Man of Steel

Kyogai sat upon the tempered steel which he have been pounding after sometime. Beads of sweat is flowing on his cheeks. From his crimson eyes, one could see sadness within. He could only sigh as he remembered the past events in his life.

For once in his life, he have never stared at other's eyes. Due to the fact that he is a mutant, a terrible amalgation of demon and celestial monster. He was strong, but he was kind. His mentality is unlike any other beings, because even though he's lived for two hundred years, he was still considered a ten-year-old. Kyogai wants nothing but to play with other children. But instead, he was being feared. Every children run away from him whenever they saw him, mocking him as a demon.

Due to his hideous appearance and crimson eyes, he was always casted by the society. Judged as a monster of a terrible race which is very much despised here in the Heavens. Thus, he could be no more than a slave, to receive punishment and follow his master's footsteps like a dog. After a long day of dragging steel, he must rest quickly. For the next job will be much harder.

"Kyogai! What are you doing there? Did I tell you to rest?! Come and start refining!" His boss shouted across the forging room. He quickly obliged and headed there.

His master is waiting with an annoyed expression. He was a Draconian, the mighty race of the dragons. They have have the authorary speech because of their superior bloodline among any other monster clan. Thus, Kyogai was very much afraid of him. He entered with a low head even though he was much taller, he dared not look at his master's eyes.

"We have thirty-six steel here. They are no ordinary because they are made up of titanium. Forge these steel here quickly so we could install the seventh layer of the Camp. I'll be back as soon as I can. Remember to cut the steel in proper proportion, but do not install them yet. Also, if you are done quickly, you may rest while waiting."

"Yes, master." He nodded. He was just been the apprentice of this Draconian blacksmith for thirty years. His master was kind when he was obedient, but have a very bad temperament when he fails even a tiny bit. He wants no less than absolute perfection. After all, the Draconian race was looked upon by others thus, they work very meticulously. Kyogai has been long used to this.

The master left and he was alone in the forging room. He looked around. The room was very tiny but has a very wide entrance. A big fireplace at the corner and stacks of hammers and anvil filled up the corners of the room. He easily lifted up the 300 kilo steel and brought it to the fireplace. The steel was an impure one. Its metallic elements are not properly mixed. Thus, he must melt the steel again to refine it.

He started a fire underneath a huge cauldron. The fire was no ordinary. It has the shade of green. Unlike ordinary flames, it was much smaller but is more condensed. Thus when you touch it, you can feel as if you are touching liquid. Aside from that, the heat was very much concentrated on the flame itself. It may reach a temperature of up to 70, 000 degree calcein, enough to melt the strongest of metals. But more than heat, it contains the rare element of nature, explaining its green color. The element of nature is capable of balancing two opposite energies and amalgate them into one. They were commonly used in blacksmithing as they can refine the steel and remove its impurities.

The cauldron on the other hand is not a rare material. It was just been tempered as a higher state of metal so as not to melt against the green flames. Further more, a white runes were installed on its surface to maximize the internal temperature. The steel of titanium was placed inside. Usually, any steel would melt instantly at a visible rate. But not this one. The titanium was actually hard. It did not show any reaction to the raging heat.

Kyogai added more fuel on the fireplace together with one more green stone. The fire blazed intensely, doubling in size. But it's still not enough to add any reaction to the steel. Surprised, he grabbed another green stone to triple the input heat. Finally, the steel starts melting. But it was still slow as a burning candle. Sighing, he decided to do something while waiting.

He went into the Camp where they were currently working on. The camp was a few miles away but due to his incredible speed, he reached it in two minutes.

Placed between the rows of trees on a grassy field, the camp was in fact the most spectacular building he's ever seen yet. Even though it looked no mere than a ruined building, it still is looked rather handsome to him. Particularly the inside, where sets of machines and wires were installed in a messy manner. Starting from the entrance, the big generator welcomes. Built by the craftest engineers and workers including him, it took them two years to complete such output. The generator was the main heart of all these machines and transformers lying about. Usually, the generator is whirring loud static noises as it spins and spins its turbine to generate power. Then all these machines and stuff would be blazing with electricity. The entire building then would come to life to run the third runway of Heavenly Tribulation.

At the center of the building is a whole ring of a portal and which is glowing with powerful blue runes. A long cylindrical barrier was also installed around the circle to prevent the tribulations from diverging. The Tribulations came from the higher Heavens which only celestial beings could summon. They will run through this portal right here and the portal will direct it to the mortal realm.

Kyogai and everybody else was startled by the sudden release of powerful crimson beacons which bombarded the portal. The portal was nearly fried because of over resistance. But another one more powerful than the last came crushing once more. The barrier cracked obviously and as the portal can't take it anymore, it was destroyed in mere seconds. The purple tribulations then spread out across the building, destroying every equipment in sight and even spread out to the surroundings. If one of them were touched by the tribulation; they would die certainly. Thankfully, the building has strong foundations and haven't collapsed. Otherwise, the entire camp would came crushing down and they would be blamed for that. Kyogai and his master were sent to start repairing the foundations of the building to prevent any accidents. Kyogai and his master worked for tireless hours; starting from the twelfth layer. Now, they would work the seventh layer. However, the bosses stated they must use other types of metal so as not to melt easily under the strong pressure of tribulations. Furthermore, the type of steel to be used must not be an electromagnetic type, one which was easily flowed by electricity or affected by any magnetic fields. Titanium might be the best solution.

As Kyogai was measuring up the proper lengths of spaces, he looked down to the portal. It was glowing very dim, like it will die any minute. The portal was deep below the ground thus the poor lighting. But Kyogai has sharp sense of sight. From his night vision, he could make out a figure of someone lying on there.

"Hmm?" He observed properly. Surely, the silhouette was faint but it was still there. Kyogai was worried who might have fallen in there. He looked up. Maybe someone from the higher Heavens have fallen? There could only be one way to confirm the answer.

He leaped down levels. His feet creating bang sounds as he landed. Then he reached the first level. He looked down. There was indeed... a woman. She was dressed like a phoenix and her long hair spread out. She was unconscious. Blood is seeping out of her nose and mouth. The first impression of his is that she is too beautiful. Kyogai is sure that she came from up above and must be terribly injured.

But he wouldn't know what to do. He hesitated if he must help her or not. If he did, he might be punished for daring to touch a celestial. But if he didn't help, she might be in bigger trouble.

"Sigh..."

He made a decision. Helping others is a duty of a heavener. Especially since he was only a servant and she was a princess. The higher-ups might get angry to him. But at least his conscience is clear cause he helped the injured. Kyogai carried her on his back and leaped back to the entrance. When he got outside, he run as fast as possible, not to the camp but to his own house.