56 Day of Rest: Hoat'l's Perspective

Mana flared up from the active engine as Hoat'l pulled the trigger of his newest prototype. Flames erupted from the engine, coating the blade in a dense layer of fire. He flicked his wrist, causing the handle to rotate, as the flames absorbed into the core and lit up like molten lava. He swung at the straw dummy he had set up as...

*BOOM*

...The blade erupted in a fiery explosion, completely incinerating the test dummy to ash, as well as catching a few nearby crates on fire. Quickly switching to Ice mode, he swung the blade as frosty air erupted, freezing the crates and smothering the flames.

He grinned as he released the trigger and immediately got to work on repairing the damage done to the engine from the explosion. The door opened behind him as he peeked over his shoulder to see Ai standing at the doorway in her new outfit.

"Ay, lass! Jus' in time, lookit me new project!" He said excitedly holding up the new prototype engine blade.

"Nice! You know I'm keeping Revolution, right?" Ai said with a smug look on her face.

"Aye, lass, I knew the minute it left me hand that ye wouldn't wannae part with it. Although you still owe me tha' date ye promised."

"Heehee, I'll talk to her about it later. So, any improvements to the new blade?"

"Aye, lookit, I added a throttle ta th' handle." He pulled the trigger a few times till lightning popped up on the display, holding the trigger down, electricity engulfed the blade as bolts arced off of the blade, he flicked his wrist, causing the throttle to jerk as the lightning condensed into the mana storage core along the spine of the blade as it turned yellow and hummed with energy.

"With this, a high amount of lightnin' is condensed within th' core. It takes th' element imbued in th' blade and causes an elemental explosion. This is done by adding a force enchantment ta the blade to condense and release." Ai nodded excitedly. "Lets test it! Now!"

Hoat'l laughed. "Yer a girl after me own heart. Aye, les test the Metal element so we don' go destroyin' me shop." He pulled the trigger a few times and ignited the Metal element as the steel blade began to shine. Ai followed suit and drew Revolution, setting it to Metal as well and igniting her mana engine.

"Here I go! Don't hold back!" Ai hopped in excitement as she blinked away.

Hoat'l ignited his body in white flame and started to float in the air as he created a heat jet to quickly turn his body as...

*CLANG*

...The two swords clashed, sending sparks in all directions. Hoat'l flew back, shooting flames at Ai as she cut them, her amber and blue glowing eyes focused on Hoat'l, she jumped up in the air and started to soar at him at a high speed as...

*CRASH*

...Ai slammed her sword into Hoat'l's, causing him to stagger slightly from the impact, he kicked Ai's sword, causing her to flip backward in the air until she finally found her balance and pulled the trigger, erecting an ice wall just as Hoat'l brought his sword in for a counter-attack. Flicking his wrist, the blade exploded with force energy on impact, completely shattering the ice wall as he quickly realized she had blinked away.

White wings of fire erupted from his back as Ai barely dodged the wings. Hoat'l's figure blurred, similar to [Flash Step], but this was just the significant speed boost from his wings as Ai activated her senses and turned to meet his blade as she ignited the blade the moment it made impact, freezing Hoat'l's blade in place.

Flames erupted from his body as the ice rapidly melted and Ai blinked once more above Hoat'l. He grinned as he dismissed his wings and dropped to the ground just as the blade passed over his head.

Flicking his wrist to turn the throttle, Hoat'l floated up to gain a little distance and he swung out as Ai had blinked away and charged in for a finisher.

*BOOM*

Force energy erupted from the blade as the swords collided, sending Ai flying into a crate by the entrance. A moment later, the door opened as Kenji and Lia walked in.

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As everyone left the smithy, Hoat'l looked down at the battered katana and let out a disappointed grunt. "Piece o' garbage, this blade." He placed it on his newly created anvil and grabbed a hammer as he struck down, shattering the blade to pieces. "Cheap metal at tha'."

He pulled out a chunk of sky-steel and placed it next to his forge. "Feels kinda like cheatin' with this new power, but I dunnae have a week to forge the blade from scratch." He said as he scratched his bearded chin.

Forming the sword was the easy part, channeling the flame into the broken sword and the chunk of metal, everything melted down and began to fuse together with the exception of the cheap steel. The blade quickly took form as the red and gold metal of the hilt seemed to decorated the blade itself, the hilt took on parts of the sky-steel as well.

"Lady Eimyrja, grant me your blessing once more." Hoat'l closed his eyes as a blue flame floated out of his chest.

'I do so enjoy your company, young dwarf, you should call upon me more often.'

"Aye, m'lady, I'm sure I'll be needin' yer aid in the comin' days." Hoat'l said as he wiped the sweat from his brow, simply being in the presence of the blue flame was nearly overwhelming.

'Well, since I am here, allow me to bless this sword. I give unto thee, the heart of the raging storm, forge with your soul, Raijin, god of storms, lightning, and thunder, become the blade that cuts through the corruption of this tainted world and restore it to the world worthy of your presence.'

*BOOM*

A brilliant white lightning bolt crashed through the ceiling, sending Hoat'l crashing through the wall of his smithy and into the main road outside.

Hoat'l coughed as he stood back up, dusting himself off. He noticed that the entire front of his outfit was charred black as he panicked and checked his beard, which, thankfully, was still there.

"Oi shit, tha's gonna cost me a fortune to repair." He complained as he hobbled his way back into his smithy. It was there, the katana floated above his anvil, the blade was red in color, strange considering it was the sword of storms, but it was more akin to a red rage, as though it harnessed the anger and madness of the all of the worlds deadliest storms within its blade.

Hobbling up to the sword, he grabbed the sword that seemed to send more electricity into his body the longer he held it. "So we made yet another artifact weapon. I might need ta get me a new smithy, one without a roof." He chuckled as he looked at the newly forged blade.

[Raijin, Rage of Storms]

Nodding in approval of his creation, he hobbled over to one of the chests in the back as he stored it away and locked the chest.

"Oi, bushbeard, the fuck kinda ruckus are you making?" Hoat'l turned around to see Amari walking over the hole he had made in the wall.

"Ah, miss Amari! Made another weapon, one fer that lad tha' claimed to be a samurai or somat'."

Amari nodded and grinned. "Yeah, yeah, that's all nice and all. How about that date, eh? I still owe ya one, right?"

If Hoat'l had blushed any brighter, his head could easily be mistaken for a large, hairy tomato. "A-a-a-aye, where we goin' 'bout then?"

Amari smirked and gestured for Hoat'l to follow. "Just follow me, bushbeard. I've got the perfect date in mind."

After getting over his initial embarrassment, he hobbled behind Amari as they set off on their 'date'.