Please Touch Me, Master

There are three trite processes in Artifact production—Crafting, Refinement, and Deconstruction.

To Craft is to make an Artifact from scratch using raw materials and Essence Cores as main ingredients. Refinement means raising the ability of a pre-existing Artifact or fusing two Artifacts together. As for Deconstruction, it means the opposite.

Diminishing the properties of an Artifact by breaking it down in order to obtain less potent Artifacts or the raw materials that make up the Artifact.

Each of these have their uses and exist in perfect balance. 

And right now…

'Let's go for a Refinement Failure!' 

… Bi Chen just thought of another way to perverse the natural law of this world and break the balance that was present in the game.

His thoughts returned to the past, remembering the suffering he achieved as a result of his failure to Craft a mere Rank 1 Artifact. The explosion was so mighty, and this was even after he had gotten rid of all the impurities and followed all the right steps.

'If I try to Craft something now, using the Crafting Stone Shards and intentionally fail, then it should also cause an explosion.'

There was one problem with that, though.

'Crafting has many stages, and the explosion only increases the closer you are to the finish stage. Plus, it takes too long to Craft and pass all the hurdles, and it also requires a lot of concentration, since it involves making something new from scratch.'

He couldn't realistically replicate the Crafting Failure he experienced back then.

But so what?

He wasn't intending to!

'Instead of Crafting, why don't I go with Refinement?' His thoughts flowed unobstructed, even when confronted with the rage of an adversary stronger than himself.

To buy himself time, he kept throwing more Crafting Stone shards and setting them ablaze, causing the Rank 2 Abomination to slow down while trying to protect itself. The pain was so immense that the creature resorted to keeping its distance and engaging in long-range attacks.

But this was what Bi Chen wanted.

After all, he was also engaging in long-range attacks, so while he dodged the Rank 2's attack, he constantly attacked it with the blue Essence flames from the Crafting Stone. 

It wasn't enough to kill the Rank 2 Abomination, but it caused severe injuries to it.

This led to a stalemate between the two.

While this was happening, Bi Chen was still thinking as rapidly as he could, sparing all of his spare mental energy into figuring out what to do.

'If I forcefully Refine items and fail, the explosion from the two items will surely create enough of a blast to seriously injure this guy.' This plan was solid, and it also required very little time to achieve.

Sure, it meant sacrificing Artifacts, but the results would be immediate.

However, the next challenge came.

What Artifacts were going to be sacrificed? Bi Chen already failed to Craft his first ever Artifact and suffered heavy injuries for them. He then left some materials in a cave and chose to respawn Ash in that location.

Where was he going to find other Artifacts to Refine?

'Hehe!' Bi Chen's eyes flashed with confidence as he slowly began to unstrap the thin strands of hair that were wrapped around his arms and legs. They were used as straps for the pouches, but since he had nearly exhausted the pouches they carried, the hair ropes were nearly free of any encumbrances.

Bi Chen held these strands of hair like they were treasures.

This was because they were!

'Rank 1 Thread Rope Artifacts… and I have four of them.' Bi Chen's smile was the real deal, and it was oozing with immense confidence.

During the half month that he traveled the Labyrinth, he had killed over five hundred Abominations. Naturally, a few of them dropped their Rank 1 Essence Cores, and using the Crafting Stones he sacrificed his lives for, he was able to create some Rank 1 Artifacts.

He also had a few Essence Cores left as change.

'I'll use the Crafting Stone Shards and my blood to start the fires, and then throw these Rank 1 Thread Rope Artifacts inside as materials. Finally, I'll use the Essence Cores to synergize them and intentionally fail the fusion.'

He was sure that he would fail regardless, considering how the Rank 2 Abomination's body would be in the range of Refinement, and its impure Essence would disrupt the process. 

'Of course, there's a small chance that that change would create an entirely new process that would give me a successful result without me intending it to, but the possibility of that happening is too low to even consider.'

Right now, Bi Chen understood even more about this world.

He had experimented a great deal, and he even lost two lives in his efforts to fully prepare for his current task. After covering so many bases, and experiencing failure so many times, he was determined to succeed this time.

—No matter what!

"Let's begin…"

Bi Chen started by tossing all the remaining Crafting Stone shards in the direction of the Rank 2 Abomination, tearing even more fingers so he had several geysers of blood at his disposal. Afterward, he set all the stones ablaze with his blood, causing them to ignite and shimmer in the dark like blazing stars in the sky.

The fiery flames coagulated together, sending sparks that resembled fireworks.

This was because he used the ropes to draw them together, causing the several shards to gather in a single position—right in front of the Rank 2 Abomination.

As to how he could achieve this, it was simply the effect of the Rank 1 Artifact: Thread Rope.

'I can freely control the Thread Ropes. They aren't very sturdy, but they're flexible and fast, which allows me to use them like marionette strings!' Bi Chen quickly analyzed in his mind, completing the first phase of his plan.

The blazing flames shone brightly in front of the Rank 2 Abomination.

It wanted to escape, but quickly found that it was backed against a wall—there was very little room to retreat. 

The creature was trapped!

"Refinement Begin!"

He commanded the four Thread Ropes to enter into the blazing fire, sending even more blood to the rocks to the point where they began to display small embers of yellow flames. More sparks danced in the air, creating the effects of fireworks that filled the sight of both Bi Chen and the Rank 2 Abomination.

After, he threw in two Rank 1 Essence Cores to activate the fusion process.

Then—

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!

At that moment, immense smoke rose from within the sparks, sullying the beautiful miracle that was happening. The flames erupted with incredible power, instantly destroying all of the Thread Rope in the fire to create a disastrous explosion.

The Abomination was right in front of the blast—it could not survive.