Many days later, James was over his frustration. In fact, by this point, he was grateful he had discovered the problem before he had tried to move his base camp down to the next floor, and before he encountered any monsters. Because the truth was, he believed, as long as he had time to prepare, he could handle almost any challenge. And if there was a challenge he couldn't handle?

He'd leave the Dungeon the way he came in. What else did he have but time?

But he certainly didn't want anything like that to happen again.

Which was why from now on he was going to be mindful of the effects of heat on enchantments, and what gear he had out on the fourth floor.

First would be forging a set of Red Iron Armor, and then enchanting it with as much [Fire Resistance] as he could. He wasn't going to hold back this time. He was going to etch the patterns as closely packed in as he physically could and muscle through the actual enchanting process.

Here at his new base camp in the boss room of the third floor he constructed the best forge he could to retain as much heat as possible. He was going to need it to work the Red Iron, with its significantly hotter melting temperature.

The smelting process, though time consuming, went smoothly. The molten red iron was then poured into a mold of his right bracer, and quickly he finished up the details with hammer and anvil. Quickly, of course, being a relative term, as anyone who has watched a Smith at work is well aware.

[Appraisal]: Red Iron Bracer, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 13/13, Salamander Essence

The iron was already fully saturated with salamander essence, and needed no manipulation to move it into optimal configurations.

As usual, etching was simpler than forging, for Red Iron is no harder than regular iron; it merely has to get hotter to melt.

The etching took the entire rest of the day. James blinked hard at the end, his vision swimming from eye strain. The pattern was triangle-shaped, which made it easier to tile at minute size, but added to the delicacy of the work. He flopped back, mentally exhausted, and fell asleep where he was.

The next day was spent double-checking the etching and correcting mistakes.

Then a day was spent applying finely ground Fire Magic Stone dust into each and every groove he had etched.

Finally, the day after, he applied a thick and even coat of Aqua Magia, and enchanted the bracer. He didn't pass out from the effort, but it did leave him so exhausted he couldn't stand for some time.

[Smith] Class Skill [Filigree] has reached level 5.

[Enchanter] Class Skill [Basic Elemental Enchanting] has reached level 7.

[Enchanter] Class Skill [Aqua Magia] has reached level 3.

[Appraisal]: Fire Bracer, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 13/13, Enchantment: Fire Resistance (42)

After more than half a week of effort, the Smith had completed one piece of his armor set.

But as his skills improved, especially [Filigree], the process sped up. On the second bracer, the process of etching, checking for errors, and applying the Fire Magic Stone dust took only a single day. He enchanted the piece the following morning, and then spent the rest of the day while his mana was recovering forging the next piece of armor.

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In all, some two weeks were spent forging and enchanting his Fire Armor.

[Appraisal]: Fire Visored Helmet, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 19/19, Enchantment: Fire Resistance (36)

[Appraisal]: Fire Cuirass, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 20/20, Enchantment: Fire Resistance (36)

[Appraisal]: Fire Armored Skirt, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 12/12, Enchantment: Fire Resistance (41)

[Appraisal]: Fire Codpiece, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 10/10, Enchantment: Fire Resistance (34)

[Appraisal]: Fire Greaves, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 14/14, Enchantment: Fire Resistance (36)

[Appraisal]: Fire Cuisses, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 15/15, Enchantment: Fire Resistance (41)

[Appraisal]: Fire Left Pauldron, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 16/16, Enchantment: Fire Resistance (38)

[Appraisal]: Fire Right Pauldron, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 14/14, Enchantment: Fire Resistance (38)

[Appraisal]: Fire Bracers, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 13/13, Enchantment: Fire Resistance (42)

[Appraisal]: Fire Cleat Boots, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 16/16, Enchantment: Fire Resistance (35)

He also forged a new round iron shield using his recently-collected essence-saturated Red Iron. This he enchanted with [Reflect], which was too good to pass up on. James had expected the enchantment to be more difficult, given the essence, but there seemed to be some synergy between the Light Enchantment and the Salamander Essence. The shield was, of course, twice as heavy as his Green Iron shield, but after using his large iron tower shield on the last floor, it wasn't such a great strain.

The extra level in his Smith class boosting his strength also helped.

[Appraisal]: Red Iron Round Shield, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 16/16, Enchantment: Reflect (40)

Finally, the Smith forged two new War Hammers, in the same design as his Earth War Hammer.

First, he forged a hammer of undine-essence-saturated Blue Iron, and enchanted it with [Frostbite] using Ice Magic Stones. The shaft he paid extra attention to: he fully expected the hammer to be capable of reaching temperatures low enough to freeze his hand. So he designed a system of metal clamps that he could hammer down over a layer of mole monster hide, to provide some insulation.

[Appraisal]: Ice War Hammer, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 18/18, Enchantment: Frostbite (35)

James shuddered when he saw how strong the enchantment turned out. He had no concerns about the hammer overheating, at least, but he prayed to the gods he never needed to use the enchantment at full power.

Second, the Smith forged a bulky Red Iron War Hammer, somewhat larger than his Earth War Hammer to make it weigh the same given that Brown Iron is heavier than Red. And this he enchanted with the Basic Earth Elemental Enchantment [Heavy Blow]. Without any earth essence, he empowered the enchantment using deeper etching and more Earth Magic Stone Dust, given that the enchantment didn't lend itself to tiling.

The enchanting itself was strenuous, but not even close to the level of enchanting his Fire Cuirass.

[Appraisal]: Terra Rosa War Hammer, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 16/16, Enchantment: Heavy Impact (10)

The hammer was basically comparable to his Earth War Hammer, but with the major benefit of a much higher melting temperature at the cost of being slightly more bulky. He included the mole monster hide grip for this hammer as well, expecting that over time it would heat up beyond what his [Heat Resistance] skill could withstand in the fourth floor.

And of course, his armor would be cooled using the system of cooling strips he had developed prior.

There was one more project before James was ready to proceed.

He forged and enchanted an even dozen warding stakes, using Red Iron as a base. The Red Iron ore on the lower floor had still been solid, so James expected that Red Iron stakes at least wouldn't melt and fail entirely like the regular iron warding stakes had.

[Appraisal]: Forged Red Iron Stake, Quality: Low, Durability: 5/5, Enchantment: Ward? (8)]

With that, James was ready. He donned his armor, took up his Red Iron Round Shield and Terra Rosa War Hammer, and set off for the next floor of the dungeon. He could feel the temperature rise as he descended the stairs, now that he was paying more attention, but he only activated the cooling strips nearest his magic bag for now. He wanted to conserve mana and rely more on his Smith Class [Heat Resistance] skill.

He exited the short tunnel and took in the small cavern: the pools of molten rock, the hissing steam blowing from small holes in the walls, the blazing fireshrooms illuminating the rocky walls and ceiling above, and the veins of ore left unmined. He gazed sternly at the site of his earlier mining, and reminded himself not to lose sight of his surroundings.

Sweat trickled down the side of his face as he stepped forward. He barely heard it over the sound of the hissing steam.

Rustle rustle rustle fwoosh rustle fwoosh

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