I landed in the Lucidus mountain range and cancelled [Dragon] as I can''t fly around on this without drawing attention. I rode on Nilah’s back and she ran for 12 days. She wasn''t as fast as me but it was an impressive speed through the mountains. We went through the Lucidus mountain range into the Umbra mountain range and into the Penumbra mountain range. We would reach Girai in 2 or 3 more days. She didn''t seem to tire. I had her for a year now, we had a small 1-year party for her. We just kept eating food though. We reached Girai on day 76.


    “Whoa! Is that Nilah? She has gotten huge!” The villagers greeted me and petted Nilah. Of course, she stole their mana as usual. I had to make a good story of why I was away for so long. I can''t say I was hanging out in Witchaven. I returned home and brushed my tails and also Nilah’s tails.


    Shall we relax in the resort for some days or get to work?  It seems the resort won. It was good to be home. The sword could be made with 95% certainty now. I had done my best to make sure I had every ingredient needed and more. The methods seem to have no flaws. Just the execution is needed. Have mastered runic construction and deconstruction so if anything unexpected happens I can create something that can deal with it or just put seals barriers or other enhancements to solve my problem.


    This should work. Creating 1 sword seemed to have been way harder than mastering Dragonvein or learning how to be an assassin, find a successor, and train the successor combined, Isn''t this ridiculous? I better make this sword the best sword in existence. I don''t have confidence in my blacksmith skills to achieve this but I have confidence in my methods. Otherwise I will have spent a year for nothing. I decided to put these thoughts aside and started to relax. The goal was to relax for 6 days but the villagers hadn''t expected me to be gone for so long so the boats piled up so I had to cut it short by 2 days. I played ferryman and kept bringing boats back and forth for a week. Now that this was done, I could finally start crafting my sword. I hadn''t bothered visiting the Adventurers Association or Yttroz Industries, I just wanted to craft my sword. After that, I would also need to practice.


    So much to do. I returned back home and instantly got notifications that I got 4 commissions. Are they stalking me? I haven''t told them I was available yet. I decided to complete these first and then put myself on unavailable again. Maybe I should put myself on hiatus. After I finish creating my sword, I want to practice sword fighting with it and I should also do some missions to test out my new skills. Blacksmithing gets delegated to be done in my free time. The commissions were fairly simple and straightforward. I completed 3 of them in the first 2 days. The 4th commission had a bit of artistic freedom so I tried something. I put in some fancy engravings and had to redo them several times. I wanted to get proficient in these engravings because it was similar to using primal runes.


    So, I spent a day practicing delicate and fine hand movements to create the engravings. I was satisfied with the result and sent them with a special boat. I put myself on hiatus and I could finally focus on my sword. I picked up the special mana core. It already had a lot of Nilah’s mana in it. It also needed my mana. This is an unnecessary step but I want his sword to be exclusively mine. Others can steal it but they will have difficulties using it if they do.


    I poured a lot of mana into it and started with the blade. I had buckets of frost-infused substance. My first problem is to find a material that''s suited to make a sword. The substance got poured into a large mold. I just had to create a huge block of it and then beat the impurities out of it. I then got a crazy idea. Instead of infusing metal with this, how about I infuse this with metal? Normally impossible but I think I can pull it off with some runic deconstruction and trick the metal into thinking it’s mana. I put shadow clones to work and to get this ready. I took the metal I wanted to use out of my dimensional pocket. Originally, I wanted this to become the sword but plans have changed but it might still work. I was stuck now because the clones did complete the skill quite fast but they would need 2 days to fish out all the errors and improve it.


    So, I waited for 2 days. Everything went as planned and the metal got successfully infused. I now had a block of a solid that looked like clear ice. I hit it with a hammer. It acted like a metal. I couldn''t use heat so I had to control its shape with frost magic while hitting. I beat it into a large thin sheet and folded it over each other. I kept hitting it and folding it until it looked like a white-blue stick. I had to soak it into 3 different special oils and then fuse it with the core. Nilah was for some reason pouring more mana into the core. I let the frost stick soak in the oil for 1 day each. It would increase its resistance to stress, improve the mana conductivity and make it more malleable. I would have to counter the last oil after I get my desired shape to set the shape.


    The third day passed and the frost stick was a bit orange. There was still oil on it. Normally I would heat it up and it would disappear. I decided to grind it off. It became very smooth and I started to beat the stick to make it flat and more katana-like. I made sure that the blade had a nice curve. I kept beating it and added some enchantments and ingredients to add the desired properties. It did look like a katana now but it was dull and the ice metal wasn''t clear. Also, I didn''t beat the impurities out yet. That is probably going to take the longest but first. Fusing the core. I placed the core on the metal and sent mana through the core into the metal.


    I simultaneously had to integrate a matrix of mana circles, coding for the swords special properties, which I couldn''t do without stealing information from Witchaven and studying Azu''s research. This method was many times more efficient than how the ancient manuals suggested to implement special skills into the core.


    Sending mana through the core was supposed to embed the core into the metal and share its properties with the metal but it didn''t seem to want to fuse.


    Ugh, how difficult! I can''t fail now!  I put more mana into it and it finally fused. It took 60% of my mana to fuse. Those were some high requirements. I rested for a bit and started to beat the impurities out of the sword at every wavelength I know. It took me 8 days to get the blade as pure as possible. I decided to rest. I soaked the blade in oil that undid the malleability oil. I took it out a day later but rested for 3 more days. I went outside a bit and played with Nilah.


    Day 104, back to crafting. I sharpened the blade and added an enchantment to keep it sharp. The blade was sharp and translucent. I had wanted to have some ice patterns and effects in the blade but that would be impossibly hard. Now I had to blast the blade with mana to wake the core up. I blasted the core and it woke up. The whole room started to freeze.


    Hey! Behave!  I fought against the core to keep the temperature normal. It also started to request for more mana and another core.


    2 cores? Are you out of your mind?!  I slowly started to gain the blade under control. Is this what they mean that some magic weapons have a will of their own? Cold gusts started blowing and cutting and freezing everything it hit.


    Behave!  The gusts became less and less. Nilah seemed to be upset at the sword.  It’s ok


    Nilah. I have it under control, I think.  The gusts subsided.


    Good, you don''t need 2 cores you are strong enough.  I added a thin layer of oil to make the blade more mana conductive when the hand that I was holding the blade with started to slowly freeze.


    Hey, I told you to behave!  Nilah had enough. She pushed me aside and grabbed the sword with her tail.


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    Nilah?  Nilah sent out a cold shockwave and then disappeared. The blade glowed and beautiful snow patterns appeared in the blade. I could sense 2 cores in the blade. A strong one and another one that was unmeasurably strong it was keeping the other core in check, quite easily.


    Nilah, why…  I held the blade and it had a familiar feeling.


    A year for this? You stupid fox…  It was difficult but I had to continue. I don’t know if I can reverse this effect. Why do my pets always end up like this? Nilah was more than a pet though… I sighed.


    I put in a lot of work to finish and make this katana the best katana I could ever make. I went 9t mode on it and finished it off beautifully after 4 days. It had everything. The sheathe was decorated with blue snow foxes and snowflake patterns. The blade was beautiful. I swung the sword. It unintentionally cut everything in its path in half. It was unbelievably sharp and deadly. It could also be split into 9 copies. I held one in each tail. The blade was cold but not unpleasant. I couldn''t test it in my training room because it cut deep into the walls but the cuts were so thin that they were almost invisible. So far, I could swing the sword as fast as I wanted and it would be fine. The sword could store an insane amount of mana.


    Thank you for making my dream come true Nilah.  I decided to call this sword Shirayuki Nilah. I would call it Shirayuki to avoid confusion. I still had my skill [Nilah]. I finished crafting and testing but I didn''t feel happy at all. I held Shirayuki. This sword certainly has a will, no doubt. There is still so much I don''t know about magic and I get proven that time and time again.


    I took 2 days off to emotionally recover. I convinced myself that she wasn''t gone and just took another form. I needed a place with no people and a target that doesn''t keel over. I had already practiced my style with normal swords and kept replacing them when they shattered so I just have to get more familiar with Shirayuki. It was a very light sword. Normally this is bad but she is almost indestructible and does more damage the faster its user is. So, its lack of weight is not a problem after all. I decided to visit Inyr. He is the only one I can think of that wouldn''t get one shot by this sharp katana. I used wind [Dragon] and climbed up the stratosphere toward where I remembered his lair was. It took a while but I finally found it.  Knock Knock, Inyr are you home?


    “Oh, it is you, I was about to blast whoever disturbed me to pieces. Have you met with Neia?”  Who?


    “The other spirit fox I told you about… I told her that you were coming…”  Oh no, I will try and remember, I have come for an epic fight! I need to test something out!


    “Ooh a good fight yes! That god I told you I would slap was quite disappointing, you put up a better fight! Where is that other fox by the way?”  She… did something stupid and now she turned into a katana.  I took Shirayuki out of the sheath. Inyr looked at it and laughed.


    “Hahahaha what a weapon, did you make this kiddo? You might be able to kill a god with this if you''re lucky, excellent! I’m fired up! I can sense that fox in the sword yes, she’s itching for a fight and taunting me. Don’t die kiddo! I’m going to be a bit rough today!” Inyr rose up in front of me. He was very imposing. I sheathed my blade. “Too soon to give up!” I could finally use Iai now. The first one is dedicated to Nilah. I jumped up and used [Iai: Nilah]. My blade flashed and 9 blue cold streaks shot out. Inyr evaded them but one cut off his left horn and another strike cut off some of his beard.  Shit, I missed.


    “Whoa, there are you trying to kill me? Great! That''s more like it!” Inyr dove at me. I connected to the air leyline currents and used [Hurricane Path]. The beautiful thing about Dragonvein was that I could combine sword fighting with it. The [Hurricane Path] was a bit sharp and it cut off more dragon beard.


    “You might become my new barber hahaha!” I kept fighting Inyr. I got used to Shirayuki and fighting a dragon midair. I could control the outgoing damage better. I landed some hits on him. He seemed fine but he did say that they stung. I had yet to be hit but I would probably instantly lose if that happened. Inyr wasn’t kind though. I could just cut any non-physical attack and also absorb its mana. Shirayuki was strong against mana and physical attacks but I can''t cut through an ancient dragon so I have to still evade those [Tail Slams] and [Dragon Claws].


    We went at it for 2 days. I managed to create various Iai. The horizontal ones were extremely destructive. I cut off some mountain tops with them so I would have to stick to vertical cuts to keep the collateral damage to a minimum. I could also throw my swords because I could create 8 copies for 9 swords total and since I can use [Turning leaf] I can retrieve them whenever. Each copy had a different strength though, it resembled how my tails work. The original counts as the 9th copy and is the strongest while the first copy is the weakest. I managed to give Inyr some cuts on his scales but that was all. He was nowhere near losing. I wouldn''t be able to win this but I can prolong losing as long as I don''t mess up.


    And I messed up. I forgot that Inyr could drastically speed up with no tell. He [Tail Slammed] me and I flew into a mountain. It didn''t kill me but it was close.  Ugh, you win again.


    “Yes, I won indeed I wanted an epic battle and I got one, you have gotten way stronger and you hardly used your fancy dance techniques. Impressive. I even got some trophies to remember this fight by.” He looked at 3 scales that had some deep cuts in them.


    Owowow, I’m glad you like them.  I started circulating nature energy. I got a positive emotion from Shirayuki. I sheathed her.  Thank you for the practice.


    “Oh no need to thank me, I had a blast! Keep practicing I am looking forward to our next fight!” Inyr disappeared into the clouds. That was crazy but educational. I sat down and waited till the nature energy did its job. He really was going for the kill. I guess that''s what a real fight is supposed to be.


    <hr>


    I went back home. I spent several days making a fire sword. It’s magic core was difficult to make but easy to control. This sword would be a bit more normal and pack a lot of raw power. I lack raw power so this relic magic sword will hopefully fill that gap. I wasn’t in a mood to name the sword so I left that for another time.


    I packed all my belongings. It felt weirdly empty.


    Gregory, does anything need to go to Gittrian?


    “Oh, you’re going in that direction? Can you take these 4 boats?”  Sure, also, I won’t be returning, I am moving.


    “Oh… and you''re leaving so late in the night? Do you have a place to stay?”  I will find a place don''t worry and I’m bad at saying goodbye, can you thank the villages for me?


    “Sure, we will keep the house as is! If you ever need a place to return to you can just return here to your home!”  Thanks, I appreciate it.  I took the boats and dropped them off in Gittrian. I didn''t stay long in Gittrian. I decided to go to Zanyr, the capital of Zanyr. They had some sort of arena there where a lot of magic weapons battles were held. Killing was allowed but not recommended. It was perfect to make my skills human friendly.