Despite being in a forge and looking at the handling of glowing metal, it was surprisingly cool down in the basement. I could see the air warping closer to the cube, but I suspected some of those glowing runes trapped the heat.

As I watched, the glowing shape I could see with Eye of Revelation, slowly transformed, being compacted and refined until it went from a relatively oblong structure to a massive holographic representation of what I could see would eventually be a breastplate. It was fascinating to watch the metal warp and buckle under the hammer blows, sometimes being completely deformed only to be hammered out again into the same shape without a small defect I could only see in hindsight.

Finally, after about twenty minutes, the smith picked up the new breastplate with her tongs, lifting the still glowing metal and carrying it over to a peaceful basin filled with a dark blue liquid.

Dropping it in, I watched the substance swallow the metal slowly, like it was being submerged in pudding or something, and once it had vanished the blue liquid resumed its flat and undisturbed state.

Sighing contentedly, Sonia turned, noticing the three of us, and sighed. “Oh, Camden.” She said dully. “Here to make more requests? I’m in the middle of my research on alloy compositions, so unless it’s important can we do this another time? This new quenching bath I had the alchemists whip up SHOULD increase tensile strength by forty percent.”

“So…like increasing the Impact?” I asked, curious despite myself. I knew there were differences between different materials even at the same Impact, but forty percent seemed pretty high.

She scoffed. “Obviously not. Investing Impact raising materials in equipment is not only prohibitively expensive, it’s also wasteful. No, this treatment improves the base durability of the metal, creating a minor percentage boost PER point of Impact. It’s less than a single percent per point, but cumulatively it’s a groundbreaking enhancement.” Pausing mid sentence, she blinked at me. “Wait…why am I talking to you? Who even are you?”

I laughed at that. “I’m Solomon. This is Chelsea. We came down here to talk to you about a few projects.”

I’d been planning to wait until later to get the Stone Lion details, but when I’d found out I was coming down here I’d mentioned it to Callie and she had a better idea. She’d made the wish with Nat when she went to pick her up, and would be bringing the data with her.

“Projects?” She said archly. “And what gives you the right to ask me to undertake any ‘projects’ for you?”

I shrugged. “It’s not for us. It’s for Camden, though you could say it’s for you too. I’ll leave how much to tell you up to him.” Raising my head, I grinned up in the direction of the doors. “Perfect timing, actually. Camden, Callie is here with Nat and the others. Can you let her in?”

Sighing, he headed back out of the room, though since the door opened easily from the outside he only took a minute before he came back with everyone.

I wasn’t planning to stick around after designing my new costume, because this was going to take ages. There were so many people to get to. Callie grinned at me, holding up a small booklet, which she’d just closed. Chelsea snatched it up triumphantly, beginning to flip through it, and my girlfriend gave me a quick mental summary.

As I suspected, my plans would work fine. “So, the project we were hoping for was a special weapon made to kill a certain kind of creature. A spear that can pierce through stone easily, even when it’s covering flesh.”

Demia had stayed silent, but I made sure to meet her eyes and nod as I spoke, so she knew exactly what kind of formation we needed.

Chelsea finished flipping through the booklet and then passed it over to Sonia. “Something that could kill a creature like this?”

The redheaded smith opened the booklet and perused it, going much slower than my sister and girlfriend, clearly taking her time to sift through the facts. “This…is comprehensive. Magical structure, composition, vulnerabilities? I could make a weapon optimized for killing a creature like this easily.”

Before I could get excited though, Chelsea cut in. “Would it be reusable?”

“Well, no.” Said Sonia with a shrug. “Bane weapons are almost never multi-use. There’s no point. You sacrifice longevity for efficiency. The more specifically the weapon is designed to counter a beast the less effective it is at anything else. Optimizing it for single use output means you get the most bang for your chit.”

I turned to Camden, who sighed and nodded, and then I launched into an abbreviated explanation of what had happened. She waited for me to finish, then frowned, consulting the book again. “I suppose I could make something more durable. It won’t be cheap, and it would be best if I could get a sample. This information will have to do though. Snatching one of them might set off the horde.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Walking over to the cube, she pulled out some paper and a pen and started scribbling. Not a picture, but a few vague outlines surrounded by large blocks of text. I stepped up next to her before she could get too into it. “Not just the weapons, though we need about ten thousand of those, we’re also here for special custom armor we purchased from Camden.”

I wasn’t letting any of my people go into this fight without their best possible gear, and I wasn’t sure how long it would take to make our armor.

Sonia nodded thoughtfully. “He did mention a possible slew of custom orders. More of you than expected, but He has enough jobs booked from me to cover it. Fine, I don’t like being distracted and I want to work on this project, so go lets get that out of the way.” She turned and strode off, calling behind her. “Follow me, we need to scout for your materials.”

I glanced over at Camden. “Um…what does she mean scout? She’s the smith, shouldn’t she KNOW what materials to use?”

Sonia made a disgusted sound without turning. “This is CUSTOM gear, plebian. I’m a proper smith, not some mass production machine. You’ll be interacting with the materials I have on hand, seeing what synergizes well with your soul and Skills. Utilizing gear as foci is one of the major benefits of custom work.”

I cocked my head as she stopped in front of a blank section of wall and tapped out a quick rhythm on the stone, only for it to slowly lift, revealing a massive carved in set of shelves, each filled with a different type of metal, stone, wood, or hide. “What do you mean gear as foci?”

She sighed, turning to my with a pitying look. “You have gear right? Magical items?” I nodded. “And these items, they DO things?” I nodded again. “Perfect. Now, you also have Skills. So what, pray tell, do you think happens if you channel a Skill through an item with a built in enchantment or Skill that MATCHES the Skill you’re using?”

I blinked. “I…don’t know?” I said slowly. “I’d never considered doing that. Does it make the Skill stronger?”

She waggled a hand. “It can. Though that’s not exactly the best use of armor. For weapons that’s a useful addition, but armor is more useful as means of lightening the load of certain Skills that might otherwise be taxing. Defensive abilities are particularly good choices. It’ll depend on the materials that resonate with you.”

“Ok, what do you mean resonate?” I asked as I stepped up next to her in front of the shelves.

She reached into her apron, pulling out a small metal object. It took me a second to recognize it as a tuning fork. She reached up and tapped it against my head, allowing it to begin ringing, and causing the metal to glow.

Stepping up to the shelves, she began running the tuning fork in front of the materials, walking up and down the rows as she stared intently at the device. I noticed the glow of the tuning fork brighten or dim regularly, until she came to a specific shelf. On it, I saw a black roll of leathery material.

Bringing the fork up to the material, she tapped it against the leather, and the glow was sucked out of the fork, causing it to blaze up with its own glow. She repeated this four times, finding a few objects, a purple gemstone, a bar of silvery metal, and what looked like a pile of black bones.

Nodding with interest, she grabbed them all then gestured me back over to the cube. She unloaded all the items on the cube, then began to explain what they are.

“These materials each resonate with something about you.” She pointed to the leather. “Abyssal Wraithskin. Came from a demonic creature native to the devilish parts of the Fairyland.” Next the metal. “Phantasmal Platinum is a Fantasy heavy metal with deep connections to dreams. The gem is a Venomblood Sapphire. A congealed drop of blood from a very venomous Wyveryn.”

I nodded as she filled me in. I could see how those things might resonate with me for different reasons. Dreams and wishes were similar, I used poison often, and my dad was a devil. “What about those?” I said, pointing to the bones.

“Bones from a Stareater Thrall.” She said somberly. She sounded almost reverent as she spoke of it. “There are many strange creatures in the universe. Some eat animals. Some eat plants. Some eat planets, or even the stars they orbit. However, as is the case with all predators, sometimes they fall victim to predation themselves. More commonly, they bring thralls to aid their assaults. These bones came from a thrall consumed by a black star.”

Black flame. Much like Mephistopheles. I understood the connection. “Ok…so this stuff will all be turned into armor that will suit me and amplify my abilities? How are you going to do those enchantments, do I have to teach you my Skills?”

I couldn’t and wouldn’t do that. If she said yes I’d take some generic gear, it was better than nothing. She smirked. “Maybe if I was an amateur with amateur equipment. This, however, is a lifestone cube. It allows me to map the magical matrices of a material. I’m going to have you channel your Skills through these materials and then study the patterns caused by the effects. Then I’ll forge your new equipment with those patterns inlaid naturally.”

Blinking in shock, I gaped at her. “You can DO that? Is that something any blacksmith can do?”

“Blacksmith?” She chuckled. “I’m not a blacksmith. I can do blacksmithing, but I’m an Arcane Armorer. It’s a specialized high level Job that involves a combination of enchanter and blacksmith Skills at a high rank. I also have multiple supplementary Skills. Point is, no, not many could do this. You’re lucky you met me.”

She sounded so proud of herself I had to smile. Her pride deflated when Camden coughed, gesturing to the rest of the group. “That’s great, Sonia, but you still have another thirteen or so customers. Plus this bear.” He gestured to Randall, who reared back on his stubby legs with a quiet roar, throwing his hands up threateningly.

Sonia turned to glare at him. “A bear? You want me to outfit a bear? Not just a bear either. A little cub. He’s basically a stuffed an-” Her voice cut off as ANOTHER roar split the air. A much louder one, from a much bigger animal.

Turning, she saw Randall,in his full sized glory, towering over her, eyes fixed on her face in a narrowed glare. Camden smirked slightly at her obvious shock. “I’m sorry.” He said in a tone that showed he was anything but. “You were saying?” I was lucky I was able to keep from laughing. Pissing off the woman making my gear seemed unwise. The look on her face was hilarious though.