The Earth After Rebirth

As he was left to his devices, Hiro put every negative thought at the back of his mind. He didn't want it affecting his relationship with the steel that was beginning to take shape on the steel table. So he kept them at bay, far away.

His attention was entirely on what he was crafting. He didn't even know how many weapons he'd crafted so far, his shop was littered with metal. From weapons to armour, even concoctions.

The warmth the room exuded was something he took comfort in. He remembered the first time he walked into a craftsman's shop, he could barely breathe. Now, the hotter the better it was for him.

He loved the shop he had in their base. It was far better than his master's, as better as it was, it didn't make him as good as Rufian. That frustrated him greatly. He wished there was a way to go back to that small village, and continue craftsmanship under his tutelage.

Not that he was doubting himself, he just knew that there was more left to learn. Proof of that were the weapons that were on the ground.

Ever since he started crafting, he hadn't crafted anything worthwhile according to his standards. Only common and uncommon weapons and armour, the only thing he excelled at were potions. He could concoct various, for strength, restorative, even poison mist, something Nikolai specifically asked for.

He wished smithing was as easy as following recipes. There were no recipes in creating weapons, you either do it right or you don't. Even when you do it right, a great weapon isn't guaranteed.

So more than anything, experience was the most important thing if you wanted to craft a legendary weapon.

Which is why Hiro was working day and night, burning through materials, and producing useless armour and weapons but never giving up.

"Dammit. Another common weapon. At this rate I'll run out of materials," he mumbled to himself and quickly put it up for sale.

That was another thing about being an apprentice craftsman, you couldn't reuse materials. That was something experienced craftsman could accomplish.

He wanted nothing less than legendary weapons and armour for his comrades. That's why he was under pressure, why he didn't want to rest, he only wanted experience so he can be a legendary craftsman. That was his goal, he wanted his craftsmanship to be known all around asgard.

"That ore is not nearly enough, should I go mining? Ah right."

He remembered something, and poked around in the interface. He was making a call.

A pale face, unlike his own, appeared on the other side. Droopy eyes that seemed worse than he remembered. He felt sorry for the kid, Kiro hadn't told him to stop. It seemed he liked following commands exactly as they were given, no exceptions.

"Have you gotten any rest at all?"

"No, Kiro said to mine for the next days..." Felix answered.

"I doubt he meant that literally."

"..."

"Do rest when you get the chance, but I'll need you in the mine for however long you can be there. I need materials, for practice."

"..."

"I'll craft you a priest staff."

"Okay."

That was the most enthusiastic reply he could get from Felix. He found himself interested on why he turned out the way he was, not that there was anything wrong with him, he was just too asocial even for Hiro.

Just like that, Felix hung up and sent Hiro a lot of ore he had gotten the past days, he also sent him mountains of herbs.

Hiro had never met someone as asocial as Felix, it was almost as if, he didn't even want to try to get to know people. He found himself glad he had Kiro, at least he had a social life.

He took some of the ore, carefully placed it on the steel table. He conjured his flames, which integrated themselves with his hammer, making the hammer go from looking dull to a red blush.

He put the ore in the furnace, to smelt it. The process always fascinated him. Extracting the iron from the ore, and when it was metled, it didn't look like steel at all, just orange gel.

Hiro carefully poured it into a bar that was shaped like a sword, he put it back in the dimmed furnace, and waited for it to cool down. While waiting, he started on his alchemy.

He took out a cauldron, it was on a stand of its own. It looked noble, it was green and gold. He started putting in ingredients, he had to mass produce the poison mist for Nikolai.

He had sent him 2 prototypes, he loved them so much that he asked for more.

Hiro had no idea when they'd start their mercenary work, but he wanted his group to be fully prepared when the time comes.

He conjured his flames once more, and integrated them with the cauldron. It became hot, at just the right temperature.

'It was worth buying you for a million,' he thought as he nodded at how brilliant the pot was.

Poison mist required a lot of poison herbs, it also required to be brewed without the lid. As purple smoke fell out, Hiro didn't pay it no mind.

Though he didn't pour any water, it was bubbling. After exactly 3 hours and 2 seconds, he banished the flames whence they came and poured the mist in 3 different vials.

He breathed deeply in relief. Before he perfected this recipe, there were explosions after explosions. If the mist happened to leak, even one drop, you'd be shrouded in an explosion. So the trauma for him to do this right was still there.

He turned to his iron which was now cooled. He first sent the 3 vials to Nikolai, which he replied with a bowing 2 second video.

Hiro lifted the now light iron to the table, and started pounding. The sound was music to his ears, he was extremely focused.

Remembering what Rufian taught him.

'Be aggressive but also gentle. That's the mark of a craftsman.'

Those words rang in his head, as he pounded the iron. He hadn't noticed, but his flames came out, as they felt his passionate heart resounding together with his hammer.

They were subtle, so to someone as focused as Hiro, he didn't feel them at all, but if someone were to walk in, they'd see him glowing, a bit.

The hues of orange and red, dancing within his green eyes, as he mercilessly pounded the iron with both aggression and gentleness.

It began to take shape of a staff radiating majestic aura.

Ding!

[Congratulations, you've created your first rare weapon.]

Hiro was still bathing in his success when he received a call.