Chương 47: One Thousand Strikes

Ch 47 - One Thousand Strikes Zephion glanced at the hammer counter beside the anvil. The number had just reached 69. But… His grip had already started to shake. He had also held the hammer above the molten metal for far too long. His chest tightened, as if every bit of energy inside his body had been drained away in an instant after only thirty hammer strikes. He wiped the sweat from his forehead before taking another steady breath.

Some of the others looked in his direction, but unlike before, they no longer made the same comments.

A moment later, Jester set a glass down a little too hard beside the anvil. Some of the water splashed onto the hammer, and a sharp hiss rang out as steam rose from the scorching metal.

"Drink. You need it. Make sure you keep your energy up the whole time. This is going to take a while. Three hours, four hours, maybe five at most until midnight. Don't pass out before you're done." The man grinned before walking away again. Zeph took a long drink, then raised his hammer once more. He continued. This wasn't easy. Not even close. His palms burned with every swing. Both of his hands trembled as if they had gone numb. This felt even worse than when he had spent hours climbing a few days ago.

Sweat poured off him at an unbelievable pace. The room was incredibly hot. Truly scorching. He could feel waves of heat rolling out from the blazing furnace with every breath. Everyone working here looked slightly red from the constant exposure to the heat, as though their bodies had long since adapted to it. Even so, Zeph kept going. This was nothing. Only his hands were struggling. He just had to endure until the regeneration inside his body finally kicked in and gradually strengthened him while he worked.

He still had plenty of time. If he wanted to finish this in four hours, then he needed around 250 hammer strikes every hour. That was only about four to five strikes every minute. No! Zeph needed to push even harder. He had to force himself to reach ten strikes every minute if he wanted to build up enough of a lead before exhaustion caught up with him. He swung again.

This time, he focused on keeping his grip firm around the hammer's handle while letting the weapon's own weight do most of the work as it crashed down onto the glowing molten metal. His left hand slipped for just a split second, and the heated metal nearly shot off the anvil. But he caught it in time and immediately steadied his stance before bringing the hammer down again. Zeph kept pushing. An hour passed, yet he stayed locked onto a single goal.

He gritted his teeth, his mind repeating the same thought over and over. Before his hands were ruined. Before they broke. Before... whatever it took. He would not give up. As long as he could still move his hands, he would keep swinging. He would keep pushing. He reached the point where every strike was no longer about making perfect progress. His only concern was making sure the molten metal didn't fly off the anvil. Making sure the hammer didn't slip from his grip.

Making sure each blow landed where it was supposed to, instead of veering off to the side. That was all he focused on, even when his vision had already begun to blur. Time no longer meant anything. One hour. Two hours. His sight grew hazier, and he had already stopped several times to refill his energy, drink water, chew on dried meat, and eat whatever food offered to him. Anything to keep enough strength in his body to continue. Then, without even realizing it, Zeph finally lowered the hammer onto the workbench.

When he looked up, people were standing all around him.

"Come on, Zeph! You can do this! You're already past halfway. Keep going!"

"Yeah! You're already way beyond what I expected. This is the first time I've ever seen a Rank 1 make it this far."

"Don't let us down, Zeph! You can do it!"

"Come on, Zeph! You've got this!" Someone even started singing while beating out a rhythm to cheer him on. Stolen story; please report. Misty was still standing nearby, though Zeph had already lost track of how many hours she had been there. He gave a firm nod and continued. At least if the hammer slipped from his hand, Jester was there to catch it. As a Rank 5, he was more than strong enough and fast enough to react in time.

All Zeph had to do was keep swinging and make sure his left hand never loosened its grip on the tongs. Eventually, time became nothing more than a blur. Zeph couldn't even read the numbers on the counter anymore. Then he delivered the final strike, just as the counter let out its sharp notification. The next thing he heard was a wave of applause washing over him. Zeph's vision had become so blurry that he stumbled backward. Before he could hit the floor, a chair caught him.

Only then did he realize Jester had placed it behind him.

"Damn... this is actually unreal. He really pulled it off."

"And it's not even midnight yet. That's impossible."

"What are you made of, Zeph? Seriously..."

"Sorry for doubting you earlier. You can't blame me. You're literally the first person to do something like this."

"Yeah. Normally someone would need to be at least Rank 3 before they had the physical strength for this. You're an anomaly."

"Hahaha! Welcome to the team! A first-year too!" Zeph still couldn't believe he had actually done it. His entire body, especially his spine, felt like it was on the verge of falling apart. He doubted he would even be able to walk after this. Someone would probably have to carry him back. Forget tomorrow morning's run. He was pretty sure he'd end up sleeping through the entire day just to recover. He stayed where he was while everyone gathered around him.

They chatted, joked, and laughed together, but Zeph could barely follow the conversation anymore. His exhausted mind simply couldn't keep up with whatever they were saying. Time passed as they cleared the workstation, moving all the equipment aside. Before long, several boxes of food had been placed on the table.

"Come on, Zeph. Let's eat. We bought this earlier. It's really good. I bet you're sick of eating the same food every day." But at that moment, Zeph was still too weak. He could barely move his hands. Then a pair of chopsticks holding a bite of food appeared in front of his mouth.

"Eat." It was Jester.

"You don't have to do that."

"Just eat. You're still a kid. As an adult here, this is the least I can do. Besides, if I don't take care of you after putting you through all of this, I might end up getting punished."

"It's your responsibility, Jester. Carry Zeph back to his room tonight," someone else called out.

"Sure. I'll carry him all the way to his bed." The moment those words left his mouth, Zeph suddenly straightened up. He reached for the box of food and grabbed the chopsticks himself.

"I can eat on my own. I can walk on my own." The room immediately burst into laughter.

"Looks like Zeph's scared of you, Jester."

"You idiots, you're making it sound like I'm some kind of creep! I was just trying to help." That only made everyone laugh even harder. After that, they continued hanging around the workshop while Zeph slowly managed to fill his stomach. The food was surprisingly good, and he found himself genuinely enjoying it. Then again, he had been so poor and miserable for so long that, to him, almost everything served at the academy tasted amazing.

"You know what a Relic is, Zeph?" Jester asked after a while. Zeph gave a small nod. He understood the basic idea of what a Relic was. Jester stood up and picked up a hammer. Its head was a deep black, streaked with patterns that looked like flowing flames. It was also the largest hammer among all the ones displayed nearby.

"This hammer is a Relic." Zeph nodded again.

"A crafted weapon is nothing unusual. You can find them almost anywhere, and you can always commission a blacksmith to make one for you. Swords, spears, axes, or whatever kind of weapon you need." He raised the hammer slightly.

"But once someone reaches at least Rank 4 Champion, they can begin to awaken something extraordinary within their weapon. An ordinary weapon, or even an ordinary tool, can evolve into something greater. That's what we call a Relic." Zeph nodded quietly.

"A Relic is a weapon or tool that houses an elemental spirit within it. Once it becomes a Relic, its owner can forge a bond with it, allowing the Relic to grow alongside them." Zeph nodded once more. The concept itself wasn't unfamiliar to him, but hearing Jester explain it still left him impressed, especially knowing that Jester had successfully bonded with a Relic that perfectly matched his profession as a blacksmith.

"Not everyone succeeds in forging a bond with a Relic. It's a long process that takes time. But finding the weapon or tool that truly suits you is the first step. Once you have that, you can eventually awaken it into a Relic."

"Yes, sir. I want to have my own Relic someday."

"Good. That's the kind of ambition I like to hear." After chatting for a while, something crossed Zeph's mind. He reached into his dimensional storage and pulled out his sword, immediately drawing startled looks from several people.

"Damn it, Zeph. A dimensional storage?"

"Are you secretly some rich kid? A Rank 1 Apprentice with a dimensional storage?"

"I got it from a Rift," Zeph replied.

"Oh, come on. Stop making things up. There's no way you got something like that from a Rift. What kind of low-level Rift would even have one?"

"Yeah, quit lying. You must've stolen it."

"Or borrowed it. Or inherited it. You're secretly loaded, aren't you? Damn it, I never expected you to have something like that. Show-off." Before long, everyone was more interested in Zeph's dimensional storage than anything else. Meanwhile, Jester had already taken the sword Zeph handed him.

"This is an impressive sword," Jester said as he examined the blade.

"Tier 3. It has a Shadow attribute, and the materials... hmm, they look like they came from a high-grade monster core."

"Whoa, this brat really is showing off," someone else chimed in.

"Not only do you have a dimensional storage, you've got an expensive sword too. Maybe we should just rob you, Zeph." Jester looked back at Zeph.

"Where did you get this sword?"

"I commissioned it," Zeph answered. Everyone exchanged doubtful glances.

"That must've cost a fortune."

"Where did you get the materials?" Jester asked next. Zeph fell silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts before speaking.

"I snuck into a Rift expedition. Somehow, I ended up separated from everyone and landed inside the Rift by myself. That's where I ran into a Tier 2 monster. A wolf-type monster. It probably had the Shadow attribute. I killed it, and later found out it was an Epic-grade Tier 2 monster. I managed to recover its monster core as well." He looked around. Everyone was still watching him closely.

"Only about half of the expedition made it out alive. After we escaped, we learned that the Tier 1 Rift we'd entered had evolved into a Tier 2 Rift while we were still inside. So... yeah. That's what happened." Zeph studied their expressions. They all looked completely stunned.

"I assume you believe me now." Instead of answering, the entire room burst into laughter.

"That's the worst lie I've heard all week."

"You really expect us to believe that?"

"Come on, at least make the story a little more believable."

"Nice try, kid. You almost had me." Zeph let out a helpless sigh.

"I knew none of you would believe me."

"Can you blame us?" One of them said with a grin.

"Your story is way too unbelievable."