Finally, the blacksmith from the southern seas and the tailor from the cold mountains of the far north returned to the Floating Barracks together. The city was still a bustling, resounding, busy place when they arrived, as it had always been since Matthias had lived there. The pair did not bother with anyone, they just talked and brainstormed all day long. They figured out how to stretch the metal so thin that threads could be spun from it, how to imbue the threads with soul magic. They even came up with a solution for shaping larger quantities of metal clothing at once.
"Then we started our first armor together. Isn't that right, my dear?" Marianne's voice snapped Mathias out of his deep thoughts.
"Exactly Annie." He turned and smiled at the woman, whose face he could not see, but from the strength of the colorful lines surrounding her he knew that his wife was looking at him with that sparkling smile.
"You can't believe how beautiful it was when the soul magic penetrated the threads." Marianne was enthusiastic.
"It's really hard to imagine." Arctic Fox giggled.
"Hm... Matthias!" The most famous tailoress in the West turned to her husband.
"I have no idea what you came up with, but it's usually not a good sign when your aura tingles like that." The undersea-walker-turned-blacksmith grimaced, which made the woman start giggling.
"Oh, don't worry, you'll love this." She finally said. "It's hard to imagine what it's like when a Mullen armor is being made, but since they're here right now and Matthias would rather work on the armor anyway." She glanced at her husband, then turned to the guests with a grin. "How about we show you how we work?" Marianne clapped her hands.
"Not a bad idea, I'd like to take a look, if the blacksmith doesn't mind." Arctic Fox agreed and turned towards the blacksmith.
"I don't like being watched while working, but if it makes Annie happy..." He sighed heavily. "So be it." He gave in, which made the tailoress press a kiss to his cheek.
"I love you, dear." She giggled.
"I love you too." Matthias rolled his eyes, a faint smile on his lips, then turned to the guests with a serious look. "If you allow us, we need to leave you alone for a few minutes. I won't let Marianne enter the forge in her festive dress." He stood up from the table.
"Only natural." Arctic Fox replied with a smile, which made the Mullen couple retreat to one of the rooms, where they quickly changed their clothes. Then Matthias went ahead to the forge while Marianne went to get the guests.
"Come here, please." They heard the voice of the blacksmith's wife. "This is where the miracle happens." The woman said enthusiastically as she stood by her husband.
"What else should we do with it? I've done almost everything you asked. What could we do? Hmm.... Yes, that. We should remove the outer layer." Matthias thought, holding his chin, as he watched the white dress, or rather its colorful lines, placed on a mannequin in one corner of the forge.
"I see he's already immersed in it." Arctic Fox whispered with a giggle.
"Matthias is always like that, he can completely lose himself in his work." Marianne smiled at her husband, then stepped next to him. "That kind of cloak is already out of fashion, we can safely take it off." She told Matthias.
"The shoulders need to be strengthened a bit then." The blacksmith nodded. "Would it be okay if we innovate a little?" He looked back over his shoulder at the two predators.
"I leave the decision to you. You are the professionals." Arctic Fox raised his hands, which made Matthias turn back to the armor. "If I make you a garment out of that new metal of ours, can you make a cloak that hides its wearer?" He asked his partner the question.
"Out of that strangely soft to the touch one?" The tailoress asked back.
"Exactly." Matthias said, causing Marianne to smile broadly.
"Oh, yeah I definetelly can. It should be half an inch thick, it should withstand the cold." The playful fire sparkled in the woman's eyes.
"You already have a plan." Matthias chuckled as he walked to his metal warehouse to retrieve his latest creation. The blacksmith, who was usually known for his grumpiness, was always much happier when he worked with his wife, which is probably why he was smiling more than usual today.
As always, the work began with melting the metal. Matthias, not paying attention to his guests, concentrated only on the fire and the metal. The use of his new metal required great precision. He had already tried to make gloves from it and knew that if the color of the fire and the metal did not match by even half a shade, the material would disintegrate into its elements.
So he slowly but surely heated the metal. The melting was followed, as usual, by the imbuing of the soul magic. The world's greatest blacksmiths, as well as those who can use this technique, usually carry out this process by carving various symbols into the metal while chanting incantations.
Matthias, however, never needed such things. The undersea-walker had learned that even the air was imbued with soul magic, so all he had to do was bind it to the metal and strike it.
This was the most spectacular part of Mullen's forging. Although Matthias did not know it, soul magic appeared around him in a way that was visible to the average eye. Colored threads surrounded him and the metal he was working with. Every time he struck the metal, a new color appeared next to the previous ones, and so, in addition to the sound of the hammer and anvil, the play of light filled the workshop.
Marianne had found this part the most beautiful the first time, and since then, more than one of her clothing masterpieces has been inspired by the cacophony of colors that her husband made visible during each of his works. Then the lights went out at once, as Matthias lowered his hammer to rest it on the anvil. The next step in making Mullen's armor was to turn it into fabric.
The blacksmith performed this operation using an iron weaving machine he and his wife had made together. Matthias simply put the metal in a box, closed the lid, and the machine began to strech and flatten it, then pulled it into thin threads to finally weave them together, thus producing a metal fabric.
"And here it is my life. Work your magic!" The blacksmith handed the fabric that came out of the machine to Marianne.
"Arctic Fox can you stand here?" The tailoress asked.
"Of course." The great leader of the predators nodded, and when he stepped next to the woman, Marianne draped the metal fabric over his shoulder. The tailoress was always famous for her speed, the work just flew by under her hands. Her husband watched her with his arms folded in front of him, but with a proud smile on his face.
"And we're done!" Marianne announced barely fifteen minutes later. "If you put on the hood now, then..." She began as she lifted the material to place it on Arctic Fox's head, who at the same moment seemed to have disappeared from the eyes of the two sighted predators. "And it works. Perfect." Marianne clapped her hands.
"It even dimms my vision" Matthias noted. "I'll do the shoulders quickly and then you can take them with you today." He announced as he walked over to the mannequin to take off the white dress.
"This turned out amazing, Marianne. I'll appreciate it very much." Arctic Fox said enthusiastically as he took off the hood from his head.
"I know we've taken up a lot of your time with this, but are you leaving so soon? I would have liked to chat a little longer." The tailoress tilted her head to the side, a kind smile on her lips.
"Don't worry, Marianne, we're not in a hurry. I've made my evening free for you." Arctic Fox chuckled, making the woman's smile even wider.
"Thank you." Marianne replied, and then the three predators' attention was diverted back to the blacksmith, who was repairing the white armor in his own little world.