Master Of None

The wandering blacksmith was incredibly focused while he worked. The world could have been falling around him and he would not even flinch in the slightest. Every so often he would hold a hand out to stop Midnight from adding another breath to the forge so that he could turn the metal to evenly heat it. Walker would also get the same motions from him so that he could have another black flame ball throwing in to the forge. The work was hot and soon Walker had tossed off his cloak covered in sweat.

The white undershirt he wore became caked with coal dust and ash, Midnight lost the shine to her scales as the same dust and ash covered her. They could care less however since they were infected by the focus the wandering blacksmith had. Using the tongs to pull out the nearly melting metal the three saw that there were a significant amount of blackened cracks that had spread over it. The wandering blacksmith was not pleased by this but started to hammer away at the clump of white and black metal. The forge flames were still maintained by Walker who was constantly motioned at to add more coal.

The hammer struck easily fifty times before the metal was thrust once again in to the flames. Midnight was starting to tire after only this short time but it was plain to see that she was not used to keeping her breath at this pace. The wandering blacksmith did not miss this fact and slowed her pace down by adding more coal and having Walker use the black flames more.

’ The skill black flame bolt has been learned through repetitive actions using the black flame skill. 

Black flame bolt- 2 mana cost

Similar to a regular fire bolt spell the black flame bolt holds the same shape. The black flame bolt will burst on contact with the opponent causing them to be burned and suffer from minor decay. There is no knock back effect from this spell’

Walker had no time to read this notification because the wandering black smith had again taken out the metal to start the hammering process. This time he pulled a sharper spiked tool to start making holes and rounding the metal. After just a few minutes the formerly rectangular metal was shaped in to a circle. It was the base of a necklace. 

The newly shaped metal went back in to the forge but this time instead of creating the black flame ball Walker used the black flame bolt skill. It was not completely intentional but he had felt that there was another way to do it. The skill flew in to the forge increasing the temperature more than before which caused the wandering blacksmith to pull the metal in to the front. He was an expert at controlling temperature, the sudden change in Walker’s skill could not phase him.

This process continued for a few more moments before the flames died down and the wandering blacksmith grabbed a few smaller spiked tools. He pulled the metal out and started adding more holes until a chain was formed from the necklace, there was one larger section with an indent that had not been forced all the way through. This was a chain necklace that could hold a single gem. Walker was amazed that a chain had been made in this way, from what he had known they were formed piece by piece not molded out of a whole piece of metal.

This was definitely a very rare occurrence in the forging world, if the chain had been molded from just one piece of metal would that mean that mana could flow through more smoothly than multiple pieces being shaped together and bent in to a chain shape? 

The thought was one that not everyone would realize but having seen the runes the wandering blacksmith had carved in to the tools the theory was sound. Just learning this one technique should be able to enhance the items effect multiple times over. 

The wandering blacksmith rushed the now almost complete necklace to the forge and had Midnight and Walker increase their flames much much more. The fire was hotter than it had been just second ago but it was only a temporary experience. The necklace was again pulled out of the flames but this time were dunked in to a vat of warmed oils that the wandering blacksmith had prepared. The oil sizzled violently as it cooled but the wandering smith did not flinch away as it did so. He was used to this after years and years of cooling forged items. 

The necklace was dunked in to four other vats of oils until the heat had almost dissipated completely. Without resting for even a moment the wandering blacksmith laid it on a table and picked up a small file. He went through each link in the chain removing burrs and any small deficiencies in the metal. There was no shine to this necklace but instead a dark hue that covered the entire piece of iron. 

Midnight and Walker witnessed the rapid work of the wandering blacksmith for almost an hour before the files and other small tools were placed down. The final product was a fine chained necklace with one large link perfectly fitted for a gem or mana crystal. The time it had taken to create this was so short that Walker could easily say this was the fastest blacksmith in the entire country. 

Walker had nothing to say in the moment so instead he used his all around appraisal skill to check out what their creation was all about. 

’ Black iron necklace

+6mdef

Decay resistance 

Lifetime- 20 minutes’

”What does lifetime mean?” Walker was lost at this new addition to the description. He was staring intently at the necklace and so was the wandering smith. The look of displeasure was clearly written in his features. Walker had no idea what seemed to make him so upset over this necklace. It was very finely made and even looked pretty nice, sure the color was not shiny and flashy but it was still very good. To five decay resistance and also a decent amount of magical defense this item would sell very well in any gear shop.

Midnight was resting on the floor trying to get her breath back, this one instance of forging had really taken it out of her. She needed plenty of time to recover her stamina before they even thought about trying again. 

Walker soon noticed that the black hue on the necklace was starting to get darker. Was this the darkness elemental mana that had been adding to the forging process? The wandering blacksmith was looking more and more unhappy as the minutes passed but his eyes never left the necklace for a second, he was intent on analyzing every single feature. Walker stood by ready for any change or reaction.

Twenty minutes had finally passed and the hue on the necklace had become so strong that one wouldn’t even be able to tell that it had ever had a silver iron color before. Small cracks formed in the chain links that held it all together and the necklace broke apart on the worktable. Walker stared open mouth at this. ”Failed” The soft rough voice of the wandering smith was the most surprising thing he had heard today. There was only one word but it spoke volumes. Was this what the appraisal meant by lifetime twenty minutes? It would only last for twenty minutes before decaying and falling in to pieces?

The three of them had just spent a huge amount of effort on this one thing to have it fall in to nothing. The wandering blacksmith only sat for another moment before he pulled out another few tools form his bag and started to carve another rune in to the still hot forge. It would seem that there was something missing from his preparations. The darkness mana that became fused with the metal had caused it to degrade in just minutes instead of lasting like a normal piece of gear. 

Walker wondered if the wandering blacksmith had faced similar issues forging in magma, the temperature would have been so hot that it could have turned any material in to melted nothingness within just seconds. Walker watched the runes being carved on the forge, then the tools, and eleven on to the anvil. The process was captivating since the wandering blacksmith was so elegant and refined in his style that every movement was perfect. There was not a single error in how he moved and carved away the small bits of metal.

After he had finished Midnight had regained most of her mana and had enough energy to look at the changed the wandering blacksmith had made. She did not understand what they were but the feeling of resistance coming from them now made her think that the flames could not do anything against the tools.

Walker noticed that the wandering blacksmith had grabbed another piece of iron, it was time for the second test.

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