In the concept of universal knowledge, Forging is the act of creating weapons or artifacts. There are a lot of ways to do it, but everything falls into two main methods; the physical method and the mystical method.
The physical one is the most common. It's called blacksmithing.
You've probably seen it before. There's an anvil, a hammer and a forge furnace blazing with heat. The metal is heated until it glows and softens just enough to be shaped without breaking. Then comes the hammer which is not just hitting metal until it looks right. Every strike matters. The angle, the force, the rhythm, everything changes how the metal forms. A good blacksmith doesn't just shape the outside. They refine the inside too. They remove impurities, strengthen the structure and make sure the weapon won't shatter the moment it meets something stronger.
Then there's cooling it. If they mess that up, the entire thing cracks. After that, tempering, just to make sure the weapon doesn't stay too brittle.
It's a whole process but even after all that, it's still just a physical weapon. That's where mages come in.
If you want a weapon to actually matter in Spheraphase, you need runes and enchantments. That's what turns a blade into something that can cut through energy, or withstand Divine pressure. So usually, blacksmiths work with mages. One creates the body, the other gives it power. But sometimes, you get people who can do both called Mage blacksmiths.
There's one person who completely dominates that field. Landle Viaca, Adelasta's father, is the best Forger in Spheraphase.
He doesn't just hammer metal and then enchant it later. He uses spells while forging. And the craziest part, he doesn't even need much. Just your blood and your energy is enough for him to make something that matches you perfectly, like it was always meant to be yours.
Every powerful Divine Weapon we know is made by him. So when people talk about blacksmithing, they're talking about creating something that can actually survive in a world like this.
Then there's the second method, the mystical one. Unlike blacksmithing, mystical forging doesn't rely on existing materials. You make your own but to even do that, you need four conditions.
First, you need a metal or crystal creation ability. The material has to come from you.
Second, you need your own forge furnace. And not just any furnace, by the way. You have to make it yourself, using the same material you create. Blacksmiths can just buy or use one. Mystical Forgers don't get that luxury.
Third, you need to be a mage. You have to use runes or spells to enchant your creations while making them.
And fourth, you need to be at least a Ninth Star Mage. That's where most people give up because reaching that level alone is already insane. That's why Mystical Forgers are so rare and why they're so valuable. When someone meets all those conditions, they're so valuable.
Some blacksmiths try to get there. They start using their own materials, making their own furnaces and pushing themselves higher and higher. But until they reach that Ninth Star rank, they're still just blacksmiths.
I stayed floating above the clearing, making sure the hologram remained stable for everyone watching but honestly, even without it, no one would have missed what was happening. The entire expedition had gone quiet in a way that felt almost unnatural for a battlefield that had been nonstop chaos for days, because this wasn't just another moment in the campaign.
The first thing a Mystical Forger creates isn't a weapon and that's something most people get wrong, because the foundation always comes first. The Forge Furnace isn't just a tool or a station like blacksmiths use but a core extension of the forger themselves. It's something that anchors their entire forging system and aligns their material, their energy and their intent into a single controlled environment. Without it, Mystical Forging isn't even possible.
That was exactly what Veneri was about to do.
Almost seven years have passed since we left the First Epoch Cycle and in that time, he didn't just sit around being a Monarch or training his Plenituse Techniques or experimenting with Nanorunes. He also learned forging directly from Landle. He started from the basics as an actual blacksmith, learning how to shape material physically before even touching the mystical side of things. His first creations were Narisva's and Shimmer's Divine Weapons and I still remember how seriously he treated that process.
Now he stood at the center of a clearing surrounded by fifteen thousand Divines, all of them watching him in complete silence, with the four House leaders closer to the front, his siblings nearby, Adelasta beside me and Landle standing slightly apart with his arms folded as if this was just another day for him even though I could tell he was paying attention to every detail.
The battlefield itself had been pushed back for now, because over the past few days, we have been steadily advancing through Technographia without losing a single Divine, which still sounded insane when I thought about it properly. There have been injuries obviously, but nothing lasting because every time we set up camp, Veneri deployed that massive Healing Mystic Circle that covered the entire area like a second sky, restoring everyone in seconds like the damage never happened. The only reason this entire expedition didn't collapse under pressure was because of that and because Anamorsia handled the military formations like she was born for it while Veneri controlled the pace of the expedition itself.
Even with all that, this moment felt bigger than everything we had done so far.
Adelasta shifted slightly beside me and glanced at her father. Her voice was low enough that only those close could hear it.
"How good is he, really?"
Landle didn't answer immediately and that alone already told me he was taking this seriously.
"He has the knowledge. He understands structure, flow and reinforcement. He knows how to integrate runes without destabilizing the material and he has already proven he can forge Divine Weapons."
Adelasta frowned slightly, clearly not satisfied with a technical answer.
"That's not what I meant."
Landle's eyes didn't leave the center.
"Then I will say it simply. He has reached the point where success depends on execution, not understanding."
She was quiet for a second, then asked the only thing that actually mattered.
"So will he succeed?"
Landle finally shifted his gaze slightly, though it still wasn't fully on her.
"If he fails, it will not be because he lacks the ability."
That answer was as honest as it gets coming from him. At the center, Veneri raised his hand and the entire clearing seemed to go silent around that single movement.
It didn't start with flames or force like blacksmithing does, because Mystical Forging doesn't begin with external tools. A deep sapphire glow formed in his palm. The process had started.