I awoke with a smile on my face. The double bed, delivered late last night, was better than I even imagined. It was quite possibly the best and most luxurious sleep I'd ever had. Sometimes, monster hunting wasn't all bad. Especially when that hunting helped you afford luxuries beyond your wildest dreams.

  I stretched and slipped out of bed. Today was forge day, and I was eager to see what Pa had planned for the monster carcasses we'd collected.

  "About time you woke up," Roq said. "Knut's already down here, and I've been waiting for hours. There's forging to be done! Why did you sleep so long? Why! The sun has already been out for…ages!"

  "Good morning to you too, princess."

  "Morning is only good when spent hammering something into submission. Preferably monster skulls, but I'll settle for crafting today."

  I chuckled softly and made my way downstairs, where Knut was indeed already awake, doing morning stretches in his regular clothes.

  "Golden bird rises," he said with a nod. "Sleep good?"

  "Like a Roq," I said, winking. "How was your evening with Doctor Ridley? Had fun last night?"

  Knut smiled.

  "Interesting woman. Many stories of battlefield. Talked for hours."

  Just then, Eryn and Nabeeh came down the stairs together, Nabeeh wrapped in a colorful robe, her dark hair tousled from sleep. Eryn was already fully dressed.

  "Spill the details, big man," Nabeeh said, making her way to the kitchen. “And screw this. You people really need to stop waking so early.”

  "Was good," Knut said with a nod.

  Nabeeh rolled her eyes and started making breakfast, while Eryn tried, and failed, to get more details from Knut.

  We quickly ate a simple breakfast of bread, cheese, some cuts of meat, and dried fruit. The big guy had even squeezed out some fresh oranges.

  "So, you forge today?" Eryn asked, helping herself to a slice of bread.

  I nodded.

  "Pa's expecting Knut and I. We'll work through the latest carcasses, and then we'll see what else he has in store for us."

  "New weapon?" Knut said.

  "Maybe. You and Nabeeh will be sorting the house, right?" I asked.

  "Yep," Eryn said. "Lots to do, and there’s a few things that will be delivered during the day."

  After breakfast, we made our way to the Steel & Scale. The scent of coal, hot metal, and leather put a warmth in my belly, as did the rhythmic clang of Pa's hammer. Even though it was this early, he was already out and about.

  "There you are!" Pa called as we entered. "About rift rotting time! What took you so long?"

  "Sorry," I said. "Had to eat something first, and play house with the ladies. We’re getting some deliveries and…yeah, never mind. We’re here now, Pa."

  "Bah! All of that can wait. Forging can't." He wiped his hands on a rag and gestured for us to follow him into the shop and out the back. "Got the Glowcaps out here. Didn't want to risk blowing up the smithy if I nicked one the wrong way and the spores got into the fires.”

  Pa unlocked the storage shed behind the smithy, swiped out a few carcasses, and put them on a wooden table he’d set up. He cursed under his breath as he pulled out his dissecting knife.

  "Damn thing’s duller than a butter knife."

  “Sorry about that, Pa,” I said, though this time I only felt excitement, thinking of his surprise when he got the new one I’d ordered through Victor.

  Pa dissected the Glowcaps one by one, pulling out gem after gem.

  “You know this is ridiculous,” he said, as he walked to the shed and swapped carcasses to work on the latest.

  “We have Roq to thank for these,” I said.

  “Also Nabeeh,” Knut added.

  “True. She did do the blowing up part. It was a…magnificent explosion in a way.”

  “Sounds like you’ve found a decent addition to the party,” Pa said, pulling out the latest gem and tossing it to me. “Here.”

  “Thanks, Pa. Would you have Ma facilitate the sale to the guild? I’m sure they’re still looking for more to put around the killing field.”

  “Will do,” he said, and stored the carcass, locking the shed back up. Then he sighed. “It’ll be good to get these out. Too damn explosive for my taste.”

  Afterwards we headed inside the smithy where Pa had a Treeshaker waiting.

  “With this one being new, I figured we’d take a proper look,” he said.

  Pa started with a careful cut into the creature's flank.

  “Never seen a hairy hide covered in resin before.”

  “Tell him of how wonderful they burned and the smell of barbecue!”

  "Petra was the one we did the quest for. They need it for healing salves," I said. “She failed to mention that it was extremely flammable..”

  Pa raised an eyebrow.

  “Explosive?”

  “Unfortunately not. But if we could cover a Glowcap carcass in this resin…” Roq chuckled evilly in my mind.

  Knut shook his head.

  “Good,” Pa said and carefully collected some of the flammable resin in a small jar. “I’ll take it over to Victor later and see if he’ll pay more than the guild. I’ll also do some careful experimentation. Best case it could be used for an elemental infusion, or a binding agent for layered armor, if we can control the flammability.”

  He moved to the massive fangs, tapping one several times with his knife before getting out a hammer and chisel, doing some post-mortem dentistry.

  “These are uniquely dense,” he said, inspecting the now removed fang. “Could make excellent handles for weapons, or maybe the protection for a set of gloves.”

  Pa continued his examination, peeling back a section of hide to reveal the muscle structure.

  "Look at this," he said, pointing to the dense, layered fibers. "Strong as the Bramblebacks’, but denser. These sinews seem exceptionally strong. I’ll save some for bowstrings, and we could even look at weaving them into a flexible, impact-resistant layer for armor."

  "Strong like mountain bear," Knut said. "But faster." He poked at the hook-like claws on the Treeshaker's arms. “Daggers? Climbing gear?”

  “Speaking of bows,” Pa said, “I almost forgot to tell you. The bowyer I mentioned? He's on his way."

  "The one you worked with back in Milltown?" I asked, surprised. “So quickly?”

  Pa nodded.

  “Figured I owed it to Eryn to at least send a few gem grams around. Didn’t expect any to reach him if I’m honest, but got word yesterday he’s on his way. Once he’s here, we'll start working on Eryn's new weapon."

  Knut frowned slightly.

  "Not happy? Good news, no?”

  Pa sighed, wiping a hand on his apron.

  "It's good news, sure. Just... I like to be in control of my craft. Bringing in an outside expert disrupts my usual process, and then there’s our little friend."

  "But you worked with him before," I said.

  "Aye, but I was a different man back then. Earlier in my craft.” He held the knife paused inside the Treeshaker’s lower abdomen. “With the current bowyer in town, I'm the expert on everything but the bowmaking itself. But this fellow..." Pa grumbled, shaking his head. "I might have to learn a thing or two from him."

  Knut and I exchanged glances, trying not to smile.

  "Terrible fate," Knut said solemnly. "Learning. Awful."

  Pa shot him a glare, but his lips twitched.

  "Watch it, northerner, or I'll make your axe handle from balsa wood."

  “Gemless monster, mercy!” Knut said, waving his hands, making Pa laugh and smile before continuing his dissection.

  “Long as you behave, Coinshield,” Pa said, working his way down to the bone of one of the four legs. “Look at these leg bones," he added, tapping a massive femur. "Thick and solid. Could be carved into clubs, or maybe even used as structural supports for… something? I’ll have a think and see what we can do with them."

  Then he looked over at us and winked, finally cutting into the chest cavity.

  “Well look what the adventurers dragged in!” He pulled out a mind gem. “Beautiful.”

  I helped move the carcasses to and fro storage as Pa dissected the others, until we stood in the forge and looked at a veritable mountain of gems.

  "Twenty-one mind gems," Pa said, shaking his head. “Closer to monster farming than hunting, isn't it?"

  “I’ve been lucky with my team,” I said, before swiftly adding, “And my hammer,” beating Roq to it.

  “Team lucky, too,” Knut said, patting me on the back, before looking to Pa. “Know how to dissect lightning cat?”

  Pa shook his head, a frustrated look on his face.

  "Not yet. The damned fur is still sparking so much I can’t make a single cut. I'll need to find a way to neutralize the lightning, or… These days life ain’t boring, that’s for sure.”

  We both laughed, and Pa smiled, patting the pile of wealth.

  "There, there,” he said, before stepping back and clapping his hands together.

  I put the gems in my pouch.

  “Thank you, Pa.”

  “You are welcome, son.”

  “Gratitude,” Knut said, and Pa waved it away.

  “With what you have given me, it is the least I can do! Speaking of which,it is time for the exciting part!” He led us to another workbench, one covered in a dark tarp. "I've been hard at work on my new hammer," he announced, gripping the edge of the tarp. "All I need is a little bit of 'magic' to finalize it."

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "Magic?" Knut raised an eyebrow, stroking his beard.

  Pa winked at me.

  "I mean Roq's help in assembling it, and hopefully infusing it with some unique traits. Once I got it, I'll start working on your axe and two-handed sword."

  “About bloody time. And here I was wondering if no one needed me. Travesty!”

  "What kind of help do you need?" I asked.

  “Normally I’d ask to borrow your hammer, but I know that’s not an option, so I need your strong arm and Roq's magic and knowledge," Pa said and revealed his work in progress.

  The hammer’s head, even incomplete, was magnificent. I could imagine Pa’s vision of what the Platemaw’s skull would look like in the end, retaining part of its appearance after being reshaped into a functional tool.

  "The goal," Pa explained, "Is to create a hammer that retains heat, has an impact force multiplier, and opens the possibility of elemental infusion.”

  “Respectable ambitions. I approve! Though, even with my absolute awesomeness, I can’t guarantee even one of those…”

  "Elemental infusion?" I asked, before adding, “And Roq approves of the difficulty of the project, which is probably a bad sign. Maybe we should try and aim for at just one of the traits?”

  “Oh, wish wash. It’ll be fine, as long as you don’t make any mistakes. This hammer has been in my mind for years. I just didn’t have the materials until you brought me the Platemaw, and I didn’t have the tools until we made Roq. And you should be more excited about this. The elemental infusion should allow me to forge items with elemental properties going forward. It’s the Platemaw’s high metallic content which will allow us to shape it into the right, you know, shape.”

  Pa gestured to the various components laid out on his workbench.

  "I've prepared steelhusk bands to go around the head. They'll help retain heat and increase striking power. Made them using Resonant Weaver powder infused into melted steelhusk. Took me all of yesterday. If my estimates are correct, it should make the hammer capable of channeling elemental properties."

  "And the cavity?" I asked, lifting the skull and examining the hollow interior and its eye sockets.

  "That's where things get real interesting," Pa said. “We’re going to fill it with a mixture of Ironroot Golem fragments mixed with Steel Scuttler shavings, hide of Moss Troll, and melted steelhusk. The Ironroot should help the metal retain heat, reducing time wasted reheating the metal, while the troll hide mixed with scuttler makes the hammer self-repairing."

  "Self-repairing?" Knut's eyes widened. “Impossible.”

  “Not with the right materials," Pa said, and lifted a piece the length of his forearm. "The haft is made with a core of steelhusk with shavings of Tangle-Elk antlers around, and the grip is fitted with Shardfang leather."

  "Why not Gloomstalk fur?" Knut asked, running a finger along the rough leather grip. “Big kitty, very soft.”

  Pa scoffed.

  "I didn't work for decades to forge my hands into the hardened tools of creation they are just to go all soft on them now. You got to feel the blows through the skin, northerner. Fur would dampen it far too much for my taste."

  “Not tired?" Knut pressed.

  "Sure, for mass production of repetitive goods, it'd be great. Allow craftsmen to work longer hours without their hands turning to mincemeat. But for an artisan like me?" Pa shook his head firmly. "Unhelpful."

  He turned to me, his expression serious.

  "I've prepared the bands and the haft. What I need your help with is shaping the metallic skull into the right shape and then assembling the core, the bands, and finally, the haft."

  “I—no, we, would be honored," I said, feeling a surge of pride that Pa would ask for our help with such an important project.

  “Yeah, totally,” Roq added. “Let’s get hammering!”

  "We'll use my experimental forge," Pa said, gesturing to the smaller, more specialized forge in the corner. "I've fueled it with coal and a fair bit of Ironroot Golem for extra heat. We'll need it for the steelhusk.”

  As Pa stoked the forge to life, Knut discreetly moved over to the not-so-secret barrel in which Pa kept his good liquor, and, covering the wooden creaking with a cough, helped himself to a glass. He then winked at me and settled on a stool to watch the process.

  "This is going to be spectacular," Roq said. "I can feel the potential in those materials. Do not fail me. Listen to my guidance, and we'll forge something legendary!"

  “I’ve been forging since before I forged you,” I muttered, but knew he was right.

  “Something tells me that is further from the truth than you think. If it was, how come I know so much about smithing? How do I know spikes are the most superior combination of function and form? Why do I know fire as if it was my own steelhusk?”

  “Delusions of grandeur?”

  The forge roared to life, flames tinged with green from the Ironroot Golem fragments. Pa handed me a pair of heavy tongs and positioned the Platemaw skull at the edge of the fire.

  "We'll heat it gradually," he instructed. "Too fast, and it might crack. Too slow, and it’ll turn brittle."

  I nodded, carefully maneuvering the skull deeper into the flames as Pa directed. The metallic and bone-like material began to glow a dull red.

  "By the First Forge and Final Flame," Pa started.

  "Let our work echo through the ages," Knut and I finished.

  "Now," Pa said after several minutes as the material turned bright orange, "Take it to the anvil. Gentle taps at first, just to shape it."

  I withdrew the glowing skull from the forge and placed it on the anvil.

  "Careful," Roq cautioned. “It is unstable at this temperature. Strike too hard, and I’ll shatter it again. You know, like I did the first time I hit it? But too soft, and we’ll have to reheat it too many times, risking damage.”

  “I know,” I said.

  “Know what?” Pa asked.

  I relayed Roq’s words, and Pa nodded in agreement.

  "Listen to your hammer. He shows wisdom."

  “Of course,” I said. “Now, let me forge, you two.”

  With Roq's too in-depth guidance, I began to tap the skull, careful of Roq’s power. The material yielded slowly, reshaping according to Pa's design. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I worked.

  "Something's wrong," Pa said after the second reheating, frowning. "It's not retaining heat as it should."

  I paused, examining the skull. The glow was indeed fading faster than expected, the material cooling rapidly.

  "The Platemaw skull isn't holding temperature," Roq confirmed. "It's dissipating heat through those natural channels in the bone structure. It must be why it was surrounded by steam all the time.”

  "What do we do?" I asked, holding Roq up to make it clear who I was asking.

  "We need to adjust," Roq said. "Increase the forge temperature by adding more Ironroot, and change your hammering technique. Strike in a spiral pattern from the center outward, sealing the channels as we go."

  I relayed Roq's advice to Pa, who quickly added more Ironroot to the forge. The flames leapt higher, now burning with an intense emerald light.

  "Spiral pattern," Pa muttered, nodding. "Makes sense. The bone's natural structure follows a similar pattern. Working against it was our mistake."

  We returned the skull to the forge, heating it until it glowed a bright yellow-orange. This time, when I brought it to the anvil, I worked in a spiral pattern from the center outward. The material responded beautifully, retaining its heat and reshaping more readily.

  "That's it,” Pa said after the third reheating. “The perfect shape. Now for the bands."

  He retrieved the prepared steelhusk bands, which had been heating in another section of the forge. Using tongs, he carefully positioned the first band around the hammer head.

  "Strike here," he directed, pointing to the join. "Need to fuse it seamlessly."

  I raised Roq, but just as I was about to strike, Roq's voice cut through my mind.

  "Wait! The Resonant Weaver powder in the bands is reacting with the skull’s material. Look at the shimmer.”

  I paused, bending to look close, and indeed, there, along the metal danced tiny sparks of blue-white light.

  "Pa, Roq says the bands are unstable," I warned. "The Resonant Weaver powder is reacting with the skull."

  Pa cursed under his breath.

  “Damned Crystalkin. I should have known the elemental properties would fight each other.”

  “Problem?” Knut asked, hiding the glass behind his back.

  “If we hammer it in like this, the bands will be useless. Might as well have glued on some steel.”

  "We need to stabilize the magical energies," Roq said. "A mind gem infusion would do it. Crush one into powder and work it into the bands before fusing them."

  I relayed this to Pa, who hesitated only briefly before nodding.

  “Never done that before, but worth a try. A mind gem is a small price to pay if it can save the damn project."

  I gave him one of the mind gems we'd extracted earlier, and he placed it in a small stone mortar, grinding it to a fine powder. With a small brush, he carefully applied the powder to the inner surface of the bands.

  "This should act as a buffer between the materials," Roq said. “It won’t make them harmonise, but it’ll stop their conflict.”

  When the bands were prepared, we heated them again, and this time, when Pa positioned the first one around the hammer head, the shimmer was steady and controlled.

  Strike by strike, it fused with the skull, the seam disappearing as if it had never existed. We repeated the process with each band, working methodically until the hammer head was fully encircled by three bands.

  I took a steadying breath as I held up the prepared hammerhead.

  “Good job,” I said, holding up Roq and nodding to him.

  “You didn’t mess it up. It is…adequate, my disciple.”

  "Time for the core," Pa announced, retrieving a crucible from the forge. Inside was the molten mixture of Ironroot Golem, Steel Scuttler shavings, Moss Troll hide, and steelhusk.

  After I re-heated the now hammer-shaped skull, Pa poured the mixture into its cavity, filling it. The bone hissed and steamed where the liquid contacted it.

  "Quick now," Pa urged. "We need to seal it before it cools."

  With firm taps, I closed the last opening, before positioning one last band over the opening and striking it flat, sealing the core inside. The hammer head was now complete—a fearsome blend of monster materials shaped into a masterful tool.

  "Just the haft left," Pa said, wiping sweat from his brow. “Let’s make sure this fits like a well-set rivet.”

  He retrieved the prepared haft and positioned it against the hammerhead where I’d just sealed the core.

  "One solid strike should do it," he said. "Put everything you've…on second thought, be careful. But make sure it penetrates through to the core and inside, so it’ll set properly.”

  I took a deep breath, feeling Roq's energy surging through me. This was the moment when everything came together.

  “Hold on,” Roq said.

  “Yes, Roq?”

  “If we finish it as is, the hammer will be great, but it could be magnificent. If we infuse the hammer with a mind gem, not powdered, but an entire gem, melted into the material, right as we join the pieces, it will facilitate the magic. Like we did with the cloak.”

  "Is that safe?" I asked aloud.

  Pa looked at me questioningly, and I explained Roq's suggestion.

  "Never heard of such a thing," Pa admitted. "But then again, I've never worked with a soul weapon before. If Roq thinks it will help..."

  "It will," Roq insisted. "Trust me on this. And safe? Who cares. Knut can take it and you can always store me and I’ll heal your wounds. Except if they are egregious.”

  “You might want to wait outside, Pa. Roq doesn’t know what’ll happen,” I said as I took out another mind gem, placing it between the haft and the head.

  “Not on your life, son. If I die forging a magical hammer, it is a death worthy of a blacksmith. Now get on with it.”

  “Fine, but if Ma kills me because you got hurt, you’re to blame..”

  I brought Roq down on the haft, and the mind gem cracked, but instead of turning to fragments, it ran like wax. With each blow, I drove the haft deeper into the head, and the skull absorbed the liquified gem.

  “The core is hardening. Give the haft one last hit. Hard. Just imagine it’s Benedict.”

  The final, powerful strike felt as if I’d hammered an immovable objecte, and I roared as a surge of energy erupted from the hammer, made its way into Roq, and then entered me.

  Orange light streamed from the newly forged hammer, and for a moment I thought it was about to explode.

  "YESSSS!" Roq screamed in delight, his voice echoing through my mind. “We have achieved PERFECTION!"

  Pa stumbled back, his eyes wide with disbelief.

  “By the smith's own hammer,” he said, raising a shaking hand.

  The hammer on the anvil glowed, the orange light slowly fading.

  But the tool itself, it was magnificent. The Platemaw skull had been transformed into a blacksmith’s wet dream.

  "What... what happened?" Knut asked, stepping closer, and his eyes blinking.

  “It’s legendary," I said, my body shaking with the aftershocks of the power that had coursed through me.

  Pa approached, reaching out to touch our creation.

  "I've never... in all my years..."

  I picked up the hammer to hand it to him, surprised at its lightness, if not its perfect balance. Unable to help myself, I touched my wrist to check its stats.

  Name: Platemaw's Fury

  Type: Forging Hammer

  Rarity: Legendary

  +5 Strength

  +3 Vitality

  Abilities:

  1. Heat Retention: Maintains optimal forging temperature 200% longer than standard hammers.

  2. Impact Amplification: Striking force is multiplied by 150%.

  3. Elemental Channeling: Can infuse crafted items with elemental properties when used with appropriate materials.

  4. Self-Restoration: Slowly repairs sustained damage over time.

  I handed it wordlessly to Pa who checked its stats.

  “This is beyond anything I ever dreamed of creating."

  He wiped at his suddenly misty eyes.

  Knut, who had been watching silently, now approached with Pa’s good liquor and three cups, likely no longer seeing cause to hide.

  "Celebration," he declared, pouring some out for himself, Pa, and me. "Great achievement."

  Pa accepted the cup with a trembling hand, his gaze never leaving the hammer in his hand.

  "A legendary," he whispered. "My own legendary."

  "No alcohol for me," Roq declared, when Knut offered to pour some on him. "Despite its rarity, it's no fit for my material. It would merely dilute the blood. I wouldn’t pass on a bowl of milk, though.”

  A minute later we raised our drinks, Roq resting in a bowl of milk on Pa’s largest anvil.

  "To Platemaw's Fury," Pa toasted, his voice thick with emotion. "And to my son and Roq, his remarkable hammer, without whom this wouldn't have been possible."

  We drank deeply, the liquor burning pleasantly down my throat. Pa put away his glass, threw a glance at Knut who was halfway through pouring himself another finger, chose to ignore it, and focus on his hammer.

  "With this," Pa said, "I can forge items I never thought possible. Elemental weapons, self-repairing armor..." He looked to Roq. "Your hammer knows his craft, son. In all my years of smithing I’ve never even heard of some of the things we did today."

  "He's full of surprises," I agreed.

  "I am indeed exceptional," Roq said smugly. "Though I must admit, your father's skill is fine, for a human. And you listened to instructions in a satisfactory-adjacent way. Together, we created something truly worthy of carrying my mark of creation.”

  “To Roq,” I said, lifting my glass.

  Sometime later, Pa having forged a horseshoe that bounced when dropped and was mid-forge on a hopefully fire-imbued dagger, a flurry of knocks came from the smithy door.

  "Who's there?" Pa called, his new hammer raised.

  "Karl!" Karl said. "Is Mr. Coinshield here?"

  We looked at Knut.

  "Aye," Knut said.

  "Can I come in?" Karl asked.

  "Go ahead," Pa called, and the smithy door opened, Karl bursting in, out of breath and wide-eyed.

  "Been looking all over for you!" he said to Knut.

  "Why, little man?" Knut set down his latest drink, barely slurring his words.

  Karl held out a small piece of paper. "Message came for you at the guild. It's from your brother!"