(Chpt. 55) Discovering a new light (3)

Alice.

“This takes too long…” I muttered as I looked at the sky, I had been waiting for the past three hours or so, thankfully there was no more earthquakes or mage testing, or whatever the dwarf called it. But, I was still stuck waiting on a piece of metal to cool down. I had not done anything, and then it dawned on me… 

“I am stupid aren’t I?” I had been waiting for the iron, but I had not made anything else, by that I mean — I was supposed to also work on the scales for the scale armor I going to make. Well, looks like I will be making gauntlets instead, mostly because I forgot about it...

I shrugged and stood up from my seat. 

“Oh, you are finally moving girly, you scared me for a second…” The dwarf commented, he seemed busy as he hadn’t stopped making swords, I felt bad for him. “I was thinking of asking you for help, but then I remembered I would also have to pay you.” He shrugged. 

I tilted my head. “Pay me for what? Are all the swords you are making from an order?” 

“Indeed they are, how sharp of you. Anyway, since you are registered now you can take orders whenever you feel like it, ah…” He stopped hammering. “If you do decide to work here you are obliged to pay me ten-percent of whatever you  sell your work for, the metal won’t pay itself.” Eh… “Anyway, I am sure you’d get a lot of orders, obsidian smiths are rare after all!” He started laughing. 

I couldn’t help but be confused, I wasn’t intending on selling my things, at least for now, it’s probably the worst idea right now, besides, if I add the symbol every time I do something it will probably be for the worst. Sigh… Can’t it be easier? 

“Well, girly, weren’t you going to make something?” He asked with curiosity. 

“...” I wordlessly looked at him, I had forgotten why I even stood up, it was to get the mithril of course. The dwarf paused and looked at me with confusion, I hurriedly nodded in awkwardness before I rushed to the chest; I took out the mithril bar and placed it on top of the anvil I had to think. I knew very well how to do the chainmail as well as add the scales, but I had no idea how to make the scales themselves. Never really did something like this. I wonder. 

I pulled out my chisel and my hammer, with a gulp, I hit the mithril with the tip of my tool once, it felt wrong. I instantly tilted my head, it was wrong but I couldn’t come up with any other way. I decided to make it as if I was engraving something, gently tapping the back of the chisel to try to carve out something on the side of the ingot. It still felt wrong. 

I kept trying other things but couldn’t really arrive at an answer, if I could just mold the metal however I wanted it… I thought about smelting it, but… It was tedious, as far as I knew, I would need to use a blast furnace for that, I am sure there are no blast furnaces here. Also, even if there was, I wasn’t willing to wait an entire day for the process to be done. 

After looking at the ingot with defeat I started thinking again, mithril is soft by nature, so it probably won’t even make the best armor, tempering does help it have some kind of memory and retain its shape, but if it dents then one needs to repair it. Well, I am sure there is some kind of self-regenerating material out there. I just need to think of how to make the scales. 

I looked at the white mithril ingot, which was full of scratches at this point. I had to think on how to make the scales out of it,  and in that instant I facepalmed. It was a soft metal… After my realization I started hammering the ingot without heating, it was probably the worst decision I had ever made objectively speaking. But I did not struggle in shaping the mithril how I wanted it, it made me wonder why would I heat it to shape it if I could just do it? 

“Oi, girly, what are you doing?!” 

The dwarf came rushing to my side as I brutally hammered the ingot. I tilted my head. “What does it look like I am doing?” 

“It looks to me like you are trying to ruin the ingot!” He yelled as he examined the ingot. “Eh…” he became confused. “T-This isn’t even mithril anymore…” He muttered with defeat and slight difficulty. 

“Eh?” I became confused. 

“Girly, do you know how mithril is made?” I just shook my head. The dwarf sighed. “You see, mithril tends to be overloaded with mana, that’s why it’s so amazing, well… I don’t really understand that part. Anyway, this “mithril” right here, if you can call it that anymore, somehow or in some way, you managed to hammer the mana out of it!” Eh… 

“So, if it is no longer mithril, then what is it?” I asked in confusion. 

“Well… I don’t know either..." He paused before turning somewhat red. "You know what?! Just do whatever you want. Just don’t ruin the metals…” He walked away in annoyance. I was confused. 

I looked back at the supposed no longer mithril, I noticed that it no longer shone in a blue light instead, it just shone white like a piece of marble. It was a flat slab of marble I had just created, a mistake, I made a mistake! The game mithril did not work like that at all... Is this even in the game, to begin with?! I don’t get it at all! 

I decided to hit it one more time a lot softer, it cracked… It literally cracked as if it was a piece of marble! Sigh… I guess I should just work with something more familiar, I wonder if he has some. 

“Dwarf, do you have eternal mithril?” He stopped hammering. 

“What did you just say?” He looked at me with his utmost attention. 

“D-Do you have eternal mithril?” I asked in nervousness. This time he did not ask back and started thinking for a few seconds and muttering things. 

“I don’t know how much you know about that metal, but no. Why would I have eternal mithril, it’s impossible to work with, and even if it was workable, I still wouldn’t have it. Why would I keep eternal mithril near normal-mithril?!” He shouted as if it was obvious. 

“Um… Why not?” I decided to still ask, I was curious. 

He sighed. “Sometimes I wonder if you are a talented smith or just a child playing the smith role…” Hey! “Anyway, a little lesson for you girly. Eternal mithril is in the name, it’s eternal, it feeds off the ambient mana to exist, therefore if you put it next to normal mithril it will drain mithril out of its energy, you understand now?” I nodded and started thinking. 

‘So, I basically destroyed the mithril I was working on with my hammer?’ I looked at the obsidian-black hammer I was holding. ‘I thought it was the coolest material to make a hammer out of, who would’ve thought it would be so inconvenient? Now that I think about it, it’s my first time hammering mithril with this hammer, it has been a long time since I used normal mithril. Who would’ve thought it would destroy the ingot… Sigh… What a failure…’ 

I looked at the now marble slab that was once a piece of beautiful mithril, I bit my lip and couldn’t even bring myself to look at it for more than a few seconds, it was too painful knowing I had just ruined something because of my naiveness. I extended my hand towards it to dispose of it, it was completely useless at this point… I wanted to tear-up on the spot, how could I go forth knowing I am such a failure…

I grabbed the useless slab with sorrow and despair, I had made such a stupid mistake, how coul⁠— Ehhhh?! It started feeling tingly on my hands, making me leave it again, and suddenly the sensation stopped, it felt like the slab was vibrating somewhat. It made my arms feel like jelly…I looked at the slab, it was unchanged. “Must be my imagination…” I dismissed with a shrug. 

I picked the slab and I was assaulted by the same sensation, but it must’ve been my imagination, soon enough the jelly sensation stopped, but I felt weird. It felt like something had been taken away from me. I felt sick in a way. I kept holding the slab and made my way to the side of the forge, which seemed to be full of metal scraps and whatnot. I looked back at the useless slab, it was now dark and not even white anymore. I couldn’t help but tilt my head. 

It twitched… I hurriedly shook my head, and the slab was well… a piece of metal or stone, whatever it was at this point, there was no way it could've twitched. Must have been my imagination, coping with the fact that I did something wrong, it might just be guilt hunting me over the poor metal I murdered… That must’ve been it, I felt some connection with the slab, but it was probably still guilt. Without thinking too much about it I threw it to the pile of scrap, making a loud crashing sound, but that was the end of the story. Then I heard more metal clashing and moving, I looked back. 

“Eek!” It had turned sentient! Shooo! I started smacking it with my hammer, was it even metal at this point, it was moving! I kept viciously hammering it, then it went from a dark tone back to the white one. 

“Girly keep it down! I am working here!” The dwarf shouted from a distance. 

I sighed… What was that? The slab was “moving” it was squirming like a worm rather than actually moving, but I could’ve sworn it was alive. But it was back to being a useless rock slab rather than actual metal. I had a panic attack, I thought the metal was back to murder me for wasting it, but I guess it wasn’t the case… I looked back at the now unmoving fractured slab, it was back to its white tone rather than the dark one. 

I had to rethink what just happened. I grabbed it and felt tingly, then it turned darkish and sentient… Sounds like a curse… Then I hit it with my hammer multiple times, which somehow dispelled said curse. Oddly enough I no longer felt the strange connection of guilt I had with the slab previously. Maybe… Just maybe… No, what are you thinking there is no way that is possible… 

I touched the slab again which made my arm feel like a sponge and lost its strength, but I kept touching it. Then the slab turned dark once again and the guilt connection was back, the slab wasn’t squirming around… I think, yeah it should be fin⁠— 

“Eek!” Shoo! I started smacking it again, it was moving again! What is this sorcery!? After more smacking, it became white again, but I think I had something to work on for now. It wasn’t a curse. 

Based on what the dwarf told me, eternal mithril takes mana, that’s why it’s eternal. So, the slab stopped moving because I hit it with my hammer out of all things. So, I can at least say, it had mana in it. The mana was probably mine, which would explain the strange connection I felt. But the mithril absorbing my mana? That’s a new one… So, thinking about it absorbing the mana, isn’t it eternal mithril at this point?! 

I felt a connection because it was my mana… What if… 

I touched the slab for the third time, which again, made my arm feel like jelly and it turned dark. The slab started squirming in its place, which made me slightly panic but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the previous times. I concentrated on the slab, I could somehow feel it existed. As in another extension of me, I started paying my utmost attention and it and tried to make it not move. It kept twitching for a second or so and then it stopped. Then make it move… With a bit of imagination, I imagined it would shape into a rod, I imagined the process of it slowly molding into a rod and it worked! 

“Hahaha! I have mastered telekinesis!” I shouted in excitement. I could bend this mithril at will! What fun things could I make I wonder… I am excited for this new thing⁠— Eh? What is this?! Why is the world turning blurry?! Why is my vision blue now? Oh... that's the sky... Wait... why is the sky falling?! No... I am falling! Why am I falling?! What is happening?! I fainted. 

Alice.