Novice Body Tempering Furnace, Activate!

The success of the "Puppet Core" was like carving the first ray of light through endless darkness, filling Shaye with unprecedented drive. Yet the core was merely a heart; it still needed a body to contain it, a system capable of effectively applying transformed energy to the human body—the furnace body of the "Body Refining Furnace."

Over the next three months, Shaye entered an almost frenzied state of work. By day, he remained the quiet, highly skilled little apprentice in the Puppet Limb Production Team Three, efficiently completing his assigned standard-part tasks without giving anyone anything to criticize. But every moment of rest, even the brief noon breaks, was spent immersed in his own world.

The corner of his workbench gradually became occupied by an entirely different set of blueprints—a sketch of a complex device combining a puppet framework, Sealing Formulae guide channels, and energy output conduits modeled after the distribution of human meridians. The materials were no longer ordinary wood and steel, but special materials with a degree of chakra affinity that he had purchased bit by bit through various channels.

The construction process was far more difficult than even the Spider or the core. The furnace body required space, so he had no choice but to clear out an area in his cramped room. Without large equipment, he had to cut, polish, and assemble many of the components bit by bit by hand. The intricate conduits meant to guide energy into an even dispersion required extreme patience and precision to carve.

Once again, he made use of every resource available to him. He repeatedly "visited" the Production Department's discarded-material warehouse, searching for scraps that might prove useful. For simple metalworking, he would take advantage of weekends, when the Maintenance Unit was less crowded, and beg familiar old craftsmen to process pieces with larger tools. As for the fine engraving involved in the energy circuits, he completed it all personally. His powerful chakra control played a crucial role here, and the carving knife was as steady as a rock in his hands.

His father, Shaliu, saw all of his son's efforts. He could not understand what the increasingly massive, strange device was, but from its rigorous structure and the effort Shaye poured into it, he could tell it was no childish game. All he could do was offer more support: silently exchanging more of his wages for materials, sometimes coming over after work to lend a hand, holding a component in place or using his rough but experienced craftsmanship to finish some heavy work that did not require precision. He stopped asking questions and simply showed his silent trust through his actions.

After three months of tireless work, the dark circles beneath Shaye's eyes had become ever more pronounced, but his mind remained in an excited state. Finally, one weekend evening, a cylindrical device half a man's height stood quietly in the center of his room. Its structure was somewhat crude and bulky, pieced together from many different materials. It looked like a rough technological creation forcibly embedded in the world of ninjutsu, its surface covered in winding rune circuits and metal pipes, with a recess at its center just large enough to hold the "Puppet Core."

This was the first-generation "Body Refining Furnace"—the chakra version.

Shaye stood before the furnace, his breathing slightly hurried. His father, Shaliu, stood behind him, his face solemn and his eyes full of worry and a faint, barely perceptible anticipation. The room was filled with the strange scent of metal, paint, and lingering chakra.

"Father, I'm starting."

Shaliu nodded heavily and stepped forward. Every muscle in his body tensed as chakra silently circulated through him, ready to deal with any accident at any moment. He knew that what his son was about to attempt was an unprecedented gamble.

Shaye took a deep breath and removed the walnut-sized "Puppet Core" from his clothes. It glowed with a gentle warmth, and as though sensing something, the faint light on its surface flickered like breathing.

With the steadiest movements he could manage, he carefully and slowly set the "Puppet Core" into the recess at the center of the furnace body.

Click.

A faint sound of perfect contact rang out. The patterns on the core's surface connected flawlessly with the guide circuits within the furnace body!

The next second, a sudden change occurred!

Bzzzz—!

The entire furnace body began to tremble faintly. The engraved rune circuits on its surface lit up one after another with a deep blue glow, flowing as though life had been poured into them! The hum of flowing energy echoed through the cramped room, growing louder and louder!

Shaliu's pupils contracted, and he instinctively moved to step forward and stop it.

"Father, wait!" Shaye stared fixedly at the furnace body and raised a hand to stop him. "The energy flow is stable! The resonance frequency is normal! This is a normal activation phenomenon!"

He opened his perception to its fullest and clearly "saw" the core operating efficiently. It drew in the minute amount of his own chakra that he had placed at the furnace's energy input ports—several simple chakra injection points—then, after complex conversion and harmonization, turned it into that balanced, tranquil energy. It flowed through the carefully designed conduits and runes, spreading throughout the furnace body and forming a stable, uniform energy field!

A soft white light lit up along the inner walls of the furnace chamber. It was no longer glaring; instead, it gave off a warm, comfortable feeling. The enormous hum gradually lowered as well, transforming into a deep, steady breathing sound, like the breath of some enormous creature in slumber.

It had succeeded! The furnace body had activated successfully! The energy field had formed stably!

Shaye's heart pounded wildly, nearly bursting through his chest. He forcibly suppressed his excitement and looked at his father, his eyes shining with incredulous joy. "Father! It worked! The energy field is stable! We can proceed to... the next step!"

The next step was for him to enter the energy field himself and personally verify whether this creation, into which he had poured countless efforts, could truly repair his innately deficient body as he had envisioned!

Shaliu looked at the unbelievable sight before him, then at his son's pale cheeks flushed red with excitement. The shock in his heart was beyond measure. Slowly, he unclenched his fists and, in the end, chose to believe in his son.

Shaye took a deep breath and fixed his determined gaze on the furnace chamber emitting its soft white light.

The Novice Body Tempering Furnace had completed activation. What awaited it was its first—and most important—human experiment.

(End of chapter)