Chapter 263: External Suppression

Underground, in the technical sector beneath the kingdom of Avers, a great commotion was still going on among the engineers and technicians. Everyone was running from console to console, nearly knocking each other over as they tried to find the cause of what had happened.

​Suddenly, one of the specialists typed a command with the general schematic, punched in a couple more numbers and began to look intently at the monitor, after which he zoomed in on the picture. His eyes widened, and he shouted at the top of his voice:

​"Professor, Professor! I found it!"

​Professor Goldberg immediately ran up to him, almost knocking over a neighboring technician:

​"What is it?!"

​The specialist pointed at the screen, which displayed the general schematic of the dome with the recorded failure:

​"We recorded what could have caused the dome to fall! Look, an interference outside the dome was recorded. We assume that this is exactly why it shut down!"

​Goldberg leaned closer, looking carefully at the displayed graphs and reading the metrics:

​"Antiphase interference..."

“Yes, yes, exactly, Professor! You are a genius!” the man behind the console exclaimed.

​Goldberg thought for a second and asked sternly:

​"Have you already reported to His Majesty about the sudden shutdown of the dome?"

​Several engineers standing nearby nodded at once:

​"Yes, we reported it immediately."

​"Tell him urgently that the dome went down not because of some malfunction, but because of external suppression!"

​Everyone gathered around was genuinely surprised by such a conclusion.

​"Faster!" Goldberg hurried them.

​Several people immediately darted from their stations and ran to His Majesty.

​At the same time, Iron had already reached the forge. He pushed open the door and went inside. Right in front of him was the order reception counter.

​Iron walked up to it. Without breaking stride, he lowered his hand below the level of the counter, and the ore appeared right in his palm. Raising his hand back up, he placed the purple-white piece of Asfolt on the countertop and calmly said to the man behind the counter:

​"I need to make a sword out of it."

​The man looked at the ore, then at Iron, and answered:

​"Alright, we actually have a free spot..."

​"Can I do it myself?" Iron immediately interrupted him.

​The man looked at him in bewilderment, then shook his head.

​"Oh, no, sorry, but we cannot provide that in any way."

​"Alright," Iron responded calmly, took the ore and immediately went out onto the street.

​Finding himself outside, he quietly said to himself:

​I didn't want to do this, of course, but I have to.

​Iron needed to find a deserted alley where no one would notice him. He walked back and forth along the streets for about fifteen minutes.

​Along the way, he even went into a small shop, spotted some sweets, bought some and calmly ate them as he walked, glancing around as he continued on his way.

​Finally, Iron found a completely empty alley. Making sure that it was clear in all directions and no one was looking at him, he immediately vanished and materialized among tall trees.

​The engineer calmly leaned back against the trunk of the nearest oak. The Asfolt ore immediately appeared in his hand, smoothly rose into the air and stopped exactly at eye level.

​Complete melting would disrupt the internal structure of the Asfolt and make the finished sword fragile. Therefore, Iron used point heating and spatial pressure, transferring the material into a plastic state. The ore softened, retaining its natural strength while becoming pliable enough to be reshaped.

In midair, Iron began to pull and form a blade of average length. He formed sharp cutting edges, shaped an even fuller in the center and drew out a thin but incredibly strong tang at the base — a metal spike on which the handle was to be mounted.

​As soon as the shape was ready, Iron instantly fixed the crystal lattice of the metal, hardening it with compression and returning the hardness and sharpness to the Asfolt.

​Finishing the work with the blade, Iron turned his head back to the tree he was leaning on. Peering into the texture of the trunk, he made a smooth turn with his index finger.

​The spatial cut cleanly separated an even block of dense wood from the trunk.

​Iron caught it, completely cleaned it of bark and smoothed out all the roughness, leaving the surface smooth so that the handle would sit comfortably in the hand without causing splinters. In the center of the block, he burned out an internal groove, exactly repeating the shape of the tang.

​By this point, the blade had already completely cooled. Iron tightly fitted the wooden handle onto the metal tang, securing it with internal pressure. The sword was completely ready and calmly levitated right in front of him.

​Before leaving, Iron turned around to the tree from which he had just taken the wood. He gently ran his palm from top to bottom right along the place of the cut. Using accelerated cellular growth, he forced the wood fibers inside the trunk to instantly grow. In a matter of seconds, the gap was completely pulled together, and the tree became whole again.

​Pushing himself off the trunk, Iron grabbed the finished sword by the handle. Making a couple of quick lunges and test swings in the air, he evaluated the perfect balance and practically zero weight of the weapon.

​For a final check, Iron, without applying any physical force, ran the blade along the trunk of a neighboring tree.

​The blade went through the thick wood. The cut was so clean and instantaneous that the tree didn't even sway, and its top remained standing in its original position.

​Looking at the sword, Iron sent it straight to the Main Building, after which he vanished.

​Meanwhile, the tree trunk that Iron had cut had already begun to slowly grow back together, becoming exactly as it had been before.

​Disappearing from the wilderness of the forest, Iron materialized a good distance away from the walls of Avers.

​After a few minutes he walked up to the gates, presented his card to the guards and passed inside the kingdom.

​Finding himself behind the stone wall, Iron stepped out onto a spacious square, and from there turned onto a wide shopping street. Rows of open stalls stretched along the road. Appetizing smells were everywhere, passersby were conversing animatedly, and merchants were actively calling out to buyers.

​Passing by another counter, Iron stopped. On the trays, fresh apples, juicy ripe fruits, and wooden bowls filled to the top with selected forest berries lay in even piles.

​Iron selected a few apples, a couple of large fruits and a handful of berries. The merchant packed all this into a thick bag and handed it to him.

​Taking a gold coin out of his pocket, Iron placed it on the wooden table and calmly said:

​"Keep the change."

​The merchant's eyes widened in amazement. He immediately bowed low as a sign of deep gratitude:

​"Thank you! I will never forget your kindness, sir!"

​Iron simply shook his head and walked on.

​Crossing another street and realizing that he was on the street with the hotel, Iron noticed one more establishment — a small cozy sweet shop. Behind its transparent display case lay pastries, jams, and all sorts of desserts.

​Going inside, Iron immediately pointed his finger at a neat round pastry and handed the seller another gold coin. The shop owner accepted the gold and was already heading to the drawer for change, but Iron said as he turned to leave:

​"Keep the change."

​Not waiting for the confectioner's answer, he took the parcel with the pastry and went out into the fresh air.

​A couple of minutes later, having reached the hotel, Iron pushed open the door and went inside.

​Without slowing his step, Iron took a little to the left, heading to the residential wing. The girl behind the counter slightly bowed her head in greeting. Iron, still in motion, briefly answered with a barely noticeable nod and continued down the corridor.

​He reached the door marked with the number "5" and grabbed the handle without breaking stride, lightly pushing it away from himself. The door gave way noiselessly.

Only then did Iron stop on the threshold and say with surprise:

​"Did I not lock it...?"

​Iron entered the room and saw that Noah had already gotten out of bed. He was in the center of the room, doing one-armed push-ups with his right arm while effortlessly keeping his body parallel to the floor.

​Slamming the door behind him, Iron cast a fleeting glance at the keys lying on the table, walked closer, and dropped the shopping bags right on the countertop.

​"I take it I bought all this for nothing," Iron said, watching his training.

​Noah had just finished another set. He pushed off the floor with one hand, soared into the air and landed on both feet.

​Meanwhile, Iron calmly unpacked the parcels, taking out and laying out on the table the fresh fruits, juicy apples, the tray with berries, and the bought dessert.

​"Here, this is for you," Iron said, moving the food to the edge of the table.

​Noah looked at the food and asked, frowning:

​"And why do I need this?"

​"I don't know," Iron answered and immediately began to eat what he had just bought himself.

​Noah immediately started another set: he squatted sharply, threw his legs back into a push-up position, did a push-up, pulled his legs back to his chest with a swift jerk, and jumped up. He repeated these movements over and over.

​Iron, chewing, followed his furious pace and asked in passing:

​"By the way, where is your sword?"

​Noah, without slowing down and making another quick jump, simply glanced downward, making it clear that the weapon was under the bed.

​Iron got up from the chair, walked over to the bed, bent down and pulled Noah's sword out from under it.

​Taking hold of the handle, he began to examine it carefully. The handle was made of a deep black material, and at its very end was a round golden detail. Closer to the base of the blade, patterns diverged in the same gold style, and in the very center, a red stone stood out. The blade itself was made of finely honed gray steel.

​Iron held the weapon in his hand, looked it over from all sides and quietly noted:

​"It looks similar, of course... but it's not it."

​The engineer pushed the sword back under the bed, stood up and added:

​"And you have good taste, by the way."

​Iron returned to the table, sat back on the chair and continued to calmly eat the bought fruits and dessert.

Noah just stayed silent in response, continuing to silently do one set after another.