Chapter 135: Aether Sparks, Obsidian Paradox Set

Levi let out a heavy breath and pulled up his menu. The 280 million XP, combined with his leftover 100 million, gave him exactly 380 million XP. It was exactly enough to hit Level 69. He had a clean zero XP carrying over into his next bar, which required a massive 400,000,000 XP.

He had 5 new free stat points. He dumped them straight into Strength.

His permanent Strength bumped from 3,060 to 3,065.

3,065 multiplied by two gave him a base attack of 6,130. Add the 2,000 from his Diamond scythe, bringing it to 8,130. Apply the 20% class passive, and his Total Attack locked in at exactly 9,756.

"Alright, the room is clear," Levi said, closing his stat sheet.

He walked over to the dissolving polygons and started vacuuming up the loot. He specifically looked for the small, glowing blue orbs the constructs kept dropping.

[Aether-Spark]

[Rarity: Gold Crafting Material]

[Effect: Concentrated forge energy. Used exclusively at World-Forges.]

Levi grabbed all of them. He had a massive stack of them sitting in his inventory from clearing the front half of the dungeon.

He walked up the short iron steps leading directly to the World-Forge.

The heat coming off the blue fire beneath the crucible was intense. It actually made his Obsidian Carapace armor uncomfortably warm. He didn’t care. He raised his hand and swiped the air directly in front of the giant anvil.

Instead of his normal Boundless Fusion interface popping up, the World-Forge’s unique UI materialized. It was a massive, glowing blue holographic screen with four distinct item slots arranged in a circle.

Levi stared at the screen.

He pulled open his wallet ledger. He had exactly 5,000 Gold Coins left after bankrupting himself to forge the Diamond scythe.

"Isolde," Levi said, his voice completely flat. "If this forge asks me for a hundred thousand gold to fuse a Diamond armor set, I am going to jump into that sea of liquid Aether."

"The system economy is strictly regulated," Isolde stated, gliding up the steps to stand beside him. "However, World-Forges operate on alternative currency parameters. Check the catalyst requirements."

Levi tapped the glowing blue "Forge Information" tab on the screen.

A text box popped up.

[World-Forge Mechanics:]

[This ancient forge does not require mortal currency.]

[Fusing items to the Diamond-tier requires the sacrifice of raw Aether. Catalyst Fee: 10 Aether-Sparks per fusion.]

Levi stared at the text. He read it twice.

"No gold fee," Levi whispered. A massive, ridiculous grin spread across his face. "No gold fee! I don’t have to pay!"

He let out a loud laugh that echoed off the hot iron plateau. The game had been robbing him blind for fifty levels, charging him insane amounts of gold just to use his own class talent. But here, at the literal forge of the Gods, it was completely free. All he needed were the Aether-Sparks he had just spent an hour farming from the trash mobs.

"I love this dungeon," Levi declared.

He immediately started pulling his gear off.

He unequipped his Silver-tier [Obsidian Carapace] chest plate. He pulled off his [Sovereign’s Golden Gauntlets]. He removed his Gold-tier [Hollow’s Treads].

He felt his stats instantly drop. His health pool shrank, and his Defense plummeted. He was basically standing in his base clothing.

He tossed all three pieces of armor directly into the glowing blue slots on the UI.

For the final slot, he opened his inventory and pulled out a heavy, dark-metal helmet he had looted off Chronos earlier.

[Aether-Helm of the Time-Keeper]

[Rarity: Platinum]

He dropped the helmet into the fourth slot.

"I’m putting four different items into this thing," Levi muttered, looking at the UI. "Let’s see if the system knows how to build a set."

He dragged a stack of exactly 10 Aether-Sparks from his inventory and dropped them into the catalyst slot at the bottom of the screen.

The blue "FORGE" button lit up violently.

"Here we go," Levi said.

He slammed his hand onto the button.

The World-Forge didn’t just glow. It erupted. A massive pillar of roaring black fire shot up from the crucible, completely engulfing the four items. The heavy iron chains holding the mechanical hammers snapped tight. The hammers swung down on their own, smashing into the invisible anvil with deafening, earth-shaking crashes.

Sparks the size of baseballs flew across the plateau. The heat was unbearable. Levi had to take a step back and throw his arm over his face to shield his eyes from the blinding blue and black light.

The hammering stopped after exactly five strikes.

The black fire sucked back down into the crucible, vanishing completely.

Hovering perfectly in the center of the UI was a complete set of armor. It looked absolutely terrifying. It was sleek, completely pitch-black obsidian metal lined with glowing, pulsing veins of blue Aether.

The system chimed with a blinding, diamond-white notification.

[Item Set Forged.]

Levi reached out and grabbed the chest plate. The metal was cool to the touch despite the massive fire that just forged it.

He tapped the item to pull up the stat block.

[Obsidian Paradox Set]

[Rarity: Diamond]

[Effect: +500 to STR, AGI, VIT, INT, LUK.]

[4-Piece Set Bonus 1: Passive Flight enabled.]

[4-Piece Set Bonus 2: Grants 70% Overall Damage Reduction from all sources.]

[4-Piece Set Bonus 3: Complete Immunity to Instant-Kill Mechanics.]

Levi just stared at the holographic text box. His jaw literally dropped.

"Isolde," Levi breathed out, not taking his eyes off the stats. "I think I just broke the game."

**

Levi stood on the floating iron plateau, completely ignoring the intense waves of heat radiating from the sea of liquid Aether far below. He had his eyes locked squarely on the massive World-Forge.

He walked up the short iron steps. The blue fire roaring beneath the giant crucible crackled loudly, casting aggressive, flickering shadows across the open-air forge. The heavy mechanical hammers hanging from thick iron chains above the anvil looked intimidating, like they belonged in a giant’s torture chamber rather than a crafting bench.

Levi swiped his hand through the superheated air right over the anvil.

Instead of his usual golden [Boundless Fusion] menu, the World-Forge’s unique interface booted up. A massive, glowing blue holographic screen materialized. It displayed four distinct circular item slots arranged in a diamond pattern, with a smaller catalyst slot right at the bottom.

"Alright," Levi muttered, opening his wallet ledger in the corner of his vision.

The number staring back at him was incredibly depressing.

[Domain Vault Balance: 5,000 Gold Coins]

"Isolde," Levi said, his voice flat. "If this ancient, godly forge asks me for a hundred thousand gold to fuse a Diamond armor set, I am going to jump straight into that sea of liquid Aether. I’m completely broke."

Isolde glided up the iron steps and stood beside him. She looked at the blue holographic interface.

"The system economy is strictly regulated," Isolde stated. Her voice was calm, sounding entirely human but carrying the precise cadence of someone reading a textbook. "However, World-Forges operate on alternative currency parameters. They pre-date the standard gold standard. Check the catalyst requirements."

Levi tapped the glowing blue ’Forge Information’ tab on the top corner of the screen.

A text box instantly expanded.

[World-Forge Mechanics:]

[This ancient forge does not require mortal currency.]

[Fusing items to the Diamond-tier requires the sacrifice of raw Aether. Catalyst Fee: 10 Aether-Sparks per fusion.]

Levi stared at the text. He read it once. Then he read it a second time just to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating from the heat.

"No gold fee," Levi whispered. A massive, ridiculous grin spread across his face. "No gold fee! I don’t have to pay!"

He let out a loud laugh that echoed off the hot iron plateau. The game had been robbing him blind for fifty levels, constantly moving the goalposts and charging him insane amounts of gold just to use his own class talent. But here, at the literal forge of the Gods, it was completely free. All he needed were the glowing blue Aether-Sparks he had just spent the last hour farming from the Aegis-Constructs.

"I love this dungeon," Levi declared, clapping his hands together.

He didn’t waste another second. He immediately started pulling his gear off.

He reached up and unequipped his Silver-tier [Obsidian Carapace] chest plate. He pulled off his [Sovereign’s Golden Gauntlets]. He unequipped his Gold-tier [Hollow’s Treads].

The second the items vanished into his inventory, he felt a massive, sickening drop in his stats. His health pool violently shrank. His defense plummeted. The ambient heat of the World-Forge, which had just been a minor annoyance a minute ago, suddenly felt like a physical weight pressing against his skin. He was basically standing in his base beginner clothing. He felt incredibly vulnerable.

"Don’t let anything sneak up on me while I’m doing this," Levi said, tossing the three pieces of armor directly into the glowing blue slots on the UI.

"I am monitoring the perimeter," Isolde said, spinning her wooden staff once before resting it against the iron floor. "You are completely secure."