My Servant System - #499 - 499 Chapter 498: Ba'Ruk (2)



Wiping my brow, I looked down at the long sheet of metal, about a half inch thick and around four feet long.

I had toiled tirelessly to keep the sheet flat and consistent, preparing it to be wrapped around a core of a durable metal rod that would give the staff its shape.

Off to the side, Ba’Ruk nodded again as he looked over the metal, his orange eyes narrowed as he muttered “Not to bad, Begum… Alright, I’ll let ya work ‘ere in the forges if ye want. Either on yer own or alongside another of us. If ya decide to work under me though, don’t expect anything  past menial labor. Got that?”

“Yes sir.”

He nodded once more before gesturing to the bundle of materials I had brought, the question obvious in his eyes as he waited for em to answer.

“Those are monster materials that I wanted to learn how to forge into usable gear. They range from low tier materials like Coal Serpent Bones to middle tier materials like Firefang bones. Back at the Palace I also have a few Magma Wyrm spines that I won’t touch until I am confident enough in my ability to forge monster materials.”

“Hmm…”

Stroking his scaled chin, Ba’Ruk stared at me for a few moments before approaching the anvil, lifting the sheet of metal off the surface and placing it on a waiting rack, where it joined a few other pieces of metal in all various shapes and sizes.

“Tell me, Begum… Why do ye forge?”

He tapped his own hammer against the anvil a few times, looking into the billowing flames of the furnace.

“That question has so many answers… I forge because I enjoy shaping something new with my own hands, creating something from nothing and being able to make something that I want, that I need. I forge because I love weapons, and I want to be able to create a masterpiece of a blade that might one day find itself in legends! I forge because I find it relaxing and soothing to my soul, giving me something to pour my energy into besides fighting…”

The black scaled Lizardkin tapped his hammer a few more times, his slitted eyes flickering towards mine as he said “And..?”

I chuckled at how he knew that I had more reasons beyond myself, the Forgemaster of the Palace more than just a strong man capable of swinging a hammer.

“The real reason I love forging so much, and why I want to be better at it is simple. I want to protect the ones that I love, and the only way that I know I can do so without even being nearby is to forge them something that will never bend, chip, or break when they need it most. To forge something that can protect them from the harshest of blows and save their life should they ever be hit.

I want to create weapons and armor for the ones that I love so that they can never need to worry about whether or not their able to face an enemy because their equipment is weak. I want to make something personalized for each of them, something that would stay alongside them forever and protect them in my stead, should I ever be away from their side.”

“Hmm…”

Ba’Ruk looked back towards the furnace for a few moments more, before gesturing to the bundle of materials as he said “Get a Coal Serpent Bone out, Begum. I can show ya how to forge with monster parts, but the rest is up to ye.”

I smiled as I opened the bundle, sifting through the different bones as I searched for the thicker, longer bones of the Coal Serpent.

Pulling one out, I approached the anvil and handed it to Ba’Ruk, who observed it for a second before beginning to speak, showing and telling me what he was doing.

“The process is simple. Infuse yer mana into the bone like so; thoroughly and evenly throughout the entire bone. Don’t be lazy, don’t skimp out on the work. Every inch of this bone needs to be seeped in mana… like so.”

Lifting the bone with a pair of tongs, Ba’Ruk showed me the long bone shimmering with a brown glow, turning the tongs this way and that to show me all sides of it.

“When ya have it like this, ye just need to give it some time in the furnace ’till yer mana begins to dissipate. That time differs for each materials. Bones tend to take a little longer than scales or other monster parts. Thicker and comprised of some tough stuff…”

Placing the bone into the furnace, he held it there with the tongs, which were also coated in his Earth Mana.

“The end goal with this is simple. Bring the material to a high temperature and fuse it to a piece of metal. Anyone who just throws bones or scales onto a piece of armor or weapon is a fraud and should be beheaded for a waste of materials… Take the time to fuse the materials together, and ya get a far stronger alloy than ya would expect. 

As for how ya fuse metal and bone, that answer is simple as well; mana. Here, take that ingot there and place it in the furnace as well. It should heat up to the same temperature as the bone now…”

Grabbing some tongs, I took the ingot of steel and placed it into the furnace, watching in awe as the metal started to slowly turn orange in seconds, instead of a minute or two.

“Aye, the furnace’s here are far stronger than anything ye would see outside… Lady Igna’s fire is… potent.”

A minute passed by in silence, and Ba’Ruk took the bone out, gesturing for me to take the metal out as well.

“Now, like this… Wrap the bone in mana once again; even layers, thoroughly coated… now, extend the mana to the metal as well, and begin to hammer down between them…”

Hefting his large hammer, the Lizardkin began to slam the heavy chunk of metal down onto the ingot and bone, slowly forcing the two to fuse together.

“Turn it!”

He switched the two materials and placed them onto their side, the metal below the bone, and began to hammer again.

Ba’Ruk continued that for a few moments more before switching it once again, slowly rotating the two materials a few times as he fused them together.

As they began to become one, Ba’Ruk sped up his strikes and focused on combining them further and further, until eventually a pale ingot of bone-steel sat on the anvil in front of us.

“This… is the finished product. Ya took steel and Coal Serpent Bone and fused them together. Now, ye can try to fuse that bone to something stronger, like Battle Iron, but ya NEED more bone to make that alloy. The stronger the metal, the more of the weaker monster material, and vice versa. I recommend never going too far above or below. So those Firefang bones? Keep them until ya get Battle Iron, or only use half a bone on steel if you just want to get accustomed to forging with them. Alright? Now, this is all I need to show ya; from here on out, it’s just simple forging…”

I nodded, before looking towards the bundle with pursed lips.

“Thank you, Ba’Ruk! For now, I think I need to get some ‘commissions’ done, but if you’ll have me again, I wouldn’t mind helping out.”

The black scaled Lizardkin nodded, before waving me off as he handed me the cooled off alloy.

“That’s alright with me, Begum.”

Taking the alloy, I bowed to the man before finding a free forge, smiling as I started my work on Kat’s gift first…

I had an idea in mind for her, and I had a feeling she’d like it~!