Heavy Metal [ A Monster Evolution LitRPG ]

Chapter 57 – Iron Crafting

"Hm..."

"Something wrong?"

"Well... it's not as easy as I thought it would be..."

"It takes time to master the craft. You're already doing better than most apprentices."

Rusty grumbled in a manner similar to a human while examining the large sword he had made. It was on the larger side but not quite as massive as the one the dungeon boss had used. He had gained some respect for his last enemy and wondered if he could emulate that power. His new body might not have the weight to wield a blade of such colossal size, but a regular greatsword like this was still feasible.

"I know... Do you think I will have more time to practice?"

"That's plausible. If my memory is correct, the Soul Forge was growing with me to a certain extent."

Alexander confirmed Rusty's theory, but he wouldn't know for sure until this space threw him out. Previously he had been given enough time to forge many bronze weaponry and other pieces. He needed to do the same with the iron weapons and remake his arsenal like before. This was troubling as creating weapons through the use of molds was much simpler and quicker. However, through his work he noticed his smithing skills going up once more. 

Just like with his battle skills, it was probable that these would turn into better versions once leveled past the ninth level. There was also one new skill that presented itself to him, one that increased his proficiency with the main blacksmithing tool.

‘I wonder if blacksmiths gain any active skills?’

Within this space, he was allowed to gain these skills but he wasn’t sure on how he was acquiring them. This one just popped up during one of his crafting attempts just as he was getting used to the new smithing methods. Some of the others he gained through reading books and none of them were gained through leveling.

‘Well, I need to get back to work!’

Rusty continued his work, with Gleam and her grayed status constantly on his mind. He had started his journey with a drive to become stronger and combat powerful foes. Although his focus had temporarily shifted, he still knew that to complete this rescue mission, he needed to gain more power. The reason might have changed, but he was still walking a similar path.

As the days went by, his skills continued to improve. He crafted more swords, axes, and even some defensive gear like shields and armor plates. The forge's endless supply of iron allowed him to experiment and learn without fear of running out of materials. Alexander provided constant guidance, sharing his knowledge from his past life as an adventurer.

They discussed different weapon designs, the balance between weight and durability, and the intricacies of each weapon type. Rusty absorbed all this information, applying it to his creations and making steady progress. However, at best, Rusty was only able to produce uncommon weaponry of slightly above intermediate rating.

“This is probably the best I can do for now…”

He had created knives, short swords, longswords, axes, maces, and even a bow for iron-tipped arrows. This iron halberd was the last main weapon type he desired, but it was not the end of his crafting spree. While he had all the weapons, smithing wasn’t only about offense but also about defense. Ever since he saw adventurers with their unique armored plates, he started wondering if he could adjust his body in some way to make it even stronger.

“What do you think?”

“Not bad. Are you going to try to adjust your armor now?”

Rusty nodded at the question posed by his smithing coach. Alexander had stayed with him the entire time, and the two were starting to form a bond. Aburdon sometimes peeked in to comment on their work and complain about how bored he was. He had been the one that brought up the possession skill and to make this plan work, some changes to his body needed to be made, or at least some other parts.

“It’s probably best to keep the base of your body as it is. With your current skills, I’m not sure if you can make it any better.”

“You're probably right, Alexander…”

Rusty looked over a piece of armor plating he had created while training. It was a wrist protector, similar to the ones he had seen some adventurers using. They attached it to their bodies with leather straps and wore thicker clothing underneath. He did not have the luxury of using such things, as he needed his whole body to stay connected in some way.

“I don’t think placing layers above my original body will work too well…”

“Probably not. With one quick look, they would notice that you are a monster…”

Rusty’s base body wasn’t quite the same as the full plate armor the adventurers used. There were some gaps in the joints that revealed the emptiness inside. To alleviate this problem, he could try riveting some leather on the inside to mimic human clothes, but still, the shape wasn’t quite the same. Something built from the ground up needed to be made if he hoped to fool them.

“Well, how about you use the new storage?”

“Ah, there’s that. I almost forgot!”

The Soul Forge had slightly expanded, and one of the new features was the extensive storage. Everything that he had been storing from the outside ended up in this space, and it was quite close to the crafting chamber. He just needed to take a few steps and open the door.

“How is this place so big…”

What greeted him was a vast empty space that looked like a storage hangar. There were rows of wide wooden shelves with various pieces of equipment he had previously gathered on his adventurers. All the parts he had taken from the other bronze living armors and iron virants were here. Among them were also pieces he took from varius adventurers and these were the ones he was focused on.

“I’ll just take them all… there aren’t that many in here…”

The place was vast and there was a lot of space between the shelves. To help him gather all of the equipment he needed, there was something that Alexander called a trolley. It had small wheels on the bottom and a large wooden box on top. Rusty began collecting various pieces of armor and equipment from the storage room, filling the trolley with items he thought might be useful for his plan. He picked out chest plates, gauntlets, greaves, and helmets, all in various states and of varying alloys. Alexander hovered right next to him, giving him some pointers at the better choices.

“That chest plate looks like it could fit well with your current frame. And those gauntlets, the fingers seem similar and don’t require any leather gloves underneath.”

Alexander had a lot better eye for this sort of thing and it allowed him to save many hours of going through all the junk that he had gathered. In his old life he was a hero who lived among the people of many intelligent races, if there was one person that could help him blend in, then it was him. However, his counterpart wasn’t without a use as soon enough he would present his own skills to the forefront.

“Think that should be enough.”

“I think so too, with all of these I’m sure we can figure something out.”

Rusty took the cart with him into the crafting chamber and started placing the various parts on the workbench. They were laid out into a humanoid pattern on the main one and he attempted to figure out the best combination. From what he could tell, the adventurers didn’t always present themselves in uniform armor so it didn’t need to be fully symmetrical.

“This could take a while, I’m not even sure what to begin with…”

“I knew you two would end up like this, you have been looking at those parts for hours now.”

“What do you want Aburdon, if you don’t have any advice to offer, then just leave us to our work.”

Alexander responded in an annoyed tone but this didn’t stop the dark orb from floating forward. Rusty wasn’t sure but it seemed that the demon king had some advice to offer and usually, he was right about many things.

“Do you know of a better way?”

“Of course I do~”

“Hah, what do you know about crafting?”

“It’s true, I’m not much of a blacksmith, to be frank it was always below me to even attempt such a thing… but! That doesn’t mean that I don’t know a thing or two about the process! You two are missing something and that something is a plan!”

“A plan?”

“Indeed, now come with me for a moment Rusty, you won’t regret it. This I promise you as the former king of all demons!”
Aburdon made some strong claims so Rusty was obviously intrigued. He looked towards Alexander but the ball of white light was unsure of what this was about.

“This is me shrugging, might as well see what that idiot wants, sometimes he brings up good points.”

Without waiting long they left towards the library where the demon king resided. This place had also gone through a change. Next to the study area where the reading desk was, now stood a large board. Once they were there, it was clear what Aburdon was getting at.

“Is that a drawing of a piece of armor?”

“Do you like it? I was quite the painter in my previous life, they used to call me… Hm, what did they call me?”

The dark ball of light was actually holding a very thin paintbrush with which a drawing was made. The drawing depicted a full suit of armor, complete with measurements, giving it an air of precision that only a master craftsman could achieve. Aburdon's orb floated nearby, almost smugly.

“This is incredible. Did you really make this?”

“Of course, The artistry of a demon lord is not limited to destruction and chaos, you know~”

Rusty had to admit and wondered if the demon king wasn’t a master craftsman in his past life just like the hero.

“It looks a bit rough around the edges… was this the first time for you to make a schematic?”

Before Rusty could continue with his praises, Alexander floated forward to scrutinize the measurements. He could tell that there were a few errors here and there. He also noticed that some of the books containing the knowledge of crafting had been used. It seemed that while Alexander and Rusty were busty crafting weapons, he was studying the ways of making proper schematics and blueprints.

“First time or not, it gets the job done.”

Aburdon snapped back in annoyance. It was clear that he wasn’t an expert at this craft yet but to bring this much to paper in such a short time was commendable.

"I’ve provided a foundational blueprint. Now, you need to help me refine it and ensure it fits Rusty's needs."

Alexander nodded thoughtfully, floating closer to examine the details.

“It’s a good start, but it does need some refinement but first… lets go look through the existing parts first…”

Soon the group of three were going back and forth between the two chambers while trying to figure out the correct fit for Rusty. He was able to exchange his body for existing parts but not everything fit well. Sometimes the pieces would produce giant holes within his armor which would give away his identity. They needed to modify the parts to align better with his frame. Over time, the process turned into a collaboration.

Rusty stood in the center of the crafting chamber, surrounded by various pieces of armor and equipment. Aburdon floated nearby, overseeing the operation while Alexander instructed the new blacksmith on how to handle his new custom made iron chassis.

“This chest plate, if we modify the side it will look like they are fitted through straps just like on a normal person. A lot of people use gambeson, luckily Rusty managed to get some from the last adventurer group…”

Aburdon, not one to be left out, chimed in with suggestions for making the armor not just functional but intimidating.

“Don’t forget the aesthetics! A few spikes here, a menacing helmet design – it’ll help you blend in as a formidable adventurer!”

“What are you babbling about? Just make it have a simplistic design if it looks too eccentric, they will think that something is wrong.”

Alexander protested the idea as adventurers had a keen eye for such things. People with strange-looking armor were looked down on. The adventurers could assume that he was a noble with a strange hobby, some would make him into a target. People with expensive-looking armor were many times targeted for robbery.

After multiple hours that turned into days of adjustments, modifications, and a bit of trial and error, Rusty’s new armor began to take shape. It was a mix of salvaged and newly forged pieces, each adjusted to fit his unique frame.

One of the hardest parts to create would have been his gauntlets but everyone here decided that he could skip this step. His default hands were fine and went as one component together with the vambrace. What he needed to create was the elbow joint along with the rerebrace that connected to the pauldron. These parts weren’t as difficult to shape into and he soon got to hammering.

As Rusty continued to hammer away, the advancements in his skills became apparent. The metallic clang of his hammer striking the iron was rhythmic and precise, a testament to his growing expertise. The transformation of his armor proceeded methodically, piece by piece and soon his skills had advanced past their previous threshold.

Rusty marveled at the notifications. His hard work was paying off. With the advanced skills, his confidence grew, and he knew he was on the right path. More and more of the parts had been made, his hammer shaping them all into his future shell. Once it was all complete, then he was free to leave but perhaps there was still time to perform some upgrades to his original monster body that was hovering in the middle of the Soul Forge, waiting for his essence to flow inside…