Making a bracelet wasn’t anything new to Arwin, but he’d never been so focused on his results before. Splitting his attention between the forging process and making sure he didn’t lose sight of the trait he wanted was insanely difficult. It felt like he was trying to pull the entirety of his mind in two wholly separate directions. He didn’t let his attention falter for a second. This was the last chance he’d get at completing the Challenge in time, and he was confident that he’d come to the right conclusion. He just had to pull through. His hands seemed to move with minds of their own as he repeated a process he’d done several times before. It was an odd feeling. His body and mind felt disconnected. They were split between two halves of a whole – but, at the same time, they felt completely in sync. The desire and the forging were one and the same. Without the Mesh carrying the other half of his work for him, the workload was obviously going to be higher. But the longer Arwin worked the metal in the flame, using [Scourge] to bend the carapace into place and twisting it together with the metal, the more he felt like he actually understood what he was doing. Magic poured out of his body and into the bracelet. He’d used so much already that he was starting to feel as drained as if he’d just fought a massive battle, but he didn’t care. Arwin wasn’t just letting the desires of the metal and the Mesh take over his work. He was forging it entirely on his own. He lost track of time. There was no room in his mind for it. There was only space for his work. Inch by inch, bend by bend, Arwin grew closer to completing the bracelet. The power he’d pushed within it tingled against his fingers as he worked, growing stronger by the second until, finally, it was done. A plain steel bracelet rested before him. It was twisted with the carapace so thoroughly that he could barely even tell where one piece started and the other ended. It was a swirl of gray that represented everything he could muster. And, for the third time in the Challenge, the Mesh acknowledged his work. Energy swirled around the metal and golden letters crawled before Arwin’s eyes once more. [Steel Embrace: Rare Quality] has been forged. Forging a magical item has granted you energy. A laugh bubbled out from Arwin’s lips. He held the bracelet out before him, the laughter growing stronger as the words shimmered and faded away. It wasn’t long before he was cackling and clutching onto the metal band like it was the only oar to a rowboat lost in the ocean. “I did it!” Arwin cackled, thrusting the bracelet into the air victoriously. “Hah!” Achievement: [Yes you did.] has been earned. [Yes you did.] – Awarded for forging your first item entirely on your own. Effects: Upgrade one of your existing skills. This achievement will be consumed immediately. [Yes you did.]has been consumed. [Molten Novice] (Passive) “Well, damn,” Arwin breathed. “Didn’t think I’d get another one of these so soon. I would have cried blood if I knew just how many Achievements I’d missed out on as the Hero. I think I’d gotten like ten by the time I was at the end of Journeyman tier. I’ve basically gotten that many halfway through Apprentice.” It was a welcome power-up right before a fight, that was for certain. Arwin crossed [Awaken] off the list immediately. He’d seen just how significant the changes it brought were, and now that he’d learned how much he still had to improve on with smithing, he didn’t dare make it any more powerful. If he did, he’d probably become completely unable to properly craft items with enough magic to give him a vision. A shudder ran down his spine at the thought of trying to hold onto his intent for a trait while the materials he was working with were literally assaulting his mind. [Arsenal] was useful, but Arwin needed more slots than anything else – and those wouldn’t come from upgrading the ability. He crossed it off as well. [Arsenal] was already pretty much exactly where he needed it to be. That left [Molten Novice] and [Soul Flame]. Both of them were equally tempting to him. He’d already gotten a faint hint as to what [Molten Novice] would do. It would let him somehow work with lava. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. That said, he didn’t exactly have any lava with him. He was pretty sure he could get back to the locked room in the dungeon, but it was far from convenient. Arwin also hadn’t actually gotten a chance to properly use the ability yet. I do have that ball of lava waiting to be used that I got from the dungeon, but I’m going to need a way to make more lava to work with if I want to learn more about [Molten Novice]. I shouldn’t upgrade the skill beyond what I can use before I’ve even tested it out – which leaves [Soul Flame]. It’s probably my most used ability, and it hasn’t gotten an upgrade in a while. I suppose that settles things. Arwin selected [Soul Flame] without a second more of hesitation.