Chapter 3 - Metallic Restoration?

My eyes slowly slide open as a familiar voice speaks. "I don't know where this guy even came from, he doesn't have any weapons, magic power or adventurer rank badge anywhere. But, what I saw him do, that was no mere coincidence. He has to be at least a B-Rank adventurer, maybe even higher. I mean he killed Gestral with one swing of his arm. Who the hell is he"

I notice the elf girl from the forest standing with her hand pressed against a large wooden table. I slowly raise my head to see who she's talking to. A slim but muscular man with white hair and a leather apron sits on an armchair in the corner of the room. It smells of copper, smoke and grease. The man notices me staring and speaks.

"Looks like you can ask him yourself" as he nods his head over in my direction. The elf girl runs over to me and pushes me back against the bed. "No, don't move, you'll open up all my work."

"What happened to me?" I ask, dazed and confused. "How did I get here? And where is here?"

"You're in my workshop? the man says "Meril brought you here after your little scuffle. You sure did a number on Gestral. Killed him with one swing huh? But you did quite the number on yourself too didn't you." he says gesturing toward my right arm.

"I've never seen someone put out that much raw physical power before" Meril states, "Who trained you? Where are you from?"

"What do you mean physical power?"

I start to feel my right arm get cold and begin to tingle, as I reach for it, my heart skips a beat as my hand presses against the mattress, seeming to phase right through my arm.

"I did everything I could to stop the bleeding" Meril continued, noticing that I was starting to panic "but your swing did too much trauma to your arm. The flesh was torn and the bone disintegrated. I couldn't save it."

"Save it!" I scream as I throw the bed sheet away revealing a bandaged-up shoulder… and a small nub where my dominant arm used to be. "What the fuck happened, who did this to me?!"

"You did" Meril explained "when you punched, and I mean PUNCHED, Demon-Lord Gestral. You put out so much raw power that your arm tore out of the socket, ripped your flesh and flew off into the forest. I've been back but all I found was this." She placed the small black knife engraved with red hieroglyphs onto the bed. "It was Gestrals but I guess it belongs to you now."

I can feel my face go pale as I stare horrified at my nubby arm. I tried to move my arm, nothing but a small muscle movement was visible below the skin.

"YES!!!" screams the man in the chair. As he hurriedly stood and ran to investigate my arm. "Do it again" he stares contently at my nub. I wiggle my nub and the muscles are visible through the scarred skin moving up and down, left and right.

"That means it'll work right" Meril responds

"Yes, if we managed to save the nerves, muscles and tendons it should work perfectly."

"What should!!! Someone tell me what the fuck is going on!"

"Sorry, I should introduce myself," started the man. "My name is Aastral, I'm a blacksmith in this town, and I've been working on a little something that would suit you perfectly." He walks quickly over to the other corner of the room, picks up a small black wooden box and places it on the bed next to me. 'That box. It's the one from my vision.'

"Now, this is my masterpiece," he says with pride as he flips the locks and opens the crate. Revealing a blacksteel metal arm, with pulsating red lining and gold-plated knuckles.

"What the hell is that?"

"Hopefully, this is your replacement. I've been working on it for years, I finished a few months ago and have been looking for a worthy candidate to wield this baby"

"Candidate? Have you never done this before?"

"No, no one has? Have you ever heard of a replacement for an arm?"

'Well yeah, we have heaps on earth but they mustn't have that kind of technology here.'

"No, you're right." I say to avoid any further confusion. "Okay so what do I do? Do I just put my nub in there?"

"Hahah… yeah" his tone now is not filling me with confidence. "However, when your arm is in it will… pinch a little, well more of a stab then a burn… and then a zap…"

"What?"

"It has to go through a calibration, it needs to find your veins and then meld with your remaining muscles, but trust me it will be worth it!"

"I am in a strange dark room with two complete strangers and you're asking me to trust you?"

"Fine then, leave, but I'll be taking back all those bandages and stitch work I did on your arm." chimes in Meril.

"Argh, Fine get it over with."

He slides my arm into position and clamps me in. As the clamp tightens it begins to calibrate. I scream as two large needles protrude from the bicep strap and then plunge themselves deep into my arm piercing what little bone is left. Next, the metal near my shoulder becomes molten red and sears to my skin, melting it to my body using the liquid that once was flesh. 'It didn't hurt', a message appeared 'Immune - Fire'. And then as I prepared for the electrocution, a message appeared, 'Immune - Electricity' The two of them looked at me in disbelief while I sat painless as my skin melts and lightning arcs from my body to the metal bed frame.

"He really is something isn't he Meril."

"I told you, I wouldn't suggest just any old stranger to wield your masterpiece."

"Well does she work" Aastral asks hurriedly with a pensive look on his face.

"Let's find out," I say as I begin to try to move my fingers. Sparks fly from the finger joints and the gears and motor begin to wiggle the metal fingers.

"YES!!! Oh dear Gods thank you!" he screams with a wild grin on his face.

I lift the whole arm off the bed and clench my fist with a metal crunch.

"You know what… I could get used to this."