Attribute-less Magic Greatsword

He carefully placed the diamond into the groove. Next came the most important step: guiding the mental power.

Abel now had two Explosive Greatswords and a Town Portal Tome in his Horadric Cube. He had used one Explosive Greatsword during his battle with the Wolf Rider Simon in the forest and had never replenished it, so there was still one slot available for a greatsword. If he failed, Abel could simply throw the greatsword into the Horadric Cube.

After gaining plenty of experience with mental-power guidance, Abel guided the power within the diamond slowly toward the center of the runes. When he was more than halfway through, he noticed that the runes he had just written seemed unable to withstand the power. The places where the runes intersected slowly began to turn red. Then, the intersecting runes actually started to melt through. Once the runes broke, the power Abel was guiding vanished as well.

This failure was different from his previous failures. Judging from the runes' behavior, Abel determined that the problem lay with the rune ink.

Abel did not believe that the rune ink he had just prepared had failed, because it had flashed with white light when it was completed, indicating that the preparation had succeeded.

Could the rune ink's grade be too low, or is the diamond's energy too powerful? Abel pondered. The materials for the rune ink were already the best he could obtain. He had no idea where he could find anything better.

Abel then thought of something else. Why did the Dwarf race's Magic Weapon Forging Book contain rune diagrams and rune-ink formulas for magic weapons of various attributes, yet lack the supposedly simpler rune diagrams and rune-ink formula for an attribute-less weapon?

In truth, the Dwarves had had no choice but to leave the forging method for Attribute-less Magic Weapons out of the Magic Weapon Forging Book. The materials required for attribute-less rune ink were simply too difficult to obtain. Most of them were produced only by Sorceresses, which restricted the production of attribute-less rune ink.

Attribute rune ink only needed to channel the energy of a single attribute. Although attribute-less rune ink was called attribute-less, it actually contained all attributes in a neutralized form. It appeared more peaceful, but its power was much greater. Ordinary rune-ink materials had difficulty allowing such powerful energy to pass through them, resulting in the rune-melting phenomenon during Abel's crafting process.

Abel took the rune card from his robes. Since this rune card could unleash a non-elemental attack, the rune on it should still be usable. He simply did not know what kind of rune ink had been used to write it. Once written, this type of rune automatically became an energy-based existence. The rune remained visible on the card, so Abel guessed that some special energy—an energy he did not understand—was sustaining it.

Then, inspiration struck Abel. Since potions could be combined into higher-grade potions, could rune ink be combined as well?

Abel's heart burned with excitement. As for the two Explosive Greatswords in the Horadric Cube, he could simply find somewhere to throw them away. He did not care about such a small loss. Right now, he wanted only to forge a new Magic Greatsword.

Abel dealt with the two Explosive Greatswords in a very simple way. He found a spot outside the castle, dug a deep hole, and threw both greatswords inside. Then, with a boom, the matter was settled.

After returning to the workshop, Abel took the Town Portal Tome out of the Horadric Cube and carefully placed it in the iron chest. The most important things on Abel were the Horadric Cube and the Town Portal Tome. Unless he needed to combine items, he normally kept the Town Portal Tome inside the Horadric Cube. That was the safest place.

He took out more materials and, following the new formula, prepared three portions of attribute-less rune ink. He put the three portions into the Horadric Cube and pressed the combine button. Amid a flash of white light, the three portions of attribute-less rune ink vanished. In the upper-left slot, a single portion of rune ink appeared.

Success! This success greatly expanded the Horadric Cube's potential. What Abel did not know was that this portion of rune ink was far more valuable than he imagined. The Dwarf race would pay a huge amount of precious ore to exchange with Sorceresses for a single portion.

He picked up the newly appeared rune ink. It had been placed in a crystal bottle with a dark, gothic style, and blue arcs of light occasionally flickered across the bottle walls. Based on his previous experience combining potions, Abel knew that this was intermediate-grade rune ink. The rune ink he had originally prepared seemed to have been low-grade.

He took out another unfinished Magic Greatsword blank, one without any runes. With his experience, Abel wrote much faster this time. Writing with intermediate-grade rune ink consumed slightly more mental power than using low-grade rune ink. After finishing, Abel once again felt the same weakness he had experienced after writing the runes for the first time—the weakness that left him barely able to stand.

After resting for a while and recovering his mental power, he placed the diamond into the groove. Next came the final mental-power guidance.

This time, Abel clearly felt the difference. He had not expected the guidance speed to be so fast at the beginning. The energy surging from the diamond seemed to have entered a highway, charging straight toward Abel's mental power. Fortunately, Abel reacted quickly and accelerated the movement of his mental power. The guidance process ended in almost a quarter of half an hour.

Abel stared intently at the Magic Greatsword before him. Threads of blue light flickered across it. This blue was somewhat different from the blue of the Ice Magic Sword. If he compared them carefully, it was identical to the blue flickering from the bottle of intermediate-grade rune ink.

The blue light traveled once across all the rune lines before slowly disappearing. Abel looked at the Magic Greatsword in his hand. Had he succeeded?

Could this blue light mean that this sword is a higher grade than the magic sword I made before?

No one could answer Abel. He was the only one conducting research and experiments.

Abel held the Attribute-less Magic Greatsword and swung it once. He did not sense any difference from the previous greatsword, and using it felt no different either.

He slashed at a piece of firewood meant to be used as fuel. Strangely, relying only on the greatsword's sharpness, he cut the wood into two pieces without triggering any other effect.

Abel put the Town Portal Tome back into the Horadric Cube and walked out of the workshop with the newly made Magic Greatsword.

"Where is Uncle Marshall?" In the castle hall, Abel stopped the busy Steward Linsey.

"Young Master, the master is in the training room."

After thanking the steward, Abel headed straight for the training room.

Steward Linsey watched Abel leave with a smile. He greatly approved of this young master. At only thirteen, the young master had none of the frivolity common among noble youths. Everyone knew of the young master's talent, but how many knew how much effort lay behind it?

Linsey had met many noble youths, but none had worked as hard as the young master. Even after becoming a master blacksmith, whenever he had free time, the young master diligently forged away in the Blacksmith Shop. Linsey also knew many things outsiders did not, such as the Ice Magic Greatsword Knight Marshall currently loved most and the terrifying Hari Bow that had saved the castle. Both had been made by Young Master Abel. The Large Beast Traps currently set up in the forest had also already caught several large beasts attempting to enter the territory.

Perhaps after Young Master Abel came of age, Hari Knight's Territory would become Hari Lord's Territory, or even a territory of higher rank. Before such a super-genius young master, perhaps anything could become reality.

Abel had no idea what Steward Linsey was thinking. Right now, he was focused on finding Knight Marshall and testing the new Magic Greatsword's effects with him.

As soon as he entered the training room, he heard the whoosh of a greatsword slicing through the air. Knight Marshall was practicing the basic swordsmanship of Knight Basics, delivering downward slashes.

Abel did not disturb Knight Marshall. He simply stood to the side and quietly watched the knight train.

It was only a simple slashing motion, yet every one of Knight Marshall's strikes felt as though he was using all his strength. This was completely different from the theory Abel had encountered on Earth—that one should always hold back a third of one's strength. When the knight's greatsword slashed downward through the air, he held absolutely nothing back.

Abel changed his perspective and wondered what it would be like if he were standing opposite Knight Marshall.

With his powerful mental strength, Abel simulated himself standing opposite Knight Marshall in his mind, considering how he would respond to Knight Marshall's slashes.