Chapter 194: Competent

Chapter 194: Competent

The [Soul Flame] turned a vibrant blue as Arwin pumped it full of energy. It had taken him nearly five minutes to feed it enough energy to get this level of intensity and it didn’t look like it was going to get any hotter.

Fortunately, it didn’t need to. The large chunk of Brightsteel cupped in his palms started to glow. It went from red to a dull orange, soon approaching a yellowish-white as the intense flame enveloped it.

Arwin squinted through the waves of heat rolling off the hearth as the temperature in the smithy started to rise. Even with his resistance to his own fire, the sweltering flame was enough to cause droplets of sweat to roll down his forehead.

The top of the Brightsteel rippled and started to turn liquid as it grew hotter and hotter. Tiny patches of relative darkness stood out amidst the glowing yellow-white. Arwin turned the piece over, keeping the metal cupped in his palms as more of it turned to liquid.

Several small dots and tiny chunks of glowing debris littered the molten metal pooled in his hands. Arwin glanced around, then cursed. There was a little more liquid than he’d expected there to be, but he didn’t have anywhere to put it while he fished out the debris.

Arwin transferred the metal to one hand, spilling some in the process, and then started fishing out the little chunks with the other. Once he’d gotten the biggest parts out, he did his best to pour it out into the other hand, leaving the majority of the debris behind.

It was far from the most effective strategy and he lost more metal than he would have cared to in the process, but it worked. At least, it looked like it worked.

He took the metal away from the flame and held it out in the air, waiting as it cooled and solidified back into a blob in his palms. Arwin studied it, then blew out a breath. Even if this method technically worked, he was going to end up with a bunch of little nuggets instead of workable ingots.

Then again, I can re-heat them with [Soul Flame] and merge everything back together at the end. Not the most efficient way by any means. I should try to get my hands on a mold I can pour metal into. A crucible as well. Something that can withstand the heat of the heightened [Soul Flame] because I’m not so sure my current hearth will hold up against that.

There was always the option of asking Madiv to try and find a crucible, but Arwin had already gotten started and he still didn’t know if his idea would even work. There was no point investing too much effort into getting supplies if it ended up a dud.

With that in mind, he got another chunk of Brightsteel and brought it to the molten blue [Soul Flame]. He was going to need to cook quite a few more pieces of metal if he wanted to get enough to work with for a whole pair of gauntlets.

***

It took Arwin about two hours to form enough “purified” chunks of both Brightsteel and Ivorin to be satisfied. Once he was pretty sure he had enough raw material, he took to using [Scourge] and a significantly weakened [Soul Flame] to press all the Brightsteel back together, kneading it like playdough before bringing it over to the anvil and hammering away at it with Verdant Blaze to make a single, workable sheet.

Once he finished, Arwin repeated the process with the Ivorin. It was a lot of work to get just a single pair of metal sheets, just barely enough for one pair of gauntlets, but it would be worth it if it worked.

At least, I hope it will be. If this isn’t the issue, I’m going to be pissed. I don’t even know if this has completely purified the metal. Is it even possible? I’m sure some impurities are still there, even if I got a lot of them.

The only way to find out would be to put the metal to use. Fortunately, even if all his efforts hadn’t completely purged every last scrap of impurity from the metal, it had come with one extra, unexpected, benefit.

Changing what he was doing midway through didn’t seem like a good idea. He already had a plan laid out — but that plan wasn’t really based on anything concrete.

If I put the claw in a fingertip, it feels wrong to just have one. Every finger should have one. But that would mean I’m working with six monster parts instead of just two. Given the huge increase of difficulty of adding in a single extra item... five could be too much.

But they’re doing the same thing. That might make the extra draw more manageable.

He didn’t have the mental capacity to fully consider the decision and keep his focus at the same time. The only thing he could do was act. After one more instant of hesitation, Arwin hurried over to his pile of Wyrmling parts and scooped up four more teeth.

Working them into the fingertips of the right gauntlet was simple enough, and soon had one of them firmly lodged and buried within the metal at the end of each finger. To Arwin’s relief, it didn’t seem like the draw of magical energy or focus had changed significantly by using more teeth.

Now there was a new problem. If the claws were based on Wyrmling teeth on one gauntlet, it didn’t make sense for them to be normal on the other glove.

Why would it even have claws at all? That’s just stepping in the first gauntlet’s territory. They’re meant to be a pair. One rips, the other stores.

Arwin removed the pointed tips from the left gauntlet’s fingers, rounding them out. He brought the white gemstone out a little, making sure it was visible on the back of the gauntlet, then started carving jagged designs into the gauntlet with a nail and [Scourge].

Once he finished, he swapped over to the clawed gauntlet and repeated the process, drawing identical designs. He didn’t really have a reason for it other than it felt right, but that was as good of a reason as any.

His brow knit in concentration as he put the finishing touches onto the gauntlets. His reserves of magical energy were dwindling to alarming levels, but it didn’t matter. He polished the gauntlets off and sharpened each of the claws on his whetstone.

Arwin then looked over them with a sharp eye in search of any mistakes. The gauntlets glistened, a mixture of silver and ivory. One ended with wicked claws, short but razor-sharp. The other bore a pale white gem like a milky eye lying in wait for promised power. Energy swirled within the gauntlets, waiting for release.

There was nothing else to do.

He mentally acknowledged that his work was done, letting his hands drop to his sides. The Mesh didn’t wait a second longer. Power erupted around the gauntlets and swirled down the grooves he’d carved into their surface.

[The Ivory Executioner’s Hands: Epic Quality] have been forged. Forging a magical item has granted you energy.

[Getting Competent] – Awarded for forging your first Epic Quality item completely from scratch. Effects: Upgrade one of your existing skills. This achievement will be consumed immediately.