Forging with a Dungeon Core
It had been a week since the start of "The One Ring Project" as the guys at work have been calling it for some reason, and we had made some progress on it, managing to come up with a technique to compact the Dungeon Core into a smaller size, more fit for a ring.
We had also not left the workshop at all unless it was for food, everyone involved became obsessed the more we worked on it. I only came home yesterday to make sure that nobody was worried about me and to inform everyone that I would probably stay there for the next week and a bit.
I woke up the following morning and got out of bed and headed to my wardrobe to get dressed.
I opened the drawer at the bottom of my wardrobe and took out my work clothes, which consisted of a dark blue apron with a smith badge on it, as well as a plain black shirt and skirt.
I had many sets of these clothes, mainly because it was easier to manage and maintain them. My casual and clean clothes were neatly organised in the wardrobe itself.
As I finished getting dressed, I heard some shuffling from behind me. I turned to see Cythistia stirring awake.
I head over to the bed and kissed my mate on her forehead, further stirring her conscious.
"Mmm~" She groaned groggily as her eyes fluttered open, revealing her beautiful emerald green eyes.
I patted her head as she mewled cutely in response. She's been over exerting herself lately, and the fact that she's pregnant doesn't help.
"See you later love~" She cooed as I moved away, going back to sleep as I did so.
I gave her a wave before heading out to get myself some breakfast before I returned to work.
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Breakfast was delicious, with fried eggs, several strips of bacon and sausages and some buttered bread. I'd practically scarfed down my serving and asked for seconds, which I ate just as quick.
After saying goodbye, I headed back to the workshop and greeted everyone before getting to work, setting up all the things that we needed to compress the Dungeon Core.
Since I didn't have enough experience to perform this method, I would just be helping out by getting everything ready and supplying my mana when needed.
Currently I was moving the stand which would hold the Core as we shrunk it. I placed it in the middle of a magical inscription circle that was inscribed onto the floor for this very purpose, it was supposed to help the energy conform the Orb into a more compact crystalized form.
This alone taught me a lot about inscribing, which would help me whenever I used my [Fire Runes] to create new things in any situation, be it battles or everyday mundane activities.
As for the ring itself, that was being done by some others who were of a higher rank than I was, that and they also specialised in making jewellery, something I hadn't done before.
I, along with several other dwarves then spent the rest of the day setting everything up and then crashing on some makeshift beds.
The following morning was the day that we would actually be performing this ritual, and I would play a key part in all of it, as I had the largest quantities of mana, so I would most likely be drained dry just to do this.
All I really had to do was just supply the inscription with my mana, I wouldn't be doing this alone of course, that would be too much even for me, others would also help supply whatever mana they could.
As for how this process would work, we were basically just going to crystalize the Core, as its current form was just raw mana encased in a condensed shell of mana. So we were going to compress the energy inside and basically make it so that it crystallized.
We theorized that this would take many days and multiple sessions to complete the whole process.
But now was the time to see if this would actually work the way we wanted it to. I got into my position while the most experienced of us gathered around the Core, using their powers to refine it into the crystal.
I got into place at the central node of the formation and curled my tail up into a meditative position and closed my eyes to focus.
"Alright! This is the moment we been workin on fer over a week's now! Is everyone ready?" Harmur shouted in a stoic manner.
"Yes Sir!" Everyone shouted back energetically.
"Very well then, Traytora, if ye will, let's begin."
With that I imbued my mana into the inscription circle, letting everyone else do the rest. I had to focus so that I didn't send too little or too much so I wasn't aware of how well the process was going. I just focused on my job until I was told to stop.
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At some point, when my mana reserves were starting to run low, they told me to stop, which I gladly did so.
My body immediately slumped down and I felt my heart cry out in anguish, my breathing turning heavy from continuously straining my mana and I was extremely tired.
Harmur came over and patted me on the shoulder, saying, "Ye did good lass, we made more progress than we though we would."
I smiled back at him wearily.
"Go on, get sum rest now, ye deserve it."
I nodded and got up to go over to the area that was being used for our beds and laid down for a bit. Falling asleep soon after.
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When I woke up, about three hours had passed and everyone was ready to go again, except for me. I had recovered a decent chunk of mana, but not all of it.
"Ere, take this." A dwarf offered me a mana potion which I gladly accepted.
I drank it and then we did the same process as before.
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Several sessions later, there were only two days left before the winter advent and we had just one more session to go before we could complete the crystallization of the Dungeon Core.
Everyone was tired beyond belief, but we pushed through for this final ordeal.
I sat down in the middle of this inscription circle for the last time, and began imbuing my mana into it. And as I felt my mana slowly trickle out of me like a stream, I could feel a connection forming, between me and the crystalizing Core. Maybe because a large amount of my mana was used to make it, but either way, I could feel a connection with it, almost like I could speak with it.
And then my consciousness faded.