"Alright, so you're the one forging my new blade, huh little one?" Mrs. Kaite looked at me with a stern gaze, examining me thoroughly.

  "Yes, ma'am, I am. My name is Amara Rosary, apprentice to [Forgemaster] Darius. I will do my very best with your sword, but should I fail, master plans to forge your replacement himself, so no need to worry about the quality."

  "That's very generous of him. What's the timetable for this project?" She had a grin on her face.

  "It will be done no more than two weeks from now. That's the deadline I was given, and I plan to stick to it. Now, I have a few important questions for you regarding the sword."

  "Go ahead, I'll answer anything that seems important to the best of my ability." She smiled at me, seemingly happy with the arrangements.

  "Alright, first thing I need to know is, what hand is your dominant one? Then, I need to do some measurements, and then I need to see you practice your swordsmanship, preferably in a spar. I think I'll know enough after that. Does that work for you?" I slowly went through all the things I needed from her, as she nodded along.

  "Yeah, that all makes sense. First off, I'm left handed. And I have time for measurements tomorrow in the early afternoon. For a spar, though, it'd have to wait till the beginning of next week when my temporary sword comes in. Are you able to meet those times?" She was very accommodating, which made me relieved.

  "Of course, no problem. I guess I'll be back tomorrow then?" I went to stand up.

  "Nonsense, you haven't even tried my wife's tea yet. What kind of host would I be if you left now?" She was very adamant that I sit back down and relax.

  After a few minutes Belle walked back in with drinks, and set a cup in front of me. "Here you are dear, have a sip. I'm very proud of this mix. It has a very nice flavor without being too expensive to make."

  The two women spent around two hours talking to me and having me try various snacks that Belle had prepared for guests. It was a bit uncomfortable at first, but once I calmed down, it was a very relaxing way to spend part of my evening. I also learned a bit about how being a guard works, like how many hours a week they work, and how often they get new recruits. Apparently, they're the most common place for young kids to go for apprenticeship after opening their system, as it's pretty easy to turn whatever stats into a workable section of the guard.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

----------------------------------------

  The next day, back at the forge, I got to work figuring out the properties of mithryl. My first step was figuring out how hot it needed to be to melt, then how pliable it was once heated, and finally, how well it took to certain pressures while hammering.

  Luckily, I had evolved both my [Mana Sense] and [Flame Manipulation] so I could much more freely and accurately control my flame for smelting. I had also gotten to the point I could melt steel with some effort and attention.

  I began heating a small chunk of mithryl ore gradually, watching the mana around it and inside it react to my flame. Interestingly, the fire mana began infusing itself into the ore, slightly changing the color, and heating it faster. Hopefully, this meant I could melt the ore fully with my own magic, not needing to rely on the forge. That would make the finished product a more personal achievement for me.

  Watching as my flame started changing colors, from its usual light orange to a bluish white, I could tell that the evolution brought on a drastic change in the power of my flame. I was happily surprised, but it just meant that the ore would be that much more likely to melt in this test. After a good while, the ore began to glow in the crucible and melt, with the minimal impurities floating to the top as slag. After clearing those a few times, the molten metal seemed to almost hum with magic, putting off gentle waves of it, mostly of the fire aspect.

  After seeing this, I began to wonder if I could replace that mana with another aspect instead, and if it would have an effect on the outcome of the process. After having that thought, I remembered what I had been told about mithryl in the past, or at least about the tools made with it. That being that the tools would gradually begin to be easier and easier to wield for their intended purpose, and by the one who owned it. And now seeing it interact with my own mana, I think I realized why that was. And I also realized I could probably do something very special when I went to make Mrs. Kaite's sword.

  Doing a bit more testing on things like malleability and cooling speed, and how much mana I needed to infuse it fully. Interestingly, I discovered that my light mana could melt the ore almost as quickly as my flames did, which gave me even more insight into the aspect. I believe now, that if I used light mana for the heat required to melt the ore, and used that to create a blade, it would have special properties. And for my first big project, I wanted it to be as special and innovative as possible.

  And so I did one last material test on the mithryl, infusing it with a ton of light mana, melting it, and pouring it into an ingot cast. The result was a white-gold metal, almost glowing with light, and very lightweight as well. It would be perfect for a blade on a larger sword, making it swing as if it were much shorter, and more agile. I would need to be careful about balancing the weight with the pommel and guard, to make sure the sword was better suited to Mrs. Kaite's fighting style, which I would be learning in a few days.

  Now, after figuring out how the metal worked, and what its properties were, it was time to wait for the day of the spar.