Sitting down without really hearing the explanations of her peers concerning their own projects, Princess Marina almost jumped when her name was called.
Getting over the initial shock quickly, Princess Marina carried her project in her hands and placed it on the table in the center of the room which had been cleared of spare parts. Pressing a button camouflaged onto the dark ceiling of her project, Princess Marina watched as a starry sky shone above two wolves before gradually being replaced by a full moon that released fog. The fog cascading down from the moon and enveloping the forest reminded Princess Marina of just before sunrise and the wolves doing repeated motions of a silent howl added a mystifying effect to the already enchanted woods and once the fog ceased, the full moon disappeared and the starry sky appeared againbefore being replaced by the full moon in a beautiful cycle.
"Stunning." Zandra Aile said said under her breath.
"Simply stunning." Zandra Aile whispered to herself.
"Princess Marina," Zandra Aile said with a cough.
"Can you explain your work?" Zandra Aile asked Princess Marina.
Taking a deep breath, Princess Marina said "This project is based on my favourite scene from one of the books I read as a child. It is a scene that I had always imagined in my head and to bring this scene to life," Princess Marina said as her project switched from a starry sky to a full moon.
"I used several pieces of Calver to create the ceiling and the base before adding Lithexium to create an illusion of a forest floor. I created two ceilings each with their own mechanism and I used several pieces of white and blue stone to create the illusion of stars. In the second ceiling I placed a transparent mold in its center so once the light of the stars in the first ceiling heats up the mold it will cause an illumination that will cause the stars in the first ceiling to fade and trigger the blue ore to release fog." Princess Marina said and everyone clapped.
"To be able to create such a beautiful scene like this from memory, shows how extremely fond you are of that book." Zandra Aile said with a smile.
"It was a book that I kept going back to over and over." Princess Marina said with a sad smile.
"And it's something I can never forget." Princess Marina said with a smile that was part sad and part happy.
Flashback
"It might not be my place to say this," Aldric said as Princess Marina cried silently with his jacket over head.
"But not letting go of something you clearly love isn't a sin." Aldric said as he stared at Princess Marina's face that was half hidden under his jacket.
"Acknowledging that it can be a weakness is something that can't be helped but trying to forget it forcefully doesn't allow you heal." Aldric said as his eyes drifted away from Princess Marina's.
"Accept everything." Aldric said with a far away look in his eyes.
"Both good and bad and slowly but surely," Aldric said with a sad smile as he chuckled.
"You might be able to think of what you loved and still love, without breaking down completely." Aldric said and Princess Marina stopped crying as she looked at him properly.
Flashback end.
The next class was far easier than the first for Princess Marina, the instructor in charge decided to give a lecture of the dos and don'ts instead of teaching as it was the first day of class and Princess Marina was extremely grateful for his choice. The only thing Princess Marina didn't appreciate in her second class, was that she had to introduce herself but other than that the second class was a solid 9 points.
Princess Marina's third class was on weapon building and an instructor with glasses, red straight hair, blue eyes and freckles that if drawn over with a marker will form a star, introduced herself as Ariar Zen.
"So who can explain the use of Calver in weapon building?" Ariar Zen asked with a grin.
Raising his hands faster than anyone in the room, Halorin began speaking the minute the teacher gave him permission to.
"Calver is a conductor that is commonly found around or at the opposite ends of the ore and not only does it act like a substance that keeps the ore in place, it also has transducing properties that increases the output of the ore without breaking it."
"Good." Ariar Zen said with a nod of her head.
"While Calver is a sure bet in weapon creation, building a weapon requires you to think of a wide range of metals not just Calver. If asked to build a weapon from the metals you know, what metal do you think could replace or be a good combination with Calver?" Ariar Zen asked and hands went up quickly.
Ariar Zen nodded to a boy with short black hair and hazel eyes who suggested "Cryosteel."
"Cryosteel is light and attractive and is resistant to heat. The color doesn't fade and it could be a good combination to Calver." said the boy with dark hair and hazel eyes.
"Cryosteel is resistant heat." Araiar Zen said with a nod.
"But the problem with it is that it passively absorbs heat. On the first two or three tries with heat cryosteel looks completely unchanged and unaffected but when cryosteel comes in contact with heat on the fourth try, the weapon becomes too hot and difficult to wield." Ariar Zen said and the class nodded.
After the discussion on cryosteel was done, Falorin suggested the metal "Vantallium."
"Vantallium is a good choice. It is light, easy to wield and attractive but the problem with Vantallium is," Ariar Zen and the whole class looked at her in anticipation.
"It undergoes a phenomenon known as overload." Ariar Zen said as she stared at Princess Marina straight in the eyes.