Chapter 67: Does he have a heart?

"You all must have experienced a kind of resistance or simply put it a barrier when you attempt to fill up your 5th star right? Today we will handle that." He said while looking at the students.

"The process by which this barrier will be destroyed is what we call the fusion process."

Professor Gibson began explaining the downgraded version of the fusion process, just like the system had told Blake.

Unlike the real fusion process which was more precise and straight to the point, the "fake" version of the fusion process was more like a trial and error process before the cultivator accidentally triggers the reaction.

The downside was that it took more time to accidentally start the process and it would take longer to complete it, giving the nobles and whoever knew of the real process more time to widen the gap.

'This class would be more useful for those in the normal classes who have little or no background, but for the elite class, it is a massive waste of time. At least it is better than the history class.' Blake said while trying not to dose off because of the boredom.

'Come to think of it, this act of suppressing the commoners by teaching them a whack version of the fusion process may not look like much, but when coupled with the other nefarious plans which they have and will still commit, it becomes a big deal.

If all their plans get executed without any problems, the commoners will become nothing but pawns in the empire, while the nobles will have control over all the key positions. I must confess prince Bryon is really doing a good job for the commoner, if not things would have been way worse.' Blake thought.

[That may be what you see, but you are looking at the matter from the wrong angle.] The system chimed in. [What if that is what they want you to think? One thing for sure is that the nobles can't be more powerful than a royal family unless the emperor is foolish, but judging from how long the empire has existed it is impossible.]

'Your point?' Blake asked in confusion.

[How many times do I tell you, stop interrupting!

I was trying to say that the actions of the nobles are monitored and being used against them by the royal family. When the nobles commit crimes just like the incident of the ruin stones, the commoners get angry which when piled up may cause a revolt; then the royal family uses someone like Bryon to paint the nobles as the bad guys and solving the problem.

Earning themselves the people's trust, quelling any form of revolt, and reducing the influence of the nobles on the people.] The system explained.

'My God! That's a lot of deception, the royal family practically have the nobles in their hands!' Blake was shocked to the core by how much politics was being played behind the scenes.

[Hehe… What do you expect from a family that has been in existence for so long? Even the 3 top noble families are kids in their eyes.] The system chuckled.

'How do you know this without even having much information about the matter? …and doesn't your statement imply that Bryon isn't as good and righteous as they say?' Blake asked with a raised brow.

[I have seen the rise and fall of many empires; I have even been an emperor so all these are not new to me. I am not too sure about him, but I will say don't trust anyone, it's better to be safe than sorry.] The system warned him.

Blake was so engrossed in the conversation that he didn't know when the class had come to an end. 'Sometimes, it's really nice to have a voice in your head.' Blake thought as he stood up and left the class.

After having his lunch and taking a quick rest Blake rushed to the forge for his next class. The last classes with professor Tacitus were all theory classes explaining the do and don'ts in a forge. Also, he had explained the process of forging a basic weapon paving way for the beginning of their practical classes.

Although they were about to forge basic weapons without any form of enchantments, which was basically blacksmithing, Blake was quite excited.

For someone like him who came from a world where kids were sent to normal schools and technology had made a lot of things easier, Blake was a complete beginner when it came to blacksmithing, but he was eager to learn. 

He arrived at the forge 10 minutes before the time for the class and unlike when they were in the classrooms, professor Tacitus was already there waiting. Immediately it was time for the class he waved his hands and with him having full control over the forge, the doors were shut barring those outside from entering

"If you want to become a foragemaster you are meant to be punctual and time-sensitive. Without being time-sensitive how will you know the right time to add material or when to remove an item from the furnace. I will…" professor Tacitus 'speech' was interrupted by students banging on the door.

'Morons! They already know he is out for our blood, why would you anger him.' Blake couldn't help but shake his head and pity for the idiots at the other side of the door.

With a wave of his hand, the door was open, but a force field was stopping them from moving even an inch into the class.

"I only wanted to deduct 100 points for you guys missing my class, but since you empty skulls dare to anger me, I will be deducting 300 more points.

'I didn't bang on the door.'

'It was those at the front, we have nothing to do with it.' A girl protested.

'400 points?! I don't even have half of that.' A boy cried in despair.

'My God! 400 points!' Blake couldn't help but shiver.

Throughout the first week, he had gotten a little bit above 500 points for his attendance in classes and his awesome performance, having 400 points deducted just like that meant a weeks' worth of work had gone down the drain.

Many of them protested, while some had already accepted their fates and began crying, but the reply they all got was that of the door shutting in their faces.

'Does he even have a heart?' This was the question on the minds of Blake and those in the forge, but none of them dared to voice their thought or show any form of displeasure.

"Now the pests have been taking care of we shall return to the lesson for today." Professor Tacitus said while checking the expressions of those in the forge.

"Last week I taught you all the theory aspect of forging non-enchanted items, today you all shall forge a sword with the materials supplied. Depending on the quality of your creation, you shall be awarded points and for those who didn't study the theory, if you end up making a mess, points will be deducted for wasting the school's materials." Professor Tacitus said the last part with a stern look on his face.

"Remember the 6 processes; Forging, Annealing, Grinding, hardening, tempering, and Polishing You may begin!" Professor Tacitus announced the start of the exercise.

The school's forge was incredibly large; it possessed mini forges and pieces of equipment that were enough for all the students in the specialization.

Not wasting any time, Blake selected a work station and began the forging process. Unlike most students, Blake wasn't nervous at all, because he had the system to tell him what to do.

[The length of the material has already been cut, so all you have to do is light the furnace.] Following the system's instruction, Blake cast a simple fireball and threw it into the furnace.

[Now take a bar of your desired metal(s) and heat it in the sword forge. You should leave the metal in the forge until you have a yellow heat. After it is heated up, you begin the hammering process, which may take a long time because you have to hammer it in sections; hammer repeatedly, heat again, repeat the process until the sword takes the shape you want.]

When it was at the right temperature, the system informed him and he brought it out began hammering it. His full attention was on the sword, not knowing him being the first to begin hammering had gotten the attention of professor Tacitus.

'At least someone knows what he is doing.' Professor Tacitus couldn't help but nod when he saw hitting the sword at the right angles.

[STEP 2: Annealing: This process is done by heating the sword – until it loses all magnetic attraction – and allowing it to cool very slowly.

Heating it is up is a fairly simple process, but cooling it down slowly and evenly can get more complex. You can wrap up the sword in an insulating material, as this will slow down the cooling. Or you can take the sword and bury it in the sand.]