Forged Legacy

Chapter 132 - BANG!

Knock, knock, knock

“Harvey! Time to get up!” his mom’s muffled voice bled through the door.

Harvey awoke with a start, bleary eyes straining to figure out where he was. Hearing his mom pounding on his door was uncanny. An echo of a time before the System that briefly made him wonder whether it had all been a strange dream.

[Morning sunshine!] Julius' voice rang in his ear.

Not dreaming, then.

[Nope! You did have a few last night, though. It’s weird, I felt like I was watching a movie while it happened, but now it’s like I can’t remember the plot.]

Knock, knock, knock.

“Harvey!”

“I’m up!” he called.

The white door swung open, revealing his mother in a long floral dress, struggling to put in an earring. “Are you coming to church with us?”

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Harvey replied. “I don’t think I need angel school.”

“Today isn’t that. It’s Sunday! Regular old church for regular old people, none of the crazy magic stuff.”

“Oh. Yeah, I still think I’m going to skip. I’ve got things to do,” he answered.

“Seriously? You get actual proof that God exists, and you’d rather stay home than spend a few hours worshipping him?” Cassandra scoffed.

“Cash said almost all the gods exist,” Harvey laughed.

“Whatever. You’re old enough to make your own mistakes,” she sighed.

The house was soon buzzing like a beehive, a flurry of white shirts and ties being frantically put on as his family rushed out the door. Tyler shot him a jealous look when he grabbed a bowl of cereal in his basketball shorts. Harvey just stuck out his tongue.

“Stop messing with your brother,” Steve groaned. “Heavens to Betsy, it’s like you two never made it past toddler.”

Milk sloshed onto his upper lip as he gulped down the last remnants of cinnamon and sugar before rinsing the bowl and sprinting to the garage. Each piece was right where he left it, only waiting for someone to sand and polish them before putting it altogether. The allure of firing his first shot was almost too much to bear, but he restrained himself.

Time was limited, and there was one thing that needed to be done first. Sitting down at a workbench, Harvey pulled the heavy inkwell from his ring.

I need to add some ink to test how it will interact with my skills. I’m hoping that infusing the revolver with Soul Forge will let me conjure bullets straight into the chamber once the gun is considered part of my body.

[I never really understood what the description meant until I felt it for myself. It’s pretty useful, even if it’s a double-edged sword,] Julius replied. [What did you have in mind? We could use the holy water.]

No, I don’t want to overdo it with the holy resonance. I’m hoping this gun will be useful long after we’re out of this trial.

[That’s fair, but we’re going to need a weapon that works well against demons. Most of your skills use fire, and that seems to be their thing.]

I’ll definitely make holy bullets. I just want the gun to be well-rounded. Ready to withstand any ammunition we come up with later.

[The aethersteel is pretty strong, but it couldn’t hurt to add reinforcement arrays like the ones you and Elena used on the walls back then?]

I was thinking the same thing.

Spinning around, Harvey opened the garage door and stepped into the sunlight. The spring creaked as the motor whirred to life. Construction in heaven was eerily similar to back on Earth, and he would’ve thought these houses were ripped from some suburb if the houses weren’t all exactly the same. The air outside was warm, and the concrete felt soothing under his bare feet.

The serenity was broken when massive bones crashed down, loudly rattling as the dead Thanefire Drake took up the entire front yard.

Dragon bone has to be pretty sturdy, right?

Moving to the head, Harvey lifted up the skull and inspected it with Artificer’s Eyes.

Item: Thanefire Drake Skull

The skull of an adolescent dragon steeped in undeath, using thanum as both fuel for its existence and flames meant to extinguish all life. Dragon bones are prized for their immense structural strength and the dense elemental power lingering within their marrow.

Resonances: Undeath, Fortitude, Renewal, ...

Recommended Inscriptions: Thanefire Burst Array, Reinforcement Array, Repair Array

[Renewal? Have you seen that resonance before?]

Never.

[It’s not like you’d use undead dragon bits for healing potions, right? Unless eating life itself stored it in the bones somehow.]

I think it might be used for an array to fix any wear and tear of the weapon. I can’t think of anything else a repair array would do. We’ll have to ask Cash.

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The real prize was the fortitude. Harvey had seen firsthand just how hard these bones were to break, and wanted his gun to be the same. Without the essence that held the dragon together, Harvey easily gathered a small pile of bones on the workbench before gathering the rest back into his spatial ring.

[You might want to close the door before you start cutting yourself,] Julius warned. [Might scare the neighbors.]

Good point.

When it finally rumbled shut, Harvey pulled out a knife and cut open his palm. Blood filled the inkwell, and the runes covering its surface flared to life. He felt his mind and will sink inside the cauldron, entering the array while his body sat glued to the steel.

Ready? I'm curious to see how this goes with the two of us.

[Ready.]

Harvey dropped in three large bones the size of his arm. At first, they barely fit, but the inkwell rapidly transformed the physical material into pure Will. A deafening roar filled his mind as a third consciousness joined Julius and his own. The latent will of the Thanefire Drake. Even in true death, it railed against the threads of life sharing its domain. The beast only grew more corporeal as Harvey added bone after bone, only stopping when it felt like claws might actually crack the wall of his own Willpower.

Beads of sweat were forming on Harvey’s brow, but he was surprised to feel the pressure begin to lessen even as he focused only on hanging on. Julius was already fast at work, chipping away at the raging intent. His old friend no longer had a body to fight, but his legacy could still fight battles of spirit like this one. The fragment of the dragon was forced to fight two against one, and it never had a chance.

In minutes, the bones were reduced to an ocean of raw resonance, and all that was left to do was fish out the unwanted strings. Puffs of colored mist rose from the cauldron as Undeath, Renewal, and the many other strands not condensed enough to be listed by his skill were cast out. The aquamarine light of undeath originally made up close to 30% of the mixture, but the steely gray of fortitude was a close second. With Julius’ help, Harvey wasn’t even sure his blood could absorb all that was left.

With nothing left to fight, he turned his will and mental energy inside the cauldron into a pressure cooker. When he reached a point where a quarter of the resonance refused to enter his blood, he added his Guardian of the Gilded Return Imprint. His blood was a part of him, and adding his purpose as the fortress protecting the seed of life helped it naturally resonate with the energy slowly dissipating from the cauldron, absorbing the rest of it before the arrays covering the inkwell winked out.

“Phew!” Harvey cheered, lifting his shirt to wipe his sweat-drenched face. “I need a shower!”

Carefully, he poured his new ink into one of his many empty bottles before inspecting it.

Item: Dragon’s Fortitude Ink | F Grade | Epic

Ink mixed from the blood of Harvey Thorne and the bones of a Thanefire Drake. Stripped of its tools and desire to consume all life, all that remains is the undying resilience of dragons.

Potency: High

Resonances: Fortitude

Recommended Inscriptions: Reinforcement Array

I’ve never been able to make high-potency ink before!

[Really? It felt good to be more than just moral support again,] Julius replied excitedly.

I already knew the extra 10% Wisdom and Willpower would help with my inscriptions, but I had no idea the Cognition Matrix would help this much.

It was an astounding result, and one Harvey probably couldn’t have accomplished on his own. Alone, he would’ve had to add fewer dragon bones or let some of the resonance dissipate. The inkwell could only contain so much, and battles of attrition would only lead to worse results than working quickly.

Smiling, he set the ink bottle aside before carrying the inkwell inside. Blood, ink, and bits of dragon bone that the inkwell couldn’t completely dissolve stuck to the cauldron, so Harvey carefully cleaned it out before drying it with a dishrag and putting it back in his ring.

[Cassandra would freak if she saw this,] Julius laughed. [Is it ok if I call your mom Cassandra? It feels weird calling her mom.]

That works for me. And it’s better than what I used to do. Rinse out the blood and toss the water into the rocks. I just hope it doesn’t mess with the garbage disposal.

Hours slipped by as Harvey meticulously polished every inch of aethersteel until he could see his own reflection. Casting each piece and making good use of magical molds left very few burrs in the metal, but that didn’t stop him from obsessing over every pin and spring.

With steady hands, he screwed the barrel into the frame, using his ocular skill to ensure the sights aligned perfectly. Next, he connected the cylinder, making minor adjustments to ensure the hammer smoothly spun to the next chamber after installing the trigger. Springs were compressed, pins were placed, and screws were tightened until an entire workbench covered in bits and pieces had transformed into a single massive revolver.

Silver and gold sparkled like the weapon had been blessed by the Lord himself. Sanctified for Harvey’s holy crusade against all who deserved an inscribed bullet to the face.

[It’s beautiful]

I know.

The frame looked a little strange without a grip widening the handle. But the System’s response proved he could worry about that later. He still didn’t know exactly how the System decided when a project was done, but a notification followed by a blaze of glory erupting from Harvey’s weave signalled it had accepted his creation.

You have created | Aethersteel .500 Revolver | Major Essence Gained.

Your profession, Runeforged Artificer, has reached Level 41. +8 Endurance, +10 Strength, +4 Dexterity, +12 Willpower, +8 Free Points

Your Race, Gilded, has reached Level 43. +5 Vitality, +5 Endurance, +2 Wisdom, +2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +3 Willpower

Harvey couldn’t care less about the level, instead rushing to load five of the .50 cal bullets he’d bought from the gunsmith into the chambers. Each slid in smoothly, a testament to the precision he managed even with his lack of power tools. Placing his palm against the cylinder, he lifted the gun close to his ear and spun it hard.

Click, click, click.

[Wait! Shouldn’t you inscribe it first?]

What! Why?

[The whole point of the array is to reinforce the barrel. How angry would you be if the whole thing blew up in your hand because you got impatient?]

It won’t.

[Are you sure?]

Harvey hesitated, spinning the barrel again and relishing in the satisfying clicks.

Fine…

The runes for a simple, sturdy reinforcement array had been engraved in his mind back when he first read John's Guide to Blacksmithing for Idiots, Morons, and You, so it didn’t take long for him to inscribe the array. Doing so with Julius' help was even faster since the AI component could easily digest the runes and test combinations that would make the most of the gun’s surface area while considering the inputs and outputs of each rune. Before long, a dense network of patterns was added to the barrel, frame, and cylinder. He could fit more if he wanted, but chose to leave room to add additional arrays later on once he had a better idea of the gun's strengths and weaknesses.

Now, can I shoot it?

[Don’t get mad at me! Sorry one of us has to be rational!]

You’re just mad you don’t get to hold it.

Once more, the garage door rumbled open, and Harvey stepped outside. He didn’t know of any shooting ranges, and even if there was one, he couldn’t get to the teleporter without Cash’s help. Nothing in his spatial ring would make a good target, so he walked through the grass toward the backyard where a sturdy oak stood equidistant between his home and a neighbor’s.

Carefully checking that the hammer, firing pin, chamber, and barrel were all lined up straight, he took aim. It was heavy, but a single strand of his weave entered the gun and transformed it into an extension of his hand. He could feel his Vitality increasing as a symbiotic bond formed, but buried the thought as he levelled the front sight between the rear.

[Gentle squeeze. Don’t cram the trigger.]

I’ve shot guns before!

The Aethersteel trigger felt cool under his finger, and he slowly began to put tension on the spring. The hammer lifted smoothly off the frame, inching backward one centimeter at a time.

Pull… pull… pull.

BANG!!!