Listening to Ryen's explanation, everyone started to feel a headache coming on.
Lisa sighed with emotion.
"Wooden Puppet, Bamboo Light, White Sheath, Silver-Paper Bamboo Light, Ōdachi… then back to Sheaths, which branch into Rusted Blade and Ruby, and Ruby further evolves into Black Fox and White Fox…"
"This mod is even more of a nesting-doll nightmare than the firearms mod."
Tartaglia let out a long sigh.
"In my entire life, I've never hated nested upgrade trees this much."
Yae Miko, on the other hand, looked highly interested and asked curiously:
"So then, what are the crafting requirements for Black Fox and White Fox?"
Ryen spread his hands.
"Full durability, at least one forge count, one thousand Soul Gauge, and two hundred kills, those are universal requirements."
"For White Fox, you enchant it with Looting. For Black Fox, you enchant it with Smite."
"White Fox's active skill is Dimensional Slash. Black Fox's is Thrust Break."
"Overall, White Fox is a bit better."
Ei took out her beloved Samehada-like blade and said thoughtfully:
"So… enchantments are also possible."
"How else would forging work?"
Ryen waved his hand and was about to use a sheath to craft the next weapon when Yae Miko blinked, smiling as she leaned in.
"Ryen…"
He rolled his eyes and casually handed the Ruby blade to her.
"Alright, alright, I know. Take it."
Yae Miko happily hugged him and rubbed against him.
"I knew you spoil your little fox the most~"
Ei looked a little envious and complained:
"You already have a White Fox. What do you need that for? Why not give it to Makoto?"
Yae Miko glared at Ei and replied decisively:
"I only have a White Fox, not a Black Fox! Black Fox and White Fox are clearly a pair, leaving them incomplete would be cruel."
"..."
Everyone was left speechless.
Ryen paused, then continued:
"The final evolution path from the Sheath is the Terrace series."
"Diamond Terrace, Yamabuki Terrace, Tattered Terrace, Clapper Terrace, and Sharp Rock Terrace."
"All Terrace blades have Dimensional Slash as their active skill."
"Among them, Diamond Terrace has the highest damage."
"Basically…"
Ryen paused and casually crafted the last Sheath into a Diamond Terrace.
"As long as you kill one thousand enemies, hit the maximum damage threshold, and do some forging…"
"One swing can kill Scaramouche."
"And I mean without using Dimensional Slash, just a normal attack."
Scaramouche's face instantly darkened.
Before he could say anything, Tartaglia suddenly clapped excitedly.
"Nice!"
"???"
Scaramouche stared at Tartaglia in disbelief.
But Diluc and the others understood perfectly.
Before Scaramouche showed up, whenever Ryen explained weapon damage ceilings, Tartaglia was always the example.
Now that role had been passed on to Scaramouche.
Of course Tartaglia was happy.
He was no longer at the bottom of the contempt hierarchy.
Thinking this way, Tartaglia started looking at Scaramouche much more kindly.
What a great guy!
"Diamond Terrace is the strongest in the Terrace series, and its final evolution."
"In simple terms, this weapon is already fully mature."
"It just needs forging, enchantments, and kill counts."
"So, who wants it?"
Ryen casually placed the Diamond Terrace onto the weapon stand.
Under the soft ceiling lights, the blade emitted a dazzling white glow.
Everyone felt tempted.
This was a fully evolved weapon with spatial power, Dimensional Slash included.
Only forging, enchantments, and kills remained.
With mob towers running at full efficiency, reaching a thousand kills would take half a day at most.
Holding this weapon would cause one's melee combat strength to skyrocket.
More importantly,
Ryen didn't want it.
It was their moment to shine.
Tartaglia and Diluc's eyes lit up.
Just as they were about to speak, Scaramouche said firmly:
"I want it."
"???"
Diluc and Tartaglia stared at him in disbelief.
They never expected him to even dare open his mouth.
Wasn't he still under punishment?
"You can't even use a crafting table properly. Giving this to you would be a waste, learn first!"
Tartaglia shoved Scaramouche aside with his shoulder and looked eagerly at Ryen.
"Mr. Ryen, I think no one is more suitable for this weapon than me."
"Aren't you an archer?"
Diluc snorted.
Tartaglia lifted his chin proudly.
"Do you know what 'master of all weapons' means? Archery is just what I'm worst at!"
"Even Zhongli wouldn't say something like that."
"Don't compare me to a god of war, I've already reached the peak of what humans can achieve!"
"Are you really human?"
"You're resorting to personal attacks now?!"
"No, you misunderstand. I'm just stating my opinion."
"I don't believe someone who can activate Foul Legacy at will still counts as human."
Seeing the argument about to erupt again, Ryen clapped his hands.
"Alright, enough. There's still work to do."
"As for who gets that blade, decide it yourselves later, duel or whatever."
Ignoring them, he continued:
"Next, White Sheath's upper-tier weapon: the Ōdachi."
"Everyone, place a few wooden posts in front of you and attack them with White Sheath until it breaks."
Everyone obediently began chopping trees.
White Sheath had low durability, and soon the room was filled with cracking sounds.
Once Ryen judged the timing right, he handed each person a Soul Orb.
"One Blaze Rod, one Soul Orb, one Lapis Lazuli block, the broken White Sheath, a coal block, string, and a gold ingot."
He demonstrated the arrangement briefly.
Everyone followed suit, and soon, each person held an Ōdachi.
Ryen nodded in satisfaction.
"The Ōdachi is one of the easiest high-damage weapons to obtain, and it has an active skill."
"By the way, the active skill is Dimensional Slash."
Everyone stared at the Ōdachi in their hands in disbelief.
After a moment, Lumine scratched her head in confusion.
"It feels like weapons with spatial power, something that rare, are suddenly everywhere…"
Ryen shrugged.
"Same rules as always: forge it, kill one thousand enemies, enchant it…"
"And then, one slash kills Scaramouche."
"..."
Scaramouche looked at Ryen with a troubled expression.
But considering he now had an Ōdachi of his own, he decided that his uncle was just a bit playful.
What could he do? He could only go along with it.
After all, this was the uncle he had acknowledged, and the one who gave him this blade.
"Ōdachi repairs use iron ingots."
"And the Ōdachi can continue upgrading."
"Chikaku Muramasa, and Yuzuki Tsukumogami."
Ryen paused, his tone turning serious.
"Listen carefully."
"Your first demon blade originates from the Ōdachi."
"The Ōdachi's upper-tier blades are: Demon Blade Samehada, Prison Blade Samehada, and Inferno Blade Shinen."
Ei froze, pulling out her treasured Samehada blade that she polished daily.
She even kept it beside her bed at night, so she could see it first thing every morning.
In elegant terms, this was the Raiden Gokaden's philosophy, unity of blade and wielder, mutual understanding.
"So Demon Blade Samehada… this is how you were born."
Ei sighed softly, suddenly feeling that Samehada wasn't quite as precious as before.
"Let's talk about Chikaku Muramasa first."
"It's a seal blade. Active skill: Phantom Blade. Decent damage."
"Forging requirements: Ōdachi at full durability, forge count above twenty, Soul Gauge of ten thousand."
"Chikaku Muramasa's damage is lower than Ōdachi's, but I recommend making it."
"Because it can still be upgraded."
"Chikaku Muramasa's upper-tier blade, Chikaku Murame, is among the strongest Slash Blades."
"Murame is a charge-type blade. Once activated, it becomes a demon blade."
"Extremely high damage, focused on fast-blade combat."
"The faster you are, the higher Murame's damage."
"Active skill: Iaijutsu."
"Nothing is uncuttable."
Glancing at Scaramouche, before Ryen could speak, Tartaglia laughed:
"Got it, one slash kills Scaramouche!"
Scaramouche shot him a cold glare but said nothing.
Ryen smiled and continued:
"The other upper-tier blade of Chikaku Muramasa is Bright Beast Blade, Sun Fang Ice Wolf."
"Exact properties unclear, but conservatively speaking, it's very powerful."
"It has Cryo elemental attributes."
"But for now, I don't recommend crafting it."
"Yuzuki Tsukumogami: active skill Phantom Blade."
"Requirements: full durability, Fire Aspect enchantment, one thousand kills."
"Same logic."
This time, Ryen said nothing more, he simply glanced at Scaramouche.
Everyone nodded in sudden understanding.
"Demon Blade Samehada needs no explanation, Ei already has one. Ask her if you're curious."
"As for Inferno Blade Shinen…"
Ryen paused and shook his head.
"Forget it. I won't explain that one."
"Why not?!"
Venti looked displeased.
"Don't you know that leaving people hanging gets you struck by lightning?"
Ryen rolled his eyes.
"Even if I explained it, you still couldn't make it."
"How would we know if you don't tell us?!"
Ryen shrugged.
"Fine. You asked for it."
"Inferno Blade Shinen is among the absolute pinnacle of all Slash Blades."
"Even without forging, its maximum damage can one-shot most enemies."
"It's considered one of the strongest Slash Blades."
"Strictly speaking, it's even stronger than my Enma Blade."
"Inferno Blade Shinen has no passive effects."
"But it has two active skills."
"The first is the beautiful yet deadly Final Sakura."
"After releasing Final Sakura, you can also use Phantom Blade."
"It combines lethal damage with spatial displacement."
"At max damage, sufficient forging, and full enchantments…"
"This blade can break through Zhongli's shield at full strength and injure him."
"Shinen's attack speed is also extremely fast, its swings resemble a demonic dance."
"Relentless attacks, bizarre skills, and unmatched damage."
"This blade is a divine artifact among Slash Blades."
Everyone's eyes lit up.
They might not fully understand the mechanics,
But being compared to Enma, and even stated by Ryen himself to be stronger?
And capable of injuring Zhongli?
That alone said everything.
"What a blade!"
Venti clapped excitedly, then frowned.
"If that's the case, why didn't you want to talk about it earlier?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Ryen spread his hands helplessly.
"I already said it, you simply can't make it."
~~----------------------
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