n

n

nTaking his time Eldrian slowly worked through the disbelief and fright from getting an SSS-ranked quest. As he worked through these he started feeling excited, thinking about what all he would be able to accomplish with this quest. He felt certain that the benefits were going to be great.

n

"Good, now that that is sorted we can move on to your tasks.

" Boran said, having given Eldrian some time to cope - Eldrian having needed it. Boran felt that he likely just received a message from the gods.

n

"Okay...

" Eldrian replied softly, still not completely recovered. Still, he wanted to learn what his daily tasks were going to be.

n

"Your daily task will be to forge a certain amount of something every day. Today there will be none required, you only need to learn how to do what is needed today. From tomorrow you will have a quota you need to fulfill. Weekends will be considered off days.

"

n

"Thanks, I appreciate the time off.

" Eldrian replied, glad that he had a few days he could rest on. He had feared that he would be unable to meet the daily task requirements, but now he felt more at ease.

n

"Naturally, no person can work every single day. But if you want you can come and work here during the weekends, if you want that is.

"

nEldrian simply nodded to indicate that he understood.

n

"Now let us get started with what you are going to do for basically the next week.

" Boran said, picking up some tongs and throwing a dirty stone into the fire with them.

n

"I will be teaching you today, but from tomorrow on you will go to the room where all the apprentices and trainees work. So pay careful attention, as you won't have many opportunities to ask for guidance after today.

" Boran said, implying that he would only help Eldrian after a day's work.

n

"Alright.

" Eldrian simply replied, looking at the stone which was already red hot.

nBoran spoke up as if he could read Eldrian's confusion in the air. Not even turning around to look at him.

"This here is the iron ore we receive from the mines. It has already been processed into actual iron, so we can start forging it without needing to purify it. Its quality is rather low, but I prefer taking them like that. It allows more room for changing the metal itself.

"

n

"Your task will be to work this **ty ore into a good quality ingot for later.

" Boran said, chuckling as he reached this point,

"It will be good practice.

" He forced these words between his chuckles.

n'Ah **, this isn't going the way I hoped.' Eldrian complained internally, again being caught off guard by how real this game was. He had hoped he would need to spend hours at most not days and maybe even weeks just to make some normal weapons.

n

"I'll show you the process now, and then you have to try. I will guide you during your first attempt, after that I am going to continue with my work. You can come and ask for help every two hours, don't just interrupt me when you have a question...

" Boran paused, wanting to make sure Eldrian understood,

"Good, if you have to, write down all the questions you get during that hour.

"

n

"As for the quota you need to fulfill, I feel we can decide on it as you practice. Tomorrow you need to deliver 2 standard iron ingots.

"

n

"Oh right, you can't use inspect yet. Ask one of the ladies at the counter to do that for you. It has to reach standard grade, otherwise, I won't accept it.

"

nQuest: Boran's Apprenticeship, Daily task

nDaily task: Learn how to process iron ore into ingots.

nSuccess: Quest continuation

nFailure: Quest failure.

nDaily task tomorrow: Form 2 standard iron ingots

n

"Luckily our forges aren't the normal ones you find in towns or villages. It is proper magical forges so you will spend most of your time one forming the metal, not needing to wait for it to heat up.

" Boran said placing another ore inside the forge,

"The temperature is also regulated, so the ore won't overheat. But do note that your forge tomorrow won't be as good as this one.

"

nThe ore he had just placed inside was almost as big as his hand, but in a rough spherical shape. Having many sharp edges and even holes on it. It was clearly not processed well, far from modern standards. Eldrian was confused with how bad the ores looked, he couldn't understand why Boran didn't just get better ones.

n

"Boran why don't you just buy higher-quality ores?

" Eldrian asked, failing to keep this question for himself.

n

"Because firstly it enabled me to determine how I want the metal. This isn't too important with non-magical metals, but when magic becomes involved then you never want highly treated metals.

"

n

"Some blacksmiths do buy them, but they are bloody idiots. You have to form the metal before you can form the item.

" Boran said the last part subconsciously already taking out one of the ores he had placed inside. After placing it on the anvil he also took out the other one. Both seemed to glow the same to Eldrian.

n

"This is what I mean about the forges being regulated. The metal will only reach this temperature, and it will reach it uniformly. It need only be inside this forge for 10 seconds, but the forge you are going to work on tomorrow will require around 30 seconds to heat it up.

"

n

"In any case, that is all about heating it. Next is the more important part, forming the metal.

"

nAfter saying this Boran started hammering the shining ore, having placed the extra one back into the forge. As he hammered it parts flew off the ore, Eldrian needing to dodge a few pieces which flew towards for him. He certainly didn't want to get injured from it, as he knew it was near to 1000 degrees Celsius.

nYet Boran kept hammering it as if the flying pieces were nothing to him. Many parts even landed on his arms and chest, yet he seemed to not care.

n

"These pieces which flew off are called slag. There are sometimes iron in them too, but the amount isn't really all that much. I generally bulk smelt all the pieces after a week of forging, even then it will only add up to one or two ores.

"

nBoran kept hammering the ore until it started losing its glow, now just dimly glowing red. He then returned it to the forge.

n

"At this point you should return it to the forge. While you can still work it, the effect will be lessened and the chance to crack the metal increases. Naturally, you don't have to worry about that for the ingots, but it is important when forming a blade.

"

n

"It should now majorly consist out of iron, just need to keep hammering it until it is of a good enough quality.

" Boran said, taking the piece out and started hammering it again.

n'The metal really heats up so quickly. But, how does it do it without the flame being far hotter?' Eldrian asked himself, confused about how the forge worked. Yet this didn't stop him from observing Boran as he worked.

nThis time Boran hammered the iron, but instead of pieces flying off, the metal started deforming nicely. Seeing the speed at which the metal deformed Eldrian felt hope, believing that Boran would finish it in less than two more reheats.

n

"I see you are smiling,

" Boran said having placed the now metal piece back inside the forge.

"Just note that when you start tomorrow you are going to use a plain iron hammer and anvil. Not these fancy ones here. You are also much weaker than me, so it will likely take you far longer to do this.

"

nHearing this Eldrian's face twitched. He was quite angry that Boran just destroyed his hope.

n

"Hahaha, well when you can use magic you can form yourself a decent hammer.

" Boran teased as he placed the almost finished piece back into the forge. After it heated up Boran again hammered it, ending up with a phone-sized iron piece.

n

"It is a bit too small for a standard ingot. Which is good as I can show you how to forge weld the pieces together.

" Boran said, placing this piece on a nearby spare anvil. He then repeated the process with the new ore. Quickly forming it into the rectangular form.

n

"After getting both to this stage you have to heat them both, then hammer them with force.

" Boran said, stacking the two metals on each other and clamping them with the tongs. He then started hammering them with real force, the metals blending into each other with each hit.

nAfter three reheats he had completely melded the two metals and reshaped them into a nice rectangular form.

n

"There you have it, a proper iron ingot. Let's see what quality it is.

" Boran said, picking the metal up with his tongs again.

"Ah nice, it is an exemplary iron ingot.

"

n

"What does that mean?

" Eldrian asked, not understanding what the grading of the metal meant.

n

"If I were to just form this into a weapon or armor, well short blade, as the ingot is a little small. In any case, if I were to form it into an item then that item will be at Tier 5, unless I screw up during the forging.

"

n

"Tier 5, just like that?

" Eldrian asked himself in disbelief. He knew that it would be a normal weapon, since the metal was none-magical. But he didn't expect it to be so good.

n

"Yup, normal weapons are easier to make than magical weapons though. Any blacksmith can easily make even Tier 6 normal weapons. If I work this ingot a bit more I can easily make it a perfect ingot. But it would require almost as much work as getting to here took, so I don't think that is necessary.

"

n

"What tier of weapon will I be able to make with standard ingots?

" Eldrian asked, trying to figure out what his future tasks were going to be. He felt certain he wasn't making these ingots just for the sake of making them.

n

"If you don't screw up during the forming of the weapon, a Tier 2 item.

"

nHearing this Eldrian felt like his bubble just got burst. Tier 2 was worth quite a lot, but he felt certain he was going to mess up in the forging a bunch of times. 'Guess I will really need to practice a lot.'

nSeeing Eldrian's disappointment Boran felt like laughing again, yet he managed to keep himself controlled. He felt Eldrian simply dreamt too much,

"Now you try forming an ingot. You can use this hammer.

" Boran handed Eldrian his hammer as he made way for him.

n'That should cheer him up.' Boran thought, Eldrian staring at the hammer in awe.

n