Once done, he returned to the bark.
With meticulous care, he shaped its outer and inner layers to conform perfectly to the puppet's frame. Its rough and dead appearance soon became defined and smooth to the touch. The fresh scent wafting from it tickled his nose, inviting yet hiding terrible power.
He inspected his work before giving it a satisfied nod.
Even if, for him, he had just started, he knew how warped his perception of time became while immersed. Therefore, he snapped his head back to see if the core ended its fusion.
And there he saw it: a round core glinting a metallic hue amidst the dimming symbols.
"It reached the later stages of the sixth tier."
Yngrid's exhausted voice echoed from behind.
She grabbed the core, feeling its weight pressing down on the sturdy desk.
Muscles straining, veins bulging, she fought to lift it, in vain. The small item was like a colossal boulder, unmovable yet terrifying. She felt the boundless mana it contained seep through her whitening fingers, heart hastening and sunken eyes trembling.
"Great. That's the minimum I need to power this bad boy."
Adam grinned, his focus shifting from the core. It was a power source, pure and simple, a heart he wouldn't tamper with.
Instead, he focused on the starmetal ore.
Since its nature as a tier-six reinforced item made it exceptionally resilient, he used his sun affinity to melt it.
Unlike his prior tries, he now had a perfect grasp on temperature and could almost hear the metal sing what it wanted in its ears.
'A little more heat? Sure, darling.'
Chuckling, he retrieved a complex network he had carved into regular wood and plunged it into a tall tray of clay.
Then, he made vents on the sides to let the steam escape and one in the middle before pouring half the scalding star metal.
Flames rose from the vents as the smell of burning wood assaulted the smithy. A cloud of dark smoke followed, obscuring his vision before the room's air filters absorbed it and restored a sense of peace to the place.
Excitation bubbling in his heart, he waited for the metal to take the wood's place in the clay and solidify.
After five minutes, he opened the mold. Like he did during Moira's test, he encased the orange metal into a bubble of gentle wind to hasten the cooling without weakening it.
The rhythmical clangor of mana hammers striking metal echoed next as blinding white flames encased his hands like gloves. With precision, he shaped the remaining half of the metal into triangular metallic pieces held by a thin frame.
Just like the first time, he engraved his enchantments inside using flexible mana.
Control and intricacy were on another level, however.
Eyes narrowed in focus, he fought the star metal, listening to its will but imbuing his own.
After the rest of the night and an additional half a day of work that would have exhausted a battalion of dwarfs, he finally completed his future weapons edges.
Chest puffed with pride and grinning in satisfaction, he observed the terrifying sharp points running on both sides.
Yet, loud snores came to disturb his achievement.
Turning to the back, he noticed Yngrid's sleeping figure slumped in her chair.
"Thank you for supervising the process for so long."
Gratitude filling his soul, he sent two mage hands to carry her to her bed.
Meanwhile, he turned to the cool star metal and secured it on the anvil.
Mana danced at his fingertips as he sanded its rough surface and dismissed the mana he had left inside.
It wasn't anything intricate this time, though.
Instead, he ensured the mana would have a pathway to travel in from the beginning. After all, piercing the complex structure would only waste time and risk weakening or, if unlucky, breaking it.
Metallic chips flew as a grating noise echoed.
Under his control, wind blades as minuscule as sand particles swirled to polish the metal, making the burn exterior disappear.
A shine reflecting the world in a myriad of colors pierced the monotonous smithy as the circuits appeared in all their grandeur.
His arm trembled as he clenched his fist in excitement. He only had to control the metal through his affinity to make it flexible and slid it into the paths he had drilled earlier. Then, insert the core between the puppet and the silver fruit tree's bark.
Without wasting a second, he plunged his mind into the meticulous process. And after two hours, he slotted the core in the chest's center like a heart.
His soul shuddered in joy before testing it. He knew it already. He had created a masterpiece he could be proud of.
But his work wasn't over yet. He still had to finish his blade.
"Let's revive the macuahuitl!"
Even if the wood would take the entire frame, it was exceptional and lethal. After all, the Aztecs had used these kinds of weapons.
His hand shot in a triumphant pose for a moment before he seized the remaining branches.
Seeing the finish line, he polished the wood in two distinct frames before encasing the metal between them.
Then, he engraved his enchantments, giving his weapon an incredible style that made him grin.
Finally, he oiled it to give the wood a lustrous sheen and gazed at it with tenderness as a father would watch his baby.
And what a soul-chilling baby it was!
An intricate club-like weapon from which two rows of razor-sharp teeth protruded on each side.
A single swing with it will send any of his adversary's head flying or shred their body into minced meat.
The more he scrutinised it, the more in love he fell.
But he still had one last thing to do.
"Crafted by Adam in honor of my mentors: Yngrid and Durgrim."
He carved those words on the weapon's pommel and the puppet, emotions spilling from his soul.
With these two items, he had kept his promise to the ghost. Everyone would see his name no matter where he went or who he fought!
However, two sudden notifications broke this tender moment as a ghostly window appeared before his eyes.
[Tier-seven unnamed weapon detected. Soul binding available. Proceed? Yes/No]
[Tier-six unnamed weapon detected. Soul binding available. Proceed? Yes/No]