A month passed in the blink of an eye.
For Jasper Cole, that month was nothing short of brutal.
Every morning, he rose before sunrise to cultivate the Raging War Method. At noon, he worked the fields alongside Garrick Forge, sweating under the sun like any other villager. In the afternoons, he studied runes until his head ached. At night, when others slept, he sat alone and refined his willpower through meditation.
Day after day. No rest. No shortcuts.
The results were undeniable.
Jasper's qi successfully broke through to Bronze Tier, Rank 1.
His willpower, meanwhile, reached Grade C, Middle.
When Garrick learned this, he nearly cried on the spot.
"I meditate every night," Garrick muttered bitterly, staring at the wall. "Every damn night. And after all these years, I'm still Grade C, Lower. You train for one month and jump straight to Middle?"
The jealousy nearly drove him mad.
But then he thought about it again.
This kid is my disciple.
Just that thought alone soothed his wounded pride.
A genius with Violet-Gold willpower—his disciple. That was something he could brag about for a lifetime.
And now that Jasper had reached Bronze Tier, Rank 1…
Garrick's lips curled into a dangerous grin.
Time for the real training.
"Hehehe…"
Jasper walked into the forging room, eyes shining. "Uncle Garrick, teach me runes first!"
Garrick waved him off with a laugh. "Don't rush. Start with the basics."
He pointed at a pile of stones. "Refine these ten pieces of raw ore into stone blocks. With your current willpower, this should be easy."
He emphasized, "Use willpower to expel the impurities until only pure stone remains."
Jasper swallowed and picked up a piece of raw ore. First real refining job…
He took a deep breath and walked over to the furnace. "Uncle Garrick, I just put it in here, right?"
Garrick nodded, watching closely. Despite his bravado, he was nervous.
Refining and Berserker cultivation were Garrick's greatest prides. Jasper's talent was more than decent—becoming an Arcane Tier cultivator was practically guaranteed. And with that monstrous willpower…
If his cultivation aptitude weren't holding him back, he might even reach Creator-level someday.
Following Garrick's instructions exactly, Jasper placed the raw ore into the furnace and injected qi into the flames.
Because Jasper had no elemental affinity, his qi was pure white.
The moment it entered the furnace, the red-yellow fire turned into a solid, blazing yellow. The ore began to melt.
Jasper focused his willpower and looked inside.
The molten ore separated into three colors: gray, white, and black.
Stone in the game is mostly gray, Jasper recalled. So the white and black parts must be impurities.
Carefully, he used his willpower to squeeze and expel the white and black substances, leaving only the gray behind.
Once done, he stopped feeding qi into the furnace and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Uncle Garrick… is this good?"
Garrick nodded in satisfaction. "Very good. You saw the white substance, right? That's the impurity. Remove it, and raw ore becomes stone."
Jasper frowned slightly.
Then what was the black substance?
He looked at the expelled residue and asked, "Uncle Garrick, I also saw black material inside the ore. Is that impurity too?"
Garrick stroked his beard, puzzled. "Black? I've never seen that before. Even my great-grandfather never mentioned it."
His eyes lit up. "Try again. This time, remove only the gray and white. Leave the black behind. Let's see what it is."
Jasper's face twitched. "Uncle Garrick… my willpower may be Grade C, Middle, but my qi is only Bronze Tier, Rank 1. Can you let me rest first…?"
Garrick coughed awkwardly. "Ah—right. My mistake. Go rest. Refill your qi. I'll wait."
After recovering, Jasper returned to the furnace.
He placed another piece of raw ore inside and carefully expelled the gray and white substances, leaving behind only the black material.
This time, he was extremely cautious.
Bit by bit, he stripped away everything else, until only a pure black substance remained.
He cut off his qi supply and wiped the large beads of sweat from his forehead.
Pulling the refined material from the furnace, he frowned. "This thing is exhausting… my qi's completely drained."
Then he blinked. "Huh? There's nothing here?"
The furnace looked empty.
Confused, Jasper probed it with his willpower—and found something at the bottom.
A thin black needle.
He picked it up.
A whole chunk of raw ore… refined down to something no bigger than a needle.
It felt ice-cold to the touch.
Jasper frowned and tried to bend it with both hands.
It didn't move.
Not even a little.
Despite being only Bronze Tier, Rank 1, Jasper's physical strength already rivaled Bronze Tier, Rank 2—far beyond a normal human. On Earth, that would've been national-athlete level.
And yet… nothing.
Before Jasper could react, Garrick snatched the needle from his hand.
His body trembled.
"T-This… this is Mystic Iron!"
He looked as if he'd been struck by lightning. "I never imagined raw ore could contain Mystic Iron. This is perfect—I don't need to worry about weapon materials for you anymore!"
Jasper blinked. "Uncle Garrick… you didn't know raw ore could contain Mystic Iron?"
Garrick shook his head. "Raw ore is meant for beginners. Who would expect beginners to have willpower strong enough to detect something like this?"
He laughed bitterly. "Anyone who could do that would already be an advanced refining apprentice. And your willpower is Grade C, Upper… of course you could find it."
His expression turned distant. "If my great-grandfather had discovered Mystic Iron back then, maybe…"
He stopped, setting the needle down carefully.
Jasper noticed the change in his tone. "Uncle Garrick… did something happen in your family?"
Garrick waved it off. "Later. I'll tell you another time."
He straightened. "For now, go to the warehouse and bring more raw ore. Extract all the Mystic Iron inside."
Then he added, "Before that, I'll teach you runes."
Garrick taught Jasper the Blast Rune.
Runes were different from enchantments.
Enchantments had fixed tiers—the higher the tier, the stronger the effect—and required enchantment books or enchantment tables. Runes, however, scaled directly with the strength of the engraver.
A Bronze Tier cultivator engraved Bronze-tier runes.
An Arcane Tier cultivator engraved Arcane-tier runes.
That was why enchantments were more common—most users were wealthy and didn't need to rely on personal strength.
That night, Jasper sat on his bed, staring at the eight Mystic Iron needles laid out before him.
Following Garrick's instructions, he focused his willpower and began engraving.
A thin line of condensed willpower formed, carving itself into the surface of the needle.
Just as he was about to finish—
Jasper's heart leapt in excitement.
His willpower surged.
Boom!
A violent burst of energy erupted from the rune. The engraving shattered—and the Mystic Iron needle disintegrated into fine powder.
"Damn it!"
Jasper smacked his forehead, then picked up another needle.
This time, he steadied his breathing and calmed his mind.
Slow. Careful. Precise.
When the final line was completed, the rune settled smoothly into place.
Jasper froze—then laughed out loud.
"Success!"
He jumped to his feet, clutching the needle tightly.
"Tomas Trell," he muttered, eyes burning with resolve. "Just you wait."