36 The Family business
Shingi ended his SPECTATOR MODE, and he was back in his NPC form. He was away for a couple of hours, so there was still some time until morning, and everyone woke up. He noticed Annoue was still asleep and having a smiley, peaceful face as ever. Shingi got used to having her next to him being that peacefully; even when he was getting out to train at the storehouse, he tried to visualize her sleeping next to him. This action somewhat gave him peace in his mind.
'Things are moving on, and her face may not be that peaceful in the future, but change is part of life.' [Shingi]
He knew that the Dungeons appearing were just the signs of sickness and that sickness was Dark Guild. Suppose the Dungeons were what he thought of them to be. In that case, they will increase in quantity and especially the permanent ones. They will get stronger and stronger, and at some point, the Players won't handle them.
It was like Lucy's event. Even if it seemed to help the Players, there may be something behind the scenes that would harm them in the end if one did nothing about it. If that happens, not just the players but the whole Mortal Realm may be affected to reach this town too at some point.
He checked his Status to see if there was any change, but there were no new Skills. But one of his Skills had Ranked Up, and that was cause he spent some time practicing with Varic and the Skill was his SMITHING at Master Rank.
Shingi focused on his inner space, not to notice the inner selves for each Skill to improve them as they had passed the point for this way to work. He did it to see how much SMITHING has increased in power. He spent enough time among Varic and could understand NPCs' and Players' skills. Even if they were mostly the same, there were some keen differences.
One of their fundamental differences was that the Players all had the same path as certain levels would unlock different skills mechanics. Still, it was the same for every Player. While NPCs, when they increased their Rank, they had access to everything the Players could learn and more, but they had to become proficient in using them. Still, they could do it with whatever order they wanted, which could make things faster.
So, checking his inner self, he could see him doing different techniques that he was familiar with, either cause he could do them or had seen Varic doing them. So that meant that he could use them, and with that, he knew what progress his Skill was at, and it had made some progress, but they would still consider him being at the lower levels of the Master Rank Blacksmith from what he could tell.
Also, even if his Rank was at Master, he knew he couldn't do the work a Master Rank Smith would do as he was the limited cause of his stats. His END and AGI were good for now, but his STR was too low to use the Skill at his full power.
He estimated he needed to at least be at STR 14 to use his current Skill at full power, but even that would be barely enough. Until now, this was the stat he had the least luck increasing. Even the unknown CHA has increased it more points, but that was because he got lucky and probably because it was too low.
He never heard of anyone having the CHA stat, and he even checked the Status of his students and the players while he was using SPECTATOR MODE. Still, none had a CHA stat, and no NPC he had studied. He even checked Lucy when the seal was active, but no mention of it then either.
Either way, he understood now that it wasn't a useless stat as it saved his life, but he wasn't sure of its nature or even how to increase it, so he just had to do some tests in the future.
He continued working on his Mana Tree and Mana Seeds. Even if he didn't make tremendous progress on them, he had grown two more Mana Seeds, so he now had 14 in number and could increase them to be at the same power as the rest. It was easy to grow them at that point since he got familiar with it. However, they were still ways to go, but he could feel that it slowed their progress too much, like he was in a moving car out of fuel, and he could move it by only pushing.
He also continued his MANA SENSE training but had no breakthrough in it. But could feel it increasing in power slowly.
As the sun started getting up, he went back, laying on his bed and working on his MANA SENSE there while making himself look like he was sleeping. After a few minutes, he heard a knock on the door of his room.
The voice of Garry then followed the knock.
"Wake up, both of you. We have things to do today." [Garry]
The knocking continued after that as Annoue seemed to notice them and woke up.
She didn't seem happy for one to wake her up that early in the morning as she stood up and went to the door and opened it.
Shingi kept making himself look asleep, but with his MANA SENSE and PERCEPTION, it was like his eyes were open.
Garry seemed to say good morning to Annoue as he noticed he stopped by speaking and followed by a groan.
At that point, Shingi made his way towards them, looking like he was still sleepy.
He noticed Garry held his chest while Annoue was heading towards the kitchen.
Shingi followed her, and as he passed Garry, he looked pity for his situation. Still, he noticed right away that he was fine and that it was mostly just an act. However, it was impressive considering the STR of Annoue.
After they had their breakfast, Garry joined them, and after coughing once to draw their attention, he spoke.
"Well, I hope you are ready now, so let's move both of you. It is going to be a big day." [Garry]
Annoue seemed to be confused about what he said.
"What do you mean, both of us? I will come to the shop too?" [Annoue]
"Well, it is a family business, but even if you don't have a talent in the way of Crafts, you can still help around. Your brother can do a few things, so he will need a helper." [Garry]
Annoue's eyes got wide with excitement, and Garry slightly annoyed Shingi by saying that he could do just a 'few things.' But having Annoue around would be helpful, as even if she couldn't help with his crafts, he could help at her training.
They all made it together outside their house and headed towards the family's shop for the first time.
Annoue noticed how clean the shop was and how organized everything was. It impressed her to learn that this all was her brother's doing.
Garry then somewhat explained his modifications in the Mana Blower, which added a pipe near the main control panel. Then, next to it, another panel and lever controlled to opening or closing the pipe's top to change how much would get out. But, of course, the main control panel was still managing the forge's air and heating the air that the pipe would release.
There were some molds of some vases and cups that Shingi could use to make them and different materials. Among the materials was the dust of metals. Still, none seemed to be anything extraordinary, like the Mithril on his first day at SMITHING training.
Garry gave him some tips, and then instead of heading to his desk to take his nap, he pointed at some papers over it and then left.
The papers were orders, and most of them mainly needed the GLASSBLOWING skill, but some were SMITHING related, and some both.
He was expecting Garry to have that response, as he seemed like he was in a hurry to leave Shingi entirely in control of the shop. He didn't mind it, as Varic would get here in a week or two, but he was still curious about the reason.
He also noticed that Garry didn't help him craft anything or even showed him any techniques, only described them. The only time he saw him work on something was with his dagger.
"Well, let's begin. Annoue, you can take the corner over there and work on your AIR SLASH, but be aware of where you throw them. Try to work mostly on your speed to gather the air and creating the slash. I will do some work here, and we will work on your DEFLECT later." [Shingi]
"Are you sure you don't want me to help you? Father said to get here to give you a hand. I may not have any crating skill, but there should be something I can help you with." [Annoue]
"No worries, I am going to work on some basics today, mostly. I will let you know when I will need your help." [Shingi]
Annoue seemed happy that he didn't entirely not want her help, so she started working on her training.
Shingi started working with the molds first and got the smaller ones and the most straightforward designs with minor details to unlock the Skill. Then, he used the forge to heat the material he wanted to use, had it in a crucible, and heated it until it was in liquid form. He even used some sunlight as he opened the ceiling trapdoor to make the heat process faster.
Used the Light mana to purify the material simultaneously by removing any unwanted part and left it in the forge to get destroyed by its fire.
Then he did some tests controlling the new pipe of the Mana Blower. After getting the handle, he started working with the mold, and after not too long, he had completed a bronze cup. He earned his GLASSBLOWING skill by that, but it was at Low Rank this time since he wasn't as familiar with it as SMITHING, but he knew a few things.
He focused on his Inner self to take pointers from there and then continued working on different molds and materials.
After he completed five of each of the eight molds, he used a different material each time. His GLASSBLOWING skill was finally at Base Rank. It took him a couple of hours, but he simultaneously used his MANA HANDS to melt multiple materials. He even used his Earth mana to create a crucible for some before moving them to it; he emptied it after working on it.
Shingi had become very familiar with using the MANA HAND. He didn't even need to look towards it to give its commands, and he was aware of it through his MANA SENSE mainly and his PERCEPTION. He could use multiple ones also, and each one could do its own thing to multitask. Still, he was limited to having three active, but that was impressive for the short time in which he knew the spell and considered it wasn't complete yet.
Even if he had two Base Grade Spells and after his time at the TRANCE ROOM, he was more familiar with them, but they weren't authentic spells yet cause they missed a critical component.
That was the verbal component that was to empower the spells and bring them to another level. The level he had them now, and he could reach without a verbal component, was not even half of what he could get with it.
The first Arcane Users cast their spells the same way as Shingi, using their mana and control over them. After hundreds of years, they introduced the verbal components, which brought the spells' power to another level. With the use of those unique words, they allowed them to increase the casting time and their capabilities. It allowed the power of the World to be fused with those spells and strengthening them.
They said that the Goddess of Magic herself introduced the verbal component to let the mortals get more vital to keep the Realm safer so that they could deal with anyone who wanted to harm it. But, of course, some didn't use that knowledge for the good of the Realm. Every time, someone appeared to stop them at some point. But, of course, almost all the time, that someone was a Player.
Unranked ones didn't need a verbal component, and Low Grade didn't have a big difference in power. It was still noticeable, but Base Grade and higher were more than just clear to see but close to be considered two different spells. To learn to use the verbal component, he needed to access a Class of the Mage. Only then could he learn and use any of them, as those that tried to use ones without a class would get punished by the power of the World instead of using it to empower his spell.
He could continue working more with the molds or start making some orders, but he was ready to work on something he wanted to work on for some time.
To make the body of the Enchantment Hourglass.
