Novel Leonel's Workshop

Hello there, Leonhart here. Now, a new update is here, but as some of you may notice, this chapter's numbering is a bit strange. Well, that's because I've already decided to make a whole chapter dedicated to the crafting process, which will be chapter 4. This chapter can be said as a sort of "filler", and apologies for the short chapter, because I got this idea and I was enthusiastic to write this down, but at the same time I realized I still haven't done any solid research of how a crafting process actually goes. So, for the meanwhile, please enjoy this short chapter, and I'll post a new update in about 2 or 3 days, after my exams and my research are completed.

Happy Reading!

Chapter 3.8: A Mysterious Item

The sun is already low when Leonel arrives back at the workshop.

"I'm back," Leonel said as he steps in.

"Oh, welcome back," Hans replied. He's alone in the storefront.

"Where are the others?"

"Mark is in the glass making room, while master is in the back, fine tuning the sickle. Did something happen?"

"I need to speak with master," Leonel replied as he heads towards the back room. Inside, Klaus is in the middle of the sharpening process, grinding the blade as he tries to make the equally sharp.

"Master, I'm back," Leonel said towards him.

"Welcome back," he replied. "So, when will you start working on the request?"

"That is what I need to talk about, master. I'm here to ask you to let me do the request," Leonel replied. As he listens, Klaus lifts the blade, taking mental notes of the reflection of the light on the sharp edge of the blade.

"That 's something we already decided upon, isn't it? Is something the matter?"

"Well, actually, I need your help in making this one. Your directions, to be precise."

"Why?" Klaus asked as he grinds the edge again, apparently finding some of the edge that is not yet uniformly sharp.

"Well..." Leonel hesitates for a bit, unsure how to break this to the master. "Apparently the ingot made from the client's sword is almost perfectly pure."

"Ouch!" Klaus suddenly jolted while holding his finger. When Leonel takes a look, one of master's finger is bleeding; apparently he cut himself with the blade. He then reaches for a cloth stored nearby, then wraps his finger with it.

"I'm sorry Leonel, say that again?"

"Like I said, the ingot made from the client's sword is already almost perfectly pure." Leonel replied as he takes out the ingot and shows it to his father. Master then takes it on his hand and weighs it. He then scratches his head, showing signs of confusion on his face.

"Leonel, just to be clear, who said that this ingot is already almost perfectly pure?"

"It was master Grunag," Leonel replied. Klaus then shows a more confused face.

"Strange... This is... But no, could it be wrong?" he mumbles.

"What is, master?"

"No, I'm just confused with the state of this ingot. How did he make this?"

"More or less he used one of the furnace and heats it using magic," Leonel replied.

"Hmm..." Klaus scratches his chin. Afterwards, he turns to Leonel. "I don't know hot to tell you this, but I don't think what Grunag said is correct, regarding this ingot being almost perfectly pure."

"Why so, master?" Leonel replied, even more confused.

"I don't know how to explain it, but something feels off about this ingot." Klaus answered while looking at the ingot, trying to figure it out. "How much did you pay Grunag for this one?"

"2 silver coins, master."

"Hmm..." Klaus rotates the ingot again and again, and then tries throwing it in the air before catching it. He does this a couple of times before finally giving a long sigh. "I'll be frank with you Leonel, I have no idea what I'm holding here. It doesn't feel like pure iron, that I'm sure of."

Upon hearing this, Leonal starts to shiver. "Did I just make a big mistake?"

"Well, since you've paid for it, nothing can be done, I suppose. Re-melting this ingot may just cause it to transform further. Let's just try to work with it tomorrow," Klaus said, relieving the tension on Leonel's mind. "I think I'll do as you say. Apart from this being your first time, I'll need to pay close attention to this ingot; so if needed I can blast that old dwarf's ear in."

"Understood, master. Do you need any assistance on the other things?"

"No, I'm fine. You go and get some rest. You'll need a lot of energy tomorrow. Just leave the ingot here, I'll try to figure out something about it before tomorrow."

"Understood, master." Leonel replied.

"Oh, and call Hans for me will you?"

"Okay, Father."

"Leonel. Where are we currently?"

"Ah, my apologies, I forgot that we are not back at home yet. Understood, master." Leonel said before he exits the back room. He spots Hans still standing in the storefront area. "Hans, master's looking for you." Leonel calls out to him.

"Thank you Leonel. Going home for the day?"

"Yes. Master said that I'll need to gather some energy for the request tomorrow. With that said, I'll be heading home first, Hans."

"Sure, go get some rest. Be sure to get enough sleep," Hans replied before stepping in to the back room. After seeing Hans go in, Leonel then turns and heads home, which is located near the workshop.

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Hans steps in to the back room inside the workshop.

"I heard from Leonel that you called for me, master?"

"That I did. Come in." Klaus replied while checking the sickle. Apparently he's satisfied, since he breaks a small smile and a little sigh of relief; an old habit the apprentices noticed that shows itself whenever the master feels satisfied about his work.

"I assume the work went well?"

"You can say it that way, although I did cut myself a little."

"You cut yourself? That's rare."

"Just a small cut on the finger. Don't worry, it's nothing big." Klaus drives away Hans' concerns. "Anyways, I want to hear your opinion on this," Klaus said, holding an ingot.

"Is that the one from Leonel?"

"It is. Leonel said according to Grunag, this ingot is almost already perfectly pure iron."

Hans is confused upon hearing this, but it seems that his master isn't joking.

"I'm sorry, did you just say 'almost perfectly pure'?"

"That I did. And that is exactly why I want.. no, need your opinion on this." Klaus says as he extends his hand towards Hans, urging him to take it. Hans complied.

"So this ingot is supposedly almost perfectly pure?" Hans asked, weighing the ingot in his hands, but immediately afterwards he feels something a bit off. He tries weighing it and throws it into the air a few time, imitating what Klaus did earlier when he just received the ingot from Leonel.

"So, what do you think?" Klaus asked after Hans stops assessing the ingot.

"I'm not sure how to say this, but I'm not sure this ingot is pure iron. I actually feel it's something else altogether."

"What makes you think that way?"

"I can't tell. It just feels like it, like something's off with this one. The weight it carries when I catch it, almost everything is different from the iron ingot I know of, pure or impure."

"So it's not just my feeling then," Klaus said. "Now I'm a little bit worried about tomorrow, though."

"I more or less understand your concerns. Here we have an ingot which is not wholly iron, but not a whole new metal. Meanwhile, the one who's going to work with this doesn't has any experience of crafting the weapon from start to finish."

"Exactly. I don't even know if we can work with this ingot or not. Unfortunately, Leonel already said that he's going to work on it. I'm not going to go out there and destroy his spirit by saying anything of the contrary."

"He actually did? Well that's a surprise, considering his unwillingness to do the project earlier."

"I guess something happened during his trip to the smelter," Klaus sighed dejectedly. He's basically betting his shop's reputation on trying to work on this request, now that it comes to this.

"The thing that relieves me the most is he actually asked me to supervise him tomorrow."

"Well that's a good sign," Hans replied. "At least he knows what he probably can and can't do." After this small exchange the two of them goes silent.

"Oh well, we already accepted the request and the payment. All we have to do is try our best fulfilling the request."

"As you said, master."

"Well, let's close the workshop for the day. I've got a feeling tomorrow will be an eventful one. You and Mark go and take a rest. I'll need everyone on the workshop tomorrow."

"Understood, master. I'll relay it to Mark," Hans replied. As he steps out of the room,

"Oh, and Hans?"

"Anything else you need, master?"

"After this let's make it so that we accept the payment after the request is completed when Leonel 's the one who works on it." Hans let out a small giggle as he hears his master's unexpected comment.

"That will be a good idea indeed."

 

Chapter 4: Rebirth (Part 1/2)

The sun is already on top of his head when Grunag awakes from his alcohol induced slumber. As your typical dwarf, Grunag is a master when it comes to dealing with metals, and nothing makes him happier when he sees someone that takes care of his or her crafted items meticulously. Yesterday's Albert was a special case, and celebrated for this one special case he did.

He stretches for a bit after waking up, and then as usual starts heading towards the smelter. Even though he can use magic, there's no way he can fulfill all the requests by himself, so he hires a few workers to work at the smelter. The bad point is that none of them can use magic, so Grunag along with the others need to fire it up before work everyday.

"Aight, everyone here?" He adressed his workers. After a quick head count, he finds that everyone is present. "All right then, let's get to work!" He barked a command at his workers, and they dispersed into various spots on the smelter. Grunag's daily routine starts with heating up the furnaces; As the one who can use magic, it's up to him to make the furnace operatable. After that, the only thing he needs to do is to do a quality control towards the produced items.

After a few other furnaces, he turns towards the one he used yesterday to process Albert's sword. He smiles as he remembers the events that transpired yesterday. As he opens the small hatch, he noticed something lying on the ground inside the furnace.

"Oh no, no no no no no." Grunag starts to sweat. "I've made a big mistake."

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The sun has yet to rise when Leonel awakes from his sleep. He's full of energy, likely because he wasn't as tired as usual when he went to bed yesterday.

"Today's the day..." He muttered. Today will be the first time he does a full smithing process from the beginning to the finishing. He can feel his anxiousness rising. After lying for a while on top of his bed, he gets up and makes it, and then heads towards the kitchen. He opens one of the cabinet in the kitchen and take a piece of bread from inside the cabinet. He tries to eat it, but because of his nervousness he doesn't have any appetite. In the end, he only eats about half of the bread, and then he drinks some water to wash it down.

"I guess I'll just eat it for lunch or whenever I'm finished with the smithing process," Leonel murmured. He wraps the bread, and after mulling about what to do for a bit, he decides to head towards the workshop. He exits the house and starts walking towards it.

After walking for a bit, he arrives there. He then steps inside after spending a few seconds in front of the workshop. The cold air and smell of metal welcomes him inside. After putting the bread on the counter in the store front, He lights the torch on the wall, and heads towards the back room.

The same cold air an the sight of an unlit forge welcomes him there. He puts the torch on the wall stand, and touches the forge. He runs his hand along the forge, feeling the cold iron on his skin. After feeling somewhat satisfied, he takes a look at the ingot on top of the table. Same as the forge before, he runs his finger along the ingot, the cold feeling somewhat soothes him of his anxiousness.

"You're up early, Leonel. Did you have a good sleep?" Someone asked from the door.

"Yes I did, Hans. Thank you for asking." Leonel replied. Hans doesn't reply, instead he heads towards Leonel who is currently standing in front of the table.

"Feeling nervous?"

"I'll be lying if I say I'm not."

"Well, there's a first time for everything." Hans replied. Even in the dim light of the torch Leonel can see his lips forming a bit of a smile.

"Don't worry, Everyone will be there to guide you."

"That's both a relief and a stress, I guess," Leonel replied. "Making a mistake in front of you and master will be embarassing."

"He already said his mind about this yesterday, didn't he?"

"As if you weren't nervous when you had to forge for the first time in front of master."

Hans lets out a small laugh when he heard this. "Fair enough," he said. "I was feeling really nervous back then. In the end everything turns out alright though, so no need to be afraid. We'll look out for you." Hans said, patting Leonel's back. He feels a bit of relief upon hearing this.

"Thank you, Hans. That's reassuring, really."

"Don't mention it. Anyhow, let's light up the forge first. It seems it won't be long until master arrives here. Don't worry, I'll do it this time. Consider this a little service for you," Hans said. After that, he heads towards the forge and grabs some coke from a sack beside the forge. He puts it on the small compartment beneath the forge, and then scoops some coal inside as well. Afterwards, he grabs the torch, and brings the flame towards the small mound he made. After a few minutes, Leonel can feel the temperature rising a bit. Apparently Hans managed to light the forge up, and after returning the torch to the wall stand he is now operating the bellow, blowing air towards the coal mound. After a few more minutes, the flame becomes bigger, and the temperature of the room rises exponentially. Hans scoops more coal and operates the bellow even further, and as a result the flame is now visible inside the forge.

"I see you're prepared," Klaus said as he enters the back room.

"And why are you the one lighting up the forge, Hans?" Mark, who came in with Klaus, teases Hans as usual.

"A small service for Leonel," he replied while smiling. Klaus just shrugs his shoulder upon hearing this. Meanwhile, Hans keeps on blowing in more air, and now the room feels hot; the smithing process is ready to begin.

"Well then, Leonel, go ahead." Klaus declared. Leonel does a small nod to answer Klaus. He picks up the tong and proceeds to clamp the ingot with it.

"Hans, would you mind making it a little bit hotter?"

"Of course," Hans answered. He then scooped in a bit more coal and bellows in a little bit more air. Leonel can see the flames getting bigger. After a brief moment of hesitation, he then inserts the ingot to the forge.

"..." Klaus and Mark observes silently from near the table. Leonel doesn't pay any attention to them, though. Instead, he focuses wholly on the ingot that is slowly turning red from the heat inside the forge. After it turns bright red, Leonel pulls the ingot out of the forge, and puts the ingot on the anvil beside the forge. He takes a hammer, and then starts to pound the ingot, trying to flatten it.

*clang* *clang* *clang*

As he hammers away, hammerscales begin to fly around the anvil. Just like Grunag said to him, he doesn't hammer it excessively. After a few minutes of pounding, the ingot starts to cool down, so Leonel puts it back in to the forge. After it's bright red again, he repeats the process of hammering the ingot in an attempt to flatten it. After a few repetitions, 3/4th of the ingot has started to flatten, only the portion by the tongs remain thick.

After reheating the ingot, Leonel starts to pound at the thicker part of the ingot. Different from earlier, he hammers this part carefully, trying to make it so that a section can be used as the sword handle. After a few times, Leonel finally managed to make a protrusion meant to be the handle. The others still only watch in silence. After that, Leonel reheats everything again, but this time, when Klaus stops him when he's about to start pounding again.

"Hold on, Leonel. Have you decided on the shape of the sword yet?"

"Ah, thank you for reminding me, master," Leonel replied. He quickly racks up his brain. He has watched master and Hans craft multitude of swords; from the common ones to the trickier ones, Leonel has watched most of them.

"The problem is, this time I'm not watching, I'm creating it. Besides, there's also the matter of the nature of Albert's request," Leonel thought. He finally concludes that there's only one shape he can make for now. "I'll make the common diamond one, master."

"Ok. You may proceed."

Leonel nods towards Klaus in reply. He then proceeds to hammer the shape down, Leaving the middle area thicker than the edges. After around half a day of constant repetition of the process, Leonel finally manages to create the basic shape of the sword. It's still rough, but at least he can see clearly the shape of a sword. Upon seeing this, the other 3 also nods in approval.

"Yep, that's not bad. Good work so far," Hans said.

"Thank you, but there's still a long way to go," Leonel replied.

"True, but at least you got the basic shape right. Go heat it and then let it cool off so that you can have an easier time grinding it," Klaus said.

"Understood, master." Leonel then reheats the sword, and then lets it cool down besides the forge.

"Pardon, master, but is it okay if I eat lunch for the time being? I didn't have enough for breakfast earlier."

"Go ahead. We'll watch the blade for you."

"Thank you very much," Leonel replied before heading out towards the store front. The bread he put earlier is still there, so he unwraps it and proceeds to eat it. Before he can eat a single bite, though, Grunag arrives at the workshop, looking panicked.

"Oh, master Grunag, good afternoon. Is there anything wrong?" Leonel asked.

"Well, about that, lad..." Grunag seems uncomfortable. "Well, I made a mistake when I melt the sword yesterday."

"So you did do something wrong, eh Grunag?" Klaus said while suddenly going in to the store front.

"Aye, Klaus. I missed something yesterday because of the excitement."

"Can't help it now. Leonel's already starting to work on it."

"Really? How was the hammering, lad?"

"It was normal enough, I guess?" Leonel replied, a little bit confused.

"So, what was the mistake?"

"Ah, that." Grunag scratched his head as he said it. "There was a bit of coal inside the furnace that I forgot to take out yesterday."

"Isn't it normal?"

"In normal circumstances, yes. But yesterday I used a lot more heat than usual to melt the sword. It was a really good sword, so I don't want any clumps and whatnots inside the ingot."

"And you're saying that may change what we are working with here?"

"Aye, ye can say it that way."

"Well, why don't you come inside and take a look then? The sword's currently being prepared for the grinding part."

"Still got a job to do, sorry. Sorry for troubling ye, lad. Lemme give ye extra stuffs next time you buy something from me. Consider it as a form of apology." Grunag said apologetically.

"Well, what matters now is that we try to make the sword. Can't be helped, what's done is done. I'll be holding on to your words eh Grunag." Klaus answered.

"Aye, deepest apologies. Well then, this may not be proper for me to say this, but good luck, lad. I need to go to work. I'll see you in the evening if ye have the time."

"Thank you, master Grunag."

Grunag then turns around and exits the workshop. He didn't mention anything about being called master.

"Maybe that's his own way of apologizing," Leonel thought.

"Anyways, you can rest a bit more. Next comes the grinding part, and you'll need every bit of concentratoin you can muster. Don't forget to eat your lunch."

"Yes, master. Thank you for the reminder." Leonel replied. Then he silently devour the bread in silence, trying to recover every last bit of energy he used. After a few hours have passed, Hans called from the back room.

"Leonel, master, the sword has cooled down and is ready for grinding. Shall we proceed?"

"Of course. Let's go then, Leonel." Klaus stodd up while replying to Hans.

"Understood, master." Leonel and Klaus then heads back towards the back room. Hans then hands the sword over to Leonel, which he receives. Afterwards, he sits in front of the grindstone; his pedal resting on the pedal, ready to operate the grindstone.

"Master, is there anything I need to pay close attention to in this process?"

"A few. First, since it's a double-edged sword, make sure to grind everything as evenly as possible. That means no side is thicker than the other, and since you're using the diamond shape, the sword should be symmetrical. Second, be careful not to overgrind, as it can reduce the size of the sword drastically. Don't worry, if anything goes wrong me and Hans will be here to help you." Klaus answered Leonel calmly.

"Understood. Thank you very much, master. Then, I'll start the grinding," Leonel said upon hearing Klaus' answers. He then steps lightly on the pedal, and the grindstone starts to turn. Gently, he touches one of the edge of the sword to the grindstone, and sparks fly around as he does that.

"Good, just like this, slowly..." Leonel thought silently. His eyes are glued towards the sword and the grindstone. Slowly, he moves the sword up and down, and left and right as he keeps the grinstone turning. Slowly but surely, the edge he's grinding gets smoother and smoother, and Leonel can start seeing the shape resemble a finished sword even closer. He stops the grindstone for a moment, and turns the sword over and starts to grind the opposite side of the sword. After a few moments grinding, he stops and takes a look at the sword from the hilt. He can see the shape a bit uneven, so he re-grinds it for a bit and takes a look again. This time, he feels that it is uniform enough, so he lets out a small sigh of relief.

"Let me see that for a bit, Leonel." Klaus said. Leonel nodded and then stands up from the grindstone to give Klaus the sword. After receiving the sword, he does the same thing Leonel just did and looks at the sword from the hilt part.

"Good, this should be enough. Now do the other side. Don't forget, try getting a symmetrical grind throughout so that it can fit in the scabbard perfectly and without difficulty." Klaus said while handing the sword back.

"Understood, master." Leonel takes the sword and sits back down, preparing to grind the other side. He steps on the pedal, and as the grindstone turns he repeats the grinding process on the unground side. He takes his time, doing it slowly in order to get the shape of the sword perfectly symmetrical without sacrificing the sharp edge. After doing it for quite a while, he stops the grindstone, and then takes another look at the sword the same way he did earlier. He can see that the other side is a little bit thinner, but the difference is miniscule.

"Is this fine enough, master?" Leonel asked while giving the sword to Klaus.

"It better be, seeing that the sun is already starting to go down when you were grinding," Klaus answered while taking the sword. After examining it for a bit, he breaks a small smile.

"Yes, this is good enough. To be honest, it exceeds my expectation." Klaus said. "Hans, you take a look," Klaus said while giving the sword to Hans, which the latter duly accepts. He then examines the sword for a few moments, and breaks the same smile that Klaus did.

"Well, master certainly wasn't exaggerating. However, you need to grind it a little bit more, Leonel. This sword is not sharp enough yet," he said while handing the sword back to Leonel.

"Understood," Leonel replied. He then proceeds to carefully grind the edges of the sword. After the whole grinding process, Leonel runs his finger along the edges of the sword. It feels sharp, but since he isn't convinced, he then puts the sword under the torch, trying to see the reflection of the sword. The edges gives off a glint under the light, and Hans and Klaus takes a closer look as Leonel does this.

"Nicely done," Klaus said. "You did a good job for the inital parts." He then pats Leonel's back.

"I'll get the forge ready for the quenching," Hans said after looking at the sword.

"Thank you, Hans. Please prepare the oil as well."

"Understood." He then sets up a tube filled with oil on the side of the forge. Afterwards, he heats up the forge even more, scooping even more coal and pumping more air. Leonel can feel the air getting hotter by the second.

"Go on, it's ready," Hans said to Leonel. He nods upon hearing this, puts the whole sword in to the forge using a tong.

Leonel lets the sword rest for a few moments inside the forge. Afterwards, when the whole sword has turned bright red from the heating, he takes it out, and, with one smooth motion dunks the blade in to the oil beside the forge, flames shoot out from the oil as he inserts it. After a few seconds, the flames die out, and Leonel takes out the blade. The light of the torch is reflected on the parts not covered with oil.

"Nicely done. Now's the time to temper it." Klaus said. "You know what to do, right, Leonel?"

"Yes, master. I need to repeat the quenching a few times to make the sword more solid," Leonel replied.

"Good, you still remember. Get to it, then."

Leonel gives a small nod to answer Klaus. Afterwards, he reheats the sword inside the forge, and once the sword is glowing red, he takes it out and quickly dunks it in to the oil. He repeats the process four times, and after that he wipes any leftover oil on the sword.

"Good job, Leonel," Klaus said. "Let's stop here for the day, the sun is already setting."

"If you say so, master."

"Go home and take a rest. We'll handle the forge and cleaning up." Hans said to Leonel.

"Thank you. I need some." Leonel replied. He puts the sword on top of the table, and then immediately exits the back room. Because of his exhaustion, he forgot to say anything towards Mark and Klaus. He exits the workshop and quickly heads home. The sun has completely set when he arrives in his room. He throws himself to the bed and immediately falls asleep.

 

After further research, I just discovered that the part to be used as handle is called a "tang", something I did not know yet when I wrote the previous chapters. I apologize for this error, and starting this chapter I will start using the proper term for it, and I'll try to edit the previous errors.

Regarding the pommel, the shape of the one Albert requested can be seen here. My apologies because I'm not really sure how that kind of pommel is called, so showing the one I meant is the best I can do.

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 5: Rebirth (Part 2/2)

The sun is already high when Leonel wakes up the next day. After waking up, he sits on his bed, trying to recollect yesterday's events. When he remembers how his master praised him yesterday, he cracks a small happy smile. He then gets up from his bed, makes it up and heads directly towards the workshop. The work is still not yet done.

When he enters the workshop, the other three is already inside and working on each of their own tasks.

"Good morning, Leonel. You're late," Klaus said to him when he sets foot in the back room.

"My apologies, master. It seems I was too tired from yesterday. I'll try my best for it not to happen again."

"Don't worry, it's understandable. Yesterday was your first time forging a complete sword, I still remember my mental and physical exhaustion when I first forged mine." Klaus replied while patting Leonel's shoulder. Leonel feels relieved upon hearing his master's sympathy.

"Thank you very much, master."

"You're still better than Hans though. When he did his first request, he couldn't even get up from his bed the next day," Klaus said, his face holding in laughter.

"Master... I thought you promised not to tell that to Leonel..." Hans said dejectedly.

"Did I? Really?" Hans can only let out a sigh when he heard Klaus' reply.

"Anyways, there's still one more thing to do, isn't it?"

"Yes. The grip and the pommel, I believe," Leonel replied.

"Have you decided what to do regarding the two?"

"To be honest, not yet, master."

"Hmm... So, how will you proceed with the two?" Leonel ponders upon this question for a few moment. Afterwards,

"Master, I'll head out for a bit." Leonel said towards Klaus.

"Okay. Don't take too long, and don't bother him too much," Klaus replied. It seems like he understands what Leonel's answer is.

"Understood," Leonel replied before heading out of the back room and then the workshop. He then walks towards the inn where Albert is staying. Since it's past breakfast time, the inn isn't as noisy as it usually is. Leonel finds Albert sitting while chatting with another man in the dining room.

"Ah, good morning, Leonel," Albert said when he spots Leonel coming in.

"Good morning as well, sir Albert."

"Sir? Since when are you a knight?" Albert's companion asked upon hearing Leonel addressing Albert.

"It's just his way of calling me. I don't know why he calls me that way, but I think we need not delve into that any further. Anyways, is there something you need, Leonel?"

"Yes, regarding the sword, it's almost complete."

"It is? That's faster than your expectations, isn't it?"

"Yes, I have a lot of help from master and the other blacksmith of the store."

"I see, so that's why. Any problems with the crafting process?"

"Yes, actually, it's about the pommel and the grip of the sword," Leonel replied.

"What do you mean?"

"I was wondering your preferences about the two things I just mentioned."

"Ah, so that's what you meant," Albert replied, nodding. "I prefer a slightly bigger one so my hand doesn't slip off the handle. If possible, I like to use the crescent-shaped one, with the crescent facing the blade. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"Yes, I think I do, sir Albert."

"Good. I'm sorry, I'm not exactly the best person when it comes to explaining things. Regarding the grip... please use wood wrapped in hemp, and if possible, please make the shape a little flat," Albert explained.

"Understood. I'll come and call when the sword is done, so please look forward to it," Leonel said while giving a slight bow.

"Likewise, I'm looking forward to the sword. Thank you, Leonel."

"It is my pleasure. Now then, I will be heading off first. Have a good day, sir Albert. And to your companion too." Leonel said before turning around and heading back towards the workshop. He encounters the proprietress on his way out, who is smiling towards him.

"Working hard?" she asked.

"Not as hard as you are," Leonel replied.

"Is that so?" She chuckled. "Well then, take care and work hard."

"I will, thank you ma'am. Have a good day."

After a small walk from the inn to the workshop, he arrives. He immediately heads towards the back room.

"Welcome back. How did it go?" Klaus asked Leonel when he entered the room.

"I got the request," Leonel replied.

"Good job. By the way, here," Klaus said while giving Leonel an iron object the size of his palm. Leonel takes it and immediately recognizes what it is.

"You forgot to forge this yesterday, so I went ahead and made it for you."

"This is... Thank you very much, master. I'll work on it immediately." Leonel then proceeds to heat the thing that he just received from Klaus. After a few seconds, he aligns the hole on the metallic object, and hammers it towards the blade.

"You better do it quickly, Leonel. If it cools down while not in place, it will get stuck there and it will be really difficult to fix," Hans said.

"I'm trying," Leonel replied. He's currently hammering the cross-guard in with a fast pace, trying to get it to the base of the blade. After a few minutes, he manages to install it where it's supposed to be, and leaves it for it to cool down. In a matter of minutes, it cools down, and the hole shrinks back, hugging the tang tightly. It won't budge a bit when Leonel tries to pull it using his hands.

"Nicely done. How about the grip and the pommel?"

"Ah, yes. He asked for a flat wood handle covered in hemp for the grip, and a crescent facing towards the blade for the pommel." Leonel replied.

Klaus rummages a box under the table upon hearing this, and then pulls out two flat blocks of wood, a roll of hemp thread, a metal file, a crescent-shaped pommel. and a yellowish block.

"Hans, heat the glue, please."

"Understood, Master." Hans then takes a metal bowl, puts the block inside and heats it in the forge with intense concentration.

"Master, is it necessary to focus that much when heating glues?" Leonel asked, his curiousity gets the better of him.

"Well, if you overheat it, it will be weaker than usual. So yes, it's actually necessary."

"I see..." Leonel watches Hans intently.

"Leonel, what are you standing around for? You still need to fit the wood blocks to the grip and attach the pommel."

"Oh, right. Thank you for reminding me, master." Leonel then takes the pommel and attaches it to the tang through the hole in the middle of the pommel. He keeps pushing the pommel until it can't move any further, and then proceeds to hammer the tang towards the pommel, widening it and blocking the pommel.

"Be careful so that you don't cut yourself when filing the pommel," Klaus said when he sees Leonel sitting on the grindstone.

"I will," Leonel replied. He then starts to operate the grindstone and files the newly attached pommel and tang on the grindstone until it is completely flat. He tries to pull the pommel, but it won't budge. Satisfied, Leonel then steps off the grindstone and puts the sword on top of the table. He then takes the two wooden blocks and wraps it around the grip. He finds that he needs to file the wood a little bit to make it fit perfectly, so he takes the metal file, and slowly and carefully files the middle of the blocks. After a few minutes filing it, he tries to fit it to the tang again, and this time they snug perfectly.

"Good timing. The glue is ready," Hans said while bringing a metal bowl filled with melted glue and a brush.

"Thank you very much, Hans," Leonel replied. He takes the two items from Hans, and then dips the brush in glue slowly to prevent any excess on it. After that, he applies the glue to the slits in the middle of the block and the two small unfiled parts with the brush. He then proceeds to wrap the tang with the two blocks and presses it strongly, making it so that the two blocks are attached strongly. Afterwards, he applies glue to the wooden blocks, being careful so it doesn't make any contact with the table.

"Now, the finishing touch," Leonel murmured. He then takes the hemp thread, and slowly wraps the wood block with the thread, making sure to wrap it tightly and not giving any space at all between the threads. Once he's finished, he cuts the thread from the roll and finishes wrapping the handle; the wooden block is now completely covered with hemp thread.

"Very nicely done, Leonel. Now let the glue dry. In the meantime, help me with the other requests," Klaus said.

"Yes, master." Leonel then spends the rest of the day helping the others around the workshop as usual. After the day is done, he heads home together with Klaus as usual, and he goes to sleep happily.

The next day, he heads towards the wokshop and finds the sword is ready to be delivered. Apparently, when he was busy helping the others yesterday, Mark silently created a leather scabbard for the sword, something Leonel wouldn't know until the moment he saw it. Overjoyed, he thanked Mark over and over again, causing Mark's face to redden after a while and as a result he shuts himself in the glass crafting room. After the events of the morning, Leonel departs towards the inn with a huge smile on his face. He finds albert standing outside of the inn, and promptly greets him.

"Good morning, sir Albert."

"Good morning as well, Leonel. You look happy."

"I am a bit elated right now, so please forgive my embarassing appearance. Your sword is done," Leonel said while casting a huge grin.

"Really? That's wonderful news."

"It is. Please come to the workshop and take a look."

"Let's go right now, then," Albert said while starting to walk towards the workshop. After a few minutes of walking they arrive at the workshop, where Klaus is waiting with the sword in hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, master. I've been troubling your workshop and your apprentice this last few days." Albert said to Klaus.

"No, no, it's just part of the job. He did quite a fine job for his first full assignment, if I may say," Klaus replied. He then hands over the sword to Albert, who takes it while trembling a little bit. In one smooth motion, he pulls the sword out of the scabbard, and holds it up at eye level. The sword shines under the sunlight; it's white blade reflects Albert's eyes when he looks at it.

"Oh my, this is..." Albert couldn't hide the joy on his voice. He then tries a few swings, still smiling widely. He even does a few sword dance moves, both his body and the sword moving elegantly under the bask of sunlight. After a short performance, Klaus, Hans, and Leonel claps their hands, along with the few people watching. Albert gives a slight bow towards everyone in response, and then turns to face the workshop workers. However, his face is a little troubled.

"Is there anything wrong, sir Albert?" Leonel asked anxiously.

"No, how do I say this... This is definitely a good sword, a really good one, even. However..."

"Do you need a few adjusments for the sword?" Klaus asked.

"No, it's already quite a wonderful sword. The problem is the material of this sword," Albert replied. Upon hearing this, the three people can feel the temperature drop.

"Is it really made of my old one? The ingot we made at master Grunag's place?"

"Yes, it is, I can personally vouch for that. Is there anything out of place?" Klaus replied.

"Well, my old sword was made of iron," Albert answered. "However, I believe this one is made of 'stiehl'."

"Stiehl?" Klaus replied confusedly.

"Yes. It is a new material, recently discovered near my hometown. Supposedly the items made of this material is way stronger than your usual iron items, however the blacksmith that discovered this metal refused to inform the public about the new metal. He even named it after his own name, 'stiehl'. The price of a sword made from his metal can reach upwards to 3 gold coins each." Albert explained. Klaus lets out a surprised face upon hearing this unexpected information.

"I'm sorry? 3 gold coins for a sword?"

"Yes, but it's a price set by the trading guild of my hometown. They justified the price since he demonstrated that the sword made of stiehl will not break as easily as iron swords, a feat they tested by cutting out wood using swords made from the two materials. The iron sword became dull way faster than the steel sword, which can cut cleanly through the wood."

"I see..." Klaus nods upon hearing Albert's explanation. "So what's the worry?"

"I only paid 5 silver coins for this sword, I can't really accept this." Albert replied. Klaus lets out a huge laugh upon hearing this.

"I see, so that's the source of your worry. Please, don't worry, that sword is yours, just like you've paid."

"But..."

"Leonel here already accepted your payment for the sword when you made the request."

"But that's because I thought we will be working with normal iron swords!"

"Whatever the case, the payment is already accepted, and the request is completed. To accept any more money after a request is complete will be humiliating."

Albert falls silent upon hearing this.

"If you really appreciate the sword, then make sure you give it care and affection like you did with your old sword. We can rest easy knowing someone appreaciates what we make." Klaus said to Albert. Albert's face shows that he still has a hard time accepting it, but finally he gives in.

"I understand. By your good will I receive this sword in exchange for the payment of 5 silver coins I gave at the start of the request," Albert stated formally.

"This is a new side I haven't see before," Leonel thought.

"Cherish it well," Klaus replied.

"Thank you very much, master. And thank you, Leonel. I'll be sure to tell everyone about this shop. I'll be taking my leave, then, I need to continue my journey. Once again, thank you very much, master, and Leonel!" Albert said. He then turns away and heads back to the inn while waving his hands.

"So," Klaus suddenly said when Albert is out of sight. "How was it?"

"Tiring. But it was really worth it in the end, seeing him smile like that. I never realized that it can be this elating, finishing someone's request and putting a smile on their face."

"Good, you learn valuable experiences, I believe." Klaus said while patting Leonel's head.

"Well, we need to tell Grunag about the stiehl."

"There's that, but what about the payment, master? It can't be denied that he severely underpaid, assuming his information is true, and I doubt that he's lying."

"Oh, that? Don't worry, it's coming out of your pocket money."

Leonel could hear something inside him cracked upon hearing Klaus' remark.

 

summons @Midnight Rain and @zloi medved for two new chapter, sorry, I forgot to tag you when I posted the previous chapter. And just wondering, is the "watch thread" function the same as subscribing?

 

<3 if we watch the thread.. If people commenting we will get notified too.. XD.. So it's kinda annoying for me.. Lolz.. But maybe it is less work for u tho XD..

 

Chapter 6: A Magic Learning Experience

It is another new day at the Siren's Song workshop. As usual, Klaus, Hans, and Mark is working on the requests that people made.

"Master, is my request done?" Someone asked from the store front.

"Wait a minute, please," Klaus answers, then goes out from the back to meet the customer. Standing in front of the counter is a man clad in black clothes, his hair tied in a ponytail. He wears a strange shoe. Klaus recalls him saying that it's called a tabi, and it is a common shoe on the Higashi continent. He's also the one who requested the weapon that master spent some time working on, the kusari-gama.

"Ah, yes, your request is done. Please wait a minute while I take it from the back," Klaus replied before going to the back room. There, he picks up the sickle-and-chain weapon hanging on the wall, and then heads back towards the store front.

"Here you go."

"Ah, thank you." The man said while taking the weapon from Klaus. He then inspects the blade, and after that swings the weight connected to the chain for a few seconds. "Yes, this is very good, thank you," he said. Then he puts a few silver coins on the table before heading out of the shop.

"How was it, master?" Hans asked from the back.

"No problem, he said it was good."

"I see. By the way, is Leonel back yet? I may need a bit of a help with the request."

"No, he's still learning on the smelter. Do your best," Klaus replied to Hans, who looks dejected when he heard that Leonel is not available.

"I'll try."

Meanwhile, on the other side of town.

"No no no, that's still wrong, lad." Grunag said to Leonel. Grunag has been saying this line for god knows how many times since this morning. He's starting to regret his actions yesterday. Yesterday evening, Klaus approached him and asked him to join for a drink in the inn, which Grunag complied happily. During that time, he learned from Klaus that the sword apparently costs way more than what was paid for it. Grunag felt conflicted about the news; he felt happy that his mistake didn't cost Klaus' reputation to drop, but at the same time he felt bad about the loss they have for selling the sword under the aproppiate price. So, for some reason he volunteered to teach Leonel magic to cover up the losses, which Klaus happily agreed to. In exchange, the shop will buy stiehl ingots exclusively from Grunag and will not make it inside their own workshop.

"I'm trying, master Grunag."

"I know, but... gahh..." Grunag scratches his head. When tested by Grunag, Leonel showed that he has aptitude for magic. He managed to create a small fire when Grunag told him how to, but learning the magic he need is actually more difficult than they both expected.

"Let's take a break while reviewing what ye've learned so far. Forcing yerself won't end well, ye'll just get stressed out."

"Understood," Leonel replied. He then takes sits beside Grunag on the ground.

"So, lad, let's review what ye've learned from this morning."

Leonel then recounts everything that Grunag taught him from the morning. Magic is the manipulation of natural energy that flows freely around everyone, and contrary to popular believe, actually everyone can learn magic. The problem is that those trying to practice magic needs incredible physical and mental fortitude to even try casting a simple spell.

"Good, ye memorized the most basic of the theory. What about how magic actually is achieved, lad?"

"Ah, yes. Like you explained this morning, to do magic you need to take in the energy from the surrounding, 'sucking it in to your body', you said."

"And then?"

"You need to imagine what kind of outcome you want as precisely as possible in your mind. And then, you try to convey the thoughts of the desired result to the natural energy stored inside you, and then try to... uh... as you said earlier, fuse the mental energy and natural energy in a specific way and let this fused magical energy flow out to the desired place, usually your fingers or your palm."

"Good, ye remembered everything correctly. Ye must also remember, that you need to be careful when using magic. For example, like when ye burned yer finger earlier." Leonel's face become red with embarassment upon hearing this remark, to which Grunag only grins. Earlier, Grunag tested Leonel by making him cast a simple fire after explaining to him how to properly use magic. Leonel tried, and he managed to do it for the first try, which shocked Grunag. Unfortunately, it seems the Leonel forgot the part where Grunag said to imagine it 'as precise as possible', as the fire actually burned Leonel's finger where he let the magical energy out. It seems that due to the excitement, Leonel forgot to imagine that the fire should not harm the caster.

"But that was a simple spell, wasn't it, master Grunag? Somehow, your spell feels a lot more complicated than you let out." Leonel said dejectedly.

"Aye, because we're dealing with something we can't see here. In case of fire, ye may easily do it since ye've seen it before; ye know how it behaves, how it looks, and so on. But temperature, we're dealing with feelings here. Ye can't measure temperature precisely, ye can only know if it feels hot or cold. Of course it will be more difficult dealing with something ye can't really understand."

"In that case, wouldn't it be enough to just create a fire big enough so that it can reach higher temperature?"

"And how do ye mean to control that big of a fire?"

"...Good point."

"Quite cheeky, aren't ye, lad? Come one, break's over. Try doing it again, we don't have much time until the sun sets."

"I'll try." Leonel then heads back towards the furnace where he's been practicing. Grunag has said that inside that furnace a fire is lit, but not hot enough to melt iron ores into ingots, and the only way to melt it is to increase the temperature of the fire and the air inside the furnace. He's been trying to accurately picture the rise in temperature, but he found no luck thus far. He's lost count of how many times he tried since he started the training.

Starting to get desperate, Leonel then extends his hands and rests his palms on the wall of the furnace. He then closes his eyes, and starts to think.

"Heat... What is that, in the first place? Can't be seen, only felt. Only there when there's fire." Leonel thinks extensively about the things he know about heat; the conditions, the feelings and sensations. "But that's still not enough. Even after the fire is extinguished, some heat can remain. As well as the warmth of freshly ground metals. As well as master emitting his own body heat during the forging process... Energy? Is heat actually a form of energy?" After thinking about it, Leonel then decides to start.

"Imagine a fire is burning... It's burning so wildly that the heat is unbearable..." Leonel lets his imagination run wildly. "After the fire is put out, you can still feel the heat... A heat without flames..." Leonel concentrates intensely. He imagines the hot air around a torch, the heat around the forge in his workshop. He imagined an empty space where the air is burning without any source of heat around. At that moment, he can feel something in his stomach, a feeling like something is moving around inside it. He felt it earlier this morning, so like he did earlier, he let the energy contained inside him flow out into the inside of the furnace.

"Well I'll be..." Leonel can hear Grunag mumble, but he feels that if he opens his eyes the magic will cancel, so he chooses to keep his eyes shut and focus on the furnace. He lets out more and more of the energy, and after a few minutes, he feels a slight tap on his shoulder.

"That's enough, lad." He heard Grunag's voice. Leonel then stops the energy flow little by little. After he opens his eyes, he suddenly felt his knees buckle and he falls, but Grunag caught him from completely falling down.

"Congratulations, lad. Ye did it," Grunag said while pointing at the side of the furnace; sitting on the ground is a cast filled with molten iron, still glowing red.

"..." Leonel felt happy but couldn't answer him. He felt exhausted, more than he ever felt while working in the workshop.

"Well, ye let too much of your energy out. Can't really blame ye, it's yer first time after all. Ye'll need to practice more so that ye can manipulate how much energy you are actually sending out. But for now, good work." Grunag said.

"...Thank you... master..." Leonel said before slumping on Grunag's shoulder, his consciousness fading away to black.

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"Fell asleep, eh..." Grunag said while looking at Leonel's face. Well, can't be helped, he thought. He exerted too much of his energy. After contemplating for a bit, Grunag then hoists Leonel over his shoulder. The sight of a teen boy getting carried by a dwarf may seem weird, but for now there's no other option. Besides, Grunag feels like doing this for him today.

"Well then, I better get going," Grunag said loudly. "Ye better grew up and be an amazing blacksmith... Leonel..." Grunag then heads out towards Klaus' workshop with Leonel on his back.

 

I was away for the holidays, whew, came back to quite a few chapters to read! I've just got the two left, but I'm really enjoying it so far, I love all the attention to detail! Your research and meticulousness is paying off.

Have you ever watched/heard of the MAN AT ARMS series on YouTube? It's a show made for entertainment, not for education, but they also use and explain a lot of blacksmithing terms, like the bit about the "tang". They make weapons from pop culture like video games, shows, etc. If nothing else, since you have an interesting in blacksmithing, you might enjoy watching. And, while again it's not an educational show, it's still pretty enlightening and gives a lot of visual reference to the process of blacksmithing.

I'll edit when I've finished the last two chapters and give full thoughts then.

ETA:
First my impressions:
I really appreciate that we get a strong sense of Leonel's meticulous and somewhat stiff personality clearly conveyed through the story. I see so many authors stating what their characters are like, but rarely see them actually showing. But with the Leonel's obsessive perfectionism and his use of formalities when referring to others ("master" Grunag, "sir" Albert), it's nice to see his personality actually being displayed in the story without being told directly. That's just one thing I'm super pleased with, and wanted to comment on it, haha. But getting embarrassed over burning his finger, that was sweet! It reminds us that he's still quite young, however mature and steady his personality. Overall, each chapter you're getting stronger and stronger in characterising Leonel and it really comes across.

I like learning about the magic! I especially like that you didn't put everything aside to go on about it in detail. Like with the smithing process - it's very very hard to balance story flow and exposition, and so far, you've done really well. The story keeps it's pacing smoothly.

Also, haha, "stiehl". Nice touch.

Editing comments:
From Rebirth 2/2:
"He finds that he need to file the wood a little bit to make it fit prefectly,"
Needs, not need, and a typo on "perfectly".
From "A Magic Learning Experience":
If "Higashi" is the continent name, as a proper noun it needs to be capitalised.

 

Chapter 7: A Futile Request?

After learning magic from Grunag, Leonel spends the next day in bed, apparently exhausted. He heard from Klaus that Grunag carried him all the way from the smelter to his home, so he makes a mental note to thank Grunag as soon as he's back to full health. Leonel wanted to practice what he learned, but Grunag made Klaus promise him that he is to let Leonel rest for a whole day, so he's stuck doing nothing but laying down on his bed. So, he spends the day inside the house; cleaning the rooms and cupboards, sweeping the floors, and all the other house chores. He wanted to cook, but he has no idea how. "I'll ask someone to teach me later," he mumbles. After everything's done, Leonel feels a bit light-headed, so he heads back to his room and sleeps like a log until the next morning.

When morning comes, unlike yesterday, Leonel wakes up full of energy. He then heads straight towards the workshop. Klaus, Hans, and Mark is already working; Klaus and Hans is apparently doing some requests from the town hall, while Mark is still working on the glass decorations from the town hall.

"Good morning, everyone. Sorry for not being able to work yesterday," Leonel said as he enters the workshop.

"Already back to full health, Leonel?"

"Yes, I'm already fine. Thank you for your concerns, master."

"Good. Help us then, we have lots of work to do."

"Understood, master," Leonel replied. He then noticed a bulk of iron ingots stacked besides the forge. "Master, did something happen while I was resting?"

"We've got a large scale order. According to the reports, they found a dragon's nest, not that far away from here, a little bit high in the mountains." Hans answered in place of Leonel.

"A dragon? Here?"

"Well, that's what the report says. So now we're stuck forging weapons and armors for backups. I heard that the capital even sent a subjugation squad that is already on the way here."

"Is it that serious?"

"I highly doubt the capital will mobilize the troop on bogus claims," Klaus replied.

"Will we be alright, though?" Leonel shrudders at the thought of what could happen if the rumors are true.

"No use thinking of that for now. We'll see what we do when we get there. We can only hope that they make it in time and so that nothing bad happens."

While they are chatting about their worries and thoughts, someone calls from the front.

"Excuse me, is anyone here?"

"Coming!" Leonel replied. He then heads to the store front, where he finds a woman standing there.

"Good day, how can we help you?"

"I want to buy some arrows, please."

"I'm sorry, but we're currently out of stock. We're in the middle of a huge order of..."

"Swords and armors, I know. With the rumors of a dragon and stuff, hardly surprising," She replied curtly.

"Yes, so that's exactly why..."

"Here," She said while handing out an arrow and a scroll.

"I'm sorry, but this is?"

"I need you to work on it now. Aside from the armors and swords, the archers will also need a lot of arrows. And I mean a lot. This is the kind of arrow we need you to make, and this scroll will be the payment."

"I'm sorry, miss, but as I told you..."

"You don't understand, do you? The existence of the dragon is confirmed, and we're running out of time. We need as much personnel and resource as possible, these special arrows included."

"Leonel, is something the matter?" Klaus asked while going out from the back door. She shifts her gaze from Leonel to Klaus.

"Are you the master of this workshop?" She asked.

"That I am."

"Good, let's cut straight to the chase. I need a lot of arrows to assist in the subjugation of the dragon."

"I'm sorry, miss, but it's currently impossible for us to process that request. We're overloaded with requests of armor and weapons, even our glass craftman is switching over to smithing for the time being."

"I know, that's why I brought you these two items," she said while handing over the two items to Klaus.

"I understand, but you need to calm down, miss. We can't understand what you're bringing if you don't explain it to us." Upon hearing this she takes a deep breath a couple of times.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I guess the news that a dragon is nearby gets me too far over the edge."

"No, no, it's alright, I understand. We all are. So, can you explain to us what you've brought today and what your request is?"

"Yes. That arrow is a special arrow developed to subjugate dragons. That spiral arrowhead design has better chance of piercing through the dragon's scale, so we need a lot of them."

"I see. How about the scroll?"

"That scroll is to help you in creating the arrows as well as the payment to this request. It contains instructions how to use 'copy' magic, and it costs around 2 gold coins, so I assume it's more than enough to pay for the request."

"'copy' magic, you said?" Klaus ponders for a while. "Is there a condition to use this magic?"

"As far as I know, you have to provide the ingredients of the things you want to copy. Strictly speaking, it's more of a 'mass production' spell rather than a copy spell."

"I see. And how many arrows would you like and by what day?"

"I'll need a hundred of them by tomorrow."

"Uh..." Klaus seems at a lost for word. "That is almost impossible, I think."

"No, it is possible. All you have to do is copy the arrows using that spell."

"That still means we have to copy them one by one, which will no doubt take a lot of time."

"No, you don't. You can copy multiple same items at once. Anyway, please try it first. If you can't get a hundred, then make me as much as you can. If you can exceed one hundred, then it will be better." Klaus lets out a sigh.

"I understand. We'll try our best, but we can't guarantee anything. Please come back tomorrow for the products."

"Thank you." She then turns around and exits the shop.

"Well then, Leonel. You've just got your next job."

"Somehow I knew this is coming," Leonel said while smiling wryly.

"Here," Klaus said while giving Leonel the arrow and the scroll.

"Try your best. If you can't understand, then ask Grunag to teach you. Just take whatever material you need. This is related to our lives after all."

"I understand. I will try my best."

"All right, I'm counting on you." Klaus then heads back to the back room.

"Well, then..." Leonel then studies the arrow. The shaft is the same as the usual arrow, but as she explained, the arrowhead is different. Instead of the usual triangular arrowhead, this one has a spiral attached. When he looks at the fletching, the shape is a bit different from the usual arrows he know of. It is installed in what can be described as a helix instead of the usual straight one.

"This certainly is different." Leonel mumbles. "Well then, now, the magic scroll..."

 

@zloi Thank you as usual for pointing the errors out! Yes, I'm aware of that show, but somehow I can't get into it, I don't know why. Maybe I', just interested in the end result and crafting itself as an art but not as a process? xD

Also, thank you for the review! I'll do my best to further progress the story and the characters!

 

Chapter 8: "Copy"

Leonel undoes the ribbon that ties the scroll, and then lets the scroll roll open. Leonel reads it silently for a few moments, and then he lets out a sigh.

"That is actually easier than expected..." He mumbles. He then goes to the back room and grabs some feathers, a small piece of iron ingot, and a long, thin block of wood.

"Have you read the scroll yet?" Klaus asked.

"Yes, I have, master. Now I'll try performing it."

"I see. Good luck. Try not to overexert yourself again."

"I'll try my best," Leonel replied before heading out back to the storefront. There, he then grabs the arrow that she left, and proceeds to sit on the floor. He then put the items he brought from the back room on the floor.

"All right, here I go..." Leonel then extends one of his open palm towards the arrow, and the other palm he extends towards the materials. He remembered the instructions written on the scroll:

1. Imagine a bubble encapsulating the object you want to copy.
2. You need to imagine the object inside the bubble as detailed as possible.
3. Provide the raw materials of the object you want to copy.
4. Imagine the materials encapsulated with a bubble.
5. Take in the natural energy, and then fuse it with your own energy.
6. Imagine that the object you are to copy goes in to your body from one of your palm, and then goes out from your other palm along with the fused energy.
7. After the last process, you have to chant 'copy' to finish the process. The materials should then be assembled to the object you want to be copied. If done correctly, the object should be perfectly copied from the raw materials.

Leonel closes his eyes and imagines the arrow encapuslated within a bubble, and he imagines the details of the arrow one by one; the fletching, the arrowhead, and the shaft. He tries to recreate the image of the parts of the arrow, and then, like he did yesterday when he learned Grunag's magic, he sucks in the natural energy around him. He then tries to fuse it with his own energy, and like yesterday, he feels like something is inside his stomach, and then lets the energy flow onto his other palm.

"Copy." Leonel chanted. He then feels the fused energy leaving his body through his palm. He then opens his eyes.

"How did it go, Leonel?" Mark asked.

"Well..." Leonel can only see at the items on the floor. It indeed copied everything, but unfortunately, everything is detached instead of perfectly assembled like the sample arrow.

"Buh..." Mark blurted out. His face grows red from trying to hold in laughter.

"..." Leonel doesn't say anything; he only stares intently towards Mark.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just that it's somewhat funny for me. Ahh... Anyway, you know what went wrong?"

"Unfortunately, no, not at all."

"Let me see the scroll," Mark said. Leonel then gives it to him upon hearing his request.

"Hm, let's see..." Mark reads the scroll for a few seconds and then takes the arrow goes towards the back room. After a minute or two, he goes back out holding an extra arrow and hands both to Leonel.

"How?" Leonel asked in amazement and irritation.

"I just followed the instructions, that's it."

"How come our results are different then?"

"Hmm... Before that, how did you imagine the arrow?"

"What do you mean, how?"

"Literally."

"Uh... I basically imagined the parts and the details one by one."

"Did you imagine the parts in a finished arrow?"

"I think I didn't. I just imagined the individual parts."

"Well there's your problem. The scroll does say you have to imagine the object that you want to copy, that means you have to imagine it in its entirety, not just individual parts."

"Really? I'll try it again. Thank you for the advice, Mark." Mark just lifts his hand as he goes back towards the glass making room. Leonel then goes back to the back room and grabs a few extra materials.

"Alright, let's try again..." Leonel closes his eyes and repeats the process of the magic. The only difference is this time, he imagines a full arrow instead of individual parts.

"Copy." He chanted. When he opens his eyes, this time there's an arrow resting on the floor, but the parts are not as specified.

"Failed again..." Leonel mumbles. "So that means I have to imagine the individual parts conjointed together. Alright, let's try one more time. If it fails I'll ask Mark to teach me." He then closes his eyes and repeats the process for the third time.

"Copy." When he opens his eyes this time, Leonel finds an arrow exactly the same as the sample. He feels happy, but at the same time he remembers that the client requested a hundred arrows for tomorrow.

"Is this even doable?"

"As I said, just try your best, Leonel." Klaus answered while poking his head out of the back room. "At least you already get a grip on the process."

"For individual arrows. I'll try making a bulk next time."

"Good, that's the spirit. Take the materials that you need from the back room. I need to go and see Grunag for a bit."

"Understood, master." Leonel replied. Klaus then heads outside of the workshop. After Klaus left, Leonel heads to the back room and grab quite a few amount of feathers, wooden shafts, and small iron ingots. He then puts the items together and sits down on the floor.

"Now I need to try for the mass copy..." Leonel then arranges the materials and lines them up; 3 rows of materials with one row having one each of the ingot and shaft, and three feathers.

"Let's try..." Leonel then closes his eyes and imagines the arrow again. The only difference is this time he imagines the arrows produced are not one, but three arrows at once. He tries his best to imagine the individual parts of the arrows conjointed together, and when he feels that he managed to do that, he chanted "copy". The result is two perfectly copied arrows and one malformed arrow.

"Have you managed to do it, Leonel?" Mark asked.

"Not as well as I hope it to be."

"Let me try," Mark said while sitting down besides Leonel. He then places the materials in front of him like Leonel did, then closes his eyes and concentrates for a few seconds.

"Copy," Mark chanted. Because Leonel was always closing his eyes when he concentrates, he couldn't see how the spell works. Now that Mark is performing it, Leonel looks in awe as the materials shape and move themselves to produce 3 perfect arrows; the ingots reforms themselves, and the shaft and feathers installs and attaches automatically once the arrowhead is formed. Mark then opens his eyes.

"Looks like I managed to get it right," He said.

"So it seems."

"Let me help you in making these then."

"Are you sure? Don't you have your own work to do, Mark?"

"That can wait. This one, as master said, is more important."

"Should I help too?" Hans suddenly said as he appears from the back room.

"You'll just create unusable arrows and waste our materials with your lack of imagination."

"Guh..." Hans recoiled. "As much as I'd love to deny that... I'll just get the materials from the back room here then."

"Thank you, Mark." Leonel said.

"Don't mention it. It's the least I can do to help." He then heads back to the back room, and Leonel can hear some clanging sound from inside. After a few moments, Hans reappeared while bringing a mountain of feathers, wooden shaft, and small iron ingots.

"Let's begin, Leonel. Don't force yourself to do what you can't."

"I will, thank you for the help, Mark."

Mark and Leonel then spends the day copying the arrows. In the end, Leonel can only copy up to three arrows perfectly, while Mark can make up to 7 if he concentrates perfectly. By the time the sun sets, they managed to make significantly more arrows than requested, their number totaling 250.

"Looks like we overdid it..." Mark said while scratching his head.

"Should we hide this from master?"

"Hide what?" Leonel and Mark visibly shrudders when they hear Klaus' voice from the door. "Were you unable to do it?"

"No, on the contrary, we made too much..." Mark replied.

"How much is too much?"

"We made 250."

"Two hundred and..." Klaus lets out a small sigh. "Well, what's done is done. Just gather and clean up everything, and we'll see if we can ask for more money tomorrow."

"Master, I thought you said that we're not to ask for more payment once we've accepted a price?"

"That was because we were talking with a gentleman. You need to be able to determine someone's character, Leonel. It will help you reach far in this world."

"What about the client this time, then?"

"She's not someone who I'll call a lady, that's for sure. Although she's not a bad person, she's not refined either."

"I see..." Leonel can only nod to Klaus' statements.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Clean up and let's go home."

"Yes, master." Leonel then spends some time cleaning up the remains of the failed arrows and the unused materials before heading home together with Klaus.

The next morning, when they have just opened the shop, the client arrives at the workshop.

"Good morning, is my request done?"

"Good morning, miss. Yes, it's done, all one hundred of it."

"Good, thank you very much. Now give it to me, please, we don't have much time."

"Slow down, miss. We still have something to talk about." Klaus answered.

"As I said, we don't have time! Haven't you heard the news? The dragon took flight this morning!"

 

Chapter 9: And Then, There were none...

"Is that report confirmed?" Klaus asked.

"Yes, it is! That's why give me those arrows right now! We need to prepare!"

"Miss, calm down, please. Is it heading in this direction?" Upon hearing this, she falls silent.

"Now that you mention it..."

"See? Now, I understand that this can develop to a crisis, but I need you to calm down. Even if I am to give you the arrows, if you can't calm yourself, will you be able to shoot accurately?"

"No, I won't... Thank you for the reminder."

"Now, regarding the arrows, your request was for 100 of them, is that correct?"

"Yes, it is."

"Now, here is 100 of said arrows, as you requested." Klaus then puts the arrows on top of the counter, 10 packs of 10 arrows each.

"Turns out it's not impossible after all, huh?"

"Well, my workshop's been blessed with 2 people compatible with magic," Klaus answered.

"I see, that's fortunate. Also, I recall something about you saying there's something that we need to talk about, what is it?"

"We have an extra 150 arrows. My two workers managed to make 250 of them yesterday. What will you do about the extra ones?"

"How much are you willing to give for free?"

"Another 50 at the most."

"Come on, I gave you a magic scroll in payment, you can afford to give a little bit more."

"As valuable as it is, I spent a lot on the raw materials to utilize the spell. I can't just give away my materials for free, so to speak."

"Then, give me the 50, and you can sell the rest."

"If that's your wish then." Klaus then takes out another 50 arrows and puts it on the counter.

"Well then, thank you very much. Pleasure doing business with you." She said as she takes the arrows and then heads out without waiting for Klaus' reply.

"Are all adventurers that rude, master?" Leonel asked upon seeing what just transpired.

"Well, what do you think? You've met Albert, was he rude in your opinion?"

"Far from it."

"Then there's your answer. But still, for it to be this dangerous... Hans, come here for a bit."

"You called, master?"

"Yes, I did," Klaus replied while taking out the moneybox. He then takes out a platinum coin and a few gold coins. "Take this. I want you to go to the stable and buy two horses, right now."

"Is the situation that bad?" Hans asked while taking the coins.

"Better safe than sorry. I'll divide the money to pouches as well, so we can just grab it and run if the worst is to come."

"Understood, I'll be going." He then heads out from the workshop.

"Well then, let's get back to work. Standing around in fear won't help."

"Understood, master." Leonel replied. They then go back to working around the workshop while waiting for Hans to go back from the stable. After a few hours, Hans arrives bringing two horses in tow.

"Leonel, go help him tie the horses in front of the workshop."

"Yes, master." As Leonel steps out of the the workshop, he feels a strong gust of wind, and the ground trembles. Hans, who seemingly felt it as well, turns ghostly pale as he looks up to the sky.

"No... no no no..." He gasped. Leonel then follows his gaze to the sky, and his sight rests at a figure of something flying. It then lets out a huge roar.

"MASTER! IT'S HERE!" Hans shouted towards the workshop, and Klaus instantly jumps out of the workshop upon hearing this. While he did that, the dragon swoops down from the sky, and, opening his mouth, lets out a stream of fire towards where the smelter is. The city soon descends into panic when the citizens realize what is going on.

"Hans, fetch me a bow, a quiver, and the arrows that we made earlier. Leonel and Mark, prepare everything necessary to run, including the horses. Move!" Klaus barks out his orders. The three workers then rush to do everything that was told. After a few brief moments, Klaus heads out towards the city center carrying everything that he asked for.

"Hans, Mark, what are you doing?!" Leonel said when he saw them grab a weapon; Mark grabs a bow, while Hans grabs a huge tower shield and a spear.

"Sorry, Leonel, but we'll leave the preparation for escaping to you!" They both said while rushing towards where Klaus went. Leonel, upon seeing this, heads inside and grabs the money pouches. He then ties it to the saddle of the horses, and then grabs a shield and a sword and rushes towards the city as well.

The city is in total chaos, with people stampeding everywhere, trying to evade the calamity that is nigh. The dragon makes another turn and lets out another fiery breath, this time right towards the city center. Leonel barely managed to evade the flames. He can feel the heat from the breath, and when his eyes readjusted to the surrounding light, he sees a lot of charred bodies in what used to be the plaza.

"Urgh..!" Leonel fights the urge to vomit, and as he approaches the inn, he can see the female adventurer from earlier, Klaus, and a few other adventurers.

"Master!" Leonel calls out to Klaus.

"Leonel?! What the hell are you doing here?!" Klaus shouted towards Leonel, his clothes covered with soot. Meanwhile, the dragon circles above them. It then dives down, and lets out a fiery breath towards the inn where they are gathered. Leonel and Klaus jumps out of the way, but the same can't be said to the adventurers, who are burned to crisp. Upon seeing this spectacle, Leonel throws up, his mind unable to process anything. His feet is frozen by fear, and he can feel something warm on his thighs.

"LEONEL, RUN!" Klaus shouts while jerking Leonel to his feet. Leonel then struggles to drag his feet, which is currently shaking heavily. The dragon, seemingly satisfied with the destruction he created, ascends and circles the sky above the town.

"Master!" Mark shout towards them as he approaches.

"Mark? Where's Hans?!" Leonel asked, shouting. Mark can only shake his head upon hearing the question. As they speak, the dragona attacked the town hall, reducing it to fiery ruins.

"We need to run, now! The city is lost!" Klaus shouted to Leonel and Mark both. The three of them then sprints out towards their workshop. The horses, while clearly panicked, are still tied in front of the workshop. The pouches are still attached as well. Mark and Leonel then untie the ropes and they each ride one of the horse, but from the corner of their eyes, they can see the dragon heading towards their way.

"You two, go! Now! I'll catch up to you afterwards!" Klaus barked.

"No! Master, Let's go! We're not living you here!" Leonel shouted in reply.

"GO! NOW!"

"Tsk!" Mark then dismounts his horse and swiftly delivers a punch towards Leonel's gut.

"Guh!" Leonel is assaulted with incredible pain, and his consciousness starts fading to black. The last thing he could see was the figure of the dragon getting nearer, along with Klaus' back. "Fa... ther..." He then loses his consciousness.

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"Thank you, Mark. Sorry for making you the bad guy." Klaus said as he nocks an arrow. He can't see his face because his back is facing him, but he somehow can feel that Mark's face is currently overflowed with tears.

"Master! You better catch up to us soon!" Mark shouted while whipping the horse, heading towards where the dragon is.

"Good thinking", Klaus thought. The dragon locks on towards Mark and Leonel, but Klaus sends an arrow which bounced off upon contact with the dragon's skin. He launches another arrow, and by a stroke of luck, this one pierces the dragon's left eye. It then roars in pain, then focuses its sight on Klaus; rage is shown on the dragon's face. Meanwhile, Mark has managed to get clear from the dragon's sight and is currently racing towards the northern gate.

"Come here, you vile beast!" Klaus launches a few more arrows, each of them finding their target on the dragon, although it seems to have no effect. Klaus thinks and feels nothing as he keeps launching arrows towards the dragon, even when the dragon opens its mouth.

After this day, Klaus Schmitz is no more.

 

Chapter 10: In Memoriam

Mark is gritting his teeth while he races his horse through the remnants of the north gate. Even though he honestly pleaded to his master to catch up to them, he knows that there would be no chance of it happening, considering the situation that was happening when they parted.

"Damn... Damn it all!" Mark heads towards the forest that lies on the northwest of the town; his right hand handling the reigns while his left hand is on the currently unconscious Leonel's back to ensure he's still with him. His eyes are flooded with tears ever since he left Klaus to face the dragon alone. He rides deeper into the forest, and after a few while the entire forest grew silent, with nothing but the sound of the horse's stride can be heard around them. After a couple of hours riding, Mark finally stops the horse on a clearing inside the forest, and dismounts. He washes his face and takes a drink on a stream nearby. When he's about to mount his horse again, he heard the sound of breaking twigs, and his body tenses. From the bushes behind him, a wild tiger came out.

"Oh no... Did I enter their territory by mistake?" Mark mumbled. It directs its gaze towards Mark, and starts to circle them. The horse is clearly starting to panic as it tries to run, although he can't because Mark is holding on to the reigns. After a low but audible growl, the tiger suddenly plunges towards them while baring its fangs and claws.

"So this is the end?" Mark closed his eyes, ready to accept death. But said death doesn't come even after a few seconds. Instead, he only feels warm liquid spraying towards his face and body, and when he opens his eyes, he sees the tiger's now lifeless body and its head rolling nearby. In front of him is someone brandishing a sword and wearing a leather armor.

"Ah," Mark lets out a small voice. "You are..."

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Leonel slowly gains his consciousness. He feels sick, thanks to the hard punch that he received from Mark. When he opens his eyes, he's in a place where he couldn't recognize; in the middle of a jungle. Nearby he spots Mark and Albert, and a lifeless body of a tiger. There are also a few other men who he doesn't recognize. After being confused, he suddenly remembered the events that transpired before he blacked out. He then dismounts the horse and heads towards Mark and Albert while casting his gaze downwards.

"Oh, Leonel, you're a..." Mark couldn't finish his sentence because Leonel's fist came crashing into his cheek, causing him to stumble backwards. Albert, who is standing nearby, shows a shocked face and stood frozen.

"You... You!!!" Leonel chases after Mark, who is now keeping his distance from Leonel while holding his cheeks. Leonel then lets out a few more punches, which catches nothing but air.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Mark shouted.

"You left master to die! How could you?!" Leonel shouted back, all the while still throwing punches at Mark.

"This idiot...!" Mark then lets out a punch of his own while dodging Leonel's punch, which struck Leonel cleanly on the cheek. Leonel can feel the blood inside his mouth.

"What the hell do you want me to do, huh!? Do you really think we stood a chance against that!?"

"YOU LEFT MY FATHER TO DIE!"

After this exchange and a few exchange of blows, Albert and the other men finally snaps back to reality and moves to restrain Leonel and Mark, with Albert personally restraining Leonel.

"Let me go! LET ME GO!" Leonel shouted while thrashes uncontrollably. Meanwhile Mark is breathing heavily restrained by a heavily armored man, but he doesn't thrash around like Leonel.

"Leonel, calm down!" Albert shouted while still restraining him.

"LET GO!"

Albert then spins Leonel around to face him and delivers a punch towards his cheek, which causes Leonel to fall. He then glares at Albert from the fround, his eyes showing a ddep primal rage towards Albert.

"Calm down! You are alive thanks to him!"

Leonel shows no change in expression as he is still showing an enraged face, but without changing his expression, suddenly tears start falling from his eyes. He then lowers his head and starts sobbing uncontrolably in front of everyone present. Everyone falls silent upon seeing Leonel's miserable form, and no one speaks a thing until a few moments later the ground shakes. They all look upwards, save for Leonel, and sees the dragon flying over them towards where the mountainous regoin is. They all lets out a small sigh of relief, and the only sound that remains is the sound of Leonel's sobs.

"Leonel, let's go." Albert said while taking Leonel's arm and pulls him, trying to make him stand. Leonel's face is ruined after his outburst, but he doesn't care about that at the moment. Albert then heads towards where Mark is, and Leonel can see them talk for a bit before they all move towards Leonel.

"Let's go back," Albert said, and Leonel lets out a small nod. He tries to walk, but his feet has no strength in it, so Albert and his party decides to let him and Mark ride the horse as they return towards Elchkreuz. They walk in slow pace, and the sun sets while they are still walking, so they decide to make camp inside the jungle with Mark and Albert's party taking turns making watch. They told Leonel to rest all night, and he complies without any complaints, as he's currently feeling unwilling to do anything.

The next morning, they depart towards Elchkreuz once more, and after a few while, they see a glimpse of the ruins of the north gate; small fire is still burning here and there, and the smell of burnt things wafts in the air. Leonel and Mark pales a bit, while Albert and his party keeps on walking towards the town without showing their emotions. As they approach, they manage to see the extent of the destruction the dragon caused.

The smelter is completely destroyed, and a burnt body the size of a dwarf is resting besides one of what used to be a furnace. Leonel started crying again the moment he saw the body of Grunag, but everyone press through. The town hall is burned and turned into ruins, a small fire still burning on top of it. Bodies of with various degrees of damage is scattered everywhere. In what used to be the plaza, the burnt remains of the stalls and buildings nearby stands as a reminder of the bustling town. They then sees the remains of the inn, and Albert lets out a pained and sorrowful expression on his face, remembering the hospitality of the proprietess and fellow adventurers; their bodies are littered near where the inn used to be. The body af the proprietess is stuck under one of the pillars; she has been crushed to death while trying to escape after making sure everyone has escaped the inn before starting to run herself, albeit being a little too late.

Leonel and Mark then dismounts, and they head towards the workshop. There, in front of the workshop, lies a dead body of a man that Leonel and Mark has known for so long. Klaus lay lifeless in the same position the last time they saw him, his quiver empty and his lips curved to a small smile. Along his body are numerous holes, one directly above his heart, his clothes is dyed crimson from his blood. Leonel falls to his knees and starts weeping as he is faced with the reality that his beloved father and master is no more. Mark stands while looking towards his body with his fists clenched, and his eyes let out a few tears as well. They both cried for a few moments, and when Mark calms down, Albert approaches him and starts a small talk with him. Mark can be seen nodding a few times along the talks, before finally giving one final nod and delivering a thank you towards Albert. Afterwards, as a final goodbye, Mark closes Klaus' eyes which are still open, and Mark then hugs Leonel while they both cry for another few minutes.

And thus, the curtain falls on the town of Elchkreuz, as it's survivors head out towards a new home.

 

Chapter 11: A New Leaf

It has been half a year since Elchkreuz was destroyed. The attack was so sudden that the subjugation force wasn't able to reach the town in time, and in the end Elchkreuz was erased from the map. Leonel and Mark, along with whoever survived the attack, has left. Now the town's ruins sit undisturbed, the burned buildings a reminder of the past. The nearby mine grows silent, and in the end nature reclaims most of the area where the town used to be.

After the attack, Mark rescued Leonel with Klaus' sacrifice by riding in to the forest. There, he met Albert, who turned back from his journey upon hearing the news about the dragon, hoping to provide whatever reinforcement he can give. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, he was too late to help defend the city, but that lateness saved him his life, as well as Leonel's and Mark's life. Sympathizing with Leonel and Mark, who lost everything after the attack save the money they have, takes them to his hometown, the town of Siexmont, which is located near the sea separating the continent of Yoroppa and Higashitairiku. Because of the advantageous position, the town became a bustling trading hub where merchants and adventurers from all over Yoroppa and Higashi pass through.

Here, in this town, Leonel and Mark lived for a few weeks doing nothing but drowning in depression, after losing the life that they knew. Leonel especially, having cried again and again, and having nightmares about the attack for a few months after the incident. Mark, who recovered earlier than Leonel, spoke with Albert regarding about the life they are going to live after this. Albert, when asked by Mark regarding this topic, simply replied,

"In that case, you can just do what you did before the attack, don't you?"

In the end, with Albert's words as a guarantee, Mark and Leonel were registered to the merchants guild in the town. There, they are given permission to run their own workshop, as long as they abide by the rules of the guild. Afterwards, after spending some money to buy the equipments they needed, Mark opens a new workshop on a small building a little bit away from the main road.

"Why didn't you buy a place near the main road?" Albert asked when he found out what Mark was doing.

"Our money is not unlimited. We can't just waltz in to this town, open up a shop in the most expensive part of the town and hope for everything to be all right. We were fine back then since we were the only workshop in town, but now we have a lot of rivalries. At the least, I want to save up in case something happens."

"Well, that's understandable. Whatever you think is the best, then," Albert replied at that time. Even though Mark said it was to save up, in the end they spent a lot on repairing the place and setting up shop, so Mark goes to work straight away without showing any bit of emotion. As for Leonel, as he stops crying, he starts to help Mark as well. Strangely, when Leonel first came to the workshop, it was named after his name, or to be precise, Mark registered the workshop as "Leonel's workshop". When asked by Leonel about this, Mark only replied shortly.

"I did it on a whim," He said while shrugging his shoulder. Since the paperworks were already done by that point, Leonel can only accept it as is as he starts to come to the workshop to help Mark, wanting to drown his sorrows by working until exhaustion.

It is here in the town of Siexmont, that a new page is starting to be written in Leonel's and Mark's life, with the pharmacist and alchemist from the nearby apothecary coming to pay a visit...

 

To be completely honest with you, I found that having to update 4 sites at once (RRL, Wattpad, NU, and personal site) is a bit... annoying? mendou?

Anyways, I will be prioritizing updating the story at RRL, so apologies if I update it late compared to RRL and my personal site, since I also need to prepare for the new school year.

Cheers!