Magnus here, I recall a very powerful dragon that once tried to ascend but stopped midway. It opted to keep its mortality and stayed in Eldran. Well it's not really bad a choice, dragons are fundamentally immortal and their strength grows as long as they age. The oldest dragons become so strong that their breath attacks start to break physics. The current oldest red dragon is named Argorath and his fire breath is a concentrated plasma breath which is so hot the sun seems cold. And that's when he's holding back. Now back to the story.

*Yawn*

I start to stretch and wiggle my wings.

*Huff*

I huff a little, releasing a lot air.

I stare at the exit of the cave.

I smell the scent of prey and I crawl my way outside.

Once I'm outside I stretch my wings and let it all out.

Cave is warm but cave too small.

*ROAR!!!!*

(MASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

*Flap*

Once I call out for master, I flap my wings and fly up.

I still need to look for him. 

When master started to glow with bright light, he was gone.

Did master dislike me?...

No! He probably wanted to take care of me...

He never seemed to be mad at me.

"AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"

While flying, I hear a girly scream below me.

I see a shivering man almost pee himself from fear.

What a wimp.

This isn't master but he probably knows where master is.

I land down and flap my wings so I don't get hurt.

*ROAR!*

Do you know where ma-

Wait where did the man go?

I smell his scent hiding just behind the trees.

I ignore the pissing man. 

The pissing man probably doesn't know where master is.

I flap my wings and fly up again.

I soar through the skies and start to explore a new part of the forest.

Master wasn't in the other forests, maybe he's in this forest.

I see a forest in the distance with a lot of mini box trees. 

Their forest has wooden leaves.

Would master stay there?

No, master would never stay in a stupid forest with wooden leaves. He like caves like me.

I like master. 

I hope master likes me as well.

----------------------------------------

In an infinite white void, a formless humanoid is floating inside the bright expanse.

At first the humanoid was inert but eventually eyes formed in its face.

Then their nose, then their lips and then every other facial part.

The humanoid appears to be a man.

Confusion settles on the man's face as he starts to look around.

Di-... Did I die?

After Confusion, then denial.

Wait, I can't be dead...

Then Rage.

I can't be dead! My life just started to look up! I was finally talking to that girl down Elm's street! 

Then Bargaining.

God, please if you can hear me, I promise to be a better follower and worshipper. I beg that this all be a dream.

Then Depression.

"Please.... I don't want to die yet... I still have so much to live for."

Then Acceptance.

"Whe-... Where am I!!"

Then Acceptance...

"PLEASE LET ME GO!!!!"

... Accep-

"GOD HEAR ME OUT!"

Ughhh.

"Shut up!"

A powerful disembodied voice echoes throughout the void shaking it, tempting to destroy it's very existence.

Despite the defeaning power of the voice, the man picks up a feminine voice.

The man quiets down, obviously afraid of the supreme being speaking.

"Finally... And here I thought I'd finally get a decent individual but you otherworlders are so disgustingly fragile."

The man tries to look where the voice is coming from but it seems to be coming from all directions at the same time and loudness.

After a few seconds of defeaning silence, the man speaks.

"Who are you?"

"Well I am the goddess of all the worlds."

The man goes pale at her words and he tries to prostrate himself but he can't move his body.

Chuckling, the goddess suddenly laughs.

"HAHAHAHAHA, no no... I'm kidding HAHAHAHA"

The man is speechless as he hears a bright laughter echoing through the void.

"Sorry.... I just wanted to do that. But I'm not the goddess of all the worlds, that would be my father."

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"... Okay... But why am I hear, goddess of?"

"You don't need to know who I am but due to one of my siblings physically interacting the world, I've decided to join as well."

The man suddenly looks confused but asks respectfully.

"Then why don't you go down yourself great goddess?"

The goddess laughs again.

"I can't go down without destroying reality itself, are you an idiot? So instead of that I decided to put down my own champion."

The man's jaw drops as he hears the word 'champion'.

"You mean me?"

"Yes you."

"But why me? I'm a loser with no life. I've literally lived my whole life playing games, following waraxe 59k and taverns and leeches."

"Why do I feel that those are poor non-copyrightable games. Either way, I chose you because it seems you are a repressed youth."

"Uhhhh?"

"You have the burning fire of imagination that will be able to assist you in this world. In this world, you can become strong through effort and you can be at the top if you become strong yourself. You have a chance to be less pathetic than the time you were in the other world."

The man quietly listens but quickly resolves himself.

"I'll do it."

"And you'll have a chance to make a better life for y-."

What? 

The man suddenly seems to get fired up.

"I will succeed! I will become strong and unstoppable. I will be a hero!"

The man could feel amusement from the goddess.

"It seems I picked an interesting one."

The goddess thinks for a moment.

"Okay since you're quite fired up, I will give you a gift."

The man's eyes widen.

"What is it! Is it a cheat ability?!"

"I don't know if this is a cheat ability but I don't know the strength of most mortals, so you can have it."

"My Goddess!"

"Yes?"

"Can I have a request!"

The goddess stays quiet for a while contemplating.

"Depends. What is your request?"

"Can I have a sure-kill skill!"

"Pftt! Hahahahaha"

Bright laughter rings through the void as the goddess slowly reigns herself in.

"Well you're an amusing one... Well since you'll act as my chess piece, I might as well give you some gifts. I don't want it to be unfair to my siblings so I'll give you one gift..."

Unknown to the celebrating male, the goddess happily speaks to herself.

I'm sure he'll find a way to block it.

The goddess mutters those few last words and the man couldn't hear it.

"REALLY!?"

"Yes! I have chosen you as my knight, my chosen one and champion, so you better be good."

The man tries his best to nod but his position doesn't allow him.

A bright light appears from nowhere and it enters the man's chest. 

The man seems to pump himself up, as he is obviously excited.

"Before I let you go, what is your name child?"

The goddess asks.

The man breaths in fresh air as his body starts to form flesh and matter.

"My name is Michael Grace! But in this world, I'll be called Darksoul!"

"..."

The man shouts one last time before he disappears.

Once the void is quiet again, the goddess sighs.

"Another weirdo..."

----------------------------------------

In a beautiful library filled with thousands of ancient grimoires that would make even the oldest of liches look like an idiot, a man with a heavenly disposition is currently reading a book. 

Suddenly a portal opens and an awe-inspiring woman comes through. With red hair and bright crimson eyes, the man stops for a moment.

"Sister? Are you done with your choosing?"

The man's voice comes out to be very calm but also very deep.

The woman nods but doesn't react too much.

"I took one that died because of a stroke but he's a little... eccentric. I wonder will this even provide a challenge towards Magnus?"

The man shrugs.

"He has access to knowledge so far beyond any mortal, I doubt anyone could beat him..."

The man suddenly smiles.

"That's why we gave our candidates a lot of cheats."

The woman chuckles.

"I wonder how Magnus would beat above-hero beings."

The woman and the man laugh as they remember their other siblings' summoned heroes.

----------------------------------------

In the middle of the night, a large and powerful hammer swings with rhythmic blows and hits the metal seated upon a metal anvil. The man swinging it wasn't wearing a shirt and his body was so covered in sweat and dirt it would be a divine sin to call him clean.

This disgusting man was none other than, me, Magnus.

I momentarily stop my hammering and look out a window. 

'Did... something happen?'

Absolution doesn't reply since she's outside playing with whatever animal she can find.

Fortunately for her, my mana pool increased and because of that she can go farther from me now, so she's been exploring a lot.

Once I return my focus, I start hammering the hot metal once again.

I continue to mold it.

Then I cool it in ice cold water.

Once cooled, I heat it up again, repeating the process over and over again.

Eventually I reach the blade's peak form and start heating up again for my final addition.

Once the blade is malleable enough for me to engrave alchemical circles, I stop.

I remove my blacksmithing gloves because I'll need the full attention of my fingers for this strenous task.

I activate my [Pain Tolerance VII] skill and reduce the pain I feel from the blistering heat but unfortunately I don't have any way to reduce the heat itself.

I get the perfectly made steel dagger besides me and start imbuing it with mana.

Magic Power: 69/70

67...

64...

61...

58...

52...

45...

My mana pool starts draining quickly but I continue to imbue the dagger with a suitable amount of mana.

If I don't imbue the dagger with enough mana, it won't cut the blade properly. And if I imbue it with too much mana, it'll cut through like butter.

I finish filling the dagger with mana but I have to act quick because I didn't enchant the dagger so it'll lose the mana quick if I don't use it.

I close my eyes for a split second and my mind immediately starts processing every alchemical circle there is in the world.

Without the split second ending, I open my eyes and grab the dagger with quickness.

I raise it with practiced motions and bring it down on the heated blade.

I use the dagger's sharp edge and start carving the blade with precise slices.

Sparks fly as the two metal clash but the dagger creates indentions on the blade.

The effects of alchemical circles can affect each other if they're fused together into one bigger circle but doing that takes an extremely tremendous amount of skill to do. 

I continue carving.

The reason why it's hard is because every part of the circle has an effect, so that means the two circles has to stay intact so that while they're fused, they're also separate.

I carve an extremely small circle on the blade but inside the circle are even more intricately carved runes and formulas.

Once the alchemical circle was finished the blade changes properties and when I used [God's Eye], I ascertain the change to make sure I didn't err.

I lift the blade and stab it on the ground.

It easily pierces it without much effort on my part.

Smiling, I raise the blade and check if there is any damage.

I chuckle as I study the blade's form.

It's perfect.

The alchemical circle I carved on the sword was . Alchemical circles are ranked the same way as skills and  is considered a normal level circle but ultimately still useful for someone of my level. 

It's an alchemical circle that makes the edges of an object, if it has edges, sharper by a large margin. If you put this circle on a ball, it'll have no effect but even a fork can become a deadly weapon with this circle.

I would like to enchant this blade with a higher level of  but the material is not capable of sustaining an extremely powerful alchemical circle. It'll most likely crumble from the extreme change. Once I successfully apply the next circle, I'll be able to up the sharpness level.

This is another reason why alchemical circles aren't mainstream like magic. They take too long to master, you need to have a reasonable level of skill in blacksmithing and weak alchemical circles don't last long and the math is practically torture for anyone who's mind isn't a quantum computer.

Why learn alchemical circles when you can just enchant weapons with magic. I chuckle remembering the main difference between the two styles. Creating powerful items through Alchemical circles barely have any expenses!

Yes that's right! If one thinks about it, enchanting powerful items through magic is both time consuming and expensive while alchemical circles only take time and it's extremely cheap!

I laugh internally, ignoring the wasted swords hidden inside the closet. 

Yes! It's practically free!

I continue to ignore the wasted swords.

I return to my project and imbue the dagger with mana once again.

Magic Power: 45/70

41...

34...

28...

22...

15...

I feel slightly drained as my mana starts hitting rock bottom but once the dagger reaches its best state, I start carving the blade again. I place the circle just a few inches away from the other circle.

My eyes and hand move quick with precision just as sharp as before.

Once the circle is finished I use [God's Eye] once more and ascertain the change on the blade.

I lift the blade and stare at the constantly abused training dummy that's in the corner of the room.

If I wasn't tired, I'd start to think that the training dummy is trying to hide behind the pillars.

I stand up and approach the training dummy.

I raise the sword and swing it with all my force.

[Heavy Slash]! 

The training dummy explodes as its upper body is literally ripped off.

I smile satisfied.

While a sword is meant for slashing and piercing, a sword should not be able to rip a large part of an object with a slash.

But I didn't slash it, I bashed it.

Yes, I literally bashed the top of the training dummy with the flat of the blade.

I look at the flat of my blade and nod, satisfied at its toughness.

I study the second circle. It's  and just like its name, it improves the overall durability and ability of the item to take damage or inflict more blunt damage. That's right this sword is more of a mace than an actual sword due to the higher tough property than the sharpness property.

Once I increase the sword's toughness I reheat the blade again, then I start filling the dagger with the last bits of my mana.

Magic Power: 15/70

11...

7...

2...

0...

I suddenly feel a large amount of fatigue as mana drain hits me.

[Limit Break]!

I use my unique skill and immediately lose my exhaustion.

The next and last circle doesn't need much of my mana but it's the most crucial one of them.

I start carving the blade once more, applying the last circle on the middle of the two circles.

Once I apply the 3rd circle I start to connect all three through carving, enhancing the overall effect of the circles.

I use [God's Eye] and study the sword.

Magnus' Steel Sword

I put down the sword and let it cool.

Then I shout at the top of my lungs.

"IT WORKED!"