Lúmen'Thyr had a unique appearance. Its surface was smooth, almost marble-like, but never cold to the touch. Subtle veins of blue-silver light ran through its interior, pulsing slowly as if the stone had its own rhythm. In natural light, it appeared white; under active mana, it revealed soft tones of gold and emerald. What made this rock special was not only its rarity, but its living nature.
"Incredible… I really won't regret accepting the invitation if I get to use this for my inventions."
"I already told you, you can only take three at most."
"Understood, Princess. I'm just excited."
The alchemist girl, Gilberia, stared at the stones with starry eyes. Of course, that was not her real name—she always changed names whenever she wanted to do something in secret. Her true name was Malunes, a name she loved so much that she kept it hidden.
'The name Malunes belonged to the previous greatest Alchemist in the world. That name is passed down from generation to generation to babies who show the most potential in Alchemy—even commoners.'
In total, there were thirty people who shared that same name, but only four survived the cruel experiment carried out years ago. Among them, this seventeen-year-old girl was the most prodigious of all.
'She's one year younger than me, but she already graduated from the Alchemy Academy at sixteen.'
[Prodigies really are different.]
She was a prodigy in intelligence, but if you thought about it carefully, she was still only a mid circle four. Well, that didn't make much difference, because her creations allowed her to wield power comparable to a current circle six—just like him.
'Still, I have the advantage, so I'm stronger.'
[How nice, competing with someone younger.]
Enrico gathered several white stones on the experiment table Malunes had brought, using a glove. This was the place where the two of them would work together. Right behind them, Elaris stood as well, because they couldn't go too far without her for a specific reason.
'Are you ready to begin, Princess?'
"I am. Just tell me when I need to act."
Lúmen'Thyr reacted to the mana of whoever touched it. For most beings—humans, spirits, magical beasts, or even ordinary elves—the rock was inert, heavy, and impossible to extract without crumbling into useless powder. Ordinary tools would break, and magic applied without permission would simply be rejected, making the rock fragile and unusable.
[I can't believe Elaris really offered some of her hair to make these gloves.]
'They're only temporary. In a few hours, they'll stop working.'
Only those who possessed royal elven blood could truly interact with it. When someone of royal lineage touched Lúmen'Thyr, the rock would "awaken." The luminous veins intensified, and its internal structure became malleable for a short time, allowing fragments to be removed without breaking its essence. It was not a matter of force, but of recognition—the rock accepted being separated.
'The stones will recognize that it isn't Elaris, then adapt, and this won't work again.'
That was why Lúmen'Thyr was used exclusively to create or enhance royal weapons and artifacts. Weapons forged with this rock possessed unique characteristics, such as absolute affinity with elven mana, allowing nearly perfect magical conduction; capacity for growth, adapting to the wielder over time; extreme resistance—not only physical, but conceptual—making Lúmen'Thyr weapons notoriously difficult to break, even by high-circle entities; and finally, rejection of unworthy users, becoming heavy, unstable, or even dangerous if wielded by someone not recognized by the weapon itself.
For these reasons, every fragment of Lúmen'Thyr was treated as a sacred treasure. Stealing or attempting to use this rock without permission was considered a crime against the Elf Dimension itself.
'The good thing is that it rejects corrupted elves, so only Elithia and her guards managed to come to this lake.'
But it couldn't remain protected, because it rejected Elithia's actions even though it had allowed the use of the stones. The reason it wasn't guarded was simple: the lake's original location was not here. It had changed position to escape Elithia.
'That's only possible thanks to the creature that protects the blessing.'
Among the elves, the existence of that creature was known only through fragmented titles and incomplete records. Its true name was never spoken aloud, as it was believed that doing so was the same as drawing its attention. Still, in ancient texts, it was described as the Guardian of the Wandering Blessing.
'It's one of the rare creatures at the Syl'Morath level.'
[By her level, she would be classified as almost Kairom-level, right?]
'Exactly. And she can be controlled by Elaris in a few years, if everything goes according to my plan.'
In the original story, Elaris failed to control the creature in time, as she was killed by the Malignant God of Beasts, who wanted to dominate that creature.
"Are you ready, my benefactor?"
'Why does everyone give me a nickname?'
"Yes, I'm ready to begin. Let's start."
On the table lay Kai's sword, Valença's staff, and his ego-form bow, all placed together in the center. To be honest, this would be the first time he made a weapon for someone like Elaris. He was confident in improving already-made weapons, but creating one from scratch was another matter.
'Though I did make my bow, but it was done naturally and synchronized with my power.'
Thinking ahead, he recalled a specific blacksmith who appeared in one arc. The problem was that he couldn't remember very well how that person forged weapons.
'Malunes will focus on improving the weapons, so I'll be the one to make the weapon.'
[Enrico.]
'Don't interrupt me, I'm thinking.'
As always, he would have to improvise and do everything from scratch. It would have to be done through effort, just like the day he made the ring. And so what if he failed? Not all geniuses are good at everything, so it wouldn't be strange for others to see him fail at something.
[Enrico.]
'…Fine, say it already.'
If he kept ignoring the system, it would only get more irritating. And it wouldn't be good to have someone nagging in his ear while he made Elaris's weapon.
[You received a reward from the constellations.]
A catlike look appeared on his face as he glanced back with curiosity and a bit of hope.
'Is it something related to smithing?'
[No.]
'Tsk, as always, crushing my hopes.'