In that moment, as though a ball had dropped, the movement of Jac and Leonel's hands became blinding. Anyone who might have thought that their skill would be too far apart immediately felt as though a bucket of cold water had been dropped over their heads. In fact, none of them were fools and many of them had eyes sharp enough to see through to the truth.
Leonel's hand motion was slower than Jac's, but his finger speed and dexterity was more than just a single level beyond.
By this point, Leonel had long since moved on from the beginner level techniques he used when he first started as a Force Crafter. His every action carried an air of sophistication and purpose he hadn't had before.
Years of simulations layered themselves in his every action, creating the image of an expert amongst experts.
Leonel's fingers rapidly oscillated, Little Tolly following the rhythm of his digits. The Polished Glass in his hands vibrated, its impurities being brought to the surface to be systematically cut off one after another.
When Leonel first began, he didn't have the skill to do this. As such, he could only use Little Tolly like a glorified Flame Spirit, using the little guy's ability to agitate the chemical structure of Ores to raise its temperature.
It was a simple concept. Heat actually reflected itself in the activity of atoms. By using this principle, Leonel was able to heat his Ores to incredibly precise levels, making use of sometimes even one or two degree differences in melting point to separate out impurities.
Though this level of control over heat was far beyond what a Flame Spirit wielder could hope to match, it was still considered a crude technique to Leonel's father. This alone was able to make the value of a Metal Spirit clear.
A Flame Spirit Wielder would only be able to gradually heat an entire Ore. Little Tolly, however, as long as the Ore was within a reasonable size – a size that was steadily growing as the little guy continued to evolve under Leonel's constant nurturing – could cause the same change to occur through the Ore simultaneously.
Being able to control the temperature of an entire Ore to incredibly precise levels… Well, it didn't need to be explain any more just how useful this would be.
Still, there were many downfalls to the use of this technique.
Ultimately, the heating and cooling of an Ore would inevitably cause changes. One of the most useful techniques in changing the strength and structure of a chemical bond is the clever usage of heating and cooling.
Even if the purpose of the original heating would be to remove impurities, this wouldn't stop the Ore from being affected in other ways.
These subtle changes wouldn't be a big deal to a beginner. However, to an expert, every introduced variable was a tick away from the perfect product they sought.
This problem, though, was only one for those who didn't have special Spirits.
This technique was called [Centrifugal Oscillation] and was considered to be a technique only Silver Crafters could use. But at that moment, Leonel brought it out with all the confidence of the world.
He first used Little Tolly to separate the several Ores of the Polished Glass before him into several head sized pieces.
One after another, he picked them up. For a moment, it would seem to hang in the air, suspended upon nothing. Then in the next instant, it would begin to vibrate.
This technique required delicate control. Vibration, especially at these high levels, could also cause a transfer of heat. However, this was where the special properties of the Metal Spirit came into play.
A unique push and pull affect was created.
Little Tolly placed the Ores in a half digested state, giving the metal a level of fluidity it would never have in its natural state, almost making it like metallic liquid. The result was a fluid far thicker than oil, even faintly beyond the consistency of peanut butter or molasses.
However, this fluid state resulted in two things.
First, the metal's ability to retain heat plummeted and its specific heat skyrocketed. The changes caused by vibrations were negligible.
Secondly, the consistency of the pure metal and its impurities would have varying changes. As long as Leonel locked onto a particular frequency, he would use a combination of vibration and centrifugal force impurities to the surface.
The best part about this technique is that it put all Ores in an inert state. Even the usually violent Polished Glass became like a docile kitten between Leonel's fingers.
It was only at that moment that the members of Polished Glass realized how casually Leonel had taken his previous time with them. He had most definitely not used this technique with them before.
But, there was a very obvious reason for this. Little Tolly was still an infant and functioned on his instincts most of the time. Even up to now, Little Tolly's intelligence was still far beneath that of Little Blackstar.
Using this technique for the little guy was akin to bringing a foodie to the best restaurant in the world, then telling them that they could only taste the food, but not swallow.
Now imagine trying to control the impulses of a toddler to do the same. It was a tremendous strain on Leonel's focus to do this. However, he had already decided to go all out.
In just ten minutes, several tons of Polished glass had been purified to the point they shimmered of white. In fact, if one looked closely, it would even be possible to find flecks of gold hidden within.
That was it. The perfect Refinement Stage.
Despite the hint of fatigue between his brows, a grin was spread across his face. His smile beamed, leaving many in a daze.
Even as Beinala was still working on his first few refinements, Leonel had already moved on. His target? The knife.
On the outside, the crowd was left completely stunned, especially the Force Crafters among them. For a layman, what they saw was enough to be shocked. However, for them, it felt like they were watching the work of a deity.
Is that… A Metal Spirit?