Inflame (The Completionist Chronicles Book 6) by Dakota Krout (best romantic novels in english TXT) 📕

Joe’s focus narrowed, his entire self immersed in watching the process as McPoundy worked. He activated Essence Cycle and observed as the Dwarf worked seamlessly with flame, liquid metal, and mana. Joe snapped out of his work-induced haze only when he ran out of mana and his Essence Cycle turned off. He healed himself, turned off other passives, let his mana refill, fixed his shell and jumped right back into Essence Cycle.

Eventually, McPoundy smiled at the sword, crushed a Core in his hand, and sprinkled the dust along the new lines of enchantment formulae he had carved into it. Joe saw the skill get activated and gained some small insight into how the dust was formed and used. McPoundy sighed happily and held up his sword. “There. Finished.”

Skill increase: Ritualistic Forging (Beginner 0 -> Beginner VI)

Skill increase: Enchanting (general) (Novice IV -> Beginner 0). Congratulations on reaching the Beginner ranks! All Novice enchantments are 20% easier to create! All Beginner enchantments are 10% easier to create. There is a 5% chance of creating Apprentice-ranked enchantments.

Joe looked at the sword in astonishment. It had a glowing title, as McPoundy hadn’t bothered to hide any of the information.

Sword of Hamstringing. (Pseudo-Artifact) This sword no longer likes feet; instead, it only likes chopping them off! 50% chance to cleanly cut off a foot when attempting to do so. Created by Grandmaster Iron McPoundy.

“Still, a failure.” McPoundy sighed and threw the sword toward a garbage chute. Joe screeched and jumped to intercept it, slamming into the blade, which went right through his re-weakened shell and cut into him before clattering to the floor. McPoundy turned on the human with death in his eyes, “Lad, you must be utterly brain damaged. Put that in the trash right this instant!”

“Grandmaster… McPoundy.” Joe healed himself and straightened up, pulling the sword upright until he was standing with it point-down against the stone floor. “I knew I had heard your name before. Please give me a chance to explain.”

“Make a case for why I should help you any further than the minimum that Havoc blackmailed me into doing. Tell me why I should bother, now that you are planning on stealing and showing off a sword that I want disposed of. You have one sentence, or you’re going out.”

Joe collected his thoughts into a single, succinct statement. “I destroyed the Shield of Hate.”

“That’s…” McPoundy, who was already reaching for Joe’s neck, paused, stopped, and took a step back. “How do you know about that? How did you… I made that back when I was a mere Master, and I’ve told no one about that… item. You destroyed it? I couldn’t break it back then. How did you? Prove it.”

Joe gazed down at the sword in his hand, and a smile swept across his face. “It would be my absolute pleasure.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The sword finished vanishing into aspects and remnants, and Joe stared at his updated listing with flushed cheeks. He was panting from the heat and mana deprivation, but he was excited. This was the first time he had gained Artifact-ranked aspects!

Aspects gathered

Trash: 10,314

Damaged: 9,902

Common: 7,421

Uncommon: 5,222

Rare: 1,834

Special: 100 (Zombified). 100 (Anima).

Unique: 554

Artifact: 55

Legendary: 0

Mythical: 0

“It wasn’t a true Artifact, but it had aspects of it,” Joe muttered excitedly. His eyes flashed over the numbers, and his intelligence and wisdom tried to work together to intuit a pattern. No matter how he considered it, it seemed that each item produced different amounts in each aspect.

“What are you whispering about? Numbers of some kind? Were you weighing it or trying to balance the blade? You think an Artifact—or in this case, Pseudo-Artifact—happens by chance alone?” McPoundy snorted even as he secretly admired the ability to erase failures so easily. “Is it surprising that my creations are both works of art and also mathematically perfect in all ways?”

Skill gained: Smithing Lore (Beginner II). Your insight and tutelage under a Grandmaster have allowed you to develop a deeper understanding of smithing. There are depths to every craft that are difficult to dive into, but as this skill progresses, you will not just be hitting metal with a hammer; you will be forging. Bonus for reaching the Beginner rank: There is a 100% chance to automatically create a template for the next item you observe being made. (One-time use). You must have the permission of the smith you are watching in order to copy their craft.

That blew Joe away. All the other lore skills had given him passive bonuses to creating things, but this was the first time a lore skill had given him something active. Before Joe could say anything, McPoundy continued. “After seeing this, I suppose I believe you about the shield. I’ll tell you now, if that shield somehow resurfaces, you’ll have made an enemy for life. As a reward for your help and silence… I’ll work with you to make a weapon you can use. Something just for you. I’ll even let you stand at my side and keep gaining skill levels as I do the work. Yes, I can see you absorbing everything I say or do; you must have some small skill in smithing?”

“I’m a Beginner level five in Ritualistic Forging,” Joe admitted freely. “While I like the ability to forge, I preferred having a limited skillset that I could level faster.”

The Grandmaster winced at Joe’s explanation, but not for the reasons Joe was expecting. “That’s… I can barely remember the time when a smith under the Expert rank has been allowed to learn from me directly. We need to get you out of here before someone learns about this, gets jealous, and starts a clan war. I’m unsuitable as a master for you, but I can show you a few things as we get your gear together. Here is what your options were going to be…”

The Dwarf motioned Joe over to a table that had somehow been… elsewhere… until he wanted it, then had the human inspect the three items that were