*Ding*
Congratulations! You have selected Phoenix Forge (Epic) as your Second Class.
*Ding*
Phoenix Forge focuses on forging and enhancing equipment through insights on the Twin Phoenix’s flames.
*Ding*
+30 VIT per Class Level. 0 Free Attributes granted per Level.
Class Malus: -50% to all non-Utility Skills until reaching Level 25 in Phoenix Forge.
*Ding*
You learn the Class Skill – Fire Transmutation
(Class Skill, Utility Skill – Phoenix Forge)
Harness the transmuting power of the Golden Flame and the Obsidian Flame to smelt and bind materials by burning Vitality.
Usage: Concentrate on the which flame you want to use and apply it on the ore or material at your disposal. Meld the two to create heat.
“Huh?” Monica was surprised to only get one Skill, but she was even more surprised by the brief and slightly confusing description of it.
The worst thing, however, was the Malus that had just popped up the moment she had gotten her Class.
If she had struggled against the Wasps before, now she wouldn’t even be able to face a Scout without facing certain death.
But, she had to say, the Skill sounded very interesting.
“It burns Vitality,” Monica muttered. “That’s why the Class gives only Vitality—heaps of it, really.”
Her only option was to level up the Phoenix Forge Class as fast as she could.
* * *
Monica lingered by the ominous black resin wall that barred her entry to the Blacksmith quarters, her gaze flickering across its glossy surface. If I can just break through this, she thought, I’ll finally have a chance to find a skilled Dwarf who can teach Ted, Heidi, Dotty, and Sir Tristan the Fire Breathing Skill they need to survive on this floor. Gromorlig had shared little on how Fire Breathing actually worked—or how dwarves endured the searing temperatures in these depths. Nor had he bothered to explain if a resurrected dwarf, stripped of its native Skills, would simply die upon awakening. Still, Monica clung to hope. At the very least, she reasoned, dwarves wouldn’t keel over the moment they drew breath, Fire Breathing or not. And if they didn’t die on the spot, her Golden Flame could sustain them until she reached the others.
She turned away from the resin barrier and retraced her steps toward a derelict market, a chipped sword salvaged from a nearby stall clutched in her hand. Scattered around a small, ramshackle forge, she found a veritable mountain of half-sundered gear—broken axes, bent shields, and other weapons. Perhaps this corner of the district had once been a place where hurried repairs were sought rather than any fancy Dwarven forging. Stooping to inspect a dented breastplate, Monica wondered if there might still be some faint glimmer of dwarven skill left amid these battered remnants—a clue, or maybe just a half-decent weapon, to help her press on toward the Blacksmiths’ domain.
Class Malus: -50% to all non-Utility Skills until reaching Class Level 25.
She grimaced. Spirit of War wouldn’t have crippled her fighting ability like this.
A quick glance around reassured her that no wasps lurked nearby.
Monica fetched an anvil and a hammer and then looked at the sword, not really knowing what to do.
"Let's just toss this in," she sighed.
The damage was not so severe that she needed to graft some ore over it.
However, an idea sparked in her mind.
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She hurried to one of the black pillars and pressed her hand against its cold surface, trying to move Mana from her digits to the artifact with 'Forging' written on it.
She half-expected that the pillar would immediately grant her a Skill that would help her level up the Phoenix Forge Class.
Much to her dismay, that wasn't the case.
What the black pillar did was... nothing.
It was utterly unresponsive to Monica's touch, Mana, and silent pleas.
Monica scowled at the black pillar, palm pressed flat against its surface. Nothing. No hum of Mana, no flicker of runes—just cold metal that seemed disinclined to help her. She drew her hand back with a tight grimace.
She spun the chipped sword in her grip, chewing the inside of her cheek.
If the pillars couldn't help her, the only thing left to do was to actually try and fire up the forge. She would try to heat up the metal and then hammer the crack away.
It wasn't fancy, and, as far as she knew, a proper Blacksmith might have torn his hair away at such simplistic thinking. But what else could she do?
She needed to practice and push both her Phoenix Forge Class and her Fire Transmutation Skill up.
Monica re-entered the modest stall, rubbing her face and sighing as she gazed at the worn anvil and the tongs alongside it.
It was nothing like the grand dwarven workshops pictured in her mind—but it was something. She cleared the debris from around the anvil and then propped the sword across the entrance of the forge.
“Let’s see,” she murmured, bracing her feet apart. Her eyes flicked to the skill window.
Fire Transmutation (Utility Skill)
Harness the transmuting power of the Golden Flame and the Obsidian Flame to smelt and bind materials by burning Vitality.
Usage: Concentrate on the which flame you want to use and apply it on the ore or material at your disposal. Meld the two to create heat.
No further explanation.
"I guess I need heat first," she thought, summoning both the Golden and Obsidian Flame. Then, she focused on her new Skill.
“Burn my Vitality…” she echoed.
As soon as she started focusing on Fire Transmutation, something happened to the flames.
Usually, both the Golden and Obsidian Flame were very much ethereal forces. They didn't really crackle or emit any sound that a normal flame would have. They didn't even displace air when they were summoned.
Now, however, Monica saw the two licks of Golden and Obsidian Flame spiral one around the other and slowly meld. Meanwhile, inside her, she felt a very similar sensation to when she activated Fury of the Phoenix. There was a draw on her Vitality that made her raise an eyebrow.
She willed the two flames to float toward the inside of the forge and started pumping more and more Mana and Vitality in them, until they started finally touching and they blossomed into a fiery red shower.
The blaze reflected in Monica's pupils and only one adjective came to her mind to describe the spectacle.
Alive.
This felt like the first time she had seen the flames turn alive.
It felt like the first time ever that they had acquired a soul.
They crackled, they vomited sparks, they coiled and uncoiled angrily and excitedly.
"It's the Vitality," she realized out loud.
It must have been.
She felt the Vitality leave her body and channel through Fire Transmutation into the two flames.
Now, before she could even realize it, a terrifying heat had been unleashed in the forge and she felt beads of sweat form on her brow despite her fire immunity. The sword's metal began to glow a dull orange, then brightened to yellow-white as the transmuted flames licked at its surface.
"This is different," Monica breathed, watching the metal soften. The heat was so intense that even the stone around the forge began to weep droplets of molten rock.
She grabbed the tongs and lifted the sword, noting how the metal had become malleable. Without really knowing what she was doing, she placed it on the anvil and brought the hammer down, getting briefly distracted by a notification going off in her mind.
*Ding*
Utility Skill – Fire Transmutation Lv. 1 → Lv. 2
When she finally quenched the blade in a nearby water barrel, steam exploding upward in a violent hiss, she examined her work. The chip was gone, though the edge was notably cruder than before.
"Not exactly master craftsmanship," she muttered, turning the sword over in her hands after she had somehow smoothed the crack. "But it's something."
*Ding*
You have learned Utility Skill – Forging
*Ding*
Utility Skill – Forging Lv. 1
*Ding*
You have learned Utility Skill – Hammering
*Ding*
Utility Skill – Hammering Lv. 1
*Ding*
Phoenix Forge (Epic) Level 1 → 2
+30 VIT
Monica breathed in relief. At least there was progress.
But her satisfaction was short-lived as a familiar droning sound echoed from somewhere in the marketplace.
Monica's head snapped up, Mana Sense immediately activating. The golden trails in her vision revealed three Corrupted Molten Wasps approaching her position. With her Skills at half efficiency due to the Class Malus, she couldn't risk a fight.
She quickly doused the forge's flames and slipped into the shadows of a nearby alley.
The wasps buzzed past her hiding spot and hovered around for a while.
Another dive through the magma lake was starting to look very appealing.