The Scrap Tamer - Chapter 104

Chapter 104: Forging 101: Traditional Forging
“Alright, let’s get started” Reid said and was about to pick the alloys up but was stopped by master Garrick.

“Here.” Garrick handed Reid a neatly folded set of clothes. “Unless you want to ruin your uniform, I’d suggest you put these on,” he said gruffly.

Reid took the clothes from him, unfolding it to reveal a jumper similar to the one Garrick wore along with a set of clothes he could wear underneath.

Reid walked into the dressing room and a few minutes later, he was back out, dressed in the work clothes.

“Now that you look the part” Garrick said “hurry up and get started.”

Without another word, Reid got to work. He fired up the forge, adjusting the temperature precisely to match the melting points of the metals in front of him. Using a pair of tongs, he placed the first chunk of alloy into the crucible, watching as it gradually melted into a molten state.

Garrick watched from the side, arms crossed, his eyes following Reid’s every movement. “Good. At least you know how to start a damn forge properly,” he muttered.

Reid didn’t respond, too focused on his task. Once the first alloy had fully melted, he added the next metal, carefully adjusting the forge’s temperature to ensure proper fusion. The molten mixture bubbled, glowing with an intense heat.

When all the metals had melted into a red hot molten state, he carefully removed the crucible, and poured it into different molds he chose for the parts.

________

An Unknown amount of time passed and at this point, Reid was thankful that he removed his uniform, since the current one he had on was full of grease.

But through all the sweat and grease, he was finally able to completely crate a forged beast without the use of forging tech and with little assistance from Master Garrick.

Laying on the work desk was a giant wasp made entirely of metal, because Garrick didn’t even allow him to use the fur/skin printer.

Reid didn’t completely cover the entire abdomen of the wasp, leaving an opening to insert its core.

“Not bad” Garrick comment “now insert the core and let’s see if this piece of scrap actually comes to life”.

Garrick was right, the wasp looked barely passable as a forged beast, looking a lot more like just a piece of scrap.

Gently, Reid placed the orange core in the opening he left before closing it, waiting with crossed fingers.

For a few tense seconds, nothing happened.

Then, with a loud clunk, the wasp’s body twitched. Its wings gave a weak shudder.

The metal plating along its thorax shifted slightly as if adjusting to its newfound awareness. A low, mechanical hum came from within.

Garrick grunted. “Hmph. At least it’s not a total failure.”

The wasp’s head jerked up, its glowing red eyes flickering as it processed its surroundings. Its mandibles snapped open and shut with a metallic click-clack, showing that they also worked.

Reid took a step back, observing his work. It was functional, but barely. The movements were sluggish, the response time slow. It lacked the fluidity of a properly forged beast.

This thing seemed worse than the state he found Rusty in.

“Still looks like a pile of junk,” Garrick muttered. “But at least it moves. Now let’s see its stats.”

Reid didn’t need the scanner at the work desk to know that he wasn’t able to bring out even thirty percent of the core’s original rank, since Evo had already done a scan.

[Forged Beast successfully scanned!

Name: Unnamed

Species: Flame Hornet

Rank: Barely Iron tier

Abilities:

Basic Flame projectile: can shoot small fireballs.

Flame sting: Inflicts a deep burn upon impact, causing continuous damage over time. The duration of the skill depends on how strong the enemy is.

Molten Pollen : spreads heated pollen that sticks to enemies, causing a slow, burning effect.

Warm Glow – Emits a gentle heat, useful for keeping an area warm.]

“So you made a heater in the form of a forged beast?” Garrick said “now, let’s run it through a diagnosis, and see how much of the core actually synchronized with the parts you created.”

Reid nodded as the old man tapped on the work desk again, causing another compartment to open, revealing a diagnostic tool.

He connected the diagnostic tool to the core of the wasp, watching as data streamed onto a nearby holographic display.

{

Core Synchronization: 38%

Motor Function: 42%

Core Energy efficiency: 25%

}

“Hmm” Garrick passed a hand through his beard “the stats are a lot better for your first time forging without the use of tech.”

But Reid frowned. “The synchronization’s off. The motor function’s barely at half capacity.”

“This is the part where you make a decision” Garrick said “you can either choose to keep the forged beast as is or, like most Forgemasters, scrap the failed product.”

Garrick kept his eyes on Reid, watching carefully as the kid thought about his decision.

“What if I just fix it?” Reid suggested.

“Fix it?” A small smile surfaced on Garrick’s face before he quickly hid it with a confused frown.

“Forging it was a lot harder since this is the first time I’ve ever forged without using modern forging tools” Reid continued. “But now that I know where the flaws are, I can refine the parts, adjust the alignment, and improve the core integration.”

Garrick let out a low chuckle. “Hah. Fix it, huh? You sure you’re not just being stubborn?”

Reid shook his head. “Maybe. But I don’t see the point in scrapping something that’s already functional. If I can make it better, then I should.”

The old Forgemaster grunted, crossing his arms. “You’ve got the right mindset, I’ll give you that. Fine. Let’s see if you can actually back up that confidence.”

Reid nodded and immediately got to work. First, he disassembled the Flame Hornet, carefully removing the core and setting it aside.

Picking the screwdrivers back up, Reid went directly to fixing all the faults he could find. This made him nostalgic, recalling his time back at the Scrapyard.

A few hours passed and Reid finally put the wasp back together again. He had replaced some parts, readjusted some wires and just did a bit of tweaking here and there.

Although the scan showed that it was still barely at Iron tier, it looked much more like a forged beast now and less like scrap metals just slapped together.

{

Core Synchronization: 50%

Motor Function: 62%

Core Energy efficiency: 50%

}

Garrick let out a low whistle as he examined the new diagnostics.

“You actually pulled it off.” He leaned in, inspecting the Flame Hornet’s structure with a keen eye, the goggles on his face let out a blue glow as it scanned the forged beast.

“Synchronization’s at fifty percent now, and motor function’s a hell of a lot better. Not bad, kid.”

Reid wiped the sweat from his forehead, exhaustion creeping up on him, but there was a satisfied glint in his eyes.

“It’s still not perfect,” Garrick continued. “But it’s stable now and I’m sure it wouldn’t just explode the moment it tries to use its skill. Go ahead and place the core.”

Reid inserted the core once more, this time with more confidence. The moment he sealed it in, the wasp twitched—and then, unlike before, its movements were noticeably smoother. The wings buzzed to life, generating a faint heat as they flapped.

Its compound eyes glowed red and it lifted off the table, landing directly on Reid’s head.

Reid froze for a second, feeling the slight warmth radiating from the Flame Hornet as it perched atop his head.

At this point, he was used to his forged beasts resting on his head. But the sensation of metal legs gripping his hair wasa bit uncomfortable.

Garrick let out a barking laugh. “Looks like it likes you, kid. Or maybe it just thinks your head’s a good landing spot.”

Reid reached up slowly, coaxing the hornet onto his arm. Its legs clinked softly against his sleeve as it obediently crawled onto his forearm.

Now that it was fully operational without the previous issues, the hum of its internal mechanisms was smoother, almost organic.

“Not bad,” Reid murmured. “Feels a lot more responsive now.”

Garrick gave a satisfied nod. “You did well for your first time, kid,” he praised.

“Thank you, Master Garrick,” Reid replied.

“Alright, that’s enough forging for today,” Garrick said, stretching his arms and cracking his knuckles. “You’ve proven that you can create something without relying on all that fancy tech.”

He paused for a moment before continuing, “But you still need to refine your traditional forging skills. You never know when all these modern tools might fail you.”

Reid nodded, still staring at the Flame Hornet perched on his arm. It was crude, nowhere near the level of his other Forged Beasts, but he had built it with his own hands and unlike with Axie and Atlas, he created it without the convenience of modern forging tech.

“Now, what do you plan to do with it?” Garrick asked, watching him closely “you can choose to bond with it or upgrade it and sell it to the military.”

Reid thought about it for a while. His first thought was to bond with it, since it had a type of sentimental value to him.

But he thought about the practicality of keeping it. He already had four Forged Beasts, and each one had unique abilities that covered a wide range of combat scenarios.

Rusty controlled time, Nyx manipulated the void, Beel was a walking black hole of consumption, his Axolotl had healing potential and Atlas, the newest addition controlled gravity.

What did the Flame Hornet bring to the table?

Sure, it had fire-based attacks, and its molten pollen could be useful for weakening enemies, but overall, it wasn’t something he absolutely needed

He glanced at the wasp, which tilted its head as if waiting for his decision.

Garrick grunted, crossing his arms. “Well? You bonding with it, or are you gonna let it go?”

Reid took a deep breath. “I think…”