Izroth knew that his Soul Essence would grant him another skill once he reached level 20 with it; however, he never expected it to evolve! But, more surprising than anything was the aura being generated by the Arisia Crystal.

'How is it possible that a superior ranked material is capable of producing so much chaos? Not to mention its small size, even if it were ten times bigger, it should be impossible.'

​​

Izroth deactivated his Energy Vision Sense once he noticed that the flames gathered towards the furnace started to die down. In the end, Izroth understood that it was pointless to speculate too much. After all, the quickest way to discover the truth was to inspect the item in question. For now, Izroth could only wait until Gu Chao was finished. Since he was at the most critical step in refining, it would be too risky to disturb him as the Arisia Crystal could be destroyed.

Just as Izroth was about to look over the new system alerts he received, he heard a loud burst of laughter from the area near the furnace. This laughter belonged to none other than Gu Chao.

"Bawahahaha! Good! Very good! This peerless genius born once in a lifetime has really outdone himself this time! Hehehe, big bro Izroth is always calm and carefree—wait until he sees what this handsome genius accomplished! Haha- Bwwtk!" Gu Chao announced grandly. However, towards the end, he bit his tongue and winced over in pain.

Izroth inwardly shook his head as a helpless expression appeared on his face. This Gu Chao was somewhat shameless, but his skills as a Blacksmith could not be looked down upon. Still, Izroth could not help but wonder what skill Gu Chao had in his possession that gave him the side effect of biting his own tongue.

"Ogrem, make sure nothing was damaged," Izroth said as he began to walk towards Gu Chao.

"Leave it to me, Palace Master," Ogrem responded as he wasted no time checking over the equipment on the 3rd floor.

"Stupid skill...! How dare you make this handsome young genius bite his own tongue...! See how I, your father, handle you!" Gu Chao fussed as he stomped angrily.

"If a superior ranked material takes this much effort for even you to refine, then I fear other Blacksmiths can only silently suffer," Izroth said as he approached Gu Chao.

"Ah, big bro! When did you get here?" Gu Chao asked in a surprised tone. He had been so absorbed in crafting that he did not realize Izroth stepped onto the 3rd floor.

"I arrived not too long ago. But, more importantly..." Izroth stated as he gave a meaningful look.

"Heh, well, perfect timing. Big bro, let me tell you, even though this Arisia Crystal is only superior ranked, its toughness is on par with a lower grade ancient ranked material. But, even then, how can a mere superior ranked material be enough to cause this once in a lifetime genius to struggle?" Gu Chao said as a broad grin appeared on his face.

Gu Chao opened his palm and revealed a small aqua-colored crystal that appeared pure and untainted. It gave off a faint white hue, and just by being close to it, one would feel as though they were having their power consumed.

'Something like this is also possible?'

When Izroth examined the crystal in Gu Chao's hand, its appearance was nothing like the original piece of Unrefined Arisia Crystal he obtained. It was as if every impurity had been removed and left it in a state infinitely close to perfection.

"You've surpassed my expectations. Your achievement this time is not small. Is there anything you want as a reward?" Izroth stated.

"Since big bro entrusted me with this task, naturally, I cannot perform half-heartedly. As for the reward—how about you let me take apart that armor of yours and-" Gu Chao spoke before being interrupted by Izroth.

"Denied," Izroth said as he held up the palm of his hand.

Gu Chao's expression immediately became dejected after Izroth's response.

"It's not that I don't want to; however, once equipped, the Apparel of Insatiable Transcendence cannot be removed. While it is possible to study it externally, it is impossible to do so internally." Izroth said.

"Ah, so it's like that. Then, I guess it can't be helped..." Gu Chao sighed. Even though he was disappointed, it was something currently out of their control.

He then continued with a huge grin, "In that case, the next time you find any interesting materials or blueprints, don't hesitate to bring them my way."

...

[Total Essence Contributed: 7,024/???]

Izroth inwardly shook his head as he saw the total Essence contributed. Thanks to his Soul Essence evolving, he contributed quite a bit of Essence; however, it was still far from enough. This was even more so considering that he had been busy the past couple of days.

'Will I be able to complete it before the event starts tomorrow? No, even if I do, will it be useful after having just formed?'

Trait Name: Soul Essence -> Spirit Source

Trait Level: 19.99 -> Source Stage: 1

Essence: 199 -> 1,000

Essence Regeneration: +1.25 per minute -> +100 per hour

Trait Effect: The user has unlocked the mysterious Soul Essence -> Spirit Source that raises their overall strength. When the user reaches Source Stage 10, they will unlock an additional effect, and their source will evolve.

-Flow of Essence: All Stats are increased by 8.5% -> 10%.

-Soul Empowerment: Increase the effectiveness of your skills and attacks by implementing Essence. Every 1 point of Essence increases the skill effectiveness by 5% -> 1%.

-Soul Weakness: If the user's Essence is drained too rapidly or drops below a certain point, the user enters a weakened state, which reduces all stats by 75% for 5 hours -> 4 hours.

-Soul Sense: The user is able to sense things that are normally hidden from them by using the strength of Essence.

-Soul Pressure: The user releases the power of their Essence and caused nearby enemies within a range of 30 -> 60 meters to experience a Willpower Check. Enemies who fail the Willpower Check will be «Weakened» and «Frenzied». All targeted enemies within range who are far weaker than the user will experience «Instant Death». Consumes Essence on use. The greater the resistance, the more Essence will be consumed.

Energy Vision Sense: The user can feel and see different forms of mana and other forms of energy in their surroundings (Current Max Range: 199 -> 1000 meters). Consumes 0.10(+0.05 per second active) Essence per 10 meters -> 0.01(+0.005 per second active) per 1 meter every second it remains active(Consumption rate increases by 100% at ranges of more than 100 meters). The greater the range and longer the skill remains active, the more Essence will be consumed.

*New -> Soul Avatar:...

...

'Stage 1 Spirit Source. Is this the true beginning of a Source? If so, I finally understand why my Soul Essence was seen as an infancy stage Source. The difference in overall power is too large to ignore.'

One of the reasons Izroth was able to compete with the young monsters that took part in the Sky Palace competition, despite the level difference, was due to his Soul Essence. Usually, one did not acquire a Source until after they received their domain. This was why the third young master of the Dragon Palace, Kayn, referred to Izroth as "weird". It was the equivalent of skipping how to walk and immediately starting to run from the time one was born!

However, Kayn warned Izroth that this was not necessarily a good thing. Since he already obtained a Source and still had yet to receive a Domain, it would be two or three times more challenging for him to acquire. But, Izroth was not discouraged by this fact. After all, since when was he afraid of a challenge?

'For the Soul Avatar, I decided to use the true world item along with the Arisia Crystal to further enhance it. Unfortunately, I have no idea what the results will be until its already completed. In addition, there is no guarantee that the two are compatible with one another. The risk I'm taking this time is immense. However, as the saying goes, no risk means little to no reward.'

Izroth shifted his gaze to the palm of his hand. Infused into the true world item he held was the Arisia Crystal refined by Gu Chao. Exceeding Izroth's expectations, Gu Chao managed to not just refine the Arisia Crystal, but upgrade it as well!

Even after being refined, materials would retain the same rank. In other words, if it was a superior ranked material in its unrefined state, then it would be the same in its refined state. However, Gu Chao was able to refine the superior ranked Arisia Crystal into an ancient ranked material! If other top guilds knew of this, there was not a single one who would not try to draw Gu Chao over to their side!

But, of course, Izroth did not let it end there. Using the Mysterious Blacksmith's Flawless Ameliorate, he further improved the Arisia Crystal and upgraded its rank to mythical! A real mythical ranked material! Even if one wanted to offer a substantial amount of gold coins for it, they would not necessarily be able to purchase it. After all, the number of mythical ranked materials that had fallen into players' hands could probably be counted with one's fingers alone.

'Using the last charge of the Ameliorate Stone was definitely worth it.'

Name: Special Refined Ameliorated Arisia Crystal

Rank: Mythical(105)

Usage: A special version of the Arisia Crystal refined by a skillful blacksmith, enhanced by an Ameliorate Stone and granted special properties. Although it is referred to as a crystal, this mineral is, in actuality, a metal with natural powerful shock-absorbing, anti-physical, anti-magic, and anti-energy properties. It is often used to craft items that are capable of absorbing incredible amounts of damage. Using a single shard is enough to impart an item with some of its remarkable properties.

'The effects make the superior, and ancient versions pale in comparison. However, there's still a huge gap between it and the true world item.'

Name: Forever Drinking Leech

Rank: True World(Unbreakable)

Usage: This virtually indestructible relic can endlessly consume nearly every source of energy in existence and convert it into a direct source of power. Consuming this relic directly can lead to instant death that resets all the consumer's current progress and cause the relic to return to the true world. This relic requires a special method to fuse with its intended target and become a part of them. Once merged, the consumer of this relic will gain all its effects.

Special Note: A relic that originates from the true world and fell just short of reaching divinity. The only one of its kind in existence.

'If this item had reached a state of divinity, how powerful would it have grown? How unfortunate.'

Izroth walked over to a nearby table and placed the Forever Drinking Leech infused with the Arisia Crystal on top of it. He then placed the palm of his hand above it as Essence poured out of his body and into the objects.

Less than a breath later, Izroth's complexion turned pale as his Essence had reached 0, and he was overcome with Soul Weakness.

[Total Essence Contributed: 8,024/???]

'As I thought, it's still not enough to complete the Soul Avatar.'

Izroth sat down in a meditative position as he began to use his Source Chant. This caused the energy in the surrounding air to swirl and rush towards him. As a result, his Essence started to slowly regenerate, and his complexion improved little by little.

'My Essence automatically regenerates 100 every hour. With my improved Source Chant, I can recover an additional 0.1 essence per second. Given these two factors, it should take me approximately 2 hours to recover my Essence to its peak state.'

Izroth locked his sights onto the two items that were greedily consuming his Essence and becoming increasingly fused with each other.

'Shall we see just how much you can take?'