“Now, I know you’re excited, but I’ll be doing most of the actual work here,” Tobias explained to Enzo as the furnace began to heat up. Two garnet blocks of cooled dragonstone sat on the anvil.

“Your job will be to help maintain the heat,” the smith continued. “If we can keep the dragonstone workable for longer, it’ll mean less time spent reheating and more room for errors. We can only reheat the material a few times before it’ll harden completely. At that point, whatever we’ve got is all we’ll have.”

“Got it,” Enzo replied. He sat down before the furnace and began to practice channeling the energy of the room. After a moment, he found his center and felt in full control of the heat in the room, and cycled it all back into the furnace. The fires within glowed brightly.

“We have a bit of an experiment to add to the mix as well,” Tobias added as he pulled a small flask from his pocket. “This is a fire whiskey Cornelia made using some of the residual mana from your fight with Talwen.” He handed the flask to Enzo.

“She thinks it’ll increase your strength and control. Any improvements we can find will help create a more perfect weapon, so we’re going to start off slow and see how it impacts you.”

“Is that why you wanted me to eat something? To settle my stomach?” asked Enzo.

Tobias smirked. “That and we’ll be working nonstop through the day today.”

Enzo returned the smirk and popped the cap off of the flask.

“Let’s get started then.”

===========================================

The work was exhausting, even with the fire whiskey. In the end, Tobias was right. The work had taken from before dawn to long after the sun had set and both men were drenched in sweat from the long hours in the sweltering workshop.

Taking a couple swigs of the fire whiskey every few hours kept Enzo’s energy up throughout the day and allowed him to maintain a substantially higher level of control and power. Throughout the process, Enzo had been required to not only maintain as much heat as possible but add his dragonbreath to the combination.

At first, controlling the fire and keeping from burning the room down was tricky, but the power of the fire whiskey helped him keep things under control. By the end of the day, Enzo had mastered the trick and could release a small jet of superheated mana into precise spots on command. In turn, Tobias had been able to create a true masterpiece.

Even the old smith was impressed with the work. The hammer head was larger than their previous practice weapon but retained a similar shape. Despite the size difference, the hammer head was lighter than his practice hammer.

Dark crimson red in its unpowered state, the head had a flat facing with two channels carved into an ‘X’. The reverse was sharpened into a wicked curved spike, just longer than Enzo’s hand. The central mass of the weapon was where the majority of their work had been focused, however. Combining the two bars into one seamless chunk had been the focus of most of the morning. Periodically Tobias would spot a flaw and require a concentrated blast of dragonfire to the spot to create a perfect weld.

Once the main mass was solidified and the majority of the shape was established, Tobias set to work creating his art. The old smith used a litany of ever-smaller chisels and hammer blows to carve an intricate web of lines throughout the head of the hammer. In the center, a circular crest dominated the space. The image of an erupting volcano was centered in the circle, with detailed lava streams flowing down from the explosion at the top of the mountain.

As it neared completion, Tobias melted a small vat of gold and poured the expensive metal into the inlaid decoration. A little gift, he called it, Enzo thought as he stared at the masterpiece.

The result of their efforts was a dark red hammer head that caught the light as it moved through the air. The light of the fire reflected beautifully through the hardening dragonstone and cast the room in an ominous red light. The pair stared into the stone for a long moment, taking in the beauty of what they’d created.

“This truly is a masterpiece,” Tobias sighed, breaking the silence. The long hours of intense focus and exertion were finally catching up with the old smith.

“It really is. I’m honored to have been a part of its creation and I can’t wait to learn to use it,” Enzo replied, exhausted. He fished around for the flask and took another swig but found it to be empty.

“Looks like this part of the day was a success as well,” the younger man continued. He glanced over at Tobias, and passed the bottle over. “Hope you’ve got some more of that hidden away somewhere.”

I’d drink it on its own, even without the Affinity boost. Now that we’re finally resting, I’m starting to feel the alcohol though.

“It was quite effective. Cornelia only gave me the one flask,” said Tobias. “I know she has more though, or she wouldn’t have allowed us to run the test at all. She’s just wary of letting go of such a destructive thing before you’re ready.”

“I’d say I did pretty well with a limited exposure today,” Enzo replied through a yawn. “How long will it be before she trusts me?”

“She may never trust you,” Tobias said. The old smith carefully placed the hammer head on the cooling rack near the furnace and motioned for Enzo to follow him into the rest of the house.

“I think you’ve earned a level of trust, however. You have a long way to go, but without a proper teacher, you’ll never get there,” continued Tobias. “Now that the hard part is finished, I think it’s time you spent some evenings in Cornelia’s enchanted garden and practiced with a master of mana control.”

“Do you think she’ll actually teach me?” Enzo asked. The world refused to remain still, but he tried to keep his balance.

“I think at a minimum, we can talk her into giving you a safe place to practice,” Tobias replied. He patted the young man on the shoulder and smiled an exhausted smile.

“Well done today, son. Go home and get some rest, I’ll begin working on a handle fit for a hammer like this over the next few days while the hammer absorbs its initial energy from the forge. We’ll talk more about everything else after a long night’s rest.”

Enzo nodded and staggered over to the door. The release of the tension of the day, combined with the constant drinking, proved to overwhelm the young man. He collapsed into a chair by the door and was immediately unconscious.

Tobias draped a blanket over the sleeping young man and trudged off to bed himself.