Chapter 247
Once I had learned the key features of Spencer’s new skill, I immediately canceled all my meetings for the day unless it was an actual emergency, ignoring Harold’s annoyed grumbling in the process.
But what was the point of being the King if I couldn’t even skip a meeting in the process? I was filled with excitement once I arrived at my Forge, ready to create a similar setup, and maybe even upgrade my Shaper into the next stage.
… Only for those hopes to shatter.
“Damn it. Another failure,” I growled, frustrated as I threw the shattered ingot back into the fire. I spent the whole day in front of the forge, with various attempts to copy Spencer’s skill, all met with failure, wasting my whole day in the process.
It wasn’t the failure itself that bothered me. I had been working on various experimental topics for too long to be bothered by them. The fact that I made no viable progress was slightly more annoying, but not a dealbreaker. The problem was that every attempt ended in total failure. Sometimes, very explosively.
I stared at the workbench, arms crossed, trying not to scowl as I examined the remains on the forge and the workbench, hoping that the fragments of metal would give me an idea.
The same metal that would have destroyed my face if it wasn’t for my helmet when exploded.
“What a day,” I muttered with a deep sigh. When Spencer had successfully transformed his skill, I was so sure that I could apply that to my forging. After all, wasn’t I already growing into an expert when it came to mana and skills…
The results disagreed. Vehemently.
The idea was elegant on paper. Apply the same principles of crystal etching to metal while forging, which would add spell effects to the alloy, and maybe even allow me to assist in casting. But, every single spell I tried to etch into the metal destabilized the crystal structure of the metal, turning it into ruins.
It wasn’t too bad with ordinary metal. It just weakened and deformed the metal while the runes turned useless. But, things were different when it came to alloys. Worse, I soon came to learn that, the stronger the metal was, the more spectacular the explosion.
It ended the same, even when I had used all the techniques that I had discovered in my adventures.