Please Touch Me, Master

The Crafting Stone was ready.

Unlike before, when it was merely a pitch-black stone slab, it now had a metallic glimmer and seemed to have grown a few inches in length. Its overall mass had improved, and its metallic sheen gave it a prestigious appearance.

Bi Chen knew that other superior Crafting Stones looked better, but he still appreciated this basic one. It looked much better than it did on the game screen, and it was a reward of his personal efforts.

He felt a tinge of pride.

'With all of that out of the way… let us begin.'

To start, he sliced his wrist and caused blood to flow from the open wound. The gooey oil-looking blood touched the Crafting Stone and sizzled, instantly igniting into flames. The fire was dull white, but after the blood kept pouring, it grew brighter, and finally changed color to blue.

—Dull Blue.

'The more blood I pour, the higher the intensity of the flames, which cause the color to change.

From White, to Blue, to Yellow, to Red, to Green, then Purple… and so on.

'For the purposes of Crafting a Rank 1 Artifact, I don't need to go beyond Blue. I could probably achieve a faster result with Yellow, but there's no need to rush things.' This was the first time Bi Chen was Crafting in this world.

It was better to be careful.

The blue flames had turned from dull blue to a brighter hue when Bi Chen stopped.

It was time for the second process: pouring the ingredients.

'In the game, you just select the things you need to Craft or Refine an Artifact, and the process is automated. But, I have to do everything myself…' Bi Chen sighed. 'I can't afford to make any mistakes here.'

He started with the hardest materials to process—the precious gems from Imelda's corpse.

He added one ruby ring and a sapphire bracelet.

Two precious items… they would have fetched quite a nice price on the market, but were instead tossed into the flames. Bi Chen watched as the fire broke down these ores, their Essences fusing into the flames, causing them to flicker and rise in intensity.

Once a few seconds passed and he saw that the solidified Essence of these two items had nearly finished melting, he tossed in the pieces of metal next. 

They were less valuable, so they burned rather quickly, leaving a trace of smoke in the air as impurities began to leave the flames. The smoke began to accumulate around Bi Chen, but he used his hands to wave them away, fanning very rapidly so they wouldn't interfere with his Crafting.

Thankfully, the smoke wasn't too thick, and the intensity of his fanning was maximized by his Level 3 Status. In no time, only the pure blue flames remained. 

Suddenly, the flames began to decrease in intensity.

From bright blue to dull blue, and then traces of white could be seen within the fires. Bi Chen had been in full observation since the start of the Crafting Session, so he noticed this change instantly.

A small glint of light flashed in his eyes at that moment.

'Looks like it needs more fuel…' He slit his wrist once more and added more blood, causing the white flames to vanish and the dullness of the fire to diminish. The bright blue colors started appearing once more.

This was how the process usually went, and Bi Chen was already familiar with the process.

'In the game, you lose portions of health every time you Craft. So this is why…'

One used their own blood as fuel.

'Of course, you can bypass this by using special items, but the general rule is that you can't Craft or Refine an Artifact higher than your Rank… even if you have all the right materials. If you try to, your Integrity will reach zero before you succeed.'

Life Essence in the blood was the primary fuel for the flames in any process of Crafting, Refinement and Deconstruction. Sometimes, flesh could be used… though it would take a while longer for it to be converted into fire.

The reason Bi Chen knew so much was because he cross referenced what he knew with what Ash had learned as Imelda. By fusing the two together, he came up with his own rough understanding of this world.

Thus far, it had been serving him well.

He was yet to make any mistakes.

'Now… for the second to the last step.' Bi Chen picked up the Essence Core and tossed it into the flames.

VWUUUSH!

Instantly, the fires roared to life, rising at least three feet into the air. It crackled with sheer intensity, with power far exceeding anything Bi Chen had experienced thus far. 

But, this was a good thing.

It showed that there was a reaction between the Essence Core and all the Ingredients thus far.

A lot of smoke was produced from the flames due to the sheer amount of impurities in the Essence Core, and even when Bi Chen did his best to fan, the smoke only grew thicker. Thankfully, since he was conducting the Crafting in a large space, the cloud of thick gas began to disperse.

After some minutes, Bi Chen was finally able to get rid of most of the smoke close to him.

However, it still took an entire hour before the fires stopped producing smoke.

At that point, the entire area was filled with smoke, with Bi Chen at the very center, constantly fanning to ensure his immediate surroundings were safe.

While doing this, he also had to constantly slit his wrist and pour more blood into the fires. If he wasn't a Zombie, and was an ordinary human, he reckoned he would already be getting dizzy from blood loss at this point.

Artifact Crafting wasn't easy, after all.

Still, Bi Chen persevered and continued this process without any kind of rest.

He became increasingly grateful for his Zombie body, which allowed him to continue his task without any fatigue. His mind was in a constant fog, but his body didn't disappoint him at all.

After a few more hours, Bi Chen got some good news.

The Essence Stone had been purified.

'It's now time for the final step.' Bi Chen was a little nervous, but he showed no hesitation at all.

He picked up his sword and tossed it into the fire.

A bright light shone from within the flames almost instantly, causing the fire to rise once more.

Its intensity grew even larger than before, reaching over half a dozen feet tall.

The blue flames roared with so much energy that they felt alive, swirling and dancing as they consumed the sword and became one with it.

But—

BOOOOOM!!!

Suddenly, the flames detonated and an immense cloud of smoke erupted at the final juncture.

Bi Chen was pushed back by the explosion, his body powerlessly flying into the air until it landed on the hard ground. The rough surface of the floor scraped his skin, causing severe injuries, and the fiery discharge caused several burn marks to appear on his soot-covered Zombie body.

As for the Artifact Crafting…

[Crafting of Rank 1 Artifact has Failed]

'… Failed, huh?' Bi Chen sighed, groaning a little while struggling to stand.

He had suffered immense injuries, but his Zombie body was already healing. He felt no pain, so he was still able to think and move despite the awful state he was in.

'I failed at the last step… how unfortunate.'

Bi Chen felt the temptation to be dejected by this result. After all, he had invested so much time into this single Crafting Session—nearly half a day in total. However, he only made a wry smile and overcame that desire.

He didn't get angry or sad, and his disappointment quickly vanished.

'The Success Rate for Crafting a Rank 1 Artifact with a Rank 1 Core is only 50/50 anyway. Even though I got all the steps right, there was still a high chance of failure… so why would I be upset?'

Bi Chen was already lucky enough to get an Essence Core from a Rank 1 Abomination. How could he be lucky enough to successfully Craft an Artifact on his first try? Wouldn't that make him a very fortunate person?

According to his experience in this world, Bi Chen already knew he wasn't very lucky.

'I had also hoped the [Guaranteed Success Rate] for first-time Artifact Crafting that is given in the game would apply here, but I guess it doesn't… a shame.' Bi Chen made a wry smile. 'If I had a higher grade Crafting Stone, then the Success Rate would have improved too.'

His Basic Crafting Stone was simply too ordinary, so expecting an amazing result from the get-go was already asking for too much.

'I used a Rank 1 Essence Core in this Crafting Session, which is why the Success Rate was like this. If I used a Rank 2, the Success Rate would be 100 Percent—a guaranteed outcome. But wouldn't that also be a waste, since Rank 2 Essence Cores can Craft a Rank 2 Artifact? The Success Rate for that is even lower than 50 Percent, though…'

Bi Chen made some calculations in his mind and ended up smiling, rather than frowning.

He didn't feel sad at all.

'I got all the steps right, which means the next time I try to Craft a Rank 1 Essence Core, my success is practically guaranteed.' Clenching his fist, he looked at the center of the explosion with determination flashing in his eyes.

Although had nearly succeeded, Bi Chen failed in the end.

But so what?

As a gamer, he was used to the sting of failure, and it was already an essential part of his life.

'Still… isn't this how success is built?' He laughed, already forgetting the destruction around him and the loss he had suffered by failing.

'Consistency guarantees success. Success is built on failures.'