Chapter 1696: Work is Rhythm

The first ever musical scale was made by a blacksmith.

The story went that a blacksmith noticed that when he struck an anvil in just the right way, at just the right time, a different sound would ring out.

These sounds would then be recorded into a musical scale that would then be used by musicians everywhere.

It should also be noted that blacksmiths would actually use the rhythm made from the hammer meeting the anvil in order to coordinate their movements, with some very rare instances where they would actually sing along.

And in even rare instances, the singing would draw out the lower of the steel itself even further.

-An entry from the [Divine Forgemaster Records].

...

"Okay, Corpse Doll and Porcelain Doll, please dump the bodies into the furnace."

[As you wish, Caretaker.]

[Heave ho!]

Following Zhen Liu’s commands, Corpse Doll and Porcelain Doll proceeded to work together and toss the bodies from the cart one by one into the furnace.

The bodies, surprisingly, burned up almost instantly when they came into contact with the flames.

The ashes and smoke produced from this instant were then pulled out from the fire and mixed into the crucible of molten metal, causing it undergo a change from a multicolored mess to a much more even distribution of colors. Alongside this visual change, one could feel that the powers lying inside this pot of molten metal was starting to coalesce in a more cohesive manner.

While this was happening, Zhen Liu pulled forth his [Hammer of the Dearly Departed] and used its power to turn the [Veteran’s Bone Club] into a blacksmith Hammer of equal size.

"Axer, do you need a hammer?"

"Nah, I got my own," he answered while pulling out an aether treasure hammer that was about the same rank as Zhen Liu’s pair.

As for Lythero, he was immediately handed a pair of tongs.

"You need instructions?"

"Nah, I think I know what to do," Lythero said as he opened and closed the tongs to make sure nothing was wrong with the tool.

"Alright, let’s begin."

And thus, the three men proceeded to work.

The molten metal at this point was ready to be poured into the shape of a billet that was then reheated by the furnace.

The moment this occurred, the groaning of dead souls seemed to feel the forge and make it feel unnaturally cold despite the roaring fire and heat.

"Okay, let’s give these guys one hell of a funeral," Zhen Liu declared as Lythero used the tongs and bit of his power to pull out the glowing billet and placed it on the anvil.

Zhen Liu’s and Axer’s hammers danced as they coordinated with Lythero to turn the billet into a proper blade.

With every swing, a crisp, clear tone rang out and drove away the cold feeling that had initially washed over the forge.

In Axer’s eyes, this was just a sign that whatever weirdness Zhen Liu caused was wearing away its strange charm.

In Zhen Liu’s eyes, though, he could see the true power of the [Necromantic Forging Techniques] that he had Logos and Pathos shove into his brain just a mere day ago.

Namely, he could literally see the spirits of these corpse warriors being set free with every swing of the hammer, and the bonds that had tethered became nothing more than power for the blade being slowly formed.

’Huh... I suppose this action is kind of like a funeral for the fallen warriors. Neat.’

Zhen Liu had once asked himself the question, "why are battlefields always haunted?"

And the answer he received made a lot of sense...but was also profoundly sad.

One of the biggest issues with war is the huge amount of corpses that are left behind by both victor and loser alike.

Some of these bodies get retrieved for proper funerary rites by the deceased loved ones, while others end up getting burned in mass funeral pyres or buried in mass graves.

But most of these bodies, especially on the side of the loser, end up being left out in the open for the carrion eaters to consume, for the elemental to weather away whatever is left untouched.

These left-behind corpses will, on occasion, have someone at home to mourn for them with a memory in hand, but there are easily twice as many corpses with no one left to mourn for them. These forgotten dead are the reason why battlefields tend to be haunted.

Lingering resentments and desires from dying in battle, often against opponents they have no real animosity towards, combined with the lack of mourners, have the awful effect of creating ghosts that would love nothing more than to tear down the living if it meant being able to feel something all over again.

And this was especially the case when the slain just so happened to be powerful aether warriors.

Such powerful wills need more than just a simple prayer to be banished to the next life over, especially since it was possible for such lingering spirits to take over the bodies of the living and try again. However, in the same way that these undead fucks can exploit the living, the living can exploit the dead in a similar manner.

Many of these rituals result in cursed aether treasures or cultivation abilities that could best be described as "ghoulish" at best; however, there are a handful of notable exceptions that somehow make use of the dead but also honor them at the same time.

In this particular case, Zhen Liu was exercising a technique from the Necromantic Smithing Manual called [Battlefield Final Rites Smelting].

One part funeral, one part blacksmithing technique, this particular method requires the metal to be heated using the burning corpses of several fallen warriors, and then cooled in the drained blood of the fallen.

This technique uses the fire of the forge as a funeral pyre, to burn away their earthly bones and free the spirit.

The ringing of the hammer serves as a dirge, allowing the dead to hear a fond farewell.

And of course, the finished object itself acts as a monument to those who died for no good reason.

In other words, it was the perfect technique to make weapons for those who carried the legacy of the fallen on their backs...or those who wished to right the wrongful deaths of those they loved.

As Zhen Liu and Axer hammered away at the billet that was being turned by Lythero, the latter couldn’t but feel as if he was performing a long, overdue ceremony for his fallen masters.

Every turn of the billet, for reasons Lythero wasn’t entirely sure about, made him think of his masters.

And while he wasn’t entirely sure if it was just a trick of the mind, or the power of aether and [Chaos] combining, Lythero could see the shadows of his masters’ swords alongside the shadow of his own future blade.

And every time the hammer came down, the shadows disappeared and cycled.

He first saw Master Panther’s blade, then Master Coyote’s, Master Raven’s, Master Cobra’s, Master Razorback’s, Master Tortoise’s, and Master Rabbit’s before it settled on to his own sword and disappeared just as fast.

’Is...is this a sign that I’m saying goodbye to my masters? Or is it a sign that I’m about to embark on something new?’

As this thought settled into Lythero’s mind, Zhen Liu suddenly began to sing while using the ringing hammers as a means of keeping beat.

The song Zhen Liu sang could technically be considered a dirge, but not exactly.

As the hammers dance, and the fire sing,

Clang

The dead march towards their final rest,

Clang

Free from their bones

Clang

Free from their bonds

Clang

With every hammer’s swing

Clang

They march on towards their rest.

With every note sang, with every hammer swing, and every turn of the billet, the sword that was to determine Lythero’s future began to take shape.

...POV change...

"Whoa...just...whoa."

"Yeah...I don’t think we’re going to learn anything from this moment."

Taurna and Lyona had actually decided to stick around to see what Zhen Liu, Axer, and Lythero were going to do in order to bring to life this strange aether treasure.

They figured they would able to learn something...they weren’t able to learn shit.

At a glance, the process looked fairly simple.

But the longer the two tried to memorize every technique, every movement, every weird note, their perception of it became more and more distorted.

It was if the universe itself was trying to obfuscate the process, that it was trying to make sure that this singular moment would be just that: singular.

Taurna and Lyona had read that master craftsman were able to create these weird bubbles around them that made it impossible for others to copy their process, but the two of them were fairly certain Zhen Liu and the others weren’t anywhere near that level.

Eventually, as they kept watching, they felt a sudden shift in the room’s aura.