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"Well, it's hot here!" he laughed. "Looks like my kind of place!"
The old blacksmith wandered around curiously, grabbing and testing everything. Eventually he stepped straight into the flames and touched them with his bare hands. I noticed red runes resembling fiery cracks emerging across his palms.
"Hmm, good and hot! The right balance of heat and mana too," he nodded. "Alright, sounds decent enough. Let's test it."
Everyone watched the master's work. He took a piece of ingot he had brought, quickly moving through the entire process, smelting, shaping, cooling, hammering, refining, everything.
And he used skills. His work was so fast there was no other explanation for how masterful he was without them.
In an hour, he had crafted and polished a simple knife. He nodded in satisfaction.
"Alright, catch."
He tossed the knife toward me casually.
"Woah!"
I caught it quickly and stared at the blade in awe.
"How is it? Tell me honestly."
"Hm."
I held the knife and channeled mana into it. I felt an immediate, intimate connection with its interior.
It was as if every molecule of metal was interconnected with me through mana as a lifeforce, as though each particle were a living cell.
Internal circuits glowed along the surface, shining a beautiful red.
"This is great…"
I stepped outside and tested it on a training dummy.
I swung the knife. A clean slicing wave of energy struck the dummy and split it in half perfectly.
"Excellently done."
"Hah, well, I'm grateful for the recognition," he nodded with quiet pride. "Now, all of you, come here. We're learning the basics of Blacksmithing. This Old Forge somehow stirs everything inside me. And these blueprints… all genius. So many techniques I had no idea existed!"
He looked genuinely excited. We listened carefully to his teachings, then each chose tools from the available Old Forges and began working with the metal pieces he distributed.
He moved from student to student, personally guiding us on how to wield the hammer and carry out the full process.
With Kara and Ulf, he taught us how to infuse mana and spirit energy into the hammer, using that energy to shape metal with far greater precision and control.
My stats were already high, and once I got the hang of it, my Agility, Strength, Spirit, and Luck seemed to accelerate my learning dramatically.
I reshaped a hot piece of metal into a decent, sharp knife. The entire process became much faster when supernatural energies and a magical furnace were involved.
While learning spell-like skills required constant repetition of the same actions, physical activities and muscle memory came to me much more naturally.
After three hours of forging practice, I had created six weapons. They were rough—bad edges, uneven shapes—but good enough for me to grasp the core principles.
Kara and Ulf were having fun too. Being naturally attuned to fire, they learned Blacksmithing much faster than I did.
"Wow, I never thought smashing something with a burning hammer would feel this satisfying," Ulf said with a wide grin.
"I want to make a pretty weapon for Mama!" Kara said. "Oh! Brunhild, you've already made six? Wow, they're cool!"
"Not really—they suck," I laughed. "You don't have to be nice about it, Kara. Compared to the swords and shields you've made; I'm nowhere near as good."
"But you've got talent! Most people here haven't even finished their first one yet," Ulf said. "And you always told us we can only learn something by doing it every day, right?"
"…Yeah, you're right. I am starting to get it," I nodded.
"Well, you can come back later. Sigrid's waiting for you in the Alchemy Studio, right? Don't keep her waiting too long!" Kara said.
"Ah, right," I nodded. "See you!"
I hurried to the Alchemy Studio and found Sigrid along with several other students learning from Ylva and an Elder of the clan, the grandmother with the scaled hand. She was a renowned alchemist and apparently also a druid.
"Ah, Brunhild, perfect timing. Come join us and learn a little about Alchemy. I'm sure you won't regret it," the Elder said.
"Yeah, come in!" Ylva nodded.
"Okay, thanks!" I walked in, sat down, and began listening, even though I already knew the game mechanics.
"Alchemy is the art of using supernatural energies to alter the elements of the world," the Elder explained. "From one substance we can create another by changing its composition and combining elements. Specific reactions occur when elements are mixed, producing entirely new substances. That is how we transform materials and ingredients into something greater…"
"Think of it like cooking, but with non-edible things—except herbs for potions, haha!" Ylva laughed. "Really, it's just like cooking. We chop things, grind them into powder, and mix them in precise ways to create specific combinations that become something new."
"I see… sounds fun!" Sigrid said, sitting beside me and resting her head on my shoulder. "What do you think, Brun?"
"I'm into it too," I nodded. "It would benefit the entire clan if we could all learn to make potions, antidotes, and artifacts."
"Yeah!" she agreed brightly.
"Let's begin with practical lessons then," the Elder said. "This cauldron, these tools, these books… everything seems perfectly compatible with our teachings, so we'll use them."
"First, we'll make simple mana and health potions," Ylva said. "We have all the ingredients here, and every student will get a turn. Follow this recipe I'm sharing with everyone…"
We began preparing ingredients for basic health and mana potions. The recipe called for spirit herb, mint, snow cherry, mountain lily flowers, and the core of a low-rank monster.
We crushed the core into dust first and added it to the boiling cauldron of liquified mana—created by the artifact itself when infused with mana through a foot pedal.
Once the powder began to boil, we stirred in mint paste, spirit herb extract, and snow cherry, turning the liquid a beautiful red.
After an hour of careful boiling and gentle stirring—using mana manipulation and the Synthesis Spell granted to everyone using the studio's tools…
FLAAASH!
The contents flared and glowed, condensing into a dense, sweet-smelling red liquid: health potions.
"These are low-grade health potions," Ylva explained. "They heal superficial wounds and restore stamina and vitality."
"They have two uses," the Elder added. "Drink them to boost your body's regeneration and recover energy, or apply them directly to an open wound. They have a powerful coagulating effect—your wounds will scar quickly and stop bleeding. They can't regrow limbs, but if your arm is hacked off, a potion can stop the bleeding fast and might save you from bleeding out. When hunting, always carry at least one!"
Next we prepared mana potions. The process was similar, but we used mountain lily instead of snow cherry, a blue flower that stored mana within its petals.
The liquid turned a vivid blue and carried a soft, lavender-like scent. When I drank one, it tasted far more bitter than the sweet health potion.
"Mana Potions have only one purpose," I explained, letting my aura flare blue with restored energy so everyone could see. "Drinking them restores mana and slightly boosts mana regeneration and output per second. Like this—see?"
"Oohh!"
Afterward, we moved on to crafting basic magic artifacts, starting with a simple ring. We began with a plain metal band placed in the cauldron.
We sprinkled it with magic beast core dust and spirit crystal dust, then used Synthesis for about an hour.
And the result…
FLASH!
Beautiful, colorful rings infused with elemental power, enhancing elemental affinity and resistance when equipped.
These were basic Elemental Rings, boosting a single element's affinity and resistance by about 5%.
Unlike in the game, there was no equip limit, so I could technically wear as many rings as my fingers could hold.
As someone already skilled in alchemy, I experimented further, creating double and even triple elemental rings. Finally, I sprinkled dust from a Myconid Spiritual Heart into my masterpiece: a red, gold, and blue bracelet.
FLASH!
"Oh wow—two?!"
I was stunned to see the item had duplicated!
This was a game mechanic too, a small chance for flawless creations to duplicate.
Ding!
[Congratulations, you have synthetized a Flawless [Triple Elemental Psionic Bracelet (D Grade)] x2!]
[You have earned 2000 Alchemy Proficiency.]
[Alchemy Proficiency: 3500/10000]
[You have earned 500 Blacksmithing Proficiency.]
[Blacksmithing Proficiency: 2500/10000]
Once I reached ten thousand proficiency, I would unlock the Alchemy Skill—extremely useful. So I needed to keep crafting daily to get there.
The same applied to Blacksmithing.
This bracelet boosted Fire, Light, and Ice elemental affinity by 15% and granted a Minor Psionic Talent.
It could eventually develop into Telepathy or even Telekinesis—though very weak at first—but it was still something.
With enough practice and use, those abilities could become full skills!
"Wow, that's an amazing bracelet, Brun…" Sigrid said shyly. "I-I only made these pink rings… I thought they were cute."
She had made them pink by mixing white and red crystals—granting Fire and Ice affinity.
"It's a dual elemental ring. That's already great," I smiled.
"R-Really?" Her cheeks flushed deeper. "I… I made one for you. Do you want it? It's fine if you don't—I know it sucks…"
"Nah, let's exchange," I said, handing her one of my bracelets. "There. It looks pretty on you."
"Oh wow!" she gasped. "T-Thank you! But really? You're giving me one of those super strong bracelets?"
"You're my friend. Why wouldn't I?"
"Brunhild! You're really my bestie! I love you!"
She hugged me tightly and gave me the ring she had made.
"Don't worry about it."
I decided to keep both the ring and bracelet for now and equipped them. While practicing potion-making with Sigrid, I constantly experimented with the Psionic Talent.
Progress was slow, but I managed to lift a few very light objects with faint pink psionic energy.
Telepathy was weaker still, Sigrid could only catch a single word or letter, and the range didn't exceed three meters.
"Well, it's a start. Let's keep working on them slowly," she said.
"You're right—it's something," I nodded.
Afterward, we finished the day by meeting Kara and Ulf at the barracks for our usual sparring and exercise. Then we all went together to offer prayers at the temples.
Later, I invited my friends to my house, and we had dinner together with my family.
Overall, it had been an incredibly productive day—we accomplished so much.
Now that everything I wanted to build was complete, the only thing left was to keep working and ensure the village and the entire clan grew stronger.
Because…
That very night, I had a nightmare.
"Ah!"
I woke up gasping, drenched in sweat, my head throbbing with pain.
That nightmare wasn't just a dream.
"That was my Future Sight Skill?"
It always activated in strange ways—sometimes doing nothing, other times…
Delivering prophetic dreams… or nightmares.
And what I had seen was horrifying.
The entire village we had built engulfed in flames. Giants trampling homes, tents, and corpses.
Everyone I loved… dead.
Sigrid too… a spear driven through her heart.
"No… why? What's going on?!"
As tears streamed down my face and disbelief choked me, I stared out the window, clenching my teeth.
I didn't know exactly how long we had.
But I could feel it.
Two months at most.
Could we grow strong enough and prepare in time for such a catastrophe?
Running away was no longer an option in the middle of this harsh winter.
I…
No—we.
"We have to get stronger… as fast as possible."
And maybe it's time I summon some new units too.
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Author's Note:
Hello and thank you for reading so far! I am the author PancakesWitch and wanted to say that this is a novel I'm writing with a lot of love. I will publish 5 chapters a week, or sometimes 4.
There will always be an additional chapter on Patreon though, and you can also join it right now to get +24 Advanced Chapters for only $10! The number will keep increasing every week as well!
https://www.patreon.com/pancakeswitch