“Then we need to get to work. Let’s get that sword complete.” Rowan told him with a nod.
They did the same process with the sword that they had for the daggers, and before long, the final hammer blow marked the completion.
Congratulations, you have successfully created Enchanted Basic Mage-crafted Iron Bastard Sword. You have gained 260 experience in Blacksmithing for creating this item.
Item:
Enchanted Basic Mage-crafted Iron Bastard Sword
Attack: 9-13
Durability: 75/75
Rarity: Rare
Quality: Well Crafted
Weight: 1.8 kg
Slot: Main Hand/Off Hand
Traits: A dagger made out of iron with magical means and enchanted.
Enchantments:
● This blade will not lose attack damage as the durability falls.
● This blade loses durability 10% slower.
“Definitely items of beauty. Do you suppose you can help me get the shield crafted as well before you head off? I’d hate to have to pair a sword this nice with a normal shield.” Rowan said.
Arthur looked up at the sun and decided he still had enough time to work on this with him before he needed to be back at the inn. They both walked over to the forge area, and Arthur picked up an ingot of iron. Rowan had decided he wanted to watch the process this time. He didn’t get to see the magic last time and couldn’t resist getting the chance to observe.
“Any specific shield style you think would work best?” Arthur asked Rowan.
“I can admit I’m not very knowledgeable about shields, but I would say a heater shield would probably suffice. I’ll guess you will need two ingots to make one as large as it needs to be. I know the iron is heavy, but you can’t afford to make it too thin, or it will be too weak.” Rowan told him.
“I have a bit of an idea to help with that using my Enchanting. I do think it needs to be a bit thicker, though. It should help Samson build up his strength a bit one way or another. By the time we can get him a true steel shield, it should feel light as a feather to him.” Arthur said happily.
He walked over and grabbed another ingot and threw both into the forge to heat up. He chatted with Rowan for a few minutes until both were hot.
“Alright Rowan, step back and prepare to be amazed,” Arthur told him.
Rowan scoffed at him and stepped back. Arthur used his magic to pick up both pieces and set them against one another. He pictured the shield he wanted in his mind. This would be a great test to make a pretty typical heater shield, but with his magic, it also gave him the chance to make it intricate as well. He decided to do a slightly raised edge on the shield that made the edge a little thicker and more resilient. He also made sure the boss on the front was tapered well and smooth to help deflect blows better. He also made sure to picture small metal rivet pegs sticking out of the back where Rowan would need to attach the enarmes for the hand. This was a design item that would be almost impossible to do without the spell. He wanted to keep rivet holes out of the front, though, so this was the best option. He did decide to make the inside of the boss slightly hollow to keep the weight down a bit. He planned on enchanting it anyway to help. Once he had the idea in his mind, he cast his spell.
The shield worked slightly different from the blades. Instead of just showing a magical line moving on the ingot, both ingots melted together, and the bars started flowing into a larger rectangular shape. Once it got close to the final shield measurements, the familiar line of power begun moving from the top to bottom and transformed the hunk of rectangular metal into the shield Arthur had pictured. The edges thickened and had some delicate scroll patterns etched into them as the power continued through the shield. As the metal kept moving, he heard a gasp from behind him. A smile crept onto his face as he knew that Rowan was watching, and by the sound he had made, he was rather impressed.
Arthur waited patiently as the spell kept moving over the metal. This process was a little slower, but he couldn’t complain. It was still infinitely faster than doing it the conventional way. It took around five minutes, but the shield finally finished, and the heat was pulled out. It dropped down into Arthur’s hands, and the weight startled him for a minute.
You have gained 50 experience in Earth Magic and Fire Magic for successfully casting Combination Spell: Arcane Forging.
Congratulations, you have successfully created Intricate Mage-crafted Iron Heater Shield. You have gained 140 experience in Arcane Smithing and Blacksmithing for creating this item.
Congratulations, you have reached level 4 in Blacksmithing. You are granted a 9% bonus to forging speed.
Item:
Intricate Mage-crafted Iron Heater Shield (Unfinished)
Block: 10-12
Durability: 100/100
Rarity: Uncommon
Quality: Well Crafted
Weight: 5.0 kg
Slot: Crafting Item
Traits: A basic Iron Heater Shield, created using magical techniques. This shield will have more capacity for absorbing magical power. Combine with handle components to assemble an Intricate Mage-crafted Iron Heater Shield.
“Dear sweet Goddess, that is beautiful,” Rowan said in awe. Arthur turned and saw the man had watery eyes as if he was on the verge of crying.
“I will wholeheartedly agree with you, my friend. I tried to make it both functional and intricate.” Arthur told him solemnly.
Rowan looked at him. “You don’t understand what you have done here. There has been nothing made with this amount of beauty since before the fall of the Firebrand family. Yeah, I know its only an iron shield, but the sheer beauty of it makes that irrelevant.”
Arthur was starting to feel a swell of pride at the man’s reaction. “I thank you for that, Rowan. How about we make it even nicer by adding a few enchantments to it?” Arthur asked.
“That sounds like a plan. I’ll find some of the leather pieces I have around here and get the enarmes made to strap the arm in. I should be done about the same time you are, and we can fully assemble it. I don’t want you to only get a small percentage of the experience after you made it look that good.” Rowan told him.
“Wait, I get experience for it being completed even if I am not actively helping with it?” Arthur asked.
“Yes, you do. It doesn’t matter how far away the craft is when it is completed. If you had a hand in making it, you would get at least a portion of the experience. If you left right now and I finished it, I would get the experience for completing it, and you would get 10% of that experience. If not for that, the unfinished products would never be allowed to leave the shops until complete for any reason. No one would ever want to export their unfinished items, so a better crafter could complete another piece.” Rowan explained.
Arthur thought about it and saw an advantage to it. Even if he didn’t have time to focus on finishing the items, he could still make a lot with his arcane smithing and just let Rowan and his apprentices finish them up. This would allow him to get a small percent of the experience, and his apprentices would get the full amount to help their skill progress faster. He supposed it could also be used as a reward system for craftsmen and their apprentices by letting them finish specific projects for the massive amounts of experience they offered.
“I’ll get back to my seat and get to work on the enchantment then. You get those straps ready for the inside.” Arthur told him.
“While I am pleased you at least know what they are, can you use the real term for them? Can’t sully the craft. They are enarmes.” Rowan told him in mock tones.
“Of course O’ wise one,” Arthur said with a mocking bow and a smile.
Arthur walked back over to his spot and got to work. He decided to use the durability enchantment again as before and inscribed it along each side. The boss was going to be a little different, the symbols for weak, power, and deflect were used instead. Man, he was glad he could naturally translate any word to the symbols. If he didn’t have that ad
vantage, it would take him forever to figure out new enchantments. He just hoped this one did what he wanted. He started the mana infusion and pushed in power. As before, it was the quick flood followed by a slow trickling of power. The process completed, and the symbols permanently etched themselves in with fire and faded slightly. Now he was suitably impressed.
Congratulations, you have successfully enchanted Basic Mage-crafted Iron Heater Shield (Unfinished) for 180 experience in Enchanting.
Item:
Intricate Mage-crafted Iron Heater Shield (Unfinished)
Block: 11-13
Durability: 120/120
Rarity: Rare
Quality: Well Crafted
Weight: 5.0 kg
Slot: Crafting Item
Traits: A basic Iron Heater Shield, created using magical techniques. This shield will have more capacity for absorbing magical power. Combine with handle components to assemble a Basic Magecrafted Iron Heater Shield.
Enchantments:
● 10% increased chance to parry blows.
● This shield loses durability 10% slower.
Arthur took the finished product over to Rowan. He was holding the leather in his hands and looked ready to attach them. He looked at the back and frowned for a moment before his face brightened.
“Arthur, could you heat each of those rivets ends with your Fire Magic? I don’t want to tarnish the rest of the beauty of this shield by throwing the entire thing back in the fire to heat them.” Rowan asked.
Arthur felt stupid for a moment. Of course, the design looked good, but Rowan was right. You had to throw the entire thing in the fire just to heat the pegs. Typically you would heat the small rivet and put it in through the hole to peen it over. Luckily Rowan saw the problem and immediately thought of a brilliant solution.
“Of course,” Arthur told him, and Rowan stood by as they flipped the shield upside down, and both got ready. Rowan had the leather, and a small hammer prepared to go, so Arthur focused on the first peg and cast his weak flame spell while holding his finger close to the rivet. He had to channel the flame for thirty seconds to heat it enough, but he quickly slipped the leather on and peened it over. Luckily this spell wasn’t too expensive. They had to take a couple of breaks for Arthur’s mana to recover while they worked, but they got the rest of the rivets heated and peened on, and the shield was complete.
You have gained 150 experience in Fire Magic for successfully casting Weak Flame. (x5)
Congratulations, you have reached level 3 in Fire Magic. Fire Magic spells now have a 6% increased effect.
Congratulations, you have successfully created Enchanted Intricate Mage-crafted Iron Heater Shield. You have gained 300 experience in Blacksmithing for creating this item.
Item:
Intricate Mage-crafted Iron Heater Shield
Block: 11-13
Durability: 120/120
Rarity: Rare
Quality: Well Crafted
Weight: 5.0 kg
Slot: Off Hand
Traits: A shield made out of iron with magical means and enchanted.
Enchantments:
● 10% increased chance to parry blows.
● This shield loses durability 10% slower.
“Well, I’ll be damned, Arthur. If you hand out these weapons to your hunting group, I have a feeling you will be their friend for life. I almost feel bad now that I have to go back to making normal items after seeing what you just accomplished. I guess someone needs to make everyday items. Anything specific you need?” Rowan asked.
Arthur thought about it for a moment and realized he could do something real quick, and he acknowledged Rowan’s completion of the weapon work orders. That would give him a good boost to his skill, and Arthur had the finished products in front of him and could verify them as complete. Rowan was a bit surprised as he looked at Arthur.
“Holy crap, that was an outstanding amount of experience. Not only that but since the items were rare quality, it gave me a large experience bonus.” He exclaimed.
“I’m happy for you because I’m afraid you have some boring work to do now. The main weapon requirements for the hunting party are now done. We can wait a bit longer to worry about arming the rest of the villagers for the attack. Now that I know we can grind through this fairly quickly, we can shift focus. I want you to start making nails. This village is falling apart, and nails are going to be of utmost importance to help us repair some of these places.” He said.
Rowan nodded his head in acknowledgment. Arthur created two work orders for a bundle of fifty nails each and assigned them both to Rowan.
“It isn’t much, but the free experience is just that, free experience. Once your apprentices get a bit higher level, I can start giving them better work orders as well, but I am sure you need them smelting ingots more than anything with all that raw ore we brought in. I’ll see if I can’t find us some more while out tomorrow.” Arthur told him.
“I’ll take what I can get. Don’t you have work to do? Get on with yourself.”
Arthur got up, dusted himself off, and put the tools he had used back in their places. He was raised to clean up after himself, and he wasn’t going to leave a mess for Rowan to pick up. A few slim pieces of coal were slipped into his bag to use for drawing symbols if needed, and he took off back to the inn. There was a bit of life in the village around him as he walked. He saw many faces he had never seen before. There were not a whole lot of people here, but he still hadn’t met most of them. Even with that, he saw some people he had never seen before his entire time here. Most he at least had seen in a glimpse outside or through a window, but some new faces still popped up.
He reached the front of the inn as the sun was starting to go down. He sure had a busy day that felt like an entire week. Walking in the inn, he saw it full of vibrant life. People were seated around the room, eating. There were smiles everywhere as they ate. The sight of it all brought warmth to his heart. No matter what he thought, he could see they were making a difference. This was just the start.
Shortly after he entered, the energy picked up, and he could see a handful of people were looking toward him. He knew some of them had some things they probably wanted to turn in. Arthur went and sat at an empty table and waited for the crowd to work their way to him as they finished eating.
The first people to make their way to him were the father and son woodcutting duo. He accepted their order and issued them new ones. He had seen the logs piled up outside and assumed they would be here.
The next person to approach him was the person he hoped against hope would show up. It was Zeke, and he was holding a bow in one hand and a small bundle of arrows in the other. Arthur had no idea how the man had completed both items in such a short amount of time, but he wasn’t going to question good luck. He needed another bow so Vana would have a decent weapon to use tomorrow for the hunt. She wouldn’t be fond of the idea of only using a dagger. The orders for Zeke were completed, and he issued two more requests for bows. He knew they needed many more arrows, but Rowan hadn’t had time to make arrowheads yet to fill those orders, so he would have to wait until tomorrow. The also needed to gather some feathers from birds tomorrow for fletching.
Rowan’s apprentices, Alex and Lana, were the next in line, so Arthur completed their four orders for ingots. He hoped they were progressing quickly in their levels. Rowan would need help soon. He saw his hunting team around the area. Samson was sitting at a table in the corner, and Vana was leaning against the bar. He caught a glimpse of Allendria back by the entrance to the kitchen. He waved Vana and Samson over.
“Hello, you two. I want to go on a hunting trip tomorrow. Our primary goal is to find food and animals, but we keep our eyes open for any useful materials. I will provide each of you with a weapon for the trip, but unfortunately, I do not have much in the way of armor. You can look at what I am wearing and see that. Vana, I have a basic bow for you and some arrows. You can go ahead and take them now since I already have them here. I
will also provide you with a dagger for close-quarters protection. Samson, I have something a little beefier for you. I have a sword and shield prepared for you that I will hand out in the morning as well. Any questions?” Arthur asked.
Both looked at each other and shrugged a bit. Samson turned to him and asked, “Are we going to be looking anywhere specific? Game animals can be tricky to find just stumbling around, but there is a low-level dungeon out there that is primarily occupied by animals of different kinds. It would probably be a good location for skins and meat.”
“That would be perfect. I only worry about people being injured. We don’t have much in the way of healing ability.” Arthur told them.
Vana spoke up at that, “I have medical field knowledge. I can create a few different things from ingredients found locally in the forest to help heal. It should suffice for anything not overly major such as hefty bleeding or broken bones.”
“Well, I guess you get to play the unofficial healer for now on top of your ranger duties. It will just be us three and Allendria going on the trip. If you have any armor at all stashed away, now would be the time to dust it off. I am sure you won’t be disappointed in the weapons I supply you tomorrow, and with any luck, we might find something good in this beast dungeon. Once Rowan has some time, and Corianne has some leather tanned, we can work on getting you two more properly equipped but bear with me until then.” Arthur told them.
“Any weapon will be welcome at this point. I miss the feel of a weapon in hand.” Samson told him.
“That is the plan then. Meet me back here at first light tomorrow, and we will get moving. Until then, feel free to do as you wish.”
Dravincia Page 27
