BANG bang bang

Daniel swung his hammer hard against the glowing iron he was working on shaping into an acceptable sword. Each blow of his tool sent sparks flying into the air of the small workshop.

BANG bang bang

He’d come to love the physically demanding work of blacksmithing. When Ethan and Leah had “suggested” he reroll as a crafter, he’d initially been hesitant. The Tower was a game about combat and survival. Hiding in a forge wasn’t his idea of fun. But after a couple of weeks, he realized that this was a much better option than holding his friends back in The Tower. He wasn’t an idiot. He knew he wasn’t as good a player as Sam or Miguel. His place in Disorder was assured only by his prior friendship with Leah. But she had made it clear that he wasn’t going to be allowed to ride her coat tails any longer.

BANG bang bang

HHHIIIIISSSS

“Looks good, boy.” A dwarf with a massive auburn beard walked up behind Daniel as he quenched the hot iron blade in the nearby oil.

“Thank you Master Ashforge.” Daniel wiped sweat from his brow and shook his arm, trying to relieve worn out muscles as he turned to face the Master Blacksmith.

“Yer starting to forge well enough to not be totally useless.” The dwarf clapped him hard in his lower back as he laughed.

Master Conyn Ashforge had only begrudgingly taken him as an apprentice after Leah had paid him a small fortune. But after several weeks, the stout dwarf had finally started to warm up to him.

The Tower was full of other non human races, but players weren’t able to spawn as anything other than human. Startesgarde being a majority player run city, humans were by far more prevalent than Elves, Dwarves, Orcs or any other race. Daniel had never gotten to a high enough level as a player to be able to venture far enough to encounter many non-humans. And, in his current role, he suspected that the chances were low that he ever would.

“Thank you Master Ashforge.” Daniel had quickly learned to address the Master Smith with respect. The first, and only time, he’d mumbled a sarcastic comment had been met with a flying pair of heavy tongs flying across the small workshop.

“Toss ‘at back into the fire boy.” Ashforge pointed at the iron blade cooling on Daniel’s anvil. “Time to learn something new.”

Daniel quickly obliged him, and using the same tongs he’d been hit with, carefully placed his work back into the furnace. Asking questions had earned him a hammer thrown at his head.

“Now, what I’m about to show you should be done before the quenching the metal you’re working with, pump those bellows boy,” Conyn pointed at the large accordion like bellows next to the forge, “but since this is just a lesson, it should work just fine.”

Air pumped into the furnace and Daniel could feel the heat increase. The blade inside slowly heated up, turning a beautiful glowing orange. He’d learned to recognize roughly the temperature of metal by the color it glowed. The sword was almost to the point it would be workable.

“Enough.” The dwarf removed the brilliant metal from the forge and returned it to the anvil. He placed it longways across the anvil, Daniel had never seen him do anything like this. Not only was the sword nearly ready to be ground to an edge, Conyn hadn’t placed it in any way it could be hammered into a different shape.

Daniel watched as his teacher worked quickly to collect several items from the workbench nearest them. The sword continued to glow as he placed clamps on each end of the weapon and stood near where a guard would eventually be attached.

“Now watch.” With his back to the forge, the blacksmith took a small pointed chisel and hammer to the red hot iron. Daniel watched him carefully inscribe three runes into the blade before turning to the furnace. Conyn Ashforge took a deep breath of the fiery air. The heat seemed to radiate through his entire body. His dark black eyes began to glow in brilliant crimson light.

The dwarf leaned over the anvil and exhaled onto the runes he’d just placed on the weapon. His breath was tinged red, as if he had breathed the fire of the furnace into the blade. The runes took on a red light of their own as Conyn slowly stood back up and watched the blade for several seconds. Daniel was shocked. He had no idea what he’d just seen, but he knew it was something incredible.

Faster than any tank of oil would have, the blade cooled before his eyes. It went from bright orange to a dull gray in seconds. The red glow of the runes softened, but did not dissipate, leaving the marks visible against the dull iron blade.

“What was that?” Daniel asked quietly, still in awe of what he’d just witnessed.

“Runeforging.” The dwarf sighed and leaned against the workbench, the effort of inscribing the runes seemed to have taken a lot of energy out of him. “Dwarven forge magic.”

Daniel leaned over the weapon to inspect the runes. He had no idea what they meant, they looked like they were in Dwarven.

“What do they say?” He whispered, hesitantly, he extended a finger to see if they still burned red hot. No heat radiated from the freshly inscribed blade.

“They’re just basic ones: strength, lightness and durability.” Conyn pushed himself off the bench and walked over to the sword. “This blade that we made will be sharper, lighter to swing and won’t chip or break as easily.”

“Have a look.” He unscrewed the clamps and passed the now cooled weapon to Daniel.

The sword indeed felt lighter than similar ones he’d made before. Taking a couple of practice swings, he found he could swing it faster than he would have expected, even without a proper hilt.

Runeforged Dwarven Spathi (unfinished)

Quality: Magic (crafted - unfinished)

22-32 damage

Durability: 100/100

Runes:

Gildeth (Master): 50% bonus damage

Bryka (Master): 50% bonus attack speed

Vort (Master): 50% bonus durability

Daniel's jaw fell open in shock. He’d created the same sword several times, and the stats had never been this good. The Master level Runes Conyn had inscribed on the weapon had increased its potency far beyond anything Daniel could have hoped to create.

“Can you… can you teach me Runeforging?” He asked hesitantly, looking up at the Master Smith, still holding the blade in both hands.. He’d never even heard of the skill before, surely something that could give so much power was something some player would have discovered.

“Aye.” Conyn nodded slowly, still recovering from the exertion. “Yer denser than most stones, but I think you’ll be able to learn.”

Secret Quest Discovered - Runeforging

Dwarven Master Smith Conyn Ashforge has offered to teach you the deep magic of the Dwarves, Runeforging. This crafting sub skill can add up to three Runes to any weapon or armor you create. Runes do not count against Enchantment slots.

***SYSTEM NOTIFICATION***

Runeforging is a secret Blacksmithing subclass. Completion of the quest will lock you out of both Armorsmith and Weaponsmith subclasses. On failure or abandonment, Runeforging will become unavailable in the future but Armorsmith and Weaponsmith will become available. In addition Conyn Ashforge will no longer accept you as an Apprentice.

Accept?

Yes/No

Confidently, Daniel didn’t hesitate before accepting. The feeling of certainty and determination were unfamiliar feelings, but this was his way to help his friends. Not just my friends, everyone. The sudden realization of what this meant hit him hard in a flash of inspiration. I’ll be able to create gear that’s inherently better than random drops.

“When do we start?” He asked, once again nervous.

“Now.” Conyn smiled paternally and tossed a worn, leather bound book from the workbench at him.

“What is this?” Daniel asked, clumsily catching the book.

“Dwarven primer.” The smith crossed his arms over his chest and watched him intently. “You need to learn our language if you hope to master the Runes.”

Daniel flipped through the book in complete awe of what he was holding. He saw various words and phrases written in both Common and Dwarven.

“Go to yer home and get whatever you need for a trip.” Conyn turned and began organizing the work bench he’d been leaning on.

“Where are we going?” Daniel hadn’t moved, he was still stunned by everything that had happened in the last half hour.

“Urngor Orhim.” Conyn grunted as he tossed a hammer across the bench and turned back to Daniel, “Can’t learn the Dwarven art if you’re not in the city of the Dwarves.”