NOVEL NEXT Chapter 22: Chapter 18: A Day of Forging
Well I brought a new chapter, I hope you enjoy it, leave comments and power stones
After my battle with the pufferfish monster concluded, I headed to the junkyard where I had my forge. I ignited the forge with my characteristic silver flame, and it wasn't long before the temperature reached the optimal point. I gradually added different metals and materials, starting with iron, a bit of nickel, silicon, and finally a minuscule amount of carbon.
The metals slowly fused together under a familiar platinum glow. Once the metal was red-hot, I used telekinesis to manipulate it gently while still warm but not overly so, beginning to hammer it slowly yet steadily. I applied the necessary force to shape it, and with a spell, I kept the metal hot for greater malleability. The shape it began to take was that of a new war hammer.
The head of the hammer is rectangular and quite robust, featuring a three-dimensional texture reminiscent of stepped spikes. At the center of the head are certain golden reliefs that appear decorative at first glance; however, upon closer inspection, they seemed to conceal a small hidden cap within the design. Each end of the head has sharp points, giving it a halberd-like appearance. The handle is nearly three meters long and includes a pair of decorative sections that enhance grip. There is a final conical tip at the base of the hammer, allowing it to function as a spear if the enemy is close enough.
That was merely the visible aspect; inside the hammer, there are small pathways just a few micrometers wide, resembling veins. "This is quite good," I remarked, examining the still-hot hammer in my hands, scrutinizing it with both my sight and psychic powers to capture as many details as possible.
The truth is, I needed a new hammer, and I wanted to test a theory that could be useful until I could create permanent runes. First, I should mention that psychic power can pass through nearly all existing materials without issue, with very few exceptions, such as the black pylons of the Necrons. Having said that, there are materials through which psychic power moves more easily, such as copper, gold, silver, platinum, some crystals, and most biological materials like flesh or plant matter.
Among those materials, the easiest to obtain are plant matter, flesh, and copper. I know that copper is the only one that will not deteriorate within a couple of hours. Yes, I can make the flesh and plant matter last longer, but that would render the hammer fragile and difficult to maintain.
I placed the hammer in oil to finish tempering it and waited for it to cool. While the hammer rested, I placed copper in the forge and infused it with psychic power, focused solely on the intention of making it "permanent." This was to ensure that when I infused psychic power into the hammer, the enhancement would last longer without requiring a constant supply of energy or that the enchantment would be directly permanent. If the latter were true, I could use it as a base for runes; otherwise, it would still be an enhancement.
The copper melted rapidly in the forge's container, but I did not use it immediately; I continued to focus my intention into the psychic power while the copper burned. Hours passed, and I continued infusing the psychic power. The task is incredibly monotonous, but I needed to determine if this would work or see any sign of success.
Daylight slowly faded, and the stars became visible in the sky. I observed as the copper took on a distinct, somewhat whitish hue while still retaining its original appearance. In my mind, I concluded that the color had changed, but my eyes saw the same original color of copper. "So, the changes a material undergoes when exposed to formless power over a moderately prolonged period are only visible through unconventional senses," was the first conclusion that came to mind, although another thought crossed my mind: "Or it could be that the change isn't significant enough to be observed by conventional senses." This was certainly something to note for further research.
Then a small notebook floated in the air alongside a pen. Observing the pages, I could see small notes on things I had previously researched. The open notebook stopped on a page titled: "Things to Investigate/Do." There were several items written on that page: How to make psychic power stable without a constant supply?, Biological differences between Nora, the humans of this world, and me (Nora's research is pending), How to create permanent runes (linked to the first investigation), Investigate how gems function (what source or form they derive energy from), How to attain eternal life (only accomplished in the aspect of eternal youth; there are still several factors missing for true immortality), Use of the formula p*i+k+u=spell (creation of useful spells and a subsystem or magic system for others to learn; for now, only the spells until I can optimize energy use to avoid accidentally breaking someone's soul just by naming a spell; take precautions to ensure this cannot be used against me), Improve body design (completed but still improvable), Investigate light (I need to start almost from scratch due to the level of knowledge in this world), Research the Schrödinger cat phenomenon (to gain control over probabilities or outcomes), Improve alchemy to transform any material into another without issues.
Then the pen moved and began to write: "Investigate the effects of prolonged exposure of materials to psychic power."
With that finished, I took the new war hammer and removed its "cap." With telekinesis, I poured the copper affected by formless energy; the process took no more than a few seconds to complete. I put the cap back on and, with a simple temperature spell, made the copper harden. The hammer shone with a platinum light for a few seconds until it dimmed almost completely.
"Time to see if I didn't lose an entire day," I said as I moved a bit of psychic power into the hammer without cutting the flow. It took a moment for that power to settle, but there it was, stable and malleable. Now infused with energy, small copper-colored "veins" appeared on the hammer; those were the conduits where I had put the copper, obviously.
"Let's see the effects if I put intention into the psychic power," I said, and to keep it simple, I just imbued it with the concept of "durability." "So far, it's a success," I said as I held the hammer in my hand and struck it with my telekinesis at a small point to make it break. The hammer easily withstood up to seven tons of weight without issue; from there, I slowly increased the weight, but it seemed to start affecting it, so I stopped.
"Alright, the material holds as long as it has a constant flow; now let's try the same amount of energy but cutting the flow," I spoke aloud. The small flow of energy I had between the hammer and me slowly cut off. Then the light from the veins dimmed so much that they were barely visible. To my surprise, it was a half-success; it maintained durability for two minutes and thirty-seven seconds.
"Mm, the power didn't fade immediately but was used slowly as fuel. When it ran out, it lost the effects it had," I said while jotting that information down in my small notebook. "Alright, let's see what happens if I use more than one concept," I said, adding the same concept of "durability" and another of "acceleration." The hammer lit up, but only accepted the first concept; the second was rejected, both with and without the flow of energy.
"A half-success, but this works. If I only put in a small portion, it lasts over two and a half minutes. If I used a large amount of energy, it could last eight or nine hours, and when I cut the flow, I could use my energy for something else in battle, which is good considering the longest battle I've had lasted only about eight minutes," I thought aloud.
"Now the real test: the runes." First, I created a rune that would only make the hammer more durable, just to compare effects. I didn't place it immediately; instead, I held it in the air and slowly placed it into the hammer's circuits/veins. The first thing is that it seemed to work for a few minutes and was indeed more effective than the previous method. I used all my telekinetic power to apply pressure, but it still wasn't enough to make a dent, which means it could hold at least fifteen tons. The problem arose when the circuits began to illuminate too much; just to be safe, I moved the hammer about twenty meters away from me.
What happened was not that the object contracted upon itself like with the previous runes, nor did the effect simply vanish, but rather the light grew brighter along with the energy radiating from the hammer, which was now much greater than that produced by my soul. The energy continued to rise until it peaked; the hammer could only be seen as a white hologram due to the intense light it was radiating. Then it simply began to crack until it exploded in a beam of omnidirectional light.
"Shit," I said as I used my telekinesis to form a shield and move away from the area. There was no sound of an explosion or anything similar, just a bright light that lasted a few seconds. When I could open my eyes, where the hammer had been, there was only a puddle of molten metal. Knowing this would attract everyone's attention, I destroyed my forge and left the junkyard. Just as I was about to exit, I found a Garnet with a stoic expression waiting for me at the exit.