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Chapter 64

[A dagger forged from the flames of dreams.

It increases resistance to mental interference and also possesses dispelling capabilities against it. It can also consume the flames of dreams to push a designated target into the boundary of dreams and then incinerate them.

However, all functions will cease once the flames of dreams have been completely depleted.

*Significantly increases the user’s resistance to mental interference

*Dispels mental interference targeted at the user

*Enables the use of the skill ‘Mirage Fire’]

“...”

Finishing her read-through of the information message, Lea slowly examined the dagger’s form.

It had a blade that gradually narrowed toward the tip; the violet blade itself was a bit translucent, like it had been carved from a gem, and her own enchantments were faintly visible within. Adding its straight and clean crossguard and a handle as white as a magnolia, it looked elegant and luxurious.

Lea unwittingly admired it.

“So this is what well-made equipment looks like...”

The mana circuit perfectly contained the dagger’s power, maintaining an almost even balance. And, with her own enchantments perfectly complementing it, its most ideal form that could come out of a collaboration between a blacksmith and an enchanter was realized.

Intently staring at the Phantasmal Spyblade, she pondered something for a moment before saying it to Se-Hoon with a serious expression.

“Se-Hoon.”

“What?”

“Judging by how my heart is racing wildly, I think this is love. Can I confess to you?”

“...”

Doubting his ears, Se-Hoon looked at her with an incredulous expression upon hearing the nonsense that she was talking about while inspecting the dagger.

“No. Don’t.”

“Sigh... okay.”

While she was disappointed by his firm rejection, it didn’t dishearten her too much. In the first place, it was just a spur-of-the-moment statement that she made while still excitedly observing the completed dagger.

However, to another person—to an elder in her family—it sounded completely different.

Slap!

“Agh!!”

Painfully smacked on the back, Lea straightened up and shivered, feeling the narrow-eyed stare of Rebecca, who had approached from behind.

“What’s all this about love? Fooling around with your underclassman with such nonsensical talk... I can’t—no, I won’t stand for it!”

“F-fooling around? It was a sincere feeling that came from the depths of my heart...”

Slap!

“Eek!”

Seemingly unable to bear hearing Lea’s words any longer, Rebecca silenced Lea with another smack to the back. With a sigh, she turned to look at Se-Hoon.

“Lee Se-Hoon, if it’s alright, may I take a look at the finished product?”

“Ah, yes. Please feel free to.”

Though the specifics of how he would use the Phantasmal Spyblade were a secret, he didn’t have a particular reason to hide its performance.

“Thank you.”

Gaining his permission, Rebecca immediately took the Phantasmal Spyblade from Lea and read the information message.

“It really is a Hero tier...”

While she had already somewhat guessed it from its appearance, it was still unbelievable when after confirming it directly.

Normal, Advanced, Rare, Hero, Legendary, Mythical—these were the six tiers of equipment, with Hero being the fourth tier.

And once one was able to forge Hero equipment, it would be a turning point for them in the blacksmithing industry. Equipment of this tier didn’t merely assist a hero’s capabilities; at this tier, the hero was the assistant in leveraging the equipment’s capabilities. Thus, the tier name.

Most students usually can only achieve such a feat after graduating and gaining some field experience...

Of course, since the dagger was essentially a consumable that would lose its functions after fully consuming the stored flames of dreams, it wasn’t true Hero equipment.

However, considering that it was made from difficult-to-handle materials, like Dream Ivory and the Southern Flame Feather, Rebecca deemed Se-Hoon’s craftsmanship to be more than sufficient.

To think that it’s only a matter of time before he can forge Hero-tier equipment on his own...

Se-Hoon’s talent didn’t fall short even when compared to second-year students—no, even the current third-year honor students, who were known as the best cohort ever.

She finally understood why In-Cheol had been so confident when talking about him. Gaining some newfound interest in him, she looked toward him.

“May I take a look as well?”

In-Cheol, having approached belatedly, also asked for permission from Se-Hoon.

“By all means.”

“Thank you. I’ll have a brief look.”

Receiving the Phantasmal Spyblade from Rebecca, he lightly scanned the information message before carefully examining the blade.

“The feathers of the Vermilion Bird were recorded to be flames in the form of crystals. Did you take inspiration from this fact?”

“Yes. It was in its crystal form when I first received it, so I thought mixing it with other minerals might degrade its purity. Therefore, I tried this approach.”

“Hm... It seems like you’ve made a good choice. Otherwise, it might have been difficult to use it to control the dream mana...”

Examining the Phantasmal Spyblade, In-Cheol couldn’t help but admire the violet flames of dreams contained within.

It’s truly remarkable that he can handle such flames to this extent.

Even most mages would struggle with dream mana by itself, let alone a mix with the notoriously difficult-to-control Southern Flame Feather. In-Cheol immediately began wondering if he could have also forged such a weapon with these mirage-like flames.

He soon came to an answer: I won’t be able to do it either.

Maybe he could with several attempts, but even thinking about controlling all of the variables in the forging process from the start to the end was beyond what he dared to do.

“Whew...”

Letting out a sigh filled with various emotions, In-Cheol handed the Phantasmal Spyblade back to Se-Hoon.

“Your first-semester budget was just approved, but it looks like I’ll need to submit a reconsideration request already,” he said with a smile.

“Pardon?”

“Not acknowledging your ability to forge Hero-tier equipment would be an oversight. You have to get what you deserve.”

Forging equipment up to the Rare tier could be managed within the department, but when it came to forging equipment at the Hero tier, it was a matter that didn’t allow such a simple resolution. It was an achievement that would undoubtedly be reported to the Dean and even the Chairman, ensuring widespread recognition.

Moreover, if word got out, the entire hero industry would be abuzz, leading to Se-Hoon receiving love calls from everywhere.

“You might even receive requests for commissioned work from those outside the academy. Third or fourth-year students normally also receive such requests, but...”

In-Cheol smiled bitterly at the workload that would soon fall upon Se-Hoon, considering the amount of requests he would receive.

Contemplating In-Cheol’s words for a moment, Se-Hoon spoke calmly, “Um... could you guys just overlook this?”

“Overlook it? You mean you don’t want us to report it at all?”

“Yes. I’d be grateful if you reported that I just forged Rare equipment or that I failed in forging it completely.”

“Is there a particular reason?” In-Cheol asked, puzzled.

Hearing In-Cheol’s puzzlement, Se-Hoon responded with an embarrassed smile, “I’d prefer it if people underestimated me for now.”

Pondering Se-Hoon’s request to be underestimated, In-Cheol’s eyes soon lit up.

“I see. Come to think of it, that is coming up next weekend, right?”

He quickly realized that it was related to the upcoming Noblesse event.

Se-Hoon nodded in acknowledgment.

“Yes, it’s related to that. Could you do me this favor?”

“Hm. I don’t mind, but...”

He glanced sideways, prompting Se-Hoon to also look toward Rebecca. Under their expectant gazes, Rebecca considered it for a moment before nodding.

“After such an entertaining spectacle, I owe you one. I’ll do as you wish.”

“Thank you.”

“No, thank you. This was a good experience for Lea, so I owe you one as well.”

“Ugh... it still hurts...” Lea muttered, rubbing her back with both hands and glancing at Rebecca.

Then, in a gentle tone, Rebecca continued, “If there’s anything else you need, feel free to ask.”

“Okay.”

“We’ll be off, then. Let’s go.”

Left with nothing else to say, Rebecca headed out, Lea following behind. He watched as Lea waved goodbye, thinking about how she had more control over her composure than when she had entered.

It seems she’s found her path.

While the specifics of Lea’s goals and what was at stake in the Ivory Tower scholarship selection exam remained unclear, she seemed capable of handling it on her own.

Suddenly, Lea turned around and walked over to Se-Hoon again.

“...I guess I have to ask. Honestly, out of a perfect score of one hundred, what would you give my enchantment today?”

It seemed she had returned to request a rating.

Seeing that she was asking seriously without a hint of a smile, Se-Hoon pondered briefly.

“About seventy.”

“And the passing score is?” she pressed, still serious.

“Seventy.”

Although the resulting dagger had the performance he desired, it was just barely. There had been too many minor mistakes in the process, which detracted from the overall quality.

It was a harsh assessment for someone just overcoming a slump, but Se-Hoon was firm with his assessment.

If she gets disheartened by the facts, she won’t last long.

If she was determined to improve, then she should be able to critically assess her own abilities and current state.

Contemplating his candid response, she opened her mouth once again, “What about this one?”

She began tracing an enchantment pattern in the air with her brush that had been dipped in green wind-attributed magic stone powder on the enchantment palette.

Swish-

The strokes, drawn without hesitation, branched into dozens of paths and transformed into a new form that looked like a single enchantment constructed by dozens of organically connected enchantments.

It seemed to be an improved version of the enchantment she had previously just inscribed. Aside from an improved amplification of the effect, Lea had also included additional patterns that would aid in controlling the flames of dreams.

“Huh...”

It was as if she had reviewed and fixed the mistakes she made on the completed Phantasmal Spyblade.

Unfortunately, it couldn’t be engraved again, making its practical application moot, but her talent was truly undeniable, seeing as how she was able to come up with such quick modification.

“This would be... around eighty.”

“Eighty? Shouldn’t you give it at least ninety?”

“Well, self-assessment and actual assessment are different.”

Considering that a score of more than ninety by his standards would mean reaching the level of one of the top hundred craftsmen, a student scoring an eighty was already remarkable.

Narrowing her eyes, she glared at Se-Hoon, who stood there somewhat arrogantly, confident in his scoring.

“Well, it’s fine. I still managed to improve by ten points, anyway.”

In the past, such failures and disappointments might have discouraged her, but it was different now. Instead, she was constantly coming up with enchantment patterns in her head that could possibly score a ninety, a hundred, or even exceed perfection, making Se-Hoon drop his jaw in amazement.

He wouldn’t be a bad stepping stone.

With a newly formed goal in mind, she looked at him and declared confidently, “One day, I’ll make you gasp in amazement and give me a standing ovation.”

She was determined to surpass his expectations one day.

[The bond with ‘Lea Claudel’ has increased to Lv. 2.]

[Since the bond has increased to Lv. 2, a Relationship has been established. Your Relationship with ‘Lea Claudel’ is currently ‘Rivalry’.]

[Relationship: Rivalry]

[Striving to surpass someone superior to you is an instinctive Relationship of the most intense form.

Although it might become problematic if becomes twisted, if it remains a competition of goodwill, there could be no other Relationship more positive.

*A Fatestone is created whenever the subject is in a position that is superior to yours.

*The maturation rate of the Fatestone increases when your position is superior to the the target’s.

*Currently created Fatestone: None]

Se-Hoon couldn’t help but be dumbfounded by the notification message that appeared in front of him and by Lea’s confident demeanor from behind it.

Her desire to outdo a thirty-one-year-old blacksmith who had been active until the end of the world seemed utterly ludicrous. But... it was also slightly motivating.

It’ll be embarrassing if she really overtakes me.

Although he wasn’t ever planning on slacking off, the thought of not letting that genius catch up made him resolve to work even harder.

With that newly found resolve in mind, he looked at her and grinned.

“I look forward to it, sunbae.”

***

Returning to the dormitory that evening, Se-Hoon sat on the sofa in his dark living room and gazed down at the Phantasmal Spyblade on the table.

With the fall of night, the Phantasmal Spyblade began to scatter a faint purplish aura. The flames of dreams had begun growing stronger, but they were fortunately perfectly contained and controlled.

Push what I desire into the boundary of dreams and then burn it away...

Using the Phantasmal Spyblade to clearly view his memories from before the regression was a somewhat complex problem, but he had a vague idea of how to do it from the start.

Placing his hand over his heart, he took a deep breath and then extracted his own bond.

Within his palm, a faint light flickered, and soon his slightly opaque Fatestone revealed itself. Although his stats had leveled up and the tier of the fatestone had increased, its usefulness was still unclear.

But this time might be different.

Bonds are entanglements of emotions and memories built up over time.

Even if everything was entangled, murky, and difficult to distinguish properly, if he could separate them, he might be able to view only his memories.

Deciding to confirm his hypothesis, he took out the small finger bone, which was inscribed with dense spells, from his void pocket and used the skill contained within.

Eye of the Boundary

Dark mana flowed from his fingertips, enveloping his entire body before settling in his eyes. And upon feeling the foreign sensation in his eyes, as if he were wearing lenses, faint black borders soon began to appear in his field of vision.

He had been granted the eyes that could see the boundaries of objects. Touching the boundaries of objects wouldn’t break them or anything, but it was especially useful when needing to distinguish something accurately.

Like finding a needle in a haystack in one go or instantly distinguishing which clam in a soup is without its meat.

It was a powerful ability that had applications in forging and various other areas. And the fact that a skill that could grant such an ability was contained in a single finger bone amazed him once again.

Whether it was before the regression or now, I still feel like the Perfect Ones are hardly human.

A moment later, when he finally adjusted to his new vision, he slowly turned his gaze toward his Fatestone.

I can see it.

He examined the intricate borders etched within the small Fatestone. Paying close attention to the crack-like lines spreading in all directions, he precisely memorized the entire structure and reinforced it in his mind.

Alright...

Although he was uncertain of how successful he would be, he had nothing to lose, so he steeled his resolve and brought his Fatestone close to the blade of the Phantasmal Spyblade.

Mirage Fire

Fwoosh-

With the activation of the skill, the blade of the Phantasmal Spyblade unfurled like flames, transforming a part of the Fatestone into a dream-like substance and burning it.

Then, when only one component among the many that made up the Fatestone remained, the flames of dreams receded like there was nothing left to burn.

Seizing the moment, he gripped the handle of the dagger and unhesitatingly plunged it into his heart, losing consciousness immediately.