Red was once again woken up by frenetic banging on his door.
“Wake up, kid! I need to show you something!”
A rough voice called out to him from the other side of the door. Red sighed and looked out the window. It was already daytime.
The boy got up and opened the door. He was greeted by the sight of a giant of a man wearing workshop clothes and an apron full of coal and grease marks.
Goulth smiled upon seeing him. “You’re finally awake! I was waiting the entire morning for you in the workshop, but you never came!”
“I was just too tired.” Red said.
“That’s fine, that’s fine!” the blacksmith waved him off. “Just come quickly! I have something to show you!”
The man didn’t wait for his response before running back the way he came. Red sighed to himself again as he followed behind the giant.
On the way over, he noticed Domeron was sitting in his usual chair, while Allen was sitting on the ground in front of him. The young master’s eyes lit up once he saw Red walking by and he looked as if he wanted to go greet him. However, a stern gaze from Domeron was more than enough to stop Allen in his tracks.
It looked as if they were in the process of talking about something important, so Red didn’t bother greeting them either. He soon arrived at the workshop and walked through the door the blacksmith had left open for him.
The boy smelled the coal burning in the forge, so he didn’t need to guess where his master was. He walked to the forge room and saw the man bent over a mold he had put over the fire.
Goulth smiled at him and waved him over. “Come here! Quickly! You’re going to miss it!”
Red ran over and examined the material in the process of melting.
“Is it the Dark Iron?” the boy asked.
“It is.” Goulth nodded with eagerness. “Now just watch it…”
The boy observed the piece of rock in silence. Even under this extreme heat that would have melted a normal piece of iron ore, this rock still seemed to be holding. Almost an entire minute went by with nothing happening, but just as Red was wondering whether his master had made a mistake, there was a sudden reaction within the rock.
A wisp of white smoke came out of the rock before suddenly dissipating in the air. The boy was confused by the reaction until a moment later, he felt his skin tingle with a familiar sensation.
He looked back at the blacksmith in shock. “Was that Spiritual Energy?”
Goulth nodded with a huge smile. “It was! In its natural state, Dark Iron Ore can attract and retain a lot of Spiritual Energy. It’s how most of these magical ores are created in the first place!”
Red frowned. “Shouldn’t you try keeping this energy inside the ore, then?”
“That’s pretty much impossible, kid.” the blacksmith shook his head. “We need to smelt the ore if we want to use it, and the Spiritual Energy will always escape it either way. You shouldn’t worry, though. You can think of smelting as a purification process, and the amount of Spiritual Energy that the purified metal can contain after the fact increases exponentially.”
Red nodded in understanding. “How long does it take to smelt Dark Iron ore?”
“Probably six to ten hours a piece.” Goulth shrugged.
The boy’s eyes widened in surprise. “And you need to keep watch over it the entire time?”
“Well, yes.” the blacksmith nodded. “Sometimes the process of purification of these kinds of materials can be quite… explosive. I need to watch the forge temperature the entire time to prevent anything of the sort happening.” he turned around patting the boy’s shoulders with a smile. “At least I won’t need to watch it alone this time around.”
Red frowned. “Since when did I…”
“Shush, just pay attention and you might learn something…”
The boy fell silent and continued to observe the forge.
…
Six hours passed by.
Red remained under the constant heat of the forge, helping his master raise and lower the temperature as requested. Although some might perceive the boy to be doing most of the hard work, he knew this wasn’t the case.
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Goulth was constantly bent over the melting ore, touching it with all kinds of tools to check the consistency and temperature. The man explained to him this wasn’t a process they could hurry by just raising the temperature, since it could actually damage the properties of the metal and cause a very violent reaction.
Indeed, Red tasted a sample of that more than once. Sometimes the ore would release sudden bursts of Spiritual Energy like an arrow shot from a bow, and both the boy and the blacksmith had to jump back so as not to get burnt by it. After this happened a few times, the boy didn’t feel so relaxed with this seemingly menial task.
Finally, a bright red liquid started to form at the bottom of the mold as the pure metal separated from the slag.
“Quickly, bring me the other mold!” Goulth waved at the boy.
Red had already helped the blacksmith smelt bars in the past, so he knew what he needed to do. He brought the ingot mold right up to the furnace, holding it with a pair of pliers.
Goulth proceeded to dump the liquid metal down into the mold. The molten fluid settled at the bottom of the mold, and to Red’s surprise, he could already see signs of it solidifying. Barely 30 seconds had passed until the metal had lost its red-fiery glow and turned into a dark, opaque color.
Goulth laughed. “There, it’s a success!”
Red observed the metal bar with curiosity. “Is there supposed to be so little of it?”
The boy now recognized the mold he had chosen seemed to be a bit too small for the quantity of metal.
His master sighed. “Unfortunately, that’s just the reality of smelting. You may receive a large piece of ore only to be left with a bit of pure metal. It’s even more so the case for these rare Spiritual Ores.”
Red frowned. “Is there even enough with those three ore pieces to make anything?”
“By themselves? Of course not.” Goulth shook his head. “But this is why we make alloys. The result will be worse than if it was all pure dark iron, but it will be better than any steel weapon you can find out there.”
Red nodded. “So you’ve decided to make a weapon out of this?”
Goulth smiled. “I have. Now I just need you to choose the kind of weapon you want.”
The boy frowned. “You are making me a weapon?”
The blacksmith laughed. “Of course I am! I asked Hector, and he agreed to it. After all, you’re the only one in this sect without a proper weapon. Well, other than Rog and Eiwin, but one uses bows, and the other uses her fists, so there’s not much point to that.”
“I see…” Red nodded in understanding. “When are you making it?”
“Whenever you have decided on the kind of weapon you want.” Goulth said. “Ah, but I misspoke for a second there! I’m not the one making the weapon, you are!”
The boy frowned. “… What?”
The blacksmith grinned. “Are you surprised? I didn’t tell Hector about this, of course, but I thought this would be an appropriate test for you. After all, isn’t it proper for a blacksmith to make his own weapon.”
Red was still skeptical. “Isn’t it risky having an apprentice handle such valuable material?”
“It is.” Goulth nodded. “But that’s why you’ll have enough time to prepare. The metal isn’t going anywhere, after all.”
“And how long do you think that will take?”
“Depends.” the blacksmith shrugged. “I will tell you when I feel you are ready. It might take a day, a week, a month, or maybe even more. It will not be just a matter of knowing how to handle the material, though. I want to see your creativity flow! I want you to create your own masterpiece and understand what that feels like! That will be the hardest part.”
Red nodded with some reluctance. “I understand.”
He recalled where they had left his study the last time. Goulth had admonished him for only knowing how to copy, which wasn’t necessarily bad, but it would bring him difficulty in the long run as a crafter had to learn by creating. The boy had never really tried to create something, though, so he was wondering whether that creativity really was hidden somewhere inside his mind.
“Don’t worry, kid.” Goulth patted his shoulders. “We can walk through all your shortcomings step by step and I will help you overcome them.”
“… I suppose so.”
“Great.” the blacksmith waved him off. “Then you can go eat something. I’m sure Domeron is still waiting for you to practice.”
The boy hesitated. “… There is something else.”
“Hm?” Goulth stared at him in suspicion. “Did you hide something from Hector and the others?”
Red was surprised. “How did you know?”
The blacksmith glared at him. “You think I’m stupid?! What kind of master would I be if I didn’t know my own disciple well?!”
The boy nodded. “That’s fair.”
“At the very least, you still had the good sense of telling your master at least.” Goulth nodded in satisfaction. “So what is it?”
“I found a manual on Arcane Scripture.” Red said. “I would like to learn it.”
“You what?!” the giant’s eyes widened. “Are you being serious?!”
Red nodded.
“May I see it?” the blacksmith asked.
The boy hesitated. “… There might be sensitive information inside that manual.”
The blacksmith frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I can’t explain it.” Red shook his head. “I simply can’t show it to you, though.”
Goulth fell silent, examining the boy with a suspicious expression. In the end, though, he nodded. “That’s fine. I will trust you on this matter. It’s not like I need to read it either. I know my own talent in that area… So what is it that you need help with?”
“I would like to request you for the materials for practice.” Red said. “Preferably hidden from Hector and the others. I would also like to practice in your workshop if possible.”
“Why do you feel the need to hide it from them, though?” Goulth seemed confused.
“I don’t want them to prod into the origin of this manual.” Red said.
The boy was being sincere. This manual contained not only the Parting Storm Formation, but it might also contain hints about the author’s identity. If any of that was ever leaked outside the sect, then most likely all of them would die.
The only reason he revealed it to Goulth was because this master of his seemed to be the most accommodating when it came to the boy’s secrecy.
“I see.” Goulth nodded in understanding. “I can help you with the materials, but it might raise some questions with Hector if there is a sudden influx of papers and special inks.”
Red frowned. “Can you help me fool him?”
The blacksmith smiled. “Do you even need to ask?! I couldn’t be more proud of my own disciple trying to learn Arcane Scripture! Of course, you need to promise me you won’t neglect blacksmithing either, is that clear?!”
Red nodded. “I will.”
The boy had taken a huge step in voluntarily revealing a secret of his to someone else. He couldn’t be more relieved at how it had turned out.
“Thank you.” Red said to the blacksmith with all sincerity. “For everything.”
“There is no need for thanks, kid.” Goulth shook his head. “I am just doing my part! After all, I am your only master, isn’t that right?”
Red froze for a second, but still nodded. “Yes, you are my only master in this world.”