Chapter 92 - Encouragement

Wain was used to dealing with issues using brute force and intimidation, but he realized that such a method would only make things worse in this situation.

When Wain realized that Lea was trembling with fear and could not say a word, he calmed his aura. He needed to make Lea want to work again, not make her afraid to take the hammer in her hands.

"Lea, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you. Just listen to me, okay?" Wain said calmly.

Lea nodded weakly. She didn't expect Wain to suddenly be able to calm down and talk to her. It was surprising to her.

"As far as I know at the moment, you are the only person with the blacksmith soul in Last Light. You must understand that you have a great responsibility to hundreds of other people." Said Wain.

"Yes... But, all I do is garbage..." Lea said with sadness in her voice.

"It doesn't matter, don't think about it. Besides being the only blacksmith, you also have another more important purpose."

Lea looked at him thoughtfully.

"You must develop. That should be your top priority. If you keep getting frustrated over every little thing, you can't get better. You have to move forward. Moreover, with your soul, you have no right to give up. 

You are already more fortunate than others. It can be compared to talent. You have to develop the talent to become better than millions, not sit here and eat candy."

"I know you're right. I've been told that by others, but I still can't help myself. Just when I think I'm finally ready for a new challenge, I give up again at the last moment." Mumbled Lea.

"Lea, don't you have any goals? Surely there must be something you want to accomplish with all your heart. Right?"

"Yes..." Mumbled Lea. She wanted to say something, but suddenly Wain interrupted her.

Whoooosh.

He took off his cape and threw it toward Lea. The cape was large, so it completely covered Lea.

"Then pull yourself together and get what you want. Make a masterpiece right here and now!" Wain said loudly.

Wain was not a master at raising morale, as he was never interested in being a leader. But, he could say a couple of platitudes that should have helped Lea gain courage.

Lea looked at Wain's cloak, torn in many places, and nodded hesitantly.

'He's right. I should at least try. If I don't relive one failure after another, I won't even have a chance of success. Creating a masterpiece isn't easy, but it's possible.' Lea thought.

Her soul allowed her to work with almost any material. Lea was more like a gear maker than a blacksmith, who mostly worked with metals. 

If she had the suitable materials and conditions, she could change and repair anything.

"Okay, I'll give it a try, but we need to go into the warehouse. I can re-shackle your cloak, and the holes will disappear, but I can't repair the torn parts that way."

"Whatever you say."

"By the way, do you happen to have any souls? I could use them to increase my chances of creating a masterpiece." Lea asked.

When she used her skill, she would either create garbage or a masterpiece. Which option would happen depending on many factors. 

Luck, quality of materials, use of showers, and Lea's skills could all have had an effect. The latter was the most important of these, but other factors also influenced the end result.

Wain shook his head, "No. I've already used everything I had."

"I see... Okay, let's try it this way. Maybe if I put enough effort in, I can create something worthwhile." Said Lea and headed for the warehouse.

"That's the right attitude." Proclaimed Wain was looking at Lea walking away.

'It seems to have worked. I could have come up with more original phrases, but for the first time, it turned out pretty good.' Thought Wain and followed Lea.

A minute later, they were in a massive warehouse with hundreds of crates. Gisle decided not to use all materials that people had extracted from Dungeon.

It didn't make any sense since they didn't trivially have as many craftsmen who could competently use the various materials.

Only a few people who had been blacksmiths before were able to create something decent out of monster parts and various ores. But, the only person who could use these materials to their full potential was Lea.

"Wain, what color do you like best?" Asked Lea trying to find the right material to mend her cloak.

"Of course, black. You can still use navy blue and crimson, but only in small quantities." Wain quickly replied.

"Well, yes, it was obvious. It was stupid to ask that." Mumbled Lea and headed to the back of the warehouse.

Clovis and a few other people who had previously worked as carpenters were in charge of creating the crates. They were also responsible for sorting things, and the monster skins were at the end of the warehouse.

Clovis.

Lea opened a large drawer and pulled out what looked like a snake's skin.

"It's the hide of a night serpent. This monster was a boss in one of the Dungeons our organization owns. As far as I know, it was one of the strongest, and several people have died in battle with it."

"That'll do. That's what I need. The material has to be sturdy, but it doesn't have to constrain my movements, or it will be garbage." Said Wain.

Lea nodded and headed to her personal forge.

In fact, Lea could forge gear anywhere, but the right atmosphere helped her concentrate. The forge also had everything she needed to make gear.

...

"You have a pretty good forge. Gisle did a good job." Proclaimed Wain was looking at the spacious room with its massive furnace, many tools on the tables, and several anvils.

"Yes, I was thrilled when I saw my new workplace. Okay, time to get started." Said Lea and placed the cloak along with the serpent's skin on the anvil.

She took a deep breath and prepared to activate the skill, but suddenly the door opened, and someone came inside.

"Wain!" Zero said loudly. She had recently returned to the base and found out that Wain had shown up after a long absence. She immediately started looking for him, asking everyone at the university where he was.

"Hi," Wain said calmly, waving his hand.

"Zero? Is today the day everyone goes home?" Said Lea. She hadn't seen Zero in a long time.

"Zero, I know we haven't seen each other in a while, but I'm busy at the moment. Lea has finally decided to start forging items again. She has to fix and improve my cloak." Said Wain.

Zero nodded. She looked at Wain, mesmerized. Normally he always wore his cloak and never took it off, but now he was wearing only a black, fitted T-shirt.

Wain's muscles were perfectly visible through it. They were not bloated. On the contrary, they looked harmonious and perfectly matched. Wain's body was like the bodies of Greek gods from myths and legends.

To get such a body, one had to train for many years in a row. Moreover, training alone was not enough. Genes and lifestyle were also influential. Wain fought hundreds of times and continues to do so in the new world. His body honed with each battle and got better.

Zero had survived many horrible events that made her quite ruthless. But, she was still a young and rather impressionable girl.

"By the way, before we get started. Zero, do you happen to have any souls? Lea would have a better chance of creating a masterpiece if she used souls in the meantime. Anything will do."

Zero nodded, "Yes, I just got back from a hunt. Right now, I have five hundred Common Rating souls and thirty Rare Rating souls."

"Great, can you lend us those? When I go hunting, I'll give them back to you." Said Wain.

Usually, Wain used force to get what he needed, but he didn't do that in those situations where his ally was helping him. Wain was a pretty fair man and always kept his word and paid his debts.

He felt that otherwise, his words and actions would have no weight. He would have been a mere pacifier flaunting his power and nothing but that.

"All right, but you don't have to give anything back. I still haven't thanked you for saving the other girls in that lab and me." Zero said seriously.

"Suit yourself, but then you could have gotten out without me. Those mutants and monsters weren't strong." Proclaimed Wain with a shrug.

"Yes, but it was only because of you that I was able to avenge the full extent of all the suffering I experienced. Lea, at what point do I have to hand over my souls to you." Said Zero.

"Right now, I will use the souls to enhance the item I received, so I must use them from the beginning to get the maximum effect." Said Lea.

She had never forged using souls before, but she knew intuitively how it worked. Her soul gave her not just a powerful skill but also some pretty powerful passive effects. The same was true of the rest of the people.

At that moment, Wain wondered, 'I know what effects my additional soul has. The description clearly says so. But, I'm not sure exactly what effects my main soul has. Nameless King.... I got a really unusual soul.'