The First Time Forging

 The blacksmith gives him a hum of approval, "Make sense. Start with the easier objects like knives and swords before you get to the harder ones, like armor because those are very hard to make, at least compared to swords and knives."

 He then took out a piece of ingots before putting it on a table, "This is the crafting table. Here you will decide on the measurement of your weapons. You need to decide how long it will be, if it curves or not, and other similar subjects. 

 Only when you decide on all of that can you start forging. However, you need to heat the metal first so you can forge it. The forge," he pointed at the object similar to the furnace but on a smaller scale, "is used to heat the ingots so it will be more malleable,"

 He put the ingots inside before continuing his lectures, "There are two ways to heat the forge. One is by using the formation. Two is by using your qi to help turn it malleable. There are two types of qi that can help turn the metal more malleable.

 The first one, as you can guess it, is fire qi. Fire could melt the metal so it is one of the first choices. Secondly is lightning qi. Lightning has some interesting effects when it comes in contact with metal. While it didn't affect the metal in a similar way as fire did, it can make the metal easier to forge as well.

 Because it is a less-used technique, I won't be teaching you about it. I will focus on using fire to make the metal malleable," he used his qi to pull out the metal before beginning to hammer it.

 The hammer beating into the metal seemed to release a small but noticeable aura for those who paid attention. The blacksmith seemed to notice his sudden focus on the metal before speaking.

 "I, naturally, used qi to help forge the metal. While regular metal didn't need qi to forge them, the same could not be said about Genesis Grade Metal and above. They need to be hit harder to be turned into a more useful form so qi is the way to achieve that,"

 He began to hammer the metal until it began to take the shape of a sword. At some interval, the blacksmith will put it inside the forge back, before taking it out and hitting it. The process repeated until the metal turned into a sword, where the blacksmith quenched it, before checking on the blade.

 After checking the blade, he pointed at the water, "The water I used is naturally no ordinary water. This is Purified Water, created by using natural treasures with a high concentration of water energy combining it with regular water.

 The Purified Water I use is at Genesis Grade 1. As you can guess, the grade of Purified Water is similar to the grading of materials. Besides using it to quench the finish works of blacksmiths, the Purified Water is also used to create ink for talismans, helping it smooth some items, or even be part of a formation. Purified Water is also one of the ingredients used in alchemy,"

 Hearing the uses of Purified Water, Ryker could only look in surprise at how versatile the unassuming thing is. 

 "Now, you can start. I will not stop you from making anything but please make sure the measurement will make sense. Some of my previous students had created... an unorthodox sword while learning under me,"

 The way the blacksmith said unorthodox made it seem like the finished weapon is more like an abomination. But Ryker had never seen it so he couldn't tell his opinion on the subject.

 What he could do is create the measurement for his sword. He decided to make a medium-length one, not too short and not too long either. After finishing the measurement, he began his first time forging.

 He put it inside the forge, using his mastery of Law of Fire to heat up the metal quickly. After that, he took it out before grabbing the hammer. Similar to the blacksmith, Ryker used his qi and wrapped it around the hammer before hitting the piece of metal.

 Each hit seemed to shake the room, the force he used stronger to help shape the metal. The blacksmith continued to observe him, showing no sign of approval or displeasure.

 Ryker continued to hammer it, occasionally heating the metal again before going back to hitting it with a hammer. Very quickly, the metal took the shape of the sword yet he remained patient. 

 He continued to hammer the metal, observing carefully until the sword reached the measurement he had set earlier. By the time he was finished, he was able to create a good sword, judging from how the man nodded.

 "For the first time, this is rather good. Unfortunately, our time has ended and I'm not sure of your talent. But, with this, you can definitely forge a weapon or armor out of two metals or even use metals with elemental affinity, but that is for another time. 

 If you want to continue you could stay and try to forge another one but I suggest you rest first. You can always practice again tomorrow but it seems you want to practice the other profession as well,"

 Ryker nodded, "Yes, I want to try my hand at item crafting next," the man nodded, "Item crafting is similar to blacksmithing but there is a difference, mostly on the material we use.

 While blacksmiths only used metals as the main materials followed by some auxiliary ones like wood to make the hilt of a sword, item crafters used a large range of materials with no set main ones. Those depended on the types of items they wanted to make.

 Your choice is a good one as the two have more similarities than the other profession so the transition will be smoother. I don't have anything else to say. I hope you can pick one profession in the future but that is all up to you,"

 Without anything else to say, Ryker gave his farewell to the blacksmith before heading outside, going to the similar routine as yesterday.

-x-

 The blacksmith's expression turned serious before he looked at the person coming towards him. "So, how did he do?" the person asked, revealing himself to be the alchemist who taught Ryker the previous day.

 "He is a prodigy in blacksmithing and I will die on that hill," was the reply he got.

 The alchemist sighed, "With how things look, he might even be a prodigy at the other three major professions,"