Chapter 98 Progress at the Forge
Later that same night...
After returning to his home, Vicente meditated for a while, recovering the mana he had spent earlier and even developing the density of his powers a bit!
The magical world was amazing. Having a Magic Gem changed everything about one's progress in the face of magic!
One could become stronger by slowly absorbing mana from nature and evolve their affinities by slowly 'pushing' energy into their bodies and inflating their souls.
This was a standard process that many used every day to become stronger. But there was a better way to become stronger. By training or even pushing yourself to the limit!
A blacksmith could do this by exhausting themselves by making a tool and a doctor by treating a patient. On the other hand, a warrior could exhaust themselves by training or fighting. Regardless of the method one uses to exhaust oneself, one could achieve a special state by exhausting all or most of oneself.
This state greatly facilitated meditation and the absorption of free mana in nature!
To give you an idea of the difference, meditating when one is not exhausted is analogous to a person using a hose in an arid area to draw liquid from underground and replenish it. Meditating after exhaustion was like having a huge water reservoir above you.
In the latter case, the "liquid" would naturally enter your body and not only quickly restore your depleted mana but also provide you with small improvements!
Vicente had felt this again in practice tonight. By the time he finished meditating after the fight with the Acolytes early on, he was already a little stronger.
When he finished meditating, happy with the slight improvement in his mana, Vicente immediately turned his attention to studying the forge.
He had already read half of the books Benson had given him and understood dozens of minerals and the basic theories behind the shape and structure of artifacts.
To learn how to make armor with good defensive properties or a weapon capable of inflicting significant damage without harming itself, one could not simply mimic the shape of those artifacts made by other smiths.
As on Earth, one had to understand the logic behind it, the principles that made something strong. Just as an engineer would have to learn some things to construct a building that would not easily collapse, a blacksmith would have to learn similar things.
The more Vicente read the books, the more he realized the similarities between the chemistry and physics of his world and what the people of Polaris Realm had developed.
In Polaris Realm, people did not have such a deep understanding of reality as they did on Earth. That is, on Earth, even children knew that bodies were made up of systems, which were made up of organs, which were made up of tissues, which were made up of cells, and so on, down to the subdivisions of atoms.
Things were more straightforward in this world, but the idea of being made up of different kinds of tiny particles existed.
In the forge, this was developed by discussing what kind of item went with what, the best shapes, and the logic behind them.
You would not find a mathematical equation that explains these things in this world. Still, intuitively, the answers and justifications in the books led to the same destination that calculations would take.
Realizing this and using what he had learned about physics and chemistry on Earth, Vicente quickly began to understand how to make good equipment.
After reading another book after his meditation, he went to get the forging tools Benson had given him and decided to practice.
He picked up a wooden hammer and began to pound it against a gelatinous substance, something normally used by blacksmiths learning to manipulate the hammer.
Vuup!
Vicente moved his hammer and struck the gelatinous substance, making it tremble as waves passed through his body.
Seeing this, Vicente frowned.
The purpose of this ten-hour training was for him to use only the wooden hammer and his mana to change the shape of this gelatinous substance, turning this large cube into a small sphere.
Seeing that his first move had no effect, Vice felt how difficult this task would be in practice.
'I have to put more of myself into this training,' He thought, directing even more mana than the previous blow and unconsciously improving his stance for the next impact.
Vuup!
Once again, he struck the gelatinous object, but this time, he noticed a small deformation where he had hit it.
"Oh?" He opened his mouth, seeing that he could put even more mana there without risking destroying such a thing.
Vicente knew that his amount of mana was not normal for his level. As he had learned in the Academy of Stars, higher talents and special magic forms did not only tell about the speed of progress, energy efficiency, and type of power. Depending on the talent and magic form, the same magic level could have completely different limits.
That was why he was so strong, and that was why he had naturally been more cautious when he started his evening training with the wooden hammer.
However, when he saw that the item Benson had given him was tough, he immediately began to use it with all his might. In another dozen or so moves, he managed to change the cubic shape of the item slightly.
...
Three hours later, after arriving at his home after the battle with the two Acolytes, Vicente finished his training and took a shower before eating something to go to sleep.
Nina slept peacefully in her room, while Eve had just eaten something and gone to rest a bit since this was the only time of the day she was free of responsibilities these days.
Nina would return to the academy soon, and Eve's schedule would improve a bit. But for now, her life was taking care of Nina when Vice wasn't around, so she didn't have time to train or meditate.
Vicente looked in the direction of his sister's room and went to give her a kiss before going to sleep.
However, after kissing Nina's forehead and reaching his room, Vicente felt something vibrate on his right wrist as he leaned back against the bed and closed his eyes.
He immediately opened his eyes, expressing the anger that anyone would have at being disturbed while lying down to rest.
But knowing that his men would never use this device without a good reason, Vicente was soon on alert, getting up and preparing to run to his headquarters.
"Shit! Who is it this time?" He unconsciously manipulated his metals to form a slightly different armor than the one he wore before.
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