In an isolated room filled with countless magical tools and runic patterns engraved all over the walls, the constant sound of hammering resounded again and again rhythmically like a beautiful melody. There was an artistic grace to the movements of each of his strikes, subtly compressing and shaping the structure of the raw sword into something fine.

His slightly long blue hair reflected a shade of purple as the red light of the heating furnace illuminated his face, mixing with the blue color of his hair. His ocean blue eyes remained serene and focused, with no ripple in them reflecting his concentrated mind on the forging procedure. He had already been hammering for more than 30 minutes, and after 10 more minutes of the same process, he was finally done and let the forged sword cool for now.

He could not help but look at it in marvel. Axel couldn't say that it was something of a miracle, but the improvement in his forging ability was truly significant. All because of his new ability to objectify obsession. He burned through his almost endless desire and obsession for the woman he cared about most. This allowed him to ignore somewhat the suppression of the world in the process of forging. Since the Will of the world always sought balance. It had made him a very bad forger, given that he was already an incredibly talented rune engraver.

But now he could focus his obsession on various things and make improvements at a rapid pace that was previously unthinkable. It wasn't an emotion that he could only target towards Sophia anymore. It could be used for so many things; the applications of it were endless. But of course, there were obvious limitations to it as well as certain costs. Having significantly improved his forging prowess while making the sword, he had burned through some of his emotions.

He could feel a slight hollowness within himself. It was pretty vague, barely noticeable even, but it was there. He frowned. This was indeed quite dangerous. What if he lost all of his feelings for her in this method? That can't happen. He had to use this cautiously. Thankfully, this sense of loss for 'the desire of obsession' was only temporary. Since he did not, in fact, permanently improve his forging capability by burning his obsession, he only enhanced it for the duration it took him to forge the tool.

So, he would slowly regain even that fraction of the obsession he sacrificed in a few hours to half a day at most. But the results were auspicious. Now he could create even more powerful rune tools, temporarily enhancing his forging expertise. But alas! he had already done what he could do.

And there was some bad news as well. Axel discovered that he had lost some of the overpowering perks of the runecaster aspect due to the complete elimination of the original "Axel".

For example, in each tier of weapons, they could be divided further into four categories: Common, Rare, Epic, and Unique, from lowest to highest in caliber of power. For the Unique category of tools, these are personalized Nexus tools that you create for a specific individual, and only that individual can use them. When the active ability of the said unique rune weapon is activated, it not only boosts some of the primary stats significantly. But it also grants extremely overpowered skills through the combination of various pseudo runes.

But now there were some things he could not do that he could do before—one, when Axel was making a unique category of rune-engraved weapon for himself. Its active abilities no longer had a stat boost effect. Two, he could not engrave more than three pseudo runes at once in a single rune tool. Third, before he could use five direct combat rune tools, two in hand and the rest he could control them through his mana and still receive the boosts and use the abilities engraved on them, but now he could not.

Now he could only wield two swords or any hand-held weapons with only his hands. Of course, he can technically still use a maximum of 10 Nexus tools at once. While 5 was the practical limit of what his soul could handle. So, if he wielded two swords in combat with both hands, the three more tools he could use would have to be accessory-type.

It was almost as if the Runecaster aspect had been suppressing the chaosblood beforehand. Now it was the one being suppressed slightly, perhaps. But it wasn't all bad news; his mutated runic eyes or any of the title effects of the runecaster aspect did not diminish in any way. But in fact, the three maximum pseudo runes he could engrave in one single tool could now achieve a greater harmony than before. It was perhaps because he now had much greater harmony in himself among both of his aspects and all other factors in general.

And no, these new limitations cannot be removed, even if he burned through his emotions of obsession in high quantity. These seem absolute. Maybe these restrictions would loosen as he grew stronger and progressed further in Seeker's Path. Apart from these, he was now on the verge of the following central stage of power. Both of his primary and secondary aspects were at the pinnacle of the first phase; he could feel a great clarity within himself.

There was a sense of balance that felt utterly blissful, especially after the period of damn weakness was over.

He was reduced to barely 20% of his power after Sophia had saved him. And then his strength was back. He felt stronger than ever, and he was surprised by the enormous stats he was seeing on his Nexus Panel, which now showed different primary stats based on which aspect was currently active. Thankfully, he had his apartment completely isolated from any outside influence. This was necessary because the moment he activated the chaosblood aspect, the partial demon form manifested, radiating the chillingly corrupted demonic energy.

Axel put a hand on his chin and thought, Within the next few days, the principal will set up the spatial protective dome. After that, he would have to be careful about every word he said and every action he took. Since even an insect would be under Alric's supervision, though it was unlikely that the principal would eavesdrop on the few of them so thoroughly, thereby invading their privacy. Still, it was better for him to be careful on this matter, not to drop any obvious clues that he knew far more than he was letting on.

***

Lucien's eyes shot wide open, panic and dread overflowing in his soul. Images flashed on his mind, the pictures of the valkyrie man-handling him effortlessly. The difference in strength was too significant. She was too strong. It all felt like a stupid nightmare. Everything that happened. He had decided to kill Axel for putting Lumina in danger. How that bitch had stomped on his face again and again. It was the greatest humiliation he had ever received in his entire life.

"All for that one blue-haired bastard?" Lucien spat in disgust. Then there was that provocative smile on that blue-haired bastard's face. Rage wanted to resurface on his mind again, but he punched his chest. Trying to suppress the roaring dragon blood within him. With a calculated but murderous glint, he concluded that Axel Nomrad had likely outsmarted him completely. Of course, it all had seemed too easy. There was no way he would come to the forest of his own accord, simply accepting his death.

He looked around and found himself in his apartment and on his own bed. There was a small note right beside the bed. It seems some academy staff had found him injured near the border area. They then proceeded to escort him to his own apartment. There was one more thing written there about the recent precarious situation of the academy. This made his eyebrows arch in worry for Lumina.

His heart ached just thinking about what he would say to his little sister. Lumina was head over heels in love with Axel Nomrad. But the blue-haired bastard had hooked up with Sophia, whom Lumina considered to be like her very own sister.

With a heavy sigh, he started to think critically, analyzing everything about the behavior of both Sophia and Axel from the very start of the academy. Sophia had an unusual interest in Axel Nomrad from the very beginning, which only grew stronger over time. It didn't make sense considering her immense hate for any men in general. Lucien commented in reproach, "I should have thought about this sooner."

Everything about the situation and her own disposition made Lucien think that it wasn't possible for Sophia to fall for another man. Or maybe there was a deeper story to it, he didn't know. And if he thought about Axel from a neutral point of view. He was always apprehensive of Sophia, in fact, most of the time. He used to oppose her for no apparent reason. Sophia was almost amused at those particular moments.

Considering the overwhelming charm she possesses, it wouldn't be difficult for Sophia to make Axel Nomrad fall in love with her instead. What if she were the one who was, in fact, manipulating Axel and playing with him from the very start? But what did she gain from offending him and Lumina both? He didn't know, but it was clear that the valkyrie he thought he knew and had gotten close to, the valkyrie whom Lumina thought of as her own sister, had always been nothing but a pretense.

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