Jack's eyes opened wide in surprise as he watched the words appear in his vision, "An aspect?". He was expecting to unlock some new talent related to crafting like he had done once before. An aspect was different, it was formed by powerful magic that transformed the person who unlocked it, something much different than a simple talent. Jack looked down at the metal he had been working on, it was red hot but he could still tell something had been changed, the metal had a visible magical sheen that could be seen even through the molten glow. He concentrated on the metal and triggered a description from the system.
Iron - Raw - Quality [Enhanced] - This is common iron, it's quality has been elevated from [crude] to [enhanced] through the use of the unique aspect 'Hammer Of Creation'. Weapons crafted from materials of [enhanced] quality or higher will receive at least 1 addition attribute.
"Awesome! What are the different grades of items, is that something you can tell me?"
Item quality in the known universe has been sorted into nine distinct categories. The category of each individual item is determined based on various attributes, including magical energy, potential, rarity, etc. These categories are [Crude], [Common], [Enhanced], [Magical], [Rare], [Extraordinary], [Legendary], [Epic], and [Artifact].
Jack took a moment to let the information sink in before quickly turning his attention back to his new aspect, he was eager to check the details of his new magical upgrade. Focusing his attention on the name Hammer Of Creation he prompted the system to explain the aspect.
Aspect: Hammer Of Creation
You have always possessed a love for the act of creation, but your fathers pathological cost cutting meant your materials were of the poorest quality. Seeing your hard work so often going to waste when these poor materials failed has instilled in you a powerful desire for something better.
Hammer Of Creation description:
1. Blessing Of The Creator!
Materials you work with are effected by the deep yearning in your soul, magically improving their quality.
3. Eyes Of The Craftsmen
You have an innate sense for the quality of any material you gaze upon, as well as an idea of their potential uses.
3. Is It Warm In Here?
While forging, you gain immunity to heat damage.
Jack finished reading through the description of his new aspect, he hadn't noticed until now that he no longer felt stifled by the heat around him. Laying down his hammer he cautiously moved his hand over the red hot metal on the anvil in front of him. He could still feel the heat but it was different than it should be, like a gentle warmth rather than a scalding heat. He moved his finger right up to the metal but it still felt the same, so feeling confident he wrapped his fingers around the Iron and lifted it up in front of his eyes, "This is incredible." Jack carefully returned the metal to the anvil, he didn't want to push his luck. The aspect gave him heat immunity but only while forging, he wasn't sure exactly what qualified as forging and what did not, so it was better to be careful.
"I wonder if I can improve the same material twice." Jack decided to give it a try, and went back to hammering the metal in front of him. Focusing on the metal in the same way he had before, he quickly became excited when he saw the familiar golden fireflies start to materialize, "It's Working!", He kept going until the first of the lights made it way to the metal, at that point he could tell that something was wrong. No matter how hard he focused he could not get the magic to enter the material, it felt like he was trying to stuff clothes into a suitcase that was already overfilled, "Damn... I can't do it."
Jack lowered his hammer and pondered for a moment, "My senses are telling me that the material can be further improved, I just don't know how. I wonder if there's a way to raise the enhancement power of my aspect.", he thought about it for a moment before coming up with an idea, "My aspect uses magic to enhance the materials, so maybe increasing my magic attribute will help.", Jack still had a few attribute points left over from the last time he leveled up, so he decided to put one in the Magic Power attribute as an experiment. As soon as he added the point he felt as if warm butterflies were flying around inside his body, starting from his spine they spread out into his chest then up his neck into his head. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling but Jack felt creeped out by the way the magical warmth felt alive.
Once the feeling stopped he picked his hammer up and tried once more to upgrade the metal. He watched as the golden lights began to materialize and noticed that they were slightly larger than they had been before, Jack suspected that they were also moving just a bit faster as well. He held his breath as the first of the magical orbs reached the iron, and was soon overjoyed as it entered the metal without issue. Unfortunately, Jack watched as the subsequent lights refused to enter the metal, only the first had been absorbed, "I'm on the right track, raising my Magic Power made a small difference." He decided that he would increase it when he got more free attributes, then he would be able to further enhance materials. "For now I want to see what kind of item this upgraded metal can make."
The young man went back to work forging the weapon, he needed to reheat the metal now after getting distracted. He pushed it into the forge and watched as it regained its bright red glow, then he pulled it out with the tongs and brought it back over to the anvil. Jack hammered and flipped the metal for the better part of an hour until he was satisfied, next he began the process of forming it into the proper shape. Through a sequence of stretching and hammering Jack forced the iron into the form he had in mind. It needed to be long enough to keep its user out of striking distance while attacking, strong enough to pierce hard scales without breaking, but also light enough for normal humans to wield without immediately becoming exhausted.
Jack carefully molded and shaped the metal, creating a long shaft with a flat pointed tip, he also pressed a few grooves into two separate areas along the shaft. Once he was happy with the shape he checked to make sure it was perfectly straight, then his heat resistance came in handy as he balanced the burning hot metal on his fingers to make sure that the weight was properly distributed. Once he was satisfied he dropped the whole thing into a long trough full of water, watching as it bubbled and steamed. After the water calmed down Jack pulled the spear out and began the process of sharpening the tip. With no working power tools Jack was forced to slowly grind down the metal head of the spear one swipe at a time with a flat stone, it was a gruelingly slow process that convinced him he needed to build a grinding wheel in the future.
Once the weapon was perfectly sharp he tightly wrapped lengths of thin leather strips around the two grooved areas in the shaft, creating sturdy grips. When that was done he polished every inch of the metal with oil, which gave off a beautiful gleam once he was finished.
Through effort, you have raised the talent Craftmanship to level 3.
Jack held the weapon proudly in front of him as he inspected his work, then prompted the system to give a description to his creation.
Survivors Spear - [Iron Spear] - Quality [Enhanced] The first weapon forged by a group of survivors, it has been magically enhanced by its creators unique aspect.
Strength Of The Survivor - Wielder gains +3 to strength while this weapon is equipped.
Jack smiled happily as he looked over the system's description of the weapon, it was a much better weapon than he had expected to make when he started his first forging session. In his excitement he decided to bring the weapon to Patrick and get it inscribed right away.