Chapter 6: Tempest

Inside his room, Randi was holding a small engraving knife in his right hand. He was trying to carefully inscribe the right circuit to an object that looked like a dagger. It was pretty similar to a dagger except for the fact that there was a small hole in the middle, right between the handle and the blade.

The part that he was trying to finish was exactly the dagger's middle section. After meticulously finishing the circuit's design, he quickly submerged the dagger into a bowl of strange liquid. Suddenly, the middle section of the dagger brightened and the liquid started to decrease.

Alchemy.

This era's engineering has a lot to do with alchemy. Because of the fact that the Soul Sources and Soul Circuit weren't something that can be created by solely relying on the physical aspect, there was also a need for incorporating alchemy. The liquid that Randi used for submerging his dagger was the combination of blood and body liquid of a few Soul Beasts. It was exactly because of the complexity of this matter that Edwin was titled as The Great Genius.

Actually, even in the past era, the time before the Soul Beasts started appearing, a lot of electrical appliances had to do with alchemy. Just take a look at batteries, weren't those also made up from chemicals?

Randi put on a special skin-tight glove to his hands. He then took a small Soul Core out from his pocket and then started putting it into the hole on the middle section of the dagger while still being submerged in the liquid.

'I can't fail. This is the most important part'

CLACK!

The Soul Stone matched perfectly with the socket. Almost immediately, the dagger started to emit a blinding light from its blade. It was the sign that he had succeeded in creating his first Soul Weapon, a simple 1st Grade Soul Dagger.

Randi slumped to his chair, gasping for breath. Today's success was the result of yesterday's error. He knew that he wasn't an absolute genius like his friend, Tania, that's why he had to work harder to compensate for it.

'Still, I only failed two times. Isn't this also great?' Randi thought to himself while smiling.

He took the Soul Dagger from the liquid. The dagger shone brightly because of the energy supplied from the Soul Stone. As long as the light still existed, this weapon would have the power to cut through Soul Beasts' defensive layer. Of course, with this kind of energy output, only 1st Grade Soul Beasts would fall by its blade.

He turned the Soul Layer off and put the dagger to a scabbard that's already prepared for it. Then, he took another Soul Stone from his pocket.

'I finished the job early... Dad won't get mad at me for this, right?'

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He held the Soul Stone in his left hand, trying to find the slight warmth that his father told him about. As long as he could find it, he would advance to the next stage of the training.

Unfortunately, Randi couldn't feel any sort of warmth coming from the Soul Stone. He had tried for more than a month but that feeling of warmth didn't even touch him. Instead, there was a strange feeling.

He could feel the ephemeral energy inside the stone. At first, it was just a simple thread, then the energy that he could perceive grew bigger and richer. Now, he could feel the energy circling inside the stone like a tempest.

...

"Tempest? What do you mean by tempest?"

"I don't understand it too, Dad. If I concentrate hard enough, I could feel a tempest inside the Soul Stone. I still couldn't feel the warmth, but don't you think my circumstance is a bit... strange?"

"Some people will feel a lot of strange things when holding a raw Soul Stone for a period of time. I don't think anything is strange. I haven't heard of that kind of tempest-like energy, but if you still couldn't feel the warmth then you haven't even succeeded the first stage."

"But..."

"No buts. If you haven't felt it then that's it. You should spend more time preparing for your 2nd Rank Promotion Exam. You haven't even successfully crafted a 2nd-Grade Soul Weapon right?"

"Ah... Okay, Dad. I understand."

"This is for your sake, Randi. You can spend more time experimenting it later when you have reached a higher grade as a Soul Engineer."

Randi went back to his desk. He was still a bit reluctant, but he also knew what was best for him. Yes, he could just experiment more of it after he reached 2nd or 3rd Rank as a Soul Engineer later.

Dana watched expressionlessly, but contrary to the expression in his face, his mind was in a bit of turmoil.

'A tempest? This is strange. Why could Randi sense a tempest inside the Soul Stone? Maybe he's... No, I have to thoroughly confirm it first. I can't let him experience the same disappointment again.'

Dana decided to keep it as a secret from Randi.

...

Inside his room, Dana was calling someone by using his communicator.

"Yes, that's my son's condition. Can you please come here? I really need your help."

"Whoa, Isn't this rare? Dana asking for other people's help," The man laughed, "Relax, I'll come. Don't be mad, okay?"

Dana sighed, "My son's condition is just too peculiar. I really need your favor this time. When can you come?"

"I can't go there immediately. I have some important businesses here. Maybe after a couple of days, I could come."

"Alright, that's good enough."

"Seriously, if you want, you can just come here to the capital. Why are you so keen on hiding inside that town? It's been more than ten years. Ever since Arina die-"

"I'm going to hang up."

"Hey, hey I'm sorry, okay? Don't just hang up on me. At least say the goodbye properly!"

Tut... Tut... Tut...

Inside his room, Dana grabbed the pendant that was hanging around his neck. His expression was full of sorrow.

"Arina..." He muttered.

...

Inside a huge building, a middle-aged man with a huge body and a face full of beard was staring at his communicator. He wore a mixed expression on his face. It was the combination of a frown and a smile.

"Boss, who was it? I've never heard you speaking with that kind of tone to anyone."

"Oh, so you have the guts to ask about my private life now?" The middle-aged man coldly reprimanded. He stared at his assistant with an angry look.

The man's assistant was frightened almost immediately, "Ah... Boss, how could I dare? Please punish this stupid assistant of yours."

"Forget it. My mood is quite good currently."

'This is considered good? God, I really should find another job. Working with this kind of man will seriously shorten my lifespan. Well, the pay is really great though...' The assistant thought to himself. Of course, how could he dare to speak it out loud?

"He's my comrade from the past," the man suddenly spoke. "My lifelong sworn brother."