After the events of the night, I wake up, it's barely 6 o'clock and Lilia is still sleeping, but... There is a presence in my room that is observing me... Careful not to wake Lilia up, I sit on the bed and I see it, that presence is...
-I see that you have awakened.
The one who speaks to me is none other than the Lich King, Aku. I don't answer, I simply nod, feeling a slight increase of pressure in the atmosphere.
-Do not accept orders from the Queen again, you will only accept orders from me.
During the moment when he said "You will only accept my orders" His eyes shone brighter, a very... Villainous? I know it would be evil, but I leave it as "Villanico".
Before I could answer, the King throws me a small trinket, it looks like a traditional straw voodoo doll, but it still reminds me of me.
- Take it out if you are in trouble and go to the forge. For the time being you will improve your blacksmithing skill and not your alchemy skill.
After his words, the King disappeared, he melted into a pool of shadow, he didn't let me answer, but it's not as if I could refuse to do it, right? Very carefully I try to get off the bed without waking Lilia, but I guess I can't do that....
As I was getting off, Lilia grabbed me by my nightgown, again....
-Where are you going? - he said as he rubbed his eyes.
- I'm going to the smithy. -I answered in the sweetest and softest voice I could use.
After I got out of bed, I saw a still sleepy and disheveled Lilia trying to get out of bed and I asked, "Are you going to come with me?
- Nh. - She nodded, for a moment I thought she would fall asleep instead of just nodding, it seems she really has no energy to spare.
- It's not necessary, you know, we stayed up late last night so you can continue sleeping if you want. -At my suggestion, Lilia declined strongly. -No! Besides, do you know where the blacksmith shop is, uh? Lilia gives me her usual silly grin.
*When I write "silly smile" I mean a funny/playful smile, but I don't know how to express it, it would be like "Tehehehe", but it's not the same.
- Y-You're right... I don't know where the blacksmith shop is. - With a sigh of resignation I replied.
-See? Come on, I led you!
Apparently, Lilia is fully awake, she is now with her usual excess of energy, she takes me by the hand and makes me run, again?
As we ran around the castle the servants had to move out of the way or their bones would be scattered everywhere. In one of these bursts of Lilia's energy she ended up making a mess of some skeleton servants, in the end, it seemed as if they were playing a jigsaw puzzle of everything that spilled out.
After a few moments we arrived at the smithy, the smithy was a little far from the castle, but still we arrived quickly, its appearance is very rough, its walls, made of black and eroded stone, rise like baleful walls that seem to defy the light of day. The main entrance is adorned with twisted reliefs representing skeletal figures and nightmarish creatures, in addition, a purple smoke comes out of the chimney, a smoke which also has several blue sparks. A bird flew through the smoke and immediately melted into a skeleton bird...
As you enter the forge the only illumination you can make out are only the faint glows coming from dark anvils and purplish flames. The sound of dragging chains and unintelligible whispers hangs in the air, an air charged with dark magic.
The walls, meanwhile, are adorned with arcane runes which read: The cursed forge, a place where a dismal past is woven into a desolate future.
In the center of the forge, a huge black iron anvil rests on a stone pedestal carved with figures of wraiths and skeletons. The forge, fueled by shadowy flames, emits a purple glow that seems to absorb light rather than reflect it.
The equipment forged in this cursed forge carries with it an aura of darkness, and the Undead smiths, with their glowing eyes, work silently, channeling shadowy energies into each strike. Apparently, they are Undead Dwarven smiths and work alongside Undead Elves, it is certainly odd, unlike the other part of the necropolis this area is very macabre....
-Li-Lilia Is this place just a forge? -I stuttered for some reason.
- No, this place is- Before I could respond, King Aku intervened.
- This place is a prison for... Slaves of war... Elves and dwarves are the best in their area of the normal world, be it forging or magic, even the flames they use are from the best dragon souls, but they are all slaves without a will. - King Lich said it with a calm tone, but now that I take a good look at them, it's true, they have no soul, their beads are empty.... They are empty shells with no will....
- Geez, do you like to interrupt me so much, dad?! -He seems to resent being interrupted by the Lich King, besides, what's with the Lich King's complacent face?!
- Well, then Mizuki, do you think you can forge good weapons in this humble smithy? In the Lich King's eyes there was a great gleam, but now I'm afraid they will take my soul and turn me into an Undead....
- I-I'm not sure... This is a cursed forge, isn't it? I'm afraid it will curse me if I use mana instead of dark energy, so.... I don't think I can...
- Is that so...? -The Lich King's lively expression faded as he pondered over something.
-Father, what if I help you with the dark energy," Lilia asked in a very innocent voice, but the Lich King only shook his hand.
- You're a Lich, it would be too risky for Mizuki, it's out of the question... Wait a moment, I'll be right back.
Again, he disappeared, well, in the meantime I will talk to Lilia, or at least that was my intention, but there was something about the flames that captivated me. During the time the Lich King was gone I spent watching the Undead forge.
After a while, the King returned with a necklace in his hands.
-Put it on. - The Lich King extended his hands with the necklace while telling me to put it on. The necklace consists of a very thin but resistant silver braided chain, in the center, a deep black gem, a black that absorbs the light around it, this gem is coated with a transparent substance. Since curiosity gets the better of me, I proceed to analyze it.
[Lament of the Mermaid Queen (UR)] LV 300
Mana: 5000
Mana: +15%
Lucidity: +250
Charisma: +200
Light magic: +30%
Water magic: +50%
Mana regeneration: +25% Mana regeneration: +25% Mana regeneration: +25% Mana regeneration: +25%
Mana
regeneration: +25%
Mana
regeneration: +25%
Mana regeneration:
+25
Ability 1: Improves aquatic agility
Ability 2: Improves concentration.
Skill 3: Absorbs curses.
Skill 4: Minor immunity to curses.
- T-This...
- Put it on. -Said the Lich King with a big evil grin.... So without further ado, I put it on.
AI: Warning, very low level, currently you can only use the attributes: Mana, Mana, Lucidity. Ability: Improved aquatic agility, Improved concentration, Absorb curses.
-Thank you very much. -No matter how you look at it, it's too much! Thanks to it my mana is now almost 7500, while I look at the necklace my mind remains uneasy, despite the fact that lucidity should help to the contrary, there is something about the gem that gives me a certain stir.
- With this you can forge here? -Again, in the Lich King's eyes there was a great gleam of expectation.
- Y-Yes... With the third skill I could forge in this cursed forge.... -Honestly, forging inside a haunted place isn't something that really appeals to me, at least in the alchemy room I couldn't randomly receive curses just for staying inside....
- In order not to repeat what happened with the potions, I'm going to check how you work the first days. - Say what you want, it is clear that you are interested in how I am going to forge... With nothing more to say or do, I give a sigh of resignation.
- The hammer, please.
-I'm coming! -said Lilia with a very excited voice, it seems that she still wants to see me train.
- It starts with an Iron sword. - It was the Lich King's request, an Iron sword, huh?
- I understand.
After your order, I go to a pile of materials, I am not going to start with raw iron, but with ingots, when analyzing the ingots you can see that they are of a very good quality, but I am not sure whether to use steel or iron. Wrought iron is very soft and malleable so it would be good to start with, but the result will not be as good as steel, which has a higher concentration of carbon, making it better in other aspects such as hardness, strength and toughness...
- Should I make it Steel or Iron? - To make sure, I decide to ask the Lich King, although it is true that it may have been a test, but it is better to be forewarned.
- As you like. - That's what he said, I looked at Lilia to get her opinion but she just shrugged her shoulders, gosh ~ I guess I'll do it with Wrought Iron.
-In the dance of the elements, in the night and the dawn,
transmutation arises, power is born, creation.
Words like sparks, my essence in transformation,
Creation: Transmutation, awaken, oh great song.
As always, I started with seeing what the result of performing the forging with just the skill is and, to my surprise, this time it was very smooth, but I did not jump the AI interface. A blue circle surrounded the materials and, after a few seconds of animation a white glow appeared, a glow that ended up blinding Lilia and me, the Lich King didn't seem to be affected.
-Hohoho, so that's the result, is it? -He said while observing the object very carefully.
The object in question was a sword, but it looked haggard, it looked like it had been corroded for years, the color of the iron was darkened and the wood looked rotten, a failure, right? Oh my...
- Not bad, not bad at all, check it out - From his words, I have to say that it did make me a little curious... That rotten thing is not bad? Well, I guess it's because it's an Undead that it looks like that to him, anyway, I'm still going to analyze it.
[Rotten Iron Sword (SR)]
A sword that has been forged by a very talented creationist, despite being a crude work with little care, it fulfills its function as a weapon.
+1000 attack
+15% attack damage
+25% Darkness damage
+5% mana regeneration
Special: Necrotic Aura lv2: The sword possesses a kind of dark aura which slightly poisons living beings and improves the strength of the Undead (10%).
- W-What is this? - Obviously there's a big tone of bewilderment in my voice, did I really do this? I'm still level 12, so it's too much, isn't it?
- Lilia What level do you think it would be if it were a Natural artifact?
- Uhm... Level 150?
- Almost, it looks more like a level 160 or 170 tool, well, not bad for your first try. -The Lich King showed an expression of complacency, it's a relief, but I have some doubts.
- Excuse me, a question What are the artifact levels?
- The artifact levels? Uhm...- The Lich King said with a distant expression in his look. - The equipment we use can be classified into 2: Natural and forged. Natural equipments are found in ruins from the era of the Gods, forged equipments are those made by blacksmiths. The natural equipments have a level and a grade, the level is related to the level of the enemies or environment you face, the grade depends on the difficulty of obtaining them. - After that the King fell silent.
- Did you understand father, Mizuki?
- Yes, I understand...
- In addition, each one has obvious limitations, if your level is very low then you will only be able to activate some features of the natural equipment although you can still use it, something that does not happen with forged equipment, if your stats are very low you will not be able to use them, none of their features except the main one.
- To make it easier to understand, try wielding the weapon you just forged. -said Lilia.
Listening to Lilia I tried to hold the gun, however it was too heavy. The material I used was lighter, this does not respect the rules of conservation of mass!
- I-I can't...
- You lack strength and dark energy, its net weight is only 3kg. Try to lift it thinking of it as a simple stick. -Listening to King Lich's words I do as he asks and this time,
- No... It's not heavy... - Yes, it's true, before it felt like something impossible to lift and now it's just an ordinary piece of iron....
- If you strike a blow the strength should be that of a level 70 skeleton, even if you have 1000 attack.
- I understand...
- Well, that's enough talk, keep on forging, I want to see how well your next weapons turn out. -In the voice of the Lich King a certain tone of impatience could already be heard.
-Okay, I'm coming, I'm coming.
So I continued forging, the weapons I created were in the level range of 100 to 300, all R grade, however, when I reached the seventh weapon something strange happened.
- I can't take it anymore. My mana is almost exhausted, I only have 200 mana left. -I hadn't paid attention until now but each "Forged" consumes between 800 and 1200 mana...
- Uhm... Well, from now on you will make mana regeneration potions and forge every day, you can use 20 free hours to do whatever you want.
This world has days of 31 hours, weeks of 7 days, months of 5 weeks, 11 months so it tells me that I must work 11 hours a day.
- I understand, that's the way it will be. - Actually, it's less than I expected, but I'll settle for 11 hours of work a day.
-This,,,,, Am I going to have days off?
- Rest days huh? - U-Ugh, the Lich King's voice sounded different, a bit annoyed? No Frustrated? Did I make a mistake in asking for days off? F-Forgive me...
- I understand, you will be able to rest on the seventh day of the week, with your talent there should be no problem with that.
- G-Thank you... - Without saying goodbye, the Lich King disappeared.