thomasdarkrose
patreon
Vol. 6 - Captivity - Chapter 16
🕑 Added 2019-10-31 22:40:43 +0000 UTCThomas stared blankly as the pristine and perfectly white blade gripped in his tongs. Just how in the hell did the blade turn so white? Also, what about the cool Damascus pattern he wanted to see? He pulled the blade close and examined it with his 'All Seeing Eyes' but couldn't find even a hint of the pattern he wanted to see so badly. It might not be a true Damascus sword, but the pattern always looked cool regardless. He let out a sigh of disappointment and lowered the blade, "Damn."
Clad could tell that Thomas was disappointed for some reason but in his eyes, the gleaming white blade of the sword looked beautiful. It was long, thin and the pure white color gave it a pristine appearance. It looked like the blade had been fashioned out of the purest fresh snow. It even gave off the same chilling feeling of death that one might experience when lost in a whiteout. He could barely take his eyes off of the blade as Thomas held and moved it around.
After examining the blade with his 'All Seeing Eyes' and channeling a little bit of Ice mana he could see just the ice element within the blade of the sword. It was... breathtaking. When forming the embryo in the steel he had seen somewhat large clumps of mana congregating together into shapes reminiscent of snowflakes. Now, he saw a veritable blizzard of small snowflakes within the blade of the sword. They moved slowly and gently like they were caught in a gentle breeze as they swirled within the blade. He honestly wished that he wasn't the only one who could see this sight. If it was visible to regular eyesight the sword would instantly be a hit and sell for whatever price he set it at.
After deactivating his eyes, he carried the blade over to the workbench and set it down. He needed to work on other parts of the sword now. First up was the hemispherical cup that would rest above the quillions. He picked up the excess material that he'd removed from the blade and began reshaping it with his Transmutation. He could have hammered it out but he simply didn't feel like it. He felt that if he put too much effort into the sword it would surpass Uncommon rarity, something he didn't want to do just yet for several reasons. Not the least of which is that he didn't want the pirates to have something that good.
As he was forming the cup he decided to form the quillions at the same time and make it one solid piece. The cup, quillions, and knuckle guard would all work together to protect the hand of the person wielding the rapier. As the cup and quillions started to take shape he decided to skip another step. The knuckle guard started to grow out of one of the quillions as more material was moved and reshaped. He watched the knuckle guard grow and used his own hand as a bit of reference for its length. If it ended up too long he could always reshape it shorter later. He just didn't want to risk it being too short. Once the piece was fully formed he made a thin spur that connected the piece with the remaining material. When reshaping things with his Transmutation he couldn't actually separate them into multiple pieces. Instead, he took the path of just making a really thin piece and snapping it off.
He checked over the piece he made and didn't see any glaring flaws, even with his 'All Seeing Eyes' activated. With the piece done he carried it over to the pure white blade laying on the table. He gently lifted the blade and slid the piece he'd just made onto the tang, sliding it up to the shoulders. The shoulders passed through the hole in the top of the cup with ease. The piece only stopped when the shoulders reached the center of the quillions. He looked everything over and though it didn't fit perfectly he could fix that. With a little use of Transmutation, he tightened up the loose areas and custom fit the piece to the blade. He checked the length of the knuckle guard against the length of the tang, making sure it was shorter.
After checking things over he set everything down and went over to his supplies. He needed wood for the handle next. He didn't really care what kind of wood he used for this part. It was just a simple handle, as long as the wood was solid it would work just fine. He found a nice piece of dark hardwood and cut off what he needed. He used some of the carpenter's tools to remove most of the excess material before taking it to the grinding wheel to finish it off. He only went for a simple ovular handle that would provide a comfortable grip and would twist in the hand of the wielder.
He carried the incomplete handle over to the worktable so he could reference the tang for drilling the hole for the tang into it. He summoned a steel drill bit with his Metal magic and started spinning it rapidly in the air. He really had to hand it to Metal magic, it's utility was amazing. The drill bit quickly chewed through the center of the wooden handle from one end to the other. The tang would go completely through the wood and be peened onto a pommel to hold everything together. He slowly pushed the handle onto the tang, even using a wooden hammer to help it move a bit. He was pushing a square peg into a round hole so it took a little effort.
Once the handle was forced onto the tang he looked over everything and smiled. He only had to adjust the knuckle guard a little bit to have it reach near the bottom of the handle. He gripped the handle and lifted the sword to feel it in his grip. He didn't swing it or anything, it would completely fall apart if he did. He just wanted to feel the handle in his hand with the weight of the blade. It felt good but the balance was still off, he needed to use the weight of the pommel to shift the center of gravity close to the handle. While holding it he used Transmutation to reshape the interior and exterior of the wooden handle. The interior reshaped around the tang for a perfect fit while the exterior became slightly more ergonomic in his hand.
He set the sword back down and picked up what remained of the metal used to forge the blade. There were still a few kilograms left so he had plenty to make the pommel. He, once again, used Transmutation to reshape a section that weighed approximately half a kilogram into a solid sphere with a little spur connecting it to the remaining metal. With a twist, he popped it off and smoothed it out with a quick burst of mana. He brought it over to the sword and reshaped the center of it to open it up and allow the tang to pass through it.
With the pommel in place on a small bit of the tang remained to stick out of the bottom of the sword. Thomas extended his index finger while his mana churned and concentrated at the tip of his finger before it ignited into a small bright blue flame similar to a blowtorch. He didn't even really have to think about it and just did it on instinct. He flames bathed the tip of the tang for a short time before it started to turn orange. He didn't heat it to a critical point, just enough to soften it. He killed the flame on his fingertip and grabbed his hammer. He carefully hit the tip of the tang to mushroom it and use the pressure from it to tighten everything that made up the handle.
With everything assembled, he used Mixing to bind everything together solidly. He picked it up and smiled broadly. The lithe rapier had an excellent balance and felt great in his hand. He gave a few slashes and thrusts causing the blade to hum as it moved swiftly through the air leaving only afterimages in its wake. He felt like he should make a sword like this, only better, for Snowlily once she had a human form. Though he was still disappointed by the lack of the Damascus look, the pure snow-white blade was growing on him.
He carried it over to the grinding wheel and started to grind the final edge onto the sword. The rapier was a single-edged sword with the cutting edge facing the same side of the blade as the knuckle guard. He ground the blade as best he could with the grinding wheel before switching to a sharpening stone. He'd, frankly, skipped this step with the previous weapons but he was enjoying this one so it got some special treatment. Once the blade was sharpened to a razor's edge, he studied it and tried to decide how he should enchant it. There was no specific request so it was all up to him.
As he thought he remembered the sight of the snowflake-like clumps of ice mana within the blade and grinned. After referencing his book of runs he started the enchanting process. He maintained the quality of his carving even while using the impure mana crystals. The rune he carved was related to ice as was the image he had for it. As he carved the rune something new and unexpected happened once again. As the rune slowly came into being the show-white coloring of the blade began to infect the remainder of the sword. The further the rune progressed the more the cup, quillions, handle, and pommel turned white. When he finished the rune the entire sword, the rune included, turned perfectly white.
System Notice: You have created an Uncommon rarity Icebound Rapier. Quality: Excellent. You have gained 773 Magitech Engineering experience. You have gained 386 experience.
Weapon Type: Icebound Rapier
Rarity: Uncommon
Quality: Excellent
Description: When it comes to elegant swords the first one many would think of is the rapier. This rapier uses Icebound Platinum, Ice mana infused steel, and an Ice based enchantment to fully bring out the power of winter. A chilly death awaits those who stand before the wielder of this blade.
+50 Power (Attacks with the Rapier only)
+50 Ice Power (Attacks with the Rapier only)
+When mana is channeled into the sword the temperature immediately around the wielder will drop. The more mana channeled the further the temperature will drop. The wielder is unaffected by this.
After reading the description, Thomas couldn't help smiling. Now he just hoped the enchantment worked exactly as he envisioned. He closed his eyes and held the rapier up in imitation of a proper fencing greeting with the blade vertical and between his eyes. The moment he opened his eyes he activated his 'All Seeing Eyes' to have them flash blue. He was being a bit dramatic but he had to have fun somehow right? As his eyes flashed and glowed blue his mana gushed out of his hand and into the sword. Crystal clear ice erupted out from the cup over his hand and coated the blade completely while the temperature around him plummeted drastically.
The guards watching could feel the temperature in the workshop go down but the effective range around Thomas was only about five meters. Outside of that people would only feel a bit of chill. For Thomas, he felt no change in temperature at all. As he channeled more mana into the sword and the area around him grew colder snow began to fall gently around him. The eyes of the guards widened as they saw the big fluffy white flakes of snow drifting in the air around Thomas. It was a picturesque scene that should have only been visible during winter. Though they thought it was beautiful, they were also confused. Yes, it had become a little colder in the workshop but not that cold.
While Thomas continued to channel mana into the sword and drop the air temperature around him, a curious guard moved closer. Outside of the effective range of the sword, the air only became a little cooler, even right up to the edge of the area. The guard watched as a snowflake fell close to him and subconsciously reached out a hand to catch it. The moment his hand crossed that invisible boundary, he felt like needles were pricking his hands while simultaneously being cut by glass. His hand instantly turned several shades whiter as blood fled his extremity. With a yell, the guard yanked his hand out of the cold zone and stuffed it into his armpit to try and warm it back up, "FUCK!"
Thomas watched the guard nearly freeze his hand off by sticking it within the area of effect of the sword. With how much mana he was pumping into the sword along with the time he'd had to channel it, he was surprised his hand hadn't instantly been frostbitten. Thomas looked around and enjoyed the sight of the snow still falling around him. After a few moments, he stopped channeling his mana into the blade. The cold area around him quickly returned to a normal temperature. However, the ground remained ice cold with the fallen snow still resting on it. It would take more than a little time for the stone floor to return to a warmer temperature.
The Icebound Rapier would be a nasty surprise to anyone who wasn't prepared. He carried it over to the weapon rack and set it down. He really didn't want to give it up but it wasn't meant to be his. Still, it gave him a disgusting idea for the sword breaker that he would be making next.
Comments
Deathburn
Thanks
Joe
Thank you for the chapter!
