Archie and Aoife locked eyes for a brief moment before vanishing from where they had stood, reappearing a meter above the creature that had been chittering between the bushes in a sudden burst of speed. As Archie descended, his bare right hand seized the creature's neck and slammed it to the ground, instantly restraining it.

Aoife, who had appeared a split second before Archie and on the opposite side, had already deployed her lance, which glowed a dull gray before she activated Multi-Thrust. Her lance exploded into motion, her arm becoming a blur as she segmented the creature's six legs from their body in an instant, all while avoiding Archie's body entirely.

With the creature restrained and de-legged, Archie turned to face Aoife and signed, 'Do they understand USL?' Who, in return, shrugged. This was the first time she'd ever met an ant this large. Who knew if it could speak?

"Can you understand us?" Aoife asked softly. However, despite their 'diplomatic' capture of the creature, it responded with the beginnings of a high-pitched screech—one that was swiftly silenced as Archie flooded his fists with stamina, crushed its exoskeleton-covered neck, and tore its head off.

*[Dinomyrmex Gigas – Scout Lv 100] has been slain – XP has been given.*

'I thought creatures born without sentience gain sentience by D-Grade?' Archie signed with his left hand and shook his other to get its greenish blood off his bare hand and the Harbinger of the 72nd Universe Sigil atop it.

"They do; I've been spoken to by many beasts whilst under my training," Aoife confirmed. "However, I've never met a D-Grade ant-type insectoid before, so I was not sure if it could speak."

'Do you think they might not be able to because they don't know the language?' Archie offered, wiping his somewhat still sticky hand across the tree beside him.

"I am unsure," Aoife admitted, her gaze lingering on the beheaded meter-tall ant. "But I would assume so, from what I've seen while mining, ants don't interact with other races or even other ants that aren't a part of their colony."

I know ants can communicate with one another using pheromones, and some can communicate with one another by touch, Archie noted while staring at its two large antennas. And considering how territorial they are, it makes sense that they wouldn't care for communication with other races—an everyone who isn't us is against us mentality.

"Considering its coloring and that it's a scouting ant, it would be safe to assume that its colony would be somewhere in the forest and not the desert," Aoife spoke up, bringing him out of his thoughts.

How did she know it was a scout? Archie asked himself before immediately chiding him. He'd forgotten that when fighting in a group or alongside another person, anyone who participates in a kill, whether by landing the final blow or assisting, receives the death notification, and the XP is distributed proportionally based on contribution.

But an ant colony further into the forest could make things a bit more dangerous, especially if they have D-Grades, Archie considered. Even more so, since both Aoife and I need to venture deeper into the forest, where it's louder and farther from both the wall and the patrolling guards, so I can forge the sound-dampening runic item we need for mining beneath the wall and for making new gauntlets and bracers.

If push comes to shove, as it usually does, I'll need to be in tip-top shape, Archie finished before remembering another important detail. Oh, and I'll need to swap the wheels on the Mana Bike back to sawblade wheels so when we get out, we can get as far away from them as possible.

As Archie was lost in his thoughts about how he could merge a Chameleon Locust Insectoid Core and a Shadowhawk Beastcore, Aoife appeared just as lost in thought. When, suddenly, an idea popped into her mind.

"Why don't we use them as a distraction?" Aoife suggested, snapping Archie from his own musings. "The ants, I mean."

Archie considered her suggestion before slowly nodding. 'Yeah…yeah, that could work.'

'But how would we drag,' Archie signed before remembering his thoughts from earlier. 'Pheromones.'

"Yes, we could kill a few of them and trail their blood toward the direction of the wall, but it would need to be timed to where we get close enough to the wall," Aoife continued.

'Then all that's left is for me to get started on creating what we need and finding that ant colony,' Archie said, looking in the direction from which the ant below them came. 'I can create a couple of sound bombs to grab their attention from within their colony. Once it goes off, I can quickly scatter a couple ant corpses and lead them towards the wall, around the same place you'll be digging through.'

'Speaking- signing of which, how long do you think it would take you to dig two kilometers down and to reach the wall?' Archie signed.

"Around eight to ten hours, if you help me with getting the dirt, stone, and whatever else we find out of the tunnel, along with the quick repairs on my tools," Aoife answered, much to Archie's shock at her answer. "Then from there it would take an extra two hours more of digging before we start heading upwards."

She can do all that in ten to twelve hours? Archie thought in shock. I thought it would take at least a few days or so, 'cause that's at the very least fiftyish or so kilometers of distance to cover.

Archie made a stifled chuckle, courtesy of one of the curses around his throat and brain. 'To call you gifted would be an understatement if you can cover that much distance that fast.'

"N-No," Aoife stuttered, looking away from Archie and fidgeting with her fingers. "I'm pretty slow compared to others."

Rolling his eyes at her response, Archie released a hummed sigh before heading in the direction the Dinomyrmex Gigas – Scout had come from, all the while raising his left hand and signing over his shoulder, 'If you think that's slow, then you wouldn't like to know how long it would take if we were on my planet.'

Archie's embered eyes, courtesy of Gaze of the Forgefather, narrowed in concentration as he pulled out both the Chameleon Locust Insectoid Core and the Shadowhawk Beastcore from his forge.

He then wrapped them in multiple mana strings and began to imbue both of the cores with his non-attuned mana and focused on how the razor-thin cracks that covered the cores slowly started to widen, gaining a faint blue tinge.

As the cracks widened, Archie slowly inched the cores together before stopping them a few millimeters from one another and releasing a breath he held. Wiping his forehead with the now-dirty sand colored cloak he pilfered, Archie placed it atop the table before turning back to face the two half-primed, half-activated cores.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

As Archie flexed his mana, bridging the gap between the cores, he entered the more difficult phase of the process. His face hardened as both of his bare hands now hovered on opposite ends of the cores and activated Spirit Link.

He then immediately began to grab hold of the elemental spirits and concentrated clumps of spiritual energy that remained within the cores and slowly started to intertwine them with each other.

He observed as the shadow spirits within the Shadowhawk Beastcore had begun to merge with the constantly shifting colored spirits of the Chameleon Locust Insectoid Core. He saw how the spirits tentatively touched one another as he brought them together.

Once they'd confirmed that they were compatible with each other, Archie then began to cover the spirits within both cores with his own feelings and emotions of silence and apathy.

As his feelings and emotions of absolute silence and apathy wrapped themselves around the spirits within both cores, Archie physically had begun to push the cores into one another and merge them into one, singular core, all the while he continued to steadily push his vital energy within it.

Opening his eyes and deactivating Spirit Link, Archie was greeted with another Obscuring Core.

Obscuring Core (Uncommon): An activated merged core of an E-Grade Chameleon Locust Insectoid Core and an E-Grade Shadowhawk Beastcore, both retaining fragments of their records, left behind after their death. Imbued with the feeling of silence and emotions of apathy of an E-Grade human, empowered by the spirits of the combined cores. Within its records lies those of the Chameleon Locust, the Shadowhawk, and Archie Gracefield. Can be used for various forging and medium applications.

Taking in a breath of fresh air to wash away the emotions he had immersed himself in, Archie cradled the core within his palms and walked toward his anvil, where a silver stake in the shape of a rock peg, but with a slightly wider head.

He'd chosen silver as the metal of choice for the stake due to its slightly higher mana conductivity compared to steel, even though it isn't as durable or resilient as steel.

Reaching the silver stake, Archie carefully placed the Obscuring Core atop it and watched as the core liquified, wrapping around the entirety of the stake.

Once the core solidified atop the silver stake, Archie grabbed his hammer from the hardened mana Tool Board that floated on the opposite end of the Basic Workshop and began to iron out the bubbles that remained from the merging of the silver stake and the core.

Glancing up from the anvil, Archie took notice of Aoife, carrying four Dinomyrmex Gigas corpses on her shoulders before dropping them in a pile by the entrance of the cave he was forging in.

After a few more minutes of smoothing out the length of the stake and removing any remaining bubbles, Archie was greeted with the fifth and final Obscuring Stake.

Obscuring Stake (Uncommon): Crafted by Archie Gracefield, a Novice Forgesmith, made from Silver and an Obscuring Core imbued with vital energy. Once mana is channeled into the flat head of the stake, all sound within a forty-by-forty USU distance will be suppressed and visually obscured from wandering eyes. Depending on the number of other nearby Obscuring Stakes, the effects between them can increase to a maximum factor of 20%. Current Charge: 0%. Effects: Self-Repair & Obscuring Field. Requirements: Lv 85+ & Humanoid Race.

Unfortunately, he'd ruined two of the Shadowhawk Beastcores while experimenting on how to merge them with the Chameleon Locust Insectoid Cores and three of the Chameleon Locust Insectoid Cores by overrefining them with both vital energy and mana.

From the wise words of the internet, it is what it is, Archie humored himself while making his way towards his table.

"Is that the last one?" Aoife asked as Archie walked toward his table with the fifth Obscuring Stake in hand.

Archie nodded in confirmation as he began to fill the Obscuring Stake with exactly a thousand and forty-two units of non-attuned mana, the exact amount needed to charge it to 100%.

Once he'd finished, he turned to Aoife, who'd patiently waited for him to finish filling up the stake with his mana. 'Take these four and place them on all four corners of where you're currently tunneling and move them every thirty-five or so USUs, to keep up the sound suppression,' he signed while handing her four of the five Obscuring Stakes.

"Okay," Aoife nodded as she placed the four Obscuring Stakes into her Pouch of Holding. "I'll continue mining once you leave to grab the attention of the Dinomyrmex Gigas colony."

'How far along is the tunneling?' Archie questioned, turning to equip his newly forged gauntlet and bracers.

Embergrasp Gauntlets (Rare): Crafted by Archie Gracefield, a Novice Forgesmith, these gauntlets are made from Magmasteel, Ignusite, and Magma Scorpion Insectoid Cores. The innate properties of Magmasteel and Ignusite allow the gauntlets to constantly emit a steady and controlled flame atop the gauntlets that increases in temperature with every third punch. Effects: Self-Repair, Soul-Bound & Ember's Embrace. Provides: +90 Strength, +65 Endurance, +40 Intelligence. Status: Excellent. Requirements: Level 85+ & Humanoid Race.

These new gauntlets would allow him to wreath his fists in flame, imbuing his attacks with the effects of flame without the need for him to rely on Spirit Bond, just in case he'd run out of flame attributed cores or if his connection with the core was disrupted like previous during his fight with his monstrous looking assassin.

He wasn't sure if the flames would be able to crawl atop his vines like how they did with Spirit Bond, as he had yet to test it more than just seeing what would happen to his fists when he activated Ember's Embrace.

Spoiler: his fist became covered in fire.

Reinforced Bracers of Deflection (Epic): Sturdy bracers made from reinforced steel and Igneous Golem Elementalcores, forged by Archie Gracefield, an E-Grade Novice Forgesmith. The bracers have inherited the Igneous Golem's natural toughness and durability, thus making the armor highly resistant to physical attacks. While forging, you have heard the true voice of your craft, unlocking its true essence. Effect: Soul-Bound, Self-Repair, Greater Physical Resistance, Physical Reinforcement & Igneous Deflection. Provides +90 Str, +65 Vit & +45 Agi. Status: Perfect. Requirements: Lv 85+ & Humanoid Race.

Igneous Deflection – When projectiles strike your bracers, your bracers will store the projectile for a short period of time before shooting in the direction your wrists face, retaining its effects and velocity.

This was a complete shock for him when he'd first laid eyes upon it. He didn't even need to check it with Identify to know that he'd created a masterclass item. His first Epic rarity piece of equipment, made by his two hands.

When he'd begun to forge, he decided to start with making new bracers, just to brush up on the basics before he would attempt to make a spirit runic item.

He wasn't sure what happened, but some time between him placing the steel bars into the forge and raising his hammer, whispers tickled his ears. They offered various tips about his technique, suggesting that he add a bit more pressure there, tighten his hammering in the corners, and many other tidbits of advice.

By the end, he was staring at what he considered to be his very first masterclass item.

Wailing Echo Sphere (Common): Crafted by Archie Gracefield, a Novice Forgesmith, this sphere is made from Iron, Cragforge and Resonance Bat Beastcores imbued with vital energy. Once mana is channeled into the Cragforge at the top of the sphere, the kinetic energy within will release a blast, activating the Resonance Bat Beastcore. As the holes in the sphere open, the vibrations from the cores will shake the iron chips trapped inside, producing a wailing screech. Effects: Wailing Screech. Requirements: Lv 65+ & Humanoid Race.

He'd made four of them, each one taking two Resonance Bat Beastcores to create as he needed them to resonate in different frequencies in order to harmonize a piercing screech.

It was just what he needed to aggravate the ants and bring them out of their ant colony, with only a minor downside.

There was no timer, only an activation button.

Yeah, R.I.P. ears.

"Twenty kilometers," Aoife answered. "I still need to cover thirty to forty more until we reach the wall, then another fifteen or so, just to make sure we are far enough away from the wall to have a running start."

Yeah…slow, Archie thought as he eye rolled at her response, putting away his compacted Basic Workshop and dismissing the notifications that he'd ignored.

*Your Profession has reached Lv 83 – Points allocated, +4 Free Points* *Your Profession has reached Lv 84 – Points allocated, +4 Free Points* *Your Race has reached Lv 86 – Points allocated, +3 Free Points*

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