In the sewers
I wake up from meditation to a familiar sound.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩⟩
- Congratulations, the Meditation skill has advanced to level 9!
√ Meditation
√ Level 9
- Physical +9 Intelligence. +4 Charm. +4
- A skill for recovery. HP 40/hour MP 40/hour
I look at Ruby, who is still meditating. I simply enjoy watching her. I can't help but admire her beauty and marvel at the possibilities. No, I can't think like that, we're bonded for life. What if I confess and she doesn't feel the same? How awkward would things be?
It's better to just be friends and partners. Especially since I could die at any moment in this world. Maybe if it was my old world? Ah, who am I kidding, in my old life I would never have had the courage to get close to someone as beautiful as her!
My thoughts are interrupted when Ruby starts to move. I quickly get up and pretend I'm busy doing something before she opens her eyes.
Ruby says, "Hooray, my meditation skill has gone up two levels!"
"Good morning, how nice! Would you like some breakfast?"
Ruby says, "Sure. After that, would you like me to show you the forge?"
"Yes, please."
Ruby stands up and stretches, smiles as she notices me looking sideways at her. Then we sit down and share breakfast and then get ready to go to the forge.
Ruby says "How do I cross the river?"
"Like this," I lift her in my arms and jump across the river. Ruby's heart starts pounding and not for flying through the air.
"Did you just say eep?"
Ruby punches his arm and says, "No, I didn't."
"Oh, okay, okay, sorry!"
I rub my arm as we walk back to the room where Ruby was imprisoned. Ruby walks to the back wall and points to a rock.
Ruby says, "Channel mana to this rock and the room will open."
I walk over, put my hand on the rock and channel some mana into it. A section of the wall disappears as if made of smoke. Behind it is a forge fully equipped with a complete set of tools.
Ruby says, "Before you go in, you should know a few things. One, the forge will only work as long as I am in the room. Two, you cannot remove anything that is in the room at this time. Three, time passes faster in the room."
"Are you thrilled with the time dilation? Cool! Do you know the speed?"
Ruby says, "I don't know what you just said, but every six hours in is an hour out here."
"That's awesome, I'm going to get a lot of use out of this room!"
I'm so excited that I rush to hug Ruby before I think better of it. Ruby freezes in surprise at first, but then smiles and hugs me back.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I got carried away."
Ruby says, "Oh, that's okay, I don't mind at all."
"That's okay, first thing I have to do is get the two hundred and fifty pounds of iron ore I mined up here. That's a lot of back and forth, do you want to wait here?"
After making sure she's not in any danger, I go back to what I was doing. The fact that the forge is still working well also helps to lessen my concern for Ruby. Then I realize that I've probably left the iron in the forge for too long and I take it out and pour the molten metal into the ingot molds.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, you have acquired the craft skill Blacksmithing!
√ Blacksmithing
√ Level 1
- Strength +1 Fire resistance +1
- You can transform metal ores into raw items.
"Created item."
√ Steel ingot
- Quality: High Grade
"Wow, high grade steel, how could that happen?"
I quickly put more iron ore in the crucible and put it in the forge. While waiting for it to melt, I found myself rubbing the medallion and discovered that it was warm, even warmer than the air in the room where the forge was. I took that as a good sign, since Ruby is a flame spirit.
Come to think of it, when she became the cloud of light, she looked like the other spirits I saw. Maybe this had something to do with what happened to her because of me. I spent the next few hours turning the two hundred and fifty pounds of iron ore I mined into twenty high-grade steel ingots.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩
- Congratulations, the Blacksmithing skill has advanced to level 2!
√ Blacksmithing
√ Level 2
- Strength +2 Fire resistance +2
- You can transform metal ores into raw items.
I then return to my camp to fish and cook some fish to eat. After eating, I collect all the armor and weapons I have gathered and start carrying them to the forge room. I then proceed to cast them into another ten ingots.
Ruby thinks "Bostezo!"
"How do you feel?"
Ruby thinks "I feel a lot better now and I understand some things too."
"Like what?"
Ruby thinks "Well, now I have something called spiritual power, I have to use it to keep my human form. I ran out of it and that's why I became an amulet."
"That's good, I was worried something had gone wrong!"
Ruby thinks "Oh, you were worried about me?"
"Of course! You suddenly became a cloud of light and then this amulet, what was I supposed to think?"
Ruby thinks, "I can see your point. Normally, a spirit that runs out of energy would return to the spirit plane to recover. I guess this means you are my plane, ha ha ha."
"Well, as long as you recover, it doesn't matter how."
Ruby thinks, "I'm still recovering, but I've recovered enough to stay awake. But I'll still be a charm for a while."
"That's okay, I'm just doing boring crafting stuff for now anyway."