Adrenaline Junkie [Book 2 Complete]

Archie grabbed the red-hot Igneous chunk, placed it atop the heavy-duty anvil, and quickly got to hammering. With every slam of the hammer, Archie funneled his non-attuned mana into the Igneous metal.

Once he'd made it uniformly flat and two inches thick, Archie placed it over the horn and started to shape it into a cylinder. After finishing that, he then held it on the side of his anvil and started to form it into a sharp, long, and angular-looking C.

Archie grabbed the oddly shaped rod and moved towards the table where a sleek, angular, and skeletal motorcycle frame was missing a rod to hold in place the left side of the engine once made.

Archie held the top part of the oddly shaped rod in between the steering head and the top frame and held the bottom part of the oddly shaped rod in between where the lower cradle met the bottom frame and the engine mount. Activating Forgesmith's Flame on both his hands, Archie soldered the cylinder in place.

Once attached, Archie took a step back and Identified the frame atop his desk.

Igneous Frame:
An Igneous metallic frame made from the corpse of an E-Grade Igneous Golem. and forged by Archie Gracefield, a Novice Forgesmith. However, unlike its predecessors, it sacrificed its retention of heat for a far more sturdy and stocky body.

Not bad, Archie thought before sending the frame into his spatial storage. I'll figure out how to make the motor, and everything else after the raid on Oliver's base…I don't think anyone has made any rubber, so I might have to use saw blades as wheels. But I'll go around and double-check before the raid.

Archie grabbed his Runic Scriber and iron sheet before sitting in front of his desk. Archie stared at the empty sheet thinking about the runes that would be useful.

Archie filled the runic scriber with non-attuned mana and began to etch a kinetic enhancement rune. After he finished etching the rune he started to modify it by adding a few empty capacitors towards the end of the pathways.

Archie stared at the rune for a moment, thinking about what he should add. After a bit of thought, he decided to combine the rune with another Fire runic base. Seeing that the runic script stayed, Archie considered his experiment to be a success and channeled mana through the rune.

Archie leaned in closer as he saw his mana flow into the rune, but his eyes went wide as he saw the rune suddenly gain a microscopic crack with his Gaze of the Forgefather active…Shit.

Suddenly, it exploded, blasting point-blank across his face and knocking him off the chair and onto the ground. A small dark smoke cloud covered both Archie and the desk.

Coughing, Archie pushed himself off the ground and started to wave away the smoke from his face. Exiting the cloud of smoke, Archie channeled mana into his mask, repairing it from the damage it took.

The hell did I miss? Archie questioned himself while grabbing another iron sheet and his runic scriber. Were the resistors not set properly? They couldn't have been, I made sure that they were adjusted for.

Sitting on the ground, Archie re-etched the same rune he made previously and focused on it, trying to figure out where he went wrong.

Everything looks good, Archie thought, eyes carefully analyzing the pathways. Resistors good, transistors working, capacitors working…Where did I fuck up?

Identifying the sheet produced the rune's name. But nothing as to why it blew up.

Iron Sheet (Common):
An iron sheet forged by Syllia Glynvyre, a D-Grade Expert Runesmith. A Kinetic Surge rune has been etched by Archie Gracefield, a Novice Forgesmith. Effect: Kinetic Surge. Status: Perfect.

Archie slowly sent mana into the Kinetic Surge rune etched onto the sheet using a mana string. Focusing on how the mana flowed throughout the pathways; he saw his mana flow through the pathways steadily and fluidly change into kinetic energy.

He then saw in slow motion as the sheet started to form small bubbles, some forming under the rune causing small fractures to form on it before the whole sheet exploded.

Archie saw what he did wrong. Nothing. The only way the rune would work once filled with mana would be to release the kinetic buildup. The one thing he didn't take into account was the fragility of the iron sheet. Thus, when the rune was filled up with mana and needed to release it, he was right there to witness his rune exploding in his face.

Looks like I'm going to be using steel sheets from now on, Archie thought before quickly grabbing a steel ingot and fashioning it into four steel sheets.

Etching the Kinetic Surge rune onto the steel sheet, Archie channeled mana into the rune and watched the metal, waiting for any signs of bubbles or cracks on the rune. As the rune converted mana into kinetic energy, it released a powerful blast, the sound reverberating throughout the cave.

Shaking his head from the loud explosion, Archie stared at the still intact sheet and Identified it.

Steel Sheet (Common):
A steel sheet forged and etched with a Kinetic Surge rune by Archie Gracefield, an E-Grade Novice Forgesmith. Effect: Kinetic Surge. Status: Moderately used.

Looks like I'm going to be needing a sturdier metal to handle these rune tests, Archie thought with a sigh. Getting up from the table, Archie went over to the Spiritglyph Gorilla corpses that he tossed onto the floor.

Grabbing the gorilla corpse that had bits and pieces of stoney-grey patches across its fur and muscle. Archie took the corpse and went a good distance away from the tortoise and other gorilla corpses as well as his forging equipment.

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Archie looked at the sigil across its back and examined it.

Hm…looks just like a basic Earth runic base, Archie thought while shaving off the fur around the sigil trying to see if there were any hidden sigils around it…Nothing.

Archie continued to stare at the gorilla before deciding to try something new. Maybe when the gorilla channeled its mana into the sigil on its back, it performed it in a specific pattern.

Archie pulled out his dagger, cut into its body, and pulled out its core. Upon holding its core, Archie activated Spirit Bond making everything around him go dark.

Archie then found himself within the jungle once more, but the gorilla wasn't anywhere in sight. Jumping a few meters backwards, Archie dodged a sudden slam where he previously stood.

Archie activated Thornscourge Expansion and flung his fists forward, channeling his nature mana into the vines around his arms. The vines shot forward and wrapped themselves around the gorilla's arms. Archie kicked off the ground and retracted the vines as fast as he could, propelling himself towards the gorilla.

Archie slammed his knee into the gorilla's face, launching it into the dense jungle and watching as it crashed into a tree. Archie watched as the gorilla shakily got up while shaking its head and glaring at him. The gorilla released a roar before charging.

Archie jumped over the gorilla before channeling nature mana into his vines once more. Mid-flip, the vines wrapped themselves around the gorilla's legs, and Archie pulled, causing it to fall flat on its face.

The gorilla that pushed itself off the ground and turned to stare at Archie before pounding its chest. Archie felt pulses of mana wave off of the gorilla with each slam on its chest. He felt it activate the sigil across its back with the pulses of mana, causing stone-like skin to grow across its body.

Getting what he needed, Archie quickly appeared in front of the gorilla, activating Adrenaline Rush at 15% and uppercutting the gorilla, cracking the stone-like helmet around its head. The gorilla fell to the ground from the blow and onto its back.

Deactivating Adrenaline Rush, Archie placed his foot atop the gorilla's chest and released a guttural roar, activating Taunt at point-blank range. The roar reverberated across the jungle and knocked the gorilla unconscious.

Archie then found himself back in his base, with a glowing Spiritglyph Gorilla Beastcore in hand. Archie felt his muscles swelling, but not the warmth that he gained when successfully bonding with the Magma Hound. Alongside his muscles swelling, Archie felt something pulsate across his back.

Archie quickly took off his sleeves and chest piece and stared at his back from his reflection of the sea.

Across his back was the same sigil across the back of the gorilla he previously cut open. Archie felt the patterns of mana generated from the sigil and got a surge of inspiration.

Rushing over to his table, Archie grabbed a steel sheet and his runic scriber and began to rapidly etch the mana he felt pulsing from the sigil.

His first attempt failed, and so did his second attempt, and many more after that. Archie's mind spun with different ways to interpret the pulses of mana that constantly repeated themselves across his back.

So far, he understood that it was an advanced version of some sort of stone-shelling runic script. Something far more advanced than what he knew how to decipher. This was more along the lines of some type of runic coding sequence.

It's all centered around an Earthen runic base, which is connected to an amplifier. And surrounding that is some sort of earthen shelling sequence, Archie concluded. Getting an idea, Archie activated Gaze of the Forgefather and stared at the sigil on his back using his reflection.

Once activated, Archie was now able to see a faint runic script on his back. A wide smile grew on his face as he started to funnel more mana into the skill, making the script grow brighter. This is the shelling sequence, Archie realized as he read through the neon grey script across his back.

Re-etching what he read on his back onto the steel sheet, Archie stared at his finished long runic script.

Steel Sheet (Rare):
A steel sheet forged by Syllia Glynvyre, a D-Grade Expert Runesmith. The Material Carapace runic script has been etched by Archie Gracefield, a Novice Forgesmith. Effect: Material Carapace. Status: Perfect.

From what Archie understood from looking at the runic script, when activated the material that the rune is etched on will grow across the body of the wearer and atop their armor. Effectively doubling his armor once activated.

"Fuck yes," Archie muttered as he gained yet another idea as he turned to face the tortoise shell.

Bralmir stood in front of the now large pile of finished equipment and vanished them into his spatial storage. Looking around his spotless forge room, he gave his forge one last glance before vanishing from sight.

On another planet, many universes away, was a being that stood at a height of one meter. The being was hammering away at a chest piece that looked to be made out of constantly flowing magma.

The being had a rugged, weathered face framed by a thick, braided beard adorned with various metal beads etched with runic scripts. Dark purple bags under his eyes emphasize his half-open, lifeless, fish-like gaze, partially hidden beneath long, bushy brows. His nose was slightly crooked, and his skin bronzed, gained from untold years spent near blazing forges. Draped over his sturdy frame was a stained blacksmith's apron, covered with various oils and liquids. Attached to the back of his apron were various bottles of alcohol labeled, The Elven Mistresses.

Suddenly, the being stopped hammering away at the chest piece and quickly turned around sensing a presence he hadn't felt in eras. The being's eyes widened, his lifeless, fish-like gaze vanished, replaced with bright green eyes staring at Bralmir's form.

"Hello Balgid," Bralmir said, staring at the form of his second disciple. "It's been quite some time."

"…Master," Balgid's lower lip trembled as his eyes started to water, quickly biting down on his lower lip in an attempt to stop the tears from flowing down his face. "I-I felt your presence when you lit up your forge for the first time in cycles, b-but I did not wish to disturb you from your work."

Bralmir crossed the distance between him and Balgid, shrinking with every step, until he went from his normal ten-meter-tall frame to that of two meters. Bralmir enveloped Balgid in a tight hug, Balgid unable to hold back his own tears, wrapped his own arms around Bralmir and silently released his tears.

"I-I did my best to keep everything as you left it," Balgid said in between sobs. "I made sure that none of the other heads of the Workshop took anything that belonged to the Forge. I made sure to-"

"It's okay," Bralmir interrupted, softly patting Balgid's back. "I'm here now. I'll take care of everything now."

Balgid nodded, pulled himself off of Bralmir, and covered himself in flames, cleaning himself from the grime that covered his body for cycles. "I managed to complete what you asked of me a couple of cycles back, constantly upgrading it as I improved," Balgid said while wiping away his tears.

"Thank you," Bralmir said while looking at the spotless floor of Balgid's forging room. It was a stark contrast to its previous appearance of empty glass bottles covering the floor in its entirety. I've hurt him a lot with my disappearance, Bralmir realized. His friend who drank alcohol with every waking moment, now seemed to have stopped almost entirely.

"As both an apology and a thank you, you can take as much alcohol as you want from my collection," Bralmir said to Balgid, whose eyes widened even further.

"Even t-the one Isolde made?" Balgid stammered out excitedly, getting a chuckle from Bralmir.

"Yes," Bralmir answered. "We can drink it together, while you tell me everything that's happened as of late."