Author Artemis

Book 1 info

Chapter 51 marks the end of the main story for book one of three (estimated). In addition, there will be side stories with other characters' perspectives. The first part of one of these side stories will be posted for free for readers on Patreon and RoyalRoad, and then the rest of one of the side stories will be posted to Patreon for Brawler tier subscribers, and finally there will be book exclusive content when the book goes on sale, probably through patreon and amazon.

The ma...

Chapter 051 - Revelation (end of book 1)

The rolled up monster accelerated as it rolled towards the Smith. Hurriedly he moved out of the path, just barely succeeding as the ball, taller than James was, whooshed past him close enough for the wind of its passage to blow against James and push him onward.

He continued for several steps to open more distance, then turned and readied his shield. The monster was unrolling itself and finding its footing after its initial charge.

First, the legs unfolded themselves, a dull scale...

Chapter 050 - Discovery

Some time later James awoke, sore from the awkward position he had passed out in. His armor felt heavy and restrictive on his body, and it took several tries to stand back up. He scanned around, ensuring there were no monsters nearby and he was within the wards, then removed his helmet.

The gentle breeze felt cool on his sweat-damp head and hair. Now able to see clearly, or as clearly as possible in the dim light, he saw that in fact there were still monsters about. There was a mess of ...

Chapter 049 - Exploring the Left Side

James advanced directly to the second passage on the left side of the cavern. It was far enough down the side of the cavern that this path took him nowhere close to the passage filled with plants, and there were no other monsters lurking about the cavern at the moment.

The passage was narrow, barely wide enough for James to advance with shield raised and not at all wide enough to strike with his hammer while his shield was up. About ten yards ahead, barely visible in the dim light provi...

Chapter 048 - Bread GET

After a somewhat prolonged rest within the ward, watching the bat flutter about at the edge, James hauled himself back to his feet. His armor clanked, feeling almost as heavy as his old [First Armor] set. The back to back fights had been exhausting.

Over several trips, James managed to get the monster carcasses back to his main camp. He wanted nothing more than to eat and sleep, but he wanted to at least disassemble the mole monster carcasses and get them smoking. On top of that, the tr...

Chapter 047 - Possible Exit

The passage, for the first few yards, was the same natural looking tunnel as the rest of the cavern, spotted with glowshrooms. But after that it was teeming with plant life. Broad leaves, creeping vines, and large orchid-like blooms covered the walls which quickly widened, leaving a comfortable five yard wide path out into the apparent forest.

He scanned behind him, then slowly advanced. The giant mole monster was one thing, but the most dangerous threat of all might be ahead: other peo...

Chapter 046 - Surprise Attack

James thought for a split second, and dropped the Green Iron War Hammer in his hand to the ground as he set his footing and readied his shield. The monster continued charging at its shuffling pace and James reached his hand into the magic bag saying “Earth War Hammer.”

His hand closed on the handle and withdrew it from the bag, flat striking face at the ready, and was just shy of being fully in position for a [Hammer Strike] when the mole monster lunged and tac...

Chapter 045 - Exploring

From the three bats, James harvested one green magic crystal and two purple magic crystals. He remembered his lessons about the magical elements and their associated colors, but purple wasn’t on the list.

[Material Identification: Purple Magic Crystal]

Well, that was a bust. In any case, leaving the carcasses there, he stored his new magic crystals in his magic bag and picked up his magic warding stakes and took his magic shield and magic hammer in hand and adva...

Chapter 044 - Target Practice

James returned to the small room and set up his wards. Even with just three stakes, he managed to cover over half the room. Once he was sure the wards were in place, he removed his armor again. Annoying as it was to put it all on just to take it off, James wasn’t going to take any chances when a mole monster could show up at any time. He took a pick-axe out of the magic bag and set to work on the vein of Green Iron Ore he had spotted the day before.

Pick

Pick 2025-03-31 18:00:14 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 043 - A New Warhammer

The Smith returned to camp with his prizes: two bat wings, a Green Magic Crystal, and knowledge of what lay beyond his home cavern. The bat monster was disconcerting, to be sure, but James knew that he could kill it if he had to.

The question was, was there a better way than swinging a shovel around until he got lucky?

The bat, ironically, had provided him the solution.

The sweeping lines, circles, and runes floated to the top of his mind nearly effortlessly, even t...

Chapter 042 - A Lack of Awareness

First, the Smith dismantled the ward around the exit to the old iron mine and stored the metal stakes in his bag. He wanted at least three in case he needed to form a ward in an emergency and couldn’t make it back to camp. These, along with the two spares already in the bag, put him at five stakes.

The journey of a few minutes to the other end of the cavern was uneventful. At the passageway to parts beyond the familiar cavern, James paused to rest and catch his breath. Walking in his ...

Chapter 041 - [Heavy Blow]

The Smith, growing more comfortable with fighting the mole monsters, carefully stepped away from the carcass on the cavern floor as this new monster approached. This time, however, he wanted to test out the [Reflect] enchantment. He poured mana into his shield and felt the enchantment activate, just like [Heavy Blow] had. Like before he set up and thrust the shield to meet the mole monster’s tackle, and this time was even easier than the last. The...

Chapter 040 - Product Testing

One result of the [Reflect] Enchantment on the Green Tower Shield was that the outer face of the shield became perfectly reflective, in the manner of a mirror. Before, the shield was a dull metal with a hint of a green reflection, but now it was as reflective as the finest polished mirror, and for the first time in nearly a year, James was able to see himself.

He was shocked by how thin his face looked. Dirt caked his face, and judging by the exposed skin, his tan ...

Chapter 039 - Green Iron Armor

Sweaty, exhausted, famished, thirsty, but satisfied, James took up his cup of the remaining Aqua Magia and tossed it. Yes, it cost him some mana to create, but at the moment having a cup to drink from took priority. Yet, as he moved to splash the Aqua Magia on the ground, it vanished from the cup, as though responding to his intent to discard it. James was too worn out to care overly much. Magic continued to be this strange force in his life that sometimes did what he wanted but was ...

Chapter 038 - First Enchantment

James woke slowly, as one does on those blessed mornings when one has slept well and woken naturally, without disturbance. Eyes still closed, he stretched, then sat up and stretched again, before rubbing his eyes and taking in his surroundings.

A dim cavern.

An ever present soft breeze.

A primitive campsite and open air smithy.

The remains of a monster, yet to be cleaned up.

The warding stakes, and the magical energy flowing between them.

With a rush of adr...

Chapter 037 - Contamination

Although James wanted to first return to the old iron mine and see if he could get another brown magic crystal from the first mole monster he had killed, he wisely decided to stop and focus on forging a new war hammer and enchanting it with [Heavy Blow]. While his first war hammer had been devastatingly effective due to its sheer mass, realistically it was too large. The Smith also gave up on attaching it to a wooden shaft. Instead, he would forge it out of one piece, like he...

Chapter 036 - Frustratingly Arbitrary

First, wisely prioritizing safety, the Smith topped up the magic power in the ward around his camp, then checked the wards around the exit to the old iron mine. It turned out they had plenty of magic power remaining, but the Smith topped them up all the same. Now he knew they would last at least a few days without needing a recharge.

Next, the Smith took the magic bag and hobbled painfully over to the monster corpse, leaving bloody footprints as he went. He wanted nothing more than to c...

Chapter 035 - Damage

At the moment James felt the impact of his hammer strike, he also felt a strange sensation and heard an ominous cracking sound.

The shaft of the hammer broke.

He had been holding it near the end of the pick-axe shaft to which he had affixed the war hammer head and it snapped somewhat in the middle, leaving a short length of splintered wood.

The mole monster, meanwhile, took an exceptionally heavy [Hammer Strike] to the shoulder. Although its fur could m...

Chapter 034 - Impact

[Synergy] Skill [Design] has reached level 2.

[First Armor] Design memorized.

Over the course of a day and then some, the Smith designed his first set of armor. A much simpler version of the plate armor James had once seen at the Lord’s manor in his hometown, the operating principle was maximum coverage and durability. For the material, regular iron. James would have liked to use Green Iron, given that it was as hard as regular iron with half th...

Chapter 033 - Terror

The mole monster prowled around at the edge of the wards, keeping an eye on James. After hurriedly ensuring the ward was topped up with magic power, he had retreated, gripping the haft of his newly-forged war hammer in his hands. Unfortunately, the pick-axe haft was a sub-optimal choice for a war hammer. It was now unwieldy to use single-handedly, but too short to use properly with two hands.

In one sense, he was in a better position than his first encounter with a monster. He was insid...

Chapter 032 - Warhammer

Many aspiring Smith-Enchanter hybrids bring a small bellows into the dungeon with them when they attempt to recreate the Legend of the Smith who Saved the Kingdom. It stands to reason: neither Smiths nor Enchanters have the leatherworking skills needed to break down a monster corpse and produce a bellows in situ. Those who try inevitably fail and find themselves returning to civilization far sooner than planned, either to buy a bellows or embarrassed that they were unable to [Forge] 2025-03-12 20:32:30 +0000 UTC View Post