Chapter 450: Blacksmith Lilia and Ethan ran until the world behind them disappeared. At first there were still faint sounds. Distant shouts. Maybe villagers discovering blood. Maybe nothing. Then even that faded. Soon there was nothing but trees. Endless trunks stretching upward like pillars holding up the sky. The air grew cooler. Damp. Wild. Lilia stumbled and grabbed a tree to steady herself. "I can’t... I can’t run anymore," she gasped. Ethan stopped immediately. He had been controlling his pace, but even that was far beyond what an ordinary woman could endure. He looked at her thin shoulders rising and falling and felt a faint sting in his chest. He had dragged her into this. "Yumiko," he asked inwardly, "where do we go now?" [Master, there is a town one hundred kilometers east. However, you should remain in the forest for seven more days. Your body will complete its accelerated growth cycle. By then your appearance will stabilize at a teenage stage. After that the changes will slow significantly.] Ethan nodded slightly. He turned to Lilia. "Aunt, we should stay in the forest for seven days." She looked at him like he had suggested jumping off a cliff. "Stay? Here?" "I inherited something from a supreme master," he said calmly. "That’s why I’m growing so fast. It’s temporary. If we hide here for a week, I’ll look older. People won’t panic. We’ll be safer." Lilia stared at him. A week ago he looked like a toddler. Now he spoke with unsettling calm. "But the forest isn’t safe either," she whispered. "Woodcutters come. Hunters. And deeper inside... people say strange things happen." "They won’t come where we’re going.",Ethan said with a smile. "And if beasts come?" He smiled. "Nothing will happen." He meant it. Even without energy techniques, his physical strength and spirit were monstrous now. He could already manipulate objects with raw spiritual force. Spirit masters ruled this world, and he was already brushing against their threshold. "Wait here." He walked a short distance and placed his hand on a thick fallen log. With controlled force, he sliced and shaped it using nothing but pressure and precision. Wood shavings fell like snow. Within minutes, a flat wooden board formed. Crude but functional. He placed it in front of her. "Aunt, step on it." She blinked. "Why?" "Just try." Hesitantly, she stepped onto the board. Ethan focused. The plank lifted. Lilia’s eyes widened as the ground dropped beneath her feet. She did not feel weightless exactly, but lighter. Supported. Like standing on calm water. "Ethan..." He only gave her a reassuring smile. Then he started walking. The wooden board floated behind him, gliding smoothly through the air as if the forest itself carried her. Leaves brushed past. Branches parted. Shadows shifted. They traveled like that for four hours straight. Eventually the trees thickened. Sunlight struggled to pierce the canopy. The air turned heavy and ancient. Ethan stopped. "This is deep enough." He did not dare go further. Deeper meant stronger spirit beasts. Even he did not want unnecessary trouble right now. For the next seven days they lived like ghosts. They never stayed in one place long. If Ethan sensed movement or heard distant chopping or voices, they relocated immediately. At night he hunted quietly. Deer. Rabbits. Once even a wild boar. Lilia watched in growing awe. Each morning he looked different. Taller. Broader shoulders. Sharper features. By the seventh day, the transformation stabilized. [Mastee: Ethan Hunt Physique: 320 Tonnes Spirit: 320 Tonnes Talent: Infinite Comprehension] He now stood like a sixteen year old youth. Lean. Defined. His face carried a natural symmetry that would make nobles jealous. His eyes were calm, almost lazy, yet faintly dangerous. He returned from a hunt carrying a deer effortlessly over his shoulder. Lilia stared openly this time. "You’ve become too handsome," she said with a teasing smile. "Wherever you go, girls will cause trouble." Ethan laughed. "Let them. That’s future Ethan’s problem." She shook her head fondly. "Let’s leave the forest," he said. "We’ll sell the deer, rent a place in town, and start fresh." But then he looked behind him. "I’ll solve your mystery some other day", he muttered in his mind. He had seen something mindblowing there and he wanted to solve it himself without asking Yumiko. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞 He stepped forward. The air rippled faintly. In the next instant, they were dozens of meters ahead. Then again. And again. As they moved, he asked inwardly, "Yumiko, do you know where the divine fruit is?" [No master. Its karma is shielded by the Tower. I am not strong enough to bypass that protection.] He exhaled slowly. Of course it wouldn’t be easy. By evening, the forest thinned. The trees gave way to open land. In the distance stood a modest town surrounded by wooden fencing. No guards at the gate. No inspection. They entered without resistance. Ethan still carried the deer. "Hey!" a man called out. "Selling that?" "Yes." "I’ll give you fifty silvers." The offer was fair. Ethan did not argue. He handed over the deer and took the coins. Next he found a modest inn. Thirty silvers for two rooms for five days. Reasonable. He paid without hesitation. The following morning, he left early. If he wanted influence, he needed reputation. And reputation required skill. He walked through the streets until he found what he was looking for. A blacksmith shop tucked between two larger buildings. The sign hung crooked. An old man hammered lazily, each strike lacking confidence. Ethan stepped inside. The old blacksmith glanced up. "What do you want, young man?" "I want a job." The old man barked a laugh. "This shop can barely feed me. I can’t pay you. Go to Henry Smith if you want work. They actually have customers." "I don’t need pay yet," Ethan replied calmly. "Lend me your tools. I’ll make something that brings customers flooding in." The old man narrowed his eyes. He had planned to close this shop today. Years of decline had worn him down. But this confident youth amused him. "Hahaha. Fine. Show me what you can do." Ethan stepped toward the forge. "Yumiko." [Understood.] A technique surfaced in his mind. [Basic Weapon Creation] Before the information even fully settled, something stirred inside him. [Ding! Infinite Comprehension activated. Basic Weapon Creation has been upgraded.] [Chaos Ember Creation Technique] Ethan’s lips curved slightly. Nice. He picked up raw iron. He held the metal within the fire and focused. He did not simply heat the iron. He dissolved it. In his perception, the structure of the material unraveled into fundamental particles. Imperfections surfaced like cracks in glass. He adjusted them. Rewrote them. Reassembled them. The old blacksmith stopped smiling. His hammering hand froze. Ethan lifted the glowing metal and began shaping it. Each strike of the hammer was precise. The sound echoed differently. Minutes passed. Sweat formed on Ethan’s forehead, not from exhaustion but concentration. As the blade took form, he extended his spiritual awareness and began drawing. A rune. The Chaos Ember Creation Technique allowed him to draw runes of laws in the weapon and the weapon would get the feature of the rune. He had mastered every law of the universe before. So drawing a rune was trivial to him. He did not pour overwhelming power into it. Just enough. Enough to allow this blade to cut anything below martial grand master. Under normal circumstances, such a feat using common iron would be impossible. But the Chaos Ember Creation Technique did not obey normal boundaries. The rune fused seamlessly into the blade. When he quenched it, steam rose in a violent hiss. Silence filled the shop. Ethan picked up the finished knife and handed it to the old man. "Try it on that Iron rod." The old blacksmith took it skeptically. He grabbed a thick iron rod from the corner and swung. The rod split cleanly. His breath caught. He tested again. And again. Each time the knife cut effortlessly. The old man’s hands trembled slightly. "This... this is not ordinary work," he whispered. Ethan simply smiled. "Put it in the front window." The old man looked at him like he was seeing treasure. "What is your name?" "Ethan." "Well, Ethan," the old man said slowly, eyes shining for the first time in years, "it seems my shop isn’t closing today."