9 Chapter IX - Needle

The blue light faded, revealing a shortsword with a thin, straight blade that resembled an actual needle. A thin length of wire was attached to the sword through a small hole at the base of its hilt. It had no guard, which made the hilt and blade seem like just a single piece, making it seem even more like a large needle.

"Now, watch as an artist paints his masterpiece," Eric said to Ultio in a low, serious tone. "If you wouldn't mind," He then said to Jourgen.

Without further prompting, the dwarf put on a pair of black, fireproof gloves and reached into the open section of the wall. A second later, he took out some scales and placed them on the table at the center of the forge.

Mana flowed from the table, activating a bunch of runes inscribed on the sides of the table, causing the scales on it to float into the air and remain suspended, almost like the gravity around it had been set to zero.

"Ah, Runecraft... Quite a skill you've got there, Mister Jourgen," Ultio said laughingly as he immediately identified the runes inscribed onto the table.

"Your knowledge frightens me, Ultio," Jourgen said with a weary sigh, causing Ultio to chuckle slightly.

Meanwhile, Eric took a deep breath and exhaled, then began to twist his hands and fingers almost like he was actually sewing. The needle-like sword in the air mimicked his movements and began to pierce through the scales. Although it was halted by the scales' toughness, it simply began to spin like a drill and went through the tough scales.

"Fascinating," Ultio muttered and narrowed his eyes while watching Eric's unique weapon.

Jourgen laughed, seeing Ultio's fascination with Eric's sword. "Beautiful, isn't it? That's Eric's Phantasm. Known to the world as Needle, it has the ability to stab through anything,"

Ultio frowned slightly and crossed his legs. "What's a Phantasm?"

Jourgen stared at Ultio silently with his mouth slightly agape, and for a few seconds the only sounds in the forge were coming from Eric.

"You seriously don't know what a Phantasm is, do you?" Jourgen said slowly as he stared into Ultio's blue eyes.

"I am certain I had just literally made that clear,"

"Wow... Never thought you wouldn't know about something so... common," Jourgen said with a chuckle.

Ultio remained silent and had no reaction. He simply stared blankly at Jourgen without the slightest bit of emotion.

Ultio's eerily blank look sent a shiver down Jourgen's spine and caused him to gulp audibly. Although there wasn't any negative intention in Ultio's gaze, his glowing blue eyes as well as the way the blue light from the Hel flames illuminated one side of his face, casting a shadow on the other side, made Jourgen feel a threat to his life.

"Ahem," He cleared his throat and quickly changed the direction of the conversation. "A Phantasm is a manifestation of a person's true self and it is summoned by mental energy. The form and power of a Phantasm varies from person to person, and in some cases the Phantasm can evolve based on bloodline and race,"

"In the kid's case, his Phantasm appeared in his mouth when he was born. At that time, it was just a regular needle, but as he grew, so did the sword, and from a two-inch needle it grew into this two-and-half feet long blade,"

Ultio nodded as he listened to Eric's story from Jourgen. "Interesting. And on a scale of one to ten, how powerful do you think 'Needle' is?"

Jourgen let out a breath and thought for a moment before giving his answer.

"Ten,"

Ultio chuckled and leaned back in his chair as he watched Eric carefully. "Interesting,"

At this point, Eric finally let his arms drop to his sides as exhaustion took its hold on him. He looked extremely tired, with bags underneath his eyes. His hair was disheveled and sweat slid down his face and dripped from his chin.

"I need a drink," He said in husky voice and staggered forward, as an automated table brought a tankard filled with mead over to him.

As he drank the mead, Ultio glanced behind him and saw the pants he was working on slowly falling back onto the table. It was black, with three belts on its right shin, added as an accessory along with two full-length belts that wrapped around its waist.

"Like it?" Eric asked after chugging down three full tankards of mead.

Ultio furrowed his brows as he analysed the black pants all the way from his spot on the leather chair. "Well, it certainly is... Belt-y,"

"Yeah, I went with an edgy style for you,"

"Ah, I see," Ultio responded with a nod.

Eric wiped off the rest of his sweat using a handkerchief he had kept in his pocket before resuming his work on the Wyvern scales.

It took a few hours, but Eric did it. He managed to sew an outfit for Ultio using Wyvern scales.

Immediately he finished, he crumpled to the floor and moaned in satisfaction as the automated tables gathered around him and spilt some water on his face, cooling his blistering hot skin. This heat that his skin was emanating was as a result of overheating from using Needle for too long; this was the drawback of Eric's Phantasm.

Meanwhile, after ensuring Eric's safety, both Ultio and Jourgen approached the worktable and admired Eric's work.

"Mm, as expected of my only human friend," Jourgen said with a passionate nod as he admired the apparel on the table.

Ultio lifted the outfit, intending to put it on, but Jourgen suddenly spoke up.

"If I may?" He asked with his hands outstretched, requesting for the masterpiece.

Ultio shrugged and passed the outfit to the dwarf, curious to see what he would do.

As Jourgen received the clothes from Ultio's hand, he placed them back on the table and quickly went over to a small closet to retrieve some things.

When he returned, he was wearing a pair of golden, oddly-shaped goggles, and he was holding a thin, long piece of metal in one hand and a small hammer in the other.

"I saw your interest in my Runecraft skill. There's a particular rune I know, that will keep your outfit pristine as long as you have enough mana to fuel the rune,"

Ultio smirked and leaned forward. "And what would you like in return?"

Jourgen laughed lightly. "It's nothing too much for you. I would just like for you to protect myself and my forge from any danger,"

Since they had met, Ultio had kept on surprising Jourgen with his displays of power and knowledge. He was so impressed that he wouldn't mind trading a very powerful and unique rune for protection by this strange young man.

"Oh. I don't mind," Ultio said lazily and watched carefully as Jourgen began to inscribe the rune into the right breast of the outfit made by Eric.

It barely took half a minute for Jourgen to finish the process, however, he was still drenched in sweat by the time it was over.

"It costs a lot of mana inscribe a single rune," Jourgen explained as he took of the odd goggles and dropped his inscribing tools. "I've got a question for you, Ultio,"

"Ask away,"

Jourgen turned to him and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why did you agree so easily?"

Ultio simply took his outfit up in one arm and began to put it on. "Privacy, if you do not mind, Mister Hreidmar," He said and waited for Jourgen to turn away before he replied. "It's simple; I planned on protecting this forge before you asked. It's a useful structure to have on my side, and I wouldn't mind making sure it stands for as long as I'm on this plane of existence,"

Jourgen chuckled slightly and itched his beard slightly. Although he wasn't looking at Ultio, he could tell that the young man was smirking. 'So basically, he scammed me, didn't he?'

"And no, I did not scam you, as it was you who made the deal, not me," Ultio said from behind Jourgen, almost as if he could read his thoughts.

Jourgen felt someone's hand pat his shoulder, after Ultio spoke, and lightly push him to the side.

Ultio walked past him, dressed in his black, edgy attire. Covering his right was a glove made from solid shadows. The glove was his solution for his Grimm Hand.

His attire consisted of a pair of black pants with three belts around the right shin as well as two other belts around his waist. And then finally, an open, sleeveless leather coat with the sides and front tied shut by black strings. When struck by light at a certain angle, dark hexagonal patterns were visible on the coat– a sign of the material's origins.

Through the front of the coat, Ultio's slender, well-defined abdominal muscles were visible, making him even more 'sexy' and 'attractive' than before.

He adjusted the collar of the coat with his gloved hand and slowly approached the door of the forge. As he reached the large double doors, he turned to look at the two men in the forge.

"Now, gentlemen... We have an eye to acquire,"

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