'This is going to be easy.' She thought to herself as she waited for the metal to heat up.
In only moments, Bell looked into the barrel and found that the steel was already orange, she then pulled it out with her tongs and placed it on the anvil.
After looking at it for a moment, she thought to herself, 'I should probably shape it first, right?'
Then, Bell oriented the tongs and hot metal to where she could make a point with the ingot and then shape it further from there. Bell grabbed the anvil hanging from the side of the anvil, finding it quite to be quite heavy when she initially grabbed it.
With a bit more force, she was able to wield it properly, striking the ingot repeatedly. It didn't take long for the metal to cool down to where her strikes barely dented it.
'Back into the flames with you, I suppose.' Bell thought, pushing the tongs and ingot back into the blazing barrel furnace.
After another few moments passed, Bell pulled the ingot back out and began shaping it further. This time, she knew how to orient the ingot and her tongs, and her shaping process grew a bit easier.
Bell found herself in a rhythm of sorts at this point. She knew what type of shape she wanted for her knife, as she was going to mimic the knife from that strange dream the other night.
So, Bell heated the ingot, hammered it into a bit better of a shape, then heated it again when the ingot cooled down. Afterward, she repeated the process.
After a while, the shape of the blade and handle was mostly complete.
'This forging stuff is kind of easy.' Bell thought to herself, wiping away sweat that accumulated above her goggles.
Then, she repeated the process a few more times, continuing the shaping process until she found it to be mostly complete.
With a cooled blade shape on her anvil, and with sore forearms, Bell stood there motionless for a minute or two.
'Well... what now?' She asked within her mind, then her expression turned to one of glee. 'I can ask Teacher Hephaestus!'
Bell then left the tongs, hammer, and cooled blade on her anvil as she turned around and flipped the switches to her barrel furnace.
With her furnace powered down, and her tools situated where no danger could happen, Bell turned to look around the forge.
It didn't take long for Teacher Hephaestus, who was standing at a nearby forge, pointing out a few things to a fellow student. Bell walked forward and patiently waited a few paces away from Teacher Hephaestus and the student.
He acknowledged Bell with a calm nod before continuing for a bit longer.
After a few minutes, he returned to his wheelchair and appeared before Bell.
"What do you need?" He asked with a warm smile. "Forging advice?" He continued with a raised eyebrow.
Bell nodded and replied, "Exactly."
Teacher Hephaestus raised an arm forward, "Lead me."
So, Bell and Teacher Hephaestus returned to her forging station where Bell flipped the switches to her forge once again.
Teacher Hephaestus said above the sounds of growing flames, "That's good, you don't necessarily need to power down your forge before leaving your stage, but it saves us a few dollars on fuel."
Bell smiled, then asked her question, "I have my blade shaped and all that, what should I do now?"
Before Teacher Hephaestus could answer Bell's question, the clocktower's bell tolled, indicating the end of the current class.
"Well, I'd have you sand the rough parts out before you hammer in the blade." Teacher Hephaestus grunted, "After you get the edge in, you'd sand it and heat treat the entire thing, but class is over for the weekend."
Teacher Hephaestus then turned to face the rest of the forge before announcing.
"Quench! Class is over!"
To which several students put their hot ingots and tongs into the barrels filled with some sort of liquid. The sounds of thousands of bubbles popping filled Bell's ears, the bubbling and boiling sound overpowered the sounds of flames, which was slightly surprising.
Bell then saw her cooled blade and asked Teacher Hephaestus, "Should I quench mine, too?"
"Yes, it might not look like it, but you'll get burnt if you try to touch it." Teacher Hephaestus replied, turning around once more. "Quench it, and if you want, you can bring it back to your room to work on over the weekend."
He smiled before continuing, "It already looks mostly finished... you're a quick worker, aren't you, Bellona?"
Bell replied with a smile, "Yeah, thank you."
"Well, I'm going to go spread the word and wrap up class for now." Teacher Hephaestus stated. "Put away your apron and goggles, I'll see you on Monday."
Bell waved Teacher Hephaestus away, saying, "Have a good weekend," as she did.
Soon after, Bell went to the area where she picked up the apron and goggles, taking off her own set of protective gear. The sensation of lightweightedness filled her body after the thick and heavy leather apron was lifted from her.
Bell then picked her notebook, journal, and pen from when she had left them there earlier in the class.
Michael and Pyralis were waiting at the entrance while Bell saw that Wren was on her way. Soon, the four were all together and making their way out of the building.
"How far did you make it?" Michael asked his brother.
Pyralis replied with a smirk, "I'm already sanding my knife."
Michael smirked before he replied, "I'm quenching and sharpening my blade at the forge near our dorms tonight."
Wren then typed something on her pathfinder, turning her window so that the other three could read:
[You all are so slow! I am already done with my knife!]
Afterward, Wren pulled out a perfectly shined and sharpened steel knife from her pocket. The others were left in dumbfounded shock as Wren then typed into her pathfinder once more.
[On Monday, Teacher Hephaestus will teach me how to make a sheath and how to add a wooden handle.]
Bell then spoke up, "How are you so fast?"
Wren shrugged before replying with her pathfinder.
[Maybe you're all just slow? I was taking my time, too.]
Pyralis then asked, "Do you have a Blessing?"
Michael added in, "I don't know if you were always mute or if you gained it with your Fragment, but your forging speed is not normal."
Wren flushed in realization that maybe she was quite fast.
'Blessing?' Bell thought to herself. 'I need to get my pathfinder upgraded as soon as possible...'
The four then reached the entrance to the Arena, and they quickly navigated through the tunnels underneath the bleachers.
Soon, they were walking in the rain in the Arena where most of the class stood underneath a canopy while Teacher Brutus was writing something on a whiteboard.
After the four reached the platform, Teacher Brutus pointed towards the four with a smile, then announced to the class:
"Now that the slowpokes here, we can start class!"