Chapter 28 - Chapitre 28: I Say, You Do

Rohan opened his eyes, only to look at the wooden roof overlooking the room. He was still groggy with sleep, but he needed to wake up. He shook his head and slapped his cheeks. Time for a new day.

Almost two months had passed since he was in the city of Blanche, and today was his fifteenth birthday. Or was it the day affer this one? He didn't really knew anymore, not that he cared about it.

After asking the questions he had at Delia, he never heard again about it. All he knew was that this one took charge about it, and that he wasn't attacked since this day. And thtmat was enough for him, let him have his calm and quiet life!

Like always, while the sun was beginning to wake up and enlighted the room, Rohan sat down on the floor to start his meditation. After a painful yet delightful hour or so passed at creating his meridian, he opened his eyes and let go a sonore sigh. Everything went well, without any problem.

Or that was what he wanted to say. His problem was still growing, and he had no clue about this phenomen. He took out his Essence Stone to look at his status.

Race: human

Age: 15 years old

Constitution: 4.58

Mana: 0 / 32.34

Spirit: 11

Firslty, this day was indeed his fifteenth birthday. But as Rohan was happy to have find a new utility at this stone, he couldn't help but sigh when he saw the value of his constitution.

His mana and the construction of his meridian was normal, at least for him. The speed at which it was growing had slow down when he had become a rank 3 Beginner Warrior, but it was expected since his body was tougher with the mana stengthening him.

The problem was that his constitution was almost the same one as a warrior ready to promute to the next rank. Such a thing should never have been possible, and that was what conflicted Rohan. But since he couldn't do anything about it in any case, he just sighed before putting away the stone.

After taking his breakfast he descended to give at Horim something to eat. But as he opened the door of the forge after the dark stairs, what welcomed him wasn't the snoring he heard everyday coming from the bear sleeping on the dusty ground, but an impatient grawl coming from this so called bear, waiting in front of the door.

"Hmph. You took your time, eh?"

"Hmm?" Rohan tilted his head to the side. But before he could answer his master, this one continued.

"Put that plate away, and follow me." He turned around and headed toward the furnace, before taking a leather apron. He threw it toward Rohan who took it be reflex, just after posing the plate full of food on a table. The deep voice of Horim came back in his ears.

"Put it on, or else you will need my help to take off the molten metal from your flesh." A rare smile could be seen on his face as he was talking. "And I assure you that it isn't a pleasing experience."

Rohan tilted his head to the side as he wondered what was the goal here. But he still put on the protection without asking more. He could still ask questions later anyway.

Horim took out a hammer from the table and put it on the anvil, and prepared the bellows beside him. Then, he turned around.

"It had been more than two months since you watched me working the metal. So today, it's your turn." 

He took a slight pause before he decided to present himself officially toward his disciple. 

"I am Horim Yargan, a rank 8 Intermediate Paladin from the Empire of the Saint Goddess. I have been a blacksmith in this city for more than three years. But before that, I was a blacksmith working for the Order of the Paladins for almost twenty years."

A dumfounded look appeared on the face of Rohan. He knew that he was powerful, but a rank 8 Intermediate Paladin was definitely one in the stronger side of the intermediate mana users. Of course a wizard would be much more powerful, as they were the most mighty ones in the continent. But they were also extremely rare, as only the ones born with a mana stone could become one. 

The sad truth for the wizards was that probably a lot of potential ones couldn't even know if they had a stone or not. That was why the actual wizards were almost all of a prominent status. After all, who will take the time to test a random peasant in the middle of nowhere?

"As you could see by yourself, I only forge weapons, and no armors. I also most of the time only make swords." Horim continued without bothering about the thoughts Rohan was having. "So you will begin today! You'll learn how to make a dagger properly."

Rohan was starting to feel his heart beated louder in his chest. He was Excited. Excited to learn something new, to produce something with his two hands. Plus, he had seen Horim making the same thing again and again for weeks now. He was sure to succeed.

He stood in front of the anvil near the hearth where a bright fire was crackling, a hammer and pincers in his hands. Under the vigilant eyes of his master, Rohan began his first piece of metal.

The first step wasn't that complicated, and as it was only a dagger, it was even more so: the form.

With a piece of iron in the pincers, Rohan put it inside the fire as he was using the bellows to have the right temperature. But as Rohan thought it would be an easy task, the truth was quite different.

It wasn't the first time he had used the bellows to stir up the flame, but now that he was doing it while adjusting the heat, he understood how wrong he was. Horim, watching on the side, couldn't look anymore.

"Increase the intensity, what are you even fucking doing?"

"Again! Can't you feel that the heat isn't enough?"

"That's fine! Alright, keep that way!"

Following the injonctions of his master, Rohan was more or less doing it right. Before long, the piece of iron he had put inside the flame was heated enough with a bright orange-yellow color.

"Okay, take it up now, you can begin to work on it."

Rohan caught the iron ingot with the tongs before he put it on the anvil. Then, he hit it with the hammer. Again. And again. He was only an automaton at this moment as he kept hammering the piece of metal.

"Can't you even aim correctly? What are you even doing now!"

The goal was to hit the metal to condense it while keeping it even and give it the elongated shape needed. But while it sounded easy to do, it really wasn't. Even Rohan, who had seen the process each day, found it quite tricky.

"Speed up! Are you a snail or what!"

There was another requirement to this step. And that was to be the fastest possible. But speed wasn't haste, and Rohan still needed to be precise and steady, hitting the iron with all his strength.

"Fiercer! Are you a rank 3 Beginner Warrior or my grandma?"

But to the taste of Horim, even though he was hitting with the maximum of speed he could while being the most precise possible, it wasn't enough. 

"Put back the iron in the flame you fool, can't you see the change in the color?!"

Rohan followed the order. It wasn't that he didn't see the change of color, but how could he know at which point he should or not put it back in the furnace?

After waiting a few minutes with the bellows, and under the yells of Horim, Rohan continued to work the iron.

The reason why hitting the iron the fastest was because puting it too much time increased the risks of fragilating the future blade, and maybe even the risks of breaking it. 

Horim was watching his disciple, forging for the first time, with a strange gleam in the eyes. It wasn't what he had expected at all. Rohan was a genius, he was sure of that. And not any kind of a genius, but probably the one with the most potential in the world. 

He had seen him training with his sword. He had seen the way the mana was accompanying each of his movements, giving a divine aura to the scene. 

But here and now, before him, he couldn't feel anything. It was just...normal. Even less than normal, as Rohan had no experience about forging. After all, it shouldn't be forgotten that it was only for a bit more than two months that he was here.

Honestly, he felt a bit disappointed. Of course, he shouldn't have such expectations in the beginning, but still. How could he be that godly with a sword but not with a hammer?

After a few more minutes passed with hammering interspersed with heating up in the flames, the elongated form of the dagger finally appeared.

"Okay. Stop here, if you pay attention to what you're fucking doing, you'll see it's fine."

Now that the form wanted was given to the metal, it was time for the next step. This one was to use the greatest amount of strength possible, in the goal to hit the iron to flatten it before folding it in on itself.

It was this step that would later increase the hardness of the blade. The more foldings there were for the blade, the better it was. At least before the number of these ones reach 20, as after that it wouldn't improve the quality of the blade anymore. Of course, that was only for the inferior metals like iron or steel.

While thinking about what Horim had teached him on the folding, Rohan began the second step.