Ruby says "Demon? What is a demon? And how do you know?"

"A demon in my world was a mythological being of pure evil. They are immensely powerful and can only be defeated by the greatest of weapons. And I know because I just got a quest to kill it."

Ruby says "Kill it? You mean it's not dead?!"

Right then we both notice the eyes of the creature turn in our direction. Without discussing it we both quickly step backwards around the rock pile until we are no longer in sight of the ice.

Ruby says "You want to kill that?"

"Want to? No, but I need to. That corpse at its feet is probably the archmage."

Ruby says "Do you think we can kill it?"

"No, not without some preparations."

Ruby says "Like what?"

"I am going to have to forge a sword that is capable of killing it."

Ruby says "Can you?"

"Maybe, if I use the Armatite."

Ruby says "You don't have enough mana for that."

"Not if I just use my own, but if I disenchant all those magic weapons we found in the armory I might have enough."

Ruby says "Well, I will help however I can. I will be with you no matter what we face."

"Thank you, Ruby! Let's head back and I will get started. I'm taking the fast way back so you might want to return to the amulet."

Ruby nods and zips into the amulet, and once she is safely tucked away I jump into the river. Even with my armor and weapons weighing me down it is fairly easy to swim along with the current. The river carries me swiftly all the way to the lake, then I swim across the lake and climb out next to the waterfall.

I don't want to go over the waterfall and maybe get hurt so I jump down next to the pond then jump into the river again and ride it down to my camp. I climb out of the river at camp cold but not too tired, I start up the fire and strip my armor and weapons off, then I use the cleansing stone to dry myself. That done, I sit down by the fire and start cooking up some more beast steaks.

'Ruby, care to join me for dinner?'

Ruby quickly comes out of the amulet and takes human form, she immediately sees the steaks and smiles.

Ruby says "I would be happy to!"

We sit down together by the fire and enjoy our meal of beast steaks and mushrooms. As I eat I plan out what I need to accomplish and what type of sword I want to try and make.

"You should probably go back to resting, I will need your help later but first I've got some boring stuff to do."

Ruby says "Okay, whatever you say master." and smiles before disappearing into the amulet.

I grumble a little at her as I get up and make my way to the forge room. I grab the two bars of Armatite and the crucible and set them down near the bench. Then I grab one of the pikes and lay it across my lap as I sit down to meditate, I position it so the head is over the crucible and lay one hand on the Armatite bar that is half gold. I quickly enter the inner world and turn my focus to the pike and start unraveling the mana set into it.

When I open my eyes the head of the pike has turned to steel dust and fallen into the crucible and the gold on the bar has grown a little. I repeat this eight more times with the remaining pikes, then I smelt the dust into a couple of ingots and move on to the swords. By the time I have disenchanted five of the swords the first Armatite bar is completely golden and won't accept anymore mana.

*DING*

Congratulations! Skill Disenchanting has progressed to level 4!

Disenchanting

Level 4

Int +8 Wis +8 Mana +40

You can remove an enchantment and recover 15% of the mana.

*DING*

Congratulations! You have gained a new ability!

Superior Wisdom gained for having Wisdom Stat over 50!

Superior Wisdom

Wisdom Stat added to mana.

I put the completed bar aside and begin working on the second bar. It takes all the remaining weapons and a couple of the suits of armor to fill the second bar. I also make twenty-three steel ingots during the process, which is good because I want to practice crafting the sword out of steel before I try with the Armatite.

Before that though I want to make some new hammers specifically for folding. So I take a couple of the ingots and set about forging, it takes me a few tries to get the hammers just right. Now everything is ready for the forging, but I want to experiment with something so I run back to camp and dig out the mortar and pestle I got ages ago from the goblins. I use it to grind the leftover crystal pieces from making Ruby's swords.

I keep at it until they are reduced to a fine powder, as I hoped even the individual grains give off a glow meaning they contain mana. I plan to sprinkle the powder onto the steel during the folding to see what happens. Now that everything is ready I summon Ruby.

Ruby comes out and takes her human form, the first thing she notices is the two golden bars of Armatite ore. She picks one up and turns it this way and that admiring it.

Ruby says "Wow, you really filled it with mana!"

"Yeah, it took all of the weapons and almost half the armor."

Ruby says "So, how can I help?"

"What I need you to do other than powering the forge is maintain the temperature of the metal while I work on it."

Ruby says "Okay, I should be able to do that."

"It's okay, we are going to do a few practice runs with steel first so any mistakes won't be a problem."

Ruby says "Okay! I'm ready."

So I start forging my first nodachi, it almost immediately goes wrong as the metal melts as I am trying to hammer it into shape.

Ruby says "Sorry! A little too hot I guess."

"It's okay, this is why we are practicing."

I smile at her so she knows I am not mad and start over. It takes us four tries before I manage to forge the first nodachi.

*DING*

Congratulations! Skill Expert Blacksmith has progressed to level 13!

Expert Blacksmith

Level 13

Str +16 Fire Resist +16

You can craft expert level metal items.

Now that we have the technique down I repeat the process and make another, but this time each time I fold the metal I sprinkle the crystal powder along the blade before it is folded.

The second one comes out higher quality and enchantable which is even better than I had hoped. Now we are ready for the real thing I think, so I get the two Armatite bars and put them in the forge.

"Okay, Ruby, power up the forge please, then we do everything else the same way."

Ruby says "Yes, master! Here we go!"

The forge fires turn blue as Ruby powers it up and the two bars start glowing quickly. I watch closely as the colors change as the metal heats up, even though my face feels like it is getting a sunburn. Once I think it is the right color I use the tongs to pull the bars out and start hammering them together and flattening them out.

Then it goes back into the forge to make sure it melts together properly. After a few minutes I pull it out and start shaping the metal into the length and shape I want, I sprinkle the entire thing with powder and then fold it. Ruby is concentrating totally to keep the temperature just right so I don't have to stop and reheat the metal.

I manage to fold it ten times before I run out of the crystal powder, so I finish the last fold and finish shaping the blade. Then I quickly quench the blade and take a look at it to check for flaws, it is beautiful and as near perfect as I can imagine.

Ruby says "It is a beautiful blade, but that was exhausting, I need to rest."

"Go ahead. Thank you for your help and sleep well."

Ruby says "Try to remember to eat and rest."

I don't really hear Ruby as I am already looking around trying to decide what to make the hilt and sheath out of. This is when I notice something odd. Earlier I piled all the wooden shafts in a pile against the wall, but all that is there now is the branch from the tree.

Did it absorb them? I walk over and pick it up, it feels heavier than I remember, but it is the perfect length to make a hilt and sheath out of it. So I sit down with my woodcarving tools and start work, it goes so smoothly that I can't help but think the wood is helping me shape it.

*DING*

Congratulations! Skill Woodworking has progressed to level 4!

Woodworking

Level 4

Agi +4

You can make tools or structures from wood.

Once the hilt is done I attach it to the blade and activate observe.

*MAGIC ITEM*

Folded Armatite Nodachi

Hit +10 Damage +25

Durability 150/150

Enchantable: Yes Grade: Supreme

Supreme grade? That should be the highest possible! Awesome! Now I just hope my plan for enchanting it works out as well as the crafting did.