Chapter 121 - Alloying

Rynold grabbed the nearby ore and tossed it into a pot that he had previously used.

The piece of ore that he grabbed was none other than the same material used to house the Exanite. It was hard and relatively heavy compared to the other ore that Rynold had in his inventory.

From there, he placed the clay pot into the flaming forge, courtesy of the Spirit of Fire. Rynold was generally familiar with the concept of alloying two pieces of metal together, but, more often than not, he failed.

"What exactly do I need to be doing?" Rynold said as he covered the small forge to contain the heat.

"You really haven't done this before?" the Spirit of Fire asked as it increased the intensity of its flames. "Patience is the key for something like this, Human. Aside from the meticulous process and step-by-step approach, you must have masterful control of the flame and knowledge of the ore."

"That's great and all," Rynold said as he crossed his arms, "But, we don't have a whole year for me to figure stuff like that out."

"As I said before," Prominence Alpha closed its eyes as if concentrating, "You don't have to worry about those kinds of things because I am here to assist you."

Rynold nodded in acknowledgment of the Spirit's help. There weren't many beings out there that he could actively discuss these types of things with. Rynold was glad that the overly proud Spirit of Fire was willing to help him out.

"How do you actually know a lot of these things? Being a great Spirit and all that," Rynold asked after a brief pause of silence.

"Hmm...," Prominence Alpha lamented in thought, "It's a long story, Human. A lengthy tale that I haven't even considered in so long..."

"We've got time to kill," Rynold responded ever so casually.

"Heh. So we do, don't we?" Prominence Alpha scoffed as it started reminiscing.

"Believe it or not, Human, I did not always look like this," the Spirit of Fire started explaining its origin with a bit of regret in the tone of its voice. Rynold listened intently, not daring to skip out on a single word.

"I was born in a small village a few millennia ago. Up to this day, I can still hear the bellows pumping air into the small forge that I woke up to. I couldn't remember distinctly who made me, but I can still remember the kindness of that man throughout my days.

"It wasn't long until the days started to blend together. I was but a small spirit then, thus never really had the chance to experience the world for what it was. Neither my Master nor the people around the village ever wandered the open world. It was truly a time of peace.

"That was until my Master was drafted into the army as a smith," Prominence Alpha's tone suddenly changed from regret to agitation.

"My Master pledged to the army without even so much as a second thought. I wasn't able to speak then, but if I could... I would have stopped him. At the time, I was still a small Spirit, the maturity equivalent to a small child. I... should have known better.

"When my Master relocated to a nearby army camp, he took me with him. The man had no kin of his own and considered me as his only son. Day in and day out, my Master smithed and made masterpieces of his own. Weapons that were capable of doing so much good in the right hands. I can still remember the look in his eyes, one filled with so much righteousness and determination.

"As a low Spirit, I couldn't do anything on my own. My Master made me a creature that would better control the flames of his craft. However, as I had gotten to know the man longer, I began to consider him as my father. It was unnatural for a Spirit to gain sentience without developing their strength along the way. For some reason... I was an exception.

"Days became months, and months became years. My Master was continuously making gear and weapons as the war gradually developed. The parties of which elude me to this day. Neither my Master nor I ever knew what the war was about because my Master's sole interest was in his craft and... me.

"That all seemed to disappear on a cold, rainy night. The sound of raindrops poured heavily outside the tent that my Master and I were stationed in. The man took a well-deserved break after days of nonstop hammering. He sat down on his wobbly stool as he stared at me with great pride. My Master was tired and yet proud of his work."

Prominence Alpha hesitated. It was as if he had trouble remembering the next part. Meanwhile, Rynold kept quiet as he listened to the Spirit's tale with great earnest.

"As he smiled at me, the sound of footsteps marched its way across the yard. At the time, I didn't think of it much. 'It's the time for their training drills, huh?' was what I thought. But, that didn't seem to be the case.

"The soldiers stormed the tent that my Master and I were in. My Master flinched in surprise and asked what the soldiers were after. He had given everything that they had requested. Weapons, armor, ammunition. All of it without even a simple consideration for his own well-being. However, this was the first time that a group of soldiers had collectively stormed his tent. Even I was baffled.

"A string of accusations suddenly assaulted my Master. The soldiers had strongly accused him of the deaths of many others because of his shoddy work and craftsmanship. Saying things such as their armor breaking in the middle of battle and weapons shattering at the moment of contact.

"Baseless and assuming, none of the words made any sense to my Master and me. The works that my Master had been so proud of were being slandered before him. I have never seen my Master been so defeated before. Even the failures of his past work had never let his face drop so low.

"Then, the soldiers started to cuff my Master, claiming their crimes as treasonous, and he would be executed as capital punishment. It was then... that I lost all control."

Before the Spirit could finish its story, he suddenly stopped. Rynold thought that the abrupt stop was something that happened with horrible timing.

"It's ready. Bring in the other ore," Prominence Alpha said as he stared back at Rynold, "Place the other ore in the same pot and follow my instructions to the dot."

Using the tongs to grab the other lighter ore, Rynold placed it in the pot. He didn't expect to be greeted by such intense heat as he approached the forge. The heat made him hesitate and instinctively step back.

"Come on, Human! I thought you had more guts than that!" the Spirit of Fire snickered as Rynold stepped back.

'Shut up, man. It's not like I'm made of fire, you know," Rynold thought as he took a half-step forward.

Rynold slowly approached the forge and what followed were a bunch of instructions that Prominence Alpha said. The Spirit's voice echoed from within Rynold's head as he got to work, following each of them without fault.

As the other ore melted into a liquid and slowly merging into the one he had initially put in, the mixture of ores became a slightly lighter shade of black. It was evident that whatever was happening was something Rynold hadn't thought of.

He was usually impatient when it comes to alloying ores together, often messing up and putting the other ore too early. At one point, he managed to melt the metal rod he was using to mix the metals, thus making the alloy ridiculously bad.

However, the Spirit of Fire's instructions seemed to have worked. The two ores mixed together without any problems as he followed the Spirit's instructions to the dot. The alloy was then cast into an ingot.

"Heh, it turned out pretty great," Rynold watched as the molten metal slowly solidified. "Care to finish the story while we wait for it to cool?"

"Where was I? Oh, yes...," Prominence Alpha sighed as it spoke.

"I lost all control and acted well beyond my capabilities. As a low Spirit, I am often limited with what I can do. However, my limitations seemed to have been broken at that point. I had lost all control over my rationality and erupted.

"My flames blew into a higher degree, more firepower than I have ever produced before. It was utterly implausible for a low Spirit to do such a thing. However, I was, once again, the exception. I effectively killed off the soldiers that were apprehending my Master, but... the cost was too high.

"The flames I produced were too much for me to control. In the end, I burnt off my Master's right arm. I... had given him a fate far worse than death."