Chapter 308: Ivorin
Arwin hoisted one of the Ivorin sabatons he’d been working on for the past few hours to examine it in the light of the [Soul Flame] licking from the Infernal Armory’s hearth. The boot was plain but functional, with joints to allow movement at the ankle and plating along the top of the foot. There were two clear gemstones embedded within the boot on either side of the ankle. A spike extended from the very end of the toe, long enough to make sure his kicks delivered an extra punch — or took revenge on anything he stubbed his toe on.
The second boot sat beside the hearth. It was a more polished version of the one in his hand, adorned with plain but well-done carvings. Layers of power and intent had been worked into it and the Mesh sat in wait, sensing a finished item and held back only by its connection to the boot that Arwin was still finishing.
He’d considered making each of the items separately, similar to how he’d made his gauntlets, but Arwin had opted to dismiss that particular idea. It was easy to do one thing with one hand and another thing with the second. That was less true when things came to legs. He didn’t want one foot to go around shooting out magic while the other drew it in. Not unless he didn’t like the idea of balance.
Arwin worked the final designs into the surface of the sabaton in motions that had long since become practiced. If it hadn’t been for the Mesh showing him what to do, it would have been impossible to get to this point in the relatively short amount of time that had passed between now and the explosion.
It felt like an eternity, but it was measurable in weeks rather than years. He’d just managed to accomplish more that he was proud of in recent times than he could in just about all of his memories as a hero.
Arwin was almost starting to feel like a real smith — or at least, whatever a smith that used magic for seventy percent of their work could be called.
He finalized the boot and the Mesh buzzed with increased intensity in his ears. It didn’t want to wait any longer, and it wasn’t going to have to. Arwin released his mental barrier, and magic exploded forth like a raging river bursting through a cracked dam.
Arwin watched on as emotion swirled in his chest. These were the final piece from the Ivory Executioner set. Perhaps it was odd to feel emotional about finishing a suit of armor. Out of everything he’d worked on, this was the one that had been waiting the longest to be finished.
There had been so many things he’d had to do. Life had been busy — but now that he watched the Mesh rushing into the boots and igniting the life that he’d forged into them, he knew that a lack of time wasn’t the reason he hadn’t finished the set.