TF Chapter 29 The Prize

Something floated between us within my spiritual perception. It was small, its width no more than a hair's. It was almost an inch long, and was being held up by our combined spiritual powers.

Days had turned into weeks as we experimented with a variety of configurations. At first, we had been impatient...mostly stemming from the fact that the others were succeeding almost everyday...of course, those were still the minority, but because the success stories were more prominent than the failures, we had gotten caught up in a panic.

But as time went on, we settled down and followed our own pace, a step at a time.

Now, we had finally given birth to something extraordinary, after many days of labor. Getting used to viewing the microscopic world with our spiritual sight had been a massive pain in the butt at the start, yet right now, I was probably spotting a satisfied grin on my face, just like the other two.

This tube, too small and transparent to the normal eye, was the fruits of our labor...not just that, but also, the gateway to the successful extraction of the metal atoms within the molten liquid.

"Should we try it out now...?"

"We should first rest." I shot down Bora's eager spirit. We couldn't afford to start this halfheartedly.

"Well, I must admit, becoming a forger really is about boredom and hardwork!" Danny had a smile tugging at the corner of his lips...many girls must have fallen for his charms back on earth...does he have a girlfriend? Now, this was a juicy topic, though, I doubt he would indulge me.

"Its better than having to slave hours away at a computer for those giant companies."

To me, this was more fulfilling than having to work for those who were reaping the true benefits and only returning something meager my way.

"Do you despise companies that much?" Bora's question made me look directly at her.

"When something becomes infested with many humans in a pyramidal relationship, there's bound to be some oversight. Even the empire-no, the states aren't immune to that sort of thing. In order for the higher ups to get more benefits or results, some would choose some unsavory methods, like overworking the lower staff. I know this will never change, which is why It has become one of the reasons I want to become a forger. At least, if I am powerful enough, I could even protect myself against the so-called council." I was winded after such a long speech, but that didn't deter the flames I felt within my chest.

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With a sigh, I went back to resting since I could see that she was mulling over my words carefully.

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I woke up feeling refreshed. Sleep truly was better at recovering the mind and spirit. I stretched before moving my gaze over to my other comrades, who had awoken earlier than I. It had become a staple, with me no longer surprised by it, but still I wondered why they didn't let themselves sleep more.

I used to overwork myself to the bone, but now, here, I could rest for as long as wanted. It would have been paradise if there was a bed and the temperature wasn't so extreme.

"It will be better if we jump right into it." As expected of the impatient Bora. She didn't dawdle in reminding us about how on edge she was.

I gave a passing glance at the silvery sword embedded into the floor and moved over to form our triangular formation. I had already entered the vision a few hours ago, so this time, we could try the extraction.

The canal carrying the molten metal wasn't set into the floor, instead, it had been constructed in the likeness of a meter tall embarkment with the depression through its width, holding the flowing metal at the top. Sitting down near the construction only afforded us a glimpse, though, without the need to strain our necks.

I was happy that we didn't need to gaze upon the metal...with our spiritual senses more than enough for the task.

After sitting ourselves down by its side, we exchanged glances before letting the spiritual powers that had been trapped within our minds outside and proceeding to entangle them.

I felt many emotional sensations bombarding my mind the moment my spirit touched theirs, something I had long gotten used to.

During one of our tutoring sessions with Celeste, a warning about the dangers caused by curiosity about another's emotional state were something she had warned us extensively on. According to her, if we got a bit more curious and pushed our spirit into the mind of another, brain death was the most likely outcome of such an endeavor.

Apparently, the emotional fluctuations we felt during the bonding of our spirits was minor compared to the storm going on within another's mind.

I curbed my curiosity and proceeded to start forming the microscopic tube's skeleton, a creation only needing the shaping of our spirits, with the muscle coming from the nearby air molecules.

After many days of practice, it proceeded along smoothly. Now, it was time for the moment of truth...

Our threads, which were connected to the tube, simultaneously moved it towards the molten metal, utilizing the excess of our spiritual powers as a sensory tool.

The excess spirit was surrounding the tube like a sphere, half a meter in diameter. When some of it made contact with the molten liquid, it transmitted a sensation of warmth, something I still couldn't wrap my head around. According to Celeste, if the molten metal had been imbued with spirit, we would have felt its full temperature, causing our own spirit to burn...a feature that now reminded me of the sword. Though, a forger would have to maintain the imbued spirit...not like the artifact that was somehow maintaining itself automatically.

This was yet another reason that made me hesitant to make physical contact with the sword.

With a tilt, the tube was lowered into the molten canal, with one end making contact with the molten liquid, while the other end was facing our direction, but inclined upwards.

We had also taken the liberty to construct something like a conveyer belt within the needle, moved by our combined spiritual powers, instead of toiling when pulling the captured atoms into the tube.

I entered a state of utmost focus since the prize was just before us. Would we be able to capture it, or would we fail?