Chapter 83 — The Darven Heirloom Awakens

The forge fell silent.

Kael stood motionless.

The Darven katana rested on the center platform.

Its dark silver blade had begun glowing faintly.

The ancient voice still echoed through the chamber.

“The first Darven did not wield a sword.”

A pause.

“He forged one.”

Kael stared at the weapon.

“What does that mean?”

There was no answer.

The family crest on the guard grew brighter.

Then—

WHUM!

A pulse of energy spread through the forge.

Every piece of metal inside the room trembled.

Mithril.

Adamantite.

Void Crystal.

Ashen Alloy.

Even the scraps of ordinary iron on the floor.

They all responded to the katana.

Kael's eyes widened.

“This isn't Metal Control.”

He could feel the difference.

His bloodline normally responded when he pushed mana into metal.

This was different.

The sword was pulling mana toward itself.

Not forcing it.

Calling it.

The System appeared.

[Darven Heirloom resonance detected.]

[Bloodline synchronization increasing.]

[Ancient forging sequence beginning.]

[Unknown weapon origin detected.]

[Historical record incomplete.]

Kael stepped closer.

The sword's blade began changing.

The dark silver surface separated into countless tiny metallic layers.

They moved like liquid.

The blade became thinner.

Then wider.

Then thinner again.

Kael instinctively reached out.

The instant his fingers touched the handle—

his consciousness was dragged somewhere else.

Darkness.

Then fire.

Kael opened his eyes.

He was standing in an enormous ancient forge.

The scale was impossible.

The ceiling was high enough to disappear into darkness.

Massive furnaces burned with blue-white flames.

Hundreds of metal structures filled the chamber.

And in the center—

someone was forging a weapon.

Kael couldn't see the person's face.

Only their silhouette.

A hammer rose.

Then fell.

BOOM!

A piece of glowing metal was struck.

Again.

BOOM!

Again.

BOOM!

Each blow changed the metal.

Kael watched.

The material wasn't ordinary.

It looked like liquid darkness mixed with silver.

The blacksmith didn't simply shape it.

They were controlling its internal structure.

Every strike adjusted something microscopic.

Mana flow.

Density.

Resonance.

Stability.

Kael's eyes widened.

“This is…”

He recognized it.

Metal Control.

But vastly more refined than his own.

The figure continued forging.

Then the voice returned.

“Metal is not shaped by force.”

The hammer fell.

BOOM!

“It is shaped by understanding.”

Another strike.

BOOM!

“The first Darven did not create weapons because weapons were powerful.”

Another.

“He created weapons because the world itself could be changed through metal.”

Kael stared.

The forging process continued.

The material slowly became a blade.

Not the katana he carried.

Something older.

Larger.

More primitive.

Yet somehow more advanced.

Then—

the figure placed a hand on the finished weapon.

The entire forge went dark.

A single word appeared.

DARVEN.

Kael's eyes widened.

The vision shattered.

Kael returned to the forge.

He inhaled sharply.

The katana was still in his hands.

But it had changed.

The blade remained dark silver.

Yet thin crimson lines now ran through the metal like veins.

The family crest on the guard had transformed.

It now displayed a small circular mark surrounded by five thin paths.

Kael stared.

The System appeared.

[Darven Heirloom awakening complete.]

[Previous classification: Unknown]

[Current classification: Grade 7 — Legendary]

[Artifact State: Awakened]

[Name detected.]

[DARVEN ORIGIN BLADE]

Kael's eyes widened.

“Legendary…”

He slowly lifted the weapon.

The blade felt lighter.

Not physically.

It felt—

more responsive.

Almost alive.

He swung once.

SHING!

The air itself seemed to split.

Kael stopped.

He hadn't put much strength into the movement.

Yet the blade had cut through a hanging piece of Adamantite chain ten meters away.

The chain fell.

Kael stared.

“That wasn't normal.”

The System appeared again.

[Darven Origin Blade.]

[Grade: Legendary]

[Properties:]

Bloodline Absolute Synchronization

Metal Control Amplification

Mana Conduction

Adaptive Edge

Weapon Resonance

Darven Forge Integration

Unknown Origin Function: Sealed

Kael read the list twice.

The final line caught his attention.

“Unknown Origin Function.”

He touched the blade.

“How do I unlock it?”

The System responded.

[Requirement unknown.]

[Possible correlation: Bloodline Progress.]

[Possible correlation: Ancient Key.]

[Possible correlation: Legendary Beast Path.]

Kael narrowed his eyes.

“So even you don't know.”

No response.

Kael smiled.

That was fine.

He didn't need to know everything immediately.

Kael walked outside.

The training field was several hundred meters from his main camp.

He placed an enormous steel block in front of himself.

The block had been created for weapon testing.

It was almost two meters thick.

Kael drew the Darven Origin Blade.

He took a stance.

No mana.

No Metal Control.

Just the sword.

He swung.

SHING!

The block split.

Kael froze.

He stared.

The cut was perfectly straight.

No visible resistance.

Kael frowned.

“That shouldn't be possible.”

The steel wasn't ordinary.

It had been reinforced with mana.

Even his previous katana would have required significant effort.

The Origin Blade had cut through it like cloth.

He activated the System.

[Weapon Resonance active.]

[Blade structure adapting to target material.]

[Adaptive Edge active.]

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“So the blade changes itself according to what it's cutting.”

He looked at the block.

He used Metal Control.

The surrounding metal reacted.

The blade changed slightly.

Its surface became rougher.

The next swing cut even deeper.

Kael smiled.

“Adaptive Edge.”

That would be extremely useful.

But he wasn't finished.

He needed to know its limits.

He created a block of Mithril.

Then Adamantite.

Then Void Crystal.

He tested each.

The Origin Blade responded differently to every material.

Against Mithril—

the blade became extremely precise.

Against Adamantite—

the edge became denser.

Against Void Crystal—

the blade's structure changed in a way Kael couldn't understand.

The two materials resonated.

A small spatial distortion appeared near the blade.

Kael immediately stopped.

The distortion vanished.

He stared.

“That could be dangerous.”

He made a note.

Origin Blade + Void Crystal = unstable spatial resonance.

Do not experiment carelessly during combat.

Then he thought of the Shadow Lion.

Spatial movement.

Shadow transit.

The Origin Blade's interaction with Void Crystal might become important.

Very important.

The sword was powerful.

But power alone wouldn't defeat a Legendary Beast.

Kael knew that.

He returned to the forge.

His notebook remained open.

He wrote three new weapon concepts.

Shadow Countermeasure

A series of Void Crystal blades.

Their purpose would be to create temporary spatial anchors.

The Shadow Lion might be able to move through darkness.

But if Kael could anchor the space around him—

its movement options might become limited.

Verdant Breaker

A penetrator weapon designed to target specific scale clusters.

It needed to combine:

Adamantite.

Mithril.

Mana Disruption.

And monster-derived regeneration suppression.

Soul Suppression System

A combination of:

Soul-Breaker ammunition.

Area Mana Disruption.

And an anti-summon barrier.

Designed specifically for Bone Sovereign.

Kael stared at the three ideas.

“Three monsters.”

He needed three specialized systems.

The V-01 could handle switching between them.

The Origin Blade would remain his primary melee weapon.

His armor would keep him alive.

And Legendary Immortality would be the final contingency.

That was enough.

Almost.

Kael didn't want his first real battle against the Legendary Beasts to be the first time he tested his plans.

Fortunately—

his System could simulate combat scenarios.

Not perfect simulations.

The System couldn't accurately reproduce the actual Legendary Beasts.

But it could create training models based on the information Kael had gathered.

Kael activated the training interface.

[Combat Simulation.]

[Available templates:]

Shadow-Type Legendary Model

Verdant-Type Legendary Model

Undead-Mage Legendary Model

Accuracy: 41%

Warning: Simulation cannot reproduce unknown abilities.

Kael nodded.

“That's enough.”

He selected the Shadow model.

The environment changed.

Darkness swallowed the training field.

A gigantic lion emerged.

Black fur.

Crimson energy.

Eyes like burning stars.

Kael immediately activated Spatial Configuration on the V-01.

The simulated beast disappeared.

Kael felt the pressure behind him.

He moved.

A claw passed through the place where his head had been.

Kael fired.

BANG!

Spatial Anchor Round.

The darkness flickered.

The Lion reappeared.

Kael attacked.

SLASH!

The Origin Blade struck.

The simulation's Shadow Core destabilized.

The Lion roared.

Then—

the entire domain exploded.

Kael was overwhelmed.

The simulation ended.

[Simulation failed.]

[Survival duration: 41 seconds.]

[Primary failure points:]

Insufficient battlefield control.

Insufficient shadow detection.

Inadequate domain resistance.

Kael stared.

Forty-one seconds.

He smiled.

“Good.”

He ran the simulation again.

This time—

he lasted one minute.

Then two.

Then four.

He failed repeatedly.

Sometimes the Lion overwhelmed his defenses.

Sometimes the Shadow Domain trapped him.

Sometimes Kael misjudged a teleportation point.

Sometimes his spatial anchor failed.

Every defeat gave him information.

He adjusted.

The next attempt—

seven minutes.

Then nine.

Then twelve.

Eventually—

he managed to force the simulated Lion's Shadow Core into an unstable state.

The System displayed:

[Simulation objective achieved.]

Kael stopped.

He was exhausted despite the simulation being mental.

He opened his notebook.

Shadow Lion

Primary danger: unpredictable movement through Darkness Domain.

Key counter: spatial anchors.

Secondary counter: force physical manifestation.

Target: Shadow Core.

Weakness confirmed in simulation, but real-world effectiveness uncertain.

Kael closed the simulation.

The Verdant model appeared.

He activated it.

The world became green.

A gigantic serpent emerged.

Black and green scales.

Its body stretched farther than he could see.

Kael's eyes widened.

The simulation began.

The Serpent struck.

Kael dodged.

Its body wrapped around the battlefield.

Kael fired.

The scale barely cracked.

The wound closed.

Kael changed ammunition.

Penetration.

The scale cracked farther.

Regeneration.

Again.

Kael tried Mana Disruption.

The regeneration slowed.

He attacked one compromised scale cluster.

The Serpent adapted.

Its scales changed.

Kael switched targets.

The Serpent adapted again.

The simulation lasted twelve minutes.

Kael eventually failed.

But he had learned.

The Serpent wasn't stupid.

It would actively protect damaged areas.

He wrote:

Verdant Serpent will identify repeated attack patterns.

Must rotate penetration points.

Never use the same ammunition configuration continuously.

Need regeneration suppression stronger than current V-01 output.

Finally—

Bone Sovereign.

The battlefield became a wasteland.

A skeleton army appeared.

Ten.

Hundred.

Thousands.

Kael immediately understood the problem.

There were too many.

He couldn't fight them individually.

He switched to Suppression Configuration.

BOOM!

Hundreds disappeared.

But more replaced them.

Kael's expression changed.

The army wasn't limited by the number of skeletons.

It was limited by the Soul Furnace.

Kael moved.

The skeletons attacked.

Kael cut.

One.

Two.

Three.

More appeared.

Kael used the Origin Blade.

It cut through several simultaneously.

Still not enough.

The Bone Sovereign appeared in the distance.

Blue flames.

Ancient armor.

Magical staff.

A spell formed.

The simulation ended immediately.

[Simulation failed.]

[Cause: Battlefield overwhelm.]

Kael stared.

He restarted.

This time—

he ignored the army.

He focused on the structure.

He found the simulated Soul Furnace.

He attacked it.

The skeleton army weakened.

The Bone Sovereign immediately changed tactics.

Instead of summoning—

it attacked directly.

Kael barely survived.

He failed.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Eventually—

he reached the Furnace.

He damaged it.

The army's reinforcement slowed.

The System recorded:

[Simulation objective achieved: Soul Furnace disruption.]

Kael smiled.

“Good.”

He now had three plans.

None guaranteed victory.

But they were real plans.

There was one final thing Kael needed to understand.

The ring.

He couldn't activate the real Legendary Immortality.

Not before the actual battles.

But the System allowed him to simulate its effect.

Kael entered a simple combat environment.

Then activated a simulated version.

[Simulated Legendary Immortality active.]

[Duration: 100 hours.]

[Reformation delay: 5 seconds.]

Kael allowed the simulated enemy to kill him.

Darkness.

Five seconds.

He reappeared at the exact location where he had fallen.

He looked down.

His body was restored.

The System confirmed:

[Reformation successful.]

Kael tried again.

The result was identical.

Again.

Again.

Again.

He began experimenting with distance.

If he died in the river—

he returned in the river.

If he died beneath a cliff—

he returned beneath the cliff.

If he died inside an enemy's attack range—

he returned there too.

Kael's expression became serious.

“That could be dangerous.”

Legendary Immortality didn't automatically make him stronger.

It could even trap him.

If he died in a terrible position repeatedly—

he could reform in the same terrible position.

The five-second delay was also important.

An enemy could move.

The battlefield could change.

The ring did not choose a safe location.

It returned him to the place he died.

Kael wrote another note.

Legendary Immortality is not unlimited healing.

Death location becomes reformation location.

Battlefield positioning after death is critical.

Do not repeatedly die in an unrecoverable position.

Use death strategically only when the reformation location is survivable.

Kael closed the simulation.

That was perhaps the most important lesson he had learned.

He couldn't simply throw his life away.

Every death had to have a purpose.

Kael returned to the forge.

He looked at Darven V-01.

The weapon was good.

The Origin Blade was extraordinary.

The armor was powerful.

But the system still showed one limitation.

[Darven V-01 Stability: 91%]

Kael wanted higher.

He had one material left.

The Crimson Core Fragment.

It had tremendous energy density.

But using it could make the weapon unstable.

Kael considered it for a long time.

Then—

he added it.

The forge exploded with light.

WHOOOOOM!

Kael was thrown backward.

The weapon began shaking violently.

The Void Crystal cracked.

Mithril circuits overloaded.

The Crimson Core fragment released an enormous amount of energy.

Kael immediately activated Metal Control.

He grabbed the entire weapon with his bloodline.

“Stabilize.”

The weapon resisted.

Kael poured more mana into it.

The metal reshaped itself.

The Void Crystal reformed.

The Mithril network adjusted.

The Adamantite structure thickened.

One minute.

Two.

Three.

Finally—

the forge became quiet.

Kael looked at the rifle.

The System appeared.

[Darven V-01 evolution successful.]

[Name updated: DARVEN V-01X]

[Grade: 6 — Epic]

[Quality: Legendary Potential]

[Properties:]

Adaptive Configuration

Spatial Stability

Bloodline Absolute Synchronization

Enhanced Mana Disruption

Core Energy Regulation

Variable Ammunition

Anti-Regeneration Support

Configuration Switching

Stability: 97%

Kael smiled.

“Now we're ready.”

Almost.

There was still one final preparation.

He needed to know how to enter the pocket world.

The key.

The portal.

The route.

And most importantly—

how to escape.

Because his father had warned him that he might never return.

Kael activated the pocket-world key.

A portal appeared.

The System displayed:

[Full entry available.]

[Return function: Available.]

[Warning: Certain regions may interfere with spatial exit.]

[Central Prison Structure may override return authority.]

Kael's expression changed.

“So the center can stop me from leaving.”

That was important.

Very important.

He added it to the plan.

Then another notification appeared.

[Pocket World Guardian Detection.]

[Three Legendary Beast signatures confirmed.]

[Additional unidentified signature confirmed.]

[Distance: Unknown.]

Kael stared at the screen.

The unknown thing was still there.

The thing inside the black tower.

The thing his father hadn't told him about.

Kael touched the ring.

Not activating it.

Just feeling its weight.

One hundred hours.

One chance.

Three Legendary Beasts.

One unknown imprisoned entity.

Kael closed his eyes.

“I'll be ready.”

When he opened them—

his gaze had changed.

There was no hesitation anymore.

He had not entered the pocket world yet.

He had not activated Legendary Immortality.

He had not fought a Legendary Beast.

But he now had something he hadn't possessed before.

A plan.