Sweat pouring from his body, Vaunce resisted the urge to wipe it out of his eyes and doubled down, focusing on the rhythm Master Randall was in. He had walked into the forge today expecting more questions and nonsense, but instead Master Randall had him come over to the forge area and watch him as he worked.

“You gotta watch the metal closely to see when it’s cooling too much, cold metal is hard metal so we always want it warm” He shoved his current project back into the forge, “Go grab some water before you pass out”

Vaunce sighed in relief, it was blistering hot near the forge. Walking over to a handle attached to a lever on the wall, he made sure he had nothing in his pockets or on him that could be damaged and pulled. The sound of a torrent of water could be heard as water began to pour from a spout installed higher on the wall. Standing under it, Vaunce felt cooler immediately and released the lever causing the water to cease. Grabbing his glass of water from the worktable, he took a drink from it and sat down for a small break while the Iron pickaxe head they were shaping heated back up.

Master Randall walked over to him, wiping the sweat off of his face. He signaled to Vaunce showing it was time to return to work. Vaunce got up and began to feel the heat drying his soaked clothes immediately. This was the third pickaxe head they had done today, he was beginning to wonder if there was an order for them.

Beginning the rhythm again, a few hours passed in intense concentration. Finally finished with the pickaxe heads, Master Randall patted him on the back.

“You'll get used to it eventually my boy. The good news is that you are progressing very well. I think it is time for you to learn the basics of forging yourself so you can start developing your own technique.”

Vaunce looked at him shocked. Master Randall laughed seeing his expression.

“What, do you think it is too early?” seeing Vaunce shake his head, yes, he laughed even harder “If you don't start making your own from the start from the basics, youll fall into habit and be stuck using others techniques. It'll be harder to progress that way” he explained while drinking some water.

Vaunce nodded his head, it made sense to him. He started thinking about all he had read over the last few weeks, and the various techniques that had been described. Master Randall continued on while his apprentice mulled over it.

“All right, you’ll have time to think about it all you want when you get home tonight. Let’s start with hammering”

What followed was the most eventful afternoon that Vaunce had experienced since he had graduated. Master Randall taught him the basics of hammering, the basics of using a forge, using a forge with bellows, proper usage of tongs, and anything else he could think of that was needed to be safe when using a forge, and smithing in general. Vaunce got home, all he could think about was how he would style his own smithing technique. There were generally two parts he needed according to Master Randall.

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“All different smithing techniques can be folded into two main parts. Precise and Heavy. Precise techniques rely on lighter, focused hits to shape the metal work. It’s good for shaping the edge of a blade or more intricate parts. Heavy focuses on shaping the base of the tool or weapon you are making. It is the main part of a weapon thus harder, making a different technique necessary.”

Vaunce fell asleep thinking about metals and different hammering techniques.

Hearing Master Randall’s voice behind him, Vaunce focused on his technique, rapidly tapping the iron bar he was working with into the knife that had been commissioned. It had been ordered through the forge of course, but he was able to make it since Master Randall had watched him making cooking knives before and approved of them. Putting the shaped knife in a sandbox the forge had for cooling, he turned around and waved to Master Randall before walking up.

“Is that knife ready for grinding?”

Vaunce gave a thumbs-up signaling it was ready.

“All right, your technique seems to be good enough for an apprentice of your level. You are done for the day, tomorrow we will start splitting your time between more books and forging” Master Randall made a shooing motion as Vaunce rolled his eyes hearing about more books.

He really didn't mind the books, but there were so many of them. During the four or five months he had been apprenticed, he had read close to a hundred books all about various metals, forging techniques, and countless other books about smithing or smithing related subjects like mining. He enjoyed it though, at least it let him sit in the cool part of the forge so he wouldn’t be dying from sweat dripping down into his eyes. Vaunce had been working on his forging technique for the last six weeks. Master Randall had finally been satisfied with it today, but Vaunce still thought there were a lot of tiny adjustments he could make and was a bit annoyed about not being able to constantly practice at the forge. He would just have to work on it at the hideout when he was off. He had been practicing there at least one extra day a week when he was off with Tim and Bryce. Fred and Lilith sometimes came but they mostly didn't have the freedom or the time to make it out on the days he had been there at least, but he always made sure to message Lilith when he had the time. Their apprenticeship appeared to be going well and they sometimes dueled other apprentices, or went on patrol.

He had cautiously tried to infuse different types of mana into the metals he had been forging at the hideout, and had made some neat tools. Like a water can that slowly filled itself with water, or a metal rod that worked as a fire started. Then there were all the failures he had forged. The shovel that almost collapsed the roof on them when he accidentally dropped it, or the whistle he had tried to make for Lilith, that had started screaming so loud that it almost made them pass out. That one wasn’t even meant to have mana infused into it. Vaunce had also dabbled a bit into using void mana, but it just seemed to make metals darker. He had tried once with a copper knife he had just forged, all that seemed to happen was that it cooled down significantly faster than when he dunked it into his cooling container.

Walking into his house he was ambushed by a brown ball of fur. Carla had grown quickly, becoming less kitten-like and more cat-like. She had grown to what Vaunce believed was a normal cat size, and her coat had become quite elegant. It matched the attitude she had as well, she strutted around like she owned the house, which to be fair she kind of did. Vaunce’s parents thought she was super cute and let her do pretty much anything she wanted as long as it didn’t bring harm to the house or animals or anything. Clara meowed at him pitifully, looking like she was nodding her head at where she ate Vaunce saw the bowl still had food in it. Chuckling to himself he picked her up and walked into his bedroom, grabbing a few treats from his desk he gave them to Clara, who munched away happily. Vaunce changed into his bed clothes, taking time to finish up his remaining chores he still had to do. By the time he had finished he was the last one awake. Taking in the silence for a few minutes, Vaunce went around turning off all the remaining lamps and checking how low the Light crystals were. Although they could last for a long time, he felt they always went out faster around him. He figured it was probably something to do with his void affinity.

Laying down next to Clara, who had already fallen asleep, he thought about the coming days and the next experiments he would try with infusing metals with mana. Thinking about swords of legend that shot beams of fire, or slices of air when swung, he wondered how long it would be before he could make such a thing. Thoughts weaved their way around his head as he fell asleep for the night.