However, Draco had never heard of a new Epic item creating such phenomena like what he had experienced, nor about its design changing after enchantment.

It was painfully clear that whether it concerned the strengthened active and passive skill (for its tier) or the unique design and phenomena change/attraction, it all had to do with how he enchanted the weapon.

Draco gazed at the Aether Crystals in his inventory. He couldn't help but smile, but at the same time lament. There were plenty of Aether Crystals in the mine below the settlement, but he needed them to provide some benefits for the budding empire.

So apart from what he took earlier, he had no plans to take out anymore. If anything, he wanted to place even more of them in there to strengthen it. If he did so, the benefits it might provide in the future would be endless.

He could only lament further when he saw his crystal creation rate. Even if he continuously made top-grade crystals only, his rate of one per hour was not enough.

It took more than a few to fill up an enchantment for an Epic item, so how much would he need for Legendary? Or dare he dream, Divine?

If he waited for a day, he would get 24 crystals of varying qualities.

Despite being in the super mini small world room which had ample Worldly Energy even purer than outside, he could only make medium grade crystals. If he were outside, he'd probably get low-grade crystals only.

Right now, he needed to tabulate places with extremely pure Worldly Energy so that he could linger there. After all, artificially made super mini small worlds had no growth potential.

Draco briefly considered using the Etz Chaim seedling, but decided to wait. He had a crazier and more beneficial plan for it based on his memories of the previous timeline, so he was willing to let it wait some more in his inventory.

Draco decided to name the weapon 'Void Blade'.

｢Void Blade - Shortsword

Rank: Epic

Durability: 500,000/500,000

Passive 1 - Shadow Kill: Every strike towards a weak point is an automatic critical hit. The execution chance is increased by 20%.

Active 1 - Void Blade: Send out a condensed wave of void energy in the form of a slice which deals 100% void damage. Cooldown: 1 minute.｣

Naturally, the follow-up announcements came.

｢Sturgehaven Kingdom Regional Announcement

Player Draco has created the unique shortsword forging design, 'Void Blade'. Players can now purchase the design from player Draco and achieve a 10% extra success rate when forging the equipment.｣

｢Cario Continent International Announcement

Player Draco has created the unique shortsword forging design, 'Void Blade'. Players can now purchase the design from player Draco and achieve a 10% extra success rate when forging the equipment.｣

｢Boundless System-wide Announcement

Player Draco has created the unique shortsword forging design, 'Void Blade'. Players can now purchase the design from player Draco and achieve a 10% extra success rate when forging the equipment.｣

Draco nodded his head and put away the Void Blade. He then opened his character sheet to see the changes so far.

｢ Name: Draco

Class: Avenger (Optimal)

Race: Hybrid (Human/Ultima Sunt)

Rank: Adventurer (1)

Level: 45

Exp: 66%

Str: 18

Dex: 20

End: 10

Int: 20

Spr: 15

Cha: 10

Lck: 10

Combat Skills: Absolute Void, Armageddon, Instant Healing, Rain of Arrows, Necrotic Hands, Evil Curse, Life Steal, Divination, Dark Resurrection, Beckon.

Non-Combat Skills: Revenger, Cloud Feet, Soul Bond, Omnipotent Archer, Charm, Insight, Foresight, Flexibility, Illusion, Evolution, Ultimate Stealth, Pinnacle Intelligence, Dragobond, Aether Production.

Tradeskills: Smithing (level 38, 93%), Alchemy (level 45, 89%), Enchanting (level 100, 0%), Cooking (level 3, 15%), Taming (level 1, 0%), Tactics (level 1, 15%)｣

Draco had received 1,000% experience for completing the Dragon Slaying event, and so had the remaining 12 or so players. Everyone had jumped 10 straight levels right then and there, but he hadn't bothered to allocate any of his attribute points, so his stats were the same.

Draco had just received another 1,000% experience for doing this genius feat, so that was why he went from level 25 straight up to level 45. Naturally, now that he looked at it, Draco directly sent the 2.000% experience into Mjolnir, bringing it to that exact amount.

His smithing level had been 35, 86% but was now level 38, 93% after just one forging attempt. Truly, doing things above your Rank was the fastest way to level up in any game or field. Too bad it required one to have cheat like items like Draco to be able to abuse this method.

He was supposed to receive 1,000% Tradeskill experience, but he held that off for now.

Enchanting had hit level 100 which was the max of the Grandmaster Rank. Draco wasn't sure if that was how it worked for everybody or those who got in through doing something exemplary.

He didn't know how to go higher than Grandmaster though, so he only recognized the benefits the Grandmaster rank would give him. Whether it was with Soul Stones or with Aether Crystals, whatever he used to fuel enchantments would be at the absolute minimum in terms of requirements.

Draco wasn't sure how low it would become now, so he was eager to try it out.

Just as he was about to start the crafting process again, Draco was stopped by Hikari.

"Draco, if you don't mind, I can make you a better set-up with Worldly Energy that will never dissipate as long as you keep it." She offered gently.

Draco was startled by her offer as he had never heard of such a thing before, but he stepped aside to let her do her magic.

Immediately, Hikari got to work. She caused a torrent of Worldly Energy to whip about the super mini small world like a storm.

Rila seemed excited by Hikari's work, while Draco stood ramrod still, trying to learn as much as possible from this demonstration.

Hikari was someone who had been born with the privilege of using Worldly Energy however she liked.

Hikari waved her free hand and a new set of blacksmithing equipment spawned right beside Draco's current set, but this one had a more tangible aura and seemed fresher.

Draco walked up to this new set and inspected it carefully.

He took a deep breath when he was done, as his heart shivered. This set was at the Semi-Epic tier for the love of God!

The one he had made himself was only Uncommon, while the ones provided by the Tradeskill association were mostly Common Rank.

The default everyone used was Trash-tier.

Just a little bit more and Hikari would have conjured an Epic set from Worldly Energy...

Draco just looked at her with pride in his eyes, which made Hikari blush happily. Since Rila was on her chest, she thought she was a recipient of Draco's praise, so she also laughed cutely.

Draco took out another iron ingot and tossed it in the forge. After it was suitably heated, he placed it on the anvil and began to pound.

Once again, the grueling process of damage and healing began, and Hikari made sure Rila wouldn't see even a bit of it. She silently watched Draco torture himself as he repeated the forging process again.

It took over four hours to shape the metal this time, thanks to Draco's increased Three Pound Origin technique level and the Semi-Epic blacksmith set.

When he was done with the basic crafting, he noticed that the shortsword was pretty much the same as the previous one, only that it gleamed a little brighter.

Draco chose to enchant this one as well, only this time, he chose to change the runes slightly.

The first runes were Sin, Guang, Rera Fukai - Sword, Light, Strike Deep.

The second runes were Sin, Shihou, Rera Toi - Sword, Time, Strike Far.

After coalescing them, Draco moved onto using his will to merge it with the weapon. Whether or not he was an Enchanting Grandmaster had nothing to do with this stage.

This was a pure test of will and mental strength, so Draco was forced to once more go through the process of harming himself with every attempt to push the enchantment onto the blade.

Hikari continually healed him through this, as she lamented his pain. She could also feel the dredges of it, but her defense was so high that what would hurt a human would barely tickle her.

Draco eventually got the shortsword to give up its feeble resistance and accept the enchantments.

Draco took a deep breath, as this was the most important segment for him. He took out the four medium grade Aether Crystals that had spawned in the meantime.

Last time, it took about 10 medium grade crystals to power up the enchantment. Draco was curious to find out how many he could use this time now that he was a Bonafide Grandmaster.

Draco began filling the enchantment with Aetheric Energy until one crystal was gone, then took another to continue. However, his face froze when he realized that the enchantment was full already.

Draco shook with the implications of this.

It meant that should be successfully make anything with Mjolnir, he would need only 1 medium-grade Aether Crystal to fill it up and make the enchantment reach perfection.

Of course, he required Hikari specifically by his side, as no other healer had a healing skill with no cooldown. Seeing as she was his dragobonded mate though, that was certainly not a problem.

In essence, Draco could make 1 Epic item every 4 hours, assuming his speed didn't suddenly skyrocket.

This was just as bad as his Alchemy progress, since he could make hundreds of the overpowered Angel's Kiss potion in a few hours as well. If Draco didn't have so many other things to do, he could just craft like a dog.

Draco calmed down and allowed the enchantment to activate fully. When its glow darkened, he patiently stood by the side as another phenomenon occurred within the super mini small world.

This time, it was a whitish energy lifeform that looked like a man, with a tall and lean body. It had no claws, but the ends of its arms were clocks. Its eyes were blue and seemed calm.

After observing Draco quietly, it went back into the blade and changed the shape of the crossguard to resemble two clocks while the face on the pommel was the semblance of the whitish lifeform.

Draco picked the weapon up and placed it beside the Void Blade.

Immediately, a synergy formed between the two items and their enchantments. The Worldly Energy of the room roiled and was sucked into the two weapons as they keened loudly.

Draco watched this process with a calm face, as this was something he had done before. It was obscenely difficult back then, but thanks to the Aether Crystals, it was horrifyingly easy right now.

That was to create an Epic set!

While the items synergized, Draco checked his system announcement again.

｢Congratulations on creating new weapon: Unnamed (Shortsword) (Epic)

Rewards:

100% Exp

10,000 gold

100 reputation with the Tradeskill Association｣

The rewards were much lower because he had already created a unique Epic weapon before, so unless he made a Semi-Legendary, Pseudo-Legendary or Legendary one, he could count himself lucky to be getting any rewards at all.

Draco sent the 100% exp into Pair Dadeni, bringing it up to 650%. While he was at it, he decided the inspect the new weapon before he named it accordingly.

｢Chrono Blade - Shortsword

Rank: Epic

Durability: 500,000/500,000

Passive 1 - Light Cleanse: Every strike towards a strong point will inflict a 30% overall defense reduction and healing is weakened by 50%

Active 1 - Chrono Blade: Send out a condensed wave of Chrono energy in the form of a slice which deals 100% Chrono damage. Cooldown: 1 minute.｣

It was a spitting image of the Void Blade, so Draco chose to name it accordingly. The Chrono Blade was a perfect match for the Void Blade in every way, so Draco was excited to see what kind of benefits the full set would bring Eva.

｢Sturgehaven Kingdom Regional Announcement

Player Draco has created the unique shortsword forging design, 'Chrono Blade'. Players can now purchase the design from player Draco and achieve a 10% extra success rate when forging the equipment.｣

｢Cario Continent International Announcement

Player Draco has created the unique shortsword forging design, 'Chrono Blade'. Players can now purchase the design from player Draco and achieve a 10% extra success rate when forging the equipment.｣

｢Boundless System-wide Announcement

Player Draco has created the unique shortsword forging design, 'Chrono Blade'. Players can now purchase the design from player Draco and achieve a 10% extra success rate when forging the equipment.｣

Draco ignored the system announcements and simply waited for the two Epic items to synergize fully. Since the Worldly Energy of the super mini small world was so potent, it shouldn't be a problem.

However...

"Draco, release some Aetheric Energy! The Worldly Energy in this small world is being drained! If this continues, the world will collapse around us!" Hikari cried out fearfully as she felt the Worldly Energy become dangerously thin.

Draco immediately acted upon her advice and took out one of his top-grade Aether Crystals. Instead of sending the energy to the swords manually, he just tossed the crystals onto them, watching as it was immediately devoured.

One, two, three, four...

After the fourth top-grade Aether Crystal, the Epic weapons seemed to become calm and digested the energy they absorbed. Tendrils formed between them as the processed Aetheric Energy was exchanged slowly.

Draco felt his heart break when he saw four destroyed crystals on the floor, but he let it go. Since the Epic weapons had taken more than he expected - probably due to their high-powered enchantments - clearly, the set benefits would be greater than he expected too.

In a few moments, the exchange of Worldly Energy between the two items came to an end. With a low hum, they both keened loudly and the energy lifeforms that quantified their enchantments came out and twirled around each other before returning.

Draco took both weapons into his hands and inspected them, impressed by the perfect feeling that they both gave him when in his palms.

Then, new system notifications popped up.

｢Congratulations on creating new Epic set: Chaotic Blades (Shortsword)

Rewards:

10,000% Exp

Mystic Flame - Sunfire

5,000 platinum

5,000 reputation with the Tradeskill Association｣

｢Sturgehaven Kingdom Regional Announcement

Player Draco has created the unique Epic set design, 'Chaotic Blades'. Players can now purchase the design from player Draco and achieve a 10% extra success rate when forging the equipment.｣

｢Cario Continent International Announcement

Player Draco has created the unique Semi-Epic set design, 'Chaotic Blades'. Players can now purchase the design from player Draco and achieve a 10% extra success rate when forging the equipment.｣

｢Boundless System-wide Announcement

Player Draco has created the unique Semi-Epic set design, 'Chaotic Blades'. Players can now purchase the design from player Draco and achieve a 10% extra success rate when forging the equipment.｣

The Chaotic Blades had gained an interesting new synergetic effect.

｢Chaotic Blades - Weapon Set Equipment (2 pieces)

Rank: Epic

Effect;

- With 2 pieces equipped: Grants the active skill 'Chaos'｣

｢Chaos - Active skill

Effect: Turn an area zone into a land of chaos, where everything is twisted and flipped on its head. Time shifts, powers decline, space shatters, races change or nothing at all happens.

Note 1: This skill will affect everyone within the area zone, regardless of whether they are friendly, neutral or an enemy. Only the wielder will not be affected by this skill.

Duration: 10 seconds

Cooldown: 1 day｣