The Beauty of Crafting

A radiant light enveloped Sir Owain, and slowly, he felt a surge of warmth as the dark energy poured out of him.

<Curse of mana restriction dispelled from the Branwen Bloodline>

"What did you do to me?" Sir Owain asked as he adjusted his shoulders.

He twisted and flexed his body "My body feels so light, like I'm back in the prime of my youth" he exclaimed.

His breathing got clearer and he could feel a certain level of ambiance with his surroundings, as his mana uncontrollably flooded the room.

 "I can perfectly see the structure of all the particles around me like I have been blind all these years… is-is this mana?" He anxiously wondered.

Levi's eyes widened as he visibly saw the energy that exuded from his father. It was at least ten times Levi's current mana level. 

"How is he doing this?" Levi mumbled.

[It's probably a skill, by allowing his mana to overflow he acquired something similar to a sixth sense that allows him to see all the molecules around. These types of skills are common with Craftsmen with high-level Blacksmith magic]

"A New Skill? But he only just started using mana"

[It's how it works, with his mana now restored he would naturally know how to use it, almost like how a baby knows to breathe immediately after it is born.]

Levi reasoned it for a moment "That makes sense, with abilities like this his crafting skills are sure to improve" 

"Would you like to give it a try now?" Levi asked offering the minotaur's back to Sir Owain 

Sir Owain's initial excitement reduced and he now wore a doubtful look. He knew that having mana would improve his skills but he wasn't convinced that it was enough to make much of a difference.

"Hmmm… let's see, what sort of weapon would you like me to make for you?" he questioned.

"A one-handed battle-axe" Levi replied

"an axe… the thing is I can make one for you, but I don't know if just this is enough to make it any better"

Levi gave him a reassuring smile and then handed him the horns. "The truth is I don't really care how it turns out as long as I know it was made by my fath- I mean a master craftsman such as you I'd be satisfied" 

Sir Owain took a while analyzing the horns. Just being able to see every single particle in the material already gave him a slight mental boost, because now he could easily imagine ways to restructure these particles during forging to better fit an axe.

"Ho ho, you're getting me all fired up… I'll have to make you the best battle axe you have ever seen," Sir Owain said as he excitedly rushed into the workshop.

Levi followed his father into the backroom, casually picking up the shovel to load the coal into the furnace, like he always did, momentarily forgetting that he was no more Cian.

"What are you doing warrior?" Sir Owain asked confused

Levi was startled "No-nothing, I just wanted to help any way I can, if you don't mind".

"It's fine, I guess" Sir Owain sighed, "my son always helped me start up the furnace, you doing that just reminded me of him" he lamented

Levi was stuck trying to figure out what to say next, "I'm sorry about that" he awkwardly apologized.

"No no, it's not a bad thing. I'm glad to have you around and I'll even appreciate the extra hand… now let's get started" he said with a serious tone

Levi loaded the coal and the horns before igniting it. it was one of the easier parts of the job plus it was something he had done for as far back as he could remember.

"It seems like you are familiar with the process." Sir Owain inquired

Levi chuckled "Not really, I used to be an apprentice sometime ago before I became a warrior so I picked up a few skills" 

"Okay you do that while I prepare the casting mold for the axe" 

The melting point of a very durable material like the minotaur's horn would be extremely high, so the furnace needed to be as hot as possible.

Using his feet Levi pressed on the bellows to release air into the furnace, therefore increasing the temperature of the furnace but no matter how hot it got the horns showed no signs of melting 

After the first hour of consistently pumping air with no results, Levi gave up, exhausted.

Sir Owain checked to confirm that there was still no progress with the material.

"I feared this would happen, the horn can't be melted that easily" 

"So what do we do?"Levi asked 

"Don't worry just leave it to me, a battle like this only gets me more excited" Sir Owain replied with determination.

Levi had no problem with that, he would much rather sit and watch than do any actual crafting

As he mounted the bellows, Sir Owain's aura once again filled the shop. With every pump, his mana flowed into the furnace turning the flames blueish-green. He smiled as he noticed the horn was now melting.

Levi watched how in under an hour the horns had fully melted into molten. Sir Owain took it out with the ladle and poured it into the mold that was in the shape of an axe head, making it take that shape.

"Mana is amazing," Sir Owain smirked.

Next, he reheated the head so it could reduce the toughness for easy hammering and shaping. Usually, this was the most tricky part because he would have to perfectly control the flame to only reach certain parts of the material at the same time he needed to regulate the temperature of the furnace by maintaining the right amount of airflow, then momentarily placing it on the anvil and hammering it into the right shape before quenching it in water to enhance the hardness. He would repeat this process until he felt satisfied with the results.

Or at least that's what Levi expected to see, but with Mana, the process wasn't as hectic as usual. His father's mana automatically regulated the heat of the flame keeping it at the desired temperature. Every time he struck the material with his hammer, mixtures of metallic spark and colorful mana minuscules would be produced, easily shaping the head in the desired manner.

The rhythmic dance of his tools and the sweat-soaked concentration painted a portrait of majestic craftsmanship in perfect sync. At that moment Levi could only see the beauty of crafting.

A beauty that gradually caused him to doze off.

'What is this? I'm I asleep?' he wondered as he found himself standing in a dark place 

'I fell asleep inside a game that is manifested as a dream, is that even possible? that means this is like a dream inside of a dream' 

'I guess I was pretty tired from the journey but I can't believe just watching father work was enough to put me to sleep, how bored do you have to be for that to happen?' he mused

'At least now we know with or without his magic, crafting would have never been interesting for me.' 

This place was different from the usual Abyss he had appeared in during the log-in process because this time it felt like he stood on solid ground, although it was still just darkness. It was also very different from the dream of Elsa he previously had, because he had full consciousness of his memories and actions.

After a quick 360 survey, he noticed a light not too far off, so naturally he approached it.

The source of the light was an ethereal sphere, encased in a prison of interwoven glowing threads. With each layer, the threads become more intricate, revealing a blue orb in the center.

"Blue?" he wondered