Chương 26: YIIIOWP!

"YIIIIOWP!" Luma launches to her feet, only to be dragged back down as the box holds her tail down. Quickly, I lift the box away. Luma then proceeds to bite my hand, hard. I even start to bleed, though it quickly heals because of Luma's ability. She leaps off my chest and goes over to the corner, where she proceeds to stare at me with a menacing glare.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know the box would spawn right there?" I try to defend myself, but Luma does not buy it.

"I'll buy you some yummy treats next time we are in town, I promise. The yummiest ones in the world!" She huffs and turns away from me, then begins to groom her poor flattened tail. Somehow it has lost all of its floofiness. Not for long though, I hope. Such a loss of floofiness would be the greatest tragedy of all. The world would never be the same. Unfortunately, getting stronger cannot stop, even for such a tragedy. I grab the box that has since fallen on the floor.

It is made of a smooth material unlike any I have seen, and there is a small button on the top. So, I do what everyone who sees a lovely red button does. Pop. The box vanishes and is replaced by four bars of metal, and a white crystal. They land in my lap, and to my shock, are quite light. I inspect them, using my newly upgraded skill–not that it seems to be useful in this case.

4 Units of glintsteel bars (Common) This strange alloy combines the properties of a normal steel with a fairly common ore known as lightite. By mixing in the ore, the metal has gained a weak affinity for the light element. Basic light mana crystal (Common) This crystal is infused with pure light mana. Its uses are as vast as the worlds themselves. It is also fairly common, dropped from many types of monsters. Now, I am no genius. But something tells me that the system wants me to make something with these.

Materials perfect for a core, and base, and of the same element. It is definitely urging me to make something. As for what that is, I have no clue. Four bars could make quite a few things I think. If a small knife takes two, then it isn't enough to make a good piece of armor. Perhaps I could do a tiny pair of boots, but that definitely isn't it. That is when another ding sounds in my mind, almost as if in answer to my question. Upon seeing it, I immediately take a look.

New Quest: Tools of The Smith Type: Progression Background: Every smith requires tools properly suited to the trade. An anvil is the first of these, which has already been acquired. But what is a smith without a hammer? To put it simply, that hammer sucks, so make a proper one. Objective: Create a proper blacksmith's hammer. Reward: normal boon, greater boon. Of course, a hammer! I did notice that my current one seemed ill-suited to the task.

When I try to inspect it, there isn't even a description, it merely says iron hammer. Yeah, I definitely need an upgrade. But, I should probably speak to Claire first. You know, learn from the master smith and all. She isn't inside, and I realize that I am not in her house either. It is a very similar one though, maybe she had a guesthouse nearby or something that I didn't see? This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The instant I step outside, Claire appears in front of me.

"Awake already, huh? You were only out for a day, I'm shocked. After nearly two days crafting, that is quite a fast recovery."

"Wait, that was two whole days?! And then I slept for another?" Damn, time really does fly when one is having fun.

"Yeah, remember when I said a week is not nearly enough time? Well crafts can often take days. Heck, once I spent an entire month on just a ring, albeit it was quite complex. The recovery time on that was almost a year." Claire says, "Though humans do recover a lot faster than us elementals, for unknown reasons." Hmm, that is intriguing. To spend so long on a single craft seems absurd. But when one is putting their all into it, I guess it makes sense.

Plus maybe elementals do it a bit differently, with such long lifespans they aren't in a hurry.

"So, what you're saying is to not start crafting something in the middle of an active battlefield."

"Yeah, probably not." She smiles at me, "Also get that worried face off your face. Heroes live far longer than their base species. So you don't have to worry so much." Damn, I thought I was hiding my concern pretty well. Guess not much slips past Claire.

"How long we talking?" She hmms and ponders the question.

"If I recall, the last set of heroes lasted around a millennia, I think. The Life one lasted about eleven centuries, I think, due to their magic giving them a bit of an edge. That was before my time though."

"Woah, that's a long time. I also thought the last heroes were a lot more recent than that. With how many fancy gadgets and stuff that exist here and all." Claire sighs, "Guess I am teaching you more than just smithing, huh? Oh well. But yeah, the sixth era lasted about three thousand years. The fifth was almost seven millennia though. They have ranged quite a lot, an elder once told me that the second was only two millennia long. But it really doesn't matter.

Progress across all of the realms tends to go nearly stagnant when the last hero passes. For reasons that I am sure you will find out soon. The world today is basically exactly how it was when I was but a young elemental." I realize that we have gotten quite sidetracked. Which isn't necessarily bad, but given how Claire just said we have nowhere near enough time, is not good either.

"So uh, back on what I was going to ask. I was given a quest to make a hammer, and I even got some materials." I pull out the glintsteel and mana crystal. Claire inspects them, "Hmm, quite a nice boon to get. Quests sure are nice, wish I got some more… Anyways, yes, hammers are important. Both for crafting, but also fighting, as I presume you plan to keep using one."

"Yeah, I'll probably need to fight too. Perhaps some day I'll have a whole army of spirits and I can just sit back and sling spells, but for now that is not the case." I pause as I take a breath, "The problem is, that I don't think I have anything to serve as the secondary material. I've got some random stuff, but I don't think it's good enough to use with the glintsteel and crystal…" Claire laughs, "Well then, we will have to go find some. Or rather, you will, as I can't leave this place.

I can sense a grove of trees nearby, I think they are light-aligned like the other materials too."

"Wait, what do you mean you can't leave this place?" I ask, concerned about Claire. Is she imprisoned here somehow? She frowns.

"Oh did Calder not tell you, that guy really can't do shit, can he? I am an elemental, and a pretty strong one at that. The sheer amount of mana that leaks out of my corestone would warp anything around me to a very bad degree. Which is why I contained myself in this domain, a condition of my migration here. Thus if I leave, bad shit happens to anything nearby." That is, kind of sad. Claire left her home, which I imagine had at least some of her friends.

Then she came here, only to have to imprison herself, lest risk destroying stuff.

"You did all of that for tea?"

"Of course." Claire says, as if it is the most normal thing ever. Perhaps I should try to unpack that, but honestly, I am just going to leave that as is.

"So, where are these trees?" I ask.

"Uhh, that general direction." Claire points off in a random direction.

"Should be maybe a seven hour walk? I said grove, but it's probably more like a forest to you, I doubt you will miss it." I sigh, guess I am going to go for a walk.

"Well then, I better set off." I take a step back into the guesthouse to get Luma. She is still a bit mad at me, but when I tell her the adventure might contain danger, she slinks along. After all, she wouldn't want me to be hurt and unable to help heal me. Claire leads us to the boundary, and then opens it up for me.

"Good luck!" She shouts and then pushes me though.

"Knock when you are back." Without giving me a chance to say anything else, the barrier closes up. Damn tea addicts.