Game’s Dogma

Drako Yau actually knew little about any particular style of spearmanship. What the old geezer had taught him was a mindset; only when facing an enemy could he instinctively come up with a proper response for the incoming attack. The only thing that came to mind now was the basic movements he had trained repeatedly hundreds of thousands of times.

Thrust, flick, swipe, strangle, parry, hack… He performed various basic manoeuvres in one swift series. The crude spear was so weighty that he thought it’d be unwieldable in his normal state. With Boiling Form active, however, he could swing it around without much effort.

While Drako Yau demonstrated his technique, he failed to notice that the mysterious man was deep in thought. In less than a minute, he had already performed all basic movements. He placed the spear horizontally onto the ground and deactivated all effects with a calm look, though his ragged breathing betrayed his composure and revealed his current state.

“Heh, look at that ghastly face of yours. How impulsive. You’re heavily injured, yet you still go all out. Don’t think you can twitch a muscle for the next few days,” the man mocked.

These insults hardly bothered Drako Yau though. He cared more when his spearmanship was the target of ridicule.

After a brief silence, the man asked, “Is your teacher Yeung Tin Hun?”

Drako Yau was surprised to hear the name, but he shook his head. “I don’t know my teacher’s name.”

“Ha!” The man chortled. “That’s just like the young lad. If your teacher is indeed Yeung Tin Hun, then you’re qualified to make me work for once. Back in the days, I also gave your teacher… Wait.”

The man suddenly stood up and reached for Drako Yau’s left forearm. His movement was so sudden and eerie that Drako Yau saw no chance of evading it despite his proficiency with Empyreal Dragon Step. He grabbed his forearm, and without doing anything, it gave off a bright flash.

Drako Yau was stunned to see the man pull a wooden rod from his forearm. The slim wooden rod, despite its pitch-darkness, had a glimmer to it. Everything was so surreal that it seemed like a magic trick.

Drako Yau knew it at first glance—this was his wooden rod, the one which he had wielded during his days of harsh training in the mountains.

“Sigh…” The man switched his gaze between the rod and Drako Yau repeatedly. He seemed to have mixed feelings, including admiration. “Now I’m sure. You’re Yeung Tin Hun’s disciple.”

“What is all this?”

Drako Yau broke his cool for once as he was eager to learn anything he could about the old geezer. After their farewell in the mountains, he had only seen the old geezer again once in the game. He had no surviving relatives after his father’s death, so he longed to find the old geezer’s whereabouts—the old geezer was the only person unrelated by blood he’d call a relative.

“Do you know who I am?” the man asked out of the blue.

Drako Yau cursed the man for the random question, but he had to answer respectfully as he required the man’s aid. “No, I don’t.”

“I’m… You can call me Master Bak.” He put his hands on his waist with a smug look, his posture utterly void of the demeanour of a master.

“Master… Master Bak, about my teacher…”

“Kid, don’t be hasty. I’m not done speaking.” Master Bak glared at him, shutting his mouth. “I’m a weaponsmith, or you can say, a metalsmith.”

Before Drako Yau could say anything, Master Bak continued, “Do you know what this is?”

Drako Yau rolled his eyes in his mind and thought, You say you’re a metalsmith, then you point at a spear and ask me what it is? As he was under Master Bak’s care now, he had to answer regardless. “Master Bak, this is a spear.”

“Wrong answer,” said Master Bak. “This is an embryonic weapon. Simply put, it’s an unfinished weapon.”

Drako Yau instinctively turned to look at the embryonic weapon on the ground. Its crude craftsmanship and unsharpened blade showed that it was an unfinished weapon; technically speaking, it wasn’t really a spear either. His preconceived notion that it was a spear originated from his impulsiveness when he first wielded it. 

Master Bak then pointed at the wooden rod. “This is also an embryonic weapon, one that I gave to your master as a gift. Kid, I’m not trying to brag. I’m sure you can tell I’m no ordinary person just from Ichor Hon and Nobunaga’s respectful attitude. Ichor Hon’s sword, that’s one of my creations. My forging style is the only one that can create embryonic weapons, so don’t be mistaken that they are common items. Many come and beg me for one and leave empty-handed. If I sell an embryonic weapon, I can even buy an entire city.

“Back then, I saw your teacher fighting someone. His spearmanship was unique, and his concept of incorporating all styles into one widened my horizons. You know, people like me just have to give goodies to those that catch our eye, so I gave him an embryonic weapon.

“If your teacher had built chemistry with it through combat and nurtured it with his cultivation style, a divine weapon would’ve come into existence in five or ten years. Embryonic weapons’ greatest merit was their absolute suitability for their masters. They form under their masters’ influence, elements and combat style.

“I never thought that your teacher would hold back from using the gift I gave him and pass it down to you.”

Drako Yau felt his mind shattering, as if a lightning bolt had struck him. He could still remember that particular day. The skies were blue, with sparse clouds decorating the blue canvas. There he stood in the mountains, surrounded by trees and the gurgles of flowing rivers. The old geezer sat on a tree branch and tossed the wooden rod to him like it was a piece of garbage.

“Pick it up. Thrust it a thousand times.”

Tears welled up in his eyes. Old geezer, where the hell are you?

“Hey kid! Don’t cry when I’m here! Argh, I really don’t like dealing with crybabies!” Master Bak exclaimed, which pulled Drako Yau back from his memories.

Master Bak let out a sigh and sized up Drako Yau. “Yeung Tin Hun, Nobunaga, and Ichor Hon. Kid, you carry the hope and anticipation of many. Looks like you do have a bit of potential. Very well then, though it has been a while since my last creation.”

Master Bak held the wooden rod in his right hand and waved his left, summoning the unfinished metal spear on the ground into his grasp. The heavy embryonic weapon seemingly weighed nothing in his hands. With two embryonic weapons in hand, he walked in a certain direction, and Drako Yau quickly followed behind him.

The plaza was half empty despite housing all sorts of rooms and facilities. In the open space, a large chunk of rock protruded from the ground and served as a table. Master Bak casually tossed the two embryonic weapons onto the rock as if they were worthless, bringing a glare of despise from Drako Yau.

Master Bak was either oblivious to the glare or simply ignored it. He widened his right palm, now shrouded in a golden glow, and summoned a tiny golden hammer from thin air. It was as small as a nail, though its glittering gold indicated it was no ordinary hammer.

Just when Drako Yau expected Master Bak to start hammering away, Master Bak instead threw his hammer into the lava. It splattered and sank into the boiling pool of molten rock.

Is it sinking? It’s really sinking! Drako Yau thought in exclamation.

For every 1000 Likes on all chapters, there will be bonus chapters! Register an account on Penana and start Liking now for more chapters!

Jump over to our Instagram for updates: @verdant_lore

Join our discord server: here!