Now that Mira was Ranked 3rd among the Core Disciples, the Elders were able to continue with their plan of having Mira spar with some promising girls. Even though they would be helping in the training as they worked on improving their weapon skills. But practicing alone or against an Elder brings a different feeling than sparring with a partner or fighting in Life and Death battles. Even though they originally thought about sending them on dangerous missions and fight a bunch of different battles, Mira changed this plan slightly. They now included sparring with her as part of their training as well. Sparring with Mira is like an all-you-can-eat buffet, one girl brings the whole package. Beatings after beatings, mental abuse, advice, almost experiencing death, and more fighting experience. They can also build more comradery with their fellow disciples. All they have to do is let Mira and Maria continue using the Cultivation Cave, which is of little use to the Elders. They get benefits from having strong disciples. This will also help improve Mira as well, they couldn't ask for a better deal.
While the Elders were preparing, Mira just continued her normal routine. And after a few days, her next class started.
"Welcome back, disciples. I've taught you the basics of Alchemy and Arrays, but today I will be teaching you the basics of forging. But I can only give you theoretical knowledge as I'm not a forger and our forgers are a bit… Unique. I asked them to come today, but they said that if you wanted to learn forging then you had to go to them. So, today, I will just impart my limited knowledge to you on this subject."
"Though a weapon isn't something that cultivators need to possess, it certainly is helpful when fighting battles or against beasts that have hard shells or skin. But the problem with having a weapon is that it needs to be able to withstand the pressure of high-intensity battles and this only gets worse the higher in the strength you get. But weapons are almost like the life-blood of cultivators now and that's where forgers come into play."
"There are several different ways to forge weapons and many smiths and forgers do something different so I'll just explain the basics for you. The first and most important thing is the materials. This will help determine the grade of the weapon, how useful it is if the weapon is flexible or rigid, and more. You can't just go pick random stones and minerals off the ground, melt them together and make a sword. The materials have to be compatible with each other and used in the right quantities. Even the slightest change in the balance could affect the grade of the weapon. But once you've gathered your required materials then you can start forging."
"The next step that most people follow is the Melting Phase. As the name suggests, this is where you melt the materials, but depending on the materials you might not do it all at once. But you'll melt the materials and while they're in liquid form, inject your Qi into the weapon. Or if it's for a specific client then you'll have them inject their Qi into the molten materials. The amount of Qi depends on the materials."
"The next step is where things change depending on the smith and desired quality. For a low-quality product for the masses, a smith might just pour the molten material into a mold to shape it, then let it cool and continue from there. But if you're looking for quality then you'll turn the molten material into a block, but keeping it hot. Then you'll fold it in on itself and hammer it, heat it up again until it becomes one, fold it in half, and hammer it some more. This is a very crude description, but this is the process of tempering the metal. You're pushing out any impurities when you do this and the quality will be higher as a result. But tempering metal can be an arduous process, just like tempering your body. There are also other techniques that forgers use, but I don't know them and I'd rather not try to describe them."
"Things only change more in the next phase depending on the forger. Some forgers can control the molten metal with their energy and start shaping it to how they want, while others hammer it to shape the weapon, and like I mentioned before some will just pour it into a mold and sharpen it later. There are all sorts of techniques people use and it really just depends on the person. If you are interested in forging then you'll have to find someone to show you what they do and determine if that's the correct fit for you."
"I could talk a bit more about the process of forging, but I think that I should stop here. The processes differ too much and I don't want to say one thing and deter you away from this profession. I'll just answer some questions regarding this profession." Elder Kendra asked the class if they had any questions and saw several people looking eager to ask more.
"Is becoming a forger hard? And how much money do they make compared to the other professions?" One disciple asked.
"I'd say it's the easiest out of the 4 main professions. I'd also say they make the least amount compared to the other professions on average. There are many people that want to be forgers out there, but usually, it's the popular ones that make all of the money. While the lesser-known ones just pick up the scraps. But the nice thing about learning how to forge is that you don't need someone else to make your weapon. As long as you have the materials and a place to make a weapon, then you don't have to rely on someone else." Elder Kendra explained and she could immediately some of the disciple's faces drop after hearing that.
Of course, they'd want to choose a profession like alchemy that can make tons of money, but the reality is often harsh and some people just aren't meant to be alchemists.
"What's the difference in grades between weapons?" Another disciple asked curiously and a lot of people perked their ears up at this question.
"A number of things, but really it's just the materials used and the density of Qi used to make the weapon. There are other minor factors that come into play such as sharpness, durability, and other things. This also prevents a mortal from being able to make a Heaven or Immortal Grade weapon. They cannot handle such materials or Qi. This also means that you need to increase your cultivation to make stronger weapons. Sure you could make a weapon with precious materials, but no Qi. But the weapon will just be a very hard chunk of metal and won't be able to keep up with the pressure of Qi that cultivators produce." Elder Kendra briefly explained the correlation between weapon grades.
"That's about it for today's class. I know it was a bit short, but I don't have anything else to talk about regarding this subject and if you are interested in forging then you should visit the Sect's forgers. See you next week." Elder Kendra said as she walked out.
Mira was a bit interested in forging as this could be a great way to strengthen her subordinates in the future. They'll need better weapons and if she could provide that for them, then she wouldn't have to rely on anyone else.
Mira decided to go check out the forgers in the Sect and started walking towards the Forging District. Maria was also curious so she decided to tag along as this was a rare opportunity that Mira was doing something other than training.
She found the Forging District and could only smell metal and fire. There also weren't many forgers in the Sect. Only around 4 or 5 of them. Mira decided to walk up to one of them that wasn't currently busy and expressed her interest in learning.
"I'm interested in learning how to forge. Can you teach me?" Mira asked with an expressionless face.
"Ahh?! You want to learn how to forge?! Sorry, I won't teach you! Too cold! No spirit!" The Elder said in a loud voice as she immediately declined. Mira frowned, but didn't say anything else and just left.
She then walked up to another Elder but got rejected immediately again. Her frown grew deeper, but she left and continued asking the other Elders.
Every reply was almost the same. They didn't want to teach her, but the last one finally explained why.
"You're too cold and merciless. You can't be like that when you're forging! You have no spirit like you just want to forge because you feel obligated to. I don't see any passion for forging in your eyes. Even if you were to be extremely talented in forging, I still wouldn't teach you as it'd just be depressing. Sorry!" The last Elder explained which left Mira speechless!
'What the fuck?! I don't see anyone else trying to be a shitty forger and here you are rejecting the only person that is actually expressing interest?! I guess I'll either have to learn on my own or look for a different profession!' Mira thought to herself as she left with a deep frown on her face.
"Hahaha! None of the Elders even wanted you even though you're the only one expressing interest!" Maria laughed at her, but Mira just kicked her in the gut to shut her up.
"Cough Cough, I'm sorry! Don't worry, there are 3 other professions that you could try!" Maria got up and tried to cheer Mira up.
The two of them just went about their normal routine until it was time for tomorrow. That's when she'd begin sparring with some of the disciples.