Chapter 47: C47 – Challenge

The class took a look at the design in front of them. On the paper was the simple outline of a knife. It wasn't very long or short, looking like an extremely basic knife. The students saw the curves and shape of the handle, imprinting it into their minds. 

After they had looked at it for a bit, the dwarf had them grab the metal ingot with some tongs and put it in their own furnace. The students collided as they all headed to the same wall, sticking their ingots into the stacks of furnaces. 

They then waited as the ingots turned red hot. When the dwarf gave the word, they all rushed to grab theirs and quickly bring it back to their anvil. Then, they got to shaping it. 

Dirk grabbed his heavy hammer, his mind coming up with how he would shape the ingot. He thought quickly as the hammer came down, producing a clang. All the students were quick to pound their ingot, filling the room with rings. 

Dirk hit the metal on the corners and sides, flattening the thick ingot and guiding one end of the metal to a knife point. This was all stuff he had been taught over the days of learning from his teacher, so he now just needed to follow the steps. After a while though, the metal cooled, forcing him to go and reheat the metal before continuing to shape. 

This process repeated itself a few times as Dirk saught the best shape. Finally, after the 4th round, he had his shape. The knife cooled as he gazed at the long, pointed piece of metal. It wasn't at all sharp, the edges being flat, but that would come later. The hardest part had been the handle, but using a square hammer and the different parts of the anvil, he was able to make a flat and straight handle.

"Good! 4 rounds? For your first time, not bad at all. Now if only these other barbarians could match you."

The dwarf scoffed after congratulating Dirk, making the faces of the other students fall. They were all still pounding their metal, many slowly shaping their metal correctly. Most of them refrained from using too much power so as to avoid mistakes, but this made the process go slower. Slow shaping meant more cooling and more reheating, so the time added up. Hearing the dwarf though, they all strengthened their grips and slammed down harder, seeking to move quicker. 

"Alright. Dirk right? Now you need to temper the metal a bit. This is a longest part, but you should be done by the end of class. First, you want to heat the metal while setting the furnace to this level. Then you just let it cool off in the air until it's warm. You then heat it right back up, letting it cool down once more. You should do this 3 times, after which you'll be done for the day. Now get on it."

"Understood."

Dirk nodded before doing as instructed. He placed the knife into the furnace and set it to a certain level, letting the furnace heat it up. After a while, the dwarf told him when to take it out. Dirk noted down the time and what it looked like as he pulled it out for future reference. He then let it cool, also stopping when the dwarf told him to and putting it back into the furnace. 

With that, Dirk had his reference points. He spent the rest of class waiting as the metal heated and cooled 3 times over. He ended up finishing a little while before class ended, leaving his knife with the teacher for the next day.

His next class was his enchanting class. Like his forging class, he had been learning more theory knowledge. Now though, it was time for him to get some practice. 

Upon walking into class, Dirk noticed a piece of animal leather on his table. The teacher quickly gave them instructions. 

"Today you will be enchanting this leather. It won't be anything elaborate. You merely need to inlay a single rune. Upon successfully laying a rune, you will be capable of activating it upon running an element through it. You'll see this in the form of a glow. Now, since enchanters deal strictly with their own attributes, you each will have a different rune according to what your attributes are. Here is a rune for each of the elements. Pick the one you feel the most comfortable with."

The teacher put up 6 runes on the wall, one for each element. The students looked and thought about their attributes. Dirk didn't think too much before picking the earth element rune and looking at his piece of leather. 

The teacher didn't explain as they had already gone over all the fundamentals. From what Dirk learned, enchanting was basically engraving a spell onto an item using the element. The hardest part about enchanting, which is what made it such a rare occupation, was the process of inlaying the element into the item. This required a unique understanding of the element and how it interacted with materials. Most people simply couldn't figure out how to do so, while few could. These few became enchanters. 

With this knowledge in mind, Dirk saw this as something of a test, as did the other students. If they couldn't do this, then they may not have the talent to be an enchanter. There was only so much you could learn about a subject before you needed to apply the knowledge. Well, this was their application. 

Dirk stroked the leather with his hand, feeling the rough texture. The leather was blue, making him wonder where it came from. That didn't matter though as he called upon the earth element within his mana heart, passing it into the leather into the shape of the rune. 

This is where the problem came. The element formed within the leather like a letter on a page. But that was it. The element didn't bind to the material or even interact with it. To interact with the physical world, mana needed to be transformed through the use of runes, conjuring magical phenomena in a process called magic. But for enchanting, one needed to implant the rune itself onto the material. 

To do this, the teacher said that one simply needed to feel the interaction between the material and the mana. When one felt the interaction, they could learn how to bind the two. But as Dirk formed the rune within the material, he felt nothing. He frowned as he moved the mana around, searching for anything. The other students were the same. It didn't look like anybody felt anything as they injected mana into the leather and played around with it. 

This went on for an entire hour. During this time, it was as if nobody made any progress. Even Dirk was still stuck. He did all kinds of tricks with his mana, but nothing came to him. He frowned as the end of class approached. The students felt their heart drop as the teacher stood in front of them all. 

"Doesn't look like any of you succeeded. But fret not. You have until the end of the week to succeed. However, none of you are allowed to take this leather with you. In order to pass, you must enchant the rune onto this specific piece of leather. However, you are allowed to take home and practice on another piece of leather if you wish. I have one right here."

The teacher grabbed a stack of brown leather, of which Dirk quickly took one. The leather seemed cheaper than the blue leather, but he didn't care. 

With that, the goal was given, and class ended. All the students stayed to practice more, so as always Dirk was the first one who immediately left. He walked home while staring holes into the leather, practicing as he walked. 

When he walked into the house though, his attention was pulled away. Ava was there sorting various items. Most of it looked like the supplies for their next trip.

"Hey! Come take a look at everything. I didn't get things like firestarters since you can cast your own fire. Did you know that they have a shop for all this stuff here in the academy? Made things easy for me."

She spoke as Dirk went and took a look at the pile of supplies. The first bag they were given before their first dungeon dive was gone, replaced by a higher quality bag. This bag could fit all the basic items like the tent and blankets easier, and it would make it more convenient for whoever was carrying it. There was also a restocking of some food and medical supplies. Ava had bought some additional water bags as well as a big sack for loot. Finally, there was a large compartment in the bag for extra clothes, something they would need a lot of. 

"Looks good."

Dirk nodded as he went through everything. Technically, the only thing he truly needed was food and water. They could survive with just that, so he didn't stress about making sure they had all the other luxuries. 

"Oh hey, look at this. I found this there and thought we should try it. It's called a frost crystal, and it's supposed to cool down your body within your armor. I tried it out earlier and it felt amazing. Here, try."

Saying that, Ava picked up a crystal and brought it over to Dirk. The crystal was a flat disk that looked like ice. Dirk didn't stop Ava as she pulled up his shirt and placed the disk against his chest, activating it. 

The next moment, Dirk felt a cooling sensation spread through his body. He was surprised by how amazing it felt, but before long, it got a little too cold for his liking. Ava pulled it off when he said to.

"So?"

"An interesting item. But I don't think I'll need it."

"Really? But what if we go into a hot area? Alec said the dungeon we're going to will be like that."

"Fire mages have inherent resistances to heat. I won't even sweat, and fire can't burn me unless the mana within it is strong enough. So I don't really need cooling."

"Oh, alright then. I'll just keep it for myself then. Water mages have some resistance to heat, but not much. I'll use it to be comfortable."

"How long does it last?"

"One of these will last a day of usage before running out. Then it just becomes a fancy rock that they buy back for next to nothing. It's surprisingly expensive for a one day item, but it sure does work."

"How much?"

"5 gold."

"So if you wanted to use that throughout our dive, you would be buying around 15. That's 75 gold."

"I know. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it is. It's more than we're going to be earning after splitting the reward. Sheesh, getting money is hard."

Ava sighed while Dirk nodded.

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"That's why we get more powerful. Now, how much did you spend on all this stuff?"

"Don't worry about that."

"Tell me."

"Only if you promise not to pay me back."

"Fine."

"Total was about 95 gold."

"Here's 60."

"No!"

The two went back and forth after Dirk tried to shove money in Ava's hand, her eventually succeeding in refusing the money. After bickering a bit, they both went on to train for a while. 

That night, Ava left for her dorm to sleep. Upon arriving, she settled her friends before hopping into bed. While doing so though, a gold coin fell out of her pocket. She picked it up and looked at it.

"A coin? Lucky find. I thought I had spent it all."

With a naive smile, she went to sleep.

...........

The next day, Dirk was back to forging his knife. Upon arriving to class, he immediately went to work which included the forming. 

The class had a few grinders, and since Dirk was the first to get to this step, he got to use one. He went up to the grinder, the dwarven teacher quickly coming to his side in order to assist his best student. He showed him the angles for the best sharpening and the best way to get the shape he wanted. Dirk then got to work, using ultra precise adjustments to get the best angles. He even employed his AI to measure the knife out, ensuring he made it perfectly symmetrical. 

This went on for a while as all the other students moved on to tempering their knife. Dirk was totally immersed in the knife he was forming. He didn't even realize how seriously he was taking this. 

Then, about halfway through class, Dirk finished. He pulled the knife away from the grinder, his AI scanning every inch. The result came out perfect. The knife matched the design perfectly except for a slight size difference, but that didn't matter much. The shape, curve, and angle the blade was sharpened at were perfect. The only thing missing was the more precise sharpening treatment, but that would come later when he got his hands on a whetstone. 

The dwarf came over as Dirk admired his knife. Upon taking a look, he was stunned. The dwarf reached out to grab the knife, but Dirk's reflexes came in and his hand zipped out of the way. The dwarf huffed. 

"Gimme that! I want to see how you did!"

"...Alright."

Dirk handed him the knife, surprisingly unwilling to give it away. The dwarf snatched it before looking at every inch, feeling the curve and body of the blade as if it were his lover. It was a few minutes later when he finally pulled his eyeballs off of it, speaking with excitement.

"Amazing! Truly a masterpiece! The shape, the detail, the gradual curves, the angle! Perfect! You, my student, have an amazing eye and an even better hand! Have you done this before? Be honest with me."

The dwarf got close to Dirk as he asked. Dirk shook his head, leaning back to avoid the large nose coming for him. The dwarf also pulled back seeing his answer, stroking his burnt beard.

"I see. Then I ask you, please don't let your talent go to waste! Here, go ahead and finish up your knife. Heat it and then cool it in the oil. That will harden it, finalizing the metal. Then you can sharpen it, and finally polish it. I wish to see how well you can sharpen it."

With that, the teacher walked away. Dirk nodded as he headed to a furnace under the burning eyes of his classmates. He set his knife inside before grabbing a bucket of oil toward the side. After getting it to the right heat, he quickly pulled the knife out and dunked it into the oil. The oil sizzled at the metal rapidly cooled. Once it was cold, he pulled it out and wiped it off. The metal was now hardened. 

Then came the sharpening. The teacher brought Dirk a whetstone personally, having him sit down and start. Dirk quickly went to work, dripping some water onto the stone before angling his knife on it. He then slid it up the stone, leaving a metallic streak behind. He repeated this process as the edge became sharper. 

His movements were precise and steady. He always retained the angle of the knife as he moved, and he didn't sharpen any part of the edge more than the other. He was a natural, but when it came to this, that wasn't surprising. Dirk had sharpened many knives back on Earth, so he very well knew how. Although it was mostly with a sharpener, he was no stranger to the whetstone. He had even sharpened things with rocks, though that was mostly out of boredom. 

Now, his skills were on display. Dirk maintained absolute control over his body, making sure every movement was to his liking. The teacher watched in awe as Dirk seemed to be the most natural blacksmith in the world. Other students also came over to watch the surprisingly enrapturing scene. 

Finally, he finished. He held up the knife, and for the first time in a while, he smiled. He looked upon his creation with excitement. He received a surprising sense of fulfillment from making this, and he wished to immediately make another. 

"Good! Good! You see that everyone?! That's how you sharpen a knife! Now how about you all hurry up so you can get started!"

The dwarf yelled at everyone, dispersing them. He then brought Dirk over to polish it, something that took little time compared to the other steps. 

By the end of class, he was finished. Dirk topped off the knife by tying a rope around the metal handle for grip. After knotting it off, he smiled again. The knife could now be used. 

"There you are, Dirk. You've passed the assignment with flying colors. Go ahead and take it with you. Usually I would just collect all the knives and melt them back down since they're usually pieces of shit, but this one isn't. It's too good to melt, so take care of it. It's your first creation, and a damn good one at that. It'll become a memoir in the future."

The dwarf smiled, patting Dirk on the back. He nodded as the thought of forging more appeared in his mind. If it were up to him, he would continue forging until the end of the night. But class was ending, and he had another challenge ahead of him. 

Leaving class, Dirk pulled out his practice piece of leather. He still had yet to enchant the rune onto it, and he still wasn't any farther along. 

After arriving to class, the teacher didn't even speak a word. The students didn't either as they all went to work on enchanting. Nobody wished to waste time. 

Dirk tried everything once more. He concentrated earthen mana in the form of the rune before searching around for the feeling the teacher described. He said the person would feel some kind of contact between the mana and the material, and all they had to do was find that feeling before binding the mana. This would create a mana circuit where mana could be streamed through, activating the rune. 

The idea was the same as a spell. A spell was a series of runes and mana circuits drawn in the air. It was self-sustained by a circulatory path of mana, able to be generated and dispersed at will. However, an enchantment was permanent. It would consume mana and plant it onto a material. At any time afterward, you could send the appropriate mana through the circuit and it would activate.

The reason this was significant was because it required no computational effort by the user. They simply sent the mana in, and the enchantment did the rest. It was basically a pre-made or consumable spell. The only restriction was the amount of mana it took to activate and the type of mana it took. Anybody could activate the enchantment should they meet those requirements. 

Naturally, because enchantments could be used by anyone, they were the most popular item on the market. A dungeon diver could grab an enchanted scroll and use it in a time of crisis to quickly save their life. A magically incompetent mage could get one and use it despite it being impossible for him to cast the very spell that was enchanted on the scroll. It enabled the weak, but also enhanced the strong. It could be used for nearly any purpose. However, enchanters were exceptionally rare, so their products were likewise exceptionally pricey. 

Despite all that, Dirk wasn't worried. He didn't care about the potential money making ability, which every other enchanter in training did. The only thing he cared about was the fact that he couldn't do it. At least, not right now. A difficult challenge was thrown at him, and it lit a fire within him that compelled him to complete it. 

With his mind set on something, it would take the entire damn world to keep him from completing it. 

 

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