Moonice

Noon.

Cien who is still busy concocting the antidote for the Lusting poison. Suddenly, he noticed that the alchemy room was starting to dim.

He glanced behind him, looking at the central part of the room where the alchemy circuits were processing the assimilation of the rapier and various materials.

"Finally done, huh..."

Cien finished the batch of antidote he was making. Only then did he approach the rapier lying on the floor.

Cien reached for the rapier's hilt, but as soon as one of his fingers touched it, his finger froze.

"..."

Cien immediately realized that the effects of the Heart of Ice still lingered.

The reason the alchemy room didn't freeze was because of his shop's influence, which suppressed the material's power. However, touching it directly was a different matter.

Cien then put on his gloves before taking hold of the sword. Not much had changed in the rapier's form, except one Mana Core displayed on the hilt.

Cien swung the rapier several times, feeling its balance and weight.

'Nice...'

Cien thought. He hadn't checked the status of his new creation yet, as there was one more task he needed to complete to perfect the sword—making the sheath.

Until now, Cien had always crafted a normal sword sheath. But this time, it was different. He wanted to make the sheath special, unlike any before.

After realizing that the effects of the Heart of Ice still lingered and affected the surroundings, Cien knew the sword sheath should be made special too, so it can contain the rapier's power.

Cien took a block of Hellteak wood and began measuring the sword, copying them onto the wooden surface. He then cut and carved the wood.

Once finished, Cien dipped the half-finished sword sheath in a mixture of Fenrir's blood and Snow Tiger Monster Core powder.

Approximately three hours later, most of the liquid had been absorbed by the sheath.

Cien lifted it and let it drain, revealing a black sword sheath with a faint blue aura. He then went to the workshop. This time, he carved magical circles on the surface of the sheath.

After completing the magical circles, Cien attached four pieces of Mana Cores to the sheath: three on the right side and one on the left. The size of the single Mana Core on the left was equivalent to three Mana Cores on the right.

With the attachments done, Cien colored the carved magic circles using the remaining blood and monster core solution. While coloring, he chanted a spell to connect one magic circle to another.

The final line was drawn, and the sheath suddenly emitted a bright light, dazzling Cien's unprepared eyes.

"Damn it!"

After a moment, the light dimmed.

The glowing sheath now presented itself with a majestic appearance. It was black with various light blue magical circles adorning it.

"Whoa... cool..."

Even Cien couldn't help but praise his own work. He smiled to himself, complimenting himself in his heart.

Cien then took the rapier and placed it into the new sheath.

"Fuuu..."

The rapier was finally completed. Cien took out his phone and checked the resulting status.

Looking at the stats, Cien should be satisfied. However, there was something bothering him deep down. It seemed like something was missing compared to the Crimsonagin he had before.

Cien tried to recall. This missing element made him less confident, even though the rapier's status seemed more than enough.

He then checked the data about Crimsonagin on his phone, wanting to reconfirm.

Sure enough, at the very bottom of the data, there was a note indicating that Crimsonagin was still superior because it could still evolve.

"There's a dragon soul in Crimsonagin."

Cien had forgotten about this entirely. But what could he do? He almost forgot about it because the soul had not awakened yet.

"A soul? Does it have something to do with the death element?" Cien pondered.

He then recalled that the dragon soul was most likely in Crimsonagin due to the blood used in the weapon's creation, specifically during the alchemical assimilation process.

"Then why isn't there a soul residing in this sword?"

Cien looked at the rapier in his hand, wondering if the soul was crucial for a weapon.

He wasn't sure, but from what he read in his past novels, weapons with their own soul or consciousness usually had better prospects.

"Hmm, maybe it's because Fenrir is still alive, so there's no soul to reside here?"

Cien mumbled, realizing that this time he used Fenrir's blood while Fenrir was still alive.

He then pondered whether there were qualifications for a soul to be able to reside in a weapon.

"If the soul in Crimsonagin is not much different from those wandering out there, can I take one and put it directly in here?"

Cien formed another hypothesis in his mind. There was no recipe on his phone that instructed how to deliberately insert a soul into a weapon.

In the phone's recipes, all the souls that successfully resided in weapons were considered a stroke of luck, not something intentional.

But Cien began to think that those recipes were created for someone who was a weapon artist, whether a skilled blacksmith, a craftsman, or an alchemist.

Therefore, the phone system didn't account for users who could wield Death Magic.

Moreover, when Cien received the game app, he didn't possess Death Magic or any knowledge of its existence.

However, now that Cien knew about the death element, he realized that there might be a new way of crafting weapons that he could create with his own hands.

"Let's give it a try."

Without hesitation, Cien immediately went to his backyard. He looked at several familiar souls, contemplating which one he would attempt to use, until his eyes settled on a Moon Rabbit soul.

"Moon..."

For some reason, the name of the cute rabbit monster felt fitting for his rapier. He captured the soul using death manipulation and then brought it to the alchemy room.

Cien wasn't sure which alchemy circuit to use. However, recalling the incident with Crimsonagin, he decided to replicate the magic circle that had processed the Lesser Earth Dragon's blood.

He connected that circle to another magic circle that would hold the receiving object on top of it, which in this case was the rapier.

But when Cien was about to place the rapier, he started to hesitate. In the end, he only put the sword sheath in the circle.

He then put the Moon Rabbit soul in the previous circle and connected them both with Mana Cores as energy.

Cien activated the alchemy circuit.

The circle lit up and began the assimilation process. It didn't take long, only about five minutes until the circuit completed the assimilation process.

Cien frowned, and with a pounding heart, he reached for the sword sheath and checked the results on his phone screen.

"! ... Yosh!"

Success! Cien never expected that he would succeed on his first try.

He felt like he had achieved something impossible, something he thought of himself and had never been done in Kastia. He was overwhelmed with happiness and pride.

Not to mention that the status of the sword sheath exceeded his expectations.

Cien wanted to insert the soul into the sword, but he managed to restrain himself.

He felt that to make the weapon stronger, he needed a stronger soul, not just the usual monster souls wandering around his backyard.

"Let's do it another time."

This way, for the time being, the rapier for Kirana was complete.

__________

[Moonice]

Quality: Very High

Rarity: Legendary

Skills: Absolute Zero, Moon Supremacy, Ice Body Regeneration, Might of the King.

Sub-Skills: Frozen Counter, Absorb Cold.

Moon Rabbit Soul: Immortal Blessing, Moon Zone.

A rapier made from the rare materials Heart of Ice and Mythril.

During the assimilation process, Moonice absorbed Fenrir's blood, granting the weapon a small blessing from the Moon Goddess. The user of Moonice will rapidly increase in power when under the moonlight.

Moonice has miraculously acquired a soul, making this weapon possess its own personality. The user can communicate telepathically with the soul residing within.

Note: As Moonice is a weapon with a personality, a blood contract between the wielder and the weapon is required to unleash its full power.

Crafted by Cien Millard.

__________

"Hahaha, this is truly beyond my expectations!"

Not only did Cien successfully infuse a soul into Moonice, but the soul also didn't remain dormant like the one in Crimsonagin.

With this, Cien realized that a "soul" could grant its own power to the weapon.

He became genuinely curious about Crimsonagin's strength when the dragon soul within it awakened.

Now, let's talk about the skills.

First, Absolute Zero. This skill causes every touch from Moonice to freeze the enemy completely. It makes this skill highly lethal—if it grazes an opponent, their life will be instantly taken away.

Second, Moon Supremacy. This skill was formed due to the small blessing from the Moon Goddess, granting the user tremendous strength when the moon is in the sky. Moreover, it also affects the user's opponents, preventing them from using mana while the skill is active.

Third, Ice Body Regeneration. This skill can turn the user's body into ice. The user can heal any wounds they receive as long as they have mana remaining.

Fourth, Might of King. A skill similar to Fenrir's. It instills terror in those whose power level is below the user.

In addition to the main skills, since the sword sheath was also crafted uniquely, Moonice possesses Sub-Skills.

First, the Frozen Counter. There are three Mana Cores in the sword sheath for this skill. With one Mana Core, any enemy attack received by the user will freeze.

Second, Absorb Cold. The sheath is used to seal the cold air from the sword, preventing it from escaping. But it can also be used to absorb cold air from the surroundings (other than Moonice) and convert it into mana for the user.

Finally, the skills from the Moon Rabbit soul.

First, Immortal Blessing. When the Moon Rabbit soul is summoned, for one minute, the user cannot be killed by any attack, no matter how powerful. This can only be used once a week.

Second, the Moon Zone. It can create a night zone with a full moon in a fifty-meter radius around the user. This can only be used once a week.

<Kukuku, you've truly created something extraordinary, my Cien.>