Dominic and Terry talked for hours about the trials and tribulations of being a small-town farmer, and Dominic even found time to fix a few of his tools while the sword steel was refined and folded in preparation to make a new blade.
Wiz was huge, over 190cm tall, though neither of his parents were particularly large people, so it would be best to craft him a longer and wider blade than the original sword had been. It would fit his stature better, and even if he fought with a shield, it would still be comfortable to wield one-handed.
Terry looked concerned as Dominic pounded out the rough shape of the blade, but as it began to take shape, he looked more impressed than any customer that Dominic had dealt with in the past. So far, the weapon wasn't even magical, but he was still glowing with joy that the damaged blade would be repaired to such a standard.
Wiz and Bella came in just as Dominic was starting to hammer the shape of the grip, and gasped in shock at the sight in front of them.
"You didn't say that you were a weapon smith." Bella gasped.
"I'm not. I'm a tool smith. I just happen to know a few things about weapons for those who know not to mention it again."
"Dad said that you needed a monster core to try to reactivate the magic in the steel. Does it matter what it came from?" Wiz asked.
"Well, there are no guarantees that it will work, so don't go wasting something you need, but I think I can get some magic out of this blade." Dominic agreed.
There was no need to tell them that he knew a forge rune to guarantee that he would get an effect, and he could always chase them out of the forge as he worked. It would be excellent practice for his trade skill core, and it would buy a lot of goodwill from the big Crusader.
[You know you have Dragon Fire] a voice whispered in his head.
Dominic tried to ignore it, so he wasn't distracted from his work.
[You don't have to show them the forge rune if you use Dragon Fire] The voice insisted.
[And how would that help?] Dominic snarkily replied to the voice, wondering if he was going insane.
[Dragon Fire has magic. Use it in place of the rune.] The voice insisted.
[Fine, but if this fails, it's on you.]
How he would hold a voice in his head liable for his failure was a mystery, even to himself. But it had seemed like the right thing to say.
While Dominic was talking to himself, or rather the voices in his head, Wiz had taken out a Goblin Shaman Core and placed it by the forge.
"Will that do?" He asked.
"It will be perfect. Now, I just need to grind it while this heats, and we will be ready to start. The process is a bit unique, and I'm not sure that anyone else would do it this way, but it should awaken some magic in the steel." Dominic offered, just in case the process didn't work.
"Even if it's not a magical weapon, I can already tell that the blade is much more durable than the original ever was. Goblin dropped blades tend to be trash for durability, even if they have decent magic." Wiz replied.
With the core ground, Dominic pulled the blade from the forge and sprinkled the dust over both sides of the blade, letting the heat stick it to the surface, then stepped outside and unleashed [Dragon Flame] on the blade, lighting it up white-hot and merging the core dust into the surface.
Tiny words appeared on the Blacksmithing Trade Skill Gem
[Creation Complete]
[Random Dragon Magic Effect] Blood Boil -Causes additional burning damage on hit.
[Uncommon Magical Item: Blade of Blood Boil] created at apprentice Level 2
The blade was jet black, with a red hilt that seemed to shine a bit in the dim light. Dominic admired it for a moment, then handed it to Wiz.
"How does that feel in your hand? It came out really well, and the Dragon Fire seems to have really brought the steel to life. I tried to make it a bit larger than average, since you're larger than average, to give you more range." He explained.
"This is beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen a blade of this quality before, much less actually held one. Can you always make this quality of weapons?" Wiz asked.
"Magical quality? Unlikely. It's a somewhat random effect from the Dragon Fire. I have no idea what it will create next time. But the blade itself is something that I can make given enough time." He reluctantly agreed.
"Well then I will have to make sure that nobody else gets their hands on it to inspect it because any of the merchants would be able to tell who made it." Wiz explained, then immediately had the blade taken from him by Bella, who was staring at it in awe.
"It really does have power. A crafted Uncommon Magical Blade. You know, even if you haven't made it to journeyman blacksmith, you could make a fortune at the magical item shops with this sort of craftsmanship." Bella gushed, before having the blade stolen back from her.
While making money was always a goal for anyone who had nothing, that wasn't Dominic's goal. Getting into the Palace Forges, where he could be around people with real influence, was more important to him right now.
Wealth and fame could come later.
"Are you trying to get him kidnapped? You know how those shops are. If they see a chance to make a gold, they will do anything to get it. Selling crafted items would just draw their attention to Dominic, and he's only a new apprentice right now." Wiz reminded his gun slinging fiancée.
"Right, I forgot about that. But that thing is worth some serious money. Like, new farm money. Well, maybe not a good farm, but you get my point."
At this level of enhancement, Pops had said that it should sell for about Four Thousand Silver as an uncommon blade, so four hundred small gold coins. That would definitely buy a small house in town, or a bit of bad farmland, which was generally more valuable and desirable than a shack in the city.
"Well, at least we can go hunting now that our team leader has his sword back. Is there any other gear that needs to be fixed, or can we call it a night? It got late before I even noticed." Dominic asked.
"Get some sleep, we will head out first thing in the morning after breakfast." Wiz agreed, and Dominic turned to the forge shack.
"Where are you going?" The big woman asked.
"It's warm in there. I've gotten used to sleeping over the forge." Dominic laughed.
"There's no room for a bed in there. I'll get you an extra blanket, but the air shouldn't be too cold overnight with so many of us in the house." Terry joked with a gesture toward the small, two bedroom farmhouse.