“The marks are still there because I didn’t lie to you. Please, Roan, don’t ask any more questions right now. I don’t really have many of the answers myself. Give me some time to figure things out for myself then I’ll answer your questions.” I said while looking Roan in his eyes.

I needed him to understand that I would answer him eventually, but I needed time. Time to figure out what was going on. Time to figure out how I had ended up in this world that resembled ErosiaOnline.

Roan looked down for a moment with a pensive look on his face. I stood there quietly not wanting to interrupt him. The moment drew out into minutes until Roan eventually looked up at me.

“I shall give you the time you are asking for. I know you will tell me when you are ready since the mark did not break our bond. For now, I will ask you no more questions and instead start you on your path as a blacksmith. I hope you are ready.”

“I’m ready Roan, please teach me.”

Roan straightened his back and stood up tall once more looking down on me.

“You have proven that you have skills and knowledge beyond the level of skill that you claim to be at. Yet you are at the beginner level, as evidenced by our bond.”

He gave me a piercing look as if he were trying to look at my very soul.

“The first thing we must do is get your skill level up to the apprentice level. For today, I want you to make five more of those axe heads you made for the lumber axe.”

I nodded at him and started to move to the forge to light it. I look back over my shoulder to see Roan watching me intensely. His gaze makes me feel self-conscious about what I was doing. This caused me to miss the first few strikes of the flint and steel. I stop for a moment and take a deep calming breath. I manage to calm my nerves and strike the flint again this time I manage to light the kindling. I let out a sigh of relief as I watch the kindling begin to smoke and smolder.

I slowly build up the fire in the forge and add in larger pieces of kindling. When I feel that the fire is right I start to pull in the coal from around it. I decide to activate ‘Forge Knowledge’ in hopes of gaining some skill experience in it to help it level. It should be close to leveling, the only skill I was unsure of was ‘Resist Heat’.

“Skill: ‘Forge Knowledge’ activated.’

“Mark of ‘Forge God’ found.’

“Skill: ‘Forge Knowledge’ will now upgrade to Skill: ‘Forge God’s Knowlege’.”

“Skill: ‘Forge God’s Knowledge’ activated.’

“Player: Matthew Marcos’s level is too low to activate Skill: ‘Forge God’s Knowledge’.”

“Player: Matthew Marcos’s skill rank is too low to activate Skill: Forge God’s Knowledge’.”

“Player: Matthew Marco’s mana is too low to activate Skill: ‘Forge God’s Knowlege’.”

I stood there in shocked silence.

What just happened?

The mark of the Forge God upgraded my skill, how had it done that?

Was it just the one or did it upgrade all of them? I needed to check and I began to think of activating ‘Sense Metal’ when I felt a burning sensation on my arm. I looked down at my arm and saw the mark glowing white hot. I could feel the heat radiating off it like it was a forge. I felt like it should hurt more than it did. Then I heard a sound like the strike of a hammer on metal.

I looked back at Roan, wondering why he had begun hitting the anvil with a hammer. Instead what I saw was him running toward me in slow motion.

Weird, why was Roan in slow motion?

I could see his mouth moving as if he were yelling something, but I couldn’t hear it.

My vision started to blur and my mind felt muddled. What was going on?

What was I just doing? I couldn’t remember. It was hard to even think right now.

Then the pain finally reached my brain. The mark felt as if a white-hot iron had been pressed into it. I could feel my bones shattering as if they were being crushed by a massive hammer.

I tried to scream but I felt as if all the air had been ripped out of my body. I wanted to move but I couldn’t. I was as if I was being held in place by some unknown, unseen force. Then my vision began to darken as my mind couldn’t cope any longer.

I felt my consciousness begin to fade, then I was floating. I could see my body with Roan next to it. I was being pulled away from my body slowly at first then in an instant it felt like I had been yanked and I was surrounded by darkness.

I looked around in that darkness and saw a small flame. I moved toward the flame wanting to see what it was. As I closed in on the flame the space around me began to become illuminated. When I finally made it to the flame I realized I was in a smithy, and what I thought was a flame was actually a beautiful girl.

Her hair was flowing down her body, at her scalp it was bright red, the color of embers. As it flowed down it changed to a glowing orange, then to a soft yellow. Her skin was that of a white flame and emitted light as if she were a star. Her eyes were a bright luminescent blue. Covering her body from the neck down was a long leather blacksmith’s apron.

As I approached she looked up from the book she was reading and gave me a soft smile. She closed the book and dropped it from her hand. The book went up in flames before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

She then stood up, and I noticed that she was massive, or maybe I was tiny. I couldn’t be sure. With every step she took toward me, she seemed to shrink down slightly. When she finally reached me she was only about eight feet tall, which still dwarfed my smaller frame.

She looked down at me and radiated a soft warmth. It was more than just heat. I could feel her radiating happiness and accomplishment. It was so strange to feel emotions this way.

“Little blacksmith, I am the one you know as The Forge God. I am Brigit”

I looked up at her completely awestruck.

She let out a soft chuckle. The sound was soft and beautiful.

“You’re The Forge God?” I was finally able to ask meekly.

She nodded and looked down at me with those piercing blue eyes. Now that I saw them up close I could see that they were flames. Every part of her seemed to be flames. Her hair was tendrils of flames that came out of her head. Her skin even seemed to be barely contained flame.

“Our time is short, I called you here to protect your mind while my flame reforged your body.”

“Reforged my body?”

“Yes, I needed to reforge your body to accept the gifts I offered you. We don’t have time for you to ask questions. Just know that I offer these gifts for the knowledge you gave me when you came to this world. Your world had such marvelous forging techniques and I hope you can spread them through mine to advance blacksmithing to the next stage.”

I stared at her wide-eyed and opened my mouth to ask a question but she placed a finger to my mouth and shook her head.

“We are out of time, when you get back to your body, remember you need to quench your whole body just as you might quench a blade. I am glad you chose blacksmith as your path young one. I expect great things from you.”

When she finished speaking she placed a hand on my head and I could feel a warmth seep into my very core. It didn’t feel like it was burning, rather it felt like warm water was washing through me refreshing every part of me.

“Goodbye, young one I do hope we meet again,” she said before she pushed me away with such force.

I felt like I was flying I looked around and only saw that darkness once more. I could feel myself being pulled toward something. Then I saw it.

I was being pulled toward my smoldering body.

My skin was blackened and cracking. My hair was all burned off. My clothes were destroyed. Then I landed inside my own body, and my perspective shifted. I sat up and let out a scream.

Every part of me hurt. I was in agony. It felt as if I had been shoved into coals and then beaten with a hammer. It felt as if she had literally forged my body as if it were a piece of metal. I looked around and saw Roan running toward me.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Thank the gods you are alive!”

“Water,” I said weakly.

He nodded to me and moved to go get me water. I grabbed his hand and tried to lick my lips, but my whole mouth felt like a desert. I coughed and tried to speak again.

“I need the river.” I coughed out

Roan looked at me with a befuddled expression.

“I have fresh water here wait and let me get you some,” he said softly as if trying to placate a child.

I shook my head and tried to stand up but my arms gave out before I could.

Roan caught me before I fell back down and held my torso up. I looked him in the eyes and tried to speak.

“River, please,” is all I could manage.

He nodded gravely and picked me up in his arms.

“If you need the river I shall take you to it.”

I could feel my skin crack and pieces fall off as Roan carried me. It wasn’t too far from his shop to the river. There were people on the road who gasped when they saw my form. A few tried to talk to Roan to ask what was going on. Roan ignored them and continued to walk.

After a few minutes we were at the river's edge and Roan looked down at me. His face looked pained.

“What now?” He asked through gritted teeth.

“Drop me in”

He looked at me as an expression of concern washed over that pained face.

“Hurry,” I said weakly.

He walked into the river still carrying me until he was up to his waist in the water. Then he dunked me under.

When the water hit my skin I felt instant relief. I could feel all the blackened skin being washed away. I could hear a sizzling sound as if my body was still hot and the water was cooling it down. I didn’t feel hot though. After a moment of being underwater, I could feel all the pain leaving my body and my strength returning.

“Your body has been successfully reforged by the Forge God.”

“Due to body reforging Player: Matthew Maros’s base stats have been altered.”

“New base strength 20”

“New base dexterity 20”

“New base insight: 20”

“New base Intelligence: 20”

“New base constitution: 20”

“All allocated stat points have been refunded”

“You have gained ‘Blessing of the Forge God’.”

“ The ‘Blessing of the Forge God’ will now enhance all blacksmithing-related skills”

“Skill: ‘Forge Knowledge’ has been replaced with ‘Forge God’s Knowledge’.”

“Skill: ‘Work Metal’ has been replaced with ‘Metal Shaper’.”

“Skill: ‘Hammer Strike’ has been replaced with ‘Forge God’s Hammer Blow’.”

“Skill ‘Resist Heat’ has been replace with ‘Resistace of the Forge God’.”

“Skill: ‘Sense Metal’ has been replaced with ‘Forge God’s Metal Sense’.”

“ ‘Forge God’s Metal Sense’ has merged with the system.”

“Player: Matthew Marcos can now see metal nodes on their mini-map”

“All Skills have upgraded from basic to novice”

“Congratulations you are now a novice blacksmith”

“All Skills have upgraded from basic to apprentice”

“Congratulations you are now an apprentice blacksmith”

“Your soul has been successfully enhanced by the Forge God.”

I just lay there in Roan's arms as message after message flashed before my eyes. I could barely keep up with it all. When it was all done I lay there in stunned silence for a few moments, what just happened to me.

As my new strength began to surge through me I was able to get out of Roan’s arms and stand on my own. I was in waist-deep water and looked at Roan, this time not up at him but eye to eye.

Had I grown taller?

Roan looked at me with a truly amazed expression plastered on his face.

“What has happened to you?” He asked

I looked around at the growing crowd of people and then down at my own naked body.

“I’ll explain when we get back to the shop, but first I uh might need a pair of pants,” I said quietly enough that only he could hear.

He looked down and then behind him at the crowd before looking back at me.

“Yes, I see the problem here.”

I heard a commotion coming from the crowd and saw Chloe push her way through the throng of people. When she saw me she ran into the water and gave me a hug. She hugged me tightly for a few moments before letting go and slapping me on the cheek hard enough to make an audible slap.

“Can’t ya go more than a week without nearly dying?” She shouted at me.

Her face was contorted somewhere between grief and rage. I didn’t know how to respond. This girl barely knew me but had gone out of her way to save my life. Now here she was worried for my safety again. I didn’t know what drove her to care for a stranger this much, but I didn’t want to see her so upset.

Then I remembered that I wasn’t wearing anything and could feel my cheeks getting hot. I lowered myself down into the water so that I was now covered up to my neck.

She looked at me completely confused.

“What are ya doing?”

Roan leaned over and whispered something into her ear and it was her turn to blush. She looked down at me with a questioning glance, and I nodded at her.

She turned from me and trudged her way out of the water before turning back to me.

“I’ll be back don’t ya move a muscle!” She shouted at me as she ran off.

I sat there in the water, even if she didn’t tell me to stay until the crowd dispersed I couldn’t come up anyways.

Roan got out of the water to try and convince the crowd to leave. He opened his arms wide and started to try and push the crowd away. Many of the townsfolk tried to look past him at me to see what was going on. Thankfully, Roan had been living in this village for a long time and pretty much everyone knew and trusted him. Due to this the crowd slowly began to disperse and before long it was just Roan and I at the river.

As he started to walk back toward me I noticed something strange about his arms. They looked like they had been burned severely by something immensely hot.

What could have burned him so badly?

Then it clicked in my mind.

My body had done that when he had carried me to the river.

I looked at Roan and gave him a sorrowful look.

“I’m sorry Roan, without you I don’t know what would have happened to me.”

He nodded at me and sat at the Rivers edge.

“Neither do I, now will you tell me what happened?”

I let out a deep breath before I answered him. I wasn’t sure how he would react but I couldn’t lie to him.

“The Forge God reforged my body to better accept her gifts.”

He looked at me for a few seconds with a face of pure shock before shaking his head.

“I guess I should not be shocked. She did give you her mark, it makes sense that it would come with gifts.”

“Yeah, and with the gifts, she also gave me her blessing so that I can handle them.”

“She? The forge god has no gender. It has always been represented by the mark you had on your arm.”

Oh, I thought. No one knows that the Forge God is a girl. Maybe I should keep this to myself then.

“What made you think that the Forge God is female?”

Well, there goes keeping it to myself.

“Well, I met her while she was reforging my body.

Roan's face took on a more serious expression. I hadn’t thought that was possible.

“You met the Forge God,” he said in a flat tone.

“Yeah, well kind of? She pulled consciousness from my body during the reforging to save my mind from breaking.”

“She was really beautiful. Told me her name is Brigit.”

“So the Forge God, the deity that I have worshiped my whole life has a name,” Roan said sounding almost sarcastic.

He shook his head and looked down at the ground.

“Any other faith-shattering revelations?”

“Uh, well she gave me a mission. She wants me to help advance blacksmithing because she feels it is starting to stagnate.”

“Now, that I can believe. The only blacksmithing advancements we have made in the last hundred years or so have all been related to war.”

“Yeah, where I’m from our blacksmithing is much more advanced than what you all have here, and she wants me to spread it around a bit.”

“So, where do you come from?”

“I come from another world entirely. Not sure how I got here honestly.”

“You came from another world? Yet you knew me somehow?”

“Yeah, that’s the part where things get even more complicated.”

Right as I said that Chloe ran back up panting and huffing.

“I found ya some pants.” She managed to say between breaths.

“Thank you so much, Chloe” I said while giving her a smile.

She reached her hand out and offered them to me and I took them.

“Could you both uh, turn around for a moment?”

Chloe blushed softly before turning her back to me and Roan simply gave me a look before he covered his face with one of his hands. I waded out of the water and quickly put the pants on.

“Alright, I got them on,” I said as I stepped toward them.

Chloe turned around and looked at me then narrowed her eyes.

“Ya seem taller than before.”

“I think I am taller,” I replied with a soft smile on my face.

“How did ya get taller? What happened to ya? I heard Roan was carrying a charred corpse to the river, and ya were the last one I saw with him.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of a crazy story.”

“Well? Out with it”

“How about we go back to Roan’s place first?” I said as I looked down at Roan.

He nodded and stood up before brushing himself off.

“Yes, we can talk more comfortably at my home,” Roan said as he walked off.