Richter nodded, “I do indeed.” He swung the heavy dagger and found that he enjoyed the weight of it. He also noticed that swinging the blade made his stamina drop a bit faster than when he used lighter weapons, but the fights he had been in were normally brutal and short. Better to be able to put some serious hurt on his enemies as quickly as possible than worry about tiring out before the battle was done. Besides, that’s what stamina potions were for.
The chaos seed looked outside and gauged that he might have just enough time. He walked over the heavy elementum chest he had created weeks ago. Placing his hand on the seamless block of green metal, a line appeared where none had existed a moment before. The lid of the chest popped open. Inside were several stacks of rare metals that were set aside for his and Krom’s exclusive use. The chest also contained the skeeling scales, several pouches of powdered crystal, and surprisingly, some of the weapon fragments Richter had found in the dark aberration cave. He had completely forgotten about the broken items. Why Krom had them stored in the chest, he had no idea. It was arguably one of the most secure locations in the village. The treasury and the titan steel safe might be safer places to store valuables, but since the chest was part of a Core building, it still might win out. He picked up one of the fragments, a hilt, but no prompt appeared. As far as he could tell, the junk was, well, just junk.
Richter put the hilt back down and picked up an ingot. Part of him wanted to use one of his elementum ingots, but there were only a few of them left. He had to be deliberate about utilizing the precious metal. He was also pretty sure Krom would be worse than a jilted girlfriend if he forged elementum with another dwarf. Best just to leave it be.
Instead, he chose moonstone. The creamy white metal would give +4 to base attack damage, and they had a relatively large amount of it after finding a small vein south of the village. Closing the chest, he walked back over to Bowdin. “We have some work to do.”
At Bowdin’s command, two other smiths started feeding wood into the furnace from a waiting stack. To be able to work stronger metals, the fire had to be stoked to a higher heat. That, in turn, required specific types of wood to coax the flames to that point. It was times like these that Richter realized how fortunate he was to have a village that could support him. Between the high cost of precious metals, the need for rare woods, the specialized labor required to make a decent weapon, not to mention needing to know enchantments and having access to soul stones, making strong magic weapons was a ridiculously involved process. It also explained why a weapon that was even minimally enchanted might cost an average worker a year’s salary.
Richter didn’t think too much about it, though. There was work to be done. To his surprise, Bowdin asked for two more ingots. Richter retrieved them from the chest, and they got started. The smith told him that he was in luck. Apparently, Bowdin had already started working on a moonstone blade, so much of the work had already been done. It normally took days to make a weapon, and trying to shortchange that time would invariably lead to a loss in quality. The dwarf said they should be able to finish it in the next few hours.
Once the heat from the furnace had reached almost oppressive levels, Bowdin placed the moonstone ingot into the fire. After a minute or two, it glowed cherry red, and the dwarf placed it on the anvil. Soon, the sounds of metal being hammered filled the air. Clang! Cling cling. Clang! Cling cling.
The chaos seed decided not to waste the opportunity and downed a luck potion. There were still many enchantments housed in the main anvil, represented by the dancing lights inside of it. Learning the enchantments seemed to be a matter of luck mixed with man hours spent on the anvil. So far Richter had only been able to learn Freeze, Life Damage, Goblin Slaying and Confusion from helping Krom at the anvil. That left many enchantments left to learn. As always when he drank one of the luck potions, he hiccupped slightly, exhaling a swirl of silvery powder. He had asked Tabia if that was an expected side effect, but she had just stared at him for a moment and then said, “Of course!” Richter was 80% convinced she had been lying out of her ass and had no idea.
Over the next twenty minutes, Bowdin pounded the first ingot into submission. Then he placed the second ingot in the fire. After that, he alternated heating one and hammering on the other. After another fifteen minutes of that, he combined the two into one large piece of molten metal. Richter was confused as to how this was going to help anything, but he kept his peace and followed the smith’s directions to add the next ingot to the fire.
The frequency and strength of the dwarf’s hammer blows increased. Clang! Clang! Cling. Clang! Clang! Cling. To Richter’s surprise, Bowdin’s hammer and the hand that held it began to glow. The large, misshapen lump of hot metal began to shrink. Before it got too small, Bowdin called for the next ingot. Richter retrieved it from the forge and placed the red-white block on the anvil. Once again, Bowdin started pounding the ingot into submission while his already existing work went into the forge. Soon he combined them, and again, his arm and hammer started to glow. His blows grew even stronger, and sweat poured off of his biceps. The portions of his face not covered in beard were ruddy with heat and strain. CLANG! Clang! Clink! CLANG! Clang! Clink!
The process repeated a final time. The half-finished blade Bowdin had been working on was placed in the furnace until it glowed. The last measure of metal was added to the dwarf’s work. Bowdin hammered at his creation like a man possessed. CLANG, CLANG, CLANG! CLANG, CLANG, CLANG! Richter grew legitimately concerned that the smith would pass out. Analyze showed that the hour of work had decreased the dwarf’s stamina until only 10% remained. The look of concentration on Bowdin’s face kept the chaos seed from interfering, though. No one liked a back seat driver. Side seat smither… whatever.
With a final swing of the hammer, the glow infusing Bowdin’s arm and hammer winked out. The smith laid down his hammer and grabbed a pair of tongs. He plunged the blade into a nearby bucket of water and laid the finished product on the anvil. Then, with a self-satisfied and exhausted exhale, Bowdin stepped back and allowed Richter to examine his new blade. The chaos seed was about to, but his luck paid off again when a white light shot from the inside of the anvil and enveloped the blade. The light was blinding, and both men had to close their eyes against the glare. They didn’t mind, though because they knew what it meant. Large grins got plastered onto their faces. One of the Forge of Heaven’s abilities had activated! The weapon had just jumped up a level in quality!
You have found:
Dense Moonstone Short Sword Blade.
Damage: 26-32
Durability: 153/153
Item Class: Uncommon.
Quality: Exquisite.
Weight: 4.6 kg.
Traits: +10% damage vs spell barriers.