Ignatius smiles with satisfaction "Good job boy, you're pretty decent. Are you sure you want to pursue fighting and adventuring? Come work for me and I can forge you into a fine blacksmith."
Loki vehemently shakes his heads and replies "No, thank you. I honestly enjoy blacksmithing, however, I have a stronger desire to go out in the world and fight and redeem myself."
While blacksmithing seems like a fun way to spend time and make money on the side, Loki knows that his Destiny and Will feel guided towards the outside world where no man dares go and yet many exist.
"Well, lets head to the back and get you swinging a sword. Now, I would let you use the one you made, but that is not ideal for preliminary training." Ignatius says while walking to a tall wooden door that leads to the backyard.
Entering the backyard, you see a clearing with a tree stump and a shiny, silver axe, as well as a white picket fence that wraps around the treelined clearing. Looks like there is almost 4 kilometers of space to move around freely, even in vehicles. We may learn that it may not be enough space for Loki to train.
Ignatius grabs himself a sword and motions to Loki to the same "Grab a wooden sword; you'll begin by swinging it with what you know and then you'll swing it at me."
"Sure thing!" Loki responds excitedly, moving to grab a thin wooden sword.
Loki begins by holding the sword with both hands in front of him with his shoulders taut, and one foot in front of the other like he was about to begin a Kendo match, except he appears to have extreme comfort.
Ignatius tilts his head while studying Loki's posture "You seem to have some experience boy, did you learn from anybody?"
"No, sir, I have just watched people use swords and figured I could imitate them enough to use it." answered Loki.
"Hoh, then let's see you swing it. After that you attack me, I'll defend only." Ignatius allows Loki to continue his preparations.
Loki begins by feeling his calf muscles become taut as he gears his sword upwards to try an overhead strike. He jumps forwards and swings it up. Continuing his momentum, swings it down with fierce determination, what it leaves in it's wake is a solid wave of air around Loki.
"Good swing! You must have a real talent for combat. Now, let's see you swing it at a target; do your best and attack me and I'll deflect it, not like you can hit me anyways." goads the Blacksmith with a smirk.
Loki, provoked by his stupid smirk, changes from feeling excited to serious, wanting to break that sword in half and maybe even do some damage to the cocky blacksmith. Therefore, Loki gets into his stance and focuses on the thin wooden sword in those bulky hands.
Ignatius taunts with a posture that looks like there are many opening, relaxed and unserious "Come on, let's see your best, boy."
Loki, ready to attack, leapt into action, closing in on the blacksmith with speed he never expected to see from a young boy. When suddenly, a mysterious feeling, a supporting feeling as if the earth itself is relishing in the determination Loki is manifesting.
"Oh? Looks interesting, kid" the Blacksmith says with intrigue.
As Loki darts into Ignatius, he seemed to gain more speed and power than ever thought possible for a young boy who is not even 18. Ignatius holds his sword in defense, as Loki swings his sword aiming directly at the wooden sword.
The resulting clash sends shockwaves through the grass even shaking the fence a few kilometers away. As the dust settles, you see a startled, although unscathed Ignatius holding half of his sword. In the distance, the other half could be seen with the tip stuck in the ground, evidence of the velocity it went flying away.
"I'll ask again, who are you boy?" questions Ignatius with shock and awe written on his face.
Loki, not hearing a word the Blacksmith is saying, is standing shocked at his own power feeling the earth beneath his feet. Wanting to capitalize on this feeling, Loki sits down and tries to embrace the power calling to him. The limitless support from Nature returns the embrace as Loki settles down on the ground he hears a voice...
"The time for redemption is nigh, the Heir is awakening, We are awaiting your return..."
Loki's eyes shoot open with a green shimmer that lasted as fast as it took him to sit down. The voice also fading quickly "Did you hear that?" Loki asked Ignatius.
"Hmm, hear what boy? I was talking to you" Ignatius rebuttals in confusion.
Loki stood there, reeling from shock and unable to understand or explain what just transpired.. Wanting to feel that power again, Loki wants to continue "training" to get closer to becoming an adventurer and explore the world and that voice he had just heard. Loki looks up at Ignatius and asks expectantly "Can we go again?"
"Boy, you just broke a sword clean in half, what more do you want to do? You seem to have technique, I wonder how you'll do in the real world" ponders Ignatius.
"You mean you'll let me go fight monsters?!" exclaims Loki
"Well, I would like to go get more materials for forging, but we have many orders to go through. We'll continue forging for a week and then we'll get into the wild and get you fighting." Ignatius responds as a compromise.
With the promise of getting actual experience, Loki feels revitalized to learn more about Blacksmithing. The next thing to learn are techniques as well as how to improve the skill enough to make higher quality equipment.
Walking back into the forging room, Loki's nose scrunches from discomfort, with the smell of coal cooling down and an aroma you can only get used to after years of breathing it in. Ignatius turns around to begin the lesson "Okay, the first lesson to becoming my money farm-ehem- a full-fledged blacksmith, we must begin with technique. You smashing the ingots like they're your worst enemy works for amateurs, not for experts."
"For your technique, I'll teach you everything I know about my best technique for swords. To shape your ingot effectively and to lessen your burden, there are 3 main points that you must enforce your Will on; the very top of the ingot, the edges where your selling points are." teaches Ignatius.
"To continue, there is one final point and is probably the hardest and not known to many blacksmiths; the corners. They exist conspicuously with the edges yet it all ends up connecting as one, and if you practice enough to manipulate the edges and the corners enough it will make any rarity almost as good as if it was a tier above." says Ignatius with pride over his own technique.