Chapter 942 942 Thorin's Forge
The hammer slammed down with incredible force, and then returned, hammering down twice a second.
“Oh, now this is good. I like this. How hard does it hit? I’m guessing about a hundred tonnes.” Thorin replied.
“Yeah, roughly that. It should be enough to shape most materials. Now give me a moment and I will make a circular gravity forge to increase density. It should replace the process of folding, at least in the initial stages, where you’re just forcing out weaknesses and not tempering.”
Once it was made, built on top of a new stone section of the forge that Wolfe added for it, Thorin grabbed his tongs and stuck a lumpy crude rod of raw iron ore into the gravity forge. After a few seconds of mana injection, it was a smooth rod, and a number of inclusions had been forced out to the surface, unable to be merged with the metal.
Thorin looked at it, then went and grabbed a crucible of liquid metal from one of the other forges. He came back and placed it inside, then poured more and more mana in until the liquid began to glow. Then he released the effect and took it out.
“It’s perfect. It merges materials to create Quicksteel. It’s a magical alloy my grandfather used for high-end weapons. It glows faintly blue thanks to the magic trapped in it, so it’s quite distinctive in combat. It has a resonant effect on other magic, and can cleanse minor magical attacks.” He explained.
Wolfe examined it more closely and saw that it was a Fae alloy, something that he hadn’t expected to see anywhere else. It really could cleanse attack magic, but only at the Rank One level. Anything more would be too much for the magical alloy, but it held enchantments very well, so it was often used for Fae weapons, as it contained no actual steel, which many species were allergic to.
If his grandfather was a Dark Dwarf, he could have made it with Earth Magic, though Wolfe could not, as it needed Fae magic. But with the ingredient list on the wall and gravity magic, he could. Now that he had learned the trick, anyhow.
Wolfe looked at the actual forges. These were the lacking component that was creating the problem with Thorin’s advancement.
“What happened to your Grandfather’s forges?” He asked.
“They were destroyed by a rival smith after his death. My father rebuilt these, but he was never powerful, as he was crippled in the attack.” Thorin explained.
Wolfe nodded, and focused on using Earth Magic and Fire Magic to recreate the forges.
“Do you want them all the same, or your personal one more powerful than the others?” He asked.
“You can do mine to a higher standard and I will pay you whatever I can.” Thorin replied.
Wolfe nodded, and began to alter the composition of the forge stones. Dragon Stone got stronger with heat, and contained intense Earth Magic that would imbue itself into everything that was created in the forge. Then he layered Fire Magic onto the forges, and added a containment array, so the heat didn’t turn the entire forge into a blast furnace when the forge reached thousands of degrees.
“Can you channel mana to me? I need a bit of Fae magic for what comes next. I have seen it enough that I can do it, I’m pretty certain.” Wolfe asked Thorin.
The dwarf nodded, and sent Wolfe a trickle of pure Fae Magic that he wove into the stone around the Master’s forge, along with the Array to imbue the forge’s magical properties into the items worked there.
“There we go. Three forges at Rank Three, and one at Rank Five, with earth, fire and Fae Magic imbued into it. Take a moment and use a fresh chunk of iron to try making a new blade or piece of armour.” Wolfe instructed.
Thorin was nearly vibrating with pleasure as he placed his hand on the warm Dragon Stone, bringing the forge roaring to life.
He grabbed a small rectangular block from the wall and tossed it onto the coals in the forge. The burning carbon from the coal improved the steel, so it was still essential even in a magical forge, though not in nearly as high of a quantity.
The metal was glowing white within two seconds and Thorin hummed happily as he pulled it out to put it on his anvil.
He hammered it out into a long flat plate, then folded it, and looked pleased. Then he put it back in the forge for a few seconds and brought it to the gravity hammer to repeat the folding process three more times before the metal cooled.
He continued until Wolfe counted a hundred folds, and then he added a powder to it that contained a large amount of magic. Then the dwarf knocked a handle hole in the middle before carefully shaping it into a battleaxe of the single-handed variety.
The whole head resonated with energy, while Thorin dug out a premade handle and began to inscribe runes and took out gems to finish the design.
Wolfe placed a handful of identically shaped Rubies on the table, much larger and higher quality than the ones Thorin had planned to use.
“Try those. They’ll be better than the ones you have.” He explained.
The Dwarf nodded in agreement, not losing focus on his work as he finished the formation and linked it with the handle. Then he put the whole thing back in the forge before taking it out and dipping it in tempering oil.
When it came out, it wasn’t black as expected, but shining silver with a black handle.
Thorin’s body began to suck in power as he advanced from the peak of Rank Two to Rank Three, with happy tears rolling down his face.
“A true masterpiece.” Wolfe congratulated him.
“What could I possibly repay you with for all this? I can’t even put a value on all that Dragon Stone. It could buy an entire Manor with its own forge.” He asked.
“Actually, I have a simple request. My world uses different magic than this one. We have Fae Saints, so we’re not short on Fae or Magi magic, but the Artificing and all the knowledge that comes with it is lost to us.
What I would ask you to do is to find me a willing Journeyman Artificer who would leave to my world with us, never to return.” Wolfe requested.
That wasn’t an easy request, harder than just coming up with money or some esoteric item, of which he had a number stored away.
“I will find a way. Now, I hear the ale at the hotel is superb, and I have a battleaxe to show off. No more will they doubt my ability to make more than armour.”
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