Chereads / Abandoned Genius / Chapter 2 - Who are you, boy?

Chapter 2 - Who are you, boy?

Loki stands there silently, as if pondering the benefits of working under a blacksmith and learning the trade. Learning a new trade brings in new ways of thinking in and out of battle, refining the body to keep it fit and improving coordination. Might just be the thing Loki needs.

As Loki humbly bows low to the blacksmith, he states "I will work for you; please teach me, Sir".

"Hmm…good. Keep walking boy, we have a lot to get done today." As the blacksmith strolls through the bright town. 

After another ten minute walk, the two reach a gray building with brown shingles that holds a big sign in front with a large hammer in the middle of an anvil. 

"Here is where your life begins and shall remain until you find your way. Speaking of, my name is Ignatius Lorentus and I am the only Master Blacksmith on the continent that is a step close to the Legendary tier." As Ignatius introduces himself, he sticks his chest out with pride.

Loki stands there wide eyed to know such a prestigious figure and to be learning from someone of their caliber is a surreal feeling.

"This is where you introduce yourself, kid." the blacksmith continues.

"Ah. My name is Loki Green, Sir. I am just a boy who is trying to find a path on my own rather than the one set for me. I hope to learn a lot from you!" responds Loki.

"...Green? Who are you, boy?" Ignatius says with a hint of confusion and curiosity.

"What do you mean?" questions Loki. "I only know that I was raised in a small village with little to no contact with anyone who may have known who I was before, which is why I want to become stronger and learn even more."

Ignatius motioned for Loki to keep moving forwards and continued to speak "Well, not my problem, first we'll teach you the basics of blacksmithing today and then you'll help me with materials and we'll get you fighting later".

As they enter the blacksmith, a smell of coal and metal fill the whole building, with an old look to the counter and swords, maces, shields and armor line the walls and stands in different looks, shapes and sizes. To the left of the counter you see a small door that leads to the backroom.

The duo entered and it shows a clean and yet aged forge that looks like it has seen many years of use. "Woah, what are these?" asks Loki pointing at a set of mysteriously clean tools.

"Ohh, those, my boy, are the tools I personally forged and crafted. a hammer, tongs and a chisel" Ignatius answers with pride.

"Take a look at the stats" permits the blacksmith.

Loki starts to inspect the glowing tools while saying "okay, I'm intrigued."

[Hammer of Ignis]

Tier: Epic

+120 power

Skills:

Immense Strength - Allows the user to assert 75% more strength to low-tiered ingots and 25% more strength to high-tiered ingots;

Duration - 1 hour

Cooldown(CD) - 15 hours

Refinement of the Fire God - With the ability to harness the finesse of the god who was known for refining ingots with ease - Spend 100% less time melting down ores into ingots as well as a 50% chance to make the ingot a higher purity.

"Woah, wait, why are they percentages and not static numbers?" asked Loki

"Good question kid; well y'see, with each tier it gets harder to determine the exact effect of each stat or additional skill, with Epic tiered or above items, skills, and equipment are unable to be given exact numbers, but it also means it is much more powerful than lower tiers without a doubt." answered Ignatius

"I understand, thank you for teaching me, Sir." Loki exclaims in enlightenment and proceeds to continue looking at the last couple items.

[Tongs of Ignis]

Tier: Epic

Skill: Enables the user to skillfully pour the melted ingots into their mold with extreme skill - 15% chance to increase purity of metal in the mold by one tier.

[Chisel of Visionaries]

Tier: Epic

Skill: Inscribe the most delicate runes on any equipment to make them stand out greater than any others before it - Gives all runes applied to equipment a 15% increase in stats in tandem with the rune bonus.

"These tools are vague honestly; I feel like it can apply a lot to anything, and what are.. runes?" asked Loki in utter confusion at the complexity of the tools.

"Well, it seems we really need to educate you on the finesse of blacksmithing, okay boy, listen well. Eh-hmm, each tool is used for their respective purposes, to starts the most important tool for any blacksmith, the hammer for refining ingots into blades, the tongs to sort liquified ores into molds for ingots, armor and handles, the chisel is the most complex aspect of any top-tier blacksmith. It has the ability to increase stats and skills based on the respective rune you apply, power runes, speed runes, attack speed runes, cooldown runes, etc. There are millions of runes with different aspects, it is up to you to find the right rune for your project." Ignatius answers dutifully

Ignatius continues "However, remember that runes can be dangerous to apply, if you aren't skilled enough to apply the runes to your item, then it has a chance of backlash. 

"Furthermore, if you use divine runes..." Ignatius began speaking but abruptly stopped, not fully ready to divulge the information to the young boy just yet. "Anyways - remember that if you want to start applying runes, do your research and have the magical capacity to fulfill their requirements, but because you are not acquainted with blacksmithing, we will go into that later."

"Thank you for teaching me Master, that helps me understand I have a long way to go. I am ready to begin." Loki says with determination in their gaze.

"Good, we will have you forge a short sword to begin with, nice and simple and a highly requested item which will fulfill an order for a customer. We got to make money, you know?" The blacksmith replies.