“Th-this is impossible…!”
The knights who arrived at Bakuba Volcano could not close their mouths.
“What on earth happened here?”
“It looks as though there was an enormous battle.”
“Where is Young Master Ikael?”
An enormous crow lay dead at the foot of Bakuba Volcano.
The demonic beast crow, half burned by lava, looked terrifying, like an incarnation that had clawed its way out of a grave.
That was not all.
An incredible number of crows lay dead around Bakuba Volcano.
They could not tell whether the substance flowing across the ground was magma or demonic beast blood.
“Urgh.”
It was a revolting sight.
Ominously, Ikael was nowhere to be seen.
They all shared the same thought.
‘There is no way Young Master Ikael is alive!’
There was no way Ikael could have survived in Bakuba, a mountain hell.
“Search the area first!”
“Yes!”
The knights climbed the volcano intending to at least find Ikael's body.
‘Volcanic Blacksmith Denta may know something.’
At last, the knights reached the forge in the volcanic cave.
But they were startled once more.
“Y-Young Master Ikael!”
Ikael lay slack and asleep inside the cave.
“Why is Young Master Ikael here?!”
“Young Master is alive! Hurry and attend to him!”
The knights were happy, but also deeply shocked.
‘Young Master Ikael is this unharmed?’
They had been despairing at the prospect of finding Ikael's crushed corpse.
Yet Ikael's body had only a few scratches and burn marks. He was far too unharmed.
It was difficult to believe that he had taken a trial at Bakuba Volcano.
“Young Master Ikael, please wake up. We have come from Bronze Castle!”
Then a voice like clanging iron came from deeper within the cave.
“Leave Young Master alone. He has broken a few bones.”
It was Volcanic Blacksmith Denta.
“Blacksmith, what happened? How did Young Master Ikael…”
The knights trailed off, unable to ask how he was still alive.
“How is he alive and so unharmed?”
“Th-that is not…”
The knight, having been struck at the heart of the matter, stammered.
“Ask Young Master Ikael yourself when he wakes up. Even I am surprised!”
Denta glanced at a crow's fang propped in one corner.
It was the crow's tooth Ikael had insisted on cutting off.
‘This is the first time I have seen an eleven-year-old this reckless.’
Recalling what had happened earlier, Denta shivered all over.
‘I never predicted it. To think he would split a demonic beast crow in two!’
It was a two-star demonic beast.
It would take more than ordinary strength to fight something like that.
‘Yet Young Master Ikael did it!’
Denta had seen it clearly.
The crow's flesh scatters through the air, and the Aura Blade in Ikael's hand.
‘An eleven-year-old boy created an Aura Blade. No, should I be more surprised by how fearlessly he charged at a demonic beast crow?’
Denta understood the meaning of a sword to a child of Recrit.
But how could Ikael throw his body into danger so fearlessly?
‘Is it a young master's rashness?’
No.
Denta shook his head.
Rashness was a word for children who charged in without knowing any better.
When it was backed by one's own strength, it was not rashness.
‘It is called courage.’
Denta picked up his hammer and began to forge the sword in earnest.
CLANG! CLAAANG!
The thunderous hammering rang through the forge. It made the knights cover their ears.
Unbothered, Denta spoke.
“I am quite busy. I want to have the sword ready before Young Master wakes up.”
Ikael was still a young boy.
It was too early to entrust the seventh Demon Sword to him.
‘But I still have high hopes.’
CLANG! CLAAANG!
Denta's hands quickened.
It might be too early now, but one day, Ikael would grow into a splendid owner of the seventh Demon Sword.
Ikael could do it.
‘Raw courage to charge at a demonic beast, and sharpness and delicacy enough to cut teeth like steel. How can I contain that in a single sword?’
Without stopping the hand that held his hammer, Denta sank into thought.
‘Young Master Ikael must realize that he himself is the greatest sword!’
Denta's eyes gleamed.
It had been a very long time since the greatest blacksmith had put his heart into his hammering.
CLANG! CLANG!
The thunderous hammering that rang through the forge was praise offered to the owner of the seventh Demon Sword.
***
Ikael's eyes were closed.
THUMP. THUMP.
His entire body pulsed with the beating of his veins.
Realizing that his heart was beating more strongly than ever, Ikael looked down.
WHOOO—
A red ring wrapped around his heart and rotated as if guarding it.
It was Ikael's first Aura Circle.
It resembled the iris of Desert Dragon Pkelon, and Ikael reached out to grasp it.
At that moment.
BANG, BANG!
“Mmm.”
The sound of iron tearing at Ikael's ears reached him. It was Volcanic Blacksmith Denta's hammering.
“Oh, Young Master, are you awake?”
At Denta's rough voice, Ikael opened his eyes.
‘Was it a dream?’
Ikael faintly frowned.
As if regretting that he had failed to grasp the Aura Circle, he clenched empty air.
“Mmm, when did I return to the forge?”
Looking around, he found himself inside the forge of Bakuba Volcano.
Other than nearly dying while fighting the demonic beast crow, he did not remember much.
BANG, BANG!
The beat of his heart was drowned out by Denta's hammering and grew faint.
Ikael shook his head and roused his senses.
‘How much of it was a dream?’
Could the first Aura Circle he had gained with such difficulty have been only a dream? Perhaps even bringing forth the Aura Blade had been a dream.
But the moment he placed a hand over his heart, Ikael realized.
WHOOO—
It felt as though a small storm was swirling within his body.
It was unmistakably an Aura Circle.
‘I finally succeeded in forming my first Aura Circle.’
Ikael slowly savored the Aura as though it were alive.
He had escaped death, yet he felt more strength in his body than ever.
A smile spread across Ikael's lips.
“Young Master, you look cheerful. Did you have a pleasant dream?”
“Yes, though you woke me up. Can't you hammer a little more softly, Denta?”
“What are you talking about? You slept perfectly well for three days and nights!”
“Three days and nights?”
Ikael looked around in surprise.
“Do not move too much, Young Master. You have broken five bones.”
“Ugh.”
As if to prove Denta's words, terrible pain ran through every part of Ikael's body.
His battered body had been strained by containing a powerful Aura Circle.
“Tell me honestly, Young Master. How many Stars have you achieved now?”
“What?”
“Ordinary children of Recrit reach One Star before coming to Bakuba Volcano. But you, Young Master—how many Stars are you?”
Ikael wondered how he should answer.
Since he had defeated the demonic beast crow alone, he had to be at least a Two-Star Knight now.
But that was by the standard of knights who gathered Aura in their dantian.
Only one Desert Aura Circle had been formed, so by Ikael's own standard, it was right to call himself One Star.
“You are not about to say One Star, are you?”
“…That is right.”
“W-what?”
“I am a One-Star Knight now.”
“Good heavens!”
Denta was bewildered.
At Ikael's level, he had naturally expected him to be around a Three-Star Knight.
But Ikael's expression was utterly serious.
Denta was not the only one surprised. Ikael was just as surprised.
‘Only my first Aura Circle has formed.’
With a single Aura Circle, he had fought the demonic beast crow.
‘They say Desert King Pkelon possessed as many as seven Aura Circles in his heart. And each one held immense power.’
One Aura Circle corresponded to about one and a half stars by a knight's standards.
Ikael closed his eyes and felt his Aura Circle.
He could clearly feel the small typhoon whirling in his heart.
When the Aura Circles became two, three, or even more, he could not imagine how strong he would become.
‘The Aura of Desert Dragon Pkelon.’
His heart raced at that power, which could only be measured by the word legend.
“In any case, you worked hard, Young Master. You did well.”
“Does that mean I've proven that I'm qualified to receive a sword?”
‘Proven?’
Denta thought silently.
The word proof was not right.
It was a word fit only for someone in the position of being evaluated.
Compared with what Ikael had accomplished, it was far too shabby a word.
“Rather than proof, call it confirmation. A confirmation that you are Recrit.”
“Yes.”
Ikael grinned.
For Denta, who revered Recrit, to say such a thing—Ikael knew there could be no greater praise.
Ikael received two swords from Denta.
One was the seventh Demon Sword, and the other was a longsword.
“Why are there two swords?”
“Your sword fell into the lava and melted. I made you a new longsword.”
“Wow…”
An exclamation escaped Ikael's lips as he examined the longsword.
“I melted the crow's fang down with molten iron and made a longsword from it. Lord Exitor also used a sword made from the same material until he was fifteen, so it will be quite useful.”
‘No, this is more than merely useful.’
In his previous life, Ikael had held a sword as though it were an arm. At a glance, he recognized the longsword's true worth.
It was a famous sword that shone like the moon.
Its blade was sharp, as though the iron had been forged to its limit.
It could inflict a fatal wound with the slightest touch, yet despite its terrifying power, its appearance was as pure as a snow crystal.
The longsword's hilt was delicately decorated with the crow's wing bones.
This famous sword, which looked like a sculpture at a glance, had been made by Denta's rough hands. It was impossible to believe.
“Old man, no wonder you are the blacksmith of Bakuba Volcano.”
Hearing those words, Denta smiled in satisfaction.
Ikael stroked the blade two or three times.
The cold energy of the sword passed directly into his hand.
Like a winter pond covered in cold frost, this sword more than deserved the praise of a famous sword.
“…But, old man.”
“Yes?”
“Why is the Demon Sword like this?”
Ikael narrowed his eyes.
The seventh Demon Sword.
Although Volcanic Blacksmith Denta had worked on it, the Demon Sword looked as rough as it had at the start.
“Are you short of materials, old man? Should I catch more crows?”
The Demon Sword's hilt alone was finely carved with rare crow talons, brimming with the majesty of an emperor's grip.
But was that all he had made before leaving it unfinished?
The Demon Sword's blade was pitifully shabby.
The important part was the blade, yet it looked no more than a raw lump of scrap iron.
“Old man, be honest. Did you ruin the Demon Sword while forging it, then give me this sword instead?”
SWISH—
Without realizing it, Ikael raised the longsword.
As though he were about to test it on Denta right away.
“N-no! What are you saying!”
Denta shrieked.
“This sword is the greatest masterpiece of my life!”
The seventh Demon Sword.
Denta carefully stroked the sword that looked no more than a lump of scrap iron.
‘This is not a mere sword. It will become Young Master Ikael's loyal companion.’
Denta's eyes gleamed.