84 Sound of the Hammer

Gu Yue looked at the revisions and notes Karni wrote on her designs with mixed emotions. She felt overwhelmed. His notes were exact, all of them at the top of the 4-star rank of optimisation. There were hundreds of notes of tiny improvements, noted especially for her. It was done for her improvement alone, because Karni took the rest to upgrade it fully to the 5-Star Rank. And all of it was without using the Hexagonal Array Theorems, like the Hexagonal Absorbent Balance theory. Just one of many branches.

Because of that, she would also get the chance to understand his designs more. A Mecha Designer had to find their own way to advance to a higher rank, those above them should only be their guide. This was the difference between their ranks: at 4-Stars, one looked at the triangles forming the hexagons, leading to them slowly but surely mastering the Hexagonal Array Theorems.

Yet even those were only a guide toward the next stage at the 6-Star Rank: Hexagons put on three dimensional surfaces, including overlaps, all connected. Those connections were still triangles which formed their own three dimensional shapes. To mark a 6-Star Rank, the most common of the three dimensional array theorems had to be known: Icosahedron Array Theorem.

All Designers knew of these Theorems, as they were the basis of almost all arrays at higher levels. The foundations with which Designers worked with. The first three levels of Mecha Designers were easiest, including up to what Karni's old world would consider High School Geometry. 

The next three were advanced geometry of Array Theorems. It was all about triangles and conjoining three separates into one whole. At the 4-Star level, all arrays are connected through at least one line of arrays, most of the time that is one side of the triangle.

Gu Yue was just now figuring out the 5-Star Rank, while Karni was fully in it. He regularly used Hexagonal Array Theorems now—triangles forming hexagons connected by the central point, sometimes the centre is also a guide to the other side. Karni first accidentally utilised this and figured it out with AR Goggles, though it was a crude implementation. There was a reason the Tang Sect wanted to upgrade those.

Yet even Karni had yet to start the 6-Star Theorems, where the Hexagonal Array Theorems are used in a three dimensional manner. More accurately, it is the triangles used that way. One is usually considered a 6-Star Designer when they figured out the basis. Most designers knew the Icosahedron Array Theorem. Even Karni and Gu Yue, even if they couldn't apply it yet.

The next three ranks were a completely different beast, however. The 7-Star Rank was the biggest jump, as it started dabbling into Non-Euclidean geometries; or as they were known here, the Ziwen Geometries. They first appeared when Xuan Ziwen—Huo Yuhao's master in designing Soul Tools—created the Spirit Ice Douluo's Battle Armour prototype.

As for 8-Star and 9-Star ranks, all that regular Designers knew was that they dabbled in infinite geometries and the fourth dimension.

At the heart of all Soul Arrays was geometry; and Karni had to admit, Gu Yue was incredible at it. Most of his optimisations were not connected with the geometry. He didn't need to: Gu Yue's plans were of high quality. Karni really optimised more the connection between the body and the Battle Armour piece while adding a lot of small connections between Soul Arrays, which, alone, wouldn't do much, but together raised the efficiency of the design by more than 10 percent. 

Most importantly however, Karni got familiar with Tang Wulin's abilities through the design.

Karni's world of Designing had been exponentially expanding since he joined the Tang Sect. The effectiveness of little details and optimising the space through the Hexagonal Arrays was perhaps his biggest advancement. The spiritual aspects and visualisation in how to create, fit something, or use the correct formation at the right spot to make one great whole through the help of the hexagonal shapes made it so much easier to design things at the 5-Star level. 

Not to mention the help of his ever growing Spiritual Power and comprehension of Space. All of it combined formed a magical time for Karni after being at the bottleneck for the past year. It felt cathartic to progress so rapidly after all this time.

Back when he created the Augmented Reality Goggles, it all felt like it clicked. He saw the path he had to take back then, he knew where everything had to be placed. Only recently did he realise that he comprehended a large part of the Hexagonal Array Theorem in that moment. The Spatial, Spiritual and the Physical had to come together as one and that was when the hexagons turned out to be the key—Karni just hadn't recognised them as the Hexagonal Array Theorem yet. 

All of this new knowledge came in handy now—now he could gain insights to Battle Armour pieces of people he wasn't even familiar with. He was genuinely surprised with himself at how much of Tang Wulin's inner workings he figured out without relying on his meta knowledge.

While Gu Yue was still immersed in Karni's notes, Tang Wulin stretched and grabbed a piece of metal from the room. This was his private blacksmithing room from Elder Feng. The shelves were filled with rare metal. The piece he grabbed was Heavy Silver. He put it in the furnace and grabbed Siduo and Karni's attention.

"This is Heavy Silver, the metal I've forged most with. I want to show you what I can do at my best." He never turned to look at them. His words finished with that. The atmosphere immediately turned quiet. Karni and Siduo knew they had to be quiet. It was easy to recognise the focus in Tang Wulin's eyes.

Siduo was impressed with that focus. She hadn't met many people who could immediately turn on a switch for such things. Karni was also impressed, but was more excited at seeing Tang Wulin's fabled blacksmithing from the books.

In a matter of a few minutes, Tang Wulin took out the Heavy Silver and brought out a pair of golden hammers. Then he struck. A clear sound resounded.

Karni's heart shook. That was more than just sound… that… he closed his eyes. The second hammer fell. Karni felt his heart shake again. It was so clear. Too clear. Such harmony in a single hit. He sat down in a meditative position.

Siduo looked at him, and as another hammer hit, she could notice Karni's ears twitching. She turned back at Tang Wulin. She had the experience to know Tang Wulin's smithing was superb, but she would never have guessed he could rouse Karni's instincts in such a way. She sighed inwardly. There was no way he was going to the Tang Sect today. She'd have to excuse him to Mo Qing.

Karni had been highly sensitive to Sound ever since three years back, when he understood the Element's Heart. This sensitivity had only increased since then. The biggest change happened recently during his time in Star Luo Continent—his Sound had become more and more intertwined with the intricacies of Space.

What he heard right now was emotions. The sound of metal talking back to the hammer—to Tang Wulin. Though the metal wasn't quite alive… yet. It was just about there at the edge.

Then there was the rhythm of that hammer, the building force of the sound, the intensity. Through Sound Karni recognised Tang Wulin's technique. He was using the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer.

Karni had bought it and analysed it before, trying to imitate it once or twice; but he hadn't yet found the time to fully engross himself in the technique. Who would've thought that hearing Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer would give him such deep insight into its inner workings.

It wasn't only the hammer. The metal itself was something Karni started to understand as the smithing intensified. Its properties, the variation, the metal's 'behaviour'. He couldn't help but smile. With understanding the metal to such a degree, he should have an even easier time designing around it.

For a split second he thought that he should've been a blacksmith. His comprehension of sound would help him greatly with smithing the metal. Then he threw away the thought. He wasn't suited for it. One needed strength. It was comprehension of a different kind compared to designing. He was already greatly invested in his field. He enjoyed the all-nighters researching a single problem he encountered—more than that, he enjoyed the progress. This intuitive kind of comprehension was something he only ever developed with his Martial Soul. He wasn't sure he'd be capable of blacksmithing.

The very fact he was capable of understanding the Heavy Silver to such a degree through only Sound was a blessing for his designing. One had to play to one's strengths. He already had a degree of ability to guide the manufacturers through his designs. His blueprints have always had a certain flow to them—one that gives a certain understanding to those using it. If he could further develop this drawing style through understanding the materials as well? 

The result should be quite magical.

The Sound changed. Something was added to it. Dragon's roars—a mighty aura filled the room. The dragon roar shook Karni to his core once again. The Sound of metal and the dragon mixed in a wondrous melody.

Karni didn't understand what was happening, but he could actively feel the changes in the air, the waves produced telling him of the actively mutating Heavy Silver. The emotions of the metal—this time, actual emotions—then, life. The rhythm of the hammer stopped. Karni opened his eyes.

In front of him was the Heavy Silver Spirit Refined. Instead of having silver colouring, it now had golden colouring. Small dragon roars sounded as it was cooling down.

Siduo's eyes shone. "You're a 5-Star blacksmith?"

Tang Wulin smiled.

Siduo thought out loud. "Even if you are, I don't think we should use Spirit Refined metal. It would change the blueprints too much. It might take too much time to create all the pieces of battle armour."

Karni nodded. "I agree." Though he could hardly hide his amazement—not at Tang Wulin's level, but at the experience of it all. "We should keep to the first grade Thousand Refined. While the designs aren't out of the question, they would at least take an additional few weeks. At most, we might need more than a month. The problem here is that we don't understand Spirit Refined metal yet, as we haven't been in its presence enough."

Gu Yue frowned, as she felt like the two were turning down Tang Wulin's abilities, but Tang Wulin spoke before her. "I agree as well. This was a presentation of my trust towards you guys. I would probably need a lot of time to figure out Spirit Refining for Honey Titanium and Energy Palladium. At the very least, it would be a risky gamble with a low success rate."

Karni and Siduo smiled, and felt relieved. That was good. Karni didn't feel confident that they could keep to the timeline, everything considered. Not only the designs, but the smithing might take too much time. It was good to keep themselves level-headed.

"Furthermore," Tang Wulin smiled, "I'll do each of you a favour. Since I missed class and you guys helped me out—you didn't ignore me as the class president—I want to show my gratitude."

"Wulin, you don't have to. You got that position fair and square." Gu Yue said from the side.

Tang Wulin raised his hand, much to Gu Yue's frustration. He nodded to Karni and Siduo to choose something. Karni was the first to voice his choice; he was going to ask this anyway after what he just experienced, so he might as well use the chance. "I want to be here whenever you have long smithing sessions."

Tang Wulin was surprised. His eyes questioned Karni to explain.

"The sound of your hammering helps me understand the metal. It will make designing easier, not to mention better. Though I feel like you would've let me listen in on that anyway if I told you that."

Tang Wulin nodded, a bit confused.

"My second reason is a bit more selfish. Through your hammering, I'm understanding the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer more and more, basically for free. And I felt that wasn't really fair, so I'm using this as a favour. Think of it as you teaching me about the technique."

"Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer? Do you use hammers as well?" Tang Wulin wondered.

"No. I'm thinking of adapting it to have more viable options in close quarters combat with my Martial Soul. I already have some ideas from this showcase and I think your hammering will let me fill in a lot of holes in my understanding as I progress in it."

Tang Wulin nodded. He understood Karni's feelings. He would also feel cheap if he just got gifted a skill without truly learning it himself. 

He was also glad. Karni was open and honest. He could've easily done this in secret, but he chose to reveal it to Tang Wulin. With that done, he turned to Wu Siduo.

Siduo locked eyes with Tang Wulin. She chose an option that Tang Wulin originally expected. "I think it would be great if you help me forge some metal for an additional piece of Battle Armour for free. Of course, I pay for the metal, but not for the time."

Tang Wulin smiled. "Mm. That was what I thought Val Karni would ask for as well. If you guys didn't know what to choose, I would've recommended this myself. Good. Both of these are something I'll gladly help with."

Siduo nodded, then looked at the time. "Unfortunately, I have to visit the Tang Sect now. Kiki, you're staying here right?"

Karni turned to Tang Wulin. "Will you still be forging now?"

Tang Wulin nodded. "I was thinking of doing it for a while more, yes."

"Then I'll stay. Sisi, if you'll please excuse me in the sect."

Siduo waved him off. "I already prepared myself for that." She smiled, her ears looking excited. "I'll see you later."

They bid each other goodbye.

Gu Yue also stood up with a neutral expression. "I'll also go. I have to study Val Karni's notes a bit." She rushed out a bit, leaving Tang Wulin and Karni alone.

"Well then." Tang Wulin made a bright smile. "Let's try out Honey Titanium."

… … …

Gu Yue approached Wu Siduo. Siduo immediately noticed her. "Oh? Gu Yue, hi. Need anything?"

Gu Yue was a bit silent, thinking of what to say.

Siduo frowned a little. "If it's about Spirit Refining, forget it. I'm not budging on that. It's too risky for everyone. The design and blacksmithing might come through, but I still have to manufacture and check if everything's okay myself. I can't guarantee that I can do that."

Gu Yue stared at Siduo in surprise. Siduo hit the bullseye on the topic she wanted to mention. "So you're saying you're not good enough to do it?"

Siduo nodded, swallowing her pride for once and dismissing the aggressive comment. "Yes. I'm just starting to approach the 5-Star rank in Manufacturing, and even then, I'll still need more time with my Mechanic skills. I'll probably reach it before the deadline, but this will at most help with speeding up the final processes. Also, I don't want to hear about not being good enough from someone who isn't the main designer." Damn it. She couldn't help herself at the end. She said the quiet part out loud. How did Karni manage to do that so effortlessly?

Gu Yue's face remained neutral, but her fists were slightly clenched.

Siduo waved her off, thinking it better to leave it be than push it further. "Anyway, I need to go and become better. We both should. You were gonna look through Kiki's notes right? Good luck." That sounded somewhat friendly… right? She really wasn't good with acting nice to people she didn't particularly like. She either got along with them or didn't.

… … …

Siduo went away, leaving Gu Yue alone. The mask cracked just a bit. Gu Yue didn't realise it herself, but her pride was genuinely hurt today. She was the Silver Dragon King… Queen. Her speciality was Spiritual Power and controlling elements through it. As a Mecha Designer, whose profession relies on Spiritual Power, she was completely overshadowed by Val Karni, who wasn't at her level in terms of Spirituality. Wu Siduo, the girl with a pride as big as hers, also headed towards the fifth rank of her profession.

As for her? She really was useless to a degree right now. She was only speeding up the process of creating a blueprint for Battle Armour pieces. A convenience more than a necessity. Karni could've done it in time without her. Just what was she doing in this group exactly? She was only here because she was a Vice-President. She was not the Designer Representative. The three could've done this themselves.

She sighed. She'd just have to support Tang Wulin in any other way possible. She really wasn't sure what she should do. She could somewhat recognise the goodwill they had towards Tang Wulin, but there had to be other motives there. She was immensely frustrated—at herself, mostly. She was always the strongest in the team before, she just didn't care much to show it. But now she was genuinely outclassed, or matched. Wu Siduo almost broke out of her Elemental Chaos tornado in the final fight for representatives. And there was that power she was trying to unleash from inside but thankfully failed...

Could Wu Siduo have actually managed to break out? What was with that powerful self-fusion?

All of this made the times when the two talked back to Tang Wulin all the more frustrating to her, because, to a certain degree, she didn't have the skills to back up her claims. And that was endlessly frustrating.

… … …

Karni opened his eyes. This was the fifth metal Tang Wulin had first grade Thousand Refined. It started with Heavy Silver, then two Honey Titaniums to get familiar with them and two Energy Palladium. The odd thing was that Tang Wulin said they won't be using those. To be fair, it was clear they wouldn't since he didn't shape them right, but it was weird he chose not to shape them when they were of such a high grade.

Karni stretched, standing up from his meditative pose. "Well, I have a lot of thoughts about the I need to sort out in regards to this comprehension. I can only truly figure it out through testing, so I'll leave for now."

Tang Wulin nodded while grabbing another piece of metal. "That's alright, though I do ask that you don't come in the midst of my forging, should you return. Don't want the sound to leak out or disturb my concentration."

Karni nodded. "That's a given. I'll enter when you finish if I really need to see you, but otherwise, I'll join in again tomorrow if I don't understand something." He opened the door.

"Good then, see you later Val Karni."

Karni stopped before he left. "Oh, and… just Karni will do. I'm not used to being called by my full name."

"Mm. Karni. We'll talk again tomorrow then." Tang Wulin gave his characteristic smile.

Karni waved him goodbye.

As he stepped out, Tang Wulin approached the table with metals and took another piece. Now there were two on the forging table. As he heated them both up, he banged them together.

… … …

On the field, Karni's Martial Soul in drumstick form activated his third Soul Ring to help out with understanding the changes as he attempted to execute Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer.

He imitated the sounds from the smithing room through Sonic Rhythm first, just to get the feel for the rhythm. In the next instance, he swung, hitting the ground. The bang didn't sound quite right. He swung again.

"That was closer… What's missing?" He remembered the instruction manual for the technique. First and foremost, this was a 'store the force and release' technique. Maybe CCCD could help him out.

He used the grappling technique as he banged on the ground with his drumstick once again and managed the rebound of the force with Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon. His eyes shined. That was almost identical.

He swung once again—adapting the last pieces—this time with the mindset of swinging the second drumstick afterwards. He hit; the sound perfect, then swung with the second drumstick, and the sound went awry. But. There was more force in his second swing.

"Hoho. Okay. I can do this." Je breathed deep. "Just listen."

He swung, failed, then swung again. Two consecutive swings came after another minute of practice. Three consecutive hits after 5 minutes.

… … …

After a few hours of practice, the sun had started to set. The 9th hit sounded and a change happened. The intense sound and the force inside his two drumsticks resonated beautifully with one another… then the two drumsticks clashed as if gravity was pulling them together.

"The fuck?"

He repeated the process again. 1, 2, 3 solid swings. 6 swings. Still alright. Then 8, the force was still building up correctly and finally, 9. The sound and the force mixed together again and the drumsticks attracted one another, hitting into each other and cancelling the build up.

Karni scratched his head, then looked at the setting sun. "Fuck it. I'll figure it out tomorrow."

And so tomorrow came and Karni entered the smithy. Tang Wulin was alone right now. The two girls had yet to come. Karni was early.

"Hey, Tang Wulin."

"Wulin is fine, since I'm calling you Karni."

Karni smiled. "Wulin, can you explain if I'm doing something wrong. I don't think just listening to you hammering will help me with this."

Karni began swinging before Tang Wulin could tell him the cost for this service. He was impressed with Karni. 8 hits in one day with a weapon that wasn't even suited for the technique. Karni seemed to adapt it well- The ninth consecutive hit came, and the drumsticks clashed with each other like two annoying lovebirds who hadn't seen each other for over a year.

"The fuck?" Tang Wulin started.

"That's what I said." Karni made a sheepish smile. "I'm guessing you don't know anything about this."

Tang Wulin shook his head. "No, though if I have to guess, it's because you're using your sound at the same time."

Karni nodded. "It is that. I can even feel it…" He tried it once more, expecting something different. Some guy from Earth once said doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different things to happen is what makes one a fool… or something like that. Was that Einstein? "Forget it. I'll just listen to you, maybe I'll get some ideas."

Tang Wulin nodded and began forging. It didn't take long before he started using the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer.

1, 2, 3 hits, 7, 8 and finally 9.

Karni opened his eyes wide, shaken. It didn't sound the same. No. It sounded wrong. No, that wasn't it either. It sounded right for the hammer and the pure force Tang Wulin was releasing, but not for his own mixture of Sound and force that he used to learn the technique in the first place.

After Tang Wulin finished, he looked at Karni. "So?"

"It's fundamentally different. The ninth hit. I read that each stage is put in 9 hits, but still, to think my combination would result in this. Thanks Wulin, I think I'll have to figure this part out on my own."

"No problem. By the way, how's your progression with the designs."

Karni smiled weirdly. "Sorry, I got too caught up in the technique yesterday."

Tang Wulin laughed. "That's okay. I know the feeling. As long as you don't forget to actually do everything."

"Of course." Karni nodded, then bid goodbye and returned to the field.

He was alone at this hour. Most other people used this time for second professions.

He looked at his Martial Soul. "Let's try it out the normal way then." He started swinging, but he wasn't using Sonic Rhythm and the first thing he noticed? It just wasn't worth it. Four hits in and the power difference was at least twice the amount. The more hits there were, the less effective the normal method with his drumstick would be. He had to do this with Sound—the two properties collaborated with one another.

He brought the hits up to 8 again—with his third soul ring active this time—and when the 9th hit came, the two were attracted to one another once more.

Karni sat down. He took Einstein's advice. He couldn't just repeat this over and over, he needed to try something. Anything. 

He analysed the situation. The sound worked fine up until then, even the 9th hit sounded fine, but it acted in a weird way.

He hit the drumsticks together like one would bounce their legs when nervous. Though he did it in a rhythm. 

He got aware of something. Even here, as he hit the two drumsticks, they bounced off of each other without a problem. Why was it different with Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer? It might have been an obvious difference, but it was at least a beginning.

He stood up. And put the drumstick in a position he hadn't put them in for years. The good old Stacks method, before he had his third Soul Ring.

These days, that method simply wasn't necessary, because he had enough control over sound that he could jump to the maximum power of sound instantly. No reason to build them up gradually…. Yet there were similarities between that and the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer.

He hit the drumsticks together with force, listening to the Sound. He hit them five times. The sound gathered, but he sensed some force in there as well. 

What if he built the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer by hitting the drumsticks into each other? He started again. By the sixth hit, he had to focus, and the seventh he failed. 

It failed, but it worked. He needed different movements to bring out the technique when he hit the two drumsticks together. This was the first step. He needed to figure this out before he could feel the difference in the ninth hit.

In an hour, he could feel it. He was about to get the ninth hit. He was curious. What would happen at the ninth hit? The two attract each other exactly when they would hit each other.

The two drumsticks hit, and his left hand—the non-dominant hand—lost control of the drumstick it was holding. The left drumstick started spinning around the right one as if glued on it. After about three turns, it stopped and fell down on its own.

Karni breathed in deeply. The two become almost magnetic. But more magical was the interaction with the Sound between the two drumsticks. The sound and force put together, resonated on that fine touching line, pulling them together. There was a clear initial force gained at the start of the ninth hit, which weakened as the two spun.

An idea lit up. He built up the hits again and as he arrived at the ninth he released the left drumstick and swung the right one even further right.

The left drumstick stuck to the right drumstick during the hit, but as soon as the swing to the right ended, it flew off with force. Karni's eyes shined before turning to shock. The drumstick was returning!

Karni put the right drumstick in the way, and the two hit one another, the left one bouncing off. Karni was filled with shock for a second time. The sound… He could continue this build up in this way!

He had to test it out. He pulled the drumsticks to him and started building up the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer again. As he reached the 9th hit again, he sent the left drumstick into the distance. The drumstick turned around like a boomerang and as the two were about to collide, Karni swung his right drumstick in the other direction, sending the left drumstick flying away, again. It didn't return and fell down instead.

Karni clenched his drumstick, smiling. There was Sound. He heard another hit in the technique coming. He could do this. He just had to keep practising.

… … …

Tang Wulin's eyes shined as he looked at the metal in front of him. Alloy. He made an alloy using two metals of high compatibility rate. Spirit Refined. This was of Spirit Refined level Alloy!

"We've been going at it for a month… it will change our plans, but… but we have to try this! If we can succeed…" He smiled widely. "I have to call them!"