Chapter 50 – Practice

Iris was quick to begin venting as they walked off.

'I hate her! We were clearly with you, and she only wanted to invite you! Not to mention how she was totally attracted to you...' (Iris)

'Oh? Is Scarlet jealous?' (Dream)

'I am not! I just hate her! She looks at us rudely, fakes it, and then completely disregards us. I outta smack her.' (Iris)

'Well that would look bad so I don't recommend it. And don't worry, she won't take me from you.'

'I said I'm not jealous! And besides, I'm definitely prettier. She also has small boobs.'

'Does that make you feel superior or something? Hehe, well I guess I do like your big boobs better, so it's fine.'

'You... Ugh...'

Iris began blushing bright red. She couldn't turn away the 'compliment' since he had only agreed with her. She could do nothing but be embarrassed, and a bit happy.

Luna also smiled. It was the first time that she had ever considered the fact that other girls might like Dream as well. It was a weird feeling, but seeing how Dream responded to Iris, she realized that it would take more than a cute blonde girl to catch his eye. And it was because of them.

Meanwhile, Dream was just happy that he could defuse that dangerous situation. Luckily, he had mastered the art of quick thinking and being unflustered. Not that he was interested in Lory. Sure she was cute and he might have fun with her, but just who was it standing by his sides? Luna and Iris had unknowingly raised his standards to a damn high level, and he was more than okay with that.

It didn't take long for them to walk home. Dream had actually thought about bringing the girls out on a date but realized he had no money. He would have to get some from Riddick sometime.

They walked to the first floor and up the stairs. Nobody seemed to be home besides the dads who were probably in the study, so they went to their rooms to wash up and get comfortable.

................

As Dream lay on his bed in sweats and damp hair, the girls came walking through the door in their own baggy clothes. They walked over and collapsed on the bed with him.

"*Sigh*. Long day today. I could probably fall asleep right now." (Dream)

"*Yawn* Mmm, but we still have dinner." (Luna)

"And we aren't like Iris who's eaten 100 rats today."

"What's wrong with that?! It's not like I was hungry, just that it makes me stronger." (Iris)

"Hehe, I know. Good job raising your strength. Now, do you guys want to go again sometime? It doesn't have to be with them, we can go ourselves."

"Let's go ourselves. It might be a bit safer, but we didn't even break a sweat with them. We could get a lot more experience if we didn't have them taking kills." (Iris)

"I think we can go ourselves too. But didn't you have something to do tomorrow?" (Luna)

"Kind of. I was planning on getting weapons for us. And maybe armor."

"Do we need weapons? I have my claws and teeth, and Luna uses her ice. She can even make weapons out of ice. So I don't know if they'll be of any use." (Iris)

"Agreed." (Luna)

"I mean, if you guys really don't feel like you need them then you don't have to get any. But that means you have to work extra hard on perfecting your manipulation skills. If I see that your skills aren't enough and you get in trouble, then I'm getting you weapons."

"Hehe, alright." (Iris)

"It shouldn't be a problem." (Luna)

"Good. As for armor, Luna, maybe you should try to make ice armor with Sophia. Or at least learn how to make shields. And Scarlet can just make her skin tougher."

"Sure." (Luna)

Dream nodded to her with his eyes closed. Although they hadn't done too much, it still remained that they fought rats for 10 hours. He and the girls eventually fell asleep without realizing it.

...................

............

......

*Yawn*

Dream roused from his sleep with a loud yawn. Since he had gone to sleep early, he felt very well-rested. 

The girls woke up not long after. Sophia spoke to everyone.

[You guys should head down for breakfast. It's around this time.]

"Mm, alright. Let's go then. I'm also kind of starving." (Dream)

"Me too." (Luna)

The three dragged themselves out of bed and went downstairs. Food was the only thing on their mind since they skipped dinner.

When they got down, everyone was already at the table. Elaina was also coming out of the kitchen with the food. 

"Oh, well hello there." (Elaina)

"General Kenobi..."

"..?"

Everyone put on a confused face at Dream's reaction.

"*muttering*...Uncultured cavemen..." (Dream)

"You really hide that well under your clothes kid. That's an impressive build you got." (Graff)

Dream titlted his head and touched his chest, realizing he didn't have a shirt on. When he was at home on Earth, he never wore a shirt around the house. And since he was so hungry, he forgot to make himself look presentable. Though this could be considered another type of presentable.

"Sorry about that."

"No need to be." (Graff)

Dream took out a shirt and threw it on. He thought he also saw a little disappointment in Elaina's eyes. 

The three sat down and received their food, scarfing it down.

"You guys really were tired from yesterday. I walked up there during dinner to get you but found you sound asleep. I made extra breakfast so you could fill up." (Elaina)

"Oh, sorry about that too. There were a lot of rats." (Dream)

"That's alright. We're just glad it went well. The twins told us about it. Apparently you guys did really well." (Elaina)

"I guess we did." (Dream)

"Are you guys planning to come with us today?" (Mark)

Mark lifted his head and spoke to Dream.

"Not today. We got some things to do, so we'll stay back. And since we're on that topic, Graff, where can we go to do some forging?" 

"Just use my forging room in the study. It has whatever you might need and I hardly use it. There's also some books on blacksmithing." (Graff)

"We'll use it then. It shouldn't be difficult to teach myself."

"Alright."

After making plans for the day, everyone finished up breakfast. The twins went back out to hunt, Elaina went to do what she needed, and everyone else went to the study.

After going down the platform, everyone settled in the main room.

"Alright, so you guys spent yesterday studying I'm guessing. So I can impart more knowledge today." (Dream)

"Please do."

Dream went over and went through the same process with Riddick and Graff. After that, he took the girls over to the forging room.

When they entered, they saw things you would find in a forgery. There was a big furnace, an anvil, tools hanging on the walls, a grinder, and a tub of water.

"Rather basic stuff, but it's all you really need. Alright, I'm gonna do some blacksmithing, while you girls work on your magic."

"What do you want us to do?" (Iris)

"I was actually planning on having you work with me. I'll need heat, and what better source than you. But it won't be easy."

"Hmph, we'll see about that."

"And Luna, you'll work on making weapons out of ice. I also want you to practice your manipulation."

"Manipulation?"

"Yes. Hang on."

Dream walked out of the forgery. A minute later, he came walking back in with a box full of metal.

*thunk*

He set the box down and took out scraps of titanium metal. He then walked over to a side of the room and hung the scraps on shooting stands. 

"Luna, you will make weapons with ice and use them against the scrap of metal. Lances, swords, spears, axes, whatever you need to cut or pierce that scrap. The twist is that you will do it all from 15 feet away. And the condition for success is to cut an inch deep from the sides or pierce through it. Feel free to get Sophia's help. Kapeesh?"

"...Alright."

Luna turned to the scrap and created a regular lance. She then shot it straight to the scrap and hit it dead center.

*ting*

The lance hit the scrap and the tip of the ice shattered while leaving nothing on the metal. Luna suddenly felt the difficulty of the task.

"...It's impossible." (Luna)

"Nothing's impossible. Here's a hint, more mana, and thinking outside the box. You're going to love the fact that you have that regeneration technique today."

Dream then turned and left Luna to her task. Did he think she could complete it in a day? No way. But it was a way for her to start getting stronger.

Dream walked over to the anvil with the box of metal. He spoke to Iris

"Now technically, I could start my own fire and heat the metal that way. But for the sake of your practice, we're gonna do it the hard way."

Dream grabbed tongs and a 10-pound hammer from the wall of tools. He then grabbed a bar of iron from the box and set it on top of the anvil.

"Torch it."

"Ok."

Iris raised her hand near the bar of metal and began torching the bar of iron. Though a problem quickly became apparent. Her torch was too concentrated and didn't heat the whole bar.

"The whole thing needs to become red hot, not only one part. Spread your flame."

"..."

Iris concentrated and made her torch bigger. This required her to use more air magic and cycle air into the flame. Just like Luna, she began to realize how difficult this would be.

"Alright, now you're heating the whole thing, but it's not hot enough. It's about 1,800 degrees. We need to get to 2,400 degrees."

"Fine. Hang on."

Gradually, her fire began to burn hotter. The iron began to turn red, then orange, and finally, it began to turn yellow. Dream began hammering at this point.

*Ding* *Ding* *Ding*

His hits were smooth and forceful. His strength combined with a 10-pound hammer made easy work with shaping the iron. He first flattened the bar, then shaped it into a long flat plate that was almost 2 feet long and 3 inches wide. His goal with this piece was a simple bowie knife.

As Dream forged, Iris routinely applied heat. Whenever the metal started cooling, she would heat it back up. This made it so Dream didn't have to stop hammering. Though it began to get tiring for her. Creating such a hot flame was taxing. The good part was that she started getting better at it.

The shape of the knife gradually took shape. Since it was his first time, Dream would make mistakes here and there, but nothing that couldn't be fixed. He forged the tip of the knife with the curved nose of the anvil, then the body, and finally the handle portion. Since he didn't have the materials nor patience to make a handle, he was going to make this an all-metal knife.

"Alright, you can stop."

After he formed the general shape, he stopped Iris from heating it any more. He let the knife cool a bit and went over to the grinder. 

The grinder was a wheel made of stone material. Basically the primitive version of the belt sander. It worked well though, so he didn't need to spend the mana to get a belt sander. 

He sat down at a bench in front of the wheel. The wheel had its own components for angling any tools, making it much more accurate than freehand. Dream put his foot on the pedal and spun the wheel. After it gained speed, he put the knife up to it.

Many sparks and tiny chunks of metal flew as the knife got formed. He first started with the shape of the handle, curving the edges of the metal and making it comfortable to grab. He then moved to the tip and blade, creating a sharp edge in the form of a bowie.

After that, the blade's form was complete. Now what he needed to do was harden it. 

"Scarlet, torch."

"Isn't it done?"

"Nope. Torch."

Iris shrugged and began torching the knife on the anvil again. She didn't stop until the knife was yellow hot. Dream then took the knife and stuck it into a tub of water

*PSHHH*

The knife was quickly cooled in the water. Through this process, the metal was made much harder than before. Though it was also made brittle as a result. 

"What'd you do that for? I just heat it up."

"It's part of the process."

Dream took out the cool knife and went over to a bench. He summoned out a file and various sandpapers and smoothed out the rough metal. He went all over the body and took out all the imperfections like bumps. After the body was the blade, where he made it super sharp with more precise tools. 

This process took much longer than the forming. Since he didn't have a belt sander, everything was by hand and therefore much slower.

Though patience yielded results. After over an hour of sharpening and smoothing, he had a really nice blade. Though it looked crude since it was iron, not steel. The blade was a foot and a half long, with the handle being another six inches. Dream honestly considered calling this a short sword instead of a knife. 

Dream took the now totally sharpened knife back to the anvil. He turned to Iris.

"You need me to heat it again?"

"I don't know If you're able to."

"Huh? Just how hot do you need it?"

"300 degrees."

"That low?! That's not even fire!"

"I know. I also need it that way for 2 hours. Hang on."

Dream summoned out a toaster oven and set it to 300 degrees, sticking the knife into it. 

"Did you just put a knife into an oven?"

"It's part of the process. Now, all we do is wait for 2 hours, let it cool, and do it for another 2 hours. How's Luna doing?"

Dream turned to where Luna was. 

*DING*

*CRACK*

A lance was thrown at high speeds into the same scrap, though the result was only a little better than when she started. The tip of the lance shattered upon impact, leaving a small nick in the metal. Dream could see many of those nicks around the plate.

"Impressive. You tired yet?"

"*sigh* Yes, but no. My mana is still fine, but mentally I'm rather exhausted. Stuffing mana into a lance and throwing it fast isn't easy. And I've gotten nothing more than small cuts in the metal."

"Hmm...Let me see your lance."

Luna put up a lance of hers. Dream put his finger on the tip, cutting himself on it. So it was definitely sharp enough. The only problem was that it was brittle. 

"Well here's something. Instead of filling the whole lance with mana, try sending the majority to the tip. It might be more difficult, but it'll reinforce the end, allowing it to apply more force before shattering. You're wasting mana on other parts that don't go into penetration. Like the metal covering of a bullet, only the outside really needs to be strong. The rest is just mass, giving it more weight and therefore more force to support the tip. Try it."

Luna thought for a second before nodding. She took the lance and pushed all the mana into the tip. Dream could sense the amount getting bigger and bigger. And once Luna couldn't handle any more, she threw it out with all her strength.

*Tink*

The sound wasn't crazy, but the result was. The lance produced a dent in the metal much deeper than the nicks from before. 

"Huff...Haha, I did it!" (Luna)