Chapter 927: Chapter 926 - Forging weapons [1/2]
Clang
Clang
Clang
The heavy, clear ringing of a hammer on metal resounded through the crafting hall of Erik’s dimension. Broiling heat wafted out of the forge, hot enough to instantly burn the skin of mortals on contact. Yet, inside the room, two figures withstood the heat without issue.
Clang Clang
Erik hammered away at an intricate metal shaft, a deep, focused frown on his sweaty brow. As he shaped the metal with one hand, he weaved intricate sigils with the other while runes of power slipped from his lips. The anvil beneath the shaft was glimmering with sigils of its own, keeping the focus of Erik’s efforts in place without the need to be held.
Occasionally, Erik would give a silent command to the anvil, causing the shaft to shift and turn. After a few such movements, it was a bladed tip that came to be under his hammer, revealing this to be a spear. The entire weapon was covered with runes and decorations of green and yellow, all glimmering with as much danger as the sharp edges of its tip.
Clang
With one last clash of metal on metal, Erik suddenly straightened his back and swiped his hand. Instantly, the spear slid forward, straight into the actual forge that was directly connected to the anvil. Though a mortal smith could never work this close to the fire, it was no problem for Erik.
As the spear was heating up once again, Erik looked up to grin at Astrid’s curious expression. Yet, when she saw him looking, she immediately pretended to be bored. "Tsk, a-are we done yet?" she scoffed, unconvincingly, knowing he’d seen her real expression.
As she spoke, she was pressing one hand against a flat stone surface covered in sigils. Currently, her power was fueling the forge, causing the fire inside to look like an actual, miniature sun.
"There’s no need to pretend you’re bored, Astrid," he chuckled, panting lightly from effort. "I’ll give you your reward either way. I’d love for my wife to be interested in my passions!"
Astrid’s feigned boredom turned into a wry pout. "Fine, you caught me! Watching you work is cool!" Slowly, she began to grin with desire. "Seeing you so focused is lighting a whole different fire inside me, you know...?"
Erik cocked an eyebrow as he wiped some sweat from his forehead. "Is that all?" he asked, a mysterious smile on his lips. "You know my offer to teach you is still on the table."
Her grin widened, and curiosity sparkled in her eyes. "Well... I guess I could give you a chance to convince me. Perhaps when you reward me for making me stand here for hours on end?"
Chuckling, Erik rolled his eyes, but still nodded. "As you wish, love." Promise of a nearby future flickered in his amber eyes. "We both know you’ll agree to anything when I’m done ’rewarding’ you."
Astrid smirked. "Cocky bastard..." she laughed, unashamed.
At that point, Erik waved his hand again, and the glowing hot spear flew back out of the forge and onto his anvil. Without pause, he went back to hammering and weaving magics.
It was a full hour before he finally put down the hammer. At this point, they’d already been working on this spear for about three hours without pause. Sighing, Erik wiped more sweat from his brow and picked up the spear to inspect it with a satisfied look. His eyes followed every rune, sigil, and line, searching for deformations or mistakes with expertise.
Astrid followed his gaze. Her instincts told her it was a formidable weapon, but that was all. She didn’t yet possess the experienced gaze of her husband. "When are you giving it to her?" she asked, curiously.
Hearing her voice, Erik smirked wryly for a moment. He’d realised this before, but with his reliance on Astrid’s help, it had become impossible to forge a weapon without her knowledge—assuming he wanted it to be as strong as possible. Most of the time, this was fine, but it meant he’d have a hard time surprising Astrid if he wanted to gift her something new.
Regardless, he stilled those thoughts and smiled. Twirling the spear in his hand, he walked over to a weapon rack to store it away. "After she’s managed to combine her elements," he answered. "She already had her reward for breaking through, and I created it with the oasis affinity in mind."
After putting it away, he turned to look at her again with a teasing grin, hands on his hips. "So? Can you continue to the next task, or does my poor wife need a break?"
Astrid immediately narrowed her eyes at him. "Don’t think that’s going to work on me... I’ve been standing here for hours already! I deserve a break!"
Erik smiled mysteriously at her. "Of course, my love. Anyone would need a break by now."
But Astrid’s eyes didn’t lose their annoyance. Rather, she gnashed her teeth. She wasn’t just anyone, and he knew it! Though realising he was doing it on purpose, his provocation was still extremely successful.
"Fine, fine! You get your wish as usual!" she grumbled, losing her annoyance to pout instead. "Let’s continue, I guess..."
He grinned victoriously. "Really? How generous of you, my love. Your endurance impresses me every time!" As Astrid groaned, he beckoned her to a nearby table with several more weapons displayed on them. "Come, we need a little more research before we start the next project. It’s a great time to teach you!"
Though knowing she’d not agreed to be taught yet, Astrid still followed him. Truthfully, she was curious about these weapons as well.
In front of them were several weapons from the vault they’d found in Maghradi. There was Emma’s spear—which she was in the process of bonding with, though she’d naturally loaned it to Erik when he asked—as well as Emily’s future weapon, the spatial affinity wristband of beads, the warhammer he wielded in battle, and finally an assortment of other, lower-quality weapons from the same place.
Erik rubbed his chin as he looked down at them. "I’ve been doing a lot of research about combining not only affinities, but also about fusing existing weapons... and now we’ll be doing some trials to test my knowledge and methods." His eyes looked over the lower-quality weapons. "Starting with the disposable weapons, of course..."
