After returning to the army‘s base camp Iain didn’t stay with Groob’s team anymore. Without saying goodbye, he returned to his temporary home.

With a heavy mood he carefully packed Lilly’s and his own bags. He absentmindedly browsed through his sister’s beloved books. But he wasn’t able to learn anything. He smiled wryly, knowing that magic theory would never be his favorite subject.

Packing away the books, Iain also discovered the small metallic discs Lilly brought with her. Those were mavraps, which had replaced books on planet Hex. Iain had never bothered to find out how they worked, but by now he also had enough experience with technology.

Gathering some of his little mana, the young man activated one of the devices. Information was directly displayed into his mind. Luckily, he was already used to such a sensation, since the SMT did something similar.

A single tear escaped Iain’s eyes as he read through the mavrap’s contents. Guides for basic smithing were recorded on it. Obviously, Lilly had packed those for him.

The young man heaved a deep sigh before putting the metallic disc away. With mixed emotions he just wanted to wander through the base camp for a while.

Unconsciously he arrived at the Frozen Tavern once again. He took a table and ordered some enhanced food.

Noticing her regular guest’s sad mood, Devi tried to cheer up Iain. Unfortunately, even the attractive owner’s flirty jokes couldn’t lighten up Iain’s mood. Today the food tasted bland and Emantarel didn’t come to the tavern.

Lost in thoughts Iain went home robotically, falling into bed and reminiscing about easier days.

The next day the young man didn’t feel much better when he woke up in the morning. Only when he stood together with other adventurers and spotted the arriving transwhale in the distance did he force himself to straighten out his mind.

A few minutes later the behemoth brought Iain back towards Iomor’s Grace. With every meter traveled, Iain built himself up slightly. He knew now wasn’t the time for laziness. He had to grow, become stronger, and search for Lilly.

When Iain exited the transwhale he had straightened out his thoughts. Following the crowd the young man took a transray back towards Escari Street. The six stars relentlessly bathed his home in light when he returned.

Although the siblings hadn’t lived here for a long time, Iain still experienced relief and a feeling of security when he entered their home. He stored away his baggage before reminding himself of his plan.

Grabbing some bread to snack on, the young man walked towards the smithy belonging to this house. He stopped for a second as he passed the equipment Nua had prepared for them. Caressing the hammer in awe, his eyes turned serious, proving his newly tempered state of mind.

Feeling the smooth metal and observing the hammer’s beautiful appearance, the young man couldn’t hold himself back. He activated his dismantling eye skill.

A different world seemingly fell into Iain’s eyes. Wonderous lights filled the air. The young man was in awe every time he watched the mystical dance of mana. He understood that it was a privilege only granted to a few beings to be able to watch mana so clearly. Others could only feel it through their perception.

Iain pitied others in his mind, as they would never be able to see mana rhythmically pulsing around their weapons. Life seemed to fill the hammer as it appeared to be breathing. Iain couldn’t help but marvel at the wonders this universe held.

A moment later Iain extracted himself from the enticing scenery. Unfortunately, he had to hurry, as he couldn’t keep up his skill for too long. Focusing on the hammer before him, the mana unfortunately vanished from his sight.

Burning pain already assaulted Iain’s eyes as his vision began to penetrate the hammer’s outer layer. The high-class material was even able to provide protection against such special skills like dismantling eye. It took all of Iain’s concentration to carry on.

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Five seconds felt like years before the young smith finally spotted the dense runic lines woven deeply into the weapon. A gorgeous display of golden lines densely spread through the hammer, like a spider’s web.

Iain tried to observe further, trying to learn the runes which made up those fascinating lines. Unfortunately, this was beyond his capabilities. The young man’s eyes began bleeding as he had to interrupt the skill. A low groan left his mouth as he covered his face in pain.

It took Iain a few minutes to calm down. He smiled wryly as he admired Nua’s skills. The young smith could tell that the runes supporting the hammer’s magical abilities were some of the most impressive he had ever seen so far. Yet Nua had noted that the siblings could use those weapons when they reached the master rank.

Anticipation welled within him. He looked forward to the day when he would don these masterworks. But even more so he looked forward to the day he would be able to craft those himself.

Inspired by those thoughts his gaze focused on the smithy’s door. A confident smile formed on his face. He pushed open the door, entering his favorite place.

A characteristic metallic smell reached Iain’s nose. A traditional forge entered his eyes. Despite the few obvious magical functions, Iain felt a strong familiarity. The humble smithy reminded him of Earth once again.

Grabbing a leather apron and a weighty smithing hammer the young smith approached the shelf where Nua had prepared some simple materials. Although not as impressive as the treasury at their store, this collection was exactly what Iain needed to start.

After a short observation the young smith easily came do a decision. He used a bar of tonorsium. As a material used for expert warrior’s weapons it should be slightly out of Iain’s capabilities.

However, the young man figured he should be able to hammer it into form, nevertheless. His confidence stemmed from the strengthened stats his father could provide him with.

Iain prepared everything he would need next to the furnace. He wouldn’t leave the smithy until his smithing skill reached level ten. After a month of training survival skills, it was time to dedicate himself to his real vocation.

Now he only needed someone to learn from. Knowing that his father couldn’t communicate much, Iain hung the mavrap he discovered yesterday around his neck. Once activate he could always use it to look up guides.

Filled with anticipation, the young man gently pressed a certain spot on his furnace. A blazing flame immediately shot up as soon as he inserted some mana.

His unfamiliarity already showed during this first action. Not controlling his mana properly, the furnace abruptly reached unbearable temperatures. The flame danced and hissed as it spewed small sparks everywhere.

Luckily Iain had trained his heat resistance, or the heat might have burned off his beard. Focusing on the task, the young smith wasn’t faced, however. He kept his calm, regulating the furnace again, tuning it down slowly.

Soon he reached a temperature he deemed feasible. Carefully grabbing the bar of tonorsium with special tongs, Iain placed it into the furnace. While the flame worked its magic on the metal, Iain also wasn’t lazing around.

He knew from multiple sources that as a smith he had to train his fire resistance. Normally one would first learn fire magic in order to have the resistance training under one’s own control. Only crazy or desperate people would train their fire resistance in the most painful way. Unfortunately, Iain was desperate right now.

The young smith cleared his mind of all distractions. Thinking about Lilly alone in the darkness, he reminded himself of his reason for growing stronger. He grit his teeth as he raised his arms. And put them closer to the fire.

Iain’s nerves sent endless painful signals towards his brain. His heat resistance and defense stat were going all out to defend the young man’s body from burning up. Flames flicked around his hands as they turned red in sync with the Tonorsium.

Only a few seconds later Iain already had to pull back his arms. He didn’t dare to go all out, as he still had to work today. He could only do this small but painful test right now.

Nevertheless, the young man’s arms pulsed from the burning pain. He hastily put them in a cauldron filled with water. This was originally meant to cool his workpiece, but now it soothed Iain’s nerves.

From this small test Iian recognized how hard it would be to train his fire resistance. After all he hadn’t even acquired the skill yet.

Taking a deep breath the young smith focused on his original work again. He took out the tonorsium from his furnace. He observed it for a second, knowing that the metal had to be heated evenly.

Judging from its red-orange color it appeared to be fine at the first look, but Iain couldn’t be certain. Unfortunately, he would need a lot of experience with every material before being able to heat all of them perfectly. While he was contemplating whether to put the metal back into the furnace, a voice sounded in his mind.

[Use your skills.]

With his father’s reminder, Iain’s eyes lit up. He once again used his dismantling eye skill. Doing his best to control the skills intensity, Iain blended out all the surrounding mana. This would also allow him to use the skill for a longer time.

A slight stinging sill assaulted Iain’s eyes from earlier, but he had recovered for the most part. Thus, he could now focus on the tonorsium before him.