Greyson had spoken with Old Man Thraec extensively about the sword he was about to create. There were a lot of requirements and difficulties. First, he needed a metal that was accepting off all his elements and could transform with his mana. This metal also had to be able to handle enough mana without breaking apart, but light enough so he could swing it around without much trouble. His dragon bloodline gave him more strength then normal kids his age but that doesn"t change the fact that he was still a kid with underdeveloped muscles. The length could not be too long that it was disproportionate to his body, but also not too short that it would become useless once he grew up. Kids his age grew rapidly, but he wanted this sword to be a longtime partner of his. Just these requirements gave him a headache, let alone the fact that he would be engraving seven symbols in a row onto this sword which would take ma.s.sive amount of concentration and mental energy. It took him this half a year to collect the right materials for the swords and he continued pus.h.i.+ng himself to practice engraving the symbols every single day.All of his occupations have improved, nothing too significant but it was steady. He was obviously no master yet, not even close, but he could start doing some things on his own. With painting, he could come up with his own ideas of the scenery and type of painting. With the flute, Carlisle allowed him to experiment with creating his own songs. This composition responsibility led him to make songs to play on Mesmer later using Siren"s Voice. He wrote angry songs, painful songs, happy songs, healing songs, anything that he could think of so that he would have an a.r.s.enal ready for different fights. Seeing his strength grow was really gratifying for him because his whole goal during this time of preparation was to expedite his growth even more than before. After his dedicate meditating and absorbing of mana, he had reached the advanced level stage 2. The improvement sounds small, however, the acc.u.mulation of mana to breakthrough to the next stage gets harder and harder with every level. Greyson was expecting to take some years to break through the advanced level, as there was a deep difference between magisters and pre-magister levels. Depending on talent, at least half of the magician population would never be able to breakthrough to the magister level unless they are aided by outside factors. His own talent sufficient, Greyson would definitely be able to breakthrough, however, he was not planning on sitting around and meditating to wait for the moment to occur. The older he grows, the more his potential wears out. The magister level was definitely not the end point he had in mind.
He spent two weeks preparing his metal for the final crafting of the sword. After extensive research with his teacher"s help, he had a mix of seven different metals that would blend to form his ideal metal to create the sword. The beginning of the third week, Greyson decided it was time to create his sword. He went to bed early the day before and refreshed his mind while preparing himself for the long ordeal. Challenging and daunting as engraving seven symbols seemed, Greyson had a feeling he would be able to accomplish it in one go. Unfounded confidence, but it helped him calm down and concentrate. Old Man Thraec was also in the room with him to a.s.sist with the little things as the a.s.sistant this time. Normally Greyson would be a.s.sisting his teacher so he felt awkward making his teacher do this for him, however, Thraec had insisted on helping because he also wanted to witness the creation of such an absurd tier two magic weapon.
Everything went smoothly and soon he was hammering out the sword shape and sharp tip. He was surprisingly energetic even after the long hammering session and soon he smoothly transitioned into engraving the symbols. As of right now, his weapon only looked like a normal sword that anyone could pick up and use, but he knew that the symbols were what made the weapon magic. Visualizing the patterns within his mind, Greyson concentrated the mana at his finger and began carving the individual symbols. Between his regular six elements, he connected them through an equilateral hexagon shape to cause balance between each one while the lightning symbol was drawn in the middle as it was a rare element that was a mix of other elements. The hexagon symbols went rather smoothly, however, once he was finish the first six, a strong fatigue washed over him. Taking one last deep breath, Greyson did not take his eyes away from the sword at all as he pushed his limits to carve in that last symbol to complete his sword.
Connecting the last line of the lightning symbol finally, sweat pouring from his forehead, Greyson pa.s.sed out from overexerting himself. Thraec quickly moved to catch his disciple while also observing the changes in the sword. A loud hum rang as the sword brightly lit up the room with seven colors and floated in the air. The symbols seemed to come alive as they transformed into black marking tracing around the blade and hilt. Slowly, the colors faded as did the noise and the sword lowered itself back onto the table. Gently placing Greyson down, Thraec approached cautiously to look at the final product. The beauty of the sword really took his breath away.
Slim single-edged black blade that s.h.i.+ned like obsidian. The engraved symbols had transformed into silver dragons carved into the blade and the hilt. On first look it look like those treasure swords that n.o.bles bought just to hang instead of a weapon used to create damage, however, Thraec"s eyes could see the dangerous aura that manifested around the sword. Looking at the creation of his student, Thraec"s eyes flashed with decision and he left the room quickly.
...
Greyson slowly opened his eyes, but the minute he did that the room around him spun and a terrible headache pounded in his head. These were all signs of overdrawing his mental energy which he had done before so he somewhat expected this, but he had never experienced this level of pain before. Holding his head in his hands, Greyson just sat on the ground for a little trying to orient himself. Soon the feeling faded and he could stand to look around. He was still inside the workshop on the ground, however, his teacher was no where to be seen. At first he was confused as to why, but then he thought of his sword and those thoughts were quickly pushed to the back of his mind.
On the metal table lay a beautiful black and silver engraved sword that had a dangerous gleam. One side of the blade was dull while the other was sharp which was odd to Greyson because double-edged swords were the norm. Usually the final transformation of the weapon reflected the owner"s thoughts, but Greyson was not sure what this change is supposed to represent. Feeling an automatic attraction to the sword, Greyson slowly approached and placed his hand around the hilt of the sword. The minute he touched it, the sword cried out almost in happiness scaring Greyson. However, he could feel a distinct connection between him and this sword that was different than the connection between him and Mesmer. The connection reminded him of his and Lucius"s connection. Easily lifting the blade, Greyson thought of some of the new sword-matching spells that he learned. His eyes flickered to a ruby red and, to his surprise, his sword followed along when the black blade turned a deep red while catching fire. Testing a theory, his eyes flickered to blue and his sword yet again followed by turning a beautiful blue with an icy temperature radiating from it. His eyes stayed the blue but he stopped having his mana flow through the sword which caused the blade to revert back to its black state. It changed colors too!
Excitement coursed through him as he looked at his finished product. It was exactly as he imagined. The blade was too long for his body, but it was thin and light so the weight was just right. The blade side was extremely sharp and could cut through the tough metal inside the workshop like b.u.t.ter. Even the hilt fit right into his hand like it was originally there to begin with. Pleased with himself, Greyson continued playing around with his sword until he heard the workshop door slam open.
"Oh, you"re awake?" Thraec came walking in.
"Master, you are too much. You just left me alone lying on the cold workshop floor. Couldn"t you have at least moved me to the sofa?" Greyson playfully complained.
"Hmph, as if those kinds of conditions would really faze you. I had more pressing matters so obviously I went out instead of babysitting you."
"More pressing?"
"These." He said as he handed Greyson an old black book. Curious to the contents, Greyson quickly opened the book only to realize that it was tier three engravings! It even included his teacher"s reflections on the creation process.
"Teacher, but I thought?..."
"That I said you weren"t ready? Because then you really weren"t."
"What? What has changed?"
"Haven"t you noticed? That sword is different from your other creations, isn"t it?"
"Yeah... I don"t know how to explain it. There is just a stronger connection."
"That"s because it is spiritual. You have brought it to life. That is the first step into tier three magic tools. Well, I guess bringing it to life is an exaggeration. It doesn"t really have any thoughts, but it can grow with you as long as you continue growing as a blacksmith and refine it again. n.o.body else can use this weapon, either. It will only belong to whoever you intended to refine it for. Thus, in the future, when you make other weapons, you should understand that tier three and above must have a specific person in mind or it will not succeed. If you want to make any random weapon that others can use, then you can only create tier one or tier two. At some point, maybe you could really create a weapon with a soul. However, that"s a long way away from this initial step that you have just taken. Who know when or if you could reach that point."
"Spirit..." Greyson looked at his sword in amazement and realized what the earlier connection that he felt was. The more he learned of the world, the more he wished to continue becoming stronger and moving forward. There were so many amazing things that magicians and magic stemming occupations could do. Was it because they drew from the world"s energy that even amazing things like giving something a soul could be done?
"Have you thought of a name?" Thraec suddenly asked. Greyson blanked a little when realizing that he had not given it any thought after all the preparation had taken his attention away.
"No, I haven"t," he replied shaking his head.
"How about Genesis? It feels like this sword is the beginning of your real journey as a blacksmith and it is the last thing you"ll probably be making with me before you leave for your new beginning." Hearing the name, Greyson automatically loved it, but, at the same time, he was saddened by the following words. Although it had only been around 3 years, all of his teachers were extremely important people in his life. Thinking of leaving all of them and joining a new kingdom, city, and academy really made him feel lonely just as he had felt leaving Sister Lily.
"I really like the name. Genesis. That will be its name from now on." He smiled and lifted the sword while running his hand down the blade.
"Don"t be too sad, Greyson. Your teachers, including me, wish to see you continue moving further and further along. You have already reached my level, so I have nothing more to teach you, but you could be a different version of pride for me if you become a much greater blacksmith than me. The pride of knowing that you are my student and that you started with me and continued on to become an amazing person that others can only look up to!" Thraec could obviously see the sadness and attachment his disciple was feeling before leaving, but he did not want to be the thing holding Greyson back from achieving all that he is capable of doing.