"The Source of Lava, huh... Okay, no problem, I'll go with you!" Alvin made up his mind after only a moment's thought.
At present, he couldn't refuse a Great Grade Sword of the Twenty-One Work Grade!
Hearing Alvin agree, Rex's face was instantly replaced by boundless excitement. He had been to the Abyss of Lava in the underground lava world many times, encountering Black Obsidian Steel twice and Red Aurora Lava once.
But he didn't have the strength to obtain them.
This time, with Alvin joining, Rex felt confident they could obtain both minerals! After the two made up their minds, they immediately headed towards the entrance of the underground magma world.
When Emberhardt received news that Rex and Alvin had entered the underground magma world, a sense of worry couldn't help but arise in his heart.
His brother, has he still not given up yet...?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
At this moment.
The underground magma world.
Alvin stood at the edge of the underground fissure, the heat waves washing over him, slightly curling his eyelashes.
Below him was a bottomless dark red abyss. Magma snaked through the rock walls like blood vessels, and tiny ash particles floated in the air. Every breath felt like swallowing burning charcoal.
The two of them were very lucky; this time, they actually encountered Red Aurora Lava and Black Obsidian Steel ore!
"The Red Aurora Lava is in the lava cave two hundred meters below," Rex handed a specially made heat-resistant suit to Alvin, his voice muffled by the gas mask. "And that's also where the associated Black Obsidian Steel vein is; it's a mineral that only forms under extreme heat."
The Sea Stone fibers embedded in the heat-resistant suit glowed with a faint blue light, but Alvin casually tossed it aside.
"This thing will hinder my movements," he took out his broken blade, and the dark Armament Haki climbed onto the blade like a living thing. "Stick close to me; you just need to point the way."
The two descended along an artificially carved plank road. Fluorescent moss on the rock walls provided dim illumination.
Every ten meters or so, there was almost a desiccated skeleton chained to the rock wall—these were danger zones marked by miners with their lives.
The entire underground world was built with human lives.
"Three years ago, there was a gas explosion here," Rex kicked aside a rusted gas canister beside a skeleton's foot. "Watch your step; some rocks are hollow..."
Before he finished speaking, Alvin's Observation Haki suddenly gave a warning.
He yanked Rex by the back of his collar and retreated three steps. The ground where they had just stood collapsed with a rumble, and hot sulfur gas shot up like a giant python.
Fifty meters below.
A boiling lava lake was churning, with several pieces of obsidian floating in the magma, their surfaces glowing with an eerie black light.
"Black Obsidian Steel!" Rex's breathing suddenly quickened. "They must be tempered in magma for over a hundred years to form crystals, but when collecting them... they need to be cooled instantly, Red Hawk, it's up to you."
Alvin squinted at the ore that appeared below and nodded. His broken blade, covered in Armament Haki, suddenly plunged into the rock wall.
The Armament Haki flowed from the blade into the mountain, and the rock layer within a one-meter radius instantly hardened.
He grabbed Rex with one hand and leaped towards the lava lake, using the solidified rock ridges to gain momentum three times, like a black hawk swooping down to a floating rock.
The radiant heat from the magma made Alvin's skin feel very uncomfortable.
He swung his blade at the obsidian, and when the blade struck the ore, it actually sent out ice-crystal-like fragments—an anomaly caused by the friction between the extremely cold ore and Armament Haki.
"Catch!" He tossed the cut ore to Rex, who immediately sealed it in a liquid nitrogen container.
Suddenly, the entire lava lake vibrated violently.
"It's a geothermic tide!" Rex roared, pointing to the center of the lake.
The Red Aurora Lava rose into the sky like a reverse waterfall, condensing into a massive fireball twenty meters in diameter.
The surface of the fireball flowed with rainbow-like light patterns, but inside, a grating crystallization sound could be heard. There was actually Black Obsidian Steel ore inside as well, and that was the sound of Black Obsidian Steel reorganizing under super-high temperatures.
Alvin's pupils contracted to pinpricks.
The trajectory of the falling fireball decomposed into countless red dashed lines in his mind, and his broken blade cut out seven intersecting slashes.
"Seven Night Meteor!" The blade light, imbued with Haki, covered the fireball like a black net, but it vaporized upon contact.
"Don't use brute force!" Rex pulled three silver-grey metal rods from his backpack. "These are heat-absorbing alloys. Stick them into the convergence points of the light patterns on its surface!"
The two raced across the surface of the falling fireball.
Alvin's boot soles carbonized the moment they touched the magma, and Armament Haki rapidly consumed his stamina.
Rex's heat-resistant suit began to melt, and his exposed skin blistered, but his trembling fingers were still calculating the geometric nodes of the light patterns.
"Fifteen degrees to the upper left!" he screamed.
The moment the metal rod pierced it, the fireball let out a shriek like a baby crying.
The Red Aurora Lava contracted like a receding tide, revealing a basketball-sized raw Black Obsidian Steel stone at its core.
Alvin's tiger's mouth split open, but he held the scorching ore tightly and collected the Red Aurora Lava into a special container.
The two most crucial items were obtained!
When he pulled Rex back onto the plank road, the lava lake behind them exploded with a roar, melting the rock wall within a hundred-meter radius into a glassy state.
They were almost buried in the sea of fire.
— — — —
After returning to the surface, Alvin immediately took Rex to his residence.
Rex's injuries were too severe; he lay in bed for half a month, his right arm wrapped in bandages soaked in medicine, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.
When Rex's injuries healed, he immediately threw himself into this work.
With Alvin's financial support, he was able to buy all the materials he had wanted before, and even had quite a bit left over.
Only Rex's final words left Alvin a bit bewildered.
"Red Hawk, forging a Skillful Grade Sword takes at least half a year, not to mention a Great Grade Sword. I estimate it might take around 1 year.
And it's best if you also participate in the forging. Great Grade Swords have a spirit, and if you participate, you won't be backlashed by it later.
So... Red Hawk, I need you to be my assistant. If you participate in the forging, you will be able to master this sword better in the future!" Rex said with some embarrassment.
1 year...
Alvin was truly bewildered. Didn't this mean he would have to stay here for at least 1 year?
But when he saw the hopeful look in Rex's eyes, Alvin ultimately agreed to Rex's request.
It's just 1 year, right?
The system's drop rate was a bit low, so before leaving West Blue, he still wanted to get a handy weapon.
It was the year 1512 of the Sea Calendar now. The biggest 'leeks' were still growing, so he would give them a few years to develop!
Seeing Alvin agree, Rex was very excited, but the two didn't start immediately. Instead, Rex gave Alvin a crash course in basic forging knowledge.
It wasn't until a month later that the two arrived at Rex's composite furnace, located more than ten meters underground.
During this time, all the materials they had collected, such as King Iron Ore, Volcanic Blue Crystal, and Flame North, had also been moved here.
Besides these, there was also the skeletal remains of a powerful Ground Fire Magma Lizard that had died!
Once all preparations were complete, the two immediately began the forging work.
— — — —
But one day, when Alvin went out to a bar for a meal, he actually saw one of the top powerhouses of this world.
Hawkeye, Dracule Mihawk!