Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 60 - Ancient Bronze

Ancient Bronze. Seth had used the last day to collect more experience in smelting and the use of his new skill. The skill had improved his efficiency tremendously and after yesterday he felt like his <Fire Manipulation> was close to level up!

He wanted to start and melt down the ancient bronze trinkets and weapons he bought. Maybe he could even find out the recipe, if he managed to split the alloy! He would be the only one who could produce Ancient Bronze at the present, a material with strength comparable to <High-quality Steel> and magic conductivity comparable to <Mithril>!

So, in the morning (after a good breakfast, duh) Seth sat before the furnace and dropped the pieces of ancient bronze into the opening. He had gotten some experience with bronze yesterday and could tell, that it took much longer to melt than common bronze. It took even more heat than the steel.

Slowly the metal with a golden sheen started to heat up in the furnace and liquefied into a brightly glowing puddle of doom. When Seth used <Fire Manipulation> in combination with the furnace he could kind of feel the heat of different components in the liquid. The process was a lot harder than simply using the smelting menu, but also more precise.

Compared to the bronze or the electrum yesterday, ancient bronze behaved a lot differently. Despite obviously being an alloy, the components would not split as Seth controlled the heat. The metals stuck together as if glued, staying as a homogeneous liquid form of ancient bronze. Something held them together.

It was when Seth poured it into the ingot mold that he saw the glimmer of an unknown energy given off by the liquid metal. It strongly reminded him of the glow souls gave off! Was this possible? Was ancient bronze made by infusing souls directly into an alloy instead of a weapon?

Seth had never tried melting down a weapon he had infused with a soul, but he fathomed they would vanish. Destroying the weapon would be like the body dying, the soul would not stay within the metal, would it? Also, the description of the metal he used had never changed! Steel never changed to Soul Steel or something like that. But this glow was astonishingly reminiscent of souls. Maybe he could make new alloys himself, when <Soul Infusion> became a higher level?

As Seth could not get behind the secret for now, he just melted the bronze down into 6 ingots of ancient bronze. He put the bronze into his material chest. He was not sure, what he would do with it yet, but it was definitely precious.

Seth had also investigated smelting the mithril ore and dark iron. He could have made dark iron ingots, but he lacked a special mineral to make dark steel, so he left them as is. The 3 small pieces of mithril ore came together as an ingot the size of his pinky.

When Seth tried to smith it, to see how it felt, it was the first time he had a problem!

<Ding! The skill level of <Blacksmith> is too low to work with this material!>

His skill level was too low to forge with mithril! Did this mean?

<Ding! The skill level of <Blacksmith> is too low to work with this material!>

He also could not use the <Snake Fang>! He didn?t even try the blood garnet, since his <Goldsmith> was still lv.1. There was actually a restriction to the kind of materials he could use!

No problem at all! He could grind it as much as a wanted while he was here! And he already knew how. Seth would start with the swords for the guards. Why swords? Because the process to make a sword was already ingrained into him and he could make them out of uncommon <High-quality Steel> now! He could make them fast and maximize the experience boost of free use.

And to make them "comparable" to his own sword, he would engrave the circuits for damage! Just like that he could grind his <Blacksmith> and <Enchantment> skills! Engraving an even surface of steel should be the easiest, another reason to start with the swords!

Then came the spears and the armor. He planned to imitate the spikes he had seen on the bazaar. He had found several new types of arrow-heads in the armory and among them was a style called "bodkin" that was the same shape as those spear spikes.

It said it was good for armor piercing. This should work well against the scales and thick skin of the swamp creatures he had heard about. If he added barbs, like a harpoon, the spear could be used to control the slippery opponents' movements. He would have to talk with the guards to find out the specifics.

After thinking this far, he simply started forging. After gaining <Fire Immunity> Seth had tried something he did not dare before. Instead of using the tongs to hold the hot metal he used his bare hands now! This made it a lot easier to hold the metal steady . He forged the first sword blade in less than an hour.

It still had some superficial flaws, but they did not matter after he refined the blade on the grinding wheel. Then came the heat treatment. He had decided to engrave the blade after he finished it. It would be more difficult to engrave the tempered steel, but he could dodge problems with the blade warping or breaking when he tempered it after the engraving. Although, it didn?t happen as often lately, but it would still be a great loss of time, if all the engraving was for naught.

He had another way to speed up the process. Instead of finishing the swords one by one, he would forge and engrave the 30 blades before adding the crossguards and handles. Like this Seth could concentrate on one task at the time. He would not get any experience on his <Blacksmith> until the swords were finished, but he would get one massive chunk once he was done!

Let?s leave Seth alone for the moment, as he makes blades like a machine and look at what Fin is doing.

The little fairy was on her way to meet old man Jenkins to ask him about the mystery of the vanished guild master. Detective Fin finally had a lead and she would squeeze out all the information from that old man! She just hoped she was not forced to use...unorthodox methods.

Of course, this was just a joke. The old man was Mary?s uncle so she couldn?t just treat him like a thug...but if the old man did not talk- Fin rubbed her hand maliciously

Any thoughts of using "unorthodox methods" vanished when she came before "old man" Jenkins. What old man? Sure, his beard was a little grayed, but what was up with that build?! When Fin came before Old Man Jenkins with Mary, she saw a 2-meter-tall mountain of a man. His worn clothes could barely contain the bulging muscles of this aged behemoth. Was this even a human!?

The bald muscular man had a deep and aged voice. "So? Mary said you wanted to ask me something?", he questioned with an amused glint in his eyes. He knew the reaction of people who met him for the first time. It was especially amusing seeing a tiny fairy widen her already big black eyes upon seeing him.

"The old guild master, eh?", he asked running his fingers through his beard and sighed. "She really let herself go lately. It?s a shame seeing someone so motivated turn into a drunkard."

"She?", Fin asked baffled, until now she had never picked up on the guild master's identity.

"Yes! Yudrid was the best huntress in the city back then when I started as an adventurer. She played a significant role in the prosperity of this place.", he sighed

"Back then she was like a mother to many of the adventurers and to some she was. What happened in Ivicer and afterwards really broke her."

"Can you tell Fin where she is? Please? We, Fin and Seth have a quest we can only finish with her help!"

"Let me think...", he said, made some hums and grunts and, "Nope, no idea. Sorry." Jenkins gave her a big grin. He totally knew where she was and did not want to tell her!

"Mean old big human! You know where she is! Fin knows! Tell Fin! D-Don?t think Fin won?t beat it out of you! Fin is definitely not intimidated by your bulging masses of-of!", the fairy stuttered and became silent again. She didn?t want to get into a fight with Jenkins, for Mary's sake. NOT because she was uncertain that she could intimidate Jenkins, not to mention win a fight against him.

All she could do was to hang her head and hold back her tears. Looking at the depressed fairy softened Jenkin's brain. Could you fake your sorrow even more obviously?

Fin felt dismayed. Even the big teary puppy eyes had not worked on the old humanoid meat-mountain! Fin had never encountered such a tough cookie. Not even when she plundered the old cookie jar of her grandma (those cookies had hardened for several decades!).

Should she really resort to throwing a tantrum? In her life there had only been 4 times, that she had to resort to throwing a tantrum. It was an ultimate technique of the fair folk and should only be used as a last resort.

"You have forced my hand!", Fin took a deep breath and was about to throw her little body flat on the table, when Jenkins finally reached out his hand!

"Stop! Please." Jenkins said in a hurry. He could not take it anymore. Watching the fairy embarrass herself in public just made him cringe too hard.

"She is probably hiding somewhere in the old district. That all I will tell you. Now stop whatever you were about to do!"

The Tantrum had worked once again! As expected from an ultimate weapon, just the indications of its execution made the opponent buckle and divulge all their secrets! The fairy almost burst with pride upon her impeccable interrogation skills!

Now she only had to find out where in the old district the guild master was hiding!