The dissolved Tears swirled through the flames in patterns of blue and gold, creating temporary mandala shapes that burned themselves into my retinas. I found myself manipulating not just heat and metal, but the fundamental forces that governed how matter behaved in this space between worlds.
Strike.
Cool.
Shape.
Channel.
Each action flowed naturally into the next, guided by instincts I was only now discovering I possessed. This wasn't just about technique, it was about understanding the rhythm of creation itself, the cosmic dance between order and chaos that had been going on since the first stars ignited.
The work consumed hours or days, time had lost all meaning in the flow state of divine crafting. My consciousness expanded and contracted with each hammer blow, touching briefly on concepts too vast for human comprehension before snapping back to the immediate task at hand.
I was dimly aware that my body was holding together through sheer force of will and whatever divine intervention was sustaining the inheritance process. Pain had become a distant concern, secondary to the growing sense that I was participating in something that transcended individual existence.
The final blow fell with the weight of inevitability.
The Astral Crucible erupted in light so brilliant it could have outshone the sun. I staggered backward, my vision filled with afterimages, and looked upon what I had created.
A hammer hung suspended in the air before me, massive and elegant in equal measure. Its surface seemed to contain actual starlight, flowing through veins of what looked like crystallized lava. The tool radiated power in a way that made the air itself seem to hum with potential.
[Attempt number 1,000,000,000: success!]
The system's announcement hit me like a punchline to a joke I'd been setting up for months.
[Replica of the Divine Hammer: [Astral Ender] has been granted.]
I laughed, not the manic cackling I might have expected, but genuine amusement at the cosmic joke of it all. A billion attempts. An actually billion attempts, if the system was to be believed. I'd become the universe's most persistent failure until the moment I'd become its most unlikely success.
"Well," I said to the empty throne room, "I guess persistence really is a virtue."
The rewards materialized in a cascade of notifications that felt like receiving a software update from reality itself:
[Potion of the Fountain of Youth – Auto-applied.]
My body restored itself with disturbing efficiency. Muscles rebuilt, skin cleared, the persistent ache of overwork and malnutrition faded like a bad dream. I felt better than I had in years, possibly better than I'd ever felt.
[[Astral Ender] – Rank: EX – Divine Hammer.]
[Skill Creation Unlocked – !!!@#$%^&*()__)(*&^%$#!@#$%^&*(.]
[[Forgecube: Omnivault] – Rank: SSS – A dimensional forge.]
[1x God Rank Item – 10 minutes to choose.]
I stared at that last notification for a long moment before the implications sank in. Ten minutes to choose from what was presumably a selection of items that could reshape reality itself.
"Ten minutes?" I said aloud. "That's... actually pretty reasonable, considering."
Unlike my previous experiences with impossible deadlines, this time I approached the problem methodically. The throne room's weapon displays and treasure vaults were extensive, but I had some idea of what I was looking for now. Something that would complement my new class, something that would help me survive whatever came next.
I examined the cursed katana first, it radiated malevolent power that made my skin crawl, but the system's response was immediate: [REJECTED: Not Compatible with Class.]
The phoenix halberd was equally impressive and equally incompatible. Same with the crystalline bow, the array of divine staves, and most of the reality-altering weapons that lined the walls.
Eight minutes in, I was starting to worry. Everything powerful enough to be worth taking was apparently beyond my class compatibility, and everything compatible seemed disappointingly mundane.
That's when I noticed the bracelet.
It was tucked away in a corner of one display case, easily overlooked among the more ostentatious artifacts. Just a simple band of what looked like metallic fabric, unremarkable except for the way it seemed to bend light around itself in subtle ways.
[[Rank: GSSR] – Identity: Unknown]
[Compatible with current class configuration.]
"Unknown identity," I mused, picking up the bracelet. "That's either very good or very bad."
With thirty seconds left on the timer, I made my choice. "Better to have a mystery than nothing at all."
The bracelet settled around my wrist like it had been made specifically for me, which, given the circumstances, it probably had been.
The ten-minute timer hit zero, and immediately the throne room began to shake. Not the gentle vibration of settling stone, but the violent tremors of a structure that was actively trying to destroy itself.
"Really?" I asked the universe. "Even now?"
A magic circle formed beneath my feet, glowing with the warm light of imminent teleportation. As the spell began to take hold, I cast one final look around the throne room that had been my prison, my school, and ultimately my chrysalis.
That's when I saw the shadow.
It sat on the obsidian throne where I'd spent so many hours in frustrated contemplation, perfectly relaxed despite the chaos erupting around us. One hand supported its chin in a gesture of casual observation, and even though I couldn't make out details, I could feel its attention like a physical weight.
The shadow's head tilted slightly, and I caught a glimpse of glowing eyes beneath what might have been a crown made of crystallised darkness.
It had been watching. The entire time, through every failure and breakthrough, through every moment of despair and determination, something had been observing my progress with the patience of cosmic eternity.
The realization sent a chill down my spine that had nothing to do with the magical energies swirling around me.
"Tch... so it was never empty."I muttered as the teleportation spell surged around me, eyes locked on the grinning shadow forming atop the throne.
The last thing I saw before reality dissolved into light was that shadow raising one hand in what might have been a salute or a farewell.