Chapter 334: Mithril Smelting.

Chapter 334: Mithril Smelting.

“It’s never easy...”

“If something comes easy then it never lasts long, that’s what my Ma’ used to say.”

“I guess she was right.”

“Well, I’ll go get the things from the list Boss, see you later.”

Roland nodded at Bernir while staring at a schematic that he hung up on a wooden board. It was mostly a sketch of the end product that would be his armor. He stayed up half the night yesterday just to make it. After his battle with Emmerson, he discovered a few flaws in the initial design that he came up with before the battle. After activating both his Overlord’s Might and Mana Overflow skills he recognized a problem.

‘Even the red Mithril has a limit, I didn’t account for the chaotic mana that skill gives me, then if I combine both of them at once this happens...’

On the table before him was a thin plate made of red metal. It was the alloy that he intended to use for his new creation. It was mostly made from the red mithril ore that he slowly mined from the dungeon area. Another additive was etherium which lowered the durability against physical attacks but would allow for it to be more resistant to runes.

On the plate, there was a tier 3 rune inscribed which contained the levitation spell that he previously studied. When he activated it the small rectangular plate started to slowly move up into the air while the rune glowed. When examining the process he could see that the metal was letting the mana flow exceptionally well, there was almost no deteriorative effect to speak off.

It looked to be fine when taking in his mana through his Runic Region skill which allowed him to activate runes from afar. The next part of the test was to activate the Mana Overflow skill which generated a blue hue over his body and added arcs of blue lightning. This jolted the plate slightly and he could see that the metal was having a harder time containing the charge.

Then for the last part of this test to confirm his fear he activated the Overlord’s Might skill. It produced a red aura that together with the blue light of the Mana Overflow skill turned everything purple. If the flashy color of combining these two skills was the only downside then it would be fine but that wasn’t the main problem.

The plate that was previously gently floating in the air started twitching around while glowing purple. This was not something it was supposed to do, the chaotic mana pattern that came from his Overlord skill was interfering with the runic components. When looking over everything with all the skills and senses he developed he could see the problem.

‘This red mana is very unstable, the mana pattern is constantly changing slightly and making all the components go haywire. Even if it’s just jittering slightly it could create a bigger problem in a more complicated structure.’

This new skill was hard to control and could cause havoc on his new armor which would be composed of greater runes. If during a battle he attempted to create a defensive shield and this chaotic mana caused an error, he could very well die. Mana Overflow, on the other hand, was a lot more stable by itself but when the two skills were combined it also enhanced the deteriorative effect.

The thin plate of red mithril was slowly starting to give out some smoke the longer the purple haze continued. This was the second test that he conducted now using both of the skills. Overlord’s Might used by itself was slightly less damaging to the structure but it would be a shame if he couldn’t use them at once.

‘I might have to make the armor a lot thicker than I expected.’

The easiest way to alleviate this problem was adding some bulk to the situation. Below the floating plate, there was another metallic item that looked like a cube. It had some thickness to it and was also equipped with the same levitation spell. Before his skills ran out he activated this piece to float up. Thanks to the thickness some of that chaotic red mana was being contained better and the jittering had been halted.

“But is this the only way out...”

After finishing up with the test he glanced at the armor set on the board. If his calculations were correct then the thing would weigh more than triple that of his older creation. This could be alleviated by the heightened stats he received from his tier 3 ascension. He would still lose some speed but the added mass would make him also harder to knock down. Considering that he was still more of a ranged combatant this was fine.

“The weight aspect shouldn’t really be a problem if I can use those skills, all my stats will be boosted even further and then there is also the levitation spell...”

If it was someone else then the weight might be considered an issue. It would slowly tire anyone down and affect the person’s stamina that was wearing it. Roland on the other hand had some magical means to alleviate this problem. That spell in particular could be used to lessen the weight and could be used similarly to a buffing spell. With a few alterations, it could lessen the weight by fifty percent without affecting the metal at all.

“A suit custom-made for me and trash for everyone else, think this is probably the best I can come up with...”

That one was many more times resistant than Mithril but also sometimes simpler to work with. A craftsman only got one chance to work with it as after the ore was brought to a melting point it was impossible to repeat the process. After hardening once, Adamantium would become unable to be worked on in a regular way. It was practically indestructible after the process was done correctly but it had to be all done in one go.

To get what he wanted out of the suit of armor and the shield he decided to put it through a Liquation process. Thanks to his identification skill he was aware of what the alloy was made of and the melting temperatures that he needed to apply. The Mithril that he desired had the highest resistance to heat and would be the last to melt away. Thus he just needed to heat all of it up below the melting point of mithril to receive a pure ingot afterward.

This process was quite simple and known to him as he had used the same way to purify the red mithril ingots previously. Thus he just needed to repeat it with the suit of armor and shield. Similar to Adamantium, after the initial ore was processed mithril was harder to work on. Thus to enhance the old smelter that he previously used he needed to add some of his own heat with the Forgefire Control skill.

Finally, he got to work by first stripping all of the plate armor from things like straps and rivets. Some of the parts that didn’t cover critical locations weren’t made of the metal that he wanted so they could just be tossed away from the get-go. What remained was then placed onto a slope that was under a large furnace. The angle would push the liquidized ore down into an ingot mold that he could use later.

Thus he initiated the process and added his mana to the mix to get things going. The armor pieces started glowing red and slowly but surely liquifying before his eyes. This entire workshop quickly became filled with immense levels of heat that was then quickly suctioned outside by runic fans installed in the walls. All the heat was removed from this main workshop and then utilized elsewhere.

Using steam was a valid way of generating some extra energy. While he mostly used wind turbines now, he fixed up the place to generate a small amount of extra charge through a steam generator. All the heat that was generated during smelting could be used to boil water and make steam.

Due to the slant on which the metals were resting the liquified parts started pouring down. It started out with small red droplets but soon enough the ingot mold was becoming filled out. The process was slow and grueling but it was necessary for the creation of his armor.

With time all of the impurities were removed and he could turn up the heat. Now that almost nothing but mithril was left inside he could create separate ingots for his initial purpose. Luckily these fantasy metals were different from regular iron and steel. Even if they went through multiple melting sessions they would retain their qualities.

“Oh, are you finished Boss?”

“Bernir? Did you get them?”

“Hehe, yes I did, you should have seen their faces when they saw the letter!”

“Would have been nice if I could have been there.”

After spending several hours down in the workshop Roland was able to create the mithril ingots from Emmerson’s armor. Bernir on the other hand returned with a few useful tools. They were placed by him on the workbench and spread out for him to see. The first tool that he grabbed was a regular smithing hammer.

“Luckily our dwarven friends had some mithril tools out for sale.”

“Yes, very lucky, for us!”

What Bernir had done was taken an official letter to one of the dwarven workshops in the city. Now that Roland was a Head Knight he could use the Valerian seal for various reasons. This day he decided to strongarm the Union dwarves into selling mithril tools to him. To save on time and resources he decided to not make his own set just yet. His new position made it impossible for the dwarves to refuse if he asked for it now.

“These aren’t bad, they had to have been made by a good Master Blacksmith.”

“Aye.”

“Well then, grab the tongs and help me out.”

“Aye, Boss!”

Bernir’s eyes were sparkling like mad. Ever since he found out that they would be making a runic suit of armor made of mithril his assistant was restless. He was truly a craftsman at heart. Being able to assist in the creation of something this grand was an honor for the half-dwarf. Roland could already see him rubbing it in during one of his visits to the pub.

“We will focus on the gauntlets first...”

With an unknown amount of time remaining he decided to focus on his hands. At least with a set of gauntlets, he would be able to cast a few devastating spells. Afterward, it would be either the breastplate component of boots. Soon after a little break the forge was turned back on and the time for hammering was upon him.