As the sun was about to fall behind the mountains. The last streak of light faded. Mira walked out of the workshop carrying a medium-sized sledgehammer on her shoulder.

Arad stood outside the forge, looking at her with a smile, “A nice hammer. Is it usable?”

Mira stared at the hammer with a smile, “It should be, but I won’t know until I tried it in fights,” She lifted the hammer and carried it with two hands. “It’s designed to be carried with two hands but can be used with one. The nails and black powder are stored in the shaft and get fed up into the hammer head using a spring. I only need to reload it once every ten shots.”

Arad opened his arms, “Want me to test it?”

Mira stared at him with a smile, “Can I test it on you?”

Arad looked at her with a grin, “Come at me as hard as you can,” with those words, time seemed too slow for Mira. She could see the afterimages of Arad’s hands dropping, his body shifting to the left as he prepared to charge at her.

Mira remained still as she watched, her body too slow to reach.

Thud! Arad reached her side, swinging his open palm at her face at a tremendous speed.

Her body finally started moving, lifting the hammer to her side. 𝗼𝘃𝗹.𝗼𝐫𝗴

BOOOM! As Mira lifted the hammer, Arad’s hand hit the hammerhead, igniting the charge inside and firing the nail.

Mira rolled to the side as a cloud of smoke filled the air, her arms screaming in pain from the recoil. The nail rested on the other side of the garden, stuck to the castle wall.

Arad stood in the smoke, staring at his wrist. “Now that’s a hit,” He smiled, a hole drilled into his palm, “To think it would penetrate my scales.”

Mira barely managed to stand, growling as blood dripped from her forehead. She was hit with some shrapnel above her ear.

“AHH!” Mira grunted, wiping the blood and looking at Arad, “I need some goggles, earplugs, and gloves.” She held the wound on her head with one hand.

“You okay?” Arad stared at her, and she nodded, “But a scratch, let’s keep up,” She smiled, and then glared at Arad, “You tried to slap me.”

“I intended to stop before hitting you. But you managed to reach in time,” He lifted his hands, smiling as the wound on his palm closed.

Thud! Mira rushed forward, clenching her fists on the hammer and screaming, “Die!” She swung down at Arad’s head.

Arad gently moved his head back, dodging the strine, “Die? You’re cruel,”

A grin crossed Mira’s face for a split second. She pushed her left foot on the ground and clenched her teeth, forcing the hammer’s weight to shift.

The hammer was now heading toward Arad’s slightly bent left knee. KABOOM! Upon impact, the hammer bounced back lifting Mira from the ground. Arad growled as the nail pierced from his knee down and nailed his foot to the ground.

Using the momentum of the recoil, Mira twisted her body, swinging the hammer toward Arad’s head with a roar.

A smile crossed Arad’s face. Nothing pleased him more than his wives being strong, and now Mira who was the weakest has enough strength to defend herself. He lifted his arm and caught the hammer by the shaft before it could hit him.

The smith watched from a distance, his mouth gaping.

“Isn’t Arad her husband? Why is she trying to kill him?”

“She can’t hope to land a hit if she wasn’t that determined. Arad isn’t someone you can face halfheartedly,” Jack replied with a passive face. “He won’t die from those hits,”

The smith stared at the fight, confused, “A hit to the knee could end the carreir of any adventurer.”

Arad giggled, staring at Mira, “I caught the hammer. What can you do?”

With a grin on her face, Mira twisted her wrist, and the hammer head started smoking.

Arad’s eyes opened wide as it flashed. BOOM! Another nail flew right through his elbow, forcing his grasp on the hammer to loosen.

The recoil sent Mira back with the grin still on her face. She landed on her feet, shifting hammer weight to rest on her shoulder.

“I did put a manual trigger in the shaft,” She showed Arad the small black bump of the shaft. “I don’t need to hit anything to ignite it,” She said with the hammer smoking behind her head.

Arad stood, healing his elbow as he smiled, “A nice trick, But that recoil can’t be good for you.” He stared at her shaking knees and gargling voice. She’s exhausted and drained from enduring those three hits.

Mira sighed, “You’re right,” She stared back at the hammer, “It needs some modifications. A lightning charge would be nice as an alternative, some gloves and armor would go a lot to protect me,”

CRACK! Arad pulled his leg from the ground with ease, throwing the nail on the ground. He then approached Mira, “Buy anything you need and take all the time you want.”

Mira stared around and then back at Arad, “Lightning stones are a bit too expensive, but can I buy two or three?”

“How much are they?” Arad asked, but Mira shook her head, “I don’t know the current prices, but last I saw them. They sold for seventy gold coins a piece.”

Arad nodded, “Buy as much as you need.”

Mira smiled, “I can take three stones and link them together. I will then store them in a wooden box on my back and use a copper link to link them to my gloves, which hold the hammer.” She said with an excited face, “More copper links on the shaft would guide the lightning to the hammer head to hit on each strike. But I need a switch to toggle it on and off,” She went on, “I also heard mithril can conduct mana extremely well while being very light. If I made an armor with multiple lines of that, I might be able to deflect magic with it or use it to charge the lightning stones.”

Thud! Arad patted her head with a smile, “Feel free to try everything,” He stared at her, “I can afford the price, I guess,”

“I would!” Mira said with a smile, putting the hammer down.

The blacksmith approached them, “That was amazing, I never saw such a weapon before,”

“It still needs some work,” Mira replied, “But I will get it done soon enough,” She smiled.

“She’s a hard worker,” Arad lifted her in his arms, “It’s almost night time, let’s go,”

The smith stared at them, “One last question,” He shouted and looked at Mira, “Are you an artificer?”

Mira smiled, “I guess it’s obvious. I’m an artificer with a carpenter subclass.”

Artificers are a class that has no magic or fighting skills, but they compensate by making powerful tools, items, and trinkets to help them fight. Most weapons and armor of the world were invented by artificers who shared the secret of their craft with the world.