Master Of None

The punch was not what any of them expected. Remey had been practicing with the different elemental affinity knuckles a little but not as much as she could have. She had been too focused on the alchemy side of her system to truly grasp the real effects that came with the elemental knuckles. 

Therefore, when the flames that were on Midnights' torch jumped to Remey's fist and the crack of the ice multiples, everyone was shocked. Even Remey. The shard of centennial ice that fell was much larger than they expected. The spiderweb of cracked ice left behind was also a good sign for what their next hits could bring. 

"You just punched with fire! Fire!" The excitement Gil had was more than Remey had at the moment. She had not expected the attack to be used this way and she had been unaware that she had even learned a new skill related to punching. 

"I have a skill called elemental fists now! It lets me use surrounding elemental mana to make my punches stronger as long as I have the appropriate knuckles attached." There wasn't even a way for Remey to remain still reading this. Her energy spiked while she read through how amazing this skill would be. It was what she had desired in a way when she received the different elemental affinity knuckles to attach to her gloves. But it was even more than her expected effects. 

To actually channel the elemental mana around was more powerful than attacking with the affinity knuckles. The small damage the affinity would do was now going to be multiplied by the fact that actual elemental mana would come along with the attacks. 

"I think that might just be your bread and butter attack now. You use the hammer fist a lot and even have some kicks mixed in, but changing elemental punches will throw any opponent in to confusion." There were only upsides in this skill that Walker could see. He wanted to have Remey show off every single attack but held back his curiosity. 

The shard of centennial ice was grabbed by Walker and stored. He come only hold it for a member before the cold hurt his fingers and it made him wonder just how the wandering blacksmith would be forging with it. The cold would seep through any gloves and become tough to work with. It was going to need a lot of time and patience to work with. 

The alchemy fire spirit felt that Remey was pulling fire elemental mana through her knuckles and emerged from the spirit mark to steal away some of the mana. When Remey released her next punch to the centennial ice the spirit danced around her cheering for her to punch again. The party witnessed this and decided to let her bond with the alchemy fire spirit. 

"I bet we can use the pick axe to chip away at the ice a little. Then we might be able to get a block of it." Walker was using some of the wandering blacksmiths' chisels and pick axes while Gil and Su held a torch for him. The wandering blacksmith was using the chisels to carve a block outline and Midnight had stayed with Remey to provide a torch for her. 

The carved outline let Walker see where he would be striking away. His consecutive hits broke off small chips of centennial ice which would be ideal for the small rune carving tools. The block soon showed signs of breaking away from the wall of centennial ice. The noises that the group were making echoes through the mountains and came back to them. Their vigilance continued to rise since they knew that noise could attract monsters. However, there was a feeling that none would approach because there was normally nothing to hunt and eat in this specific area. They would most likely head toward the icicle falls nearby. 

The block finally fell with a loud bang on to the ice and Walker was quick to store it away before it slid down the side of the mountain. It was the largest block yet and would be used as a modification for the anvil itself. The smaller blocks that were outlined by the wandering blacksmith would be for the hammers. The rest were just chips and shards from the wall that were mainly broken by Remey as she practiced her newly discovered skill. 

She was not foolish enough to exhaust her mana and soon found that she had a large pile of shards and chips of central ice that Walker could store away. The alchemy first spirit had absorbed the fire elemental mana she had used and became slightly larger before it decided to rest again in the spirit mark. Overall it was a very successful surprise training session. 

"It was good work. You managed to get a lot. I doubt we will need it all but the more the better for what we are making." Once it was stored away, Walker knew that they would need to venture back down the mountain to reach their previous camping spot. There was no doubt that the wandering blacksmith would get right to work. He had a glint in his eyes that said he could not contain his desire to forge. 

"Now we head back down, right? That should be easier than getting up here. I'm glad that we don't need to go to the higher peaks and try to hold on to those rocks there." The high peaks Gil was motioning to were flat rock and ice faces that none of them wanted to climb. It would have been too tough unless they were all alone and had the proper skills. 

Before they could turn and speak about their thankfulness for not needing to climb the rock faces, there was a thud that vibrated the ice around them. The entire group froze as an icy breeze pushed all of them down the mountain slightly. The resounding raspy voice that broke the cold air around them caused them to shiver. "Who comes to harvest the ice I have made? What permission do you have to be here?" 

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