The sound of hamring echoed throughout the city. There was sothing about the sound, as if tuning forks were dueling, letting out emotion at every strike. Ambition, determination, desire all of those echoed from the noise as if the hamr was made of them.
Confused, Dallion continued along the road. People chatted away on either side of him, ignoring the sound as if it didnt exist.
Why cant they hear it? Dallion wondered.
The further Dallion went, the fewer people there seed to be. By the ti he reached the forge, the neighborhood was virtually deserted.
Where did all the people go? Dallion asked a few tiles.
Even the tiles didnt respond. Looking closer, Dallion saw that the tiles had no guardians within them nothing around him did. And yet, he was sure that things had been different yesterday. The forge had been full of guardians, most of them just as mouthy as their owners.
Gleam, Nox, get ready. Dallion walked inside.
All the apprentices and journeyn were gone. Even Alabaster was missing. One single person was working, hamring away at a large piece of red-hot tal in the fat part of the forge. Dallion felt deep unease, but also an unexplained sense of familiarity.
Always late to the party, the person said, not pausing to turn around or stop his work. Looking at him, he had an average build, and from what Dallion could tell was roughly the sa age as him.
I was busy. Dallion felt the need to defend himself.
Busy saving the city. The other laughed. You co up with the best excuses.
Dallion didnt agree with that. If anything, saving Nerosal wasnt an excuse. It was what happened. And he had saved it, or at the very least, played a crucial role in saving it. Still, he went closer, stopping a few steps from the man.
From this distance, he could see his features clearly. The man looked a lot like Kraisten when he was young. No he didnt look like him the man was Kraisten.
What are you making? Dallion asked.
The chunk of tal was far larger than necessary, almost the sa size as the anvil itself. The shape was largely deford, but Dallion sohow knew that it was the local province.
Forging Wetie, Kraisten replied. Ive been at this for a while, but each ti I almost get it right, sothing cos up and sses it up for . Take it from , never forge a provinceits more trouble than its worth.
Ill keep that in mind, Dallion thought. He had no desire to forge a province, or even a city.
So, what ss are you going to start today? Kraisten asked.
I was thinking of making a hamr, Dallion replied.
Its about ti. You should have had your own ages ago.
I told you I had other things on my mind.
I know, I know. You had to save the world. Thats why youll never amount to anything. You lack focus and ambition. Still, its your life. Who am I to tell you whats right?
Ill make an all-tal hamr, Dallion said louder, as if volu would prove how right he was.
A hamr to end all hamrs? Kraisten glanced over his shoulder. As he did, part of the province twisted off the main block, like a corkscrew. Ive heard that before. Lots have tried to make it, few actually succeeded. I think I have one lying about sowhere. Want it? Itll be faster than making your own. Besides, mines already tested. He pointed at the wall behind Dallion.
There, among the other instrunts, was a small tal hamr. It didnt look special at all. Rather, it looked like a sharp-edged tal cube. Using his forging skill, Dallion could see that it was made of a perfectly asured alloy of all basic and awakened tals. Unlike Dallions design, this hamr didnt rely on its shape, but rather its composition.
I prefer having my own, Dallion said.
Your choice. Kraisten returned to forging the province. You can never go wrong with tal. If things dont work out the first ti, you can always reforge them later. Make sothing youre comfortable with. Once you do, youll see I was right all along.
If you say so. Every fiber of Dallions body disagreed. There was no way that Kraisten was right. If he were, that would an that
Dal! a sharp female voice sounded, shattering all reality.
Next thing Dallion knew, he was in bed, gripping the pilot lightly with both hands.
Pillows cost a lot in this world, the gorgon reminded.
Dallion looked down and released his grip. Monts later, Euryale took it from his hands and placed it back on the bed. That was the thing about heralways perfectly calm. There were tis that Dallion missed her initial flintiness, although he acknowledged they had moved to a new stage in their relationship. Also, it wasnt completely gone.
Dream from your world? she asked.
Local nightmare, Dallion replied. I got advice from soone on how to forge my hamr.
Was it any good?
No, Dallion lied. He wanted to make an alloy of all tals, normal and magical.
Thats an odd one. Ive heard that its been done in the empire. The alloy, not the hamr. They say its invulnerable, but I have my doubts. The gorgon went to the other room and finished putting on her light armor. Judging by her clothes, Dallion could tell that she had been called to do sothing for the overseer again. Her putting on armor ant that it wasnt going to be hazard free. Ill try to catch you at the forge before evening, she said. Unless youre off sowhere else.
No, Ill be there. Though maybe after increasing another level. Forging gear was a must, but since he was going to increase his body, it was going to benefit his work. Take care.
The gorgon chucked, then left the workshop, leaving Dallion alone with the guardians.
Youre the only one she lets tell her that, the guardian of the building said.
Ive earned it, Dallion replied, then got up to start the morning.
In this particular case, morning was closer to noon. Thing back, last night had been a bit of a blur. He rembered going to an inn with Alabaster. He rembered insisting hed only have a few quick drinks and then Eury had joined in, bringing a quick end to his best laid plans. Still, taking a mont or two to destress was always a good thing.
After finishing his biological needs, Dallion washed up, got dressed, and quickly rushed to the forge. On the way, he passed by Hannahs inn to grab so food. The innkeeper grumbled that she was going to start charging him, but let him pass through the kitchen nonetheless. The funny thing was that Dallion had been leaving a few gold coins each ti he returned from a hunt.
Once at the forge, Dallion didnt enter the main building, but went to the back, where his personal room workshop waited. The lock let him in with a kind greeting, and didnt forget to ntion that Alabaster had stocked up on coal and wood. That only left Dallion to actually start the fire, and since he was going to shape sky silver, it was going to have to be quite hot. That was another reason why only awakened worked with those tals. In order to reach the desired temperature, several shifts of blacksmiths had to work on the bellows for a few days. An awakened could do the sa in a few hours.
As ti trickled on, monotony slowly took hold. While the first half hour Dallion was excited thinking of what hed do with his hamr to be, his enthusiasm quickly evaporated. It was at that point that he noticed that Nil had been remarkably quiet until now.
Nil, everything okay? Dallion asked.
Sotis its better for one not to say anything at all, the echo said in surprisingly stern fashion.
Why? What happened?
Ive had a bit more ti to look at your hamr design
But I havent shown it to anyone, yet.
Gen gave the details. And let tell you, both of us are concerned regarding the usability of the thing in question.
That didnt sound too good. However, Dallion found it more concerning that one of his echoes had shared his thoughts regarding sothing he hadnt yet constructed. Maybe he was going to take a leaf from Euryales book and start wearing a blocker ring more often.
Innovation has always been difficult to accept
Innovation? Nil was on the verge of shouting. Your hamr is triangular! How in the world would that be well balanced? Or even remotely comfortable. Youll need to beco a chainling only to hold that thing. And the weight distribution Seriously, sotis I think you avoid reading scrolls just to spite .
Nil, Ive already been through all the forging materials in the library You were there for Moons sake.
Apparently, you didnt read them well enough! the echo snapped. Putting quicksilver in a hamr would make it unyielding. Itll be safer to put the hamr on the ground and use the anvil to strike the tal into shape!
Internally, Dallion sighed. On the one hand he was glad that his echoes were concerned about him to such a degree. Listening to them was like listening to criticism coming from two extrely good friends. However, Niland by the sound of things Gen as wellfailed to see the obvious. That was to be expected, of course. Nil had never had the empathy stat, and Gen had been created way before Dallion had acquired it. Everything they said was perfectly logical and would have made perfect sense, if it werent for one thing: Dallion was going to rely on the hamr to help him while forging. That was why he had gone through the trouble of spending a fortune on high grade rcury last night. The tal was far less toxic than on Earthalthough the fus still caused sicknessused primarily for complex chanisms. As far as Dallion was aware, no one used the material for weapons and with good reason: a rcury core served no benefit while only weakening the overall item. Sky silver, however, took care of that problem. Extrely hard and durable, it was going to safely contain the liquid tal without compromising the integrity of the hamr. More importantly, the intricate waver-like latticework that Dallion was planning on making, was going to allow the rcury to flow almost chaotically within the hamrs entire head; and, of course, thanks to Dallions empathy stat, he was going to ensure that the randomness was no randomness at all.
It'll be fine, Dallion said. Thanks for the concern, though.
I know what youre trying to do, but if there ever was such an art, it has been long lost.
Dallion only smiled and kept on working the bellows. The truth was that hed a chat with Aspan on this topic right before going to the forge. If there was anyone who understood how fluids worked, it was a copyette. It was a pity that only Dallion had any mory of the real events that took place in the kitchen. Even after the events at the arena, Aspan preferred to keep his existence secret.
Sotis you just have to trust , Dallion said, whipping the sweat off his face.
That, dear boy, is what concerns the most. Each ti youve said that, things have either ended in absolute failure or sothing worse. While I encourage you to think out of the box, sotis you think way out there
The work went on. When the temperature had reached the right point, Dallion lted down all the sky silver he hadnot a large amount by far. While that took place, he focused on making a mold of the shape from waxwith all the minute detailsthen placed into a wooden crate of ash-sand.
Then ca the complicated bit. The pouring of the tal in the cast was considered the mont when an item guardian ca into being. There were several theories on the topicNil had tried to explain them in so detailbut the bottom line was that, for a predominantly tal item, this was regarded as the mont of birth. In order for Dallions plan to work, the guardian had to help with its own formation, which ant the first instructions had to be given simultaneously before and during the realm was being created.
Here goes nothing, Dallion said, and split into twenty instances.
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