[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 214 — Powerforge II

“That’s a very interesting form of smithing,” Raiko said nearby, a hint of wry amusement to her voice.

Sam peeled his face away from the steel ingot he was using as a pillow and groaned. He turned to Raiko, peering muzzily at her. “Wha—?”

Whatever she saw made her laugh. “Oh, Sam, you crafted into the night, didn’t you?”

Grumbling and wiping the drool from the side of his face, Sam tried in vain to remove the imprint of the ingot from his cheek. “I don’t even remember falling asleep,” he admitted.

“You were going at it long into the night,” Kai said, leaning on the doorframe to the smithy. “I stopped hearing your hammer, so I went up to check on you. Thankfully, your apprentice there already banked the coals and kept the place from burning down.”

Sam shook his head. “The Archflame wouldn’t burn our home down. It only comes when I call for it. Still…” He inclined his head to the dullahan. “Thanks, buddy.”

The smithy apprentice dullahan gave Sam a thumbs up, then turned back to its work.

“I came up to see if you wanted some breakfast,” Kai asked, looking between the two of them. “Komachi, obviously, is already eating down there.”

“Sure,” Raiko said, motioning for Kai to lead the way.

Shrugging and rolling his shoulders to loosen them up, Sam followed Kai out to the seating area around the bonfire that was the Archflame.

Bal’daz and Kai had obviously done some work here because there were stone benches and wooden tables for eating and a longer table where the food was on display.

Sam looked with fondness at the few copper pots and cooking implements he had made so they could at least heat up some food and have a hot meal.

They were not his best work, but they served just fine and now everybody had utensils, pots, pans, and whatever else you might need to make a nice home cooked meal.

Eventually Raiko’s storage of food would run out, and Sam wanted to be prepared for that. Besides, even the best food gets a little old when it’s literally the same thing day in and day out.

Being able to toss some of the marrowgems cut into medallions into a pan and sear them wasn’t the height of culinary greatness, but it was a decent way to eat your vegetables.

The mandragoras sometimes put new ingredients into the mix.

Honestly, the little guys helped a great deal with adding variety to their meals. They weren’t the best farmers. Most of them wanted to explore and fight instead, but they always seemed to come back with new herbs and foodstuffs, even if it wasn’t the best.

This time, a duo of mandragoras hauled over some kind of purple melon bigger than them, and Kai got to work preparing it.

Sam sat down and looked at the pile of roasted vegetables already set out on a battered metal plate for him. He inclined his head to the mandragora with a floppy sprout and hesitantly tasted the food.

It wasn’t bad. Of course, it wasn’t great either. Sam was a normal guy. He liked meat and eggs with his breakfast. Maybe some hash browns.

What I wouldn’t do for some good bacon and hash browns, Sam thought as he ate the vegetables. There was something to be said about mana-rich food, however: it was filling.

He felt like he could have single-handedly drained the supply of breakfast sandwiches at McDonald’s. However, with a single plate of mana-rich, colorful vegetables, he was sated.

At least nobody was going to starve. There were worse things than wishing for deliciously processed foods or seasonings like salt and pepper.

Sam looked over at what Kai was doing. Suddenly, he found he possessed a little more room for the delicate aroma of the strange melon.

“Smells sour, like…blueberries and candy?” Kai said with a shrug, offering some of that purple melon to everyone.

“Something sour for Machi?!” The cat darted over, carried her piece back to Sam and then noisily ate it with the fervor of a starving creature.

As her tail went straight up, Komachi froze.

Raiko gave the two mandragoras some head pats. Drinking up the praise, the plantoids excitedly flapped their leafy limbs and twirled in place.

“I would kill for pineapple,” Sam said with a sigh.

“Figuratively, you mean?” Matt asked.

Sam looked dead into Matt’s eyes. “Literally.”

“He would,” Kai told Matt seriously. “I don’t remember ever seeing somebody love pineapple more than him.”

“Do they even know what pineapple is?” Raiko asked, studying the dancing mandragoras.

“I doubt it,” Sam said. “It’s not like I have a phone or the ability to draw it for them, so I can’t show them what one is either.” He grumbled. “I’d even take canned at this point and not complain too much about it.”

“Is canned really so bad?” Matt asked. “That’s all I ever had.”

Sam looked like Matt had just admitted to running over baby animals. “You lived in Hawai’i and you never…” He shook his head. “What is wrong with you? Fresh pineapple is nothing like canned! It’s almost an entirely different fruit!”

Kai put a comforting hand on Sam’s shoulder. “He doesn’t understand.”

“Damn right I don’t,” Matt said, looking even more confused than normal.

Komachi remained frozen in place, like she had the world’s worst brain freeze.

They all turned to her, but it was Sam who gingerly picked her up and set her down in his lap. “Komachi, you good?”

“M-m-machiii…” she whispered pitifully.

Sam gingerly petted her head.

“Tastes weird, like it should be cold! But it ain’t Sam, it ain’t!”

“Oh? Well, does it at least taste good?” he asked. “Just because you’re eating ice cream soup doesn’t mean it’s bad, y’know.”

“Ahh, I used to eat ice cream soup as a kid,” Matt said wistfully.

Sam shot him a look. “Yeah. I bet you did.”

Komachi seemed to think about this. Then took another bite from the purplish melon and froze up all over again.

“Somehow, none of this surprises me,” Raiko said dryly.

“Okay, Komachi,” Sam said, separating her from the strange fruit–or rather, he tried to.

Komachi immediately snapped a paw out and pulled her food toward her, thwarting Sam’s attempt.

Rather than fight her, he set her down, patted her fluffy rump, and stood up. He had more smithing to do, but first he had some levels to attend to.

“She’s right though,” Raiko said. “It should be cold. Or at least mixed with something that is. If we had an ice generating Tile, that’d be ideal…”

“Do you know what it is?” he asked her. He did like the idea of finding or somehow creating an ice Tile. They had Tiles for just about everything. Surely there was one rich in ice mana that could create a perpetually cold area.

Raiko hefted the rind of her leftover piece. “It’s likely some variant of sourmelon from the Islegard’s Undergloam. Yes, it’s actually named just sourmelon.”

“Undergloam?” Matt asked, intrigued. “Does that mean it grows underground?”

“Think so. Usually with some help from drow elves and dwarves.”

Sam looked thoughtfully at it, but decided against it. He knew that it wouldn’t hold a candle to pineapple, the most royal of fruits, so why bother? He’d only get annoyed at the inferiority.

Waving goodbye, Sam went back to the smithy and sat down at one of the new tables that seemed to pop up every so often. It was like Kai got bored and decided to make increasingly refined furniture and litter it about.

Where the old stuff went, Sam didn’t have the faintest idea. Probably Chompers.

Aside from gaining another level that night for a total of 6 yesterday, Sam also had a new skill to select.

He brushed aside the levels for now. His Blacksmith Profession didn’t award any bonus points so there wasn’t anything for him to decide. He simply gained giant heaps of attributes per level, which was incredibly satisfying.

Attaining Paragon has truly boosted every pillar of progression, Sam thought with a grin.

Level Up!

Your [Blacksmith] Profession has reached Level 28.

+9 Strength | +9 Vigor | +9 Dexterity

+3 Awareness | +3 Mind

Though he skimmed over the various previous level ups. Once you saw them a few times, why bother seeing them a half a dozen times when you knew what you got? It helped to declutter his Shardscript too. Sam looked back over his Blacksmith abilities from levels past before seeing what was new.

You have [Blacksmith] abilities to select from.

Select one of the following:

[Mining]

(Blacksmith Skill) (F-Class)

(★ Common)

A Carpenter would not pick wood at random, a butcher would not take just any animal. Why should a Blacksmith take what materials they are given? In order to find the highest purity nodes and ores therein, a Blacksmith must be willing to brave the wilds and delve the depths in search of the perfect ore. [Mining] provides the intrepid Blacksmith with the ability to sense ore veins, and the skill to extract ores equal to or below this skill’s rarity level. Grants a minuscule bonus to the effect of Strength, Dexterity, and Insight when using [Mining].

[Stonecraft]

(Blacksmith Skill) (F-Class)

(★ Common)

What is stone but brittle metal? Unlock the secrets of the abundant mineral that most Blacksmiths so callously cast aside as so much dross. Stonecraft grants the ability to identify, craft, and use stone in a wide variety of applications. Grants a minuscule bonus to the effect of Strength, Dexterity, and Vigor when using [Stonecraft].

[Weaponcraft Foundation]

(Blacksmith Skill) (F-Class)

(★☆ Uncommon)

While anybody can create a weapon, proper Blacksmiths spend extra time honing their craft and understanding just what makes a weapon useful. [Weaponry Foundation] allows Blacksmiths to not only create superior weapons easier than those Blacksmiths lacking the skill, but they also gain bonus damage and durability when wielding weapons they’ve created. Due to your unique understanding and experience with weapons, this skill’s rarity has been enhanced by one level. Grants a minuscule bonus to the effect of Strength, Vigor, Dexterity, and Awareness when using [Weaponcraft Foundation].

[Jewelcraft Foundation]

(Blacksmith Skill) (F-Class)

(★ Common)

While not often thought of as Blacksmithing, [Jewelcraft Foundation] lays the groundwork for the creation of accessories of all kinds. Unlike Armorcraft or Weaponcraft Foundations, [Jewelcraft Foundation] is required to create accessories and magically endowed jewelry. Grants a minuscule bonus to the effect of Strength, Vigor, Dexterity, and Awareness when using [Jewelcraft Foundation].

Sam looked over the skills carefully. As his group surged forward in levels, everyone’s gear increasingly fell behind. This divide of power was even worse against monsters that were higher level than they were.

When they had fought the gargoyles in the Aker Academy’s Dungeon, their gear had been insufficient for the task. Armor needed to protect against highly damaging attacks, and weapons needed to be able to punch through the heightened defenses of higher level monsters.

As a Blacksmith, Sam could outfit his friends with weapons and armor. He couldn’t do much for magical enchantments (at least not yet), but he figured eventually Raiko and Matt might have that covered.

He aspired to shore up that weakness through his Profession, and generally enhance their collective ability to take on stronger and stronger monsters.

Those offered the greatest Experience after all, and therefore the most growth.

To a degree, he felt like his Profession was an extension of his Breaker bloodline. Something that offered the ability to shatter otherwise impenetrable defenses.

Hold on, am I convincing myself to take the Weaponcraft Foundation skill? Sam thought.

It had been the ability he said he would get provided nothing new came along. However, Sam had only looked over the old abilities. There were still 2 new abilities to choose from.

I need to look at the new stuff first.

He hoped the new skills were good, as if his desires would somehow shape whatever was offered to him.