The clang of steel against steel could be constantly heard as Mina was sparring with Deren using a two-handed longsword closer to a claymore that seemed as if she would have trouble wielding it, yet she was swinging it around with ease causing furrows to be left in the ground when the blades of the two would collide. The sight was spectacular to watch and Rhine's mouth was wide open in surprise watching Mina who had been serving him breakfast not long ago suddenly swinging such a sword around like it was a one-handed sword. Mina having caught sight of Rhine in that state sported a sly smile and sped up her movements which Deren noticed and softly talked so only Mina could hear. "Suddenly feeling motivated Mina? Want to impress Young Master Rhine do you? Why don't we pick this up a notch then." The clanging of sword against sword intensified until Mina fumbled her footing and finding a sword pointed at her face rose her arms in surrender dropping her sword. Rhine rushed forward his eyes practically sparkling, his ears and tails making his feelings of being amazed even more obvious deepening Mina's smile. "I-I still lost so I need to train even more so I can be the one to defend you Master Rhine!" Mina who was actually thirteen years old despite her younger appearance and slender frame thrust her chest out in pride and flexed a bit for Rhine only showing off the lack of defined muscles due to her biology as a Dhampir. During that month since arriving at the Varn Manor Mina had been engaging in spars whenever she found herself free from her duties, training or sleeping and while Geralt refused to reach her, he didn't stop her from sparring with the guards he had trained. She didn't show much talent for magic instead having an almost monstrously high strength even for a dhampir. Mina's status was as follows:
[Status]
[Name: Mina]
[Sex: Female]
[Age: 13]
[Race: Dhampir]
[Job: Berserker]
[Level: 12]
[Stats]
[Strength: 180 Endurance: 90 Vitality: 110 Dexterity: 75 Resistance: 30 Magic: 20
HP: 330/330
MP: 125/125]
[Skills]
[ Fortify Strength- The user squeezes out all of their MP in increasing their strength their by 1 for each point of MP for three minutes. Leaves the user in a state of extreme exhaustion afterwards for 12 hours.]
[Racial Skills]
[ Bloodsucking - By sucking the blood of another individual the user drains their MP and HP. MP can only restore MP and HP can only restore HP. Every two points drained restores one point.
Blood Oath - By forming a blood oath with a single individual when the user drinks their blood all stats increase by a flat 10% rounded down to the nearest whole number for one hour. Every 1 point drained from the one they swore a blood oath to restores 5 points. If they drink from someone while having an oath and they aren't sworn to them they must drain 4 points to recover one. Can only have one blood Oath and cannot break it even if the partner dies.]
If it wasn't for her lack of experience which has been only some sparring and a low level dungeon run then likely only Deren from the guards would be able to clash with her should Mina fortify her strength. "That was amazing Mina! You even held your own against Deren while I couldn't!" That comment caused both Deren and Mina to look like they ate a big? Why? Going back a week or so Deren requested Rhine to show him his magic saying they would have a spar where if his sword got within reach Deren won and if he couldn't within a minute then Rhine would win. Of course that time marker was set as a rule of thumb for nobles be able to hold out giving their guards more time to save them. The match if it could be called that was a deluge of spells one being fired off instantly after the other and having caused even Deren to only be able to get his sword within reach at the last second against a three year old who only had magic training. Mina herself had been even more surprised than Rhine had with her making the decision to serve him with every fiber of her being especially with how he always treated her warmly even when she messed up at first. In fact when Mina had proclaimed as much and Rhine shared his status with Mina she fainted on the spot the determination to stick with him no matter what storm may gravitate him, above all else his potential reassured her that eventually he would be able to defend her a fantasy that kept her up for longer than she would like to admit at times. The wealth he could easily obtain also made it reassuring though a young girl like Mina cared more about those fantasies of hers first and foremost.
Back to the present day and it was the day when Rhine would start his smithing apprenticeship even if he would still live in the manor it was a harsh blow to Haruka and Siena for them to accept that Rhine would be gone for most of the day now. Even worse was that Mina would be following him as a servant resulting in some competitive glares that all three women exchanged, the sparks flying resulted in Geralt decided to not join the send off due to his health which had been declining due to his age anyways. This resulted in Owen the eldest son, 70 years old being called home along with his son who was much younger at 40 years old in case Geralt were to suddenly pass away. Luckily for Owen and his son they were smart enough to not attend the send off for Rhine and endanger themselves as odd as they found it that the youngest son who would never inherit was getting such attention.
What felt like an hour later, but was really only around 15 minutes Rhine managed to arrive at the shop of the blacksmith he would be studying under and only Mina had joined him even though Deren should have been with him for some reason not only those two the other guards had insisted Mina accompany him as well. "I'm glad to see you well Grant! Say what are you gonna teach me first? What kind of amazing weapons, tools or armor am I going to make?" Grant let out a loud guffaw of laughter seeing how much energy Rhine had in him. "Guhuhu, I like the sprit kid. First though you gotta learn to cover your skin with wind, water in the form of ice or both. Other option is to put on a really bulky suit. You want to use gust and frostball. Though if you are as talented a mage as those guards who work at the manor say you are, you might be able to make a custom spell, Gwahaha!"
It was of course meant to be a joke since it was already difficult for most mages to combine two spells and use them efficiently, but for Rhine who had been doing that in his practice a lot recently he imagined a thin layer of ice resting just above his skin like scales and a soft breeze helping to deflect the waves of heat. There was a celebratory ding and a notification from the system.
[Congratulations on creating a custom spell! Frostscale Armor! You have leveled up! Gained the skill Spell Creation!
A new quest has been unlocked. Path of the Mage - Sign up and be accepted for a mage academy on the ducal or royal level 0/1 special condition is to be accepted into the royal level 0/1.]
While Mina had already gotten a foreboding feeling that something like this would happen with Rhine as excited as he was, Grant looked like he could fit a watermelon in his mouth. "I'll be damned ... No chant and it looks like a single spell. Guess you don't need the suit after all ... Not that we had any that fit you." That rather blunt statement was the last thing Grant said before pulling Rhine back into the shop lecturing him on the various ores and their properties in the mornings, after lunch he would study molds and be taught about the purpose of common tools and weapons, and during the evening he would watch Grant forge weapons occasionally helping by grabbing precise amounts of materials that he requests. Each of his meals would be prepared by Mina while her and the guards would test the weapons made and this cycle lasted for around three months until Grant gave Rhine the go ahead to forge his first weapon. That decision was just about the easiest decision he could have ever made since he had told Mina about his status already and it only made sense for him to ensure she is properly equipped, Rhine grabbed a manual for a hefty longsword and went into work just moments after gathering all the materials. The rhythmic sound of a hammer landing down on metal and the sizzling of fire would dominate the forging room, Rhine was focusing on nothing other than following the manual to perfection, not willing to cede defeat on his first try especially with his talent for forging.
Most forgers would have used a natural flame, but the froscale armor had given Reine the idea to purely use magic when he wasn't in need of the hammer and the result was something he hadn't been expecting in the slightest especially when the finished weapon began to warp sprouting a clear gem in the middle of the hilt and a familiar ding for a notification.
[You have forged an Iron Claymore! Forging process detected primary use of magic. Weapon has evolved into a magic weapon. You have gained 25% xp (boosted from 12.5%).]
"Grant? I finished, but it isn't a normal claymore ... Can you check this for me?" The nervous tone had Grant curious about what had happened though when he walked into the room and saw the claymore sitting on the forge he sucked in a breath of cold air having recognized it as a magic weapon right away. "Rhine you just made a magic weapon ... if I didn't provide all the materials I would of assumed you picked it up from somewhere else, but this type of weapon certainly will suit that little lass perfectly." A magic weapon wasn't an artifact, but it wasn't completely on the lesser scale when compared to one. The reason is that such a weapon is born with a soul though it requires a number of enemies to be felled in addition to regular feeding sessions of the users blood in order to awaken a soul. It was often times attributed to the creation of magic weapons being completely reliant on luck alone, yet from what Rhine had seen he was finding it impossible that his idea of using magic as the primary tool other than the hammer was wrong. "Grant? Can I try forging another?" The blacksmith nodded though he was looking at that weapon hungrily. Exhaling Rhine grabbed the materials necessary for short swords and put his theory to the test exclusively using magic when he didn't need fine hammer strokes. The first short sword worked at turning into a magic weapon as well, the second followed though he felt his mana decreasing so he gulped down a syrupy mana potion that Grant had discreetly left and powered through the third and final short sword.
[You have forged 3x Magic Iron Short Swords! You have gained 75% xp. You have leveled up!]
Rhine opened the door to the forging room and Grant's eyes were gleaming as he verified that the three short swords were indeed magic weapons. "Kid I don't know what you did, but here is a deal, you sell those short swords over to me and in exchange I'll let send you copies of all my forging manuals. Sound like a deal?" Rhine had that thought to bargain in his mind, but he also had the bait that were all the forging manuals that this top blacksmith of the city had used or obtained. He wanted to call in Mina to see what she thought, but he didn't want to think about the short swords solely becoming money if that was even a possibility. "I'll make two extra magic weapons for you after selling those for the manuals and you will give me half the profits from those extra two." Grant mulled over the offer eventually showing a toothy smile. "We have a deal kid, looking forward to working with you." Rhine smiled in return as he quickly went about making a one handed magic weapon axe and a magic weapon spear and finished them with little hassle smoothly flying over any bumps and gaining another trove of experience though it had grown somewhat smaller in scale.
[You have forged a magic iron one-handed axe and a magic weapon spear. You have gained 20% xp.]
After that day over the course of the next three months Rhine had created another eight magic weapons and rather than stashing away that gold he had through the help of his father gotten a personal forging room established and once he showed his father what he could do the routine of his days changed once more. Now he would learn smithing tips and tricks from Grant in the morning, help customers find what they want and handling non-magic weapon orders in the afternoon and in the evening he would head home making magic weapons where his father paid with excess materials needed for their creation. His free time was often spent talking with Mina and the guards about what they look for in weapons, dealing with his attention starved mother and sister. Five months passed in the blink of an eye and he was no longer gaining experience when he would make magic iron weapons which he learned after making the first magic weapon on the request of Geralt, but his flames weren't strong enough to handle the creation of steel.
[You have created 8x magic weapons. You have gained 80% xp. You have leveled up!]
Just as Rhine was about to welcome his fourth birthday, he had received a letter from the enchanter that would be teaching and a book was included with the letter. The letter had instructed him to read up ahead of time on the book as he wouldn't take anyone who couldn't even comprehend that much. Rhine had already stalled in experience for smithing, so he switched tracks informing Grant he wouldn't be showing up anymore who had made a small fortune off of him and almost locked himself up in his room to read the book on enchanting, causing him to get lectured by Haruka, Siena and Mina that very day about not spending enough time with other people, how other people can't talk to him, and how the same is for books. His response was to dedicate the next week to going on playdates of sorts with the three of them until their Rhine-Meters were chock full and they released him to tackle that enchantment book.
There had been an influx of spies within the city due to the large of magic weapons being produced, but once the stock no longer kept rising most turned their attention elsewhere aside from a raging Lucas who hadn't forgotten the young Rhine who he had convinced himself was all at fault for his banishment.
[Status]
[Name: Rhine el Varn]
[Sex: Male]
[Age: 4]
[Race: Divine Lust Kitsune Lord]
[Job: None]
[Level 6]
[Stats]
[Strength: 120 Endurance: 95 Vitality: 135 Dexterity: 200 Resistance: 170 Magic: 260
HP: 405/405
MP: 1075/1075]
[Skills]
[Natural Blacksmith - The user is twice as likely to succeed in forging any weapon, armor or components. The user gains twice as much experience from any successful forging.
Natural Enchanter - The user is twice as likely to succeed in enchanting any object no matter what it may be as long as it can be inscribed on. The user gains twice as much experience from any successful enchantment.
One in a million artificer - The user is five times as likely to succeed in the creation of any artifact. The user gains five times as much experience from the successful creation of an artifact.
Image spellcasting - The user can cast a spell once they have learned it simply by imagining the construction of the spell in their mind at no extra cost or deficiency. Also allows the user to project spells outside of normal channels without the expertise needed for it.
Spell Creation - The user can create custom spells by creating the base image which will then have a chant assigned to the theorized image.]
[Racial Skills]
[ Divine Kitsune blood - The user's offensive and defensive spells that are not Kitsune spells are half as effective. Mana regenerates four times faster. Kitsune spells are twice as effective.
Demonic Lust Lord blood - All spells are twice as effective and lust curses are four times as effective.
Demonic Regeneration - The user regenerates from non-fatal wounds twice as quickly.
**Note: The fusion of this unholy bloodline caused even the status to glitch out. The effects of the bloodlines can be summarized like this:
Normal spells are twice as effective, Kitsune spells and lust curses both sit at four times effectiveness. Mana regenerates four times as quickly.**]