Surprising Level Up

Heading back into the forge I prepare to make my own weapon at last. This will be the hardest job I've ever done. This weapon will be my foundation.

I completely clean the forge, bring in a new mana stone to power the forge's flames. I crush the lightning pigeon bones, but as soon as I break the first bone a sweet smell is released. The door bangs open with my Master standing there.

"Where did you get those bones" my Master asked in a shocked voice. "James found them in the market a couple of months back. They're just lightning pigeon bones. " I replied in confusion.

"Those bones carry thunderflames of the Lightning Phoenix. The pigeon must have awakened a strand of its ancestral bloodline. Thunderflames are a perfect merger of flames and lightning. All phoenixs are born with flames and only later learn a second element which then they merge with their flames. After merging the elements the phoenix is called by the second element they learn. In this case Lightning Phoenix. It's only a slight strand of bloodline but it is a nearly perfect material for combining fire and lightning materials. "

Hearing him I remember how assured James was that I needed this, all I can do is smile in memory. "Master thank you for informing me. Is it ok for me to use it?" I ask him.

Looking at the two leg bones in my hands before saying, " You are going to join the Fire Drake Academy right?" seeing my nodhe continues, "You should use one of the bones now, pass the other to me and I will pass it to Forgemaster Hans at the Academy. He will return it to you when you are ready to reforge your weapon into a higher tier. "

After thinking for a bit I realize he has a point. If that lady finds out what she sold me, then I absolutely cannot have this in my hands. It will be safer to have the leader of the blacksmith hall in the Academy hold onto it for me. After passing it over my Master nods his head and left so I could continue my process.

After finishing crushing the bone into as fine a powder as I laid out the formation my brother prepared before for me. It was an unlocked gravity formation. The "unlocked" referred to there being no max power output, it was instead set up to release gravity equal to to the gravity mana I put into it.

I melt down 200 pounds of purple iron essence. I mix in the bone powder with the melted iron, I started to pour it all into a mold set in the middle of the formation. I start to pour gravity mana into the formation, slowly compressin the metal down into a far more dense material. After 15 minutes I had to also use my fire mana to keep the iron in a liquid form. I have to continue doing this for 8 hours before it's the right size. by now I only have 10 percent off my mana left.

I take out the staff made from the Blue Flame Fruit Tree, laying it on my anvil I use my metal mana to lift the compressed liquid ore and pour it over the staff. Swinging my hammer and this the metal I combine the wood of the staff with the ore using my mana to further combine them in a way impossible without magic. As my mana come close to bottoming out I take a taboo pill that instantly recovers a quarter of my mana. I'm now using three types of mana at the same time almost instinctively, lightning fire and metal. Fire to keep the metal liquid, lightning to purify, and metal to combine the materials while still using the force of my hammer as a catalyst for the changes. After roughly 15 hours and 2 more taboo pills it is finished but before i can even look at the finished staff I faint.

Later I awaken and see both James and Nizhoni sitting by my bed. "Shazi, how could you so stupidly take 3 taboo pills one after the other? you could have killed yourself. If not for your stupidly virile body you and have been at a minimum crippled."

"Umm. I knew what I was doing, and i knew the strength of my body. I even left life crystal powder with James that he could mix with water before feeding me. While I would still be weakened for a month I wouldn't have any sequela. "

"She knows that as she insisted that she give it to you and even put Jasmine bee honey in it. I don't know were she got that drop of honey but it means you will be at full strength in at most seven days." James stated with a layed back smile.

Looking at Nizhoni she seems both angry and embaresed before growling, "Shazi" before stoming out. "Do you know what shazi means?" I asked James.

"I don't know brother, but I am sure it was an insult and you deserved it." James stated with a laugh.

Looking at this so called "friend" I wish I could kick him but I was far to sore. Deciding to ignore him, I began to plan the design for the blades of my glaive. I had already decided I wanted to have a dual headed glaive with each blade facing in the opposite direction.

After a while I decide to use a blade similar to the messer swords for the design. I will make each blade fourteen inches long. I will also ask a wood mage to help me merge the staff, that is now a unique hybrid of metal and wood, with the two blades I will make so the weapon is one solid whole. All together my glaive will be 7 feet long from one blade tip to the other. With my 6'6" frame this is the perfect length weapon for my martial style to be realesed to its fullest potential.

I will also add powdered mana stones to the metal for the blades which will turn them into a perfect magic foci no different from a wand or mage staff. My weapon will be an astounding 250 pounds.

**********************************************

Today I will advance or die. The advancement for a mage restructured the heart which while painful it only stops the blood for half an hour which is a test of will and if the will is lacking the heart will shatter and kill the practitioner. The stopping of blood is only lethal to mortals and mages will often stop their heart to hide in dangerous places. Knights advance by burning their blood into a more refined version. This process is highly painful and will test the willpower, if you faint you will immediately turn to ash. On top of that you need to consume either pills or blood to keep your blood up during the process.

Eldritch knights go through both at the same instance, even if the only one part of ready to advance. That is why you can only try to advance when both paths are ready. The trouble is that the pain is far more than one plus one is two but instead was equal to ten times the pain of only one advancement. Plus the eldritch knight needed to keep from fainting while suffering blood lose for thirty minutes, as well as the pain before they could take pills to renew the blood. the whole process takes about an hour.

The start of my advancement was completely normal but half way through I noticed vital qi came out from inside me before merging with my heart and body. At first I was confused before I realized this was the particles I had been unable to merge with the Nine Immortals technique back then. Looking inside I realized it had evolved my body into a tier 4 mortal body and was still going up.

At the end of my advancement the last few particles merged gifting me with a tier five mortal body. All of a sudden I was enlightened about the second stage of the Nine Immortals technique. Right as I was about to try to circulate it I fell unconscious again, my last thought being I hope this doesn't become a habit.