Erik in pure bliss was dancing like a madman. He even shakes Alix as if to say "See! that's all for you !" and continue rampaging for a minute in his factory, looking at all the work he would be able to do now that he had an apprentice who by the way wasn't aware yet of this fact.
When realization dawned upon Erik, he stops himself as if nothing ever happened, quite a weird sight for Alix who was a little befuddled in the background. Soon he calmed himself and resume his forging, cutting the long piece of metal Alix had smashed with great care into two equal parts.
Transporting one before his oven, he put it whole in it, the thin metal quickly turning to red. He then began to hammer it with great technicality, telling Alix aloud what he was doing with an innocent look.
-"You see, what's important when handling metal is to know when to hit and when not, Here it's in a highly red ton, sign that metal can be hammered. But when it goes a slightly dark one, you have to put it again in the stove, making sure to always hit it when it's at minimum a shining red."
Alix was curiously watching above Erik's shoulder, interested in this work, having felt a peculiar sensation when he touched the hammer previously. All his cells screamed of the naturality of this motion, green energy empowering him when he hit the lump with his hammer.
It was one of the reasons he could do it this quickly and this perfectly without having a single experience in it. Obviously, he chose to tell a half-lie filled with truth to this big man which he was beginning to be quite fond of.
His honesty and crude way make off an interesting adult, much more than those reserved Elder back in the village, who put on airs and always rebuke him. "Well I probably look for it a little after all, but that was just kid's prank...No?"
- "Actually this door his not really a complex work if not for its height and length. Working with The Art, that is the true meaning of forging !"
Alix quickly had his attention caught. "What? So they know of The Art too? Why didn't they made use of it to feel Emanation if they knew...?"
-"But alas, I saw someone forge with The Art just twice in my life and I wasn't able to understand it nor reproduce it... Even today it haunts me, knowing that I could have been much more, a true blacksmith..."
-"What did it means to forge with The Art?" Alix chose to play it low, appearing unknowledgeable on the subject, and in fact, he was. He just knew one or two notions of the subject.
-"You see, this energy that you are absorbing, improving your body can do so much more than just increasing physical traits. If you know how to manipulate it in a much subtle way than how we crudely mobilized it to blow things up, it can become one of the most frightening weapons in the world."
-"You mean like when Lor warmed water with just a touch? " Alix was a little lost, not having been in the secret of The Art master of his village.
-" Oh, this? Yeah, you could say that, even if it should be truly the worst The Art can do. I think in fact masters of The Art wouldn't allow it to be placed in the same sentence...hehe." Making a little flame appear in his hand to demonstrate his words.
-"WOW! Is this magic The Art?? Can you teach me?" Alix's eyes were bulging, seeing a flame appear out of nowhere, dancing in Erik's hand as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
-" Of course I could, knowing to summon fire is a basic thing for a blacksmith, not really difficult, you could probably be able to do it like this in a matter of weeks. But as for more complex things, I wouldn't be able to help you as even me I don't know any about it. You would have to ask an Art master!"
-" I would love to, but I remember than back in my village, The Art was about a complex matrix of some sort... I don't remember seeing a true flame or other things like this..." Alix didn't realize that under the emotion, he let Erik know about his knowledge of The Art.
"This boy is really wary, even after all this time he doesn't trust us completely, what really happened to him I wonder...? But it's the first time he spoke a little about his village, hopefully, he will continue to open gradually, he seems to be an honest one, even if a little mischievous!"
-"Hmm, you are indeed right. The Art is about constructing a complex structure made of energy that works as you made them to be. And that's the trick, there is a lot of different energy that can be used in one construct, and their interaction makes the result you want. To summon fire is just the basics. It's to work with one type of energy, an elemental one. For this, simple energy conversion can do."
-"You mean a flame in your hand is just the start, but it's already this powerful if used in a fight! The Art seems a lot more useful to me than improving my Levels!" Alix's mind had automatically tried to understand the upgrade he could make in his fighting techniques.
-"Ahaha, don't belittle The Abraxas young man, after all, The Art come from it, and it's much more vast than anything you could imagine. It's not just a way to improve your body, it's much more than that even if I don't really know all the ins and outs of it." Erik was a little downcast when telling him this, he knew he lost his window to truly climb the scale of the world.
-"Sorry, it truly seemed to me a while ago that The Art was really all-powerful, and now because of you, I want to know more about The Abraxas too! You are truly a bad guy to play with my curiosity like that! You know I won't stop pestering you from now on to understand all you know, right ?? Hehehe!"
-"And you know that I know that, and I'm actually counting on it. I saw the look in your eyes when you took the hammer previously, and I want you to succeed me, best me and perhaps achieve what I wasn't able to. For this plan of mine, I think your curiosity should be sufficient fuel for it, at least in the beginning..."
-"Truly an evil dad, If your children knew you were this shroud...hehehe"
-"Oh don't worry! Sadly for them, they already know ahahah!"
-"So time to fulfill a little my grand curiosity don't you agree? How did you conjure this flame in your hand?" Alix's eyes were shining with anticipation and mischievousness.
-"Don't run burning all you see after, I know what you want, to improve your fighting capability, and for that, I will first let you understand how Lor was able to scratch your unbelievable strong body without touching you !". He was remembering the scene, the dagger failing to even leave a white mark on this pale skin, truly an unbelievable sight.
-'OK? It's a deal then, I would practice where it won't endanger anything, are you happy now ?"
-"More than that, as I know the sole place where you won't threaten anything is this forge! ahaha. So first, you can obviously mobilize your energy from your organelle, simple right? So tell me, where does this energy travell, to go from its cells to where you want it to go?"
-" Damned, I was tricked again! So for your question...Hmm I would say, in my bloodstream, but if you ask, the answer should be more intricate right?..?"
-" Yes, hehe, such a wary mind, even when I teach you, good good, my children should learn from you! Never take anything for granted, even if it's coming from a seemingly trustworthy person. Always doubt what you heard, even what I will tell you. Especially that because I'm not knowledgeable of the entire things so I could have made a false assumption, and you will be blocked one day if you don't have your own reasoning..."
-"I understand, after all, I was named the ban of teacher, never agreeing on what they taught me, even if it often incurs their ire hehe but you are wandering a little in the conversation, no...?"
-"Hmm you are right, again... So energy indeed flows mainly by your bloodstream, but it's because you want it that way. You unconsciously think it can't go elsewhere, but you are wrong, when you let it incorporate in your Energysomes, it's actually elsewhere than your blood no? Or you would have just your blood cells left to feed!"
-"That makes sense, so I could actually move it through my entire body? What has it to do with Lor's attack? And is it more efficient to do it this way?"
-"Slowly with the question Alix, I said I would answer, and I would, but one at a time hehe. It's actually more cumbersome, you are right, but succeeding in doing it allowed you to mobilized cells residing in the area you are using. Like, if you want to punch with energy covering your fist, you won't go fetch this energy in your left leg, letting it flow through your blood to finally appear on your right hand? No, you would use energy right in your right hand or perhaps your right arms if you want a lot of energy! But you will have to let it flow through your complex tiny veins and artery in your hand, and finally letting them go through your skin right? So why don't just use your cells skin on your right hand from the beginning to liberate this energy, hm?"
-"OK, I think I understand, I will have to research it a little to check all the ins and outs on my technique...It means I would have to know how much energy the cell's skin in one hand can stock, and how much one punch needs it..." Alix was again in his own world, already trying different methods.
-"But that's not really why I explain that to you..." Erik was baffled by the capacity of Alix to used all this knowledge in all king of weird ways as if addicted to battle. "Now you understand that Lor made his energy go through, in addition to his skin, by his dagger. Now that 's a simple thing to understand. As your energy naturally tend to take the shape of your hand when flowing out of your hand, when you make it exit a sharp weapon, it will naturally take the sharp edge shape too. You can even increase it when you master this move."
-"OK, That's sufficiently simple for me, but what as The Art anything to do with what you are saying, and how can I make a flame appear on my hand...?"
-"Don't try to jump on the horse before having tame it! It's the basics of the basics that I'm telling you, you must understand it before knowing what comes after! Now, if you had a weapon made with the help of The Art, you could already embody your energy with a particular aspect without knowing all of this! Your weapon could be covered in flame, its edge could launch an ignited sharp energy, it could reinforce the weapon and so on. I don't know how to do it, not having the complex matrix knowledge, but I know it's possible and it the reason why forging is truly wonderful."
-"Wow, so our energy can take, like, elemental features, or even like, just trying to guess, a deathly attribute, a shadowy one ?" Alix was remembering the Darkness Emanation that was kind of like that, truly blown by all the possibilities opening before him with this.
-"As I said, in theory, you are right! But you would have to know the matrix allowing for this transformation, and they are not easily learned, for one reason because not many people know them, and for another, because it's truly complicated to construct them !"
-"How could it be so difficult, my friend was considered an Art master, and she wasn't even fourteen when they named her that way !" At his own mention of Eline, Alix winced, remembering to quickly return to his village as soon as possible. He would first have to reimburse the heavy debt he had with this gentle family and secondly be able to return to his village, beginning by knowing its localization.
-"Ahaha, such a joke, sorry my boy, but that's highly unlikely! But to let you completely understand where I wanted to go by telling you all these things is that my little flame here is a Fire attribute. I can freely attach it to my energy and I will teach you how to do it !" Erik was playing with the little flame, suddenly letting it go in the stove, charcoal bruskly catching fire.
-"Yeah! That clearer for me for now, and hell yes I want to learn that! But I have one more question, what have Emanations have to do with all this ?"