Welton's Furnace is situated in a massive hole caused by a battle during the Draconic Invasion, five-hundred years ago. The dwarven kingdom took advantage of the gargantuan cavity in the earth to access extremely rare mineral deposits, along with the formation of new, abnormal ores influenced by the magical properties of dragon magic. The Royal Family has secured all the magical ores, monopolizing the resources and giving them only to the richest and most powerful beings in the world. Idil has established a favorable contract with Welton, giving them access to the empire's lucrative adamantium mines in exchange for artifacts made from the coveted 'dragon ores'. The most talented and skilled blacksmith of the ages, Arber Fistpig, is the only one to have worked with such material, forging weapons and armor for Pernatia Howzer, Dracule Rose, and other notable figures. All people involved in the process remain tight-lipped on the properties and abilities of said equipment, citing it as a promise that must be kept secret at all costs. The only 'dragon ore' that has ever had information published on it was Attainium; an iridescent, magical metal that shapes itself according to the user's will. The legendary metal only has less than a dozen kilograms in circulation, and many of their whereabouts are unknown. Shipments containing Attainium have been targeted, and most users suffer from assassination attempts for the exclusive metal.

~ The Mystery Behind Welton's Furnace, by Hubey Minter

The mines were much further away than anticipated. It was several kilometers away from town, further south. The terrain changed drastically; from grassy plains to stony ground. Although the distance wasn't much, considering the amount of danger present in the wild it was no wonder the villagers couldn't go on their own.

Lily’s father, Jeffrey, was at the front of the group searching for a certain area. The rest followed behind, talking amongst themselves. There were almost a dozen of them, half of which consisted of older teens that looked barely strong enough to carry a pickaxe. All of them looked near homeless, with tired faces and skinny arms. However their eyes held something different from the rest of their appearance; hope.

Their stature belied their optimism and motivation, sparing occasional glances at the adventurers behind them; a man with curly hair that went down to his shoulders and a child with jet-black hair and piercing eyes. An air of dependability radiated from the two, a lack of worry when traversing the plains filled with monsters who view them as weak prey. As they followed the path to the mines they encountered a group of monsters.

A pack of massive, scraggly hyenas circled the group. Seven of the beasts circled the group, snarling and foaming at the mouth. Their fur was especially long from the area between their head to the tip of their tails, almost like a mohawk. Brownish-grey fur, spotted and matted with dried blood. The villagers shrunk back in fear and stuck together in a close circle, surrounding the wooden wagon they brought along.

Chester and Damien immediately sprung into action. The illusionist caved in one of the hyena's heads with one hit of his flail, before blasting another with pure mana. The explosive impact sent the hyena stumbling and squeaking in pain. As the battle ensued, he took out a small shield and tossed it towards the group of quaking villagers and barked out orders. His body was imbued with mana, giving him enhanced stats while he fought.

"Oi! Use that shield if one of them runs past us. Should hold them back for a second or two so y'all don't get ripped apart."

Jeffrey ran and grabbed the shield immediately, keeping an eye on the areas where both adventurers weren't present. Thankfully the beasts were far too distracted with the onslaught of attacks. On the opposite side of Chester, the vampire was using his sword in tandem with his magic skills. Villagers watched in awe at the boy's technique and skill. Being part of a warzone, they've seen their fair share of combat; but the soldiers that they've seen couldn't even begin to compare. Damien parried, deflected and dodged the hyenas skillfully while maintaining his distance from the group.

Advanced Sword Mastery Level 1 - Proficiency with sword-type weapons. Upon equipping a sword, 10% increase to damage dealt.

Damien had broken the skill threshold through sheer effort. What was hidden by the first class milestone was attained after consistent effort. It had plateaued for months, and even though Damien knew of the phenomenon his instructors had taught him that breaking through the glass ceiling took far too much effort and was better spent learning a new weapon while slowly leveling up.

Attaining the second stage of a skill was simply inefficient. But since the sword was his primary weapon, it occurred naturally.

The swordsmanship was on another level, dealing with two of the beasts with relative ease and cutting them down within a few strikes. An imperceptible glow overtook his body, a mix of blue and black miasma floated along his body; Mana and Dark Infusion worked in tandem to boost his stats by a magnitude and rivalling Chester in speed and slightly below in power. Jeffrey tensed upon seeing one of the monsters step towards them while both adventurer's were busy, clutching the white shield as it got closer. Before it could leap towards the vulnerable group, a blast of Darkfire hit it directly in the face and sent it to the ground. The boy followed up with a piercing stab to the brain, killing it instantly.

Damien knew that he'd have to make it quick, as his mana reserves would deplete completely after a few minutes. He moved forward to blitz the helpless beasts as the irises of his eye turned red.

Further away, Chester was wreaking utter havoc. Lengthening and shortening his flail at will, every strike pulverized whatever he hit. He rarely missed his strikes thanks to the whip-like nature of his weapon, occasionally dishing out illusions that distracted the beasts while he hunted them down. Two hyenas pounced on him, and he struck one but was forced to block the second using his forearm.

It caught his limb and tried to wrench his arm off, but couldn't even move its neck due to the brute strength he had. Chester barely winced, shifting the Attainium into a sword and stabbing the shocked beast in the eye. He looked at the bite mark which barely broke through his skin, watching as it healed up in seconds.

"Huh. Neat." He wondered how his regeneration worked. Did it set his bones back into place? Or would it heal improperly? From what he could feel, his limbs worked just fine, but seeing the villager's daughter who broke her leg, he had some doubts on the limits of their HP regen.

You have slain Grassland Hyena (Level 7)

You have slain Grassland Hyena (Level 7)

Within a minute, the villager's remaining doubts about the adventuring duo's abilities had completely disappeared. They effortlessly slaughtered the pack of wild monsters barely catching their breath. The singular wound Chester suffered during the fight had completely disappeared, and he took back his shield from Jeffrey. They continued towards the mine while the townspeople murmured amongst themselves.

"Did you see the kid? He's amazing...Must've been from one of them elite schools in Elway or Idil. I think he's one of them vampire folks down southwest in Wisperium. See the emblem?" One of the older men commented, keeping his voice low and hushed as he conversed with his fellow villager beside him.

"Probably even stronger than whatever super rookie's coming out of the woodworks. Maybe even up there with the first prince."

"I wouldn't know. But that bearded guy's strong as well. But he fights like a maniac. Looks like one too. Who the hell fights without armor?" Eyes stared at the man in front. Wearing nothing but a tunic and pants, nothing about him signified that he was an adventurer aside from the mysterious, iridescent liquid that shifted along his arm. It transformed and solidified into rings along his right arm.

The man in question craned his neck and glared at the gossiping villagers. "I heard that, fuckers. You guys trying to die?"

They quickly went silent afterward. After almost an hour of walking, they finally reached the mines.

An open, rocky pit, spanning over a kilometer. Rusty and unused equipment lay haphazardly along the bottom. The group traversed the path which slowly led downwards, with multiple holes on the sides of the pit that lead into tunnels. Many old wagons and metal carts were present, some having rusted completely after years of neglect.

“Now, if I recall, it should be somewhere around here…”

Once they reached the deepest levels of the open pit, they entered a tunnel. Wooden beams helped to keep the mineshaft from falling, and water dripped from a large, metal pipe overhead. The hole was easily four and a half meters wide and two meters tall. It fit the sizable group comfortably.

Chester and Damien watched their footing as they went along the right side, avoiding the minecart tracks as they did so. It was a steady slope downhill, with paths diverging from the descending tunnel in fifty meter intervals.

The illusionist hated the slightly damp atmosphere, tugging on his shirt and fanning himself. His partner held no reservation, as he had no sweat glands, acknowledging the humidity for what it is. But as it got deeper, the colder and drier it became. When they reached the last diverging tunnel after a minute of walking, they got to work.

Jeffrey had organized the men into two groups of six, chipping away at the stone walls in the deepest tunnel. They were lined up in a row, starting their work. The youngest among the group struggled, unfamiliar with the hard labor. More experienced miners came along to adjust their posture, and gave them small tips on reducing fatigue. Chunks of pure black ore lined the walls. The temperature had dropped considerably, and it was a startling contrast to the warm summer climate on the surface.

“Excuse me, but we’ll need one of you to stay here. The rest of the group will be going down a different tunnel.”

The two adventurers looked at each other. Damien shrugged, and decided to take the initiative.

“I’ll stay.”

Chester joined Lily’s father along with the other half of the group into the tunnel above theirs. For an hour, the illusionist watched as the crew worked tirelessly.

Some possessed a great deal of experience, mining at double the efficiency some of the newer ones were capable of. Jeffrey had stood one of the minecarts in their tunnel upright, pushing it to where the miners were. He spent a majority of the time flitting between teaching the teens how to swing, and placing all the rocks that were chipped off into the minecart.

Growing bored, Chester decided to join in.

“Oi. Give me a spot, I’ll start mining.”

Jeffrey stared at the man in shock, surprised that he was willing to contribute even more. “No, it’s alright! We’ve got enough manpower to secure a small amount of ore-”

“Can it! I’m getting bored, and clearly there’s nothing I need to protect you from.” The flail in his hand transformed, shaping itself into a pickaxe similar in length to the others. "The hell did you guys even have to worry about here?"

"Ankhegs, usually. We used to encounter a couple a day."

The older man was compliant, and moved him to the center of the formation. He had given the adventurer a wide berth, knowing that he possessed superhuman strength and could likely clear several times more rock than a regular person. Jeffrey was thankful for his contributions.

Chester mimicked the experienced miner’s actions, and quickly began to pick up the pace. The people around him stared dumbly as he dug out large chunks of rock within minutes.

Jeffrey was behind him, breaking them into smaller pieces and placing them in the cart. After ten minutes, he stopped the crew and began their next step.

“Alright, we’ll push this cart back up! Let’s take them in turns!”

‘Up?! To the surface?!’ Chester thought, watching as a group of four people strained together to push the cart weighing nearly a ton. Due to the fact that it was uphill, they had to strain constantly in order to keep it from going down. 'These guys are insane. This definitely has some OSHA violations.'

He shoved them out of the way and put his strength to the test. The resistance was great, and it was the most he had worked himself in a long time. Chester was used to lifting everything with ease, as he could throw grown men with ease with his current power. The wheels were rusty, and the uphill track made it even more difficult to lift to the surface. But the cart moved much faster than it did with just four, regular humans.

“Fucking-this is heavy! You’re planning on carrying this to the surface?”

The exit to the tunnel was almost two hundred meters away. Although it had wheels, lugging this pile of rocks was time-consuming. Four people helped Chester as he dug his feet. There were areas where the slope flattened out and they could rest before continuing to move the cart. The cool air of the mine was soothing on his skin.

They made quick work of the cart, as Chester didn’t need a break and continued to push. People rotated as they supported the man doing most of the heavy lifting. The man grunted and shifted around consistently in order to find a good spot to push the cart.

Your muscles have been pushed to the limit. +1 STR

“Oh?” He reacted to the notification with surprise. Increasing his strength had always been a difficult task. His endurance had increased when they ran their way to Stillwater. His intelligence increased the more he learned about illusions and mana. Agility improved when he engaged in serious spars with his partner. Even his luck stat increased when he managed to escape from the female knight. This was the first time he had managed to train his strength up since his days in the forest. Feeling emboldened by the notification, he pushed even harder and used this as an opportunity to get stronger.

Reaching the surface, many had celebrated after a job well done. Many showed their respect and gratitude for the hardworking adventurer. Lily's father, who initially had a poor impression of the man, realized the man wasn't as harsh as he first assumed.

“Thanks mister. You’re not as shitty as I thought you were.” One of the younger workers said crudely. A few teeth were missing from his wide smile.

“Wh-watch your mouth, asshole!”

The tracks continued until they arrived at a large, metal machine bolted to the floor. It was rusty, and looked like something from the steampunk era. A multitude of levers and buttons along its side, none of which Chester knew anything about.

They emptied out the cart, placing them inside the machine. Jeffrey had opened a hatch inside, and inspected the conditions of the mysterious contraption as he ordered the men around.

Chester turned to the father with curiosity. “So, this some sort of magic machine? Turns all the rocks into ore?”

The man shook his head. “It’s a smelter. Most of it is mechanical, but there’s magic pieces that are installed to make our lives easier.” Jeffrey displayed some knowledge regarding the contraption.

He reached underneath the machine, grabbing several molds. Some were shaped like bricks, and others were shaped for ingots. Jeffrey placed one ingot mold underneath a spout on the left, and the brick-shaped one to a spout on the right. The man flipped a switch, and the machine began to churn and shake. It roared loudly, and smoke began to rise from the chimney at the very top.

Chester asked about how the machine worked, and Lily’s father was gracious enough to explain. He always had fondness for those channels on television that showed how certain products were made.

“The smelter crushes the rocks even further inside. Once it's crushed into pebbles, the ores are heated up. They get separated by a filter inside.”

The contraption belched out flames, and the smoke began to turn black. It took some time before white-hot liquid began to pour out of the tubes connected to the machine.

“This tube collects the ore. The other collects the slag, which we use as building material. That way nothing goes to waste. Neat, right?”

“How do you know so much? I hardly think that this whole thing would’ve worked without you.”

“I used to be a supervisor here. Before the whole territory wars, this was our pride and joy." Jeffrey gave him a sad smile. "We locked in a deal with Welton and secured the smelter. I was one of the few that knew how to run it, all my other colleagues that knew are gone now. We had hoped that this mine would be our salvation, but...”

Chester quietly watched as the molten liquid steadily poured out. The ratio between the slag tube and the cold iron was great. Three brick molds had been used, each one containing about twelve fixed frames each. The ingot mold was barely enough for two bars.

The miners had told Jeffrey they were descending back into the mine after a short break, and Chester soon joined them. Damien’s group followed shortly afterward, as he had helped to push the minecart back onto the surface as well. His face was dirty, but he looked determined to help the villagers. Chester passed by him as he followed his group.

“We’re getting extra for helping them out, right?”

“Screw off.” Damien replied. "We're getting enough as it is."

The process repeated over the course of several hours, and the fruits of their labor was on full display. With every hour, the group’s working efficiency increased. Damien and Chester quickly got accustomed to the work and picked up a few more points in STR and END for their efforts. The vampire followed Chester's example and put his greater physical abilities to use. Thankfully they had packed extra pickaxes in the event that one of the workers broke, and Damien joined them in their work.

Over a dozen cold iron bars was their reward. Each about six inches long, and two inches thick. Once it had solidified and cooled down, the ingot was dark, glinting ominously. The bars were cold to the touch, and the adventurers noticed how the temperature dropped in its general vicinity.

Impure Cold Iron Ingot

- A rare material that amplifies dark power.

“It’s not the greatest quality; there are still impurities we can’t filter out with our machinery. But usually blacksmiths are perfectly capable of refining them into purer ingots with their specialized technology.”

The illusionist was learning a good deal about the work that went into crafting equipment. He hoped that they produced enough to at least get him a weapon.

“Alright, one more trip and we’ll be done for today!”

The two groups embarked on their last trip down the mine, which continued with no issue. The sun had already begun to set, and they wanted to squeeze in as much work as possible before they had to return. All of them were tired to an extent, but not a single one refused or complained because they knew what this opportunity meant. Chester could see the blisters and minor injuries some of them picked up during the excursion, and seeing the lack of grumbles made him respect their work ethic.

“How are you guys going to sell these? To Idil?”

“The church will be our main source of profit for now. We’ll be selling to them under the market value, because our entire village has sworn to be favorable towards them in exchange for their continued support. Until we can establish some sort of trade between the other kingdom’s merchants. But this'll be enough to kickstart our village.”

Chester didn’t know much about medieval trading. Every bar of cold iron they produced was worth about ten gold according to Jeffrey. It would take at least two to four to craft a weapon. He continued to fantasize about the set of armor in his head while his body was on autopilot, mining away with his Attainium pickaxe.

As they worked, the man sensed something from below; a small tremor that he hadn’t heard before. It was followed by a faint beeping sound. Before he could say anything, a large spiked drill erupted from the area he was mining. He backed away and shouted for everyone to get out. The pickaxe in his hand quickly transformed into a flail as he readied himself for combat. All of the villagers complied and ran out of there as fast as they could.

“Get the fuck out of here! Take the minecart as well!”

It was the size of a small car, with spiked, metal wheels. The mechanical construct ignored Chester, continuing to collect the rocks it displaced with a massive shovel-limb into a space in its chest cavity. It looked as though it ate the ore, being selective in its shovelings as it picked out certain chunks from the pile with greater concentrations of cold iron within.

He watched as the main body approached the side wall, beeping and drilling through the earth with reckless abandon.

“A robot?” Chester muttered in confusion.

He struck the beast with the flail, making a solid dent on its side. It continued to ignore him, and he decided to keep attacking.

He struck the shovel-limb, and it took several hits for the machine to groan and collapse. The lights inside had died out and it collapsed into scraps. It was an easier fight than he expected, considering how massive the machine was. The machine completely ignored his presence.

It was made of a variety of metals, looking like it had been patched together with leftover parts. Many of them were different colored pieces, but he noticed that the inside was filled with delicate parts and contraptions. He wasn't a mechanic by any means, but he could glean that this technology was much more advanced than anything he'd ever seen so far.

Chester didn’t receive a notification for its death, and he feared that it was still alive. He gave it a few cautious smacks, ensuring that it didn’t come back to life. But it remained lifeless.

‘So it’s not a living creature then?’

He didn’t know what classified as something to be observed or to give experience, but this one didn’t provide any information apart from the various metals it was composed of. Chester assumed that he didn’t receive any experience for killing inanimate objects.

The man ran down further to where Damien was. He saw the vampire alongside a pile of scrap metal. Traces of explosions could be seen along the floor.

“Damien! Are you alright?!”

“Just a little winded. This thing just burst in here and I evacuated the group.” He did look somewhat exhausted, but completely unharmed. "It wasn't attacking, but it held up against my sword pretty well. Had to use my spells."

“Well, looks like there were monsters after all. Should’ve known something bad was going to happen. Let’s go up.”

The two went up, checking to see if the other tunnels had been invaded. One was digging along the upper level, and they destroyed it easily. After some time, they reached the groups above on the surface.

“You guys okay?”

The villagers confirmed that none of them had been hurt. They had left the minecarts in the middle of the tracks, prioritizing their health first and foremost. Waiting at the mouth of the tunnel, they all looked worried and confused.

“I honestly don’t know.” Jeffrey confessed. “I’ve never seen those monsters before. We’ve only had to worry about Ankhegs or Umber Hulks, but those ones are new.”

It only served to unease the entire squad, and they questioned if mining would even be safe.

“Bah, these guys are nothing. Me and Damien can handle them. They don’t seem hostile, but we just need to be careful.”

They were reassured by Chester’s confidence. He was hellbent on getting more ingots, and encouraged them to come and work again the day after. He decided that helping out the group wouldn't be that big of a deal. Going back with the miners, they collected the left-over ores and produced another two bars, bringing their total to fourteen.

With that out of the way, they picked up the items they produced and placed it onto a massive wagon. Without any horses, the group was forced to carry the heavy load on their own.

Damien and Chester were exempt as they had to stay on guard. The darkness was offset by the lantern on the wagon providing ample lighting. Chester yawned as his sore muscles had already recovered from the strenuous exercise. He swung the flail in circles as they walked back into the village.

The soldiers on patrol had seemingly doubled since they last saw them. Chester decided that causing any further ruckus was not a good idea, and decided to keep his head down.

Jeffrey handed Chester three cold iron ingots, more than the agreed amount. It wasn't much; barely enough to make a shortsword. But knowing what it represented, the illusionist decided to be quietly grateful.

“Thank you. Think of it as a bonus, for all the support you’ve given us.”

They parted ways in Stillwater, as the group headed down to the church to sell the rest of their wares to the church. Chester and Damien returned to the inn and renewed their stay for an extra two days.

“I thought you said that staying here for any longer was a stupid idea.” Damien gloated.

He ruffled the boy’s hair, annoying him greatly. “Shut it. We’ll stay for a bit longer; I want enough cold iron to sell and for a weapon.”

“What about me?”

“What about you?” Chester raised his brow. He didn’t expect the boy to want a cut of the profits.

“Cold iron amplifies dark power. Why would you even need it?”

“...It looks cool.”

They had a small argument, and Damien called him selfish. The boy felt that he deserved a portion of the reward, as he worked just as hard during the mission. As the mature adult, Chester responded by calling him names. Eventually they agreed upon splitting the costs to get equipment forged in Welton. Damien wanted to line his mithril sword with cold iron, an idea that Chester didn’t think about previously.

He wondered if he could sell his own share of cold iron in order to get funds for a similar set of plated armor, preferably one that synergized with his own fighting style. Chester realized that his Attainium was more than enough as a weapon; he needed protection above all else. Although he didn't mind getting another batch of Attainium.

When Chester went to sleep that night, he conjured up a library. It was incredibly small, as all the books he read in his life could be fit in a room the size of a closet. He remembered Cerebella's mind library, which looked like it stretched out for kilometers. He expanded it slightly, giving him space to review all the books he read throughout his life. It was messy and disorganized. Comic books from Earth were mixed in with the ones he read in Aetheria.

It was odd seeing a faded Amazing Spiderman Issue 700 beside tattered Aetherian books. Chester mentally commanded the books to be ordered into two groups; Earth and Aetheria, and then further organized them into alphabetic order.

With that in place he searched for any book that would relate to what he wanted to do. Most of the books he had used in reference to learn the native language of Aetheria were children's fairytales. As he grew increasingly fluent he switched to more practical books in order to learn some more about the world.

“Oh, here it is.” Chester took out an old and battered book. It was one that he skimmed through. Dwarven Metals 101 by Buffy Potluck was an educational book that he didn’t show too much interest in. Despite barely reading through, his subconscious seemed to recall every single page that his eyes had read over with significant detail. Although it wasn't perfect, as evidenced by blurred, blank, or even jumbled letters. The man edited them in with his own guesses as to what it said.

He studied the variety of metals, their effects, compatibility, and uses.

Although the likes of starsteel, adamantium, and other mythical metals greatly appealed to him, he knew there was little chance of him ever attaining those materials without spending thousands of gold. He listed out orichalcum as a good candidate, as it was equal to mithril in hardiness but possessed a resistance to magical attacks, similar to adamantium. The downside was that it was twice as heavy as mithril. The magical resistance was only half as effective as adamantium and it wasn't compatible with enchantments.

He noted that adamantium was incredibly heavy. The book described it as one of the hardest materials in existence, perfect for a tanky melee fighter with tons of strength.

Chester remembered the knight he fought was clad in a full set and still had enough speed to chase him down when he wore regular clothing. Even if they managed to enhance the armor to reduce weight, that was still a hundred pounds adding on to their whole body upon doing some rough calculations.

“Hah…If that’s what the police here are made of I guess I need to get stronger.”

He was sure that without his Attainium and the shield artifact, his brains would’ve been splattered when she charged him.

Chester continued to search through his tiny library, but couldn’t find anything relating to elemental magic. He decided to continue working on sharpening his illusion skills, looking forward to the day he received some new armor.