Chapter 61
Since Rain was forbidden to leave the village due to him being just awakened and was still under the adaptation of his newfound powers as well as training under Zarda and the other Lamians, he busied himself in Alchemy and Blacksmithing instead when he had free time.
To this, although he has some great understanding and proficiency in work, sometimes, however, he would still commit several mistakes that made both Sarete and Miyabila sigh in amusement.
After all, often mistakes he made can even be said to be strange or completely amateurish. And it’s not because he was acting dumb but because he was doing some strange things she just could not understand.
I guess Sarete’s claims about Rain being an eccentric weirdo-genius are true…
Miyabila chuckled in amusement as she watched Rain doing his usual practice of hammering metals and cleaning off impurities from them. She had already put down her hammer, grabbed a clean cloth, and rubbed her hands off from dirt, then to the sweat, grease, and dirt on her face and body.
Every time Rain visit the smithy and started his practice, she would always stop what she was doing and watch him carefully. Sometimes she would walk over him, give advice and teach him things, and sometimes she would just tinker on some simple things while watching him. But never would she start her own work when Rain was practicing, less she would forget about him.
She avoided doing that because everything in the smithy was dangerous. Some of the items were hot, some were pointy, and some were both. Double the danger.
Being around such hazardous things, one single mistake could lead to serious injuries. Even for a powerful warrior who wouldn’t bat an eye from most injuries like herself, she still needed him to build a sturdy foundation first before he was left alone, in order to prevent accidents from happening. Even more so when considering all the gadgets and devices here were seriously sensitive and very dangerous, completely unlike that of a normal human smithy. After all, most were Magic Items she had made from trial and error, which most fails, by the way.
That was why Miyabila couldn’t leave Rain alone.
If something happened to him, even her life would never be enough to compensate for it.
However, thanks to this, Rain was acquiring the basics at a rapid pace. And even then, he was able to become much more proficient than it, making even Miyabila almost not believe it. As he progressed significantly these past few days, she ended up gasping out loud several times.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Rain continued hammering like usual, but with a better-balanced posture than before.
That’s my Rain…
Miyabila inhaled from her pipe to calm down her excited mind. But her two beautiful eyes still fixed on him who was drawing peculiar curves as he worked. The scorching piece of metal was drawn and folded repeatedly under his constant hammering.
Usually, the works of beginners were subject to a variety of mistakes such as failing to hammer with appropriate strength or metal being welded incorrectly. Rain, however, found the exact spots to hammer and hit the parts with just the right amount of power while adequately adjusting them.
At first, it appeared awkward, as if trying to hit a ghost, knowing it’s there but just couldn’t properly hit it. But as time passed by, he was actually getting better and better, and now he was able to almost hit it accurately, which to Miyabila’s eyes was just too incredible.
A process which in a way could be described as mechanical, and almost as if Rain himself already knows the parts that should be hit. In another way, however, they were motions that only a skilled blacksmith could do. It was just incredible how he could pull this off despite only a few days and weeks of experience.
Miyabila had lived for almost a hundred years with only a hammer in her hand. During her entire life, she had spent her years trying to master the art of forging. Her accumulated knowledge and experience is not something that can easily be underestimated and had seen and observed many Blacksmiths over the years during their vagabond lives, wandering around the entire continent before they had settled in this place. So as a matter of course, she had met all kinds of people with different levels of skill. Ranging from Master Blacksmiths to complete amateurs.
There had been ones who had a great sense but lacked the basics.
She also had a trainee before who had confidently come to her in order to learn her skill but ended up turning back in frustration from the required hard work and laboriousness. However, out of all those people, none of them came close to learning as fast as Rain.
He seemed to have literally zero knowledge about smithing at first. But he gradually changed whenever Miyabila pointed out his mistakes, and now he looked like any ordinary blacksmith. It was her first time seeing anyone learning this quickly.
Hm, this part doesn't seem to be right... does it need more tempering?
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Rain relish on lifting the massive and heavy hammer over his head, feeling like a Viking taking down an enemy as he carouses through a tribe of pagans. He certainly works up a ferocious seat, the rivulets pouring down his back and face, which is also almost blackened from soot. He felt it tautening his pores on his cheeks. Eventually, after hours of hammering and heating,
[‘Insight’ can now reveal more ‘flaws’.]
[‘Support System Pixie: Sylphy Systema’ skill level rose by 1]
From some point onwards, Rain found himself completely fascinated with metallurgy. And now, it had increased the insight-skill he had by another level, making his ability become even stronger and…more useful.
Especially with the help of Sylphy and the ‘Insight’ ability she had bestowed upon him through the Support System. It had been quite useful in his everyday life, including battles where it almost gave him prophetic ability. And most of all, it was extremely useful for his crafting professions.
He invoked his ability and gazed at the scorching piece of metal. With the help and support of Sylphy, several spots of blue dots appeared all over the piece of metal he was hammering. It was much clearer than before, with an added thinly dotted line and curves appearing along the edge of the metal freshly taken out its mold.
The spots and lines were only visible to him.
'Flaws.’
Not only that, now, in his vision, there was even an image of the object he was working on, along with some special features that made his work a lot more interesting. Now, it's as if he was crafting things within a Virtual Game, with all the Auto-correction working at full capacity.
With a support system like Sylphy, he was able to analyze many things, up to their very core. Using the prowess of science and calculation, it had almost turned into a supernatural ability, or perhaps it had passed that threshold. Sylphy’s calculation ability was almost accurate. Of course, this too has some relation with him. After all, this was done by re-establishing the information he originally had, calculating the most efficient route of achieving his goal, and providing visible hints of the route.
Those visible hints are the ‘flaws’.
And thanks to that, Rain was able to handle metal quite easily as if he was inside a Virtual Game with an auto-correction feature, working with almost in a magical way. It made everything easier, well at least, a bit easier compared to before. Furthermore, the knowledge and techniques that Miyabila imparted to him were something worth over a thousand pieces of gold to any other blacksmith, and he was aware of this fact.
When Rain watched the way Miyabila handled the hammer, the bellow, and all the other tools, he could feel how much effort she poured into making a single piece of work. Therefore, whenever she worked, he tried to capture every single motion Miyabila made and memorize every single word she said.
And his practice based on such information coupled with Syphy’s support, helped Rain step up his forging several levels. That if known by others, they might have considered it cheating.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Rain hammered the metal piece he had folded several times for the last time. Looking closely, there was already a distinct wavy pattern drawn on the surface of the metal. He then picked it up with a tong and submerged it into a container filled with cold water to finish the tempering process.
*Tsss*
A big cloud of white steam shot out from the container when the metal touched the water. Despite the suffocating hot air, Rain tried to keep his eyes on the fuming metal.
[Master’s understanding of metallurgy has increased. The attained knowledge will open up several more possibilities.]
[Knowledge is a power that will broaden one's horizons and enlarge the world around you. Learn and understand more knowledge and become a seeker of truth. The God’s blessing will always be with you.]
[‘Blacksmithing’ skill level increased by 1]
*Drop* *Drop*
Beads of sweat kept falling onto the floor.
“Wew, I only need a bit more practice and then, I should be able to make some of what I intended to make,’
Rain smiled faintly as he lightly massaged his shoulders. Learning metallurgy was not an easy task even with the help of his support system, and the advantage of just being a transmigrator from another world with God's Blessing.
I guess, this is why they said that a talented of the art might be a genius, but even geniuses still needed hard work. Well, not like I'm a Genius, though. Just a Cheater.
Furthermore, having to sit in one place hammering the metal in front of a searing forge, he felt stiff and sore all over his body. But through this experience, Rain realized the importance of mental training in parallel with physical training. His mentality needs to become stronger at the same time as his physical body, or else no matter how strong he becomes, he would still be weak.
Magic power rose with the mind, and the mind strengthened his will and spirit. The more his mind mature, the stronger he becomes.
So, balance is what I need for progress, isn’t it?
Just like Elder Sister said, balance is needed and cannot be hasty in pursuit of power.
Suddenly, Rain was hit by a sudden wave of fatigue. But as soon as he felt tired, he felt someone touching his back and magic power surge through him. The flow of mana circulated through his body, melting away the fatigue. He turned around and saw Miyabila smiling at him.
“Rain, don’t overwork yourself. Rest for a while,”
“I will, I just finished it,”
Rain replied with a thankful smile, before staring at the metal piece he had crafted.
[An Unfinished Good Metal Casting]
Estimated classification: One-handed Weapon
Estimated rating: E
Estimated durability: Good
It turned out okay unlike before…
Rain smiled in satisfaction. His first work can only reach Fair, and even had a rating for F. Though, he was just practicing with low and ordinary metal, but it was still an unsatisfactory result. Miyabila can still make a D rank rating with just normal materials. Although the rating was just Sylphy’s own evaluation, still it’s mostly accurate. It seems like even cheat cannot easily defeat hard work and experience.
While he continued to learn from Zarda and the others about Magic, and other things, he continued his visits to Miyabila like a bee flying around a flower. Though to a normal person, they would find him annoying but for the red-headed Lamian, the past few days was bliss.
"What are the standards for determining directions when welding the metal?"
"What do I do when the heat exceeds the appropriate temperature?"
"The bellow’s blowing force is weaker than I thought.”
"Why did you do that for that part?"
Now that he knew more about forging and using his magic power to create items, he had more questions he wanted to ask. So whenever he had any questions, he immediately went to Miyabila and asked her anything.
For an entire week, he focused on increasing his Blacksmithing Level.
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