Cliff floated cross-legged as Emmet meticulously scribbled notes concerning his Rend theories.

  “Master, why must I put my two fingers in front of my mouth like I’m blowing out a birthday candle?” Cliff asked, his voice laced with genuine curiosity. “I mean, seriously, what’s with the finger?”

  Emmet sighed, “Ah, again? Your Rend control is better than anyone’s—I think even mine. By channeling your Rend and your air in front of you, the finger helps you visualize the point of concentration for both your air and Rend, preventing you from shooting too much energy into a wider, less effective space. Just keep visualizing it; your finger is your guide. Make it happen.”

  With Emmet’s improved Unwoven Eye, he could clearly see the flow of air and Rend inside Cliff. He hadn't just invented this technique; he had observed that Cliff could already do something similar and merely provided a structured practice method for Cliff to perfect it. Though Emmet wasn’t entirely sure of the ultimate result, he was certain Cliff would find a unique way to utilize it. He believed Cliff’s control of Rend was the best among the Unwoven.

  Emmet’s own control of air was fundamentally different. Lacking the Unwoven lungs that Cliff possessed, Emmet's air control made him exceptionally quick, and it acted as a sort of early-warning system, allowing him to feel incoming damage like a new layer of defense, making him react fast. He could also fly like Cliff if he wished, but he disliked wasting precious Rend energy—unlike the others, who seemed to produce their own Rend, a perceived unfair advantage that often occupied his thoughts.

  I created the Rend, but my body can’t produce it on its own. The Unwoven, however, can? Emmet thought, a familiar frustration bubbling up. He mused that it was the 'Emmet Challenge' all over again: to be the creator, yet forced to rely on ingenuity and strategy where others simply relied on nature. It's the same thing as my control of totems from before; the totems control elemental divinity, but I can’t. It’s that same pattern all over again. Oh, well. At least I still benefit from the Rend Network, so I'm not complaining.

  Emmet stood up and addressed Cliff. “Continue with that until you can produce something out of it. And remember: no creating those air bullets or that dragon roar thing.”

  Cliff stopped. “Alright, alright.”

  “I’ll move away from you so you can concentrate,” Emmet said.

  Moving a short distance away, Emmet focused on his own inherited Unwoven traits. He floated, too, and tried to see everything around him. Ahh, the Unwoven Sight is so good. It’s not as good as Lenka’s, but with the Unwoven Eye and Breath, I can easily evade enemy attacks. By limiting the layer of Unwoven air on his skin, he could reduce the use of Rend and still react quickly, thanks to his improved sight. He had started calling these inherited peculiarities Unwoven Skills to easily identify and name them. Practicing Unwoven Skills didn’t use up much Rend energy, so he didn’t worry about the practice itself.

  Now that he had no totem, he didn't need to use his Rend for much else, aside from his Rend Forge and Rend Crystal production. His immense strength, however, was his natural Unwoven Skill and thus didn't use Rend. Still, his body strength could be upgraded by consuming more and more Rend. He didn't know the exact limit of how much Rend could upgrade his strength, but he knew there must be a cap, so he needed to allocate his Rend usage and absorption carefully, using Rend for strength only when he had an excess supply.

  So the problem now was his supply of demonic energy for Rend processing. He mentally reviewed the latest intelligence from Cliff, his expert on area information, noting that the demonic cult no longer seemed to show any activity. Emmet fully trusted Cliff’s thorough assessment.

  “With limited Rend, I can’t waste my time practicing how to use it,” Emmet concluded. “For now, I am limited to practicing my Unwoven Traits. My bone trait compliments my physical strength greatly, as does my healing. I think I’m the strongest in terms of pure strength in Elarith now, but I can’t be content with this. I wonder if I can defeat the Inquisitors now at my level. The problem is their sacred relics and artifacts. Their natural divinity is the strongest I’ve ever seen. Maybe Julian and Raze could beat them if they had the right artifacts, too.”

  “That’s it,” Emmet declared, a surge of inspiration hitting him. “My Forge—maybe I can create a sacred artifact, too? Instead of sacred light divinity, I can use my Rend. It’s a possibility!” He realized his extensive studies on sigils, totems, talismans, and other divine tools, learned long ago in Stoneville, would finally prove useful. Too bad I can’t go back to the Northernveil now. “Anyways, I could think of a way to craft my own artifact. I need a medium to test it.”

  “Ah, that’s right. I need to make some theory and sketch some Rend mapping and schematics.” The concepts weren’t diagrams of mechanical circuits, but flowing sigils—runes designed not for storage or summoning, but for structural integration. He needed the Rend to flow through the ring’s lattice, not just around it. I need to test if I can make Rend flow to an artifact. Emmet only had a simple iron ring he’d found in their hideout, intending to use it for the experiment.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Emmet's Rend-Artifact Thought Flow:

  Step 1. The Channeling Test (Problem Identification):

  Emmet channeled Rend from his stock of Rend Crystal and guided it to the medium—the iron ring. The ring floated, and its color seemed to change, from plain black iron to a similar shade, but now showing a faint hint of Rend energy. He used his Unwoven Eye to inspect the movement of the Rend. It was flowing inside the ring, but it wasn't settling. It was like oil and water; the energies were occupying the same space but refusing to merge with the iron’s structure.

  Step 2. The Eureka Moment (Solution Discovered):

  He watched the Rend cycle uselessly through the metal. He needed an intermediary, something that could force two disparate energies to become one. Then, a powerful jolt of realization hit him. "That's it! My Divine Forge!" A thrill shot through his chest; the answer was obvious in its complexity. His Forge wasn't just for crystals; it was a system built for alchemizing and fusing the impossible. He had been looking for a passive solution, but the answer lay in actively smithing the energy.

  Step 3. The Forging Process (Execution):

  He activated his Divine Forge to merge the two. The ring floated between his two palms, the Rend guided by his will and the Forge system managing part of the process. While his body in the real world performed the motions, inside his Innerworld, his Forge system was actively smithing the iron ring. He could feel it working, seeing his divine anvil and hammer working in concert with his main forge to complete the whole smithing process.

  Step 4. The Result (The New Artifact):

  The finished product. The iron ring had fully merged with the Rend. With his Unwoven Sight, he could see it clearly. It wasn’t a Rend Crystal, which was a storage unit, but an item that had been converted into a new type of artifact. It truly had become a new artifact. Though it looked like the same piece of black iron to the naked eye, in Emmet’s sight, it had been irrevocably altered—corrupted by Rend. Emmet wasn’t sure what the effect would be, but he had successfully altered the ring with his Rend. For him, this was a small victory, even if the item itself was currently useless.

  I have proven that I can imbue Rend into items, he said to himself. I should name it something… Rendrite? Rendifac? Rendril? Artirend? Hmm, I am really bad at naming things. “Ah, rended artifact will do. Instead of ‘corrupted,’ I’ll just use ‘rended.’ That makes things simpler.”

  And so, the first rended artifact—the Rended Iron Ring—was born. “But it has no use… for now,” Emmet declared.

  Then, Cliff shouted, “Master! I did it! Master, look!”

  Emmet hurriedly approached Cliff and witnessed a spherical mass of compressed air pressure, infused with a Rend signature. It was as big as Cliff’s head, and it was still growing!

  Cliff’s eyes were wide with a mixture of thrill and sheer panic. He felt the pressure building, the air vibrating violently, and his control slipping.

  “Contain it!” Emmet yelled, his own heart pounding with excitement. This was a success, but a dangerous one. “You’re doing it, Cliff! I can see the Rend flowing! It’s perfect, but too wide! Concentrate!”

  Cliff immediately focused and tried to make it smaller, his fingers instinctively reassuming the posture Emmet had taught him. Cliff trusted Emmet implicitly, knowing his master’s proven ingenuity and ability to see through the Rend flow gave him the exact guidance he needed.

  “Focus!” Emmet cheered, his voice sharp with instruction. “Bring the air back toward the center! Now, compress the Rend tighter! Think of squeezing the air like a sponge, but use the Rend to hold the shape!”

  Emmet’s Unwoven Sight tracked the air sphere as it condensed and the incredible pressure rotated violently within. “Not good, it's getting unstable!” Emmet shouted. “It’s too much for that small space! Throw it somewhere—now! Aim it away from us!”

  Instinctively, Cliff blew out, channeling a blast of rended air using his Unwoven Breath technique, which guided the unstable sphere toward a large tree 30 meters away. The resulting explosion obliterated the tree and the rocks behind it, leaving a small crater.

  Emmet and Cliff stood in stunned silence, a lingering scent of ozone in the air, staring at the destruction.

  “You did it, Cliff!” Emmet finally exclaimed, a triumphant grin spreading across his face.

  “I did it? Yes! I did it!” Cliff declared, jumping with unbridled joy. “I really am a genius!”

  Emmet felt immense pride, realizing the sheer power Cliff had just demonstrated. He smiled, looking around the secluded area; for once, everything felt secure, successful, and calm. It was a joyous day indeed—both of them had discovered something great.

  However, their moment of celebration was abruptly interrupted by Jasper screaming Emmet’s name. “Emmet, come quick!” Jasper seemed serious and deeply troubled.

  Emmet and Cliff rushed to Jasper with abnormal speed. “What is it, Jasper? What happened? You look troubled?” Emmet asked.

  Jasper, grasping for breath and filled with worry, managed to say, “It’s Lenka. Please, get inside…” He guided them toward her.

  They found Lenka in a frozen state, screaming out of fear. “It’s awake! It’s dark…”

  “What is it, Lenka?” Emmet said, noticing that Lenka's shadow magic was fully activated. Is she using her Unwoven Sight and shadow abilities? What is she seeing?

  Then, Lenka retracted her shadows and snapped back to her senses. “Jasper! I saw it! It’s clearer now—the demon below! It really is alive. It took Tierra. Please, save her. It’s all my fault.” Lenka’s eyes filled with tears, her face a mixture of worry for Tierra and fear of the demon she had seen.

  Emmet and the others listened intently as Lenka explained. “I was observing it for a long time, but my sight couldn’t see it clearly before. But when you cured me, Emmet, my sight can now reach things impossible for me before. Now, I can combine it with my shadow skill, so my shadow acts as my eyes, going deeper below. I can clearly see it now. Tierra said she would check on it, but somehow, the more I observed it, the more it noticed me. It awoke. It must have reacted to my shadow sight and took Tierra.”

  “How?” Emmet pressed.

  Lenka replied, “It opened some kind of portal and swallowed Tierra. Now I can’t find her, but all I can see is the demon below. It was smiling and looking back at me. It knows I see him.”

  “It’s taunting you. That’s normal behavior for demons,” Emmet said, his voice calm but firm. “We will go. Arm yourself. Cliff, you stay here with Lenka. Protect her. Jasper and I will go meet that demon. I promise we will bring Tierra back.”

  With determined eyes, Emmet was eager to hunt the demon. He was worried about Tierra, to be sure, but in his mind, he was also thinking, Finally, a demon. A source of demonic energy to create Rend. Lacking Rend Crystals, he found himself not fearful but excited to hunt.