Chapter 25 – E-Rank

“I guess he didn’t take my advice to heart…”

“It’s not bad to practice a new craft, no reason to not make more weapons.”

The two orbs of light conversed while peering down at a suit of armor supporting a hefty axe. It was a completed piece, now part of the armory’s inventory alongside numerous other bronze weapons. It all started with one hunting knife and soon turned into a large weapon creation spree. With molds and an infinite supply of ingots at his disposal, the task became remarkably easy. In time, the empty armory had been transformed into a well-stocked arsenal.

“Another fine addition to my collection!”

As Rusty admired his latest creation, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride. Each weapon he crafted was a testament to his newfound skills as a blacksmith, something that he found enjoyable.

“Looks like you’re getting the hang of this.”

The hero remarked while floating beside Rusty.

“Thanks to your guidance, I couldn’t have done it without you Mr. Hero.”

“No problem, not like there is anything else for me to do here… But now that you’ve built up quite the collection, what do you plan to do with them?”

Before Rusty could answer this question, the darkened sphere of light floated forward and spoke out.

“That’s what I’d like to know, why did you ignore my advice of focusing on swords?”

Rusty paused for a moment and considered the demon lord’s question. It was true that he had no proficiencies in things other than bows and swords. However, he wasn’t really thinking about such things when working here in the Soul Forge. Instead of focusing on survival, something else became the focal point.

“Well… it was fun?”

“It was fun?”

“Yes? It was fun to make them all and I feel like after making these weapons, I’ll also gain some insights into defending myself against them?”

“I see…”

“Leave the kid alone. He is just enjoying the craft, it’s probably not something a demon king would know much about. Not everything has to be about battling and survival.”

The hero chimed in but the demon lord wasn’t convinced.

“Bah, perhaps he will find a way to learn more skills in the future but it would be better if he didn’t spend valuable resources to bring these weapons into the real world!”

“He is not even a year old, he is just having some fun.”

“Some fun, hm?”

The demon lord orb observed Rusty, who appeared to have shifted his focus elsewhere. The living armor had a habit of moving away whenever the two light orbs engaged in arguments. Rusty’s attention span resembled that of a newborn child and there wasn’t any deeper meaning behind it. His sole desire was to craft as many weapons as possible and he just ended up filling the armory during the process.

“This should be all… so now what?”

Now that his work was over, there wasn’t really much to do. He had attempted to wield some of the bronze weapons in the training ground, yet, similar to the hunting knife, they didn’t quite suit his metallic grip. The library failed to offer any additional useful knowledge and was devoid of skill books or any means of skill acquisition beyond his skill absorption or leveling up. However, some skills could be upgraded here but all of them focused on blacksmithing.

His Basic Smithing Mastery wasn’t leveling up as fast as he focused on using molds without hammering anything. Luckily, when using the grinding wheel and the whetstone for sharpening or polishing, it began to react. It was also possible to change the shape of bronze through hammering techniques but for the time being, he focused on the smelting process.

Not all components of Rusty’s weapons were crafted from bronze; for instance, the shaft of his bronze spear consisted of plain wood. The spear blade came with a pre-made socket that was perfectly fitted for it. All Rusty needed to do was to insert it and secure it in place by hammering rivets through the holes in the socket part of the spear blade. In the future, he hoped to move on to iron and steel which required a bit more work and seemed quite fascinating.

“Are you going to leave without even saying your farewells?”

Once Rusty exhausted all the possibilities in this Soul Forge, he finally decided to move towards his new body. Despite the demon lord’s call as he approached the new suit of armor in the center. Before departing, he felt compelled to perform one last experiment. His metallic hand grasped the gauntlet of his new body to yank it out and just like he expected, it popped right off.

“Did he just ignore me? What is he even doing?”

“He is examining the gauntlet, what do you think he is doing?”

“Does he perhaps want to…”

The two lights chatted while Rusty looked over the gauntlet in his hand. There was a distinct lack of connection between it and his metallic body; it felt like any other foreign item he had interacted with. First, he attempted to replace his current hand with the new one he had acquired. However, the moment it was connected to the rest of his armor, it simply fell to the ground with a resounding thud.

“It’s not part of me…”

“What are you trying to do Rusty?”

The hero floated forward while Rusty was examining the gauntlet that lacked any corrosive parts.

“If I can make weapons… shouldn’t I be able to make armor?”

“Ah, I see. Do you wish to reforge the armor that your body is composed from, into something better?”

“Yes! That’s it… could I make it better and heavier?”

The hero and the demon lord orb exchanged glances as if the idea was something plausible. Rusty was a living armor, a creature that could be considered a piece of armor. There was no reason not to think that he couldn’t create his own body by hand. Rusty’s ability to craft weapons had opened up new possibilities, including the potential for him to upgrade his own armor.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it’s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

“It’s definitely worth a try but… I’m not sure if you should do it now…”

The hero gave his input and as a previous blacksmith, his words were heavy. In his eyes, Rusty was not quite ready to tackle armor making, and not when bronze was involved.

“Oh, but why?”

“Why you ask? Well, to be frank, I don’t think you’ll be able to improve on this current ‘body’ of yours.”

“I don’t agree with the hero on much but he is right. What will you do with a baddy riddled with imperfections and holes? Your durability might go down and what if you mess up one of the joints? Do you wish to have a limp?”

Rusty paused, considering the valid points brought up by both the hero and the demon lord. While he was eager to explore the possibilities of upgrading his armor and wanted it to be heavier to alleviate his weakness, it was not the best idea. He could barely create intermediate weaponry just by using molds and there were no molds for armor parts. If he wanted to make a gauntlet, it would need to be made from scratch.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t rush into something like this without proper preparation… perhaps I should practice first?”

“Exactly. It’s better to take your time and ensure that you have the necessary skills and knowledge before attempting such a feat.”

The hero added while trying to make his ghostly form produce a smile but failed at it. His form was without a face and just a voice.

“Maybe I should practice while I still have the time… Huh?”

Rusty looked at the gauntlet as its form offered him some smithing pointers. However, before he could take it to the workbench to study it flew back to the body in the middle. Then suddenly, the entire Soul Forge started to shiver and quake.

“What’s happening?”

He asked as his body began to feel strange, he started feeling weak and drowsy, not something that he had ever experienced as a living suit of armor.

“This space, it’s becoming unstable…”