Even as the wind whipped around the Smith furiously, the creature approached at a serene pace, completely unbothered by the wind. It was roughly two feet tall and slightly less than that wide, floating at about eye-level, but James could barely make it out against the white-out backdrop. He took a swing with his Green Iron War Hammer, but misjudged the distance in the snowstorm, as he felt no collision from his swing.

Or did he? Because his hammer now felt heavier, and when he glanced at the head of the hammer, he noticed it was now covered in a layer of frost.

He moved to bring his shield up to bear but was too late. The creature was now closer than he thought, and it glided through him as though he wasn't even there. Frost spread across his breastplate, and James felt a deep chill go through his bones.

Immediately he increased the mana he was feeding into his heating strips to counteract the chill, and he turned slowly, pushing through the snow, to keep track of the specter. This time, he got his shield up in time, and the specter bounced off his shield, still moving slowly, and he felt the drain on his mana as [Reflect] activated.

The drain on his mana was now significant, between his shield and how hot he was running his heating strips in an attempt to warm up.

The specter made as if to approach again, but stopped and started moving to the side, trying to keep its distance from the shield by circling around to reach James again. With his right hand, James stowed away the frost-heavy Green Iron War Hammer and withdrew his Earth War Hammer from the magic bag.

He lowered his shield and let the specter approach again, hitting it with a well-timed [Hammer Strike], but once again the hammer passed right through the specter, accumulating a layer of frost and ice as it went. Quickly he raised his shield, and the specter was once again knocked back by the [Reflect].

Despite the cold and the chill inflicted on him by the specter, James' mind was sharp. [Hammer Strikes] were proving ineffective. [Reflect] was keeping the monster at bay, but he had no way to damage it, and keeping track of where the monster even was required all his focus in the low visibility.

Several things then happened at the same time.

Another two ice specters appeared in the corner of James' eye.

He stowed his Earth War Hammer back in the bag.

He wished that he had another war hammer, one that would work on these creatures.

And his hand, in the magic bag, brushed against the other war hammer that he had produced well over a month ago.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

The un-enchanted Red Iron War Hammer.

He withdrew the hammer and it gave him pause. He had half been thinking to just take back out the Green Iron War Hammer and start his retreat, and he nearly put this hammer back, but then he mentally shrugged. He already had seen the other hammer fail to have any effect, so he would probably be relying on his shield as he made his retreat.

For he had already made up his mind to retreat. James remembered his Brawler mother's wisdom and had no intention of fighting a losing battle in such a dangerous bar- er, environment. Better to retreat to more advantageous ground.

So as the first specter approached once again, James took a swipe at it with his Red Iron War Hammer as he simultaneously raised his shield towards the new approaching specters and turned back towards the entrance, in the direction of the chain stretching into the distance…

He felt it connect. The hammer strike still passed through the specter, but he felt just a hint of resistance, and the specter stopped in place.

James was already on the move, quickly moving through the path he had cut through the snow before, even as it was rapidly refilling with fresh snow stirred up by the chaotic wind.

But he knew he had felt it.

He also felt another two dips in his mana as his shield reflected the two approaching specters, and he looked down at his hammer and noticed only the faintest trace of frost on it.

He quickly outpaced the specters and soon lost sight of them. Visibility improved slightly, and he coiled up the chain as he went, soon enough finding the exit back out to the lake area. The temperature rose and he was able to reduce most of the heating strips to the minimum, although he still felt chilled at his core.

Cautiously he exited the cave, mindful of any monsters that might have shown up or attacks from the lake, but all was quiet.

He quickly checked his chain, and found that he had only advanced about a hundred yards into the passage before he encountered the specters. And they hadn't followed him out of the snowy passage, either. Perhaps they were less persistent than the bat monsters had been on the upper floor.

The Smith once again laid out his chain in loops and untied it from his waist, and then set down four warding stakes to create a rectangular ward to protect the chain from being disturbed by any monsters that might wander by.

And with that, he returned to his camp.

By this point his chill was mostly gone, but he still warmed up some water and drank it, which did the trick and dispelled it for good. He inspected his armor and heating strips and found that everything was still in good condition, even when he had increased the output on his heating strips: the cold environment had negated any damage to the strips from running them at full capacity.

Finally, the Smith turned his attention to his Red Iron War Hammer. It had been a real chore to forge, from smelting the ingots at incredibly high temperatures to having to constantly reheat the metal as he forged it one hammer strike at a time. He knew what he needed to do.

He was dreading the process of etching the enchantment pattern into the hammer, but he was worried for nothing. Actually etching the metal was no more difficult than etching any of the other metals he had worked with so far, and the process went smoothly, though he did have to adjust the enchantment pattern for the shape of the hammer head.

With a deft hand he carved the patterns, ground a fire magic stone to fine dust, and applied the dust to the patterns. He prepared a bowl of Aqua Magia, finding the process much easier than it had been in the past, perhaps because he was more accustomed to using his mana.

[Enchanter] Class Skill [Aqua Magia] has reached level 3.

He dipped his brush in the Aqua Magia and applied it with firm, steady strokes, and when the enchantment was ready, raised his hands over the hammer and pushed with his magic.

It was over in the space of a breath.

The Enchanter appraised.

[Appraisal]: Red Iron War Hammer, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 15/15, Enchantment: Heated Blade (7)

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.