NOVEL WEB Chapter 14: Weapon for myself
While others would jump at the opportunity to lavishly spend newly acquired points, my vision is still drawn to Eve. Despite all my lust for her dried out in an instant, looking at her dishevelled robes and dreamy look in her eyes, I can't help but feel kind of paternal instinct waking up within my soul.
"Let's fix that first."
Mumbling to myself, I pull the cloth of her robe in an attempt to cover her exposed areas. Even if she doesn't mind it at the current moment, I don't want to gamble fighting with her when her rationality returns!
With her clothes now fixed, I carry her over to one of the chairs. I wouldn't be a gentleman if I were to leave a girl standing on her wobbly legs with just the support of a wall! Still lacking a proper weapon for myself, I have a ton of stuff to do, so taking care of Eve first will probably give me some more free space later on.
Picking up another lump of iron, I smash it down on the coal in one of the cooled down forges. With my newly advanced skill, I can tell just how much of it is needed to make good steel! Lifting the blackened ingot into the air, I take a long look at it, to ensure that the quality of the future product will be as great as possible.
Suddenly realizing something, I place the metal on the anvil and walk towards the sword that I smithed before. Placing just the tip of my finger on the blade, I utter "Analyze!"
"Blop!"
"Unnamed sword of fine mortal quality"
"Requires equivalent of at least forty agility to be used to its full potential"
"A long, thin blade with a common handle that can sizeably boost the fighting prowess of a cultivator. With the enhancement of the bodily parts of the demonic beast, its sharpness and durability are also greatly improved."
"When wielded, adds ten strength and agility to the user"
Woah! Ten strength and ability? That's like half of my agility and third of my current strength! If I can make something like this with a smithing level unrecognised by the system, what could came out of my hands if I were to raise it even higher?
"System, I wish to upgrade my smithing"
…
…
…
"Blop?"
"Host just obtained attribute points and his current prowess is lacking in comparison to all the cultivators around."
"Upgrading the smithing ability would cost 100 attribute points."
"This decision cannot be taken back."
"Blop!"
"Yes, don't try to stall for the damn time! You almost made me lose my virginity only to see a lewd show! I never excelled in anything, so if I can make something extraordinary, it will be the first for me! I'm sure I want to upgrade it!"
"Blop…"
…
"Blop!"
"Smithing is raised to the bad smithing level 1"
Contrary to my expectations, the previous dizziness didn't come at all! Instead of feeling the river of knowledge flowing into my head, I don't feel anything at all! Eager to test out the changes, I pick up the formerly prepared metal and throw it into the active forge and start to press on the bellow.
Only by taking action I can recognise changes in my crafting ability. When previously I had to pay attention to the flames to judge the state of the iron within the forge, I can now simply feel it!
Unable to rein my emotions and eagerness, I endure until the ingot reaches the perfect temperature only to pull it out and start hammering it! Just as I take my first swing, my vision blanks suddenly!
No matter how much I try to take a swing, I feel a strange urge in my mind to stop it! Only after several attempts are wasted resulting in the metal cooling down to a dangerous border, I put down my hammer and start looking at my surroundings.
If my ability is preventing me from hammering down this metal into the shape I designed in my head, that can only mean that there is something else I need to do right now!
If I don't recognise this need swiftly, I will have to waste even more time reheating this ingot again! Since the surroundings checkout doesn't bear any unusual effects, I look at my own body for a moment. As soon as my sight turns on my storage ring, this strange urge suddenly grows!
Ah! So that's what this was about!
Taking out my two remaining claws of the Mystic Hawk, I just follow my instinct and place one of it on the ore, before finally managing to strike it with my hammer.
Under relentless hammering, the metal and claw dissolve in each other, erasing the existence of the demonic beast body part in a mere few strikes! Only then I'm able to continue hammering as I intended from the very beginning!
Repeating the processes that I went through before, I suddenly recall a legendary ancient technique used to craft perfect quality weapons! Since I'm already in the phase of trying different things out, there is no way I will stop myself from implementing it!
This time, instead of hammering this disfigured ingot into the shame of a blade, I just thin it out in an attempt to make a long, frail plate out of it. Because the heat already managed to escape from the metal, I place this strange item back into the forge and load quite a punch of air into the raring coals to raise the temperature in the forging chamber!
Maybe because of my intricate skills, this whole process lasts only a few moments after which I can finally pick up my metallic board. Placing it back on the anvil, I bend it in half, putting one of the halves on top of the another. With a few swings of my hammer, those two layers of the metal already merge into a single one!
Repeating this process several times, I'm left with a long and extremely resilient piece of metal. In to way does it resemble any kind of sword that I have seen on the TV back on earth. Well, I would pity such a show antagonist if he were to fight his enemies with something that looked out like a simple stun baton!
Only by hammering it down some more does it start to take the name of a proper sword. As the entire process of smithing it Is almost over, I add the remaining claw onto its surface and start spreading it to the edged os what formerly was just a simple plot.
With several repetitions of heating up, twisting it in half and hardening it down in cooled water, the future blade of my dreams is over! I used twice the amount of demonic beast materials that required me to make the sword for Eva, yet I still have a feeling that It will end up far better than my previous job!
Putting my heart and soul into my task, I can finally settle down!
Taking out another sword handle, I simply knock it onto the sword's pin. With the weapon now finished, I touch it with my forefinger and check out its stats!
"Blop…"
"Unnamed ranged sword of great mortal class!"
"Requirement to use: twenty-five strength, fifteen agility."
"The best masterpiece made by Bart's hand. It is designed to create trouble for enemies!"
"Adds fifty strength, agility and mana to its rightful wielder!"
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