Chapter 231 230: Protective Fang

When we returned home we all watched as Anput started to set up her forge in the back yard, using her Earth Magic to create a furnace for herself before reshaping the chunks of steel into a usable anvil.

While she created her miniature forge, Leone rushed back inside when she heard a knock at the door, which was her Alchemy Set.

She began setting that up inside her room, clearing the abundance of books and papers to make room for the various bottles, vials, burners, and more scientific things that I had no idea about.

Though I was very familiar with the mortar and pestle that she stole from the kitchen, giving the Vampire a dull look when she hesitantly placed that on her desk.

Shaking my head, I returned to the yard, leaving Jahi inside with Leone as she began to experiment with Alchemy.

Seeing me return, Anput grinned at me before she lit her self made furnace, which was now filled with some of the Everburning Coal she had purchased.

With the remaining steel chunks she had, Anput shaped them into the tools she needed to work a forge, mainly being a set of tongs and a few different hammers.

She also asked me to fill a giant earthen barrel she made with water, using it to quench her blades when they needed to be cooled.

I was rather curious about how her Metal Magic would alter the forging process that I was kind of familiar with, so I sat down a distance away and watched on as she placed a small chunk of Battle Iron on the anvil, her lips pursed as she stared at it.

As she stared at the chunk of metal, I placed the broad dagger the Countess had gifted me on the ground in front of me, preparing to enchant this blade as well.

Whilst fighting earlier I had an idea; my First Fang was an offensive enchanted blade, so why not make the broader, heavier, and sturdier dagger a defensive one?

Creating a thin icicle, I started tracing runes into the dirt, occasionally glancing up when I heard Anput hammering.

The Jackalkin was wearing her traditional garb, with a cloth wrapped around her head to keep her hair out of the way.

Her olive skin glistened with sweat as she worked near the open flame, while her muscles rippled with every swing of the hammer.

I was tempted to go inside to quench my 'thirst', but I remained sitting, watching her with interest.

The Jackalkin's serious, concentrated expression was cute, and her obsidian eyes were hard as she slowly worked at the metal, lengthening it before shaping it.

Turning back to my own work, I clicked my tongue in annoyance as the Ritual Circle I created grew too complex.

Like the First Fang, I was going to implement a mana circuit on it to empower this shield enchantment, but that meant I needed to make sure the shield enchantment itself wasn't going to destroy the dagger.

Pursing my lips, I continued scratching away at the sand, rune after rune appearing in an intricate pattern before me.

Occasionally I would stand up and cast the Ritual Circle, trying out the spell as I began to fine tune it.

For the moment, Anput was beginning to truly shape her first work, hammering an edge onto the curved blade she was making.

The woman was staring intently at her work, drizzling a small amount of water onto the anvil before she returned to hammering the edge out, sparks flying as she did so.

Enjoying the show before me, I eventually managed to get the spell down to a decent size, which made me sigh in relief.

Since Anput was still hammering away, I began to enchant the dagger, beginning with the four runes for my mana circuit.

They were easier than yesterday, and I nodded to myself at the successful enchantment, swiftly moving onto the other side of the steel dagger.

Tracing out the completed Ritual Circle, I shrunk it down and began the truly tedious part.

This, sadly, wasn't easier than yesterday; in fact, it was harder.

Anput's hammering became a way to concentrate my mind on channeling the mana into the blade rhythmically, which I was grateful for.

Minutes passed by in sluggish agony, but I pushed through, just like I have many times before, and eventually created my Protective Fang.

...I had come up with the name whilst enchanting it, and for the moment I didn't know what else to call it.

With that, I was done and exhausted, and it seemed that Anput was as well, the woman staring down at her completed work with a smile.

Getting up, I stumbled over to her, leaning on her shoulder as I too stared at her blade.

It was a curved dagger, and the Jackalkin smirked at me as she slid her arm around my waist, her breath tickling my ear as she whispered "I made this for you, Kat..."

Placing the blade in my hand, she continued on, her voice excited as she said "I still need to finish honing its edge, polishing it up, and binding on a proper handle, but this is it!"

I smiled back at her, lifting the blade up into the air.

Battle Iron was a rusted looking metal, but it was just as strong as steel, and easier to work with; worth a little more too because of that.

The blade itself was around seven inches long, and it only had one edge, which curved up into a clip point, with the small edge on the top of the blade allowing for easier piercing.

Light, sturdy, and sharp...

My smile widened, and I leaned further into Anput's sweat stained body, her scent wafting into my nostrils.

"Thank you, Anput..."

Hearing my raspy whisper, my mate shivered for a moment before grinning at me, her obsidian eyes filled with expectant lust as she spun me around.

"Oh, it was no problem, Kat... I'm just slightly saddened that I can't give you something better, but..."

Smirking, she leaned down and gently pressed her lips against mine, her citrus taste exploding on my tongue in an instant.

Pressing myself further against her muscular frame, I accepted her kiss and deepened it, before the Jackalkin pulled away and whispered "Can I make it up to you, Kat~? Is there... something you wish to do~?"

Smirking up at her, I nodded and grabbed her hand, leading it towards a certain spot as I whispered something into her ear, making the woman lick her lips before doing exactly that.

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Here's a surprise second chapter~!

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