[S/R] Balls of Fire

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

Slowly, everything was falling into place and Saber was starting to have his armory build. One item at a time, the Assassin was creating himself into a bit of a mini-machine. His crafts were pulling together quite well and he was starting to get the hang of creating things. Now, he just had to focus on making things work together. He also had to start working on actual stuff that he could use. For his next step, he had all of the basic items required. He had his black dust, he was skilled with metal, and he had a decent amount of ore lying around so he could make the items themselves. All he had to work on was the actual core item itself. With that in mind, Saber pulled open the encyclopedia he had found on ancient weapons and swiped through into the middle of the book. There were a few different names for his next weapon of war, nicknames of course. Saber knew it by a few himself but there was only one true name for it.

Back when he was training, the Assassin’s father had taught the young man how to use the weapon, but they only used duds or fake imitations. Actually obtaining and using the weapon was illegal, even for the hunters. However, they made plenty of little homemade creations that mimicked the device’s actual operation. They were quite simple, very easy to use, but not as deadly or effective as the actual weapon in most cases. Saber wouldn’t be making those backyard ones today however, no sir. He was going to be making the actual things, sort of. With a few jars of black dust set in front of him, a few blocks of iron bars, and a hot furnace at his back, the Assassin would be making the deadliest timed weapon he had ever known, aside from the mine of course. This weapon was known as the grenade. There were several different types of grenade of course; flash bang, smoke, and fragmentation grenades were the most common. Today, Saber was going to focus on only one; the fragmentation grenade.

: Word Count :
356

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

The fragmentation grenade in reality had a few core concepts to it and these concepts varied between Countries. However, they all shared similar traits. One; each grenade worked on a pin-mechanism. In order to keep the grenade ‘safe’ when out of combat and to pretty much tell the grenade when it was time to use it, the grenades used pins and a level. A combination of pushing down a level and then pulling a pin would cause a mechanism to drop (most of the time it was a spring) and ignite the fuse, the second part of the grenade. The fuses in the fragmentation grenades were usually long enough to burn for four to six seconds. Some grenades used actual fuses, others uses a slow burning chemical that would take a certain amount of time to burn off before the actual explosive was ignited. And of course, once the actual explosive material was ignited; boom. The outer casing of the grenade and any parts inside would be blown apart.

Saber had probably half of those things, but he was very innovative. At the moment, springs were hard to come by, especially ones that he needed for his current craft. However, he had a few alternatives. All Saber needed to do was create a spark, one large enough to ignite a burnable piece of material. That material didn’t have to be a chemical either, it just needed to take a certain amount of time to burn. Once that material was gone, it would then burn the black dust and then, well… boom. He knew that there would be a lot of factors in his way of making the item, but they wouldn’t be too bad. He just would have to tinker and adjust. Before any kind of testing, Saber was going to make a few different prototypes. He would use different materials for fuses, different lengths of the materials, and different amounts of black powder in each. However, the constant would be the body and the actual operation of the grenade itself. From his knowledge of the weapon in the real world, his own pitiful drawings and mental tinkering, as well as some suggestions by previous weapon designers in the world, Saber had a solid idea on what he would have to do. What helped him was also the fact that he had two high level subclasses. He could do a lot now without much difficulty, and this would be his next step towards his ultimate goal on the field.

“Alright… First I need the shell…” Saber ran his fingers over the small images of the grenade shells and saw a few different types. There was one type that was a solid sphere, another in the shape of a square, and another that was a cylinder can. What Saber didn’t see, sadly, was the familiar pineapple shape he remembered in the real world. That didn’t surprise him too much, honestly. The technology in Elder Tale was much different than the technology in Saber’s reality. Seeing that the previous scholars tinkered with explosives somewhat but didn’t have what Saber’s scientists had was no surprise. No matter, Saber knew what he needed to do. The images that were provided to him simply showed him that there was hope for him; his predecessors had attempted their own versions of the grenade. Yet their attempts all had their flaws. Saber’s would not.

: Word Count :
567

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

Turning away from his book, the Assassin grabbed a handful of iron bars and headed back to his furnace. The large smelter raged with flames and amazing heat because of how much fuel and air Saber had feed to the thing. It heated up quickly and was a raging monster when Saber returned to it about twenty minutes later. The man dropped all of the iron into an oversized and extremely thick cast iron bucket. Once they were set in the bottom of it, the Assassin dropped the bucket into the furnace and closed the door. The iron bars inside quickly began to heat up, their bodies already glowing as Saber started to step back. The Assassin huffed and accessed his menu, switching his subclass from Alchemist to Blacksmith and then headed to his desk. As his iron bars melted, the Assassin would prep the shell casts.

Saber grabbed two smaller iron bars, his tongs, and his hammer that he would use and headed back to the furnace. With his subclass’s passive heat resistance now active, Saber stood pretty contently in front of the furnace unlike before. He popped open the front door and stuck the first iron bar inside with the tongs, letting it heat up. Once the bar began to glow a brilliant red, Saber pulled it out of the blazing coals and placed it atop his anvil. Quickly, the Blacksmith smashed the metal and forced it to rapidly mold into a large block. Before he could finish, Saber was forced to return it into the heat for a few moments. Once it had reheated, Saber went back to his anvil and finished out the first half of his mold. The iron bar was formed into a large block and in one side, Saber created a small dome shaped dent with a little space for a top. After, he dipped the iron into the water to let it harden. As the first half cooled, Saber snagged the second bar and started to heat it next.

While the metal bar’s temperature elevating quickly in the furnace, Saber looked over into the cast iron bucket. Inside, the other bars were beginning to liquefy. Saber nodded and pulled the iron bar he held out of the heat. Swiftly, Saber began to mold the bar just like he had the other; he shaped it into that of a large square. As time passed and the temperature dropped, Saber stuck the bar back into the flaring coals for a few moments. The next time he pulled it free, Saber finished the shaping and made the second half of the spherical mold, he also added the same similar half-inch top that the other mold had. However, in this block, Saber crafted a large, open indent that stretched up an inch or two to the edge of the block. That indent would be the pouring nozzle; both in and out. When it was set, the block was dropped in the water with the other half.

: Word Count :
500

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

After a few moments, Saber let out a huff and then pulled both halves out of the water, the steam rising from the most recently dipped molding half while the other was already cooled. The Blacksmith took both and stuffed them back into the furnace, heating both halves up on their faces. The heating spread through all of the metal, but it did so much more rapidly on the from edges where the molds were. He waited and watched very patiently as the sides began to glow. Then, he pulled out one half and dropped it onto his anvil. He took the second half and placed it beside the first. Swiftly, Saber checked and adjusted the internal molds before flopping one block over on top of the other. With his hammer, the blacksmith bashed the two metal halves where they met, effectively sealing the edges with the impacts. The heat also worked as a sealant, as the two surfaces melded together. Rather than tinker with the metal and force it to cool, Saber let it sit.

As the metal mold cooled, the melted iron was extracted from the furnace and carried over to the anvil. The collection of iron bars and pieces Saber had initially put into the bucket and set in the fires was now nothing more than a molten drink for the Gods, a raging orange colored liquid mass. It bubbled a few times, but Saber kept his distance from the sputtering to keep from his skin being melted off by the magma. He left the iron liquid to gurgle on its own for just a second as he sat the mold up on its edge. The next step would be the most difficult, and Saber’s lips pulled into a line as he lifted the oversized bucket of molten metal. Very carefully, the Assassin poured the hot metal into the hole and kept out of the way as he did so, careful not to get any of the spillage on himself. Oh yes, there was spillage. The nozzle Saber had made was large, but he did not have any kind of spout to filter the iron through. So, he poured very slowly. His arms tensed and the Assassin’s muscles flexed hard, burning as he filled up the mold. When the orange liquid started to come back up the little tube Saber had made, he retracted the bucket. The Blacksmith snatched up the mold and poured some of the iron liquid back into the larger bucket, leaving only the necessary amount left inside the mold. With that done, Saber picked up the large bucket and quickly returned it to the furnace as to ensure the metal inside remained hot. He quickly snagged one of his water gathering buckets and stole some water from his trough, splashing the spillage with the water to get it to cool and not spread all over his stone floor where he would most likely step in it. Though, it was at that point that Saber stopped doing things.

: Word Count :
504

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

Instead, he looked down into the mold he had made and stared at the orange liquid which was there. It was beginning to cool and the edges were already hardening. The water cooled mold was drinking up the heated iron and Saber could see the outer edges of the nozzle becoming stiffer. Saber needed to be mindful not of his mold, but of time. He did not need a solid orb; he needed a shell. The iron inside of his cast would harden from the outside in, and the core would remain molten. He needed to get the timing down pat, so he knew full well he would be going through a lot of metal trying to get it right. His first attempt her was sixty seconds. From the moment Saber poured back the excess, Saber started counting. He watched and waited for sixty seconds as the molten liquid inside of his mold cooled and watched as the edges hardened near his nozzle. However, as the time started to tick on in his head, he grew restless. The Blacksmith gripped at his anvil and bit his bottom lip. He wanted the orb to be perfect, and the timing had to be even more so. Too slow and the grenade would not be hollow enough. Too quick and the walls of the grenade would be too brittle. Now, he did not need anything thick. He only needed barely a quarter of an inch of thickness. Sixty seconds would give him a good estimation of time, as it was long enough for at least some of the metal to cool.

And finally, once that time was up, Saber went to his furnace and snagged his metal bucket. The Assassin placed it on the floor, grabbed his mold off the anvil, and tipped it over to cause the entire amount of remaining molten liquid out and back into the bucket. It took a few seconds but after a little shaking, the mold was empty. Saber returned the mold to the anvil, grabbed his chisel and hammer, and then pried the two halves apart. He chipped carefully at the edges until the two cast iron metal halves cracked open, allowing him to separate them. In the middle of the right half and stuck to the edge was the grenade. Saber grabbed the orb with a gloved hand and used his chisel to knock it out of the metal wall. It came off with a pop and then Saber broke off the excess from the top with his chisel again. It was light and already hard, but was it right…?

: Word Count :
435

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

Saber took his chisel and hammer and set the orb down inside of one of the cast iron molds. He placed his chisel against the edge and with a heavy, fierce set of swings, Saber began to break apart the orb. Of course, he got now where so he stuck it into the furnace for a few seconds to heat and weaken the metal. When it began to glow, he returned to trying to break it open. It took him a few cycles of heating, but eventually it cracked. Six more focused blows caused the orb to break open and Saber pried the metal apart. He let out a huff; too long. The sixty seconds Saber had provided created a half-inch wall around the orb and left Saber with too little room inside to work with. Once he figured that out, he carefully returned the orb to the bucket of molten liquid to melt again. As it did so, Saber took his two mold halves and returned them to the furnace.

Once more, the Blacksmith heated his molding halves on their faces just enough so that they glowed brightly on one side. When they were ready, he took them both to his anvil, smoothed out the orb indents, and then sealed the halves together once more. When they cooled off and were ready for him to use them once more, Saber got his molten bucket. This time though, he put the mold on the floor. This gave Saber more control over his pouring and allowed him to make much less of a mess. While pouring the liquid into the mold, Saber could also see into the mouth of the molds better as well. He wasted less and poured less, making his time a few seconds faster. Yet he was still forced to pour some of the liquid back, as it had come up too quick on him. When the mold was set, Saber placed it on top of his anvil and started to count. This time; he counted to thirty. Sixty seconds gave him half an inch, and he needed half of that. If the cooling process worked like time, he should get half of half an inch this time around. Then again, he never trusted anything so there were no promises to himself.

At the end of the thirty seconds, Saber grabbed his mold and tipped it over, pouring the excess molten iron back into the main bucket. His face became wary as the man placed his cast iron mold back onto the anvil. With a hammer and chisel, the player once again broke open the cast and pried the two halves apart, revealing the hard metal core. This time, however, the grenade shell was stuck to the left half. Saber rumbled at the switch, as his eyes went straight for the right half instead. It didn’t really matter though. Very carefully, the man chiseled out the shell and broke off the excess. Then, he tossed (actually tossed) the metal grenade shell into the furnace. It landed with a thump and immediately began to heat up. In the meantime, Saber put the large bucket containing the molten iron and put it into the furnace again, keeping it hot. Hands free and hands clean, the Blacksmith grabbed his tongs and retrieved the heated grenade shell from the furnace. He carried it back to his anvil, set it in the mold to secure it, and began to crack at it with a hammer and his chisel. Once again, it took him a few heating and banging cycles to actually break the thing open but thankfully, it took many less than his first attempt. When he cracked the shell and it split, the Blacksmith let out a heavy sigh.

The measurement was perfect, or well, close enough. He didn’t have a ruler but the walls on the grenade weren’t too skinny or too thick. Much like goldilocks and the three bears; this grenade shell was just right. That being said, Saber dropped the broken grenade into the molten iron in the furnace and let it sit. Once more, he grabbed his split mold and placed it inside of the flames. Next, he closed the mold together. With the iron molten liquid reheated, Saber removed the bucket from the furnace and filled up his mold once more. He returned the excess to the main bucket and started to count. At thirty seconds, he poured the unhardened liquefied iron to the large bucket and proceeded to break open the mold. When it was open, he removed the grenade shell from the mold, chipped the excess metal into the molten bucket, and sent the grenade shell to his inventory. When it was there, the world prompted him for a description of the new item.

: Word Count :
799

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

Grenade Shell – A circular object that has a small hole at the top with a hollow core. Its shell is hard enough to contain the mechanisms of the grenade itself, but thin enough to be used as shrapnel for when the object explodes. The shell is also small enough to be attached to the body of the player or held in a small pouch for quick use. This shell does not contain any of the actual mechanisms required of the grenade.

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

The Blacksmith tossed the ball of metal up and down in his hand, his fingers caressing its smooth, black case as he watched it twirl and bob up and down in the air. As he watched it bounce up and down, as he listened to the metallic clap against his palm, a slow smile crept its away across the man’s face. It was wicked one. Devilish thoughts rolled through Saber’s mind and his eyes narrowed. The thought of the destruction the tool in his hand could cause was frightening and its power would be the equivalent of a Sorcerer’s fireball, but much more deadly. Not only would the ball create a plume of fire, but it would create a violent bang, and shrapnel would be blasted all around in the air. It would not be a weapon for close combat, but could serve as a huge trump card in combat. Wielding such a weapon could turn the tides into Saber’s favor if he was in a pinch. However, more importantly, this weapon would put Saber closer to his goal. And that goal was slowly coming into his reach.

Now that he had the case made, Saber opened up his menu and checked his inventory. The list of materials he had in his inventory was small, and the Assassin let out a rumble at the sight. Rather than wrestle with his recently mined ore and work on making it into usable material, the Blacksmith simply grabbed a few iron bars and tossed them into the abyss with a few taps at the air. After putting in a few bars, Saber checked his inventory once more and took a swift tally. Seeing that he had enough, the man scrolled down to his crafting item list and tapped on the item he had just entered; Grenade Shell. After a moment, a secondary screen appeared listing the description of the item as well as what was required to make it. At the bottom, the button which said “Instant Craft” was illuminated for the player. Of course, Saber clicked it. Upon doing so, another screen appeared asking him for an amount. With a trio of taps, a quantity of five was put in and then the shells appeared on the floor in front of the Adventurer. Saber nodded at the sight and knelt down to retrieve the items, cradling them against his chest. Now, she had six grenade shells to work with. Good.

Saber left his furnace to heat up the Library and headed back to his research table, taking his time as to make sure he didn’t drop one of his metal balls of potential doom. They weren’t rigged to explode nor did they have any kind of explosive tendencies; yet, but he still made himself be careful with them. He did so mainly because he didn’t want to chase a metal ball across the floor like a dog and end up dropping more. The man happily reached his desk though and set down the six metal shells without any troubles or hitches. One tried to roll away once it was set down but was swiftly corralled back into the group. Now, Saber had all of the materials he needed. All he needed to do now was put everything together, but first he had one more piece he needed to make.

: Word Count :
557

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

First, Saber needed a blueprint. The Assassin pulled a blank sheet of paper over to him and whisked his feather pen from its ink housing. With it held tightly between his fingers, the Assassin got to work on his crappy drawing. The game world was not kind to people without the Scribe subclass when it came to writing, event drawing was difficult. Though, that was probably more for artisans. Saber didn’t exactly like art or anything of that sort, but he did know how to draw a circle. For the most part, that was all he needed. In this case, his ability to draw a circle would be his saving grace… somewhat. The game was not kind and it took a lot more than it gave when it came to letting players have their way. This case was no different. A quick and simply swipe across the paper which was meant to be a circle came out as a jagged mess of sorts. Indeed, Saber’s hand had made a circle, but the inaccuracy of the game caused the pen to wiggle and his arm to shake. It was a stupid adjustment made by the game. No retorts came from Saber though, he had his circle so he would not complain. Though, it wasn’t a complete circle but more of an arc; the top portion of the circle was left open.

Once the semi-circle was made, the Assassin dipped his feather pen back into the ink, twirled it, and then tapped it against the glass to get rid of the excess. The writing tool returned to the paper and the player created a small rectangle in the circle’s core. The rectangle’s edges attached to where the edge of the circle was, creating what looked to be a well within the grenade. Out of one corner of the rectangle, Saber drew a thin line up into its center. Off to the side of the little diagram, Saber began to label the pieces. One line intercepted the outline of the circle; “Shell”. The second line ended at the rectangle; “Primer”. The third and final line touched the little line in the center of the rectangle; “Fuse”. These labeled pieces were the three main parts of the grenade; the shell, the priming mechanism, and the fuse. The shell would house the entire explosive, the primer would store the mechanism used to light the fuse, and the fuse would connect to the black dust outside of the primer. And that primer was the next piece on Saber’s to-do list.

Unlike in the real world, Saber didn’t have the high tech machines like the modern military factories had. All of the materials Saber had available to him were the ones he could get his hands on, and they were few, very few. Saber had to craft his own grenade shells, had to make his own “black powder” or black dust, and now he would have to make his own priming mechanism. It would not be difficult, as all he needed was a way to light a fuse. However, getting the materials which would create the best spark and finding a fuse which would burn just long enough to match that of a real grenade, would be difficult. Saber would have to be crafty, as usual, but that was the normal now. Creating things from scratch was becoming a hobby of his. Backyard weapons, armors, and now explosives were all things that Saber was getting to make; and it was all because of the game around him. The thought made him chuckle; how amusing. It was his greatest threat and his largest obstacle, but his truest ally. The world he lived in had spared him many deaths and had supplied him with numerous tools to perform his job, and it had made him strong.

: Word Count :
637

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

As he looked at the blueprint in front of him, Saber began to bring the world he lived in to the table. The land around him was full of materials he could use for what he needed and finding the right one was just a matter of digging. However, he did not have to dig far. The Assassin looked back to his right and towards his furnace. Then, he looked down at his own hands; bingo. Heat, fire, metal; metal on metal created sparks when rubbed together or grinding, but what types sparked the best? No, Saber had something even better; his own survival tools. One thing the game was good at was providing the players with the materials they needed to survive. One of these materials was flint; material specialized for creating a campfire. When rubbed together harshly, they sparked and lit the wood an Adventurer would have to gather up to create a flame. With that in mind the Assassin summoned forth his collection of flint and placed it on the table in front of him. At the moment, Saber had ten flint stones he used to start fires. He could use them all and handcraft the priming mechanisms he needed, but he didn’t need to do it all by hand. Saber only needed one mechanism, but just in case he kept three rocks out and returned the other seven to his inventory. Then, he gathered up the three flint rocks and walked back to his anvil.

There, the Assassin used his hammer and chisel combination to carefully break up the first rock into small pieces, chipping at it carefully to make small sliced of the stone. Not every cut was perfect, but he had plenty of flint to work with. The Assassin kept chipping until he was satisfied and simply slid the useless pieces out of the way. Once he had his twelve slivers of chipped flint, the player cast his remaining one and a half flint rocks into his inventory. He gathered up his wanted shards into his hand and carried them back to the table. There, he set them up carefully in pairs beside the grenade shells. He had his fuse lighters. Next, Saber needed a fuse.

The downside to a fuse was that there was so much material he could use, but finding the right one would be a pain. Clothing burned quick in most instances and individual thread types burned inconsistently. Saber needed something which would be the same amount of time, every time… As he stared at his paper, the Assassin let his mind tick. What in the world burned with ease, but not quick? Paper took its time, but was far too fragile and might not light. Clothing was inconsistent. Hair was… out of the question. Grass wouldn’t burn every single time… what about a woven basket? No, that material was too thick, too heavy. Even the fibers would be far too strong…

“Rope..? Rope!” Saber snapped his fingers and bolted to the stairwell, bouncing up and around the spiraling staircase swiftly to the door. He activated his shadow skills and vanished from sight as he slipped out of his underground lair and headed in to town. Rope! In ancient times, before the hourglass, rope was sometimes used as a timing system. A certain length of rope could be used to be a thirty minute timer of sorts. Longer and shorter lengths would adjust the timeframe. Saber would just need to tinker with the length.

: Word Count :
584

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

“ROPE PLEASE!” Saber barreled his way through the town to the general merchant NPC and slapped a bag of coins down onto the table. The man, not a foot away from the usually quiet Assassin, stared toward Saber with concerned eyes. However, he did turn away, dig around behind some items, and return with a long length of rope. Saber didn’t check how much money he had gave the NPC, he simply snagged his rope, sent it to his inventory, and ran off. A few other players and Landers in the vicinity looked at the level ninety man with strange eyes, but no one dared interact with him or stop him as he vanished just as quickly as he had appeared. Even if they had tried, Saber was far too lost in his own world.

Five minutes had passed since Saber left his dungeon library, and he slammed the door closed behind him. Swiftly, the man descended back into the Library and sprinted over to his metal working area. There, he set the rope down and pulled out one of his daggers. The rope was thick and hard to cut, but Saber quickly cut a three foot section off the main length. Off of that three foot length, Saber cut off two one inch lengths, two two inch lengths, and two three inch lengths. With the various three sizes, the man walked over to the furnace. Very carefully, Saber poked one of the hot coals within his furnace and caused one of his one-inch lengths of rope to ignite. Swiftly, he pulled his hand back and counted, but before he could even get to two seconds, he was forced to release the rope string and watched it burn away. The Assassin rumbled and shook his hand, flicking off the burning feeling in his hand. Next, he tried two inches. He stuck the two inch rope into the furnace and lit one end. Unfortunately, it burned just as quickly, but it took an extra two seconds. It was four seconds, maybe five, but the flame wasn’t steady enough. So, Saber took one of his three inch lengths and lit the opposite end. Of course, it burned too slow. Seven seconds was what it took, and Saber was able to watch the fires burn closer to his fingers before he dropped the rope into the furnace. Once more, he tried the two inch length. After it lit, the Assassin’s eyes narrowed. Once more, it was off; six seconds before the rope was gone. However, the varying nature was close enough to what Saber needed.

With the length needed, Saber tossed the remaining two pieces of rope threads into the fire, letting them feed his furnace. He shut the door and returned to his anvil. As he reached it, Saber grabbed the rope and began to break it down, splitting the thick material into its individual strands. He tied them up and then cut the rope into two inch lengths. He made several, as doing so was quite easy. When he had his strands, Saber put the rope pieces on a small tray and walked back to his furnace. He opened the door and placed the large tray on the lip; the heat would dry out the strands, making them more susceptible to the sparks. As they began to dry out, Saber tossed a piece of iron behind them and watched it burn for a few seconds. After having some of his own eye fun, the Blacksmith went around his area and grabbed his blacksmithing tools. Moments later, he returned to the furnace and pulled the pieces of rope away from the furnace. As he did, he sent them away to his inventory and added them to the crafting list; Fuses.

: Word Count :
628

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

Fuse - An extremely short length of rope fibers twisted together in such a way that causes the object to burn for a certain amount of time. Longer fibers mean more time; one inch is 2.5 seconds of burn time. However, the makeup of ropes makes the burn-time unreliable. To create consistency, it is suggested that a crafter dries out the fuses before use.

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

With the fuses made, the shells formed, and the black powder ready, Saber had just one more piece of his puzzle to make. In his terms, it was called the primer. The primer was a small piece of metal inside of the shell of the grenade which would house the striking unit for the fuse. It also kept the fuse and the black powder separate for the bit of time that the fuse was lit, until the last moment when the powder was meant to be ignited. The primer also allowed for an easy and subtle ignition of the fuse. Rather than be forced to carry around matches, Saber simply would need to push down to cause friction between the fuse and the primer’s walls. This friction would light the fuse within the grenade itself, keeping everything contained. As an Assassin, Saber needed as few things visible as possible. Keeping everything inside of the grenade would keep its use invisible until the grenade itself was rolled or thrown at the target. However, it also meant that Saber would have to be careful, as he couldn’t see the fuse to know how much time he had left.

Even so, keeping everything contained was far more efficient and useful. Thus, Saber got to work once more. Saber made his way over to his table just to grab one of the grenade shells he had made. With it in hand, he returned to the anvil and placed the object down on top of his metallic workbench. He used his eyes to measure the diameter of the hole and also checked the depth of the grenade itself. Then, he pulled out one of his fuses and held it up against the side of the grenade shell, just so that he could get an estimate of how large the primer would need to be. Saber took his time with this. He forced himself to check every possible angle on the grenade to ensure that the primer would fit, and even adjusted the design in his mind a little. Saber has initially planned to make a square box for the primer, but instead he would go with a cylinder. The circular object would slide in and out better and would be easier to fit into the shell. There would also be more space for more powder. More powder meant a bigger bang.

: Word Count :
396

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

Once he had a solid mental image of what he wanted, Saber went back to his furnace. The Assassin snagged a small iron bar from his pile and then tossed it into the fires, instantly heating the small brick of pure iron. All of the black dust on its edges burned away, revealing a shimmering body beneath the ugly, just before it started to glow. Saber’s nose wiggled as he watched the iron heat and broil within the hot furnace, the molecules of the metal substance breaking down and starting to weaken. It was a pretty sight, but it would not last forever. Once the iron bar was of temperature and glowed brilliantly, Saber pulled it from the heat and placed it on his anvil. As he set it down, Saber grabbed his chisel and his hammer. Using the pair, Saber steadily chipped into the main metal piece and carefully started to break off a piece of it. Before he could get the piece off Saber was forced to heat the bar again but once the piece was separated, Saber started to bore it out.

The Blacksmith placed the broken piece of iron into the furnace and let it heat up. Just as it reached the necessary temperature needed to work it, Saber took a small cylinder of cast iron and started to tap it against the headed regular iron piece. It made a small indentation, but it wasn’t enough. The heated piece of metal was still metal, and that meant Saber had to do it the hard way. He heated up the iron, tossed his cast iron cylinder, and returned to the anvil. There, he bashed the small iron piece into flat metal. He heated it as few times as possible to keep the material from becoming brittle and worked quickly, using as few powerful strikes as possible to get what he wanted. Yet when the iron was finally ready for the next stage, it was still strong. So, Saber continued.

He reheated the iron once more and as it warmed, Saber put on a pair of gloves with extra padding he kept around his space and then grabbed the cast iron bar again. He pulled the flat piece of iron out of the furnace and placed it down on his anvil. There, he used the cast iron cylinder as a tool to wrap the heated iron around, coiling it up several times to increase the iron’s strength as well as to make good use of his materials. It took some coercing to get it to fold, but after fussing, Saber simply elected to do the rolling at the door of the furnace instead of at his anvil. There, the iron remained hot and lost heat at a slower rate, allowed Saber to work for an extra few seconds. Once the metal was wrapped up, Saber slid it off black cylinder he used and dropped it back into the fire. As it heated, the metal seams warmed and began to burn away. To help get rid of them, Saber used his hammer to gently tap on both edges of the small, hollow cylinder, smoothing it all out.

With the main shape of the primer made, Saber stuck it into the flames one more time just so that he could close up one end of the metal, leaving only a small hole in the side for where the fuse would be stuck through. In the inside of the primer, Saber used a heated metal pen to carve two slits right across from each other; one was placed slightly lower than the other. He then placed the hollowed primer core onto the anvil with the rest of his tools. He wasn’t done yet. There were still a few more pieces to make, but they wouldn’t be as difficult.

: Word Count :
637

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

Taking the same bar of iron he had mutilated before, Saber created two more small pieces of iron. He used the heat of the furnace to mend the two into a pair of small, square shaped holders. They were short, thin, and indented as if they were meant to hold something within their cores. On the backs of the little holders, a small slit of metal was attached which would hook into the walls of the primer. On one of them, there was a small piece of flat iron which rose up off the top edge; this was the striker block. The strike block was formed into a sort of upside down L-shape, making it able to be hooked into by a similar shaped object, and had a small pin-hole burned through it. Saber placed these two pieces of metal down with the other parts of the grenade, but once more he returned to the furnace.

Next, Saber created the pin system. It was a simple thing to make, as all he needed to do was create something which would lock in with the other piece that would sit in the primer walls. To ensure his own safety, however, Saber created a two stage system. First, Saber created the basic pin that he would use. The base was circular in its shape and would fit snuggly on top of the grenade. Sticking out of the bottom was a small notch that would lock in with the striker block, but it was thin so that it could be broken with something as simple as a hard tug. Sticking off to the left of the circular base was the grabbing lever. That level would curve down with the bulge of the grenade as to keep it out of the way while the grenade was carried. When the main pin piece was made, Saber burned a small hole through the pin’s base and aligned it with the hole on the striking block. There, the man pushed a thin locking pin through it. The pin was small but sturdy, and wouldn’t be broken by casual movement. At the end of the pin, Saber placed a small ring to help make pulling it out easier.

After a few minor adjustments to the pin and level system, Saber attached the striker block to it. He fed the safety pin through the hole to ensure they were aligned and then wigged the block, making sure the pin was strong enough. He also gave the lever a tug for extra measure; it held up. Thus, he began the final stage. Saber had all of the pieces now, so all he had to do was put it all together. Carefully, of course.

: Word Count :
453

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

A smile grew on Saber’s face as he carried all of his pieces over to the table. He was like a little kid who had just been given a Lego set. Saber had all of the pieces to his toy and it was something simple that he could put together in seconds. All he had to do was sit down and enjoy it. So, he did. The man brought over the grenade shell, the primer cylinder, the fuse, the striker blocks, and his pin system. At the table was the black powder that waited patiently for use and did not once shout out to him in annoyance for him being so slow with his creation. However, even if he was getting yelled at, Saber doubted that he would have cared. He was happy. In his hands was a weapon of destruction, and it was in pieces. He would put it all together and make the Fourth of July come to life in the size of hand-sized orb of doom. It was beautiful, and Saber was content.

And in his moment of bliss and content-ness, Saber placed all of his pieces to his explosive puzzle down on the table. Happily, the Assassin took a seat at his stone table and pulled the horrid sketch he had made over and placed it in front of himself. The diagram was simple and easy. There were no fancy designs, colors, or artworks. It was basically just scribbling on a piece of paper with arrows pointing at different spots on said scribbling. But, it served its purpose. Saber used the diagram and his mind to assemble the pieces slowly and carefully, ensuring that everything was where it needed to be. The grenade worked like a basic machine. Each piece of it had a purpose and if one piece failed, the whole thing failed. Thus, Saber needed to make sure that the seals were tight pretty much.

First, Saber connected the moving strike block to the pin. Once it was connected, he placed one of the pieces of flint he had created and tucked it into the square slot where it fit nice and snug. Next, he fed the safety pin through the hole at the top to hold the striking block to the lever. Saber placed this piece down and then grabbed the priming cylinder and his fuse. Said fuse he fed through the bottom right side of the cylinder and left some extra string to stick out; that little bit would trigger the powder. With the fuse set, Saber took the second striking block, which would simply sit inside of the priming cylinder, and placed a piece of flint into it as well. When that was set, he slid the block down into the cylinder and locked it up against the wall. Then, he carefully slid the other striking block in. The two pieces of flint carefully rubbed against each other and Saber stuck the fuse between them. Because of the positioning, the fuse could ignite anywhere along the length that was stuck near the flint pieces, but it didn’t matter much. There was so little wedged between the rocks that it would be off by just a fraction of a second.

: Word Count :
538

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

Once the entire priming system was set, Saber took the grenade shell and slid a jar of his Black Dust over to him. He popped open the lid of the jar and used a small scoop to take some of the powder out. Very carefully, he poured it into the grenade shell. Mixed in, Saber added small bits of metal shards which had accumulated on his anvil and around on the floor; extra shrapnel. When the shell was filled three-quarters of the way, Saber eased the priming mechanism into it and then gave it a gentle twist, locking it in place. A wicked grin crossed the man’s face as he held the orb up in front of him. Now, there was only one thing left to do…

Saber walked out of his library with the grenade and headed out into Londinium. He passed through the streets, carrying the orb of doom openly in his hand. He tossed it up and down, up and down, juggled it between his hands, and even whistled as he played with it. As he walked, many people looked at him. Those who recognized the device took steps back, while others simply stared curiously at Saber. He had been acting strange that day, so it was no surprise. But after a few minutes of walking, Saber exited Londinium and continued a little ways down the road. Almost if on cue, Saber caught the sight of an oversized flower Nepent off to his left. Saber turned to face the creature and huffed.

Saber gripped onto his new toy. He pulled the safety pin; it came out with a loud “PING”. Then he pulled the lever; he could hear the sparking of the flint inside the core. The Nepent turned as the sound of the ping reached its ears. But before it could react, Saber cocked his right arm back and then launched his orb of destruction into the forest. After several seconds, the world ignited in front of Saber in a blaze of glory. The Nepent was burned with fire, heavily damaged by the explosion, and had pieces of shrapnel stuck into various parts of its body. A bleed debuff took effect and the Nepent didn’t last more than another two seconds before it fell to the floor.

“Oh yes…”

: Word Count :
383

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

Handgrenade- An object of destruction, that is what this is. Created by the Funeral Parlor, this weaponized form of hand-held magic is a virtual form of the real life grenade. It is just slightly bigger than the average palm and nestles comfortably into one's grip. It operates using a two-pin safety system and houses enough Black Dust to blast the shell into hundreds of small pieces of shrapnel. To activate the grenade, one must first release the safety pin, which keeps the main lever from accidentally being pulled. Then, the user yanks on the main lever. Inside, two pieces of flint light the fuse. Said fuse burns for five to six seconds before lighting the explosive powder within. Due to the tight space and compression, the Black Dust erupts and explodes. This weapon of doom causes fire damage, can cause bleed effects, and may potentially stun the opponent if they are extremely close to the blast. But beware, once the lever is pulled; the grenade is no longer your friend.