Birth of the Demonic Sword

Noah had managed to complete the prototypes of the fake Bloodline Inheritances in those months, but there was an issue that prevented him from improving his expertise further.

Since the prototypes came from beasts of different species, there would be slight variations in their creation. So, Noah had to decide which kinds gave birth to the best products and specialize in that process.

Yet, only actual tests could solve his doubts. There was a limit to how much the Divine Deduction technique could calculate.

Thirty-seven understood that the testing phase had already reached that point and contacted Flying Demon before exiting the mansion and preparing a few marks on the ground of the dimension. The insides the couple's quarters, and the area around it were simply too dirty to build formations.

Noah came out too and made a quick trip to the wilderness to submit a few heroic beasts in the lower tier. He made sure that they belonged to different species to test all the variabilities of his fake Bloodline Inheritance.

When he returned inside the separate dimension, Flying Demon was already drawing on top of the marks left by the automaton.

Noah's decision to contact the Demon wasn't casual. The testing phase still saw only rank 4 materials, which meant that any inscription master in the heroic ranks could complete the task. Yet, those experiments involved creations that could increase the power of the Hive as a whole, other than giving it the monopoly over an incredible resource.

Noah would work only with experts that he trusted.

The formation ideated by Thirty-seven was quite peculiar. Flying Demon had to modify certain lines according to the magical beast involved in the procedure and use its blood as a core material for specific inscriptions. Also, it used the heart of the creature too, making it rather expensive for a formation on that level.

The testing phase though had just started. Thirty-seven and Noah had yet to perfect their methods, and there were aspects of the procedure that they could tune only after acquiring empirical data.

"Let's start with the ape-type," Noah said and growled to bring the tall ape in his group of beasts forward.

The fact that he could control magical beasts wasn't surprising after his hybrid status became renowned. The Demon just gazed at the ape for a few seconds before focusing again on the formation to tune it to the creature's shape.

Noah handed a fake Bloodline Inheritance to Flying Demon and sat at the borders of the formation, leaving the rest of the experiments in the duo's hands. His knowledge of the inscription method was too shallow to help, but his time would come toward the end.

Flying Demon materialized what seemed to be a petal made of ice and killed the ape that had just entered the formation. Its blood flowed inside specific lines that lit up and activated other mechanisms of the inscriptions.

Those lines spread on the corpse too and searched for its heart. The core of the creature began to burn from inside its body. Thirty-seven observed it for a while before giving a signal to the Demon.

Flying Demon quickly removed the corpse of the beast at that point, and the formation began to shine with a pale-red color. The light became denser, and the image of an ape soon took form in the air above the inscriptions.

Thirty-seven turned toward Noah when the figure emitted its first roar. It was his time to submit the will of the beast.

Noah had fought mental battles before his dantian had formed. Defeating the will of a creature in the fourth rank wasn't an issue even if the fight was outside of his sea of consciousness.

His mental waves surrounded the ethereal ape and assaulted it from every direction, piercing its figure in multiple spots. The beast crumbled after only one offensive, and Flying Demon promptly threw the dark-red crystal at the center of the formation.

The shining dust released by the defeated creature converged in the fake Bloodline Inheritance and filled its insides. The crystal began to shine with a strange light that flashed from time to time.

It seemed that the will of the beast didn't like to stay inside that container, but it couldn't escape since it was just dense mental energy. Its behavior was only something that the modified version of the Body-inscription spell had condensed.

Noah picked the crystal and began to study it. There were no abnormalities in its functioning. It appeared that he had succeeded in copying yet another center of power.

However, Noah wasn't satisfied with only one test.

He had managed to create a dozen fake Bloodline Inheritance using three of the most populous kinds of beasts in the Hive's domain, namely ape-types, worm-types, and tiger-types creatures. Yet, he had to decide which of them gave birth to the best containers before specializing in the procedure and attempting to create a rank 5 version of that item.

Thirty-seven and Flying Demon agreed with his plan and proceeded to perform more tests with the other beasts that Noah had gathered.

The three of them completed a total of eleven formations, ending up with eight contained magical beasts' wills. The fake Bloodline Inheritances created with the blood and brain of the tiger-type creatures weren't able to accommodate even the will of a similar being. They broke apart after storing it for a few minutes.

As for the other two types, they seemed to work almost perfectly.

The automaton and Flying Demon waited for Noah to give his evaluation. They weren't suited to judge creations that they barely understood, and Noah was the only one able to tell the subtle differences between those similar results.

There was a reason why Noah had limited his gathering of blood and brains to the populous species. He needed an almost endless source of materials that shared similar properties so that he wouldn't need to adapt the forging every time.

Nevertheless, he hesitated when it came to deciding which material was better between the two kinds.

It wasn't that Noah was confused about their performance. He knew which one of the materials had behaved better in the form of a center of power. However, he couldn't help but think that his past experiences could influence his judgment.

'It doesn't matter if I'm just more used to it.' Noah thought as he took his decision. 'A better product is still a better product. Also, I would just fix any problem that arises.'

Noah's decision fell on the crystals made from the blood and brain of the worm-type magical beasts. Their creation was simply smoother, and they even worked better as a whole.

The Bloodline Inheritance that he had absorbed in the past had given him some sort of innate understanding of those similar products, which was why he appeared to handle the worm-type creatures better.

After he took his decision, the Demon and Thirty-seven left to handle matters connected to those experiments. The first phases had been a success, but they needed to press forward now.