2 days, 2 hours, 52 minutes, 27 seconds

“Tick-tock” went through Horn’s mind as he called in the clock. “Two days, not enough.” The clan just started snowballing. He summoned another round of fighters and crafters. This time he focused on two engineers and another pair of carpenters. It was time to start final preparation. Even with the astounding rate of crafting in the game, it would be tight to finish on time with all his plans.

After the puzzle escapade, he dropped by Goran, leaving him Tome of Might. The dwarf was ecstatic and promised to finish it in record time. Then he took his time to walk around the cavern, talking with his clanmates. Most of them had already completed combat training and were power leveled in the dungeon by his squads. With fewer runs remaining and new dwarves coming, he had to change the policy, and only two fighters – a sergeant and an adept led a party of three workers. The completion time almost tripled, but there was no other way to keep his population on or near the top level. Also, with the increase of maximum level, the amount of Essence coming back for new summons dropped. His earlier estimations were already almost third off. On the other hand, the clan was now over seventy strong.

He still had two challenges to knock off. First, he wanted to scout the arena and get a lay of the land, and then it was time for the crafting challenge. He hoped Ingrid was ready to finish it at any time with the new crafters he provided. Due to their value, they were already through the dungeon carried in old setup, and he knew they were already hammering out items in the crafting hall. Sadly, he had little use for them outside of it, he had a bag of Arcane powder, but it was useless without precious metals, gems, and special tools. But that was a thought for another time.

“Welcome, traveler! You’ve entered the grand arena! As this is your first time here, do you want to hear arena rules?” A deep bodiless voice asked as Horn entered the challenge.

He was in a bricked hall. It was quite a massive space, easily thirty yards across. The walls were made out of brown brick, with plenty of torches spread around the walls. Rows of benches and tables were lined under the walls, while the middle space was clear of everything. A metal grate led into the sand-filled arena the size of a football field. Horn could see rows of stands surrounding the area, now empty but able to fit thousands of spectators. Beside the exit to the main stage, a set of stairs at a side led somewhere higher up. Not seeing anything else, he just said, “Yes.”

“The grand arena is a place of challenge between nations and the place to prove one’s Might. The arena is a sacred ground accessible for all from local proving grounds of at least the third tier. Every week a tournament will be held with glory and prizes. One can also challenge another in this holy place. This is the place of combat, not death. No one can die while fighting within its walls. Any fighter incapacitated will be healed and sent back to the preparation room, the one you stand-in. You are to participate in combat in three categories for your current task: single combat, a party of five, and a tribe battle with up to fifty participants on each side. However, Gods know that not creatures are of equal Might, so mightier enemies will be able to field fewer numbers. The next round of challenges will begin in 14 hours and 23 minutes. Do you want to sign up?”

“Surprisingly detailed explanation, so far probably it’s the most information I have on a challenge. Thirteen hours, with two days on the clock, I think it’s okay time to check this one off the list. However, clan combat will be though one. I barely have thirty fighters. I’ll have to use some workers. Maybe at least the special surprise will be ready. It should be a tight fit in here, but it’ll fit. At least they can’t die in here.” Horn monologued internally, then said loudly, “Sign me up.”

“So shall it be. You have to return to the preparation room with all your participants half an hour before the fights begin. Good luck, challenger!” Voice replied and went silent.

Horn looked around for a bit. The stairs led up to the stands, so he probably could bring spectators to the fight. Besides that, the arena seemed empty. He tried looking over the far wall, but it was sixty feet high. He doubted that the place existed in the main world. It was just probably an instance. Shrugging, he went looking for Goran to pass him orders.

He appeared in a flash of light in the middle of another large hall. All around him, his clan was hurrying around. He stepped off a platform, looking around with wonder. It was the first time he had seen this place. The middle of the foyer was taken by a teleport platform, and surrounded by twelve large pedestals, currently empty. It took less than a fifth of the space. The remaining space was eye-widening. Spread in a circular pattern all around him were large workshops.

They looked like they were taken straight out of blockbuster movies, strange tools, machines, and crates of materials laid around. Sparkling crystals, alchemic equipment with hundreds of glass pipes and beakers with bubbling liquids, a full-size smithy with a furnace that radiated scolding heat, carpentry shop with muscle-powered saw splitting timber into planks. In another part, a ring of runes hovered around a stone pedestal. They shimmered in and out of existence, randomly launching forward and slamming into the stone. Other workshops were more mundane, but each looked impressive on its own.

Dwarves were hurrying back and forth. Sounds of hammering, rattling, cracking, swirling, sawing, and mainly yelling almost overwhelmed his ears. On top of that, scents by dozen attacked his nostrils, freshly cut wood, dusty charcoal, chemicals, it all created a unique smell he couldn’t describe.

Seeing this activity made him smile. This was what he was going for. This was what his clan would achieve. He looked over the crowd, looking for Ingrid. Finally, he saw her in the distance. She was discussing something with a dwarf he recalled was their Enchanter. As he approached, both of them turned towards him,

“Greetings Chieftain,” Enchanter said,

“Oy, pumpkin! Finally, decided to visit me? Took you a while,” Ingrid said with a snort at the end,

Once again, Horn wondered how much more alive she felt, and most importantly, how much more irritating. “Hey, quite a little kingdom you have in here. Care to show me around?”

“A bit busy,” She began to tease, but seeing Horn’s face, she added, “But for you sweety, I’ll find the time. Let’s start here. Waelgist was just telling me about his new creation. Shall we?”

They followed the Enchanter to his workshop. Most of the space was taken by five pedestals arranged in a circular pattern around a five-by-five podium made of black stone. On the platform was a metal heater shield. It had a delicate blacker hue and didn’t shine as much. Focusing on it, Horn saw,

Gray steel heater shield – Uncommon – Well-made – Min. 15 might, 20 endurance – Armor 15 – Absorbs part of magical attacks reinforcing itself – A shield made out of a blend of steel and arcanite ore, the metal can easily absorb mana.

The shield itself made him salivate, but then Waelgist took a step into the circle and raised his hands above the item. Blue energy linked him with the piece, quickly followed by more connections as crystals rose above each of five pedestals. From each, a different color light shot into the middle, all hitting the same spot as the dwarf’s beam. Horn looked enchanted at the spectacle, it took maybe five minutes, but then it ended with a small explosion of light. The dwarf, however, quickly reached into his robe, took out a good fistful of familiar powder, and spread it over the shield. Where it touched, sparks appeared but dissipated a second later. Finally, the dwarf picked up his creation and presented it to Horn, “My chieftain, I hope you’ll find my work pleasing.”

Gray steel heater shield of reflection – Scarce – Well-made – Min. 15 might, 20 endurance – Armor 15 – Absorbs part of magical attacks repairing itself, once an hour can reflect enemy spell towards the caster at full strength, more powerful spells can be reflected only partially. – A shield made out of a blend of steel and arcanite ore, the metal can easily absorb mana.

“Holy cow!” Horn exclaimed, “Paint me amazed!”

“Thank you. It’s a shame soon I won’t be able to practice my craft at this scale.” The dwarf said, hanging his head down,

Horn wasn’t sure what he meant, but Ingrid barged in, “To create such enchantments, Waelgist needs a full workshop like in here, without it all he can do are minor enchants, but the effects are well – minor. They’ll also take a lot of time. Here he can channel thousands of mana points into the item at once using accumulators built into pedestals. By himself, it’ll take several hours to finish even the smallest enchant. That is until we run out of arcane powder. The bag you found should last us a few dozen items.”

“Oh,” Horn said, then seeing the dwarf sagging even further, he quickly added, “Seeing what you can do, we’ll make a priority to create such workshop.”

“Thank you, chieftain, your kindness is only second to your generosity,” Waelgist said,

“Cut the crap, Wael! Or gods my witnesses, I’ll kick your arse so hard, your head will pop out. Pumpkin said he’ll make it A priority, but it’ll take a while.”

Horn just chuckled as they said goodbyes and continued the trip. Next, he visited smithy, where his four smiths were working. However, they didn’t stay there too long due to extreme heat coming out of the crucible. Following that, a bowyer showed them a heavy crossbow. Horn picked it up, but it was a monstrosity, three feet long, with a metal bow and a bolt almost an inch in diameter. The crafter said that it’d pierce a plate armor from two hundred feet.

The firepower was intensive, but Horn found his Might lacking when he tried to pull back the bowstring. Without placing it on the ground, he couldn’t load it, and the rate of fire would be terrible. However, he took a moment to ask about repeater crossbows, and to his pleasant surprise, the bowyer said he knew of them; however, he never saw a schematic and couldn’t build one at this time.

Then the carpenter showed him two chests. They looked like a very basic wooden chest with a latch but of a slightly greenish hue. They turned out to be uncommon items with a unique quality of repelling vermin. The crafter told him it was due to special wood – the Greenmoss oak. He learned quite a lot about some trees in brief moments they spent there, as the carpenter – Tunin – turned out to be an avid passionate of the matter.

The next stop was his scribe. The man was sitting at a table, surrounded by a dozen different ink bottles, some spilled, and quills were lying everywhere. One was even sticking out of the ceiling almost ten feet above them. Pieces of parchment were scattered around, but the crafter didn’t seem to mind it at all. He was furiously scribing something, his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth.

They came upon him, and Horned looked over his shoulder, looking at what he was doing. He had one scroll spread on the side and was copying strange symbols onto a fresh one. The quill in his hand just flashed, symbols almost magically appearing. Horn was about to ask something, but Ingrid took his shoulder and pulled him back. In a hushed tone, she said, “Don’t interrupt him. Let’s say he takes that quite badly.”

Nodding, Horn observed the dwarf for a moment longer before they continued their trip, stopping at Runesmith workshop. It was the one with the pedestal and ring of runes hovering around it, but beside it looked almost like a jeweler’s station, with dozen of small chisels. Next to it stood a dwarf in a long violet robe. He was in the middle of his art as a small golden band rose in the air over the workstation, and the runic symbols around it started appearing faster and faster, then slammed into the floating ring. The process took a few minutes, but then the ring gently fell on the stone below. The dwarf turned towards Horn, “Welcome Chief, I’m Master Boromus, the famous Runesmith, but you probably already knew it by my fame.”

Frowning a bit, Horn answered, “Yes, of course. Truly an impressive show of magic. So what did you make?”

Smiling at the praise, the dwarf handed him the ring,

Ring of Spiritual Mind – Rare – Well-made – Min. 25 Mind, 25 Spirit – Increase Mind and Spirit attribute by 5 each.

“Amazing piece of equipment,” Horn said, despite having mixed feelings. After all the wonders he already saw, the ring seemed a bit lackluster. The bonus was a strong one, but so were the requirements. He wondered why that was, so he asked, “Well, Boromus can you tell me what the difference between runesmithing and enchanting is? Your equipment seems quite similar.”

“How dare you?!” The dwarf exploded but was quickly interrupted by Ingrid, “Now, yea ugly toad. I’d better stop before you say something offensive. Our pumpkin here is new to this world, so be a good lad and explain.”

“Umpf, fine. Apologies, chief.” He began, but with visible disdain on his face, “The parlor tricks of enchanting are good for beginners. They try to mimic some spell effect on the item, usually to a very pitiful degree. Runesmithing is an art. It’s all about finding the true purpose, a soul you could say of an item, and bringing it forth! A truly skilled Runesmith can create artifacts increasing one’s attributes to godly numbers!”

“You never make it easy, don’t ya?” Ingrid snorted, then added, “In a summary. Enchanting creates active effects, while Runesmithing grants static bonuses to attributes and health, stamina and mana.”

Horn nodded, saying, “Her explanation makes a lot more sense. Thanks, so keep up the good work, I guess?”

He turned back and left, leaving a cursing dwarf behind him.

The rest of the sightseeing was uneventful, the crafting went smoothly, and his crafters quickly increased in skill levels, which was great. He also got a crash course on what it meant to be a crafter. The multitude of skills needed was flabbergasting, from support skills like Crafting speed, Material efficiency through processing ones like Smelting, Grinding, and finally crafts and their support skill. The blacksmiths didn’t have only a Smithing skill. They also had Sharp edge, Density, Metal hardening, and a dozen other possibilities. The crafting was a career of its own. Thankfully he wasn’t too interested in starting one. Fighting was so much more fun.

Finally, after closing the whole circuit, they came back to the exposition tables. Amongst them, a sign on a stone pole said a simple thing, “To pass the challenge, dive into your craft and present twelve well-made items.” Below were a few rules, like that teleporter, wouldn’t allow anything found or made in the room to pass through and that the materials would replenish after the closing lid of chest they found them in.

“So, are we ready?” Horn asked,

“Aye, we were waiting for you,” Ingrid replied,

“Then let’s start.”

Ingrid whistled loudly, somehow breaking through the busy noise of the hall. One by one, crafters stopped what they were doing and began gathering around the center. Each workshop presented a single item. A few Horn already saw, but the rest was as impressive. Each crafter took a moment to describe the piece, the challenges in creating it, and his pride in the product. Each such presentation ended in a round of applause. Horn was one of the loudest clapping dwarfs. Just as the last dwarf presented labor of his craft, he took a moment to address his people,

“So far, our warriors were the ones that brought us victories, but they are nothing without all of you. Your hard work is making a difference. The bravest soul won’t do anything without a trusted blade, without a healing potion and a warm coat. From the smallest cup to majestic machines of war, you are what makes us dwarves the force to reckoned with! Glory to crafters, glory to Lightforge!”

A loud cheer replied, and even a surprising and welcomed message appeared.

Your speech roused at least one-third of your clan. They will venture forward with a smile on their faces, knowing that their jobs matter. Rewards: +10 morale (will decrease weekly by a point till 0)

Your clan morale changed: Average(0) -> Happy (+10). Productivity increased 0% -> +15% ; crime possibility decreased; your citizens are more likely to work harder for the clan.

“And now, let’s finish this challenge!” Horn shouted as the cheers calmed down.

One by one, crafters approached presentation pedestals. As they laid their craft on them, the table woke into life, building a case out of glass and raising the item on a small podium. As the final showcase was built, a chime heard by everyone echoed through the hall. Then in front of the portal, a stone slab withdrew, and another glass case rose from the hole. When it reached the same height as the rest, the glass disappeared. On the table was a single item. Gasps and shouts of wonder erupted from the gathered crafters. A few even tried to get closer before a loud whistle from Ingrid broke the commotion.

Focusing on the item, Horn saw a prompt,

Divine Workshop Hearthstone – Mythical – Divine – An artifact of an old era, created by Gods for the crafters. The stone, combined with an appropriate tool, will create a legendary workshop for that craft. These buildings were the reasons for many wars in the past. Destroying such a workshop will revert the stone to its current form, ready to be used again. Thread carefully.

He quickly took the stone, then loudly announced. “This is the labor of your work! The Lightforge clan thank each and every one of you. When we settle, we’ll decide on the craft. Keep up the good work!”

Then he quickly checked the notifications awaiting,

Quest update: First steps II

You have conquered the crafting challenge! Reward: Tutorial level cap increased to 9, blueprint set for two tier 2 workshops used in the challenge, a single item from submitted ones.

Current completion: 4/5

You have created twelve unique items from twelve different crafts. You’ve completed a hidden objective! Reward: A Divine Workshop Hearthstone.

Current status of hidden objectives: 2/?