Chapter 80 Adamantine

“Isaac.” Lenna said with a frown while they walked to Stan’s Smithy to grab a new real sword for her.

“Yes?” Isaac hummed in reply.

“The sword… it won’t attune back to me.” Lenna told him.

“You don’t think I broke it do you?” Isaac asked her.

“I think you broke it.” She confirmed.

“Shit.” Isaac swore. “I hope Clayton can fix it or something. We’ll have to check in with him again later.”

Lenna nodded in agreement as she pushed open the door to Stan’s Smithy. “Agreed.” She said while the doorbell chimed.

“Stan?” Isaac said with some concern in his voice. “Are you alright?”

Lenna turned to see Stan Ironeye sitting on a stool behind the clerk counter with his hand in a splint. “What happened?” Lenna asked.

“Ah o’ course it’d be yous.” He grumbled. “Don’t tell my daughter-n-law about this or I’ll ne’er ‘ear the end o’ it.”

Isaac chuckled. “Only if you tell me how it happened.” Isaac promised.

“Fine.” Stan said with a sigh. “Dumb boyo scared the shite outta me while I was beatin’ on a bit o’ metal.”

Isaac chuckled as he already saw where the story was going. “And you missed.” Isaac surmised with barely suppressed laughter.

Stan scowled at him. “Ah ya bastard’s worse than Celeste.” Stan swore at him.

Lenna just shook her head in disappointment at both of them. “I can heal it for you.” She offered him.

“Putting wounds back together without payin’ somethin’ just don’t sit right with me.” Stan replied.

“You can give me a discount on a new sword if that is what you mean.” Lenna told the old dwarf.

Stan shook his head. “No. It’s the healin’ itself. Just ain’t natural.”

Lenna seemed to brighten a bit. “Well, if that’s the issue, then my healing should be fine.” She told him. “My healing will give you a fever as a price for it.”

“Oh?” Stan questioned. “Why?”

“Something about the burning anger of my ancestors at me, because I am using my mana, especially in a way that they wouldn’t approve of.” Lenna replied.

“They’ll know?” Stan asked and Lenna nodded. “And their panties’ll be in a twist?”

Lenna chuckled. “Yeah.”

“I’ll give ya a discount on a sword.” He told her and half walked, half hobbled over to her. It was clear that his knee was still giving him trouble.

“What about the knee, Stan?” Lenna asked as she placed her hand on his smashed finger.

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Stan fought back a wince in pain as Lenna directly touched the injury. “That’s just age, lass, nothin’ ta heal there.” Stan told her. “But don’t go tellin’ Celeste ‘bout it.”

Lenna shook her head at him again. “Fine. But she’ll find out sooner or later.” Lenna replied and let go of his finger.

Stan’s eyes lost focus and it looked like he was about to fall over. Lenna put a steadying hand on his shoulder. “I think you need some water.” Isaac told Stan.

“‘Hind the coun’er.” He told Isaac.

Isaac retrieved Stan’s mug and handed it to the dwarf. “Stan, this isn’t water.”

“Yer ‘ight, tis be’’er than wa’er.” Stan replied and chugged the ale Isaac had retrieved.

“Should we come back later?” Isaac asked.

Stan shook his head and took a deep breath. He already looked a little steadier on his feet. “That one ’’ere.” Stan said and pointed at a longsword hanging on the wall. “Was tryin’ ta copy the one ya have. Should be close ‘nough.”

Lenna looked over at the sword. It was a simple two handed sword that could be used with one hand as needed. If she wasn’t as strong as she was, then using the sword with one hand would be ill advised, but Lenna was used to it. The longsword offered something that nothing else truly did for her. For paladin’s like Lenna, casting spells was an integral part of their fighting style. Unfortunately that required an open hand. For most spellblades they would just choose a one handed sword and always leave their offhand open for casting spells. For Lenna, she only needed an open hand sometimes. She much preferred a larger sword for general use with the option to switch to a more common spellblade fighting style as needed. She also really liked the weight of a larger sword. It just seemed to feel right in her hand.

She walked over to the sword and picked it up off the rack. She looked down both sides of the blade and down both sides of the spine as well. “It looks good.” She told him. “It’s not enchanted though.”

Stan nodded. “Nope.” He replied. “But guess what I got in?”

Isaac raised an eyebrow in question. “What?”

“Guess.” Stan told him again.

“Based on your face,” Isaac began. “it’s definitely some kind of crafting material.” When he didn’t get a negative reaction from the dwarf he kept going. “A metal, probably something that’ll help the blade keep its edge while Lenna is hacking into bones and stabbing through steel with it.” Stan nodded him along. “No, you didn’t actually get adamantine did you? Isn’t that stuff, like, super expensive?”

Stan nodded. “It is.” He agreed. “Fer ten, I’ll coat that sword and ya can have the sword fer free.”

Isaac looked over at Lenna who looked genuinely surprised at the prospect. “I’d say ten thousand gold is worth it.” Isaac told her.

Lenna nodded. “Yes, it is, but if you coat it now, it won’t be able to be enchanted later.” She explained.

“Why not?” Isaac asked.

“There are two ways ta have an enchanted adamantine sword.” Stan began. “The first is ta enchant it, then coat it. That’s the cheap and normal way.” He explained. “The second is ta coat the sword around where the runes’ll be as if they’re already there.”

“How do you do that?” Isaac asked curiously.

“Magic.” Both Lenna and Stan said at the same time. Stan looked surprised and when they met eye Lenna just smirked.

“They use a magic apparata-thingy ta keep the adamantine outta where it shouldn’t be.” Stan finished explaining.

“Why would they bother doing that?” Isaac wondered.

“That is the only way to really have the adamantine be properly affected by the enchantments.” Lenna explained. “Some elvish cultures still use wood that was carved into the exact mesh the runes would look like, they then sheath the sword in it before they dip it in the adamantine. Once it dries, they cut away excess and remove the charred wood in chunks.”

“Aye, the long way.” Stan agreed. “If ya got a decade fer one sword that’s fine but most o’ us normal folk ain’t that patient.”

“Agreed.” Lenna replied much to Stan’s surprise. “I need a sword now, not in fifteen years when they are done filing away the excess adamantine. There are reasons the drow empire can fight everyone else to a standstill. This is one of them.”

“Human and dwarf crafting styles with elf lifespans to fight and train.” Isaac agreed with a nod. “But about that sword, does it really need to be enchanted now? Can’t the adamantine be recycled later and used to coat a new sword?”

“Yep.” Stan replied smugly. “Just coat it now, then when ya get another sword, reuse the adamantine.”

“Or a shiny new helmet for Isaac.” Lenna added with a smile. Isaac looked like she had just smacked him in the face. A face that would have been protected if he had a helmet.

“Why ya even wear armor anyhow?” Stan asked Isaac. “I heard ya can bounce back from anythin’.”

“It still hurts to be stabbed, you know.” Isaac replied and rubbed his shoulder where the mushroom assassin monster had carved through his armor and into his shoulder and collarbone.

“Hadn’t thought’a that.” Stan replied.

“Well, let’s get this sword coated so Lenna can stop punching monsters to death.” Isaac told the old smith.

“What happened to yer old one?” Stan questioned.

“It got disintegrated.” Lenna replied. “Then a meteor fell on what was left of it.”

Stan blinked at her owlishly. “Adamantine won’t protect against that.” He told her.

Lenna nodded. “I know.” She replied. “But I need a sword that will survive the V’Nova fighting style.”

“She means her ‘hit it until it’s dead’ and ‘if it didn’t take damage then you didn’t hit it hard enough’ plan that always seems to work.” Isaac interjected.

Stan nodded sagely. “That’s how fightin’ is.” He agreed. “No other way about it.”

“I have more nuance than that.” Lenna told Isaac with a scowl but his suppressed grin clearly gave away that he was just teasing her. Lenna shook her head. “Can we come back later for the sword once it’s ready?”

Stan nodded. “It’ll be a day or two. I gotta heat up the special crucible and then its gotta cool naturally.” He explained.

“That’s fine.” Isaac replied. “We won’t be taking another bounty for a few more days. Thanks Stan.”

Stan gave the pair a nod and took the sword. When he did he seemed to realize that he didn’t need the splint anymore. “Ah, uh, lass, thank ye.” He told Lenna awkwardly with a final nod before he turned to leave.

“Did you help his limp?” Isaac whispered when he saw Stan walk more than hobble away.

“I tried.” Lenna replied. “He’s right, it’s more age than injury. I did help it a little though, I doubt he’ll notice.”