I'm 10 years old now i've been training under Dedius in secret for 4 years now i can now "forge a fine blade" his words not mine. It made me strong i'm still a little short for my age but twice as strong as any my age.

Fortunately i inherited my parents mana talent in particular my fathers Necrotic magic talent. "If they're going to hate you anyway might as well use it" as dedius likes to say. I discovered my talent shortly after moving to the orphanage. a few a of the boys started a fight they broke broke my ribs i would have broken their faces. till that bastard headmaster in charge of the orphange blindsided me a swift kick to the ribs to "protect the wellbeing of the orphans". Seems like he put them up to it. Luckily they left before i discovered my life drain ability it healed my puntured lung but the bird resting in the tree suffered the Poor bird died "waste not want not". I learned my most important lesson that day never ask Dedius to cook anything the pain from having to eat that disgusting burnt thing made the beating seem like a fond memory.

I don't know what Dedius did but the head master steered clear of me after that. After the life drain i could see life energy in people and things i know who has what affinity. After awaking my mana Ded made me train using my fathers grimoire almost as hard as black-smithery. Only trouble we had was the big words in the grimoires as Ded liked saying "i'm a blacksmith" not a scholar. Luckily a few traveling adventurers traded lessons for repairs to their weapons. 

It wasn't till recently i made a breakthrough in magic and blacksmithing when you see the lifeforce of something it looks like a roots of a tree radiating from a central point.  When you poured mana into a blade it it wouldn't spread evenly though the blade there would be more mana in the blade near the handle then the tip and it would take a few seconds just a second can mean death a few seconds is too much.

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Before the only way to combat this way to use extremely rare and expensive metal like mithril. Screw that normal people can't afford that. My way would be faster easier to use and almost just as powerfull inserting mana veins into the weapon it's self. The potential seems interesting. 

Well i'll try a few different designs.

First to prepare i'll need my chainmail, my helm i've learned one thing already alway wear protection why you ask? Well if you accidently scare Ded his old warrior instincts awaken and then you have a former adventurer who's only gotten stronger since being a blacksmith ready to fight you and refusing to take no for an answer. At least it's good practice fighting people.

i learned from the first experiment that if you create a mana vein in a blade with no release for the mana it'll explode. I got plans for this new morsel of knowledge after the initial shock of Ded screaming "by Odin's beard" and the subsequent  beating training from Ded. 

.                        Far away in the land of Asgard                                     

A bearded one eyed man sits on a throne.

"thats strange my beard is tingling"

                           Back at the smithy.                            

So the two daggers i designed work two different ways.

the one activates quicker and retains mana longer and doesn't need nearly as much mana to activate it.

the second one is kinda scary it looks like the first dagger and activates even quicker when you put mana in it is expelled though the edge extending it by 4 inches effectively turning a dagger into a short sword in an instant.