Soon after Alicia, Shui also left the meeting room and finally went to his hotel room. Despite this being his first time in the room, he didn't bother exploring and focused on finding the personal forge that came with it.
The forge was about the same size as the one he used in the Heaven clan, which was a bit cramped for the established forge masters of Paraj, but it felt just right for him. So that the forge didn't affect the rest of the room, once he closed the door, sound and heat would be trapped inside and exhaust gas would be expelled outside through the hole in the ceiling. Shui felt a little nostalgic as he looked at the room, and Alicia experienced a similar but stronger nostalgia.
"Master..."
"Did you say something, Alia?"
"No. Get your head out of the clouds and take out the materials. Since I'm helping you, I won't accept anything but the best work."
"I don't plan on making a shoddy piece either."
In order to protect Emily, Shui decided to forge a scepter artifact with Alia's help. As a fire spirit, there was no one better than her when it came to controlling the heat, so he was confident that he could forge an item he was satisfied with.
After a couple of moments to adjust his mental state, Shui was ready to begin. Alia waited at the side as Shui took care of the preparations and took over when it was time for melting.
He decided that the core of the rod would be elemental crystals that had been drained of elemental energy. Although these crystals were empty, they had an inherent earth attribute because of their origin.
Next, he used the scales of a lizard high beast to form the casing. These scales possessed faint traces of metal attribute which were nourished by the earth attribute of the elemental crystals. However, leaving the two ingredients alone would divert the purpose of the artifact from support to offense, so Shui then embellished the casing using the blood of a water snake high beast. The blood assumed a crystalline form once it touched the casing, giving the scepter a luxurious appearance.
With the shape and design of the scepter complete, it was time to form the orb that would be held in the empty oval-shaped slot at the top of the scepter. The outer shell of the orb would be made using the bark of a rare-grade tree while the inside would hold the beast core of a high beast well versed in fire-attribute abilities. Refining the orb required not only excellent heat control but also a good understanding of the five element theory to restrain the interaction between the two materials, making this the second hardest part of forging the artifact.
Even with Alia's help, Shui had to enter the Still Heart state in order to complete the orb. Once the orb was finished, he exited the Still Heart state, but he couldn't relax because the last and most difficult step remained. The Still Heart state wouldn't be suitable for this step because there would be too many factors to pay attention to, so Shui revealed his martial intent to Alia. There was still some doubt in his heart, but he believed there was no issue with showing her this much.
By using martial intent, he could reach a state of harmony with the natural world, which boosted his sensitivity to fluctuations of energy and the natural laws. Taking it one step further, he could use his divinity, but there was no need for that this time. Shui carefully inserted the orb into the slot of the scepter and clenched his teeth as he tried to control the eruption of reactions. Earth, metal and water were easy to balance, but with the addition of wood and fire, one misstep would ruin the artifact. It was at this time that Shui used his trump card, Nature's Eternity.
His insights were far from enough to use the Qilin's miracle, but they provided a guideline for him to channel the rampaging energies of the five elements.
"Earth to metal, metal to water, water to wood, wood to fire and back again. Let the cycle of the five elements be unceasing."
Alia's role was complete so she could watch as she Shui handled the final step. When she first heard his idea, she thought he was too ambitious, but it was that kind of ambition that made her excited to lend a hand.
"You had the best forge master of all spirits lend you a hand. You better not disappoint me."
Shui's battle was a silent one, but the conclusion was rather flashy. Once he was finally able to complete the sceptre, it glowed with a rainbow of colours before settling at an ancient silver luster with light blue embellishments. The silver of the orb was darker in shade but a white light blinked from inside it. Despite its splendid design, the scepter seemed ordinary otherwise. He could tell that the artifact had at least reached the spirit-rank, but the natural phenomenon that should have accompanied its creation was also trapped inside the orb, waiting for the scepter's wielder.
"Could this be?"
"I think so. According to your standards, I would say it's blessed tesora-rank."
"Great! I'll call it Dull Harmony," said Shui.
"Well, I guess that's acceptable, but I'm naming the next one," said Alia.
"Sure."
The two showed smiles that expressed their pride and satisfaction in making this blessed tesora-rank artifact. The materials he used would normally only be good enough for a spirit-rank artifact, so being able to make a product one rank above the materials provided was a show of true skill, though he had to give some of the praise to Alia.
While admiring the work, Shui noticed the fatigue that had piled on during its production. When he looked outside, he saw that it was a few hours after dawn, meaning they had worked through the night. Normally this would have no effect on his awareness, but this time he exerted himself, so Shui thought about taking a moment to rest, but then he heard a knock on the door.
"Looks like your new lover is here to pick you up."
"Huh?"
As a result of accumulating fatigue, Shui was in no mood to welcome guests, but when he checked who was at the door with his spiritual sense, he found Alicia. Since she waved when his spiritual sense reached her, he couldn't claim to be asleep and she would be useful in finding Emily, so he resigned himself.
"She's not my lover, but she probably is here to pick me up."
After a self-cleansing spell and a change of clothes, Shui opened the door and greeted her.
"Good morning, Alicia. I assume you're here because of Emily's certification exam."
"Good morning, Shui. That's right. I was worried you had forgotten since you didn't show up at the entrance."
"I see. Sorry about that, I was busy making something. But why didn't you wonder if I simply left without you?"
"Fufufu. Let's just say you can't escape from my eyes that easily."
Alicia spoke in a playful tone, but Shui got the feeling that she wasn't joking.
[You should be careful, boy. If you treat her lightly, you'll end up as her prisoner.]
[I don't even want to know what you mean by that.]
After swallowing the slight feeling of unease, Shui closed the door behind him and left with Alicia. He sensed some other presences around her, but they seemed to be her guards, so he ignored them.