“Do you happen to have a spell and/or curse on you that allows people to watch your movements?” Emerald calmly asked Henry in a very calm way.
“I do have a stream that is on… does that count?”
“Does the stream allow people to watch you?” Emerald answered back in a calm manner
“...yes.”
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.” The super calm it was unsettling voice sounded from the helm
“I have…” Henry checked the stream viewers. “Over a million people viewing…oh my...SHIT”
Henry jumped back as the Blade crashed down upon where he was standing
“I didn’t know so many people were watching, I swear.”
A emerald glint was visible behind the visor as that calm maddening voice sounded out again.
“I said carry my Blade, why did you jump back? What if the Blade got chipped on a rock, how would you repay me?”
Henry looked at where the blade hit the rock...there was only finely ground sand. Henry felt another premonition as Emerald appeared behind him, towering over him in her armor.
“Make sure you catch it now ok?” the calmer than a lake on a windless day voice made Henry shiver from fright.
Henry dove towards the exit, and once again saw the huge fanclub that gathered outside.
“WE WANT EM. WE WANT EM. WE WANT EM” the crowd chanted, some had already fashioned armor like her’s. He could swear that there was a couple cosplayers and roleplayers in the crowd.
Henry yelled. “RUN AWAY, SHE’S PISSED!!”
The crowd stopped their chant. Looked at Henry, then looked behind him as an armored juggernaut appeared, a giant, wicked looking warhammer in hand.
“Who ever said i’m pissed, cause they’d be wrong… I’M FURRIOUS oh is that an kitty? Can I pet him” the super calm voice that freezes bone turned into a fur loving child’s as the armored juggernaut of death and destruction of all the land turned into a kitten lover 4 life(s), also known as KL4L(s), as she suddenly reappeared where the kitten was, at the back.
The little girl who was holding her pet kitten was way way in the back was standing next to her older brother, who spends all of his time in his room doing “important things”. Then when he leaves it smells weird, so she burns whatever was smelly, thinking it’s rotten eggs, again. She was force fed one by her brother a year earlier, now she like burning eggs, rotten ones in particular. Then she smashes them on the ground, just to burn it again . Their parents decided that they needed to spend more time together, after the 5th house burned down. So they got her the mega hit game that the older brother had. While her brother was in the top 25% of players she was in the top 9000% percent… she wasn’t very high on the list.
However, she was a decent smith. Though due to the lack of customers she slowly stopped playing the game. Until Muffins.
If you asked her what is her favorite part of the game? Muffins the Ocelot would be the answer. A rare log in event that happens only once when a player is playing less and less, but continues just enough to have a login streak. It was a prize unlike any other. The choices were, a legendary dragon pet, a turtle with cannons, a dinosaur with lasers, or a wild cat. It was a spin game,and spin she did… on the wild cat category, which then turned into another spinning game. Eventually the purrfect ocelot was won. Forever tormented by cat lovers everywhere.
(I’ll leave now.) (“OH NO YOU DON’T”) (GAHH)
Now Muffins the Ocelot, Karla (the little girl), and her brother Sam were standing in front of Sam’s newest idol. Emerald, who was probably staring at Muffins under her helm.
Karla nodded to Emeralds question, holding the Ocelot up.
“It’s an ocelot.” Karla says in a small cute voice.
“Oh my gods it’s so adorable, are you this girl’s sister?”
Emerald turned towards Sam, only to find him with his mouth open and his eyes staring. Sam was slowly nodding, his eyes frozen on what they were seeing.
“Great, I’m taking her and the kitty.” Emerald said, hoisting Karla up onto her shoulder with one hand.
“Ocelot. And his name is Muffin” Karla said from her perch
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“Her and her ocelot Muffin, which is an adorable name for him.”
Emerald said, moving back to the town.
The fanclub was still staring at where she had appeared, then disappeared.
Then one guy in the crowd yelled out. “GUY, SHE’S GONE WITH THE OCELOT”
And with that they stampeded towards the town, in search of the kid/ocelot-napping Emerald, who was already back in her store, out of her armor, and petting Muffin. Karla was looking at all the equipment around the store.
“Um… Ms. Emerald?”
“It’s Mrs. actually, but whatever. What is it?”
At that moment in time, all of the unmarried/not in a relationship/ married guys but were planning on cheating guys who were in the Emerald fanclub felt a terrible premonition. Half of the stampede fell over, resulting in a huge back up that would take hours to undo.
“Why do you have so much stuff?” Karla asked the person who has lived multiple lives as a hoarder.
Emerald stopped petting Muffin. “They all serve a purpose. Be it for good, or evil. It is safer here than in a novice’s hands. Better with me, than a murderer. That and there’s no body who wants to buy this stuff. Either because they don’t have enough money, or they don’t want it anyways. Someday though, after I sell all of these things, I wish I could settle down and live the rest of this life in peace.” Emerald resumed petting
Karla looked like she was thinking about the previous answer, then asked “If you want to live in peace, why own and make so many weapons?”
Emerald sighed and stood up “It is not in my nature to do nothing. It is not my destiny to have a peaceful end. I walk as an adventurer. A person who searches the unknown in pursuit of knowledge and treasure. At one point I thought I could avoid it… but fate is like a magnet, drawing us towards it. come”
Emerald gestured with her hand as she picked up what was left of the bone blade, which was cast aside hastily when she got back. Picking up the smithing gown while opening the forge door, Emerald pointed towards a cupboard to the side.
“Take out a smithing gown, in there.”
Karla took out one, and put it on, only to find to it perfectly fit her.
“How?” Karla asked.
“Enchant, that or the way they were made to fit anybody. I don’t know. Stand over here.” Emerald gestured in a spot near the forge and anvil, while she went back into the main shop.
Karla looked around the forge. The walls were covered with soot and ingots. Mounds and mounds of ingots of different metals, each pile as tall as the room. A chimney was above the forge, to let smoke out, there were also several points where light shone, illuminating the anvil and one was on an empty clamp.
Emerald returned with a few parchments in hand. Handing them to Karla
“Arrange these on the stump there, and make sure they don’t move around, ok?” pointing towards a wooden stump next to the forge.
Emerald walked over to the piles of ore, taking specific amounts of ore from each pile. She then walked over to a chest and pulled out ice.
“Woah, what’s that?”
“Stalhrim ore. On par with Ebony ore, it’s enchanted ice. Legends say that it is ice that will never melt.”
“What do you use it for?” Karla asked, interested in the new ore.
“Forging. Normally the use of Stalhrim requires special items. However, if you consider the fact that it is similar to forging Ebony, only ice based, then those items aren’t really needed.”
“Are you going to be making these?” Karla pointed towards the schematics of armor Emerald made earlier.
“I was going to make that earlier. But then I decided to go explore a while. Worth it, as I now have the best weapon for the armor.”
“What?”
“This.” Emerald held up the Bone Blade. The brilliant white material was fractured and chipped all along the blade
“A little reforging, reinforcement, and a little enhancements, and it will be better than new.”
“Can I watch, I may not look like it, but I am a smith.”
“If you weren’t you wouldn’t be back here.” Emerald said, grabbing a piece of thread and tying her hair up in a ponytail.
With a smile on her face, Emerald reforged the Bone Blade with Karla, adding a Stalhrim edge to it. The process took a while, long enough for the first parts of the fanclub to arrive in the town. Karla hadn’t expected that a person could forge in the style Emerald was using. Normally you’d put the ingot on the anvil, and whack it until it shined, another reason why she liked the game.
Emerald did forging a different way. She first melted the entire blade down, added some black ore, then set it into ingots. She then took the ingots and started the actual forging process. Not to fast, but not too slow. The ingots were folded 18 times, blade was formed in 2 heats, 2 more for the bevels. Cooling it down, and resting the metal, Emerald taught Karlah. Telling her of forging techniques and ores. She also allowed her to watch her craft the armor.
After the blade cooled down wholly, Karla asked. “Why don’t you make something like this?” pointing towards an ancient dwarven book, filled with schematics of aethrium armor.
“They use an ore that is considered lost. And even if I did have that ore, I wouldn’t be able to forge it. Those require a specific forge to forge at, unless there’s a giant mechanical steam powered forge by a pit of lava, I can’t forge them.”
“That sounds oddly specific.”
“Because it is. And the materials needed to build the forge are not worth it, so even building one would cost a ton. So while it might be powerful, it’s impractical.”
“Can I ask another question?”
“One more, then I have to heat treat the blade.”
“Why do you forge?”
“I forge because it takes my mind off of the rest of the world and it’s problems. There really isn’t anything better than staring into the forge’s fire in order to get the best quality possible. I must have forged hundreds of daggers, thousands even, before I even began to make weapons and armor.”
Emerald stood up, and stretched. some bones made a popping sound.
“well, time to finish the project, you sit over there.”