"What a divine skill!" He exclaimed as he felt even the metal objects on his body tremble before Vicente's skill.
Vicente ignored the old blacksmith's comment and manipulated the metals only from his armor, leaving his body with only his social clothes and shaping spears, arrows, and daggers in his surroundings.
"Senior, this is my first skill. I can manipulate metallic materials to take any shape I want. Yet, I can also move them freely within a certain range." He explained the basics.
"This skill is made for the forging world! Little one, you are interested in becoming my disciple, right? Very well, I accept you as such!" Benson said, excited at the possibilities this Vicente skill would bring to his world.
Like any blacksmith, he sought the pinnacle of his craft. Some of his greatest dreams were projects he had never been able to complete for lack of skill, but he had not given up, confident that one day he would find someone capable of bringing his inventions to 'life.'
Seeing Vicente display this particular skill, he couldn't help but think that he had finally found the talent he needed to at least try to make progress on these projects.
Of course, Vicente needed to improve a lot, as his control over this skill was still fragile, and he was creating artifacts with many flaws.
But Vicente had also told him that he had never studied or forged anything. In that case, this boy could develop a lot with his guidance and eventually become a 2nd-stage blacksmith in a few months!
'If all goes well, I can show him one of my ideas to work on together in no time!' Benson thought to himself as he saw the beautiful Red Pentagram spinning around one of Vicente's hands.
Vicente smiled upon hearing this and immediately manipulated the metals back into his body.
"Hmm, but I heard that the senior makes demands on your disciples, right? I wonder what I must do before accepting you as my master."
Vicente was no fool. He would not sign a blank check with such a person!
Hearing this, Benson saw no problem with this young man trying to negotiate with him and quickly said what he expected from Vice. "Lad, the job of a master is to teach, and the very fact of teaching good seeds already has the potential to bear fruit for us masters. But I also have ambitions, running costs, and things I need.
Not every disciple returns to his master what he has willingly received, so of course, I charge my students something. But I won't charge you too much. You will have plenty of freedom to come and go, to study and train with me whenever you want, just like most of my students. But in exchange for the freedoms and what I will teach you, you will have to help me make some of my dreams come true".
Vicente narrowed his eyes. This was rather vague and could range from very simple to extremely complex things.
"What dreams?"
"I want you to help me build some artifacts when you become strong and skilled enough to bring some of my projects to 'life.' After you do that, you will owe me nothing but recognition." Benson said as he sat down beside Vicente.
Recognition was something that almost every master demanded from their disciples.
If one day a disciple became great, no matter how much greater than their master, by promising recognition, they would still have to be recognized as a disciple of 'x.'
Not only that, one could not become a disciple of a new master after accepting the first, so even if they learned from others, they would still have to recognize only one as their true master!
Vicente knew this and was not bothered by Benson's request. "If it is only that, I agree."
With these words, Benson quickly made a Magical Agreement with Vicente, sealing their new relationship before the 14-year-old man could greet his master for the first time under these circumstances.
"The student recognizes the master. Please take me to the top." Vicente said aloud as he bowed his head.
Nevertheless, the two drank alcohol together, a common tradition in this world.
When he saw the young man, who had little experience with such drinks, coughing and his face turning red, Benson laughed and wasted no time. "All right, boy, tell me what you want from the blacksmith's art. Do you want fame as a blacksmith?"
"Not at all, master." Vicente was sincere, knowing he could not lie, though he did not need to talk about his plans. "Like you, I have my projects. But today, I am unable to develop them due to my inability in front of the forge."
"So you will develop your abilities just to complete this project?" Benson saw a lot of himself in Vice and did not say anything like "what a waste." "Very well. I will help you achieve that without you having to participate in silly competitions and tournaments.
But as a blacksmith, you still have to join the association. This is not only an obligation for us but also an opportunity for you."
"All right." Vicente knew that the Association was much bigger than Benson and that it might be useful to him one day.
Benson then changed the subject, leaving it to Vicente to get to know him better in the many moments they would surely have to work together in the future.
Knowing what he wanted as a blacksmith was what mattered at the moment.
"But Vicente, now you have to work hard. You are 14 years old, right? I can see that you have only recently awakened your powers, so even though your magic level is not bad, you are far behind other blacksmiths of the same level." Benson advised.
One did not become a true blacksmith until one passed the test of the Association and earned one's identification in that organization.
But young people began studying blacksmithing as early as 10 years old, after the primary academy period.
By the time Vicente should have stayed at his father's side to learn his trade, many young people would have used those 4 years to develop a basic knowledge of blacksmithing.
They wouldn't be able to create anything without good mana control, something that would come only after Awakening. However, they could learn about different materials, forging techniques, how skills with an affinity for forging changed how blacksmiths worked, etc.
Even if he didn't want to compete with other blacksmiths, Vicente was far behind young people who did this from the age of 10 to 14. As a master, Benson obviously didn't want his apprentice to be so far behind at his age.
Vicente could be missing out on tremendous opportunities by not being as skilled as other blacksmiths of his age and level!
"Starting today, I want you to study the four basic volumes of forging and the use of a hammer," Benson ordered. "Your skills are excellent, and you must think you don't need a hammer. But until you understand how to make something with your hammer, you will find it challenging to make things with your skill.
Mastering the hammer and other forging processes will refine your control over your Magic Pentagram. So do that for now." He said as a pile of books appeared before Vicente, piling up to the same height as him.
A wooden hammer and some training items fell at his feet, along with the books.
"After you read them all and train with these items for 10 hours, return. We'll talk then."
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