Baek Sunghoon and Seth both got on the famous flying greatsword that was almost two metres wide, and swiftly zoomed off. Looking at Seth's rapidly shrinking back, the old man could not help but reminisce about the man who called himself Seoran Serpentis.
"To think I would meet another Serpentis again in my life..."
He had promised the man to repay him for his kindness, and now, he had fulfilled his promise.
Seth and the Sunghoon guy soon arrived at the far north of the Allied Sectdom. Quickly, he was allocated a place to sleep, and had a cold dinner.
"You'll start learning crafting from tomorrow morning. Rest well, kid. You're going to need it."
Baek Sunghoon was the head of a small faction calling themselves The Forgers. They were a group of smiths who had gathered together to share knowledge with each other. If Seth wanted to learn the intricacies of weapons, then this was the best place for him.
***
Meanwhile, Xin Minxia laid flat on her back, her eyes distant and her breathing rugged. She had singlehandedly read through each and every scroll in the secret chamber, and had to take time to process all the information. Everything she thought that she knew about the world they lived in, the other realms, the nine hells, and most importantly, the Imperial Sky Emperor's trial, had been thrown out the window.
"I... I just can't believe it.."
It was the same feeling one would have if they were told that earth was actually just a virtual reality simulation, and nothing really existed.
"Is there even any point in resisting the inevitable?"
Most scrolls here had ordinary mundane information on the world then, the conquests of their leaders, and everything. But a few, about one out of every hundred scrolls, had terrifying information about the very end of their world. Each scroll had one sign that served as a counter to the End, and to Xin Minxia's dismay, seven out of the ten signs had come to pass.
"The appearance of beasts was the seventh sign, the appearance of the Other Worlders would be the eighth sign, the ninth sign would be the great war, but the tenth... whoever wrote it is a lunatic."
On the tenth scroll, only two words, 'The End', were written. She was literally bursting to tell these new discoveries to someone, but decided against it. She would not willingly take away people's happiness. She wanted people to enjoy their lives, even if they had just a little bit longer to live in peace. She would carry the burden of knowledge all by herself. It was her sole responsibility as a scholar.
However, that did not mean that she would just sit idly and wait for the end to come. She had preparations to make, and allies to gather. She could not prevent the ensuing calamity, but she could at least make sure that some people survived.
***
A sweaty Seth sat before an anvil, with a later hammer in his hands. Above him, Baek Sunghoon stood with a frown on his face.
"Kid, you have to try harder! I learnt forging in three hours when I was a newbie, but here you are - its been half a day, and you haven't even made one arrow!"
Indeed many hours had passed since Seth had begun to learn how to forge. He was speedily making a lot of progress, but it was too slow for his liking. The Imperial Sky Emperor's Trial was looming by the corner, and if he wanted to emerge victorious, he would have to master the intricacies of every weapon under the sun.
"I'll try harder, sir!"
Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Seth did not leave the hot forging room for any reasons other than eating, taking a thirty minute nap, and going to the bathroom. Behind him, a pile of swords, axes, spears, arrows, and all kinds of weapons slowly grew from a few measly pieces of clumsily made failures, to many pieces of intricately forged masterpieces. Though, calling his works a 'masterpiece' might be an overkill, but Seth had truly become a mediocre forger in the span of three months. Every weekend, he sent letters to Old man Shiro, and they replied back. Even if he did not really have the privilege of time to come see them, they did not once seem to mind, and continued to support him. Seth had never forgotten the promise he made to repay them back one day, and now, he swore that he would reward their kindness. The forger, Baek Sunghoon, even if he rarely smiled and was very strict with the black haired youth, could not help but pull a smirk anytime Seth looked away.
"This kid is truly something else..."
He had lied about himself learning forging in three hours. In reality, it had taken him eighty seasons before he could forge as well as Seth was doing now. The moment he saw the potential Seth had, he had made sure to do everything in his power to make sure that the talent would not go to waste. Just like that, three months had passed. He and old man Shiro had only made arrangements for a month of learning for Seth, but after the young man had proven to be a forging genius, he took it upon himself to make sure Seth stayed. But as the saying goes, the student eventually surpassed the master, and there was nothing more to learn. As the young man packed up his stuff in preparation to leave, Baek Sunghoon found a tear forming in his eye. He was proud of the kid.
"Go on, Seth. You're going to achieve great things..."
Seth bowed to Baek Sunghoon like the people he had been watching for the past three months.
"I will make sure to visit."
With those words, the flying sword took off with Seth on it. It was a gift from Baek Sunghoon for being a good student. Seth had never been one to reject a freebie, no amount of time could change that, and so he eagerly accepted the weapon.