Chapter 1239 (2/2)

But that was for later. After finding a nice little valley with an idyllic babbling brook, Randidly carefully began to set up a forge to create the metal for the next version of his left arm. The whole time as Randidly cleared some of the surrounding trees and used ingots of the old blood steel to create a furnace, Sulfur hummed sorrowfully.

Randidly couldn’t help but laugh. “Relax, buddy. You are still going to be my armor. But it’s a little much to have a sledgehammer for a left arm; I need more dexterity.”

Continuing to mope, the armor didn’t respond to his reassurances. Randidly could feel Sulfur wistfully remembering the times Randidly had fought the Nether Gatekeepers and how much he enjoyed the impactful and violent collisions that had resulted.

Shaking his head, Randidly could only ignore his spoiled sentient plant armor. After all, Randidly could sense that none of Sulfur’s thoughts were malicious; it was just that Sulfur wished that things could stay the way they were now.

...you know I basically wear you all day… how much closer can we get…?

Still, Randidly couldn’t help but acknowledge there were some benefits to Sulfur taking over the broken metal of his old left arm. After all, he planned on using Sulfur’s immense mass and power to hammer the new metal into shape. But it seemed a little rude to point this out, so Randidly stoically endured Sulfur’s mopey noises.

After creating the appropriate setting, Randidly made his final preparations for the forging. After cutting down a tree and leaving a large stump, he took off all of his System-empowered equipment except Sulfur and left it near the bank of the river. After a bit of hesitation, Randidly also removed his Philosopher’s Key and left it next to the rest of his equipment. Then he filled two basins with blood, one crimson and one emerald. He produced the Level 78 Bear Overlord bones and ground them to powder. And then Randidly retrieved some of the last special copper that Randidly had harvested from the Chul’roon’s Dungeon.

Emerald fire sprang to life in the heart of the furnace and Randidly began to work.

First, he melted the copper and then mixed in the ground-up bones into the molten metal. With Authority of the Burning Heart, Randidly floated the mixture in the center of the emerald flame and carefully mixed everything together. While the metal and bone bubbled and mixed together, Randidly’s three images surged into the enclosed area and began to impress themselves on the slowly forming metal.

Yggdrasil for flexibility. The Grim Chimera for integrity. Emerald Essence for purity of purpose.

The copper orb of molten metal slowly began to change under the intense pressure from the three images. Sensing the time was right, Randidly removed the molten ball from the furnace and dunked it immediately into the emerald liquid. The caustic blood hissed and spat, eating away at the orb that Randidly had made. The flaws became more exaggerated and then were devoured by Randidly’s dangerous blood.

Then Randidly removed the copper orb and returned it to the furnace. He added more copper and bone dust to strengthen the metal. The orb slowly grew larger. The shimmering copper surface seemed flawless to Randidly’s Grim Intuition. Then his images stretched forward again, once more refining the material from the inside.

Congratulations! Your Skill Visualization (R) has grown to Level 254!

Yggdrasil for unyielding spirit. The Grim Chimera for the desire to cut and maim. Emerald Essence for intensity.

This time when Randidly removed the image warped orb from the furnace, he immediately immersed it in his crimson blood. The strengthening and healing properties seeped into the still incomplete metal, emphasizing and merging with the strengths already present. Then, before returning the growing orb of metal to the furnace, Randidly placed it on the sturdy stump stabilized with Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil and began to pound out some of the impurities with Sulfur.

Almost immediately, all of the prior angst was forgotten as Sulfur contentedly hummed along with each of the ringing blows Randidly slammed against the metal. Each strike shook the ground. At one point the stump even cracked, and Randidly could only cough and use almost one thousand Mana to create a surface with Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil that he wouldn’t need to worry about shattering.

With a better base, the tempering continued.

After the metal had been suitably strengthened by pressure, Randidly added it back to the furnace along with another helping of copper ore and monster bones. Once more, Randidly’s images flowed out into the high-temperature cooker while he used Authority of the Burning Heart to keep the metal perfectly mixed.

Yggdrasil for life. Grim Chimera for death. Ignition Essence to heat the two until they were eternally bound.

Over and over, Randidly took out the metal, quenched in the emerald blood to bring out its weaknesses and then hammered those weaknesses to oblivion. Then he heated the metal again and quenched it in crimson blood to highlight its strengths and then tempered those strengths with heavy blows from Sulfur. Through every cycle, the metal steeped in his images until they were almost inseparable from the material.

Congratulations! Your Skill Authority of the Burning Heart (A) has grown to Level 126!

At the end of several hours of work, the finished ingots of metal reminded Randidly of volcanic sand; pitch black and glittering. For now, he allowed himself a break to lay on the ground and look up at the sky of his Alpha Cosmos. Although a portion of the interior of the continent was now touched by Nether, the sky at the wild edges of the world where Randidly currently worked was completely clear and azure blue.

It reminded him of Vualla’s eyes.

I should write her a letter… Then Randidly hesitated. It’s been… five days since she left?

Sighing, Randidly sat up and shook his head. Then he slowly stored away the created ingots and did his best to clean up the spot where he had created the metal. Yet as he was clearing away charred metal scraps, he paused and closed his eyes. Grim Intuition thoroughly scanned the sensations of the surrounding area. Even though he wasn’t using his images any longer, he could still feel lingering hints of them in the air.

Randidly walked to the bank of the stream slowly began to put his equipment back on. The water was blue and clear, rushing down over the moss-covered stones. Seems like I’m finally strong enough that this sort of work will leave a mark on the world… will some random monster come here, witness my image, and then experience an epiphany…?

Chuckling to himself, Randidly turned and picked up the Philosopher's Key. With a few sharp movements of his fingers, he made the golden key dance across his fingers. While touching the key, the mark he left on the world here was even more obvious. Some small amount of his karma was planted here. Feeling the shape of that karma renewed Randidly’s appreciation of the Philosopher’s Key.

It’s a tool with a lot of uses… So I probably shouldn’t just leave it lying around in the future. Randidly thought to himself as he scanned the surroundings one last time for anything he forgot. Even after using the key for a short amount of time, I’ve grown to rely on it. It would be a tragedy if it just fell out of my pocket and I lost it. I should get a key ring-

Congratulations! Your Fate the Philosopher’s Key has grown to Level 100! Congratulations! Your Fate has reached maturity!

Warning, error-

The next piece of your Fateset has awakened from its slumber! Seek it out to continue to find your Fate.

Randidly’s eyelid twitched. ...really?