Transmigrate to another world

In the sewers

I wake up from meditation to a familiar sound.

⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩⟩

- Congratulations, the Meditation skill has advanced to level 9!

√ Meditation

√ Level 9

- Physical +9 Intelligence. +4 Charm. +4

- A skill for recovery. HP 40/hour MP 40/hour

I look at Ruby, who is still meditating. I simply enjoy watching her. I can't help but admire her beauty and marvel at the possibilities. No, I can't think like that, we're bonded for life. What if I confess and she doesn't feel the same? How awkward would things be?

It's better to just be friends and partners. Especially since I could die at any moment in this world. Maybe if it was my old world? Ah, who am I kidding, in my old life I would never have had the courage to get close to someone as beautiful as her!

My thoughts are interrupted when Ruby starts to move. I quickly get up and pretend I'm busy doing something before she opens her eyes.

Ruby says, "Hooray, my meditation skill has gone up two levels!"

"Good morning, how nice! Would you like some breakfast?"

Ruby says, "Sure. After that, would you like me to show you the forge?"

"Yes, please."

Ruby stands up and stretches, smiles as she notices me looking sideways at her. Then we sit down and share breakfast and then get ready to go to the forge.

Ruby says "How do I cross the river?"

"Like this," I lift her in my arms and jump across the river. Ruby's heart starts pounding and not for flying through the air.

"Did you just say eep?"

Ruby punches his arm and says, "No, I didn't."

"Oh, okay, okay, sorry!"

I rub my arm as we walk back to the room where Ruby was imprisoned. Ruby walks to the back wall and points to a rock.

Ruby says, "Channel mana to this rock and the room will open."

I walk over, put my hand on the rock and channel some mana into it. A section of the wall disappears as if made of smoke. Behind it is a forge fully equipped with a complete set of tools.

Ruby says, "Before you go in, you should know a few things. One, the forge will only work as long as I am in the room. Two, you cannot remove anything that is in the room at this time. Three, time passes faster in the room."

"Are you thrilled with the time dilation? Cool! Do you know the speed?"

Ruby says, "I don't know what you just said, but every six hours in is an hour out here."

"That's awesome, I'm going to get a lot of use out of this room!"

I'm so excited that I rush to hug Ruby before I think better of it. Ruby freezes in surprise at first, but then smiles and hugs me back.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I got carried away."

Ruby says, "Oh, that's okay, I don't mind at all."

"That's okay, first thing I have to do is get the two hundred and fifty pounds of iron ore I mined up here. That's a lot of back and forth, do you want to wait here?"

Ruby says, "Yeah, okay, I'm feeling a little down."

"Did you run downstairs, are you okay?"

Ruby sits with her back against the wall and says, "Yeah, I feel like I used to, when it was time for me to be uninvoked so I could rest, even though I have a lot of mana. I don't understand it myself."

I kneel down next to Ruby and say, "We can do this later, let's go back to camp for now and you can try to sleep, maybe meditation doesn't count as rest for you."

Ruby pats her hand and says, "No, no, I'm fine. I'll just sit here and relax while you run around like crazy."

"Are you sure, Ruby?"

Ruby says, "Master, I'm fine, go away now!"

"Well, fine if you insist."

Then I spend the next hour running back and forth from camp to the forge, hauling iron ore. Ruby sits and tries to rest, but every time I run in, she can't help but open her eyes and look at me. On my return from the last trip, I also carry two torches and three books.

Ruby asks, "What are those for?

"I was planning to finish reading them, but I didn't have time. So I thought I might as well read them so I wouldn't waste too much time."

Ruby says, "Oh, I guess that's smart."

"Umm, thanks?"

Ruby laughs and says, "You're so serious all the time."

"Well, it's been a matter of life and death since I was summoned, sorry."

Ruby says, "No, I understand. I was just wondering what you'd be like if you were more playful."

"Anyway, I'd like to try forging now if you feel up to it."

In response, Ruby gets up and enters the room. As soon as she enters, the forge lights up and a wave of heat hits me. It gets worse when I enter the room after her, which makes me feel very grateful for the fire resistance I gained from bonding with her. Ruby moves to one side of the room and sits on the stone bench there.

Ruby says, "I light the forge just by being in the room, but I don't know anything about how to use it. To be honest, I never paid much attention to what the Archmage was doing."

"That's okay. I've never done this before, but I'm pretty sure I at least know the theory behind it."

Ruby sits back and watches as I fill a crucible with raw iron ore and place it in the forge. While it heats up, I set up some ingot molds and then sit back and watch the iron ore melt and bubble.

"So, I know I need to wait a bit for the impurities to burn off, but I don't really know how long it takes, so this will be a bit of trial and error."

Ruby says, "That's okay, I plan to sit here and rest anyway."

"Are you still feeling exhausted?"

Ruby says, "Yes. If anything, it's gotten worse."

"You said you felt that way when you needed to be unlinked. But you're no longer being summoned, so what can we do?"

Ruby says, "Yes, the chains used to keep me, but when the Archmage unchained me to handle the forge, I felt that way until I was put back in the chains."

"But the chains are gone and you're no longer an elemental, can you think of anything that might help you?"

Ruby says, "I feel like I just need... rest..."

Ruby's form begins to glow and, as I look at her, she shrinks into a cloud of bright red light and flies towards me. As the cloud reaches me, it hits my chest and I feel an intense, burning pain.

When I look down at my chest, I see a medallion with a fire motif embedded in it. I touch it gently and wonder what just happened.

"Ruby, can you hear me, are you okay?"

I hear Ruby's voice in my head, "I'm fine, I'm just sleepy."

After making sure she's not in any danger, I go back to what I was doing. The fact that the forge is still working well also helps to lessen my concern for Ruby. Then I realize that I've probably left the iron in the forge for too long and I take it out and pour the molten metal into the ingot molds.

⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.

- Congratulations, you have acquired the craft skill Blacksmithing!

√ Blacksmithing

√ Level 1

- Strength +1 Fire resistance +1

- You can transform metal ores into raw items.

"Created item."

√ Steel ingot

- Quality: High Grade

"Wow, high grade steel, how could that happen?"

I quickly put more iron ore in the crucible and put it in the forge. While waiting for it to melt, I found myself rubbing the medallion and discovered that it was warm, even warmer than the air in the room where the forge was. I took that as a good sign, since Ruby is a flame spirit.

Come to think of it, when she became the cloud of light, she looked like the other spirits I saw. Maybe this had something to do with what happened to her because of me. I spent the next few hours turning the two hundred and fifty pounds of iron ore I mined into twenty high-grade steel ingots.

⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩

- Congratulations, the Blacksmithing skill has advanced to level 2!

√ Blacksmithing

√ Level 2

- Strength +2 Fire resistance +2

- You can transform metal ores into raw items.

I then return to my camp to fish and cook some fish to eat. After eating, I collect all the armor and weapons I have gathered and start carrying them to the forge room. I then proceed to cast them into another ten ingots.

Ruby thinks "Bostezo!"

"How do you feel?"

Ruby thinks "I feel a lot better now and I understand some things too."

"Like what?"

Ruby thinks "Well, now I have something called spiritual power, I have to use it to keep my human form. I ran out of it and that's why I became an amulet."

"That's good, I was worried something had gone wrong!"

Ruby thinks "Oh, you were worried about me?"

"Of course! You suddenly became a cloud of light and then this amulet, what was I supposed to think?"

Ruby thinks, "I can see your point. Normally, a spirit that runs out of energy would return to the spirit plane to recover. I guess this means you are my plane, ha ha ha."

"Well, as long as you recover, it doesn't matter how."

Ruby thinks, "I'm still recovering, but I've recovered enough to stay awake. But I'll still be a charm for a while."

"That's okay, I'm just doing boring crafting stuff for now anyway."