12 Asuna Sensei

After absorbing this spirit ring, Ryu got [Essence Shift] by using this skill, it created the aura. The Aura could steal the life essence of an enemy on contact, draining each of their attributes and converting them to bonus Agility.

"By Combining [Devour] and [Essence Shift], I can drain life essence from my opponent to restore my energy and increase my agility. This is good" Ryu said.

Then he checked system, and a [Shop] feature unlocked.

"By using Gold, I can buy anything in this Shop. 1 Gold = 100 Silver = 10000 Chopper coin."

"I need to become rich, but I don't have any money now"

Then he re-entered Spirit Pagoda, and Asuna came to welcome him

"Hello, Ryu. Congratulation to progress this far"

"Now Spirit Pagoda has a new room installed here. Come and follow me" She said.

After following her, then Ryu saw a new portal installed in Spirit Pagoda. They entered it and transferred to a modern workshop.

The hall was littered with all sorts of metal components Ryu could barely recognize. Most of these were likely components for spirit machines, though.

Asuna didn't pause as she walked deeper into the workshop, causing Ryu to hasten his steps. The shop wasn't large or small. After passing through the halls, Asuna brought Ryu to one of the inner rooms.

Inside of the room was a workbench, which was just barely taller than him.

Asuna stopped here, turning around to face Ryu. "Do you know what forging is?"

At a loss, Ryu shook his head.

Then Asuna changed her cloth. She wore red short jean, white singlet, white gloves, and boots.

"So beautiful," Ryu thought in his mind.

"I'll be your guide for Blacksmithing beside be a Spirit Pagoda receptionist."

"Now you must read Blacksmith Training Manual that you got from Quest," Asuna said.

"Okay," Ryu said.

After reading for hours under Asuna observation, he gained basic forging knowledge.

"This is your task for today," Asuna said as she pointed to the side. Off to the side was a half meter tall metal table. On top of the table was a round lump of metal and below it was a spirit machine screen.

Asuna picked up two small metal hammers from the side and held them out to Ryu.

"You see that lump of metal? Use this hammer to strike it a thousand times. The screen will display the number of hits with sufficient strength.

"It'll require all your strength to swing it down."

After speaking, she placed the two hammers in Ryu's hands.

The metal hammer's handle was about a third of a meter with a cylindrical head that was half a foot long and ten centimeters in diameter. They weighed about five kilograms each. For a normal six-year-old child, this wasn't light at all, let alone the fact that he had to swing it a thousand times.

But Ryu was Rank 2 Spirit Master now. Besides that, he already had superhuman strength and good physical foundation.

Ryu had looked at the hammer with a bitter expression, but when he took the hammer from Asuna, he was amazed to discover they weren't so heavy, after all.

"Is it heavy? Asuna asked him

Ryu smiled to convey his understanding and swung the hammer in his right hand down on the lump of metal.

Bang! The metal boomed and he jumped in surprise. The spirit screen below it activated, displaying the number '1.'

He raised the hammer in his left hand and smashed it down with a bang!

2.

'This isn't too hard!' Ryu thought as he began swinging his arms in a steady rhythm.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!" The numbers on the screen increased unceasingly in tune with the continuous thumping.

Neither hammer wavered at all, as Ryu didn't feel they were too much of a burden. The pair of hammers constantly beat down the lump of metal, and in return, the number on the screen persisted in its ascension.

After hammering it for the hundredth time, Ryu was already beginning to sweat. At three hundred, his arms began to feel sore.

At five hundred, the soreness turned into aching, but he continued on just as before and persisted with all his power, refusing to stop.

At the seven hundred marks, he couldn't even feel his arms when he raised them and his hammering speed was much slower.

Just like before, he clenched his teeth and persevered. His sweat had practically turned into the broth, making his uniform to stick to his body. His sweat dripped like a waterfall, and Ryu felt his spine go numb. His whole body shuddered as if he were electrically shocked. His original aching eased up, and the hammer felt a bit lighter.

"Bang, bang, bang!" He proceeded to strike the last three hundred times with even more ease than the start.

"One thousand!" It was only after reaching the objective Asuna had set for him that Ryu lowered his hammers. As he gasped for breath, Tang Wu Lin could feel an unspeakable aching from his palms and his arms had swollen so much that they were beyond recognition. Apart from this, he felt unexpectedly invigorated. The numbness in his spine spread to his seven vertebrae and back down his spine in cycles, leaving him speechless.

"Asuna, I'm done," Ryu said to Asuna who observed him since the beginning.

"Good, you finished it at half of hour," Asuna said and patted his shoulder.

After an hour of rest, Ryu had already regained his vigor. It was just that his arms ached too much to raise them.

Asuna's explanation of forging still lingered in his mind.

"What is forging? Forging and casting are entirely different. Casting only requires a mold, and afterward, the use of machinery to grind out the desired shape. That is casting.

As for forging, it requires a blacksmith to personally hammer the metal from start to finish. Of course, you could use a machine to pound the metal and forge it, but metal is a living thing. A machine will never be able to grasp the veins of the metal.

Thus, all first-rate machine components were forged by a blacksmith. A good blacksmith is a true craftsman that possesses a status no less than that of a Spirit Master."

Spirit Master and Machine Master, those were the dreams of all young boys.