Rise of the Living Forge

Chapter 138: True Crafting & IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Making a bracelet wasn’t anything new to Arwin, but he’d never been so focused on his results before. Splitting his attention between the forging process and making sure he didn’t lose sight of the trait he wanted was insanely difficult. It felt like he was trying to pull the entirety of his mind in two wholly separate directions. He didn’t let his attention falter for a second. This was the last chance he’d get at completing the Challenge in time, and he was confident that he’d come to the right conclusion. He just had to pull through.

His hands seemed to move with minds of their own as he repeated a process he’d done several times before. It was an odd feeling. His body and mind felt disconnected. They were split between two halves of a whole – but, at the same time, they felt completely in sync. The desire and the forging were one and the same.

Without the Mesh carrying the other half of his work for him, the workload was obviously going to be higher. But the longer Arwin worked the metal in the flame, using [Scourge] to bend the carapace into place and twisting it together with the metal, the more he felt like he actually understood what he was doing.

Magic poured out of his body and into the bracelet. He’d used so much already that he was starting to feel as drained as if he’d just fought a massive battle, but he didn’t care. Arwin wasn’t just letting the desires of the metal and the Mesh take over his work. He was forging it entirely on his own.

He lost track of time. There was no room in his mind for it. There was only space for his work. Inch by inch, bend by bend, Arwin grew closer to completing the bracelet. The power he’d pushed within it tingled against his fingers as he worked, growing stronger by the second until, finally, it was done.

A plain steel bracelet rested before him. It was twisted with the carapace so thoroughly that he could barely even tell where one piece started and the other ended. It was a swirl of gray that represented everything he could muster.

And, for the third time in the Challenge, the Mesh acknowledged his work. Energy swirled around the metal and golden letters crawled before Arwin’s eyes once more.

[Steel Embrace: Rare Quality] has been forged. Forging a magical item has granted you energy.

Steel Embrace: Rare Quality

[Steelskin]: Activating this item will turn its wearer’s body to steel and freeze them in place at the continuous cost of magical energy.

A laugh bubbled out from Arwin’s lips. He held the bracelet out before him, the laughter growing stronger as the words shimmered and faded away. It wasn’t long before he was cackling and clutching onto the metal band like it was the only oar to a rowboat lost in the ocean.

“I did it!” Arwin cackled, thrusting the bracelet into the air victoriously. “Hah!”

Achievement: [Yes you did.] has been earned.

[Yes you did.] – Awarded for forging your first item entirely on your own. Effects: Upgrade one of your existing skills. This achievement will be consumed immediately.

[Yes you did.]has been consumed.

[Awaken] (Passive)

[Molten Novice] (Passive)

[Soul Flame]

[Arsenal]

“Well, damn,” Arwin breathed. “Didn’t think I’d get another one of these so soon. I would have cried blood if I knew just how many Achievements I’d missed out on as the Hero. I think I’d gotten like ten by the time I was at the end of Journeyman tier. I’ve basically gotten that many halfway through Apprentice.”

It was a welcome power-up right before a fight, that was for certain. Arwin crossed [Awaken] off the list immediately. He’d seen just how significant the changes it brought were, and now that he’d learned how much he still had to improve on with smithing, he didn’t dare make it any more powerful.

If he did, he’d probably become completely unable to properly craft items with enough magic to give him a vision. A shudder ran down his spine at the thought of trying to hold onto his intent for a trait while the materials he was working with were literally assaulting his mind.

[Arsenal] was useful, but Arwin needed more slots than anything else – and those wouldn’t come from upgrading the ability. He crossed it off as well. [Arsenal] was already pretty much exactly where he needed it to be.

That left [Molten Novice] and [Soul Flame]. Both of them were equally tempting to him. He’d already gotten a faint hint as to what [Molten Novice] would do. It would let him somehow work with lava.

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That said, he didn’t exactly have any lava with him. He was pretty sure he could get back to the locked room in the dungeon, but it was far from convenient. Arwin also hadn’t actually gotten a chance to properly use the ability yet.

I do have that ball of lava waiting to be used that I got from the dungeon, but I’m going to need a way to make more lava to work with if I want to learn more about [Molten Novice]. I shouldn’t upgrade the skill beyond what I can use before I’ve even tested it out – which leaves [Soul Flame].

It’s probably my most used ability, and it hasn’t gotten an upgrade in a while. I suppose that settles things.

Arwin selected [Soul Flame] without a second more of hesitation.

[Soul Flame] – Passion burns within you with such intensity that it become manifest. You may draw out your Soul Flame, empowering the fire of your forge, but be wary – any magical damage done to the Soul Flame will transfer onto your soul. Increasing the amount of magical energy you use to form the Soul Flame will increase its intensity. Your Soul Flame can pull all the traits from a magical item and allow you to transfer them onto other items without pre-existing magic.

The upgrade was straightforward, which was a welcome change from everything else Arwin had gotten as of late. More magical energy, stronger [Soul Flame]. There was absolutely nothing to complain about there, and he could already see how it would continue to scale as he grew stronger and got more magical energy to work with.

Could be useful in fights as well. I’ll just have to make sure I don’t use up too much magical energy trying to cook something and end up completely spent.

Arwin summoned his personal information. He was pretty sure the Achievement had come from increasing the difficulty of the challenge, but it never hurt to make sure.

Challenges:

[Curb the Hunger] – You’ve unveiled a hidden aspect of your Class. All that lives must consume to persist, but some hunger more than others. Unfortunately for you, your hunger is far greater than what your body can sustain. Find a way to bring it under control before you consume yourself. Rewards: range on completion. Failure to complete a sufficient amount of the Challenge will result in your death.

Milestone 1: Discover your lack of knowledge and initiate the Challenge.

Reward 1: [The Hungering Maw] will have an extra variant to choose from upon your next Class Specialization. This achievement will be consumed upon your next Class Specialization.

Milestone 2: Milestone 2: Shed your training aids and take your first step onto the path of true smithing.

Reward 2: 1 bar of purified Albunium, 1 bar of purified Steel, 1 Palestone, 1 Ripperfish tooth, and 1 chip of Rockspider Carapace.

Bonus Reward 2: Achievement: [Yes you did.]

Milestone 3: ?

Reward 3: Unknown Title

Arwin waved the Mesh away and let out a satisfied sigh. He’d pulled it off. There was only a single task in the Challenge left, and he was starting to understand his class more with every day. He lifted his new bracelet to his nose and smelled it.

Its scent was a mixture of warm coal and metal – but far fresher than it should have been. The smell was definitely magical. It almost felt like the embodiment of a hot hearth.

This bracelet is actually pretty damn useful, even if I don’t eat it. I wonder how much magical energy it draws. Could I make some of these for the others?

Arwin activated the bracelet. He drew in a sharp hiss as magical energy poured out of his body and into the metal band in a wave. His body stiffened as his skin turned the sheen of polished metal.

All the magical energy he had left was sucked away in moments and the flow of power stopped as his skin returned to normal. As soon as he could move properly again, Arwin doubled over and braced his arms against his knees, drawing in a surprised breath.

He hadn’t even had a chance to cancel the bracelet’s draw before it had drained him. It was several moments before he could straighten again. He stared at the inconspicuous piece of metal. He’d barely been able to power it for a second.

Definitely not using this the normal way. The item must be strong enough that the amount of magical energy I’ve got at this tier makes it borderline useless in most situations… other than the one where I shove it down my gullet. It’s that or I need to find a way to optimize magical power draw. Maybe a mix of the two.

Either way, there’s no point even trying to make these for the others yet. A second of resistance followed by being completely useless for the rest of the fight is a bad trade.

Arwin slipped the bracelet onto his wrist and took a moment to gather himself. With all the excitement from his revelation, he hadn’t even had a chance to finish making his arrow. The traits on it were so detrimental that the idea of even trying to shoot it out of his bow felt moronic.

I’ll probably explode just from the force of the string shooting it. But… with what I just learned, couldn’t I try to make something better? It’ll be harder if I’m working with metal that has desires, but I should be able to guarantee at least one of the traits.

It was an easy decision. He’d spent so much effort making the bow that there was no point showing up with a shoddy arrow and wasting the effort. Arwin headed around the forge and gathered the metal he’d need, setting them into the [Soul Flame] to heat.

His eyes landed on the tooth that the Mesh had given him as part of the Challenge. Now was as good a time as any to test if he could replicate his efforts with a less receptive metal. It wasn’t worth using any of the purified materials on an arrow he suspected he wouldn’t be getting back, so he’d be happy to guarantee a single trait and deal with the other ones that came with the metal.

And with a tooth… I remember a trait that I think would go pretty damn well on an arrow. I once made a dagger with [Sharp] that cut me the instant I touched it. That’ll do just fine, I think.

If that works, I’ve already got a few more ideas that I’m going to need to make before the fight with the Wyrms rolls around. We’re going to need every advantage we can get, and I can’t pass up on one of my strongest abilities.

Arwin cleaned his anvil off, moving everything to the side. He then took the Brightsteel that he’d set in the hearth out and summoned Verdant Blaze back to his hands, his eyes setting with determination.

The crisp chill could do nothing to slow him now. Verdant Blaze’s ringing call filled the air as he set to work hammering the Brightsteel out. His new goals didn’t give him a single second to spare, but they’d be worth it.

If he wanted to take out two Wyrms, they had to be.

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