After everything calmed down in the back room, we said our goodbyes to Mrs. Kaite, and got back to work.
"Could you show me how you refined that mithryl, Amara? It seems like it could give me some insight into the other possibilities with it." Mr. Darius was very interested in what I did for that sword.
"There's no problem showing you, but I have magic practice for the first time in weeks after this, so I'm only able to do a small bit, in order to conserve more mana. It takes a while to fully recharge if I use too much." I walked over to the mithryl ore samples and grabbed a small one.
"Fire or light aspect? Which do you think would work better for you?"
"I'd say light, because it's so out of the norm for that aspect to appear in ores." Mr. Darius was watching closely.
I put the ore in a crucible, and started heating it with my light, watching as it began to change color. Once it was pure white-gold, and then red hot, I started removing the small bits of slag from it. The last evolution to [Fire Resistance] meant I could almost do this part with my hands. I was growing ever closer to what I assumed would be [Fire Immunity], and could not wait for that to happen.
Once I had removed all the slag, I poured the molten metal in a small ingot cast, and left it to cool.
"Was that helpful at all? I hope so, cause I cant do it again today." I was already down to about 75% mana, and if I dipped below that, it would take twice as long to recover.
"I got a bit of it, but I don't understand entirely how it melted. I saw you were putting mana into it, but I've only ever seen fire mana cause things like that to happen." Mr. Darius was rubbing his beard.
"Light creates heat. If it's concentrated enough, even more than fire. That's one of the things I learned during my time with Mrs. Jasmine." I was a bit excited to share some of my newer insights. "It's also part of the knowledge I gained while meditating on my light, in order to push it to the next level. But now that I understand it as I do, I can do things like this." And I used [Light Speed Movement] to appear behind him." It-s really handy if I need to keep track of multiple things around the same time."
"How?" Mr. Darius seemed lost for words. "That shouldn't be possible. Mages years into their training don't understand their aspects well enough to do that kind of thing. What in Gaia's name are you, Amara? Up until today, I thought you were human, but this shouldn't be possible for a human to do so easily. How much mana does it take for you to move like that?"
"Almost none for short distances. But hearing you say that hurts a bit, you know. You know my parents, and you watched me grow up. You know who I am, better than most." I frowned. That doubt about my humanity hurt, especially coming from him, who was almost like a second father to me.
"I'm sorry Amara. You know I don't mean it, it's just unbelievable. People shouldn't be able to do the things you do, and that skill should be unbelievably costly as well. But I let my surprise cloud my reason for a second. Please, take the rest of the day off to relax. You deserve it." Mr. Darius looked depressed, and clearly regretful.
"Alright, I'll accept your apology, but only on one condition. You have to give me a hug."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I am. No getting out of this one." I was gonna be stubborn about this.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Alright then. Come here." He opened his arms.
I jumped into them and hugged him tight. "Thank you for everything you've done for me so far. Being your apprentice is the best thing that's happened in my life so far." I had a wide smile on my face now.
"Uhm, well. Of course. And I'm sorry, again." I felt a drop of something hit my back. Just once. I knew he was a softie, but i'd never seen him cry before, so I knew how much he meant what he said, and how much he cared for me too. And I started crying too.
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It's been a day since Mrs. Kaite got her new sword, and they're having a small sparring tournament for the guard to let them blow off some steam after the scare they had when Mrs. Kaite's sword broke.
It was now at the finals, and Mrs. Kaite was finally going to use her own sword. My family and I were close to the front so they could see the blade a bit better, and I was very excited for this moment.
The match began and she drew the blade, it glowed bright and seemed to have a haze around it, like it was always moving.
As she drew it, there were gasps among the crowd, and a lot of people asking questions like "who made that sword" or "how much did she pay for that". The most common comment though was "that sword is beautiful", which felt really good to hear.
A lot of people assumed it was worth a fortune, and maybe it was. But I had no way of knowing how much someone else would charge for it, and Mrs. Kaite got it through the guard as a commission, so they paid a fixed price for it.
Back to the spar, Mrs. Kaite was beautiful. Her swordsmanship looked perfect, and the blade flowed like liquid light, cutting through the opponent's defense like nothing. Watching it as it was used was incredibly gratifying, and I was hopping up and down excitedly.
"You made that, sweetheart? It's incredible. I do hope she lets us get a closer look at it." Mama was as impressed as I'd hoped after seeing it.
"I'm glad you like it. I put a lot of work into getting it as perfect as I could. I'm very proud of it." I had a big smile on my face, and I hugged her and Papa.
The fight was over pretty quickly, and Mrs. Kaite was obviously the winner. Even without my sword she outclassed most of the rest of the guard. I saw Belle run up after she walked off the stage and give her a kiss. I blushed a bit at that, I still wasn't used to watching people do that in public. Mama and Papa didn't really do it in front of me either.
"We should head out too, or we may be late for dinner with Mrs. Kaite, right?" I was excited to bring my parents over, because her and Belle were pretty good friends with me at this point.
"Right, right. Let's head on over then. Don't want our little Amara to explode now, do we." Papa said with a grin, as we left for their home.
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"So, you're this little angel's parents? It's so nice to finally meet you both. My name is Belle, and this is my wife, Kaite. It's a pleasure to have you three over. Dinner will be ready in a little bit, so make yourselves comfortable in the lounge and have a chat with Kaite until then." Belle walked back into the kitchen after greeting us, and Mrs. Kaite led us to the couch.
"Thank the both of you for coming over here tonight. It has been a pleasure hosting your daughter while she worked on my blade, and the sword itself was amazing as well. I am indebted to you, Amara, for making something of this caliber for me." Mrs. Kaite was bowing to us, clearly grateful.
"It was nothing, Mrs. Kaite. I always put my all into everything I make. It was my first time using mithryl, so it makes sense that it's the best thing I've ever made. And I always enjoy coming over here." I bowed back to her.
"Oh my gosh, can I hug you? You're just too precious. I cant hold it in anymore." She seemed to be very enthusiastic about the idea.
"Go ahead." I opened my arms for her.
She picked me up and spun me around. It was probably one of the best hugs I've ever had. And because of the height difference, my head was smothered in her chest, something I'd never experienced before. Honestly, just a great experience overall.
"You're incredible Amara. I hope to have a daughter like you one day." She put me down and gave me a peck on the forehead. Then she winked. "I hope you'll be a good big sister for her, whenever she comes around."
"Hey now, don't go trying to poach our daughter right from under us. We understand the sentiment though. She is incredible, more than any of us would think, I'd bet." Mama was as protective and caring as always.
We chatted for a while, Mrs. Kaite brought out the sword to show to my parents up close, and then dinner was ready. We spent a while after dinner chatting with Belle too and then we parted ways for the night.