Chapter 22 - Big Brain Power

16th October of 2023, Town of Mount Mor.

Even though "Mount Mor" had "Mount" in its name, it was actually the name of the town that surrounded a giant hill called Mount Mor.

However, the locals were probably too lazy to come up with a new name for the town, so they just called it Mount Mor as well.

What was supposed to be a forty-minute drive became a twenty-five-minute journey with Lucas at the helm.

“We’ll park the car somewhere safe first, then head to our destination,” Lucas said as he drove the car into what seemed to be a rundown workshop.

Parking the car inside the garage, Lucas instructed the girls, “Both of you go ahead and scout out the place first. I suspect the local townspeople have already set up a camp there.”

“See how many people are there and try to pinpoint who the leader is,” Lucas continued as he began unloading the items from the car. “I’ll fix the car up in the meantime.”

Seeing Lucas fiddling with the tools inside the workshop, the girls nodded and took their leave.

***

16th October of 2023, Town of Mount Mor, Hexxen Tower.

Hexxen Tower was situated about a quarter of the way up Mount Mor. The ten-story building rested on the hillside, accessible by a wide tarred road that wound its way up.

By car, it would take no more than five minutes to reach the tower from the base of the hill. On foot, however, the journey stretched to about fifteen minutes.

Perched on the sturdy branches of a tall tree, Chloe and Samantha observed the Hexxen Tower from their vantage point.

Several tents were clustered at the building’s main entrance, with armed personnel scattered about, casually standing guard.

Each individual was equipped with weapons that didn’t appear to be registered in the System but still looked sharp enough to deal some serious damage.

“Alright, the boss asked us to scout ahead. So, how should we handle this, boss lady?” Samantha quipped with a smirk, holding up a pair of binoculars Lucas had packed for them.

Chloe, already peering through her own binoculars, responded, “I count twelve. Six warriors, three archers, two rogues, and one mage.”

“Hmm, I see seven on my side. Three warriors, three archers, and a rogue,” Samantha replied, scanning the area. “No sign of anyone that screams ‘boss,’ though.”

After a brief pause, Samantha glanced at Chloe and asked, “Hey, don’t you think Lucas has been acting a little… different?”

Caught off guard, Chloe turned to look at her companion with a perplexed gaze.

“Well, you know how he was before,” Samantha began, her voice thoughtful. “He used to be the type to put in the bare minimum. Doing assignments and projects with just enough effort to scrape by, and never bothering to revise. But ever since this ‘apocalypse’ started, he’s… changed, if you get what I mean.”

Chloe fell silent, lost in her own thoughts. In her mind, Lucas had always been an easygoing, happy-go-lucky guy, someone who took life as it came.

But now, he seemed different, more focused, like someone with a mission. Not that she disliked it.

“And then there’s how he acted when this all started,” Samantha continued in disbelief. “He was so… detached. He killed all those goblins with just two sticks. Just thinking about it gives me chills.”

“Everyone else was either screaming or frozen in fear. But Lucas? He was just… beating them to death like it was nothing. How does someone even do that?”

“Then, the first time he told us to kill those goblins, I was trembling so much I could barely hold a weapon. But Lucas? It was like fear didn’t even exist for him.” Samantha muttered softly as those memories were still haunting her.

Her voice softened as she added, “And then there was yesterday at the gun store…” Samantha trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid. But Chloe didn’t need her to finish since she knew exactly what she was referring to.

Chloe nodded slowly, her expression pensive. She agreed, at least in part, with Samantha’s observations. While Lucas still joked and goofed around with them, there were subtle changes, small shifts in his demeanor that hadn’t been there before.

“And most importantly,” Samantha said after a pause, “he chose Mechanic as his class. I’m pretty sure he knew that War Savant was most likely a Rare class, like ours, but he still went out of his way to pick Mechanic. Why do you think that is?”

Chloe thought for a moment before replying, “I don’t know, but I’m sure he has a reason.”

Then, the duo fell into a brief, awkward silence.

But that silence was quickly broken when both of them noticed several figures materializing in front of the building’s entrance.

“Look,” Chloe whispered, picking up her binoculars.

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Through the lenses, she saw three heavily injured individuals and one man who appeared mostly unscathed, save for a few scratches.

The lightly injured man barked some orders at the group. At his signal, the Mage hurried to his side, casting a healing spell on him.

Meanwhile, the other injured members had their wounds cleaned manually by two Archers before the Mage moved over to heal them as well.

Once they were patched up, the unscathed man resumed giving more orders.

“Hmm,” Samantha muttered, peering through her own binoculars. “Leather armor, a giant sword strapped to his back, that douchebag hairstyle, early thirties, about one-eighty centimeters tall, and definitely bossy. Yep, that’s the boss all right.”

“Let's go. Let's see if we can get more” Chloe said as she hopped down from the branch and slowly approached the group.

***

While Chloe and Samantha were busy with reconnaissance work, back in the workshop, Lucas was occupied fixing the car.

Due to the aftereffects of , some parts of the car were badly burned. He took the initiative to replace those parts with better ones salvaged from other vehicles scattered along the road. He swapped out the car's suspension system, engine, and braking system with superior components from other cars.

Eventually, Lucas ended up with a brand-new car boasting some significant upgrades.

“Okay, the girls aren't back yet. I should try those things I've been putting off,” Lucas mumbled to himself as he took out a dozen metal weapons from his pack.

Some were swords, axes, spears, arrows, and maces.

They were the weapons wielded by the during their run in the Hallowed Ground.

The first time Lucas inspected their weapon, his told him the metal of the weapons was tougher than common steel and more conductive to mana, the innate energy they discharge when using a Skill.

He intended to reforge these metals into more suitable weapons for Chloe and Samantha but lacked the means to do so.

But now that he had been cultivating the Mindsteel Body Arts, which granted him the power of Psychokinesis, he felt it was time to attempt blacksmithing.

Although he lacked the necessary tools to smith the metal, he deduced that it was possible to replace the entire process with Psychokinesis, as long as his mental energy reservoir was sufficient and his methods were precise.

Fortunately, his increased INT had expanded his mental capacity severalfold compared to before.

Despite his Mindsteel Body Arts being only at the second stage, Mind Anchoring, he had consistently used and to devise a viable methodology whenever he had free time.

Mentally, he controlled the pile of weapons and removed the metal parts from its non-metal parts. He calculated the required metals to forge a sword before setting the others aside.

“I should practice with some scrap instead of these metals first,” Lucas thought, realizing it would be a waste of material if he failed to forge a proper weapon.

Several pieces of scrap metal left over from fixing the car floated to his side.

Lucas hovered his hands above the pile of metal, focusing intently. His pupils began to glow with faint blue rings, while the pile of metal shimmered faintly in response.

Under the effect of Psychokinesis, the molecules within the metal started vibrating at high speed.

Within moments, the temperature rose, and the solid mass softened. Impurities began surfacing, separating like oil on water.

A tendril of his mental energy emerged, sweeping away the impurities and leaving behind pristine molten steel radiating a silvery metallic sheen.

Sweat beaded on Lucas's forehead as he sighed in relief. “That’s the first step done. Now for the second.”

The glowing silver molten metal began stretching and twisting in midair, its molecules dancing to his will. Slowly, it morphed into the rough shape of a sword he visualized.

Lucas refined the proportions, following the blueprint in his mind, lengthening the blade, tapering the edges, and shaping the hilt. Every movement was dictated by his mental energy, flowing seamlessly through his outstretched hands.

Next came the reinforcement process. As his mental energy coursed through his body, into his hands, and into the sword, the molecules within the metal began vibrating. Each vibration compressed the metal further, tightening and densifying its structure.

He could feel the strengthening bonds within the sword as the molecules locked into a dense lattice. This structure would grant the weapon the ability to withstand tremendous forces without breaking or bending.

Frowning in concentration, Lucas continued honing the sword's details. The edge needed to be sharper than any conventional blade.

He sent concentrated waves of mental energy to the sword's edge, causing the atoms in that area to vibrate at an even higher frequency. As they compressed further, the edge became impossibly thin, bordering on perfection.

At the same time, he turned his attention to the hilt. Lucas wanted the sword to feel perfectly balanced when held. He meticulously adjusted the molecular structure of the handle, ensuring it was dense enough to endure the force of each swing while remaining comfortable to grip. The atoms within the hilt aligned precisely, creating a sturdy yet ergonomic design.

With the sword now fully shaped, Lucas focused on enhancing its overall durability. He sent waves of mental energy through the entire blade, examining every centimeter with painstaking detail. Whenever he detected a flaw, he corrected it in real-time, relying on the precise feedback provided by his and .

Finally, he stepped back to inspect his work. The sword, three fingers wide and entirely forged from steel, hovered in midair with perfect balance. From its impossibly sharp edge to the weight distribution in the hilt, every aspect of the weapon was crafted with near-zero deviation.

Gripping the hilt, Lucas gave the sword a few swings and twirls. It felt perfectly balanced and light in his hands, yet unbreakable. The blade was sharp and smooth to the touch, with every strike clean and precise.

Suddenly, a blue system window materialized before him:

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Perfect Steel Sword

Rank: Uncommon

A steel sword forged from discarded scraps and junk. The unique forging method has breathed new life into the materials. Despite its Rank, the sword’s sharpness and durability rival those of higher-tier equipment.

Special Effect(s)

Thoughtblade - Residual psychic energy imbued in the sword causes psychic damage to enemies struck by its blade.

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Lucas smiled, satisfied with his work. Even the System had acknowledged the ingenuity behind the sword. This was not a weapon forged by fire and hammer but by the raw power of mental energy.

“Now this is a big brain moment,” Lucas smirked, only to collapse onto the ground from sheer mental exhaustion.