Throne of Babylon

III: Dungeon Dive

I wiped sweat from my forehead in the early hours of the morning the next day. As I slammed the hammer down on my latest creation, my first ever weapon I'd forged.

For the rest of the day the day before, I'd read the book on the upper floors as much as possible. I reached as much as reading about the 7th floor in detail before dinner, after which I decided to sleep for the night so the information wasn't just swimming in my mind.

The next morning, I was up almost two hours before dawn. I didn't have a dream like I'd had the previous night, but I was also far too awake to go back to sleep. So, I decided to go to the shed that would be working as my forge.

Finn kept to his promise; the forge was cleaned up and upgraded. It wasn't anything amazing, it wasn't like the tools were all glittered and glowing, but it was still far better than a novice smith would probably get otherwise.

I put on one of my white shirts, knowing I'd end up oddly cold if I wore nothing on the upper body, or unbearably hot if I wore a jacket.

From the Gate of Babylon, I removed one of my 3 Minotaur Horns and began forging.

As I forged, I'd already decided that I wanted a sword. Daggers were Bell's thing. Besides, even though daggers were more versatile than swords, I felt like favouring the longer reach of swords over the limited reach of daggers. I might change my mind down the line after some time in the dungeon, but for now I focused on a sword.

For three hours without fail I heated and melted, hammered and forged, sharpened and ground... Until, finally, I held my first ever weapon that I created on my own.

It certainly wasn't anything impressive, I was sure there were many weapons better than it. Even so, I was proud.

It was around 15 – 16 inches, making it a short sword. Given I was 16, the shorter sword was honestly something that would suit me better. Still more reach than a dagger, but not as unwieldy as a normal or longsword would be for me.

The blade itself was crimson in colour, though it was closer to orange, just like Bell's Ushiwakamaru that Welf would eventually forge for him. The handle of the weapon was uncomfortable for me to hold, so I used a tuft of Silverback Fur for the handle of the weapon, making it much snugger to hold.

It wasn't a work of art, but I felt it was pretty good for a first attempt.

I gave it a few practise swings, nodding in satisfaction. It wasn't perfectly balanced, but it was manageable for me, and it felt nice to use.

With my self-analysis done, I finally turned to the blue screens the popped up when I was done with the weapon.

[You have forged a new weapon. Would you like to name it?]

"I most certainly would!"

[What would you like to name the weapon?]

I cast my gaze to the weapon, humming in thought, before a name popped into my head. It was a bit lazy and unoriginal, but I was lazy and unoriginal so...

"Kurenai!" I decided with a grin, the notification fading away as I made my decision. I then willed observe to work, as the weapons information appeared before my eyes.

[Kurenai] [Type: Weapon] [Rank: D]
A short sword made by Ezras Hargrave using a Minotaur Horn as a blade, and Silverback Fur for the handle. It is the first weapon he ever made. It could be improved if Runes were added.

My eyebrow raised at the last part of the text. Runes? How interesting... I knew Runes were a thing in this world, but I'd assumed it was something confined to the gods. Welf's magic swords never had any physical signs of Runes like the Hestia Knife, nor did weapons with the Durandal Trait like Ais's desperate or Tiona's Urga. Or, if they did, they weren't shown in the show.