After his talk with Mias, Vale left the scholar to his own devices, as Mias was still conversing with Ophelia with his other half.

Vale's destination? Why, that would be Larry and Marvel's workroom Mias had just come from.

As Vale rounded the corner, he watched Marvel scream while falling on its back.

"Baaaduuuuuh!"

Aster began flying in spirals, much like Sizzy used to do.

"Ba-ba-duuh!"

As for why they were acting like this…

They'd just completed the main forge.

Vale overlooked the creations, noticing the intricate details they'd struggled mightily with before had finally been perfected.

Of course, this was because of Mias, who could create interactive forge models and had a better general understanding of the building.

The smoky man had also commissioned them to make a couple more inventions to help the actual forging process.

Mainly, a cross, a ball, and a straight peen, as well as tongs; a barrel to quench; he shaped the anvil into a slightly different form; a cast container; and finally, a sealed stone box with two tiny holes.

While it may seem like the stone tools would break with ease, the stone of the dungeon possessed an odd durability and strength.

Vale's eyes drifted from the celebrating imps to Larry and Dickless Jr.

Dickless Jr. was failing to use his tiny frame to try and peer over Larry's shoulder.

"Badu?"

Larry was too focused and hunched over his work to spare the little guy a peek.

Larry's eyes brightened for a moment as he hammered the last nail on the bellows into place and affixed the nozzle. A creeping smile began to form on his face, but it quickly vanished the moment he looked over at his partners and the flower crown he'd left in the corner of the room he hadn't touched since Dickless and Sizzy's death.

Despite the greatest accomplishment of its life, the imp still seemed displeased.

"Great job, Larry… all of you."

The imps cheered upon their recognition.

"Badduh!"

"Badu!"

"Ba-ba-duh!"

Except Larry.

"The other workers invented some game out there… why don't you take a break and go play it with them?"

The imps who'd been locked away for most of the time, stuck on their tasks, cheered and ran out of the room.

Larry slowly followed.

Vale crouched and put a hand on his head and patted him as he trotted by.

"It'll get better, buddy. I'll do my best so that you guys never have to fight again. So, don't be scared to make friends."

Though Vale would still need them to transport materials from outside to inside…

Larry nodded.

"Baduh."

Vale smiled as he stood.

"That's the spirit."

Larry left, leaving Vale alone in the room. Vale sighed as he looked around.

'Nothing scarier than receiving a promise from me.'

The imps had done a remarkable job given their circumstances…

It was now time to see if there really was a blacksmithing Trait.

Vale returned to the logistical hub and picked a particular worker he'd had his eye on. A large pink one with a squashed face.

The imps didn't really have a sex, to Vale's knowledge at least, but he'd been categorizing the red ones as male and the pink ones as female.

Adhering to that…

"What should your name be…?"

The largeish imp looked at him curiously.

"Ba-duuuhh?"

"How about… Ember. Your name will be Ember."

Ember cheered wildly.

"Baaaa-ddduuh!"

Like most of the new gen imps, Ember had reached Emergent Miner and Nascent Builder. But, she'd also somehow acquired Nascent Artisanry sometime on her own, having played with extra materials lying around when she was on her break.

She seemed like a talented pioneer, the perfect one to unlock smithing.

Next, he called over Ember's best friend as her helper and named her Ruby.

Vale looked over to the Reaper, who was still focused on whatever his other half was up to.

"Mias, can you show Ember and Ruby the basics of smithing?"

Mias shook to life before looking at Vale with an odd smile.

"Of course."

Mias turned and headed into the core. Then, he returned with a broken metal shingle from the knight's armor. He trudged off toward the forge. Vale and the two workers followed.

"Master Vale, not now, but this barrel will need to be filled with water."

Vale nodded as Mias started his 'smithing for dummies' lesson.

"Forging is the shaping of metal by way of force and fire. Though it's not entirely as simple as it looks. There are several nuanced factors you will need to master: Ember, Ruby. Got it?"

Ember and Ruby excitedly jumped.

"Baduh!"

"Without Charcoal at the moment, I cannot provide a true demonstration, but I can walk you through the basic motions…"

Mias continued to give his lesson to Ruby and Ember, and by extension, Vale, who was watching.

He went over folding, lengthening, rounding, riveting, and spreading. As well as what parts of the anvil to use to make a curved blade, and how to make a hole. Then, how to use a whetstone for sharpening, even though they didn't have one yet.

He brushed over the color a metal should have when it's hammer time, and when/how to quench, saying it would be best done practically. A feat they could only do once they'd produced charcoal.

There were many other nuanced tips the scholar mimicked with the metal shingle he had, but eventually he reached his last lesson. How to make charcoal.

To do so, they would have to place a bundle of wood in the sealed stone container and then set it over an open fire until it was charred. Then, cover the air vents and let it cool.

Mias said it would work in theory with the stone container, but it would be better with a metal one. But, they'd only be able to create a metal one once forging was done, so here they were.

But, despite no actual forging being done, just the explanation was enough for Ember, whose beady eyes were ablaze with passion.

Vale's eyes were also wide once he looked over her status page.

♥︎♥︎♥︎

Name: [Ember]

Title: —

Worker Level: [0]

Loyalty: [100/100]

Traits: [Nascent Artisan] [Nascent Builder] [Nascent Blacksmith] [Emergent Miner]

♥︎♥︎♥︎

Sadly, Ruby wasn't able to pick it up on the first go, but learning his guess was right was a great boon!

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