Ch.156156. Final Evaluation

Gilbert devoted himself to recovering his mana road after returning from the subjugation mission.

Of course, “devoting himself” didn’t mean he was doing anything special. In truth, despite using the term “devotion,” he had completely entrusted his mana road recovery to his super regeneration ability.

Since even recovery through divine power would adversely affect the mana road, all Gilbert could do was focus his super regeneration’s effects on the mana road. If anything else could be added, it was that he had stopped the near-abusive training regimen he hadn’t missed a single day of until now.

However, stopping his training and observing the recovering mana road was quite meaningful. While his body was a custom character created for his veteran player concept, its performance and talent were real.

Gilbert’s physique, which had surpassed superhuman levels and begun to approach transcendence, continued to grow even as his mana road recovered. Like developing muscles, his mana road was widening and becoming more robust.

By the time final exams arrived and his mana road had recovered, he could be certain of one thing: even if he applied all sorts of buffs like when facing the demon ogre, his mana road wouldn’t sustain damage like before. This damage to his road had become a significant turning point for his growth.

Someone once said:

“Pain that doesn’t kill me only makes me stronger.”

Those words truly suited the current Gilbert.

Realizing his mana road had completely recovered, Gilbert visited the training room after a long absence. Though he had been aiming to elevate his state through meditation, fundamentally enjoying physical training, he had missed the training he couldn’t do during his recovery period.

Some might call his training regimen self-abuse bordering on asceticism, but that was merely a relative standard. His insane physique accepted all that training as if it were ordinary daily routine.

As his physical abilities increased, his body became less responsive to stimuli, requiring him to increase training intensity—similar to how weightlifters increase weights to provide more resistance. While Gilbert’s actions might make people wonder if a human could really do such things, he simply believed it was possible.

It was a simple thought—to train to the extreme with his newly recovered high-performance body—but that was reason enough for him to immerse himself in physical training.

As he fell into a training trance alongside cadets who were gradually appearing in the training room before the final evaluation, a letter from Gwendolyn was delivered.

– It’s complete.

It was more like a note than a letter, containing just one sentence. Nevertheless, as soon as Gilbert read it, he applied for an outing permit and headed to Gwendolyn’s weapon shop.

Her mention of completion clearly referred to the sword he had previously entrusted to her.

A sword made from Moon’s Tear, black iron, and mythril, with an artificial spirit inserted. He thought it wasn’t unreasonable to obtain the finest sword he had only dreamed of.

In the game, he had mainly engaged in combat using God-Machine Soldiers, but this was reality, not a game. Since there were many moments when he couldn’t ride a God-Machine Soldier, personal armament held more significance than tactical combat.

Having recently faced a God-Machine Soldier barehanded, Gilbert keenly felt the importance of equipment. While it’s said that a swordsman who has reached enlightenment isn’t constrained by his sword, the reverse is also true—better equipment creates greater synergy.

With heightened expectations, Gilbert arrived in Ensis. His fist clenched involuntarily at the thought of soon seeing a top-grade sword that could only be obtained by following a specific route in tactical combat.

– Creeak

A note on the weapon shop door stated that the shop would be closed for a while due to work, but he casually ignored it. After all, he had come here because of Gwendolyn’s summons, so the note was meaningless to him specifically.

The weapon shop, once filled with weapons, now stood empty with bare shelves. It seemed she hadn’t made any weapons for a while to fulfill his commission.

“Gwendolyn.”

“Ah, Sir Gilbert.”

At Gilbert’s call, Gwendolyn, with dark circles under her eyes, staggered out from her workshop.

Her appearance was difficult to describe as good even as a polite lie. Dark circles extending almost to her chin suggested she hadn’t slept in ages, her face was covered in soot, her hair was matted as if she hadn’t washed it in who knows how long, and her clothes were dirty with soot and oil.

However, her eyes sparkled brightly, suggesting she was satisfied with the result. Given that Gwendolyn never compromised when it came to swords, she must have been confident to call it complete.

“Is that the sword?”

“Yes, it’s no exaggeration to call it my life’s greatest masterpiece. To be honest, even if you asked me to make it again, I couldn’t. That’s usually how masterpieces are.”

Gwendolyn smiled weakly and carefully presented the sword with both hands.

Gilbert, like her, took the sword with both hands and gripped the handle. The moment he held it, something resonated like an electric current.

Should he call it a thrill?

He understood why she called it her life’s greatest masterpiece. In the game, it would have just been obtaining a sword with the highest specs, but in reality, the feeling was completely different.

– Swoosh!

He skillfully drew the sword, but not even the slightest sound was heard. This indicated both Gilbert’s improved skill and the sword’s exceptional quality.

Despite being an alloy of black iron and mythril, the blade was as dark as the night sky.

The width and length were similar to the longsword Gilbert typically used, and the balance was so perfect that he could adapt to it immediately after just a few swings.

In the center of the cross guard was a round hollow, which appeared to be where the artificial spirit core he had ordered from the beginning would be placed.

“If you put an artificial spirit there, you’ll be able to resonate with the sword. I discovered something while making this sword—when mixing mythril and Moon’s Tear, a unique mana wavelength emerges. I could only get a generic artificial spirit core, so I couldn’t fully experiment, but with a good artificial spirit, the sword might gain some kind of ability.”

“Ability?”

“Yes, it wasn’t intentional, but when I inserted a generic artificial spirit core, it seemed capable of creating something like a sword aura. Rather than an ability built into the sword, it’s more like drawing out the artificial spirit’s ability.”

“Is that possible?”

“If you’re asking whether it’s possible or not, normally it wouldn’t be. That’s why I said I couldn’t make such a sword again.”

“Impressive.”

“It’s thanks to someone who supported me in making swords.”

Gwendolyn smiled brightly at Gilbert.

For her, swords were her dream.

Giving the best sword to the best swordsman.

Having undoubtedly created a once-in-a-lifetime masterpiece, her dream was halfway fulfilled.

What remained was for Gilbert, the sword’s owner, to become the greatest swordsman, but watching him draw the sword, she was convinced.

She could confidently say that this sword she had made was superior to any other sword in performance alone, even excluding its special functions. However, its exceptional quality was paradoxically its drawback.

The blade was so sharp that it seemed uncontrollable. Even Gwendolyn, who had made the sword herself, couldn’t control its sharpness. Its cutting power, which could slice through anything it touched, was deemed dangerous.

But the moment the sword was placed in Gilbert’s hand, it seemed to have a will of its own and became refined.

The sword, which had emitted a chilling aura just by bringing a hand near it, now felt like an ordinary sword with no special sensation.

This meant Gilbert was perfectly controlling the sword.

The reason cursed swords sometimes came into existence was because of swordsmen who couldn’t fully control their swords. Blades that were excessively sharp and soaked in unnecessary blood often harbored strange energies and became cursed.

In that sense, even after completing the sword, Gwendolyn had worried whether it was right to give it to Gilbert.

She knew he had the potential to grow into an excellent swordsman, but whether he could control the sword right now was a crucial question.

And that worry proved unnecessary just now. He was already at a skilled level as a swordsman, excellently controlling the blade’s sharpness.

“The sharpness is superior to conventional swords. Almost to the point of becoming a cursed sword.”

“You know about cursed swords too, Sir Gilbert?”

“Yes.”

One of his exploits during his gaming days was creating cursed swords, so he was among those who knew most about them. After all, a cursed energy was created by achieving a thousand kills with a sword of uncontrolled sharpness.

Gilbert gently stroked the blade.

The level he had reached was beyond that of an ordinary swordsman. Despite facing an old-model God-Machine Soldier with just a standard-issue sword, Gilbert had cut it in half. No matter how savage the blade’s sharpness, it wouldn’t be beyond his control.

Gilbert looked at the smooth blade and took out an artificial spirit core from his chest. It was the CT-777 he had brought with him.

“An artificial spirit core? You had an artificial spirit?”

“I did. That’s why I commissioned you in the first place.”

In fact, he already knew about adding special functions to the sword. He just pretended not to know because he couldn’t reveal to Gwendolyn that he already knew about the sword’s special functions.

Gilbert took a deep breath and inserted the CT-777 artificial spirit core into the hollow of the cross guard.

– Whirr

The sword vibrated slightly and flashed with white light.

[CT-777 activated. Gil, is this a sword?]

CT-777, usually in standby mode, activated as soon as it was inserted into the cross guard’s hollow and spoke. Perhaps because it was activated differently than usual, it immediately asked about its status.

“That’s right. I’ve established a sync with the sword.”

[Beginning analysis.]

[The sword’s material is determined to be an alloy of black iron, mythril, and Moon’s Tear.]

[Checking available functions.]

[While it can’t compare to a God-Machine Soldier, it’s analyzed to be an excellent sword.]

“Can you also identify the available functions?”

[Affirmative. Once synced, I can identify everything, Knight.]

“W-what?! You can have such a conversation with an artificial spirit?!”

When Gilbert conversed with CT-777 as usual, Gwendolyn was startled and opened her eyes wide.

Even though she was a swordsmith who might not know the details about artificial spirits, she knew that such casual conversation wasn’t possible. Neither generic artificial spirits nor current-generation ones had such complex language systems.

But now Gilbert was having a precise conversation with his artificial spirit. This was a situation she couldn’t understand with her knowledge.

“CT is a prototype artificial spirit created for next-generation artificial spirits. I was able to obtain it by chance.”

“You can’t just obtain such an artificial spirit by chance…”

[I appreciate the compliment.]

“That’s what’s unbelievable!”

Gilbert smiled faintly at her startled reaction. This was why he didn’t disclose information about CT-777 externally. He tried to keep CT-777’s existence hidden as much as possible.

The growth-capable CT-777 was steadily developing based on the data it had gathered with Gilbert. Unlike when it was just an advanced artificial spirit at first, it had now entered the realm of super artificial spirits capable of everyday conversation.

Its development speed had accelerated since collecting dual sync data with Fresia recently, so it might soon become a super artificial spirit with intelligence comparable to Fresia’s.

In fact, the more they conversed, the more Gilbert was sometimes surprised when CT-777 made jokes in its rigid tone.

“I’ll hear about the sword’s detailed abilities later, CT.”

[Understood, Gil. Switching to standby mode.]

The light from the artificial spirit core, which had been humming, disappeared. Gwendolyn, who still hadn’t calmed her startled heart, could finally understand what kind of sword she had made.

“So that’s why you said I might be able to make an ego sword?”

“That’s right. I thought it would be possible if I used CT.”

“The final ingredient was that artificial spirit. Being with you, Sir Gilbert, there’s truly never a dull moment.”

“More importantly, you should get some rest. You look terrible.”

When Gilbert, who had looked her up and down, suggested rest, Gwendolyn suddenly felt the fatigue washing over her. Having confirmed once more that the sword she made was the best, her job as a swordsmith was done.

Now all she had to do was watch what story the sword she made would write in Gilbert’s hands.

It was time for her to catch up on the sleep she had missed.

“You’re right. I’ve been up for so many nights that my head already feels foggy.”

“Then I’ll be going.”

Gwendolyn watched Gilbert turn away without hesitation. She wasn’t sure what story he would write, but one thing was certain.

Her sword would definitely have its name recorded in history books in some way.

As the swordsmith who made the sword, waiting for that glorious moment would be a great blessing in her life.