24 - On that Grind

[You know that you can just use the corpses of Nightmare Creatures to make weapons, right?]

"…For real?"

[For real re- I mean, it is done quite often back in the day.]

"…I forgot you were old."

[I'm not old!]

"Anyways, how does that work? I don't even have a hammer or anything to use."

[Just steal one from the Castle!]

"…Nevee thought that I would be a thief."

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Shirou had used the [Hidden Rebel] enchantment of the [Rebellion] to sneak into the castle storage. They had a couple of hammers, so he took one and returned home.

Shirou's eyes twitched at what he was seeing. The bones of a Nightmare Creature they had killed for this purpose was laying on top of the [Daemonic Forge]. The small fire did not seem to effect the bones at all. He understood that he was supposed to turn this into a weapon, but there was a glaring issue.

He had never forged something in his life.

He turned towards Ingvild who was watching from the bed.

"So… is there anything I should do?"

[What do you mean? All you have to do is keep hammering it until it takes shape.]

"I'm pretty sure that it isn't that simple. In fact, that would be an insult to all blacksmiths that had ever live!"

[No, it really is that simple. Usually, if somebody has an Aspect related to forging or the likes, they don't have to do it in the mundane way. If they do do it in the mundane way though, the result tends to be better.]

"Oh…"

Well, I guess I just have to mindlessly hit it with this hammer.

After the first strike, the small fire expanded across the bone. It started to glow slightly before changing shape. Shirou didn't know if it was necessary, but he decided to keep hammering it until he can't.

After a few minutes, a weapon had formed. It then dissapeared in motes of green light, before being absorbed into the forge.

Shirou opened up the runes for the [Daemonic Forge] to see if there was something that told him where the weapon went.

Weapons Stored: [1/1000]

So I can store up to a thousand weapons.

Unfortunately, Shirou did not know how to summon the weapons. He had the idea of looking into his soul sea however, and it seemed to be the right one.

As he looked up at the two Forge Cores in the sky, he noticed that they were burning brighter than usual. It must have been due to him temporarily being an Awakened.

He looked around, before finding the [Daemonic Forge] behind him. He walked towards it and placed his hand on the small flame. As he did, he instinctively knew how to summon the weapon. An entire portion of his memory was devoted to being able to catalogue these weapons now. It was quite strange, but he accepted it for what it was.

As Shirou exited his soul sea, he held out his hand and focused on bringing the weapon out of his soul.

Once he did, cyan lines started to spread across his body. Sparks of the same color appeared in his hand, tracing the shape of the weapon. After a few moments the weapon had appeared in his hand.

Shirou was now carrying a straight sword in his hand. He swung it around a few times, before attempting to make it float. He manipulated the forge essence within the weapon and had it suspend itself in the air.

Shirou pointed towards the wall outside of the cell before giving it a mental command

The point of the sword aimed in the same direction he did, and flew in that direction while leaving behind a cyan trail. It pierced into the wall, before being dismissed back into the [Daemonic Forge].

Shirou looked towards Ingvild. She looked back before shrugging her shoulders.

[These Memory things are really getting out of hand.]

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After around a month, Shirou had been trying to create as many swords as possible, with as many different Nightmare Creatures as possible. It seemed that they would carry the attributes of the Nightmare Creature along with them.

As Shirou tested the weapons, it seemed that however strong they are is based on his rank. None of the weapons were of the Ascended rank, and he believed that if it wasn't for [Territory Creation], his weapons would have been of the Dormant rank.

Shirou abstained from fighting against Gunlaug's men, as he was preparing for their attack on the Crimson Spire.

Nephis currently led 500 Sleepers, and were going to seige the Crimson Spire in a few days. Shirou decided to supply as many people as possible with an Awakened weapon. This would ensure that every person had something decent to fight with.

Fortunately, he had already surpassed that amount. The forging process only took a few seconds for each weapon, as the first strike was the only one necessary to create one of these weapons. The time consuming part was killing the Nightmare Creatures themselves.

Weapons Stored: [369/1000]

He had already given away most of his weapons to the Dreamer Army. This prevented any shortages in weapon Memories.

In exchange, Nephis provided him with Nightmare Creature parts every now and then.

It was quite strange to feel a part of himself all across the Dark City, but it wasn't that bad. At least nobody had broken any of them yet.

Shirou opened his runes to check his sword fragments.

Name: Shirou

True Name: Forged In Hell

Rank: Dreamer

Class: Demon

Forge Core: [3/7]

Sword Fragments: [763/3000].

Attributes: [Spark Of Divinity], [Master Of Swords], [Mind Of Steel], [Anomaly], [Karmic Eye].

Memories: [Washing Pole], [Rebellion], [Shroud of Justice], [Gandiva], [Ghost Consumer], [Bountiful Bed], [Gargoyle's Blackblade], [Bubble Pendant], [Daemonic Forge], [Bottomless Box].

Echoes: —

Aspect: [Sword Incarnation]

Aspect Rank: [Divine]

Aspect Description: [You are a sword who was forged in the depths of hell and quenched with the divine blood of the War Goddess. You were the greatest creation greatest blacksmith of them all, which makes you a sword above all the rest. All types of weapons recognize you as their master. The blacksmith created you in his own image, and left behind one simple, yet daunting task. Destroy Fate.]

Innate Ability: [Bloodstained]

Ability Description: [The blood of the War Goddess does not flow through you, as swords are not alive. When stained with the blood of the War Goddess, you are able to perform at your fullest potential.]

Aspect Abilities: [Living Sword]

Aspect Legacy: [Fleshforge]

Fleshforge Description: [The War Goddess accepted an offering of humanity from the heroic Forged In Hell. In respect of his sense of Justice, and value of life, she bestowed upon him the ability to truly become the sword itself. This was only possible due to his ability to abandon his humanity for the sake of others.]

Legacy Relics:

First Relic: [Claimed]

Second Relic: [Claimed]

Third Relic: [Locked]

Fourth Relic: [Locked]

Fifth Relic: [Locked]

Sixth Relic: [Locked]

Seventh Relic: [Locked]

Blades: [Ingvild of the Storm].

Name: Ingvild of the Storm

True Name: —

Rank: Awakened

Class: Monster

Soul Core: [2/7]

Soul Shards: [1437/2000].

Memories: [Tarnished Fate].

Aspect: [Storm Priestess].

Aspect Rank: [Divine].

Aspect Description: [There was once a priestess who carried the blood of the Storm God. Wherever she walks, the sea parts and storms disperse. She had achieved a higher level of divinity after offering herself to a Divine Sword. THE WORLD SHALL WITNESS THE REBIRTH OF THE SEA SERPENT.]

Attributes: [Mark of Divinity], [Undrowning], [Child of Storms], [Reforged].

Aspect Abilities: [Galebreathe], [Sea-Sunk], [Vorpal Blade].

Noble Phantasms: [Storm Ruler].

During the past month, Shirou had learned quite a bit. It seemed that if anyone killed a Nightmare Creature using one of his swords, he would get sword fragments from it. Due to this, he had became a Demon, and was consistently gaining sword fragments. He did not obtain any memories however, as the spell officially recognized the person who wielded the sword as the killer. It seemed that he only gained sword fragments as a bonus.

He had known that Ingvild was able to use any non-weapon Memory, but did not have anything useful for her. They had gotten the [Tarnished Fate] however, which was an armor Memory.

Shirou was quite grateful that it wasn't similar to her old outfit.

She was only limited to having a single memory at a time, so Shirou thought that this was the best choice.

Memory Name: [Tarnished Fate]

Memory Rank: Awakened

Memory Tier: IV

Memory Type: Armor

Memory Description: [Worn by young women who set off into the world to confront their fate.]

Memory Enchantments: [Survivor], [Iron Will].

[Survivor]

Enchantment Description: [Wounds slowly get healed by this armor.]

[Iron Will]

Enchantment Description: [As long as your will holds strong, this armor will somewhat increase your strength.]

[Survivor] healed wounds quite slowly, so it was only useful for minor cuts and such. [Iron Will] did not seem to be constantly active. Shirou believed that it had to meet certain conditions to be activated.

Shirou had only gotten a single memory, and it wasn't as useful as it's name implied. The [Bottomless Box] was not actually bottomless, but rather, had a slightly larger interior than it did from the outside.

It would probably be useful someday, but today was not that day.

Shirou had learned something quite interesting about the [Shroud of Justice].

Memory Name: [Shroud of Justice]

Memory Rank: Dormant

Memory Tier: III

Memory Type: Garment

Memory Description: ["I am the Bone of my Sword. Steel is my Body and Fire is my Blood. I have created over a Thousand Blades. Unknown to Death, Nor Known to Life. Have withstood Pain to create many Weapons. Yet, those Hands will never hold Anything. So, as I pray— Unlimited Blade Works."]

Memory Enchantments: [Dauntless Justice], [Driven by Hell].

[Dauntless Justice]

Enchantment Description: [For as long as the wearer holds Justice in his heart of glass, this garment shall grow alongside the wearer.]

[Driven by Hell]

Enchantment Description: [As the one who had walked through hell itself, fire does not hurt you as much when wearing this garment.]

The [Shroud of Justice] had gained a new enchantment when he had become a Demon. He now had an enchantment that actually helped him directly.

Shirou believed that the enchantments would only grow more powerful as he does as well. Although, he currently had no way to prove that.

Shirou sighed as he sat in front of the [Daemonic Forge]. Ingvild was currently killing Nightmare Creatures, so he was completely alone in the room.

Shirou placed the scale of a Nightmare Creature that looked like a lizard. He brought his hammer up to hit the scale.

You can never have too many weapons after all.