664. Melting away

After a long shower in the bath of the guest room, there were two things on his mind. For one, the three leftover pills. He already decided on giving them to Mina. During the shower, he found that his skin had become a lot smoother and softer thanks to the refinement. What miracles would they bring for someone who started off as a beauty like Mina?

The other was that his fingers were itching to try the new option of Charon's Obol. He needed to give it a good work over to get rid of the forge scale anyway and the blacksmith already had something in mind for what to make.

Although he was done with all the items he wanted to finish for his friends before the expedition to the Holy Land, it wasn't like a blacksmith needed a reason to make cool items. Wasn't this how it usually went in fantasy stories?

A revered blacksmith would make a great item and then look for someone worthy to wield his stellar work? Right now, a great item had been waiting for him to make it but Seth had been pushing it back because he didn't know anyone fit to use it.

The horn of the qilin as Master mountain had called it, or rather the fragment of the horned Serpent. A special-rated material from an otherworldly deity. It had been collecting dust in Seth's inventory because he knew no warrior that used the ice or water elements.

Melee classes that had a connection to elemental powers usually used Fire, Wind, or Earth for their buffs in damage, speed, and defense respectively. People with more ordinary classes that lacked an elemental specialization were not even in Seth's consideration.

Delta's only prominent ice user was Elza, but she was already a chosen and she was a mage. With the materials already being in the natural shape of a sword, it would have broken Seth's heart to turn it into a staff. For the same reason, Shay, the ice mage from Monique's team was also out of the question.

For this reason, he had kept pushing back working with the fragment. Yet now was a perfect time. He was technically free for the moment and it met the criteria to test Charon's Obol. It was an organic material that only needed some refinement to make for a good sword.

Twirling the hammer in his hand he strolled to his workshop thinking of what kind of sword to make. The overall shape of the fragment lent itself perfectly for a two-handed longsword. Something along the lines of a Zweihänder or a Claymore.

They weren't the most popular weapons out there, as the standard for most warriors was to go for a type of longsword. Second to longswords were only spears and axes. Still, Seth was confident anyone would jump at the chance to get a legendary weapon, even if it was not their preferred weapon of choice.

"You seem in a good mood, Seth," Wedan commented when he saw the tower master walk by his workshop.

"Oh, yeah. It's been a good day so far and I just had a great idea for an item," Seth replied with a smile.

"Really, can I watch?" the young dwarf asked with sparkling eyes. The last time he had allowed the dwarfs to watch, they had gained a lot from it, although Seth had felt a little embarrassed being watched. Since then, everyone had been busy with things, so they had not gotten the chance to repeat it.

"Are you that free?" he asked back.

"I just finished a big order for an armor set and was going to finish for today! I'm free."

"Me too!" Hoen suddenly entered the conversation with a bright smile. "If there is a chance to watch the master work, I won't let it slip by!" he spoke enthusiastically.

Seth scrutinized them with sharp eyes in the hope of discouraging them, but he was almost blinded by the light in their eyes. These forging fanatics were shameless and unbridled.

"Ah, erm, may I ...also watch?" a third voice butted in. " I know, I'm a goldsmith, but I would also like to watch the Tower Master work on a weapon;" Orry Abell asked hesitatingly.

Seth could only sigh and surrender to his fate, that he would have three pairs of eyes watching him today.

"Fine, Fine, come in. I don't think it will hurt anyone if you watch for a little."

He ground the weird slag off the hammer, revealing a smooth black surface below before he attempted to start on the sword.

With the peanut gallery sitting opposite his anvil, Seth brought out the fragment of the horned snake. He could already hear the ohs and ahs of the dwarfs as they laid their eyes upon an almost natural sword.

The blacksmith equipped his crafting gloves and circulated his energy through Charon's Obol, becoming one with the hammer. A sudden cold made the three peanuts shiver when Seth's voice echoed through the workshop in an alien language.

This was the ballad of Jekulaz, a demon of pure ice, known for his freezing winds. If it wasn't for the bellowing flames of the forge behind him, the temperature in the workshop may have actually fallen below freezing.

He started swinging his hammer and with each swing, he forced some of his energy into the horn. Simultaneously he paid off the demon with Souls, through <Channeling> and the demonic runes of power sank into the material.

Before using <Energy Manipulation 3> in addition to the hammer own ability was a necessary step to make the material malleable. Now, by transferring the energy through the hammer, it also had the same refining effect as the medical energy of the pill and the blessing of the Hammer that bestowed effects.

With every hit, he felt the energy filling the blade, and its color darkened with the demonic runes entering. He was slowly and carefully shaping it, giving it an even edge geometry and getting it ready for sharpening, when suddenly- His hammer hit and his heart dropped.

The surface of the blade cracked like porcelain and flaked away like a forge scale. The indigo-blue blade had lost its luster and cracks covered the surface, spreading from the hit. Seth started sweating hard. The dwarfs and Orry were watching him, to commit such a blunder... the worst was that he didn't even know what went wrong!

He calmed his heart and breath and focused on not letting them notice that something was wrong. With a waxen face, the hammer rose again, and he hit the flaky surface of the sword. More pieces crumbled off. He hit again and more pieces fell.

He didn't show it to the outside, but he was panicking internally. What had happened to the sword? With each hit, the claymore blade that had already taken shape shrunk like a melting iceberg. He was close to losing his cool completely when he spotted a glimpse of hope. Where a big part of the once broad blade broke away he saw a bright glance of metal that stood in stark contrast to the indigo-blue that lost its luster.

Seeing the silver lining on the horizon, he started hammering with reinvigorated swings. As more big chunks broke away, he finally realized what had happened. The color had not darkened because of the demonic forging ballad. It was the refining energy in addition to his strikes had moved the impurities to the outside forming a thick layer of slag, which was the crumbling surface.

He just had to break it away and be left with the purified material. He just didn't expect to lose this much material through the refining process. With a laughing and a crying eye, he watched the mighty claymore shrink.

It was already past the domain of a longsword. What had started with the idea of making a big meaty ice sword and turned into something closer to a rapier, or maybe a hybrid of rapier and sword? In exchange, the material had become a lot more beautiful.

The color had turned from an indigo-blue to a deep sky-blue and the aura of ice was so dense that it formed frost atop the Anvil of Tartarus. The effect of just the material was beyond expectation, it was just a shame that it was reduced by this much.

Seth didn't have any dislike for a rapier-style sword, but it was even less popular than a two-handed sword since it needed a lot of skill and technique to be used effectively. So a rapier it was... this meant he had to slightly change his plans on the fly.

He was just glad that he had not planned any intricate enchantments, since he intended to concentrate on the ice effects and see what Charon's Obol would add to the mix.

Using <Blueprint> he quickly checked schematics for all kinds of rapiers, finally finding one that fit the current shape of the material. It was meatier than the usual rapier, closer to a hybrid of longsword and rapier, which would give it ample power for stabbing and slashing.

Forging the blade into shape didn't take a lot of time, after which came the handle construction. Seth wasn't being cheap and used legendary <Olympian Silver> for the intricate hand guard of the rapier. For the handle itself, he used some of the wood of the Hangingtree.

<Ding! You have finished a special item! >

<Ding! An antagonism has refined the power of Jekulaz and changed your item.>

<Ding! The effect of a tool has changed your item.>

<Ding! A synergy between powers has changed your item.>