Spirit Taming

Chapter 466: Forging Confusion

When Ralph managed to walk in to the forge, he and Grace spotted an absolute mess. It wasn't just that the forge looked like someone had been parading around and causing chaos. It was that it appeared someone had been using every forge in quick succession as they moved through their forging process.

Naturally, everyone walking in stopped. They had never seen the forge in such a state. But what they all soon realized was that there was someone in the very back hammering away at a large set of armor. Something that should have taken weeks to make but had definitely been made in a day. The next shocking point was that there were no molds used.

The fact that molds were not used was a heavy hit to every single person that saw this. Molding was the best way to get armor for the youngest of blacksmiths. They could use the molds to get a general shape. From there, they could focus on altering, refining, and then fitting the armor to their standards. To freehand an armor set was something reserved for those with high skill.

"He managed to free hand an entire set of light armor in just a day…" similar mumblings came from all the young blacksmiths around Ralph. But that didn't stop Ralph from walking forward.

Just as soon as Ralph came to stand in front of the person hammering away, the air seemed to get slightly hotter. The hammering stopped and deep red flecked eyes looked at Ralph. They were what Ralph's blacksmithing books had referred to as a unique trait that came with unique bodies. Those that had exceptional forging talent from birth.

Considered a telltale example of someone that would rise higher in the forging world.

"I get it now, you have some special physique for forging and you abuse that to make a massive mess and force everyone out of the forge. Arrogant bastard." Ralph's blunt comment made the red flecked eyes blink. As the boy stood up he was glancing around with confusion.

"I paid four people to watch the entrance and hand out some coins for the disturbance. I needed the forge to complete my exam piece. Why am I the bastard?" It was Ralph's turn to blink and feel confused. When he glanced behind, he found that Grace was standing at the door and four students had tried to escape secretly.

The only reason they weren't moving forward was the ice that had started to form even though the high temperature in the forge would stop normal ice from forming. It was a show of elemental prowess and strength.

While Ralph knew that Grace was very strong because of the time that she spent in Nebula growing with her beast in the cold environment, she had not realized the feat that she had achieved. But that was still going to be the case since she was focused on keeping the four where they stood.

"So you four brats pocketed the coins that he proffered everyone that came to use the forge today and thought you would get away with it?" Ralph's knuckles cracked as the molten boar snorted and scraped its hoof on the ground. Everyone sensed that a fight was about to break out. But what they didn't expect was for the boys to immediately fold.

"We just wanted the money!"

"We can return it. I promise we didn't spend it at all!"

"Here, here!"

"It was our mistake!"

The four all pleaded for their safety while holding out the silver coins they had been paid. It was clear that the boy forging in here had paid properly for the fact that he monopolized the forge for the day.

"I hate saying this, but hey, I was wrong about you. I thought you were some corrupt brat that tried to rob everyone. So I will sort these four out." Ralph took the money and began distributing it to the others. He saw that he had made a decent change in all of their emotions. Now they were directing their animosity to the four that had lied and tried to withhold compensation.

"Well…I didn't think that would go that way. I just needed space to craft an armor in the fastest time possible. I didn't prepare properly for the final exam. I'm graduating ahead of my class…" The words were half mumbled while the boy spoke. He was definitely older than them being a senior student, but he was also odd.

From what Ralph could see, the boy had multiple small burn scars along with very short hair, most likely because of the fire dangers in a forge. But he also had a well developed physique from working in the forge. Furthermore, the eyes that Ralph had noticed that stood out were focused on the armor he was crafting. So much so that Ralph couldn't help but wonder what he saw differently.

"Um, Listen, I was finishing the last rune carving here. Then I will clean up and leave. That's fine, right?" It seemed that the boy was fairly nice which made Ralph feel a bit worse for accusing him.

"I'll help ya clean up. Take it as a favor paid back since I came in with too much heat." The molten boar immediately started snacking on the broken pieces of scrap metals while Ralph started to put away tools.

"Really? In that case, my name is Mest, I had to use the forges to make different parts so I could assemble this armor properly. I managed to figure out that if I assembled it at a faster pace then the runes would flow better. If I could make it all at once I would have a perfect rune, but that's a few years away. For now, I have a middle tier armor.

Probably considered a decent grade for the exam." it appeared that Mest didn't think it was good enough though., a normal attitude for a blacksmith to have who wanted to be better.

"I'm Ralph and that's Grace. I can forge but I am at the basics still. Grace helps me cool and also heat the forge more. My partner melts metals and can create basic alloys to become ingots while handling any toxic fumes or acids." all of Ralph's anger had evaporated at this point. Grace had also let the four students rush away since the others had begun to target them.

The other students had left in pursuit of the previous four as well.

"So that beast can eat metal and melt it!? It even has acidic effects that handle the poisonous fumes that come from certain metals and materials? That's amazing." Mest stared at the molten boar which huffed out a little smoke from its nose. It appeared that it liked the sudden praise.

"My beast is a little different. It's called a flame man. Basically it's living fire. It takes in fuel to let it grow and makes that its body. It's always burning but it can control the temperature of flames. Since I used the whole forge, it took over all the flames." a single body separated from the forge flames and stood next to Mest.

While Ralph had believed that his molten boar would be one of the best possible beasts of a blacksmith, he had not expected a beast like this. A flame man was a beast he had never seen before. But the fact that it could fuse and take over the flames of any source as long as it had fuel was amazing. That meant that Mest would always be able to forge with the optimal temperature.

"This is my frost finch. It can cool things for Ralph, like oils or even the metals. But with the wind affinity we can also make the fire much hotter." Grace was glad to join in seeing that the combination of her and Ralph would equal what the flame man did to a degree. Control the temperature of the flames.

"So that's how you work around flame temperatures. That's great. I would have an assistant but every time I advanced they were left behind. I move a little too fast sometimes." Mest was a little solemn in this but was glad to see two interesting beasts that worked well together. He could care less that they appeared to be opposites. "So, want to check out my armor?

It's pretty cool right?"

It appeared that Mest had not held a single bad feeling toward Ralph and Grace at all. He even forgot the four students that had tried to scam his money from others. The only thing Mest seemed to care for was forging. Proof that he had something unique about him. Not to mention that he had the skills to back up that unique focus on forging.

"If you two stick around, you can use the forge. I need to just carve runes so I can finish it easily with others around. I don't need dead silence." This was all Ralph and Grace needed to hear. They could see someone carve runes for the first time while also working on their own side of training. For Grace, she would focus on resisting the fire energies which were her and the frost finch's opposite.

Ralph would be able to weather experience from a valuable older student with higher skills than anyone else he had met. It was a win win.