Terrarium (XXVI) - White Hot Chili Peppers

Across the five layers of Terrarium, there are four cafeterias. One for the first-year students, one for the second-year students, and so on. 

In the cafeteria reserved for first-year students, a wooden table with enough room for about ten to fifteen students was completely filled. It had been many years since the entire table was used so often, but a group of students had made that table their home.

The students at the table held jolly conversation with one another, many laughs drawing the attention of the other clusters of students around. 

A girl with scarlet hair sat in front of a three-plate meal, and she had already devoured the contents on two of them. Her face was flushes, the tips of her ears wearing a similar shade of red to her hair, and she looked to be crying.

'It's so damn spicy!' Bell thought with a gleeful expression as she shoved more whale kraken chili. 

She had found an entree of some sort of "dangerously spicy" chili and found that to be a challenge to her goal. Fortunately, it was spicy and packed with flavor, but unfortunately, wasn't close enough for Bell to find her goal satisfied.

That didn't stop her from acting the role of a glutton as she grabbed another plate of the chili.

"Whale Krakens are found in extremely cold oceans, and instead of oil, it builds up a condensed version of capsaicin." Mona had said earlier. "Apparently, the locals call it Ghostflame Spice. We don't know much about it outside of that, though."

Bell was content with the knowledge that Mona had imparted on her but was mostly satiated by the taste and kick that the Whale Kraken chili had.

She was tempted to get another plate, but they had their next classes soon, so Bell reluctantly left the cafeteria with her friends.

Their conversations carried out into the dreary weather of the Terrarium, and down the stairs until they were inevitably separated by their different paths.

Soon, Bell, Michael, Pyralis, and Wren found themselves at the doors to the giant building that housed the forges.

The four head directly to their classroom, but found a sign that stated simply: [Out to forge, all students, go to the forge room]

To which they promptly changed their path.

Bell and the others reached the hallway before the chamber, and she was able to observe the situation inside.

Teacher Hephaestus was standing at the mouth of the gigantic forge that sat at the far end of the forging chamber. There were quite a few students working at the various forging stations scattered around the chamber, working away at whatever projects they had.

'I hope we'll have enough open stations for our class...' Bell worried to herself.

The four paused at the entrance to the room, well, Pyralis did, and everyone was just a pace or two behind him. So, naturally, they paused when Pyralis did. 

"What's up?" Michael asked.

Pyralis replied instantly, "Nothing, I'm just gonna sit out here until he calls us."

Wren typed something into her pathfinder, and Pyralis read the contents of the conjured window.

After a moment, he chuckled and said, "Yeah. You're probably right."

Then, he began to enter the chamber with the other three by his side.

They saw a small group of students standing near the middle of the room, all looking towards the larger forge. When Bell and the other three joined the crowd, the view that the group was observing became clear.

Teacher Hephaestus looked like a true artisan against the backdrop of a steady flow of flames that stood at the mouth of the furnace.

He hammered away at a small, dagger-like metal. It took a few moments for Bell to understand that Teacher Hephaestus was working on the dagger from yesterday's class.

Bell became slightly entranced by the process that Teacher Hephaestus had when he forged. 

He grabbed the metal shape with a pair of tongs, push it into the mouth of the furnace where the flaming sprites gathered around and converged on the metal, rapidly heating it.

Then he brought it to his anvil, striking it in several different spots a few times with a large hammer. 

Afterward, he repeated the process over and over. Bell almost didn't notice the bell that indicated the classes start as she was nearly fully entranced by the process.

After repeating the process a few times, he quenched the blade and put the edge of the cooled blade against a sanding belt. Soon, the blade was sharpened and ready for whatever stiletto daggers did. 

'Probably stab people, right?' Bell thought to herself.

Then, Teacher Hephaestus turned to face his growing crowd of patiently waiting students, pulling the dagger out of his quenching barrel.

"Here, it's cooled now." He said, extending it to the first person he saw.

The student closest to him held the dagger and examined it, careful of its deadly looking point and edge. After a moment, he passed it around to the other students. After a handful of minutes, it was Bell's turn to examine the weapon.

The weapon was thin, but long, and its point looked especially deadly. The edge wasn't to joke about, either, as Bell nearly cut herself simply touching the steel blade. Its crossguard was also fully forged, and Bell admired the intricate leaf-like pattern. The handle had no wooden or leather wrapping, but the metal was roughly shaped to be cylindrical.

Overall, Bell rather liked the weapon and would probably be able to conjure something similar to it with Creation.

Bell then handed the weapon to a student behind her, and it was soon passed around for all to see. After the final student had examined the blade, they handed it back to Teacher Hephaestus, who soon began his lecture.

"For the next week, or until you finish it, you will be working on creating some sort of short blade. All I want is for you to understand the core process of forging, nothing fancy."

Then, Teacher Hephaestus hobbled over to his mechanically assisted wheelchair, grunting as he sat down in it.

"Follow me, I'll be showing you all how to start on your blades."

Teacher Hephaestus then began for one of the many forging stations that dotted the large chamber.

Upon reaching one, Teacher Hephaestus stood up and motioned for a student to follow him. The student obliged and Teacher Hephaestus grabbed a thin steel ingot from a back pocket.

He handed it to the student and said, "What do you do first?"

The student looked a bit nervous and stuttered as he replied. "H-heat the blade, right?"

"Wrong." Teacher Hephaestus said flatly. "You get proper protection."

Then, the student nodded and muttered something that only Teacher Hephaestus could hear amidst the sounds of flames and clanging metals.

Teacher Hephaestus smiled, then laughed heartily before speaking further.

"You're funny, kid. Now, grab an apron and goggles, all of you."

He pointed somewhere in the far corner of the room where lockers and aprons stood. Bell and the other students headed in the direction, all careful to avoid bothering students who were currently forging.

They all gathered a thick leather apron and pair of goggles before returning to Teacher Hephaestus.

The student from earlier then took a step forward toward Teacher Hephaestus.

He then asked, "Now we heat the ingot, right?"

Teacher Hephaestus smiled and nodded, replying with, "Yes. Grab the tongs and use it to hold the ingot."

To which the student did. He grabbed a long pair of tongs from a rack that rested beside the barrel furnace, then held the thin steel ingot and placed it within the barrel.

Teacher Hephaestus flicked a few levers and announced to the class.

"If you have a powered off furnace, flip all of the switches on from left to right, wait one full second between turning a switch on."

The students around Bell nodded their heads, and the student smiled with flushed cheeks. After a few moments, he pulled the now orange steel ingot out with his tongs and placed both on the anvil, a tight grip on both.

Teacher Hephaestus then handed the boy a hammer that hung from the side of the anvil and the boy got to work.

"You've got it from here. If you have any questions, quench the metal and come to me." Teacher Hephaestus said to the boy after he had started shaping his future blade. "Don't make a stiletto, shape something easier. Oh! Also, if you quench your blade before sharpening it, let me know."

Then, Teacher Hephaestus promptly limped to his wheelchair, sat down, and motioned for the rest of the students to follow him. To which they all did. 

At the next forging station, Teacher Hephaestus repeated the process with another student. This stop was much faster than the previous one, and then the next was even faster.

Within three or four more students getting sent on their way to work on their blades, everyone knew what to do. It took several more students until Bell was able to claim a forging station for herself.

Bell didn't even need Teacher Hephaestus's assistance as she flipped the switches one by one on the barrel forge. After, she accepted Teacher Hephaestus's steel ingot and held it with the long tongs. 

Then, she placed both in the furnace, and the rest of the students followed Teacher Hephaestus to the next station.

Bell was then left with her thoughts and a piece of hot metal.