For a few minutes, the class got sidetracked, as the Nobles began to discuss public works projects that would help them steal workers from their neighbouring Nobles. You could never have too many skilled workers, and if there wasn't anything to attract them to you, you would lose them to your neighbours who either had a nicer home, better wages, or a pretty wife living in their lands.
Convincing them to bring that wife home with them instead of moving, or to move with the family they already had was the goal of everyone in the room, and it was no secret that Countess Dewinter had a huge head start with the enchantments that were placed on her entire peerage.
If they couldn't get an enchantment on such a grand scale as she had, which they suspected she sold the remainder of her family heirlooms to obtain, then they might be able to do it with public works projects, and by giving some bonuses to a few skilled workers to come in and open new shops.
Even a single master in town would draw more skilled tradespeople to them, but Masters were challenging to find. Even those in this room, studying the more advanced Artificing techniques, were mostly not considered masters of their craft.
Master Thorin was a master armourer, but he lived here in the Capital, and getting someone like him to live in a village outside town would take a lot of convincing.
Eventually, the talk died down, and everyone prepared to continue the lesson.
"Now, we know how to link the basic structures together, which hardly qualifies as advanced. So, we will move on to the next step, complimentary formations and resonance.
If you put certain crystal formations, inscriptions and materials together, they will resonate with each other's magic, and you will end up with a result that is greater than the sum total of its parts.
That is the very basics of armour crafting, and it is essential to advanced Artificing as well."
Thorin went in depth about the various known material combinations, revelling in the ability of the magical whiteboard to show them exactly what he wanted, right down to the magical links between the designs, though he couldn't emulate the resonance of various materials as he instructed.
He understood metallurgy in a way that none of the students had expected, and they began to truly appreciate what it meant to be recognized as a master.
He knew his craft so well that he could teach other crafts, based on how they related to his own.
"You know, I'm not so young that I don't know the difference between a Magi and a human." He replied.
"I knew it. I've been feeling Fae magic all day. I'm not going to pry into your personal business, but if I don't have to hide what I can do, this becomes much easier. Just let me know what you need."
Thorin smiled. "What are your extra elements, Patriarch?"
"Gravity and Unholy. I am the Noxus Family Patriarch, after all."
Thorin nodded, and his smile made the corners of his prodigious moustache turn up.
"In that case, can I get a gravity tempering forge, and an upgrade to the forges? I'm only Rank Two, and I need a better forge to advance. I'm only a quarter Fae, and without the assistance I can't break through, I don't have enough Earth Magic." He explained.
Wolfe considered what a gravity forge might look like.
"I have two ideas for a Gravity forge. Either a gravity hammer, or an even crushing pressure to increase density." Wolfe offered.
"Gravity hammer?" Thorin asked.
Wolfe quickly created the basics of a pneumatic hammer, as he had seen them in the factories he delivered to as a courier, then enchanted the top with a gravity magic array.
"Toss a chunk of hot metal in there, and place a template on the hammer and the base. I tried to make them match your existing tools." Wolfe explained.
The Dwarf had a number of rollers and curved surfaces premade for common curves, so he set up one for a chest plate and grabbed a plate of hot steel from the forge. It had been slowly cooling, to be brought back up to temperature in the morning, but it was still warm enough in the forges for their needs.
"Now, step on the pedal and insert mana to activate the hammer." Wolfe explained.