Boooom, followed by a wave of force swept near our house.
Both Nixen and my parents were scared at first, thinking someone was attacking us or something was happening nearby.
I was in tatters with my clothes, covered in soot stuck to my sweat.
I'd been trying to create something a little more complicated in the forge, but every time I reached critical points, the material I was using couldn't hold all the mana and exploded.
Some of the designs exploded, others simply burned to ash, just as a human would. I was trying to master the same healing techniques with forging. I wanted to be able to forge while simultaneously trying to insert the mana tubes, to achieve better results and characteristics, perhaps getting the weapon to do something new.
When I was on Earth I always heard about weapons that could fly or throw fire, thunder or other things.
I was experimenting to achieve something similar, but it was extremely tiring and difficult; something different happened every time. It was exciting at the time, but many times the gun was almost on the verge of exploding in my face, and I don't want to feel that thrill of dying again.
From what Grandma Thea had explained to me and what I'd managed to research in the shops, tools, weapons, and medicine weren't my strong points. The vast majority of people focused on other things. Fighting techniques, magic, and there was also a type of energy I hadn't been able to fully understand. Grandma explained it as something similar to ki, which fighters infuse into their bodies to make them stronger and faster. Like magic, there were different types, and each person had a different approach, but awakening and controlling ki, or whatever it was, wasn't easy at all.
To give an example, as far as people knew, only one swordsman from the village had achieved it, and he worked directly under the lord of the lands.
Just to give you an idea, with what my parents sold in the village, they managed to get 20 silver coins, and that was almost once a month. Something I managed to get just by selling one of the simple daggers, which I thought wasn't worth much.
Of course, the first thing I tried to do with the money I got was to try to help my parents and the house, but they always said they didn't need it, that with the things I brought and the repairs I made, it was more than enough.
For now I wanted to improve my technique and control in mana, the practice in the forge as well as in the infirmary were helping me a lot.
Things kept blowing up, sometimes small, sometimes bigger.
At the time, I was trying to make a knife, a basic knife. I was trying to implement a mana pathway, as if I were creating a circuit throughout the entire knife. But more focused between the tang and the spine of the blade. Trying to get the mineral to activate through the input of mana, so the user could better channel it to achieve a better cut.
This was my fourth attempt today, and I was sweating profusely. On this last attempt, I'd tried to change things up a bit. I was using Earth techniques, where the metal is folded many times to achieve greater hardness. Between each fold, I was trying to apply a thin layer of my mana. Every time I did this, I felt very nervous, since after I'd applied the mana, I had to hit again, and keep hitting until the whole piece was one.
I'd already done this at least 40 times, and I think it's enough for this type of mineral and for my first time. I began to give it the elongated shape of a knife, trying to mark the mana while lengthening the blade. With each blow of the hammer, my heart beat faster; the Urgari was already so red it looked like burning lava; the combination of colors was spectacular. But this wasn't the time to admire it; I only wanted to think about making the mana branching, which looked as if a lightning bolt had passed from the shank to almost the tip of the knife. I was almost finished, and all that remained was to cool it. I'd realized that cooling it with oil was a little better, so this time I'd decided to use oil, but a little warmer, which would help prevent the temperature from dropping so drastically. This was the last and most delicate step, where I could see if all my work and combination of techniques had really worked. I slowly removed the knife from the oil and began to examine it. I was amazed by its beauty. The shape was exactly what I had imagined, and its colors were incredible. It had two predominant colors: a frosty orange, like burning lava in the shape of a knife, and a whitish blue, which I suppose was due to the spaces I had designed for the mana. They were small, and the orange predominated much more, but the lines were clearly visible, as if they were the markings of a Bengal tiger.
Now would come the test of courage, this was where the knives always exploded. Apply mana and hope it works as it should.
I was trying to calm down, breathing and meditating to get myself a little better both in my mind and in my body.
I started slowly, trying to supply the knife with mana. Suddenly, I began to feel the knife sucking away my mana like a bottomless pit.
It had been going for a few seconds, and its speed wasn't slowing down; instead, it only burned faster. The knife was glowing a brighter orange, almost a whitish orange.
Boom, the room I used for forging rumble.
-"Sam"- My father came in screaming as he opened the door of the blacksmith shop with all his strength.
I just turned around to look at him, very surprised, still holding the knife. He had finally stopped.
-"Father please, we have already talked about this."- This is not the first time this has happened and he has always scared me to death with his unexpected entrances.
-"Sam, this is really important," my father said as he stared at the knife.
-"Hey, you shouldn't have seen it," I said, trying to quickly hide the knife behind my back.
Just as I did it, the table where I was working began to fall, there was a diagonal cut that reached the floor following the movement I had made trying to hide the knife.
I stood still, only to turn to look at my father and meet his gaze, which was the same as mine. A complete surprise. Nixen, who was in the corner of the room, had her fur raised and had jumped almost to where my father was.
-"Sam, what kind of knife did you make?"-
"I was just trying out some new techniques," I told my father as I slowly showed him the knife, the shine it had gained was fading, but it still looked bright orange.
My father took it trying to avoid the blade for safety.
As he examined it and turned it over in his hand, it seemed very comfortable. He made it look absolutely easy to handle.
"Sam, that's great. Congratulations. This is one of your best works by far," my father said as he tried to return the knife.
"No, it's okay. Even though you saw it in advance, it doesn't change the fact that this knife was meant for you. Happy early birthday, Dad," I said with a smile.
My father's birthday is coming up in the next few days, almost two months before winter arrives. It's not often we celebrate because we're always busy or simply lack resources, but this time we could finally make a difference.
My father just looked at me with slightly watery eyes.
-"Thanks, but this knife is a masterpiece and you could sell it for a lot. There's no need to give it to me." Even though he was saying those words, he seemed very reluctant to let go of the knife, which made him look a little funny and cute.
"There's no better owner for this knife than your father, and I was always thinking and designing it for you. So it's your right to have it," I told my father, to which he could only nod.
-"In the next few days I will try to make a case so you can carry it, father."-
My father just nodded as he continued to stare at the knife, as if once he lost sight of it it would disappear.
-"By the way, Sam."-
-"I came because we have to get out of here quickly."-
-"We have to be prepared for what's coming, your mother is getting ready the things we'll take, we'll all go to Grandma Thea's house as soon as possible."-
"Pick up only what you need and can carry. We'll be leaving in two hours," my father finished, not giving me time to think or question before he started running, still holding the knife.
I was walking towards the house, I had my bag almost empty, I only had some of my tools and my weapons, I had them hanging on different parts of my body.
I didn't understand what was happening and why we had to leave. My father was already strapping things to Aur's back, and my mother was still packing some essentials.
-"Oh good timing Sam."- Do you think you could take some things with Nixen? my dad said, while I wasn't looking.
I just looked at Nixen who seemed to just sigh and act like she hadn't heard anything.
I entered the house and began to ask my mother, she was calmer but she was still trying to take some things and put others in different parts of the house.
-"Mother, what is happening? Why do we have to leave this way?"
-"We'll explain it to you later, Sam. Please take this backpack." My mother said as she handed me a bag full of things.
Once everything was ready, they closed the gate, and we started running toward the village. Apparently, we weren't the only ones; the other farms around us also seemed busy packing everything up. Although it seemed like it would take them longer to finish, they seemed very busy. They were packing much more than my parents had, filling entire sleds.
As we ran to Thea's house I just wondered what was going on that everyone was moving.
After a few hours, we arrived at the town, which looked just as hectic, if not more so, with everyone running around trying to buy or organize the few things they had.
-"Hi Thea"- my mother said with a smile to my teacher.
-"Welcome"- said the grandmother to the 4, my father had left Aur next to the grandmother's house.
-"It's funny to see you guys running around because of something like this, but I understand the circumstances and you'll always be welcome in my humble home."- he told my parents with a smile on his face.
My parents just looked at her with a little annoyance and then smiled and started a jovial conversation between them.
I, on the other hand, was already feeling annoyed. I'd been asking what was going on, and they'd always ignored me or simply said we'd talk later, only for it to never happen.
While my parents and my teacher were talking, I decided to go out into the village. If they didn't give me answers, some people in the village would.
I left, almost trying not to be noticed, while Nixen followed me as always. I was walking toward the shopping area while I watched everyone running around, their hands full of food or other objects.
-"Hey kid, you should go home, this isn't the time to be wandering around the streets," said a stranger who almost ran into me with anger in his voice. As he continued running.
I continued walking until I reached Vaziri, Arman was completely calm, as if nothing was happening.
-"Hey Sam, what are you doing here?" the store owner asked me.
-"I really don't know, my parents just told me that we had to leave the house"- I told the blacksmith with a bewildered face.
-"ahh so you don't know"-
-"Lately, adventurers have seen more action near the forest, something that is not very common in the more remote areas."-
"This morning, one of the adventurers returned from the forest, slightly injured, and in a hurry. From the moment he took his first step into the city, he began to warn of a wave of beasts that would come to attack."
"He said they weren't far away and would arrive in less than a day. That's why everyone is so excited," the blacksmith said, as if telling a story from an ordinary day.
As I turned pale, a wave of beasts was not a simple thing, and although it happened very rarely, it was always destructive.
-"Thanks Arman, I think I have to go," I said with a new, urgent voice.
-"Hey kid, if you have any guns to sell, now's a good time. I'll buy them from you at a better price." Arman shouted at me as I hurried out of the store.