God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

{Congratulations to Host. You have created the Mystical Grade weapon, Lonely Dragon}.

{Lonely Dragon}: (Mystical, Tier 1).

Description: A portion of moonlight, a piece of the earth, a measure of blood, and the soul of magic. On a lonesome day, surrounded by darkness, yet illuminated by light, an unknown smith forged a blade with the heart of a dragon.

{Lonely Dragon}: (Mystical, Tier 1)

Attack Power: 700.

Attack Speed: 4.0.

Durability: 7,000/7,000.

Skills: Blood Dragon, Gold Dragon, Demon Dragon.

{Blood Dragon}: In the Blood Dragon state, the Lonely Dragon absorbs the blood of slain foes to improve its qualities, aiding its wielder.

{Gold Dragon}: In the Gold Dragon state, the Lonely Dragon becomes a bastion of defense, unmovable and unbreakable.

{Demon Dragon}: In the Demon Dragon state, the Lonely Dragon absorbs energy from the wielder, vastly increasing attack potential, becoming capable of releasing devastating attacks for a substantial cost.

{Note: The Lonely Dragon Blade can only assume one state at a time}.

***

Cain heaved a sigh of relief.

He had known it would work, but seeing the fruits of his labor manifest in such a way was beyond satisfying.

Because of the materials used in its creation, the blade was quite heavy. While materials like {Lunar Steel} and {Blood Obsidian} were light, {Earth Gold} and {Uriu} were incredibly dense and heavy materials, so much so that the {Lonely Dragon} was a fair bit heavier than the {Scale of the Abyssal Flame}.

No, that's not right...

Cain frowned, 'In its unchanged state, it is far heavier than the {Scale of the Abyssal Flame} even after I activate the {Heart of Despair} skill to its fullest extent.'

{Lonely Dragon} was a Zweihänder sword. It was large and heavy enough to be carried with both hands, but Cain figured he could swing it with a single hand if he wanted to.

It was almost as tall as he was, and besides its hilt, there was a rather large line of runic symbols that ran along its length. This line of runic symbols greatly resembled a coiling dragon wrapping along the length of the blade.

It made the weapon look far more intimidating than it should have, although Cain wasn't complaining.

He grinned.

His work was still far from over. With the amount of materials he had on hand, there were plenty of things he could do. So many things he could craft.

Now that he had become an Advanced Blacksmith, he would have an easier time crafting his weapons and equipment.

***

Haru sighed to himself,

"It's been three days, you know... Three whole days!"

"That is an equivalent to an entire month's worth of time, isn't it? Are you sure the boss is okay?"

Haru snorted as he addressed his fellow craftsman,

"Nonsense! I'm sure the boss is fine."

He then frowned, "Even if we wanted to help, there's no way for us to do so. The forge only opens when the Boss gives the order. We can't get in if he doesn't let us in."

They all sighed.

Over the past few days, they had taken a break from crafting weapons, instead, focusing on doing other things.

Some of them had even gone out to the shore to hunt Mutant Creatures for their mana shards.

However, they had all grown fon of crafting and creating weapons and equipment. It was where their hearts had come to be.

"Still..."

The door to the forge suddenly slammed open. A wave of intense heat followed closely after.

All the crafters in the room turned to stare with wide eyes, unable to even notice the wavw of heat released when the door was opened.

Haru's eyes turned even larger as he stared at Cain exit the forge room.

The very first thing he noticed, was that Cain was no longer dressed in the casual clothes he had worn when he went into the forge.

Instead, he was now covered, head to toe, in armor.

A large, domineering sword also hung from his back, almost scraping against the ground despite the sword's pommel almost reaching the top of his head.

He was like a war god, ready to be sent into battle.

Haru barely managed to close his mouth,

"Boss... What is this?"

Cain grinned, "What do you think? Pretty impressive, eh?"

Cain had not just created {Lonely Dragon} during his stay in the {Draconic Blast Furnace}. He had also made a bunch of other defensive items to attack to the {Heart of Scourge}.

A pair of Pauldrons called the {Black Ice Pauldrons}, a pair of greaves called the {Black Frost Greaves}, a Horned helmet called the {Two-Horned Helm of Erebus} , and a breastplate that covered his chest to provide him with extra defense called the {Malefic Heart}.

All together, the entire set of armor, he had dubbed the {Embrace of a Dark Winter}.

Individually, they didn't have any special skills. However, when he put them all on, his very presence seemed to fill the world with a glare of chilling darkness.

The expression's of the crafters in the room slowly shifted from relief, to horror, to fear, to confusion.

Seeing their faces change color so rapidly, Cain became a bit scared.

He quickly dismissed his armor, replacing it with normal clothes.

After taking some time to recover, Haru approached him, a strain smile on his face,

"You are something else, boss. To think you'd be able to create stuff like this in such little time."

Cain patted his shoulder, "It isn't too impressive."

He then frowned, "By the way, how long have I been in there?"

Haru answered, "Three days, perhaps a bit less than that?"

Cain's eyes widened for a moment before his brows relaxed,

"I see. Then the situation is not terrible." He muttered to himself.

He.turned back to Haru,

"Alright, enough chatting. I'm sure you bastards are itching to do some work!"

"Yeah!" They all shouted in unison.

Admiring their excitement, Cain nodded in satisfaction,

"I need you all to make as many bullets and arrows as you can. We already have enough weapons as is, so focus all your energy on making as many ammunition as possible."

Haru chuckled, "You don't have to worry, boss. We will definitely surpass your expectations."

Seeing the confident smirk on Haru's face, Cain was tempted not to believe him.

However, he had no choice but to leave it on his hands.

Leaving the room, he used {Spatial Jump}, arriving before Steve in the blink of an eye.

Steve nearly spat out blood when he saw Cain appear out fo nowhere.

"Do you want me dead?!"

Cain ignored the question and asked one of his own,

"Are the preparations done?"

Steve sighed. Standing up from behind his table, he stretched.

He retrieved his staff from his inventory, a grin on his face,

"Of course they are. We are ready to fight anytime you desire."

Cain's smile deepened,

"In that case, how about now?"

***

Roselle let out a sigh as she sheathed her swords and wiped the sweat from her brows.

She had heard of Cain's arrival a while ago, but she lacked the courage to go see him.

Leaning lazily on the wall a few meters away, Kai yawned,

"He comes back and just three days later, we need to go fight. Who does he think we are, his lackeys?"

Leah sighed, "That's enough, Kai. We are fighting for something far bigger than that."

Kai raised her hand, "Sure, sure. Whatever you say."

A grin appeared on her face,

"Although I'd like to keep complaining, I can't like; I do want a new challenge. Slaughtering these brainless beasts can get boring after some time."

Lin Lin snorted, her dark eyes filled with mirth,

"A brainless beasts calling other brainless beasts brainless."

Kai glared at her, "You wanna go? I'll kill you."

Roselle tried to ignore the mindless chatter,

'If I see him, what should I say? What do I do?'

She shook her head, 'No, that's not it.'

She sighed to herself. Her hands slowly drifted to her blades. For some reason, she found comfort in the leather grips.

They had claimed many lives, but she still found solace in them. It was more than a bit ironic.

Leah turned her gaze to the solemn looking Roselle and sighed. Sisi also seemed worried about her, her gaze meeting with Leah's.

Clearing her throat, Leah glared at both Kai and Lin Lin, causing them to stop their bickering.

"Whatever you two think, it can wait until after. I just received word that we will be leaving in at most a few hours. Whatever you need to prepare, do it. Let's get this over with."

Kai grinned, "This is going to be fun."

Lin Lin sighed, "What a pain."

Roselle turned around, her face filled with determination,

"I'm ready."

Leah smiled at her, "Of course you are."

***

Meanwhile, Cain waved slightly as the trip standing in front of him,

"Looks like you guys have been through a lot."

Li snorted, "At sea, there aren't a lot of options available for self-care is all I can say."

Sue wrinkled her nose, "I stink. Not as much as these two buffoons though."

Li glared at her, "Who are you calling a buffoon?!"

Cain chuckled, "I see the bickering never ends, does it?"

Stan chuckled awkwardly, "It sure doesn't."

Cain smiled at him, "You've done well. However, I'll be needing your help now."

Stan nodded. They had just gotten back from a hunt, but they didn't seem even a bit phased.

Sue gave him a smile,

"Don't you worry, Scarface Cain. I'll take care of all the bad guys for you~"

Cain's expression soured, "This brat..."

"But before that, I need to go take a shower." Sue said, walking away with a wave.

Cain sighed, "Make sure to remember."

"Gather on the deck in three hours, right? Noted!" Li said casually before waving and leaving.

Cain hesitated for a moment, "Of you want to take a moment to rest, you can–"

Li turned around, a grin on his face,

"No need to be considerate. A little bit of extra action never hurt anybody. Besides, we could use the change of pace."

Cain was silent for a moment before nodding,

"I see. If that's the case, then I will see you all in three hours."

The groundwork for their departure had been laid.a