Heavy Metal

"I guess he didn't take my advice to heart…"

"It's not bad to practice a new craft, no reason to not make more weapons."

The two orbs of light conversed while peering down at a suit of armor supporting a hefty axe. It was a completed piece, now part of the armory's inventory alongside numerous other bronze weapons. It all started with one hunting knife and soon turned into a large weapon creation spree. With molds and an infinite supply of ingots at his disposal, the task became remarkably easy. In time, the empty armory had been transformed into a well-stocked arsenal.

"Another fine addition to my collection!"

As Rusty admired his latest creation, he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. Each weapon he crafted was a testament to his newfound skills as a blacksmith, something that he found enjoyable.

"Looks like you're getting the hang of this."

The hero remarked while floating beside Rusty.

"Thanks to your guidance, I couldn't have done it without you Mr. Hero."

"No problem, not like there is anything else for me to do here… But now that you've built up quite the collection, what do you plan to do with them?"

Before Rusty could answer this question, the darkened sphere of light floated forward and spoke out.

"That's what I'd like to know, why did you ignore my advice of focusing on swords?"

Rusty paused for a moment and considered the demon lord's question. It was true that he had no proficiencies in things other than bows and swords. However, he wasn't really thinking about such things when working here in the Soul Forge. Instead of focusing on survival, something else became the focal point.

"Well… it was fun?"

"It was fun?"

"Yes? It was fun to make them all and I feel like after making these weapons, I'll also gain some insights into defending myself against them?"

"I see…"

"Leave the kid alone. He is just enjoying the craft, it's probably not something a demon king would know much about. Not everything has to be about battling and survival."

The hero chimed in but the demon lord wasn't convinced.

"Bah, perhaps he will find a way to learn more skills in the future but it would be better if he didn't spend valuable resources to bring these weapons into the real world!"

"He is not even a year old, he is just having some fun."

"Some fun, hm?"

The demon lord orb observed Rusty, who appeared to have shifted his focus elsewhere. The living armor had a habit of moving away whenever the two light orbs engaged in arguments. Rusty's attention span resembled that of a newborn child and there wasn't any deeper meaning behind it. His sole desire was to craft as many weapons as possible and he just ended up filling the armory during the process.

"This should be all… so now what?"

Now that his work was over, there wasn't really much to do. He had attempted to wield some of the bronze weapons in the training ground, yet, similar to the hunting knife, they didn't quite suit his metallic grip. The library failed to offer any additional useful knowledge and was devoid of skill books or any means of skill acquisition beyond his skill absorption or leveling up. However, some skills could be upgraded here but all of them focused on blacksmithing.