*Ting*Ting*Ting*
The sounds of hot iron being smashed continuously echoed throughout the workshop, as Val watched on from the side, he observed Bens short but bulky body toiling away by the hot furnace.
His little stubby arms were struggling at the start to hold up the weight of the hammer continuously but over time Ben soon managed to handle the weight and adapt to the repeated rhythmic hammer strikes.
It had been several days since Val and Ben had their little talk about the dark history of Ullan and the other Races, like the weapons within the chest much like the dagger.
Since the small chat between Master and disciple, Val closely watched Ben working tirelessly to forge his own dagger without the use of Magic throughout the crafting process.
He was originally going to guide Ben on the necessary steps but decided against it once he saw Ben start working all on his own.
Even though his short stature meant it was difficult for him to work, especially with hanging certain tools and using large equipment, Val made some adjustments to the Tias previous working areas he'd designed long for his daughter to use.
She had grown enough to use more of the normal equipment without the adjustments, but there were a few tools still here and there specifically redesigned for her ease.
Ben got to use some of Tias older tools and had his Master help with sizing everything to his body size.
Certain items like the hammer and anvil couldn't be changed in size too much, there was a minimal size that Ben could equip with added weight to adjust for the size.
Benedict wasn't one to mind the tools he was given for free and happily got to work before the blistering heat of the forge.
It seemed at first, he wouldn't be able to adapt to the heat, but Bens body, which had gone through a transformative change allowing the young Prince to understand the repetitive work.
His body started moving on its own as if he had lived and breathed within the workshop.
The bearded old Smith couldn't help but watch on while thinking back to the day he had his talk with Benedict.
All that came to his mind were the questions he left unanswered after being hounded by Benedict endlessly, primarily about the weapons they were forging now and compared to the ones that were created with the help of magic.
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Those Val had answered left Ben asking many more, leaving the old Smith to say, 'Your too young for now and you've yet to make a weapon that is borderline passable.
Not only that boy, but you're also creating something that has yet to be accomplished successfully by many Smiths of the nobles.
Many try and find some success in creating powerful Daggers, but they all end up in the hands of Nobles and their kind.'
Val did not even bother mentioning the freelance Smiths as they typically consisted of lower nobility and disciples banished by their Masters.
Commoners never were given the chance to become blacksmiths, as nobles would not dare let them into their ranks, for fear they would gain too much power and knowledge that could be detrimental to the noble's power over the commoners.
So, most of the Wandering Smiths or banished disciples knew the absolute basic methods and techniques to create farming tools, basic culinary and kitchen tools.
Many of those Smiths were not even taught that, but only partial amounts of a complete technique, done on purpose to stop the Smiths ability to recreate any item of their noble family.
Those Smiths were the worst off in the world and could only sell themselves to other Smiths for a small chance at advancing their skills and abilities, though that rarely happened.
At times some new techniques would leak out and make their way onto the free market, available for anyone to purchase not affiliated to nobles or an organisation of some sorts.
Unfortunately, the techniques would be bought by the strong and powerful, leaving the weaker, struggling away to find a way to advance in life and station.
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When nobles discovered a rising pool of talent among the commoners and peasants over time, they decided to cause mass culling of the people from the lower end of humans' spectrum of wealth and status.
Those who joined the nobles and became their loyal servants survived the senseless massacres.
Spared few could live happily with their families and serve, but others were lucky only to be given a swift death.
Countless nations throughout Ullan were far worse.
Some had even resorted to using commoners as livestock.
With nobles only allowed the status of 'human', giving them free rain over the commoners to do as they pleased.
A decade had passed since Val last heard of a mass culling of the commoners and peasants, to occur on the Merahs Continent.
Though he didn't expect another time of event to occur any time soon, there was always the thought it might actually happen, deep in Vals mind.
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After asking his Master countless questions, Ben figured out in the world of Ullan only a sword, shield, spear, and bows were crafted by blacksmiths or specialised craftsmen.
Daggers were part of a number of weapons that were considered unforgeable, as only capable Smiths of nobility were able to create the weapons.
One could easily readjust the length of a sword during the forging process to create a dagger essentially, however it wouldn't be considered a 'true' dagger in the eyes of other capable Smiths.
Nobody would want to attach their name to such a shoddy item of their creation, so nobody dared to try such a thing.
Those who tried and were successful in creating simple Daggers, readily available for people to buy, the Smiths would either reserve selling a large number of Daggers out of fear of attracting the attention of Nobles.
Another item mostly left to nobles was battle axes, typically forged by noble Smiths who were specialised in forging top notch spears as well.
Items like armour were mostly crafted by blacksmiths of noble families too, as commoner Smiths weren't able to get their hands on specific materials or equipment to forge their own.
Only basic leather armour was crafted by freelance Smiths, and their numbers were increasing each year, with more people joining the Smithing industry but the quality was becoming increasingly worse.
Ben understood how immense the control of the nobles was over the commoners, even if their saving grace was career paths like adventurers.
He understood that all nobility feared the rebellion of the commoners above all else.
Therefore, they made it their main objective to forever supress the commoners, even if that meant holding back knowledge from them to forge certain weapons and tools.
Ben had thought about helping the commoners after hearing his master speak about their plight, sadly he could not do anything right now… nor did he want to for now… surprisingly.
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For some reason his mind felt a little different than before, with the mood swings having reduced significantly to the point Ben wasn't having any episodes but the way he processed his thought had changed ever so slightly.
He saw it as the System controlling him from losing all rational, but Ben also felt suppressed by the Systems efforts to even interfere with his emotional state.
Unable to do anything with his lack of power or strength, Ben quickly came to terms with his inability right now to save himself from the 'mercy' of the System.
Ben instead focused on his long-term goal, explaining to his Master about his plans for travelling into the 'Endless Sea of Forests' to find traces of the other Races, if not, discover their settlements.
He swore to fulfil his Master's revenge after returning from his journey deep into the Endless Sea of Forests, making Val look dead into his disciples eyes.
Val going silent for quite some time, led Ben to shiver in fear, as the tension on his mind made him sweat more than usual within the sweltering smithery.
Ben thought he had completely angered his Master and was about to get a hell of a beating for saying something so stupid.
Even when Val finally grunted before replying to his disciple, the old Smiths simple actions nearly made Ben tense up, ready to be attacked.
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"If you wish to go, I will not stop you on your own mission, but you still aren't ready to go.
You have yet to finish your training with me and your current training with the sword.
Once I believe you are worthy enough as a Smith and your swordsmanship training has finished, you may leave with my blessings."
His answer left Ben quite puzzled and surprised, but he did not dwell too much on it, rather his mind focused on Tia and her current condition.
Ever since that night Ben had his private talk with Val, Tia became quite serious, focusing crazily on self-training and improving her craft in all fields.
When Ben asked why she was so serious and focused all of a sudden, she simply replied 'I just want everyone to be happy and at peace…'.
A simple and innocent answer made Ben not question his dear friend any further as he didn't wish to taint or question Tias resolve as a Smith.
Unfortunately, he was unable to notice the fire burning in her eyes, as her passion for crafting was erupting like a volcano.
She was quite remarkable as a blacksmith, with her training under Val over the years turned her into an excellent craftsman.
However, her skill was lacking in turns of crafting a sword or shield, but her ability to craft bows and spears was amazing in turn.
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While Ben was working away, he heard the alert sound from the System in his mind.
He wanted to ignore the System notification as he was too focused on his forging and felt he was making some head way with a method to forge a dagger.
Eventually, he had to stop and take a small break, leading Ben to finally glanced at the System notification that had been ringing in his head.
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[Host! System recommends blueprint of a pair of daggers purchasable in the store!]
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Ben was quite surprised, as he'd lately ignored the System, having been too focused on forging his daggers.
He already concluded the System was broken and useless due to some issue with his operational function, but he didn't have the energy or power to help himself advance the System Level right now.
All he could was hope for the future as it wasn't overly helpful for the time being.
However, the System regardless of what Ben thought, would help him no matter what, its capacity currently to do so was lacking due to untold amounts of damage at its very core programming.
In time it would become his greatest power, however Ben's fate was just a bit unlucky.
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He decided to go with the Systems recommendation and purchased the blueprint for the daggers from the System Store for 500 Pia credits.
Immediately after the payment went through, his mind experienced a great surge of energy, causing great crippling pain, sending Ben falling to the ground as his legs lost control.
His sudden fall alerted Val, as he bolted to catch Ben before he dropped onto something that could harm his young body, especially something like falling directly into the sides of the furnace.
Vals quick actions saved Ben, but it left him wondering whether his young disciple's method of training to push himself to such extremes, would cause more harm than benefit.
He tried his best as a Master to tell his disciple to get some rest, otherwise harm could fall his young body, however Val could only scare Ben to stop if he could make Ben worry about his height being stunted.
Val picked up on his disciples' little anger on himself for the lack of height even though he was still able to work consistently with the adjusted tools and equipment as any other Smith.
The bearded Smith even thought Bens current body was perfect for a Smith, especially the one known as his last disciple.
Thinking this, Val thought about stopping Ben and teaching him about managing his own wellbeing before anything else.
However, Ben woke up and dashed back to work, without muttering a single word.
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Val watched on, surprised at his disciples' actions, even if they weren't healthy.
He in fact felt proud of his students.
It seemed to him that Ben had great insight and could not be disturb right now.
Even he was curious to know what insight Ben achieved, and decided he'd gaze at his disciple movements and actions for now, watching his student heating and shaping the hot iron.
The loud strikes against the iron were the loudest and clearest sounds Val had yet heard from his student.
He was constantly shocked at the talent and ridiculous growth of his disciple, even Val, someone that had been called the 'God of Smithery' felt his skills lacked in comparison when he was Ben's age.
But this did not leave him crying over his lack of natural talent, rather Val's nature to craft and build ignited even more than usual.
Ben's passion to craft burned greater than ever before, leading him to rush straight over to his own workbench, so he could note down everything that'd come to his mind.
Throughout the workshop, all that could be heard were the echoes from the passionate sounds of crafting carried throughout the confines of the walls.
Unbeknownst to Ben, his obsessive work ethic and mind-set to forge had affected his Master so greatly that the future generations would come to know this day as 'The start of Adventurers Salvation.'