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Chapter 35 - Hearth
🕑 Added 2025-01-16 22:13:06 +0000 UTCThe Holy Signus went still, jaw clenched as he studied Nova. “... Order. That is how the world has survived for many millennia." His voice hardened. "And what is your suggestion?”
“Justice.” Nova's reply was simple but firm.
“A word without meaning." The Signus's lip curled. "A word the unlucky shout to make themselves feel better. What is justice in a free world? What justice exists when bandits cut you down for a handful of coins? Does punishing your killer return your life?"
“When given the chance, the vast majority of people will choose good over evil." Nova spoke with quiet certainty. "I have seen it time and time again."
He stepped forward, his small form casting a long shadow across the golden floor despite the absence of any visible light source. "I would give them that chance. You seek to restrain human nature, I seek to set it free, and to nurture the good in every community. Because I know what lies at the core of the human heart.”
The Signus's eyes narrowed. "Nine lives, and still so naive." His voice dripped condescension. "Tell me then—what happens in your just and free world when one person's good interferes with another's? When two villages both need the same water source to survive? When a father steals food to feed his starving children?
The system exists because good intentions are not enough." He spread his hands. "Order gives us rules, gives us structure. Your way would lead to chaos, and all your good intentions would drown in the flood of human necessity.”
“Then let the God of Justice take your prayers." Nova's voice remained steady. "Build a system that rewards good and punishes evil, not one that trades in greed and power."
"There is no such god." Weariness crept into the Signus's tone. "And if there were... Your heart is in the right place, Nova, but your mind is clouded by impossible ideals. Change isn’t always a force of good, especially not when it’s fighting what causes stability.”
“I have been called naive for nine lifetimes." Nova met his gaze. "At first.”
The Signus studied him for a long moment before sighing. “... You may leave. We have too little common ground, unique talent or not." He turned and sat back on the chair, creaking under his weight.
‘Oh, I didn’t expect to survive that… Which likely means he is too convinced he is right to be insulted.’
“Thank you. Will you allow me to stay for the whole week?”
“Do as you wish. But once you leave, you are not welcome back.”
“That won’t be a problem.”
Nova stepped off the platform, keeping his eyes on the Signus as he fell. The abyss consumed him slowly as the platform shrank above him. And once the darkness swallowed him, he returned to the corridor outside their room.
‘If I had the power… I need power! Again!’
The solution he had found so many times before turned out to be necessary once again. And, of course, he wasn’t surprised.
As Nova opened the door, he found Millie sleeping in the bed again. Her golden hair was spread out to the sides as if she was afraid to hurt it as she slept.
‘Heh, I guess I’ll just let you sleep then. It is late enough. But I want to find a forge… I’ll set up a barrier just in case.’
Deciding to explore the facilities some more, he let his essence flow down to the floor, creating another set of intricate runes. One part would allow those inside it to walk out unobstructed. Another would send a pulse of essence to a tiny formation he placed on the chest of his robe, letting him know if she left, or if the barrier was broken.
[You have created the skill: It’s just a barrier with some extra functions (Grandmaster - 100%) {Grade 7}]
[A barrier allowing anything to leave freely. A signal is sent to a receiving formation whenever something happens to the barrier. Can protect against attacks and skills up to Grade 6 without issue. Lasts for 24 hours unless damaged or dispelled.]
‘Hey, don’t read my mind! Damn system… Can I rename it at least?’
There was no response.
‘There’s no reason to name every variation of a simple skill! That’s like calling every tree a new type just because they’re not identical! God of Order, more like God of Stupid…’
[You have created the passive skill: Being stupid (Grandmaster - 100%) {Grade 1}]
[Every waking moment, you are under the condition of being yourself.]
A mix of shock and frustration spread in his heart. The fact that the system was aware enough to mock him was completely unexpected. And the fact that it gave him a genuine skill to do so was verging on ridiculous.
‘Would you mind evaporating for me, dear system? The world would be better off.’
Again, there was no response.
‘Only reacting to mockery, are you? Well, fine, I don’t care.’
[You have created the passive skill: Being mad (Grandmaster - 100%) {Grade 1}]
[Every waking moment, you are under the condition of being yourself.]
Nova put his hands on his face, pushing them up through his hair. ‘... Please don’t fill my skill list with this bullshit. I’ll leave you alone now.’
After a final glance at Millie, he left the door and returned to the candidates' common area.
‘I hope there’s still people there. I can probably ask a guard for help if not, though.’
He found the candidates' common area dimly lit, with only a few people still awake. The teenage girl from earlier sat curled in a window seat with a thick book open on her lap.
She looked up as he entered. "Can't sleep?"
"Something like that." Nova glanced around the room. "Is there a forge somewhere in this place?"
"The forge?" She raised an eyebrow, looking out at the moon dominating the sky. "At this hour?"
He shrugged. "I work better at night."
"... Alright.” She pointed to one of the entries to the room. “Down that corridor for about thirty meters, then follow the smell of coal. You can't miss it."
Nova nodded his thanks and headed for the corridor. The cathedral was quieter at night, with only the occasional guard passing through the halls. His footsteps echoed softly against the marble floors as he walked.
‘I can only use the fragment for two hours right now, so I’ll have to decide what to make. A storage ring or a forging hammer would probably be best. The ring requires good material, though…’
The forge revealed itself exactly as she'd said—the distinct scent of coal and metal grew stronger with each step. He followed it to a large wooden door reinforced with iron bands.
Inside, he found a spacious workshop that would have impressed him in any other world. Multiple forges lined one wall, with cold hearths waiting to be lit. Racks of tools hung in precise arrangements, and bins of raw materials stood ready for use. The anvils were solid and well-maintained, if unremarkable.
'Good equipment, but nothing special,' he thought, running a hand along one anvil's surface. 'No enchantments, no special properties. Just good, honest steel.'
He moved to the nearest forge and began preparing it with practiced efficiency. His tiny hands remembered the motions from thousands of hours of work, even if they hadn't performed them in this life.
‘No forging formations here, but it’s fine. I’ll make my own. Since it’s just steel, I could probably heat it with pure essence. But the materials might need more energy to be malleable. I’ll have to figure it out with the fragment activated.’
Soon, the forge roared to life, its orange glow the only illumination in the otherwise dark workshop. Nova stood before it, feeling the familiar heat on his face.
'Let's see what this fragment can do.'
[Equipped fragment of Nova Gorton.]
In an instant, his body was flowing with power. But he no longer had any issues controlling it, as his body was ready to handle the Soul Power. But beyond the power, he felt an incredible ability to focus.
His hearing could pick up the choir from the steel ingots beyond the crackling of the forge, his skin could sense every lick of heat flowing past, and his mind felt like it had been oiled for the first time in centuries.
‘Ahhhh… This is what it was like… The focus.’
He picked up an ingot from the basket, instantly feeling the properties in his mind. It was decently forged, but the amount of carbon was a bit too low, especially for a forging hammer. Imperceptible weaknesses had formed during the cooling process, but that didn’t matter for an ingot.
‘... Can I crush it? My strength should be… somewhere around two hundred times that of an adult man.’
He took hold with both his small hands and tried to twist the metal. His small fingers burrowed into the steel with metallic whines, but the ingot didn’t bend like he wanted to. Only a slight deformation remained, besides the groves after his fingers.
‘Hmm, that’s still not bad. With larger hands, I would have managed after a while. I wonder if Physical Force scales with muscle strength.’
He tossed the ingot back in the basket and picked up another one which looked more promising. The darker color suggested a higher carbon content, closer to what he needed for a hard hammer without becoming too brittle.
‘Seems good enough. I assume there are stronger things than steel in this world, though… Oh, I received a silvery type of metal from Valeria! Solium, I think it’s called. Maybe that’s better?’
With a thought, an ingot of the silvery metal appeared in his other hand. It sang with a light tune, dancing in his fist.
‘Yeah, it’s… weaker. But it has a much nicer frequency. Maybe it fits better with the essence material? Let’s look at the list again…’
[Outland Troll Bone (Uncommon) {Grade 4} x1]
[Outland Troll Skull (Rare) {Grade 5} x1]
[Outland Troll Flesh (Uncommon) {Grade 5} x1]
[Magma Salamander Heart (Epic) {Grade 4} x1]
[Solium (Rare) {Grade 4} x4]
[Northern Griffin Talon (Rare) {Grade 4} x1]
[Dire Wolf Fang (Epic) {Grade 3} x2]
[Thunderbird Feather (Epic) {Grade 3} x1]
[Manticore Stinger (Rare) {Grade 5} x1]
‘Right. Besides the troll stuff, if these combined are worth four thousand Soul Power, I wonder how much the blood was worth… Best not to dwell on it.’
He retrieved the troll skull to better understand its grade and rarity. It was larger than he expected, standing as tall as his chest from the ground.
‘This has a nice, hard feel. It could be great for armor or shields. But not for a hammer. I’m very curious how the infusion process works… Based on Tuck’s explanation, all magical weapons use the inherent abilities of the material. But that happens through the system. Can I use enchantment instead? Or in addition?’
So far, this world had shown very little in terms of exploring possibilities whenever the system could do something for them. Learning runes was seen as unnecessary, and the same could be said for developing skills after they had been learned.
He put away the skull and summoned the troll bone instead. It was like a large sledge in his hand, too wide to hold comfortably.
‘This should work! I’ll try making a hammer with the steel and this bone for now, and then I can look into enchanting after.’
He let his essence flow into the forge, forming intricate runes that locked into place around the hearth.
[You have learned the skill: Goldhearth Thermoshift (Master - 87%) {Grade 4}]
[A formation that allows for precise control over the heat in a forge. Assists with even heating and can focus heat on select parts.]
‘Let’s see if I still have the touch.’
Comments
Christabel Amanoh
I’m looking forward to more system interaction in the future!
Gopard
Thanks for the chapter! Well ofc he survived... That was pure luck though and I really hope we won't see Nova create such situations willing and knowingly often where his survival relies purely on luck, I am excited to see what he's forging though!
Caleb Reusser
Not really a fan of the system making pointless skill to mock him.
