Standing alone in the middle of the road, Harvey watched the world resume. People who had stopped to watch Amy's shouting got back to their dinners. He could feel his heartbeat slowly settle, and was surprised his fight or flight had kicked in. Even with all the shadow wolves and floating rocks, a middle-aged woman had shocked him to the edge.

  Realizing how strange he must look, staring at the empty alleyway, Harvey moved to buy his own dinner and mingled around the fire. Veils End was a lot livelier than it had been just days earlier. Muted conversations about how in the hell they were going to survive were slowly transforming into excited reports of the cool skills and professions people were getting. Veils End had residents from all over the world, and people were using essence magic in ways he’d never even considered with his background as a California Tech Employee.

  When the night grew dark, he retired to his sleeping bag. Julian and Hannah followed soon after, and it didn’t take long for snores to fill the room. Falling asleep wasn’t hard when every day was full of hard work.

  He woke up early the next morning and set to work preparing for another day in paradise. He chopped enough wood to fill his kiln and set fire to his next batch of fuel. Already feeling sweaty and gross, he lit the forge. Apparently, misery loves company.

  Maybe it’s worth wasting a profession skill on something that will cool me down, like an essence air conditioner. He thought, shoveling charcoal into the firepot.

  His goal for the day was to craft a simple shield he could hide behind when the elementals started pelting him. Full plate armor would be preferable, but he wanted to practice some more before attempting that step. Figuring out how to layer each piece and attach the leather straps that would hold everything together was a daunting task, so a shield would have to do for now.

  That task came with a new problem. One that he’d seen coming for a while, but hadn’t been willing to tackle yet. His methods so far produced what most people called pig iron. Melting ore in a crucible, pouring it into a low-quality mold, and then hammering it into shape left a lot of carbon, which made the metal brittle. It was fine for a nail, but unreliable if he wanted to repeatedly block attacks. What he needed was his first batch of wrought iron.

  The guide had taught him the process, but he was going to make a few alterations in hopes of keeping his forge clean. He needed to forge a rectangular box out of pig iron and pack it with alternating layers of essence-infused ore and charcoal. Then, instead of liquefying the metal like he usually did, he’d bring it right to the edge of melting and start hammering the spongey mass inside. Over time, carbon slag would leak out like jelly from a donut. Weirdly enough, purifying the iron meant feeding it even more carbon and keeping it just hot enough to pull the bad stuff out without letting it melt. Once he’d hammered it into a single, solid piece, he’d cut, stack, and forge-weld it a few more times until every last bit of that jelly had been squeezed out.

  He got to work on the plates that would become his container and decided to test whether his new skill could be used to make molds. Filling the sigil on his hand, he envisioned a slab of essence with a half-inch-thick rectangular depression in the middle. He marveled as the mold sprouted from his open hand, appearing exactly how he imagined it in his mind. The cost of using the Inventor’s Toolbox skill wasn’t cheap, vastly more expensive than either of his offensive skills, but if these molds could take the heat, it would save him a lot of headaches.

  He made additional molds for the rest of the box, and snickered when they didn’t fall apart as he poured the molten iron inside.

  “Hell yeah! No more dirt showers for me, baby!” Harvey yelled, setting the crucible at the edge of the forge.

  “Dirt showers? Is that why you always reek?” A voice asked behind him.

  Harvey nearly dropped his tongs into the cooling mold, not hearing anyone come inside the smithy. Whirling around, he prepared to chuck them at his mysterious intruder until he saw it was Elena.

  “Chill, dude, there’s no way you’re surprised to see me.” She laughed, closing the door behind her.

  “Stop sneaking up on me!” Harvey shouted, the tension in his shoulders melting away. “Besides, how was I supposed to know Brittany wasn’t going to spend all day with her new best friend?”

  He was teasing her, but felt a pit in his stomach when he saw her freeze. Realizing that goofy wasn’t what she needed right now, he set his tools down and walked over.

  “I’m sorry. I was just messing around.” Harvey consoled.

  “It’s ok. Just don’t call me that, please.” Elena whispered.

  “What was that all about, yesterday? I can’t believe Amy talks to you like that. I thought Gary’s whole chore thing was bad enough.” Harvey complained.

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  “I don’t want to talk about it, but I need to make sure that I’m home before dinner time from now on. Gary got pretty upset last night.” Elena explained.

  “About what? You’re a grown woman. You can eat when and where you want. He’s not your dad.” Harvey ranted.

  “Harvey!” She interrupted. “I know he’s not, but… It’s better for everyone if I just follow along. Ok? I need you to trust me on this.”

  “Whatever. It’s your life.” He replied.

  “What are you working on?” She asked, grabbing the blank cuff and circlet she’d left near her inkwell the night before.

  “Making some wrought iron I can use for a shield. I haven’t tried this yet, so we’ll see how it goes.” He answered.

  “Sounds fun. I’m going to take another shot at this cuff. Let me know if you need anything!” She smiled before turning to her work.

  He was happy to see her so excited about her profession. Why she put up with Gary and Amy’s nonsense when she could sleep here was beyond him, but the panic in her voice every time he brought it up was enough to keep his mouth shut. Deciding he had better things to do, he turned to his molds. They only lasted a little over an hour before dissolving into light, but it was enough for the metal inside to cool enough to maintain their shape.

  He forge-welded the plates together into a hollow billet, then packed the chamber tight with alternating layers of ore and charcoal. He slipped into a sneezing fit when he accidentally rubbed his nose with a coal-covered hand, nearly ruining Elena’s inscription when the loud noise made her jump. Once it was packed tight, he placed it in the fire and set to pumping the bellows. The guide had said to aim for around 2200 degrees Fahrenheit, and finding the sweet spot was simple with his ocular skill.

  Looking inside, the usual white hot metal he’d grown accustomed to was instead a chunky sponge, like a brownie with chocolate chunks poking through the top. Striking down with his hammer, the pig iron billet cracked, sending globs of melting slag spurting out. One landed on his robe, igniting the cloth just above his right thigh. Luckily, his Willpower wasn’t 1 anymore, and he was calm enough to choke the fire out with his leather glove. Standing a little farther back, he struck again.

  Each strike of the hammer juiced the billet a little more, expunging the slag and leaving him with a workable bar. When the case he built started hurting more than it helped, he took his hot chisel and cracked it open. Tossing the plates to the side, he resumed his war against the innocent rock.

  At first, his strikes rang hollow, dull thuds as slag bled from the stone, but with each swing, he found the bell he was looking for. When the billet finally sang instead of thudding, Harvey grinned. That sound, clear and defiant, was the first note of real iron.

  His superhuman strength sped the process a lot, and he’d accomplished a lot before needing his first reheat. When the metal started fighting back too well, he set it back in the forge and weakened it again. Over the next hour, he cut, stacked, and pounded until he had his metal.

  One benefit of wrought iron was its durability, and the other was that it was malleable enough to bend into shape without breaking. Taking his piece to the anvil, he hammered it into a roughly circular shape, making sure to leave the center thicker than the edges. He considered trying to make his shield something more intricate, like a tower or kite shield, but quickly realized he only had enough material for a simple buckler. He could wait and make some more, but impatience overcame vanity.

  Taking his time, the metal slowly succumbed to his will and bent into shape. The trick wasn’t in hitting it harder… it was in knowing when to stop. Every blow brought him closer, but rushing risked breaking it altogether. Forging was patience in motion. When his circle was complete, he molded a shallow sphere from essence with his skill and curved the shield around it. Before long, his buckler was complete.

  Quenching didn’t do as much for wrought iron as it did for his earlier creations, but he dunked it in the water anyway, enjoying the satisfying hiss of steam announcing his success.

  “Check me out!” Harvey cheered. “I’m awesome.”

  “Let me see it!” Elena celebrated with him. He pulled the piece from the water trough and preened, but paused when he saw a confused look on her face.

  “Umm, Harvey… How are you going to hold it? I don’t see a handle.” Elena asked.

  “Damn it! I always forget the handles! First the hammer and now this.” He complained, tossing the shield down on the anvil.

  It took some time, but he figured out a way to heat the shield enough to attach metal brackets that could be bent into securing some leather straps. Elena said Gary knew a veilstrider who had gotten a leatherworking profession, and she was able to provide two thin belts for him. Using the scraps from his pig iron billet, he made the metal components he needed to make the straps adjustable and finally finished his shield.

  Radiant light exploded out of him as he felt the nudge of a notification.

  A new creation has been made | Wrought Iron Buckler | Major Essence Gained

  Your profession, Apprentice Inventor, has reached Level 12. +3 Strength, +3 Endurance, +2 Wisdom, +2 Willpower, +2 Free Points

  A wicked grin crossed his face as he strapped the shield to his arm. Cinching it tight, he realized that the thin lines of his weave had grown noticeably wider. His body grew stronger every day, and he loved it. Just like his shield in the forge, the searing heat of each level up was molding him into something better than before. Putting his two free points into strength, he closed his status screen.

  “Congrats! You gonna go test it out against some elementals?” Elena asked. She had finished his second cuff, reaching level 4 in the process. The circlet would definitely let her hit level 5, but she didn’t have the energy to finish it at the moment. He was surprised two simple light inscriptions had been enough for 3 profession levels, but contending with a brush made from the body of a level 16 variant beast while she was still level 1 made for rapid progress.

  Slipping his cuffs over each wrist, his warhammer appeared in his hand. “Yup, it’s payback time.”

  “You’re a nerd, you know that, right?” Elena asked as Harvey pushed through the back door.

  “Yeah, I know!” Harvey laughed, letting it swing closed behind him.