Carn leaned close, her face only an inch from the glowing tal. If she got any closer, even using abilities like Endure Flas and Energy Shielding, she would have been burned. Even with her precautions, her Constitution was only sufficient to prevent lasting injury. It didn’t keep it from being uncomfortable. Though, she didn’t allow herself to acknowledge the subtle pain, instead focusing on the chisel in her hand and the design she’d engraved upon the surface of the tal.
She tapped the end of the chisel with her hamr. Her touch was light, but with her Strength as well as the ethera flowing through the tool, it echoed through the smithy like a gong. Ignoring the sound, she shifted the blade a short distance, then repeated the process. As she did, she pushed her abilities to their absolute limit, forcing as much ethera into the product as possible. Because of the material – volcanic mithril – it drank the energy greedily, absorbing it without issue. It could have taken more. The tal wasn’t the problem. Instead, Carn herself was the weak link.
But that didn’t bother her. If she was capable of utilizing her material to the fullest extent of its potential, then she would need to find a different ore. That was the thing about improvent – it didn’t happen unless she was reaching for the stars. Other archetypes might progress by killing powerful monsters, but a Tradesman gained levels by pushing her limits.
And Carn was very good at that. With every completed project, she saw a thousand ways she could have improved the process – and by extension, the final product. So – like a shift in technique or the use of a more potent fire in the forge – were huge and imdiately and noticeably impactful. That was rare, though. In most cases, the improvents were miniscule and barely perceptible, even when she was looking for them. Only when those tiny changes had a chance to pile up were the results apparent.
To others, she knew she seed a little crazy. Obsessive, even. Like a neuroatypical perfectionist who couldn’t stomach the very notion of good enough. Sure, she’d accepted so inferior results. Most of her commissions were like that. Even though her custors always left happy – anything else would have sent Carn back to the forge to redo everything – she saw every flaw, both in the final product as well as her process.
But she’d learned to accept those issues as inevitable. She could never achieve perfection, especially when she was constrained by deadlines and the materials provided by her clients.
When she was working on her own projects, though – that was different. She could co much closer, if only because she had the freedom to start over when necessary. So it had been with this particular piece.
She tapped the chisel again, its blade digging into the tal clamped tightly to her anvil. Then, she blinked.
The line she’d just engraved had rged with another, signaling completion.
At first, she didn’t believe it, but that didn’t last more than a second or two. Soon enough, it was replaced by a sense of relief. Then ca the exhaustion. Suddenly, she was very aware of her aching shoulders and back, of the way the intense heat had dried her eyes, of the light blistering on her cheeks. She even slled the scent of burning hair, though when she inspected her braid, she found that only a few strands had been burned from getting too close to her project.
She leaned back, letting herself take in the sight of the whole.
Carn had saved her primary hamr for the last piece of her toolkit. She had four other hamrs of differing sizes, but they had very specific uses. This one was about eight inches long and heavy enough that most normal people couldn’t even lift it. That was due to a combination of the volcanic mithril’s density as well as the sheer volu of ethera she’d shoved into it. If it was less than five-hundred pounds, she would have been extrely surprised. More likely, it weighed closer to a thousand.
Which was just perfect, given her high Strength.
The design of the head was simple enough – just a cross-pein shape without much in the way of ornantation – but she’d taken great care to ensure that every line was perfectly symtrical. In the old world, she’d have had difficult convincing people that it hadn’t been machined.
And finally, there was the enchantnt. She’d spent hundreds of hours and more money than she wanted to think about researching the perfect combination. Durability was a given, but she also wanted power. The hamr needed to be a conduit for her abilities, and for that, she needed sothing special.
In the end, she’d settled on four total glyphs: impact, durability, channeling, and heat. She’d spent countless hours marrying them into a singular whole – a design that looked both aesthetically pleasing and allowed those glyphs to work together without losing any of their characteristics. It was both an embellishnt and an enchantnt rolled into one.
Her other tools used different glyphs. Durability and heat were constants, but each of the other implents had vastly different purposes. For instance, she’d used a control glyph for her tongs. And the anvil had gotten two instances of the durability glyph, as well as one for hardness.
Regardless, the whole process of enchantnt had involved far more research and artistry than anything else. But it had all co together in the crafting itself. More than once, she’d forced herself to start over, but now, she had a whole set that maximized the materials’ potential and far exceeded even her lofty expectations.
When she’d begun, she hadn’t dared to hope for such good results.
But now, despite her fatigue, she was almost giddy with excitent. She wanted nothing more than to jump right into her next project. However, she forced herself to step back and take a long, deep breath.
As she did, she took a few monts to appreciate the haft of the hamr. Like all the others, it had co from Elijah’s grove. Ignon, the council’s Woodworker representative, had nearly fallen all over himself for the chance to work with that high-quality stuff. If he’d seen Elijah’s staff – or more importantly, felt the ethera running through it – the goblin might’ve had a seizure in the middle of his shop.
Either way, Ignon had outdone himself with the shaping as well as the runes, and when Carn had finished the construction, she’d been forced to adjust her own plans for the etching so as to create a more unified whole.
But it was done now.
Reverently, she picked up the hamr and gave it a couple of experintal swings. With its imnse weight, it could move a lot of tal in a hurry. With that tool in her hand, she could do a fair impression of a power hamr, though with far more control. It felt like an extension of her arm.
It was, in a single but profound word, perfect.
Finally, she allowed herself to use Blacksmith’s Appraisal:
Congratulations! You have created a unique item [Hamr of Creation]. It is compatible with set [Tools of Creation].
Add now?
[Yes] or [No]
Overall Grade: Sophisticated (low)
Enchantnt Grade: B
Description: The Hamr of Creation is the pinnacle of the Blacksmith Carn Rodriguez’s ability and is at the peak of what a mortal smith can achieve.
Attribute Bonuses:
50 Strength, 50 Constitution, 50 Regeneration
Traits:
Channeling: Increases ethera channeled through the tool by 25%.
Heft: Variable weight depending on blacksmith’s intent. Limit based on user’s Strength attribute.
“Goddamn,” Carn breathed. The other tools had been good, but the Hamr of Creation was, as the description labeled it, the pinnacle of what she could accomplish. Hastily, she chose to add it to the set, which added another trait called Unified Purpose. It increased her Constitution by an additional hundred points. Unfortunately, it also ca with a caveat – those attribute bonuses were only available within the Forge of Creation.
Finally, she placed the hamr in its spot, then took another step back to admire the entire set. First ca the tongs, which glistened with ethera and glittered red and silver from the Volcanic Mithril. The sa could be said about her hamr set. Five in total, each with different heads, weights, and purposes. She knew she’d overdone it, but she also wasn’t willing to compromise. Even if most of them would only be used in very rare circumstances, she’d rather have them and not need them than for the opposite to be true.
After that ca her collection of files and rasps. Etching tools ca next. And then, her grinding wheel, which she’d created from a sort of stone the miners had found deep underground. It was incredible durable, which ant that it would hold its grit for far longer than anything else she’d found. The Stonemason Mikela had assured her of that. The rest of the contraption had been made from Volcanic Mithril, which had been an absolute pain due to how many tiny pieces she’d been forced to forge.
A collection of various grit sandpapers ca after that. Then, dozens of barrels of oil. So ca from whale blubber, but most of it ca from various seeds Biggle had grown in his grove garden. The Alchemist’s services hadn’t been cheap, but Carn refused to cut corners even when it ca to quenching oil.
She also had a few barrels of water that had co from Elijah’s hot spring.
Carn glanced around the smithy, taking in its sweeping curves and vaulted ceilings. There were four forges – one in each corner of the room – all of which were powered by the crystal Elijah had donated to the cause. The others had spent weeks routing its energy throughout the Forge of Creation, and the results were obvious. Not only did it power the mundane features like lights and climate control, but it also gave her forges – as well as the kilns and other features in other parts of the facility – a nearly infinite source of ethera. It had changed everything, and it had allowed Carn to create her space exactly according to her plans.
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That included a coal repository where ethera was constantly infused into the fuel. Before using it, she – or another Blacksmith – would still need to finish the job, but the repository reduced the ti necessary to shove the coal toward saturation by quite a lot. For that, Carn was more than thankful. If there was one thing she loathed, it was just sitting around and holding a lump of coal while channeling energy into it with Ethereal Infusion. She would do it – because of course she would – but that didn’t an she liked it. So, having that tedious task cut down to almost nothing was a godsend.
The forges themselves had been built into the structure, so they’d been constructed of etched dragonstone just like everything else. It wasn’t a perfect material for a forge – she’d seen so on the Branch’s Marketplace that were lightyears ahead of it – but it was the best she could find within her budget.
It did highlight that just because she had established herself as one of the best crafters on Earth, she was far from the peak. The sa was true with her wealth. The armor she’d sent with Atticus to Seattle had been purchased for an obscene price that had netted her an entire platinum ethereum. So settlent’s leader had almost assuredly emptied their entire city’s coffers for that set.
But even with that influx of cash, Carn had quickly depleted her funds by purchasing the mithril needed to create her tools. Ramik had offered to shoulder the cost, but with Ironshore’s situation, it would have been detrintal to the city’s growth. Carn had instead opted for a lower tax rate for goods she created. In the end, it would work out in her favor, but for now, her reserves were tapped out.
As the exhaustion of the last few days of constant crafting settled onto her shoulders, she realized that expression probably applied to more than just her bank account.
Just before she resigned herself to heading to the grove so she could get about three days of sleep, a new notification appeared before her inner eye.
Congratulations! You have satisfied the requirents to complete a unique structure: [The Forge of Creation].
This requires your consent. Do you wish to officially complete the structure?
[Yes] or [No]
Carn blinked, but panic suffused her heart. Complete it? She didn’t know. She hadn’t even inspected so of the lower levels, though everyone had reported that they were finished. In addition, there were hundreds of other small details that required her approval.
Octavian Biggle has given his consent.
That notification was followed by another – this one from Donogal. Then another. And another after that. Nearly a hundred ssages – all from people who’d worked on the Forge of Creation – followed in quick succession, flashing before her inner eye too quickly for her to see the details.
Then, the avalanche of notifications slowed to a crawl before finally stopping.
But Carn still hadn’t answered the original query. Did she give her consent? There was still so much left to do.
Suddenly, soone burst through the door.
“Did you get the ssage?” demanded Biggle, his white hair just as wild as ever. In fact, he was dressed in a long, striped nightshirt that tickled his toes and nothing else. He hadn’t even donned his thick glasses. Oddly enough, he still slled vaguely of chemicals, though. “Answer girl. Did you get the ssage?”
“I…I did,” she answered once her mind had caught up to the situation. “Your na is Octavian?”
“What? No. I an, yes. Obviously. But that’s not the point! The Forge of Creation is complete! All we need is your consent!” he exclaid, marching toward her with purpose.
“But it’s not done.”
“Of course it’s done! The system wouldn’t have acknowledged it otherwise.”
“But there’s so much left to do,” she argued. “I still have two anvils to forge. And I want to make a set of tools for each forge. I’ve also got to make Ignon so new sawblades. He’s already given the materials. We want everything to be perfect, right?”
“You didn’t read the rest of the notification, did you?” he asked.
“What?”
“Just concentrate on it.”
She did just that, and she was absolutely floored by the A-Grade enchantnt. However, when she looked at the overall grade, she was floored.
“Growth? Really? What does that actually an in this case?” she asked. The obvious answer was that the grade wasn’t fixed, aning that improvent was still possible. She’d seen it once before with the Circle of Spears she’d helped create outside of Seattle, but she’d thought it was just sothing to do with Druids.
“It ans we can complete the project and still make improvents. If we put enough work in, it’ll increase the grade,” Biggle explained. “It’s normally only possible with structures, but there are rumors that at higher levels, it’s possible with other items. Not that that matters. The point is that we can complete the Forge of creation and start getting benefits from it without compromising on your obsessive perfectionism.”
“But –”
“And the more this place is used, the sooner we can start to improve it. Growth items are weird,” he revealed. “So get stronger just by being used. All items have sothing like a legacy, and in so cases, they can improve if they pass a threshold of feats. However, with growth items, it’s practically guaranteed. Even if we don’t make any improvents, it’ll start growing. Just a little each ti it fulfills its purpose, but that starts to add up after a while. Combine that with other improvents…well, I don’t have to tell you what that could an.”
Carn frowned.
It went against every instinct to declare a project finished before it was perfect. But then again, she had to acknowledge that she would never be completely happy with it. There would always be sothing they could improve, and that wasn’t even considering that Elijah might one day drop another problem in her lap. The enormous power crystal had definitely helped, but it had also caused an incredible amount of work. Who was to say he wouldn’t do sothing like that again?
No – if perfection was the goal, she had to resign herself to knowing it was an unachievable mark she would never reach.
So, with that in mind, she said, “Fine. But we need to establish dedicated efforts to continue improvent. A schedule or sothing.”
“That seems reasonable,” Biggle said. “I’m still waiting on my glassware made from the sands of –”
“I know, Octavian.”
“Don’t call that.”
“It’s your na, Oct.”
“Ugh. Please…”
Carn grinned. “Fine. Fine. That was the last ti,” she said. “Alright, here it goes…”
She gave her consent.
And imdiately, she was inundated by a host of notifications. The first was predictable:
Forge of Creation
Overall Grade: Sophisticated (Low) (Growth)
Enchantnt Grade: A
Description: The Forge of Creation was created under the direction of the highest-level Tradesman on Earth and is the culmination of cooperation between hundreds of other Tradesn. It is a monunt to creation and a wonder of the new world.
Attribute Bonuses:
25 to All Attributes (only applicable for non-combat archetypes within the facility)
Traits (only applicable while inside the facility):
ntal Tempering: Reduces ntal Fatigue
mory of Creation: Increases Concentration
Elental Warding: Increases resistance to elental ethera.
Forged Vitality: Increases the effect of Regeneration by 25%.
Carn gasped, and Biggle’s eyes widened.
“This…”
“I know,” Carn said, already feeling the effects settle onto her. It was like a weight had lifted from her mind – no doubt due to ntal Tempering – and she felt as if she could jump straight into another project. She also felt slightly stronger and more coordinated, and with every passing second, the ethera she’d spent forging the hamr was replaced.
“Amazing. Absolutely amazing,” Biggle said. “I never expected anything like this. A trait or two perhaps. Or maybe sothing more epheral. But this…”
As Biggle continued, Carn tuned him out. Because that notification, as impactful as it was, turned out to be only the tip of the iceberg. One level-up notification after another appeared before her inner eye until, at last, it stopped at one-oh-one.
“I just got over twenty levels,” she breathlessly revealed.
“What? I only got one!”
“I did a lot more work here than you did,” Carn stated. Indeed, Biggle had worked a bit on the alchemy laboratory, and he’d provided so chemicals used in the mortar as well as various other compounds used throughout the Forge of Creation. However, his efforts were among the least of all the participants. By comparison, Carn’s fingerprints were on the entire facility – from design to implentation – so it wasn’t unreasonable that she would be more significantly rewarded.
“Unfair,” Biggle stated. “The experience should have been split between the whole council. Without my efforts…bah! No sense complaining about the system. If you’ll excuse …”
With that, the nightshirt-clad gno marched out of the forge, probably on a mission to take advantage of the facility’s traits. Carn spared a mont to wonder whether he would stop to get dressed.
Probably not.
In any case, she was far more interested in the next notification she received:
Archetype: Tradesman
Class: Blacksmith
Specialization Options
Forgemaster
Forge Administrator
Disciple of Creation
Permanently increase the potential grade of all forged items by 10%. Also grants an additional point per level to the Strength attribute.
Permanently increase organizational abilities, fortifying the mind against the mundanity of administration. Also grants an additional point per level to the Ethera attribute.
Permanently increase the potency of all traits tied to the Forge of Creation by an additional 5%. Also grants an additional point per level to both Ethera and Regeneration attributes.
Carn was shocked by her specialization options. Certainly, she’d done a little research into the subject, but she’d thought she was a long way off from having to make what would beco a defining choice for her future. Still, the options were not what she’d been led to expect.
Obviously, the third choice was there because of her role in building the Forge of Creation, and she expected that the process had influenced the other options as well. She quickly went to her office, where she settled down on her old, worn couch to consider the decision before her.
The first option, Forgemaster, was by far the closest to what she envisioned when considering her future. She was a Blacksmith, and one that valued perfection above all else. So, having the potential of her creations raised by a flat ten percent was an incredible boon. Certainly, it wouldn’t do a thing if she didn’t push her limits, but if she did, the potential grade she could achieve would always be much higher than it would otherwise be.
She glanced through the open door to see her tools hanging in their places. If she’d had the Forgemaster specialization when forging her hamrs and files, she might have pushed their grade slightly higher. Maybe not enough to achieve an official advancent in grade, but still – it would have been a step in the right direction.
The second option was easy to dismiss. As much as she would’ve liked a little help with the administrative duties that had been heaped upon her the second she’d roped the other crafters into the Forge of Creation project, she had no intentions of taking anymore on. She couldn’t imagine a worse fate than shifting her focus to running the Forge of Creation.
Though, she had to admit that freeing her mind from so of those mundane duties would probably help her focus on smithing. However, she feared that if she chose the Forge Administrator option, it would put her on course for the wrong kind of class evolution at level one-twenty-five.
And she refused to take that chance. So, it was easy to eliminate Forge Administrator from consideration.
Next, she moved onto the final option – Disciple of Creation. It would assuredly have an impressive effect on her crafting, and what’s more, it would scale with the power of the Forge of Creation. As it grew in power, so would that specialization.
Still, Carn hesitated to tie everything to the facility, and not just because she didn’t like the notion of depending on an outside source for power. That disdain was there, certainly, but there was another consideration that she didn’t like to think about.
Ironshore had been attacked multiple tis in the past few years, and it had nearly fallen twice. Once to the orc horde, but also to the dark elves. People like Kurik and Essex had taken steps to prevent that eventuality in the future, but the possibility remained. On top of that, Carn had already been forced to abandon one ho, and she did not discount the possibility of being forced to do so again.
And if she chose Disciple of Creation, moving on would be much more difficult. And if the Forge of Creation happened to be destroyed, she’d effectively lose the specialization.
No – she couldn’t choose it.
That left only the Forgemaster. However, she wasn’t disappointed with that choice. In fact, it felt right on a level neither of the others had. So, it was with so excitent that she made her choice.
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