[Thanks to Mr. Ham (4/6)]

The oppressive aura around Leonel vanished and his smile returned as Tolliver slipped back onto his own arm, disappearing from everyone's presence as though it was never around to begin with. It was only now they realized how they hadn't noticed the Metal Spirit earlier...

And then something else clicked.

Leonel was constantly walking around with a Metal Spirit attached to him like that?!

The waves in their hearts that had been doused by Leonel's odd Crafting choices seemed to have returned in even greater force now.

This was on another level compared to Leonel's uncle always wearing his armor everywhere. It wasn't just a physical toll, but a mental one on top of that.

Who didn't know how voracious Metal Spirits were? With just a single roar, it felt as though Tolliver would swallow up the whole planet.

In fact, back when Tolliver had roared like that, the winged knights were all activated as though a great battle was coming...

And yet this was the Spirit that was so well under Leonel's control?

BANG!

Talon's final hammer strikes fell and a shimmering silver brace with red and gold veins. He grinned with a swelling pride and looked up, only to find Leonel's wife kissing him on the cheek.

"What, am I very handsome?" Leonel asked with a laugh.

Aina smiled and didn't refute. It was just unfortunate that there were too many people here.

Talon's grin became somewhat ferocious. He had decided that he wouldn't bash Leonel's face in, but taking his Tablet and disappointing his woman...

Wouldn't this be akin to a victory all to itself? When he saw that Leonel had created two braces, his sneer deepened further. They had only been given enough material to make a single high-quality one. If he made two, both would be inferior products.

On top of that, if he was foolish enough to separate the Elastic Flash and Sparking Rose Ores into different braces as well, he would be ignoring the spirit of the challenge and also lose by default.

He was practically humiliating himself.

Somewhere inside, though, Talon was disappointed. He had been hoping for a good battle. Not this.

With a wave of his hand, his brace floated toward the Pillar of Truth.

Light erupted and one rune lit up, then three, then six. It continued until flashing, attempting to form another group of three before it failed. The lights coalesced, blessing the brace with its grace.

It had to be understood just how excellent this result was. Even though they had received 37 earlier, that was based on theory, and theory that wasn't their own to begin with. What one could describe in theory, and what was actually of substance and real were two different matters.

Just a single rune would have been shocking enough, to get six... well, that was something that among the younger generation of even the Owlans, only Celestia was capable of. In fact, even she couldn't 100% guarantee such a thing.

It was representative of a standard that was just barely shy of the First Order standard of the God Realms.

"Oh..." Leonel said, sounding somewhat bored. After some thought, he tossed one of his braces over.

Rumble.

In an instant, nine Runes were lit.

Talon froze.

But then three more Runes were lit, until 12 were formed. It tried to form 15, but it failed in the end, falling back to 12.

Rumble.

A pillar of light descended, enveloping the brace and shocking the world.

"That's... impossible..." Talon didn't know what else to say. What he was seeing didn't make any logical sense, but his spatial ring was already floating over to Leonel's hands, landing with a grace before vanishing.

Leonel waved a hand and took his brace back, then tossed the other one over. Since he could get them both blessed, why not do so?

Once again, 12 runes lit and he smiled, taking it back.

Talon gripped his Earthen Lightning Spirit so hard that the skies shook as though another flash of lightning might descend.

How was this possible?

"Alright, next. Who are you challenging?" Leonel asked, looking at Celestia with an almost bored gaze.

At that moment, Talon could see the disappointment he had just felt reflected in Leonel's eyes. Except this time, Leonel actually had all the right in the world.

The shocking disparity rocked their souls.

"Explain." Talon suddenly said.

Leonel sent him a glance, his boredom deepening. He didn't know why he should. Was he here to give people lessons? He had much better things to do.

"This is an exchange, you're obligated to do so!" Talon said, his voice booming.

Leonel shook his head. Talon was correct, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Since this Barbarian asked to be dressed down, he didn't mind.

"Is it very difficult? You managed to create a Life Grade treasure that isn't even really at the Life Grade. Isn't the point of the Life Grade to create something new, to make it a single existence that is unrecognizable from the original pieces used to form it?

"You spent so much time trying to keep the Ores separate that you were bound to fail."

"That's not true." Talon frowned. "I was mindful of their differences, but I created a whole item. If I didn't, the pillar wouldn't even light up, let alone form six runes."

"Sure, if you want to call it that," Leonel shook his head again.

"I-"

Leonel waved a hand. "I know exactly what you did. You used the sparking characteristics of the Sparking Rose Ore and diffused it within the Elastic Flash Ore, creating a brace that could absorb attacks flexibly and reflect them back in a stronger capacity.

"That's something even a child could think of. I'm not even sure why you thought it was so impressive. That shit-eating grin you were wearing made you look so great and superior, when in reality I have more creativity in a single pinky finger than you do in your whole body."