The [Soul Flame] turned a vibrant blue as Arwin pumped it full of energy. It had taken him nearly five minutes to feed it enough energy to get this level of intensity and it didn’t look like it was going to get any hotter. Fortunately, it didn’t need to. The large chunk of Brightsteel cupped in his palms started to glow. It went from red to a dull orange, soon approaching a yellowish-white as the intense flame enveloped it. Arwin squinted through the waves of heat rolling off the hearth as the temperature in the smithy started to rise. Even with his resistance to his own fire, the sweltering flame was enough to cause droplets of sweat to roll down his forehead. The top of the Brightsteel rippled and started to turn liquid as it grew hotter and hotter. Tiny patches of relative darkness stood out amidst the glowing yellow-white. Arwin turned the piece over, keeping the metal cupped in his palms as more of it turned to liquid. Several small dots and tiny chunks of glowing debris littered the molten metal pooled in his hands. Arwin glanced around, then cursed. There was a little more liquid than he’d expected there to be, but he didn’t have anywhere to put it while he fished out the debris. Arwin transferred the metal to one hand, spilling some in the process, and then started fishing out the little chunks with the other. Once he’d gotten the biggest parts out, he did his best to pour it out into the other hand, leaving the majority of the debris behind. It was far from the most effective strategy and he lost more metal than he would have cared to in the process, but it worked. At least, it looked like it worked. He took the metal away from the flame and held it out in the air, waiting as it cooled and solidified back into a blob in his palms. Arwin studied it, then blew out a breath. Even if this method technically worked, he was going to end up with a bunch of little nuggets instead of workable ingots. Then again, I can re-heat them with [Soul Flame] and merge everything back together at the end. Not the most efficient way by any means. I should try to get my hands on a mold I can pour metal into. A crucible as well. Something that can withstand the heat of the heightened [Soul Flame] because I’m not so sure my current hearth will hold up against that. As before, he ended the fingertips in points — not too long, so as to avoid accidentally cutting his own palm open every time he clenched his fist, but enough to let the gloves actually have a way to rip into his targets. He made sure to avoid accidentally making the gauntlets too stiff and hindering his movements, but he also put in more than adequate amounts of plating over the stiff portions to make sure they’d be able to block a blow without shattering. The gauntlets steadily came together. He connected the pieces with rivets, testing and moving each segment before moving right on to the next one. Through the entire process, he continued to pour magical energy from himself into the gloves. Energy tingled within the metal as he worked it into shape, making small adjustments with his hands and [Scourge]. Once the bodies of the gauntlets were completed, Arwin added the gemstone to the back of the left gauntlet. He went to add the Wyrmling tooth to the right one, but paused as he was preparing to press it into the back of the palm. Wouldn’t it make more sense to use a claw as an actual claw? Or at least put it in the spot of where a claw would be? A gem on the back of the hand is fine, but claws should actually be used for what their purpose is. Arwin’s brow furrowed as he split his attention, keeping his intent as best he could while thoughts flashed through his mind. Changing what he was doing midway through didn’t seem like a good idea. He already had a plan laid out — but that plan wasn’t really based on anything concrete. If I put the claw in a fingertip, it feels wrong to just have one. Every finger should have one. But that would mean I’m working with six monster parts instead of just two. Given the huge increase of difficulty of adding in a single extra item… five could be too much. But they’re doing the same thing. That might make the extra draw more manageable. He didn’t have the mental capacity to fully consider the decision and keep his focus at the same time. The only thing he could do was act. After one more instant of hesitation, Arwin hurried over to his pile of Wyrmling parts and scooped up four more teeth. Working them into the fingertips of the right gauntlet was simple enough, and soon had one of them firmly lodged and buried within the metal at the end of each finger. To Arwin’s relief, it didn’t seem like the draw of magical energy or focus had changed significantly by using more teeth. Now there was a new problem. If the claws were based on Wyrmling teeth on one gauntlet, it didn’t make sense for them to be normal on the other glove. Why would it even have claws at all? That’s just stepping in the first gauntlet’s territory. They’re meant to be a pair. One rips, the other stores. Arwin removed the pointed tips from the left gauntlet’s fingers, rounding them out. He brought the white gemstone out a little, making sure it was visible on the back of the gauntlet, then started carving jagged designs into the gauntlet with a nail and [Scourge]. Once he finished, he swapped over to the clawed gauntlet and repeated the process, drawing identical designs. He didn’t really have a reason for it other than it felt right, but that was as good of a reason as any. His brow knit in concentration as he put the finishing touches onto the gauntlets. His reserves of magical energy were dwindling to alarming levels, but it didn’t matter. He polished the gauntlets off and sharpened each of the claws on his whetstone.