Infinite Realm

*Whoosh*

A black flame appeared in Sato's furnace, swallowing up the previous orange-red flame while giving off an absurdly hot temperature.

'Success.' Sato's eyes shone as he held the hilt of a blue-coloured sword.

Right after the vice-president of the Blacksmith guild, Kolin had stated that a mystery flame was a part of a blacksmith's skills, freeing Handel from the accusations of the public while also giving him an advantage in the contest, Sato had thought of an idea. 

By basic definition, a mystery was a flame that had surpassed the level of a regular flame, gaining special attributes and much higher intensity and temperature than normal flames. So technically, certain special flames in existence can be classified as a mystery flame, for example, the black flames of the cursed sword [Drakken].

When Sato had thought of using the cursed black flames to create Halocles' Scythe, the urge to try it out was born and he couldn't resist it. [Drakken]'s flames had an obvious limitation; it couldn't last long outside of the sword. This problem was one Sato had been thinking of how to solve but the solution was very obvious and easy. 

Furnace flames were maintained by using special combustibles and fuels, magic crystals, and unique formations to maintain them, so Sato theorised that the same could be applied to [Drakken]'s flames. The only issue was how to draw out the flames.

The process of doing this was anything but complex as he could simply use the skill [Black Flame Slash] to unleash a patch of black flames into the furnace. But that would require Sato to draw out the sword as channeling the skill through his body was a risky act that he didn't want to try. However, exposing the sword to the public could lead to his identity as Sky-Blade being traced to his character as the Cloudsmith, and this was something Sato didn't want to see happen. Luckily, the pretty much useless feline, Milo, turned up. 

Ever since Sato had picked it up from the Maldora Canyon, Milo had barely made an appearance. It wasn't that Sato had stopped it from doing so but that the feline had found a way to enter his space ring and had turned the entire place into its home, lazying inside and not interacting with the outside world. It was only now when Sato was in dilemma on how to sneak out [Drakken] that the creature had decided to do some work. Milo had waved a paw over the sword and the sword had magically changed its physical appearance to the current blue sword in Sato's hands. 

With no worry about his identity being revealed, Sato freely took out the sword and released the black flame. But he never expected it to swallow up the orange-red flame in the furnace.

'Oh well.' Sato sighed as he couldn't do anything about it.

Ignoring the shocked stares of the contestants beside him, Sato focused on his task.

'He also has a mystery flame?' Floating Mirage gazed at Sato with wide eyes.

He had previously thought that what separated him from the famed Cloudsmith was simply a slight difference in skills, which wasn't much of a problem as it could be made up with time. However, seeing his 'rival' pull out a blue sword that spat out a black flame, Floating Mirage realised that the difference between them didn't just lay in skills.

'I've lost this round.' Floating Mirage sighed as he decided to take a break.

It was decided by a majority of contestants that without a mystery flame, trying to forge Halocles' Scythe was a dream, and so far, there were only two players with it; Handel and Sato. Since this was an agreed fact, Floating Mirage felt that there was no reason to bother with the contest anymore and decided to just watch Handel and Sato. 

"That kid also has a mystery flame?"

All the other contestants were shocked at the appearance of the black flames on Sato's furnace. Even the Practitioner rank blacksmiths and the masters were surprised. What was even more astonishing was that the veterans in the field couldn't recognise the flame.

"Old friend, do you know what flame that is?" The old man without a beard asked his comrade.

"I don't. do you?" The bearded old man asked while still staring at Sato's furnace.

"Are you an idiot or what? If I knew, would I be asking you?" The other old man sighed.

"I don't know what flame that is but I'm pretty sure that it's stronger than that kid Handel's Lazuli flame." The bearded man said.

"I agree too. The question is, is it stronger in terms of stage or rank?" The other old man dropped his teacup gently on the table as he tried to calm his mind.

"He needs to be protected and raised carefully. He will be a great blacksmith one day." The bearded man suddenly leaned on his chair as he stroked his beard.

"I call dibs." The two men suddenly spoke at the same time.

"Oh? Didn't you just get an apprentice 7 years ago? Are you sure you can handle one more?" The bearded old man asked his companion.

"You don't have to worry about me. You, on the other hand, have no experience in teaching others. It would be a waste if that kid lands in your hand so why don't you step down from this challenge, okay?" 

The two old men had suddenly gone at odds with each other as they struggled for Sato. However, they weren't the only ones considering getting Sato under their umbrella, as there were a couple of other blacksmiths that felt they had a chance. Even Kolin was having thoughts about getting Sato to work under him.

'However, we have to see whether he can succeed or not.'

Having a mystery flame was just a prerequisite to completing the scythe and not a confirmation of success. In the end, everything would still come down to the blacksmith's skills and his affinity with the flame. Regarding skills, Sato was almost there but not entirely, and when talking about his affinity to the flame, Handel had the upper hand as he has had the Lazuli flame for over 5 years. 

From a single glance, Kolin was able to see that Sato had beginner-level control over the flame and this might even be his second or third time doing so, but not more than 5 times. Funny enough, Kolin was right but also wrong because this was actually the first time Sato was using [Drakken]'s black flames to forge.

It was a well-known fact that during the Blacksmith tournament, Apprentice blacksmiths with good potential could be picked up by a Practitioner or a Master blacksmith to follow in their footsteps. This was one of the reasons why a lot of apprentices participated in the tournament.

At another spot in the VIP area…

"Not only are his skills amazing but he's also in possession of a mystery flame?" The middle-aged man who sat beside Galvin couldn't help but exclaim.

"Even I am surprised. I never knew he would be hiding this much." Galvin was also surprised.

"Doesn't matter whether you knew or not. We have to make sure that this kid doesn't get into the Blacksmith guild's hands or we might lose him." The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes.

Unknown to Sato, while all of these went on, he had already begun his second attempt at the Halocles' Scythe after completing his preparations.