Forging Iron, Body and Mind...

A woman walked around in circles, her hands clenched in anger, yet her eyes only showed a vulnerable worry. "It seems all I do these days is worry about Shoku". The lady then stomped in anger venting her frustrations onto the fractured ground beneath her.

"Calm down, baby", Hayate cowered in fear before his fearsome wife and gave her a careful massage. "He will be alright. He is m-, your son; after all, he is super intelligent." He tried to console, "And it is not like the first time he went out alone."

Unknowing about the hole he dug for Shoku, Hayate continued to ramble about all the times Shoku left the house without anyone. Ichika's face continued to become redder and redder as a tick on her forehead became ever more visible.

"SHOKUUUUUUUUU!" A scream erupted from her lungs travelling across the world.

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(Shoku POV)

Walking, well, I was limping as Kotoha and I travelled across the mountainous forest, taking our sweet time enjoying the scent of flowers.

Gazing around, I washed away all my pent up sadness from the passing of my Grandma and distracted myself with the beautiful scenic forest. Shrubs lay across the woods, and the Autumn Trees allowed for traces of sun to reach the plants. Sounds of various animals rang about, and then an annoying fly came about, landing on my nose.

Slap!

I smacked my face with a force like no other and fell down with my mouthing kissing the forest's dirt floor. 'At least I've taken you down with me', I thought to myself. Then in the corner of my eye, I saw the fly merely waltz away while I ate dirt.

"Aaaaah, my first kiss has been stolen like this. Oh, how am I going to explain this to all my admirer's hearts? Oh, the tragedy, the sadness, the agony" I put my hand on my head, my face heartbroken, and I gave a performance of a lifetime.

"Bahahahahah, oh Shoku, you are so funny" Kotoha laughed elegantly.

Getting up, I looked down to the ground, 'how could my feelings be taken so lightly. I can't believe you'd be such an insensitive aunty.'

Without having the chance to cry out my grievances, an angry bellow came from the distance screeching out my name, "SOKUUUUUUUU!".

"I gotta goooooo!" I said in a hurry giving a wave to Kotoha. "I will talk to you later…."

Holding my chest, I caressed my injured ribs and rushed home, ignoring the pain.

In a few minutes, I arrived at a so very familiar scene.

"Sho-" My mother was about to say something.

"Are you Shoku?" She looked at my face and scrunched up her nose.

"Mum, what's wrong? It is me, Shoku!" I screamed desperately. 'Why is this happening? What is wrong.'

Then Yuki came along, and her face showed shock. "What is that?"

"Son… your face," Hayate said.

Running towards a window, I looked to see a face full of mud and grime. "Nooooooo, what has happened to my gorgeous face. Who am I without my charm…." I collapsed to the ground.

"Stop being such a drama queen. Come on. We gotta get you washed up, and then we're going to continue your training." Hayate said. 'At least he is back to his usual self.'

"Not so fast young man. You're going to have to face some punishment…." I gazed at my mother, who cracked her knuckles. She had a sadistic smile on her face.' Oh, I'm going to enjoy torturing this brat….'

Time passed, and screams could be heard throughout the village as the Aunties started to gossip.

"I heard that Shoku is a Masochist. It is his screams we hear all the time."

"I know, right. It's said he has been going to the wild a lot and that he likes talking to insects."

"Yeh, he has lost all his charms. I saw him come back from the wild, his face looking like a mud monster."

At that comment, a burly man's face darkened. "Who dares talk about my hubby Shoku so badly…." Uncle Bob said, his eyes furious.

The aunties shook in terror and left but not without saying a few more words.

"Have you heard, Shoku and Uncle Bob are in a serious relationship. Oh, how morals are degenerating with every generation. I'm so disappointed."

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Outside of the Smithy…

"Son, if you wish to be able to wield the sword, you must first learn what the sword is. And the best way to do that is to make a sword…." Hayate looked at his battered and bruised son, who looked almost unrecognizable.

"But Dad, I wanna fight with a sword…." Shoku said, sad about the fact that he couldn't fight yet.

"It will serve as training. When forging, you build up a lot of strength and focus…." Hayate flexed his bulging muscles.

"Alright" The boy was reluctant as he walked towards the smithy, ribs aching and face sore from the beating of his mother.

Seeing his son so dismal, Hayate said, "How bout this? If you do well, I can start teaching you how to use the sword. I'm only doing this so that your mother and I don't worry when you are outside in the wild."

Hearing his dads words, Shoku ran up to him, giving him a hug. "Thanks, dad."

Hayate smiled. "Come on now. We got some forging to do."

"You have experience with craftsmanship, but not forging. So get ready to be put through hell."

"I'm ready, and when I do succeed, you better teach me the sword."

"Don't worry, but this will only be if you can succeed at forging. Forging is a way of life. And with it, I will teach you not only how to forge metal, but how to forge a steel body but also an Iron will."

"Fine then, you cocky boy, first look at how I do it." Hayate picked up a piece of metal and started the forge. He placed an anvil in front of himself and went towards the side of the smithy, retrieving his hammer.

After a while, he started to strike the metal, flames exploded around, and the ore had started to turn crimson red. Shoku witnessed all this; his eyes widened as sweat dripped down his cheeks and soaked his new set of clothes. 'So this is forging? I had always seen father do it before. But this time, it is even greater?'

"Now you have a go at it." Hayate stopped, leaving a beautiful finished product.

"Alright," Shoku nodded and went to get a miniature forging hammer.

Hitting the metal Shoku concentrated all the power into his arms. However, a powerful recoil came back. It sent a numbing sensation through his arms.

"Ow, what was that" Shoku then shook his hands and was about to continue forging when suddenly his father Interjected.

"Wrong… Don't do that. You will not only exhaust yourself quicker, but you're not going to be able to distribute the force throughout the metal."

Shoku nodded and kept going, taking his fathers' words. However, he continued to make mistakes that his father constantly corrected.

Time passed as the room had become even hotter than a sauna with steam floating everywhere. The origin of the mist came from a single bucket of water.

"Alright, now use tongs to pull out the metal, and we will be done for today…."

Shoku pulled out a beautiful chunk of compressed metal following his father's order. The metal, although it had many scars and didn't look even what so ever had a glistening sheen.

"You did well on your first try."

"Does that mean…"

"Yes, we can go and start your training of the sword."

Shoku excitedly exited the smithy with his father closely following. Kicking away, Shoku excitedly ran towards an open field, leaving the steamy smithy.

His father followed with a wooden bamboo sword in his hand. Taking a deep breath, his eyes dozed off, and with a melancholic smile on his face and his sword in his hand, he got into a powerful stance.

"Ok, Let us begin…."

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A/N: Well I'm soon gonna get into the real plot if you know what I mean. Also there is gonna be a major time skip. By the way, the sword training he is learning from his father isnt how he is going to learn his breathing style. His father is a blacksmith who forged swords, he was taught by his father the mc's grandfather how to wield the sword but he wasn't talented in it. By the way Im not gonna get deep into forging when I know barely anything about it...

Anyways I recently watched Witcher and I'm almost finished watching the series. I'm thinking of writing a parody song of Toss a coin to your Witcher.

So toss a power stone to your Author

Oh, valley of readers

Oh, valley of readers

Toss a power stone to your author

He is the monarch of duccs.