Forged Legacy

Chapter 142 - Heaven's Wrath

Harvey knew he needed his own set of silver armor, but more than anything he needed to make sure his gun couldn’t be ignored by any of the monsters Hell sent his way. Forging his first set of inscribed bullets was his top priority, even if his drained mental energy wasn’t currently up to the task of refining his first batch of Holy ink.

Moving to his workbench, he pulled chunks of the various metals he had stored in his spatial ring along with a handful of the bullets he’d bought from the angels. Artificer’s Eyes helped him inspect the properties of each one, and he wondered why humans and angels alike used brass for their bullet casings.

Its melting point was relatively low, creating his current conundrum where Rupture’s arrays liquified the stuff if he shot with anything more than a single ring of kinetic power. It was also softer than most metals, and while it might be cheap on the outside, Harvey didn’t have a huge supply of copper and zinc needed to make the alloy.

[You know you can ask me. I’m not just a pretty face,] Julius said.

You know about bullet manufacturing? Harvey wondered.

[I think you forget that it's not just Julian’s legacy floating around in here. You’ve got an AI model specifically trained to help engineers mainlined right into your brain.]

Well then super genius, why do most bullets use brass? Steel seems to be an inherently superior metal.

[Maybe for a sword, but you actually want some of that elasticity for a bullet. When the gunpowder goes off, brass expands to seal the chamber, making sure all that force explodes out towards the barrel instead of shooting back into your hand. Then it contracts, making it easier to remove without jamming the gun.]

Harvey fiddled with one of the bullets, rubbing his finger over the thin metal before setting it down and running his hands through his hair.

I guess that makes sense. I was hoping it was just because it’s cheap. Do you think I’ll run into any problems with steel casings? I’d hate to never use Rupture’s full potential just because the inferno ink overpowers the metal.

[That’s where you’re lucky. Revolvers have a gap between the cylinder and the barrel by design, so you actually have one of the few firearms that isn’t affected too much by using steel. It might create more wear and tear on the gun, but that doesn’t really matter now that it’s got a self-repair array.]

Good point. We’ll start with steel then, and if it doesn’t work we got a whole new world of magical metals we can test.

Being extra careful to make sure his naturally shaky hands didn’t slip, Harvey gripped the bullet with a pair of pliers and pulled it from the casing. Gunpowder – or Hellpowder as he was starting to call it ever since he learned they added demon feathers to it – spilled onto the workbench. Most parts of his bullets were easy enough to make, but it was easier to salvage the primer that ignited the gunpowder once the hammer struck the firing pin than it was to build his own. A dozen more bullets got disassembled before Harvey returned everything to his spatial ring.

By now, he was a practiced hand when it came to forging steel. He’d managed just fine with a cracked crucible and a leaky forge, so doing the same with the proper equipment he’d bought from John’s shop wasn’t difficult. While the carbon folded into the essence-infused F Grade Iron, he used Artificer’s Toolbox to form the mold to cast his casings. Then, when his molten steel was ready, he poured it into the intricate network of channels that would produce a dozen blank shells.

The forge doors clanked shut, trapping the billowing heat inside. Back in his own trial, he’d spend the time waiting for his creations to cool sitting outside. Escaping the heat for a minute felt like jumping in a pool on a hot summer’s day, but his tolerance had improved a lot since then. He wondered what it would take to get one of those resonance Marks Cash had talked about. Was it just about spending time in the right environments, or was it more than that? He already knew with Artificer’s Eyes that the forge bled resonance into the ambient essence, but not at the levels he’d expect to alter someone’s legacy.

So many questions…

Unlike most of his other creations, Harvey wouldn’t be quenching or tempering his casings. The walls were too thin, and it would warp too much if he tried to rapidly cool them down. Instead, Harvey created a simple rod that fit perfectly inside the casing. It would be properly quenched and tempered, giving him a tool to harden the steel past what the casting process allowed.

Knock, Knock, Knock!

“Coming!” Harvey announced, setting his tools on the anvil and rushing to the door. Pulling it open, he saw his mom holding a plate of steak, mashed potatoes, and steamed carrots.

“I was about to just barge in,” she said exasperatedly. “I’ve knocked three times now.”

“Sorry about that,” he winced. “I tend to get lost in my own head while I work.”

“It’s fine,” she sighed. “Your father’s the same way. He’d miss the whole house burning down around him as long as he had a tape measure in his hand.”

Harvey ate while his first batch of silver melted. The ribeye was thick and juicy, and he could tell his mom had been dry-brining it all morning. He wondered how Heaven handled food for the faithful. Buying it from John was cheap, but nobody was earning any merit if they weren’t out hunting. They probably gave every family a stipend for attending school.

I don’t like relying on the angels. Harvey thought. They don’t care about us.

[They just want another planet to control. I’m guessing they’d be better overlords than most, but Earth is just a number to them.]

His mind raced as he chewed, furiously working through a problem that he hadn’t considered until it was time to actually forge his first custom bullets.

How the hell are we going to power the inscriptions? I can’t fit an essence crystal inside the silver. Even the tiny ones are too big.

[Umm… I don’t know. Aurelia didn’t have any training data about this. There’s no way to break them down?]

I’m not saying it’s impossible, but you saw what happens when they crack. Our trap at Veils End was all about blowing those things up.

[Well let’s think about our options. Essence Crystals won’t work, but what other ways can you power inscriptions?]

Stolen story; please report.

Ambient essence. That’s enough for a weak array, but the bullet won’t have any time to gather energy since we’re planning on conjuring them straight into the gun.

[That can be our last resort. You can also power them yourself.]

How? I’m not gonna have time to pull them out, infuse them, and reload every bullet one by one.

[Soul Forge. Rupture is considered part of your body, so you should be able to infuse the arrays while the bullet is sitting in the chamber, right?]

The fork dangled from Harvey’s mouth while he thought it over. Julius was right, it probably would work, but infusing every shot would be too slow.

[You could also use kinetic absorption arrays.]

The fork clattered onto the plate, landing in his mashed potatoes.

Now there’s an idea.

That particular concept was quickly becoming his signature skill. There was something so elegant about turning wasted energy that would normally dissipate into the air into fuel. It was simple and extremely effective. Hell, it’s the whole reason he had to switch to steel casings in the first place.

[They’d have to be pretty small to fit on the bullet, but it’s better than nothing.]

We can do both, Harvey resolved. Absorption arrays for the normal rounds, and infused arrays for the big game bullets.

His meal utterly forgotten despite half the steak and all the carrots remaining, Harvey rushed to work on his molds. He would cast the rounds slightly larger than the finished product would be, leaving room to compress the material with a few rounds of hammering. They needed to be as dense as possible, since that would increase their essence conductivity and improve their penetration.

As they cooled, Harvey pulled out his inkwell and filled it with another batch of blood.

[I have to say, this does look bad from an outside perspective.]

It’s not a phase!

The runes flickered to life, and Harvey pulled out a bottle of consecrated holy water that he’d purchased during his first trip to Elysium. The stuff was almost pure holy resonance, and required angels with specific skills to make. Pouring it in, he felt a divine will filling up the cauldron. Faceless and ethereal, it seemed to be judging his blood, and by extension, his own soul.

Harvey’s mind was still drained from forcefully infusing Legacy’s Redoubt while protecting his brother and father with his aura, but with Julius’ help he had the strength for a few test batches. Forging bullets was relatively cheap, so he could afford to experiment. He’d test his creations tomorrow and fine tune the ink and arrays based on the results.

The divine will seemed stuck between a desire to punish or empower him. Inside, he could feel both healing light that reminded him of the potions he used to make his healing ink as well as wrath ready to smite him for his sins. Within the judgement, Harvey felt the shadow of mercy waiting to provide absolution.

Can’t have that. I need the wrath.

Instead of destroying the latent will of the holy water, Harvey did his best to convince it to join his own. Instinctively, he knew that the holy judgement within relied on that connection to its divine source, however tenuous it was. Transforming an S-Grade’s will to fit his own purpose was impossible, but luckily this particular version of it came filtered through an F-Grade angel. It took some getting used to, but eventually strands of golden power intent only on destroying evil intermixed with his blood. When the arrays covering the inkwell powered down, he inspected his creation.

A new creation has been made | Judgement Ink | Major Essence Gained

Item: Judgement Ink | F Grade | Common

Ink mixed from the blood of Harvey Thorne and holy water consecrated by an angel. Stripped of the Father’s grace and mercy, all that remains is the sword of divine judgement waiting to punish those who sin against his children.

Resonances: Holy

And it came to pass… Harvey thought as he bottled the ink. that a whole lot of demons were about to get shot in the face.

[My god you’re cringey.]

Harvey cracked open his molds and got to work hammering it all into shape. He started working on his own set of silver armor in between heats, but it wouldn’t be finished by the battle tomorrow unless he pulled another all nighter. When the first bullet tip was finished, he carefully inscribed his first burst array using a feather he’d picked up on the battlefield that belonged to one of the eagles.

Here goes, Harvey thought as he rolled up the garage door and walked into the driveway. He hadn’t actually packed the round yet, but figured he could infuse the inscribed tip and toss it in the air to see what it did. A trickle of essence flowed smoothly into the array, making the golden ink glow with divine light. Tossing it high into the air, he triggered the inscription with Modular Array and watched as it shone like a shot from a roman candle. The silver tip glowed for a few seconds, then harmlessly clattered to the concrete. He stared as it rolled back and forth down the gentle slope, finally stopping when it reached the sidewalk gutter.

[That was…]

Underwhelming.

Harvey picked up the round, infusing the array again before detonating it in his hand. His arm was enveloped in a golden glow, but the burn wasn’t much worse than a level up.

[It’s gotta be a lot worse for demons,] Julius suggested.

It’s gonna be, Harvey replied, stepping back inside and closing the garage. His mind, body, and soul were all tired, but he pulled his inkwell back out anyway. Filling it once more, he pulled out a second bottle of holy water and a single fire resonance crystal.

[Hold on a second, we’re not sure how this works.]

The array needs more oomph.

[More oomph? You’ve never tried combining resonances before! Are you sure right now is the right time to do it]

It’ll be fine. Besides, including fire might help me infuse the bullets with my legacy once I manage to get that forgefire Mark.

Before Julius could protest, Harvey dropped both into the cauldron. His prayers for judgement were joined by a raging inferno whose ravenous desire for consumption included the divine will. The holy resonance was almost indignant at being seen as fuel, turning its wrath on the flames. Harvey did his best to combine the two energies, but soon found himself desperately trying to keep them apart like a school principal breaking up a fist fight. Neither resonance assaulted his own Will, but they’d destroy each other before he could make use of them.

With time and experimentation, he found that after destroying the flames' inherent desire, he could persuade the holy resonance to use the inferno as a weapon. The process was so abstract and alien that it was hard to put into words, but the arrays inscribed on the inkwell helped him translate his own desires into something the resonances within could be forced to understand. Too much of the resonance had been destroyed by the time he got a hang of the process, so he added a second bottle and crystal despite Julius’ warnings. The war of willpower began anew, but this time Harvey was able to create something strong enough that his blood barely managed to drink it all in.

A new creation has been made | Heaven’s Wrath Ink | Major Essence Gained

Item: Heaven’s Wrath Ink | F Grade | Rare

Ink mixed from the blood of Harvey Thorne, holy water consecrated by an angel, and pure fire resonance crystals. It is said that when the world becomes so steeped in sin that it cannot be redeemed, the flames of heaven’s wrath descend. Destruction brings purity, letting righteousness rise from the ashes.

Resonances: Holy, Fire

Sweat poured down Harvey’s face. His vision had started to blur once more, but not before he wove the last strands of power into his blood.

[You did it, now go to bed. Please. You need to sleep.]

Not yet.

Splashing water on his face, Harvey inscribed a second bullet. He’d realized that the patterns he’d created so far were too stable. Realistically, something like an arc charge shouldn’t be reusable. The entire point was to overwhelm his enemies with unbridled destruction. He could salvage his grenades, but these bullets were going to be one and done. He altered his design, adding repeaters to excite the essence within to a point he worried they’d explode before triggering the impact sensor rune that would activate the burst arrays.

Once more, he stepped out into the daylight, gingerly holding the small silver shard in his palm. It gently vibrated in his palm, golden lines flickering like a candle in the wind. Throwing it high into the air, he manually triggered the array and watched as a brilliant burst of golden flames exploded above him. The eruption was strong enough to break the silver apart, causing shrapnel to rain down onto the driveway.

“Yes!” Harvey cheered, smiling from ear to ear. Across the street, he saw somebody pull back their curtains, glaring at him as he fist pumped. They pointed at their wrist before letting the curtain swing shut.

“Screw you! I’m the one keeping demons off your front lawn,” Harvey groaned. The simple gesture made him far angrier than it should, and he was tempted to go bang on their door.

[GO TO BED, HARVEY!]