Chapter 72

I finally let my attention shift back to the strategic issues as I followed her toward the forge. In particular, why she had suddenly changed her initial estimation about the production of the dagger. “So, the last time we talked, you mentioned that you need three days to complete the dagger. Why the sudden change?” I asked.

“Is it really important?” she countered with a lazy, dismissive tone as she walked in front of me, her leather-clad hips shaking sexily with each step. However, it was her tone that caught my attention more than the beautiful dance of her hips. It was too dismissive, too even.

She was trying to hide something.

“Not really, just curious,” I answered. I decided not to confront her about it, even though the sudden change of delivery date was suspicious. Even more suspicious was the invitation to help. Previously, her determination to keep her secrets was clear, subtly but decisively rejecting my offer. Now, only a day later, she had changed her mind completely.

How interesting.

“How strong are your mana reserves?” Oeyne asked as she stood in front of the forge, a pile of processed magical reagents and an ingot of alchemical silver already prepared. “The forging process for your design is very mana intensive, and once started, it needs to be completed, otherwise, the structural matrix of the dagger would dissolve.”

“My mana reserves are quite decent, definitely top percentile,” I answered, and she nodded in satisfaction. Of course, without a qualifying statement, she no doubt assumed I was comparing myself to the students, while I was actually comparing myself to the faculty.

“Good, then forging the dagger together will be simple,” she answered. “But before starting, let’s do a practice run with a simple dagger,” she said, before grabbing an ingot of iron, completely mundane, and put it in the forge.

In a mundane forge, no matter how hot, an ingot of iron would have taken several minutes to melt. In her high-quality magical forge, it took seconds for it to reach a nice glowing heat with a soft consistency. “Watch carefully,” she ordered as she created a complicated web of arcana energy before wrapping it around the ingot, forcibly shaping it and levitating it magically to her anvil.

Once at the anvil, she kept her magic wrapped around the soft iron as she put low-quality magical ingredients inside. Due to its nature, the magical ingredients flared, pushing against the web, but she suppressed the effect forcefully through her arcana mana. Interesting technique, I noted. The working principles were simple, and the notes I had read on her shelves while waiting for her had already taught me the working principles behind it. Essentially, she was skipping several critical steps in forging through the application of the spell in a process that normally required letting the steel absorb the magic bit by bit.

Interestingly, none of the books I had swiped from the Guilds mentioned such a technique. Most of their blacksmithing content was about measuring the ideal amount of magical material for each round of forging, and possible ways to enhance effects, while guides on how to prepare said materials were spread between Alchemists and Enchanters based on the steps required and the source material used. Of course, Oeyne’s technique was not purely advantageous, actually applying it required a great deal of Blacksmithing skill and Strength, not to mention some magical aptitude.

The radical difference in their approach and Oeyne’s technique was interesting, and certainly explained the fight between Oeyne and the guilds. Oeyne’s technique required a combination of skills and not only did it cut through the traditional Guild boundaries, but also it was much quicker to get results. They couldn’t be happy about Oeyne perfecting the technique even further.Geett the latest novels at novelhall.com

I continued watching Oeyne beating the iron of the dagger rapidly, each push smoothing the raging magical presence of the dagger. Five minutes later, a workable dagger appeared in her hands, and she dunked it in a large barrel filled with water, creating a large cloud of steam. Just as she reached for a second ingot, I cut her off. “Do you want me to try that one?” I asked, but without waiting for her to answer, snatched the iron ingot and threw it in the flames.

“Are you ready? Already?” she asked. Her shock only survived for a second, leaving its place to a cold intent to interrogate.

“Sure, as long as you just want me to maintain the spell matrix, of course,” I explained rapidly. Actually, I wouldn’t have minded trying my hand on blacksmithing, as while I lacked the skill, my stats should cover the deficiency, at least enough to handle crafting a simple iron dagger. However, doing so would have revealed my hand unnecessarily, so I kept hiding my hand.

Using a levitation spell, I dragged the ingot through the flames and put it in front of her, wrapping it tightly with my magic as she infused it with the magical materials. Honestly, it was even easier than I had expected, because the technique itself was rather straightforward, only requiring me to keep the matrix stable. And while I lack the practice with it, my magical abilities were simply superior to hers, making it an easy achievement.

[+1 Arcana]

[-15 Mana]

“Not bad,” she said, impressed as she turned. “But let’s see how you handle a real challenge.” With that, she slammed her hammer on the steel much harder than the previous times, creating a flare of magic through an intentional mistake.

The strength of the flare wouldn’t even create a flicker on my spell if I didn’t allow it, but I deliberately fumbled the matrix for a second, flooding the room with a flicker of magic, before I suppressed it again, for two reasons. First —and less importantly— I wanted to look my learning curve convincing. More importantly, I wanted to have a screen to confuse her senses as I let some of my mana stick on her body, infusing her leather top.

I wanted to play with her a bit.

[+2 Arcana]

[-24 Mana]

“Try to keep the lines more stable,” she commented as she continued to beat the glowing rod of iron, missing my little trick in her concentration. With that, our trial run continued. She made a couple more mistakes, but with lower intensity, allowing me to control them easily.

However, five minutes into our practice session, she started squirming. It was barely noticeable at first. I noticed it only because I knew what to look for, a lingering gaze here, an uncomfortable shuffle there. But as my subtle magic continued to tease her already-erect nipples softly, those little tells grew into a delicious show. Her nipples hardened enough to clearly show through the texture of her leather top like it was no harder than soft velvet.

Delicious, I thought, as she finished the dagger and we moved onto another ingot. “Let’s make sure you can handle it flawlessly before we move onto the real stuff. We shouldn’t waste the real materials,” she explained, her voice carrying the slightest hitch.

At that point, I assumed that she was going to hide her arousal as much as possible, which was why I was surprised when her fingers grasped the buttons of her top, and flicked open two in quick succession, creating a deep, delicious cleavage, more appealing than the best caramel dessert. “Working in a forge gets hot,” she explained with a smirk when I looked at her with a quirked eyebrow, surprised by her action.

“And, time,” I said with a smirk as I met her gaze before letting my eyes drop down to her spectacular tits that defied her age and the gravity at the same time proudly. I couldn’t wait to see if they had the caramel taste like their color suggested. “It seems that I’m the victor.”

“It seems the case,” she answered grudgingly, but despite her defeat, her eyes were burning with excitement, Understandable considering she was on the edge of a climax, unaware the last step was cut off by a magical chasm. “Should we continue with our task,” she murmured as she grabbed her top once again, but didn’t put it on.

“Nope,” I said even as I turned and walked toward her bedroom. “I want my massage first.” I walked away, excited about the service I was about to receive.

“As you wish,” she called from behind as she followed me...

[Level: 27 Experience: 357200 / 378000

Strength: 31 Charisma: 46

Precision: 27 Perception: 30

Agility: 28 Manipulation: 33

Speed: 26 Intelligence: 37

Endurance: 25 Wisdom: 36

HP: 3699 / 3699 Mana: 4914 / 4914 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Tantric [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Master Subterfuge [93/100]

Master Arcana [81/100]

Advanced Speech [50/50]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share

Empowerment (1/1)

Teleportation

COMPANIONS

[Cornelia - Level 17/25]

[Helga - Level 13/17]