Rise of the Living Forge

Arwin held the wooden prosthetic aloft in the still-sweltering smithy, watching red letters trail through the air as the Mesh finally revealed the results of his efforts over the past few hours.

The Ashen Armament [Cursed]

[Parasitic Limb]: This item holds the hunger for power and life of a Cursed Ashleaf Tree within it. When attached to a suitable host, it will take the place of their right arm. The Ashen Armament will take a portion of all energy its host earns and grow along with them.

[The Solitary Forest]: Ashleaf Trees are solitary monsters that consume the life energy of all things that draw near. Each tree possesses an enormous root network around it that will strangle out any other foliage that attempts to grow within their domain. This power has been trapped within the Ashen Armament. Sending power into this item unleashes the living roots within it — as well as the immense amount of emotion constrained within the Ashen Armament. The roots will obey this item’s wielder so long as their resolve remains firm. If their will breaks, the Ashen Armament will attempt to wrest control over its wielder’s body.

Arwin swallowed as he lowered the arm and set it back on the anvil, staring at it in silence even as the words blinked out and the smithy plunged back into darkness.

It was no different than how the Wyrm’s Revenge worked. That reinforced his theory even further. Cursed items were all gambles. They gave enormous opportunity at the cost of a very significant risk, and this was no different.

He could return Olive’s arm to her, but at the cost of her potentially losing control of the rest of her body the moment she utilized its full strength. Arwin doubted that effect would last forever, but even a few seconds of being controlled could result in immense damage.

Arwin could feel the emotion churning within the arm. Hunger and desire mixed in the Cursed item. It hadn’t forgotten Arwin’s promise. More than anything else, it wanted to be used. The item wanted a body back.

Before any more thoughts could pass through his head with regard to the item, the air before Arwin shimmered as golden letters suddenly bloomed before him.

Arwin blinked. It had taken the Mesh a fair bit of time to register that he’d leveled up. Normally, that message would have come in right after he’d finished making the item. It almost felt as if the Mesh had given him a moment to look over his work before it had pulled his attention away.

With more than a little confusion and a flick of his hand, Arwin summoned his information to float before him.

Name: Arwin Tyrr

Class: Living Forge (Unique)(Tier: Journeyman 2)

Specialization: Cursed Dwarven Smithing

New Skill Upgrade Available.

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Arwin blew out a small sigh of relief as he saw what he’d gotten for reaching Journeyman 2. It would have been a little unfortunate if he’d gotten a new skill already — he only had a single Achievement this level thus far, and it guaranteed a Cursed skill. He didn’t want to be forced to take a sub-optimal option if the Cursed skill option ended up being terrible.

No point delaying. I have too much to do in the next few days, and I have to get my hands on every single scrap of power I possibly can right now. Crafting Cursed items really does give me a huge amount of energy, though. Wow. It took quite some time to reach Journeyman, but I’ve already gone up a tier after two Cursed items. This is quite profitable.

More golden words traced through the air before Arwin.

You may select one of the following skills.

[Awaken] (Passive)

[Molten Novice] (Passive)

[Soul Flame]

[Arsenal]

[Dragon’s Greed]

[Unleash]

A few of these upgrades could be very, very powerful. I’m not just a small crafter anymore. With some of the new items I’ve been making, not to mention my growing titles, I’m getting closer to my goal of being able to protect my guild.

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Closer, but I’m not there yet. I can’t let my guard down. I have to keep pushing.

Arwin rubbed his hands together and blew out a breath to slow his fast-beating heart.

He had a quite the number of skills to choose from now, and he could think of quite a few different upgrades that could be immensely useful. The most important thing right now was which upgrade would improve their chances against Twelve by the most significant margin.

That crossed [Dragon’s Greed] off the list instantly. Arwin wasn’t going to be going to another dungeon before they met with Twelve — his time would be far better spent crafting and preparing. [Dragon’s Greed] had also already gotten to a point where it did just about everything Arwin needed it to. Picking the skill over one of his other, better scaling ones, just felt like the wrong move.

[Arsenal] was the next option Arwin removed. It was a powerful combat skill, but its biggest benefit was the one he already had. He hadn’t even had a chance to finish filling his current available slots, and the other half of the skill that let him steal items from people was best used against fights that Arwin expected would last a long time.

It had been incredibly effective against Jessen, but Twelve was an assassin. If Arwin managed to get his hands on Twelve for long enough to temporarily bind himself to any of the man’s equipment, it would have been easier to just end the fight by snapping his neck.

That was the end of the easy choices. Everything that was left behind had potential to significantly improve his crafting, his abilities to fight against Twelve, or both. Arwin’s fingers drummed against his thighs in thought.

He still had 4 options to consider.

[Awaken] (Passive)

[Molten Novice] (Passive)

[Soul Flame]

[Unleash]

[Soul Flame] had consistently been one of his best upgrades. It improved both his crafting and combat potential, especially since Verdant Inferno was able to draw on [Soul Flame] to make its attacks even stronger.

His recent work had shown that [Soul Flame] was still integral with Dwarven Smithing, not just to protect himself from the lava, but also to wrap materials he was working with. Upgrading it would probably let him work with more delicate materials, which was definitely something he’d need in the long run.

I’m just not sure if I need that right now. I don’t think I’ve got any more very delicate materials that I would be using in any currently planned projects.

I don’t think the boost in damage a stronger [Soul Flame] gives me will be too significant either. It isn’t about hitting Twelve hard — it’s about hitting him at all. I’ll keep this as an option, but it might not be the best one to go with right now.

[Molten Novice] was directly related to Dwarven Smithing. Upgrading it would probably give him improved control over lava and access to some more crafting techniques that could help him make his Cursed items even stronger.

[Awaken] was always a very good option. He’d yet to see an item be both Cursed and Awakened, but nothing said it wasn’t possible. There was just a very low chance to actually awaken an item.

If he managed to pull off an Awakened Cursed item, Arwin suspected it would be one of the most powerful pieces he’d made to date.

His final option was [Unleash].

Arwin had yet to use it in the real world, and he highly doubted it would be anywhere near as effective as it had been in his Vision, where willpower had been the most important element of a fight.

It empowers my Cursed items and makes me stronger. Definitely a good option, even if I’ve only got one item myself. Upgrading it could be pretty solid, both for crafting and combat purposes.

I think it would provide marginally more effectiveness overall than upgrading [Molten Notice] right now. We won’t be fighting Twelve in the Infernal Armory, so I’m not going to have access to lava during the fight. But what about Awaken?

If Arwin could actually manage to make an Awakened Cursed item… he was pretty sure that was the strongest boost in strength he could hypothetically achieve. He ran over the other options in his head for a few more moments to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, but his mind became more set the longer he thought on it.

This whole fight against Twelve was a gamble. They weren’t going to be able to win it taking safe routes — and they didn’t even have to fight if they couldn’t get strong enough in time. The Menagerie could only win this if they had a real trump card. Something that could tip the scales.

[Awake] was the skill option that gave Arwin the only chance of achieving a flash in the dark. A small upgrade wouldn’t be enough to tip the scales. They needed something big.

Arwin made his decision and golden letters took form in the air once more, replacing the previous messages.

[Awaken] (Passive) – All items forged by your hand have the potential to take on a trait, determined by [Unknown]. The potential for the trait to be detrimental is [69%]. Materials with a higher chance to awaken will fight with you to exert their influence on the piece they are being made into. You may attempt to Awaken items that possess sufficient strength through reforging.

Arwin’s eyes widened as he read over the skill upgrade.

This could be what I needed.

The chance to Awaken an item had continued to scale with his Tier, but Arwin was far more focused on the final, new line in the skill. He could reforge an item and attempt to Awaken it.

That definitely carried the chance of destroying the item in the process, but it was the chance Arwin had been asking for. It could be another step toward giving them a way to defeat Twelve.

Arwin swallowed, excitement and trepidation mixing in his chest as he dismissed the floating words. He had to stay concentrated. There was still time before their deadline, and with this skill upgrade, a whole slew of new options had opened up before him.

I’ll have to assess what the most important upgrade or item I can make next is — but that can wait for a few minutes.

Arwin lifted the wooden arm off the table and held it to his chest.

It was time to give Olive her new arm.