Chapter 3: Grand debut

Arthur went back to the East wing the next morning towards the Blacksmith facility. Word had got out that Petrus was making a bet with an orphan. So some of Petrus's friends and other blacksmiths came to watch the show.

"Have you heard of this guy Arthur?"

"Some guy who believes he is a talented blacksmith. I came to see him fall flat on his face. Petrus never missed out on a talent before. How could he make a mistake now? Maybe he believes he is better than the rest of us."

Most of them were not convinced of Arthur's talent. After they knew Petrus and Arthur was a nobody. He had no reputation or anything that could convince them. So most of their comments were disparaging him.

But Arthur was not discouraged by these comments at all. In fact, he was confident so he ignored them. He approached Petrus.

"Are you ready for this sir? I hope you are prepared to teach me all you know"

"I do not know why you told everybody about this bet. Did you really think that I would have gone back on my word? You can rest your mind at ease I won't. But when you lose that will teach you to be less arrogant next time" smiled Petrus.

Arthur replied with a smile of his own. It was indeed him who had spread the rumor of the bet. But it wasn't really that he wanted to trap Petrus. It's just that he didn't like to leave it up to chance. That was his character. He always did everything to obtain what he wanted when he had set his mind on it.

"Here are the rules. It will normally take 3-5 days for a mortal to form a blade if I remember correctly. I will give you 4 days for you to form one since you think you are talented. Normally, only disciples who are able to form a blade in 3 days are considered talented. So I think I am being generous"

"Do not worry about me, sir. It will be fast" smiled Arthur.

He then came up to an anvil with a hammer and an ore and started working. At first, it didn't look like he had anything special to him. But the second his hand made contact with the hammer, his aura began to change. It added an aura of mysteriousness to him.

Petrus 's eyes dilated and his breath began to change. 'Have I been mistaken ?' was his thought. 'First, he makes this bet and then he invites everyone to see it as if he confident of his victory. Is this not arrogance?'

What followed made him petrified. Arthur didn't have any hesitation in his movement. Every single one of them was like it had been repeated for years. After 8 hours of repetitive work by putting the metal under fire and working on it with a tong and a hammer, a blade began to form.

It normally takes 3-5 days for a normal mortal to forge a sword with constant hammering unless your tools are special.

But no matter how Petrus looked at his hammer there wasn't anything special at all. In fact, it was the standard hammer provided to every apprentice. He recognized it. 'Is that a weapon working factory? He is just a mortal. What about when he starts to cultivate?' A chill went down his spine.

'What... What kind of monster is this? To think I almost missed on a talent like that. Did he hide his real talent yesterday? He is very close to a Class 1 Blacksmith'. At that moment Petrus's face turned red. If there was a hole he would have jumped in it. He made a fool out of himself in front of all his friends and the other blacksmiths.

By 9 hours he had finished sharpening, and putting the handle to form a knife. It took 9 hours but no one left. Arthur's movements were too fascinating, to mesmerizing. Every blacksmith was completely hypnotized seeing his movements.

'To think that someone could work on metal like that. I have never seen anything like that in all my life'

'I am glad no one had the presence of mind to bet. Or a lot of people, I included, would have lost a lot of money'.

'Petrus almost missed out on this gem. Maybe Arthur is dissatisfied with Petrus now. I have to take this chance and steal him away. He has to become my disciple.' A shrewd light came out out of one of Petrus's colleague.

By the time Arthur finished his work, his face was pale and oozing with sweat. The reason he had such a good performance was that he used the Heavenly Adaptation technique that his master Horus taught last night. Adding the 8 hours of continues work, it was a wonder that he could still stand. It was proof of how heavenly defying his technique was.

The Heavenly Adaptation technique was a body art that did more than reinforcing the body. It could fill the need of his physique in response to the trauma inflicted on it. But it wasn't just the physique. It included eyesight, hearing, olfaction... everything that Arthur needed in order to become better in the art of blacksmithing.

If Arthur did a set of fist art, after practicing the Heavenly Adaptation technique his reach would come a little longer and his fist would become reinforced. His muscle would become leaner so that he would be able to hit faster and more compact so that he would be able to hit harder. His lungs would expand so that he would have better stamina.

Also, his eyesight and brain would change so that he would be able to judge the distance better. And he would have more muscle throughout his whole body since the power travels from the feet towards the hands when boxing.

Normally you would have to train everything individually to do this. What's more some of the things couldn't be acquired by training but from birth like eyesight and reach. It made you have a body made for fist art. This technique had the power to turn you from a pile of trash into a genius in a single night. He became talented in blacksmithing thanks to that.

But his limit had been reached.

Acid lactic coursed throughout his body and Numbness could be felt in his hands. His arms now red became heavier. He had an urge to faint due to lack of sugar and water in his system.