Experiencing Failure

The fire Qi hungrily swallowed the red and brown spots, causing the piece of iron to shrink before their very eyes while only ash fell into the red glowing coals.

But even this waste product wasn't spared. Like a pack of starving wolves, the fire inside the coals quickly surged out and broke down the ash even further until there wasn't even dust left, before hurriedly withdrawing into the lumps of coals again.

Lei Mingxing felt a bit speechless watching this process, still, it didn't prevent her from restraining the Qi again after it finished its job.

If she hadn't done so in time, she felt like it would have moved on to burn the rest of the iron as well. Even now she had the illusion that the fire Qi was greedily watching the silver spots of the ore.

She shook off this silly image.

The next step would probably take a lot of focus, even Jing Jiang had furrowed his brows in concentration after all! And he, as the owner of an artifact forge, was probably a lot more accomplished than her, a total beginner.

Lei Mingxing started envisioning the shape of the arrowhead as Jing Jiang had demonstrated before. The metal began bending its shape according to the image in her head, even though its size had shrunken significantly.

She crafted the shape of its stream-lined form with an exceedingly sharp-looking tip inside her mind. Imagining how it would cut through the air and finally reach its target, striking with unparalleled precision.

After she had completed the image in her mind, the silver spots became unresponsive. She could control the fire Qi as much as she liked, the silver spots wouldn't budge.

Lei Mingxing finally gave up with a resigned sigh and opened her eyes. She looked at the piece of red gleaming iron that only reached the length of her pinky. With doubts and a hint of regret in her heart, Lei Mingxing carried it to the bucket with water and dipped it in.

Fshhhh!

A huge cloud of steam rose instantly, the cool water struggling to compete with the fire Qi that was still lingering inside the arrowhead. But it finally managed to cool down the iron and after the steam stopped Lei Mingxing slowly took out the arrowhead.

Both Jing Jiang and Lei Mingxing were holding their breath in anticipation.

The emerged arrowhead glittered with an intense silver sheen as if it had been polished for hours on end. Its shape was a bit more elongated compared to Jing Jiang's example, but that just made it look more vicious.

Although... it seemed really fragile. So much so that it looked like it would snap in half before even reaching its target.

Lei Mingxing sighed in disappointment.

Jing Jiang noticed her downcast appearance and began comforting her.

"Don't worry, everyone fails at the start. Artifact creation takes patience and a lot of effort, would there be a need for years of apprenticeship otherwise? You probably burnt a bit of the iron along with the impurities. Next time, try sensing a bit more carefully and isolating the impurities from the iron before expelling them," Jing Jiang said with an encouraging smile on his face, while he took out a smoothly carved wooden stick.

"Just remember, the impurities are always darker than the iron itself! Anyway, let's finish up our arrow now!"

Jing Jiang picked up the arrowhead and demonstrated how to combine the two parts before he let her choose a few feathers of her liking to add to the end of her finished arrow.

With that, Lei Mingxing's first-ever weapon was completed. A slender and fragile-looking arrow crowned by a few black and white feathers with a red spot in the middle, carefully trimmed by Lei Mingxing to the best of her abilities.

Even if it was a failure, it still looked very impressive, so Lei Mingxing didn't dwell on her disappointment for too long.

Instead, she was motivated to improve her skills, so that she would also be able to create a powerful and sturdy arrow like Jing Jiang's!

Using the remaining inner Qi inside her meridians, Lei Mingxing forged three more arrows, every one of them looking just as fragile as the first, maybe even more so.

Frustrated, Lei Mingxing put down her last arrow.

She had tried following Jing Jiang's tip as best as she could, but no matter how carefully she examined the spots or from which angle, there were always more brown and red spots than bright silver ones.

And the more slender her arrows turned out, the less Lei Mingxing dared ask Jing Jiang for help.

Finally, Lei Migxing had no other choice but to disperse her inner Qi from the furnace, as it threatened to escape her control along with her dwindling focus.

She bundled her arrows together and walked over to Jing Jiang who had started working on some other, more advanced artifact.

Despite her downcast mood, Lei Mingxing still watched the process as intently as she could.

The huge chunk of ore in Jing Jiang's tongs changed its shape, stretching to a length of roughly 80cm. He then transferred it to the anvil next to the furnace. After grabbing the biggest hammer hanging on the wall, Jing Jiang began swinging down on the gleaming iron, his face was entirely focused, with furrowed brows. It didn't take long before the slightly curved broad saber took shape beneath the hammer, but Jing Jiang wasn't finished yet.

He quickly picked up a smooth red orb from the piles of different materials, the size of a baby's fist, and laid it in the middle of the saber's blade, near the still absent hilt. After he was satisfied with the placement, Jing Jiang began lightly hammering on the orb center, slowly pushing it inside the sword's body. In the end, only the top of the red orb still peeked out from the gleaming metal.

With this, the fire saber's blade was completed and Jing Jiang took it to cool down in the water basin.

Finally, Jing Jiang was able to take some of his focus off the blade and turned to Lei Mingxing.

The latter was still watching in awe, an excited light in her exposed eyes.

Jing Jiang laughed.

"Have you finished your arrows?"

Lei Mingxing's mood instantly fell, hearing Jing Jiang mention her failed arrows, but she still nodded and handed them over.

Jing Jiang carefully examined her work.

"The sharpness of the arrowheads is very good, there are no signs of the arrowheads becoming loose, and even the trimming of the feathers is really well done. All in all very impressive work for a beginner. Good job! The only thing you still need to improve on is your metalwork."

Jing Jiang wasn't disappointed in the slightest seeing Lei Mingxing's failed products. Even the biggest prodigy had to start somewhere, after all!

The fact that there was only one error, and a consistent one at that, in four otherwise perfect products, was already astonishing enough! It didn't change anything in how Jing Jiang viewed Lei Mingxing.

She was still an exceptional genius in his eyes.

Were you kidding? The work from her first day could be compared to an apprentice who had studied for several months!

He happily patted Lei Mingxing's shoulder.

"Do you want to take a break for now? You can also find yourself a spot to meditate."

Lei Mingxing shook her head at his words.

"Is there anything I can help with?"

Pleasantly surprised by Lei Mingxing's forthcoming attitude, Jing Jiang brought her to the storeroom.

"Can you read?"

Jing Jiang didn't really expect her to respond positively. After all most people were illiterate, especially teenagers like her. But Lei Mingxing just casually nodded.

"That's great! Now you only need to learn how to use calculus, but that's not that hard, I will teach it to you some time."

Lei Mingxing looked at Jing Jiang with confused eyes.

"...?"

"I can use calculus."

Stunned, Jing Jiang froze.

She could read and use calculus? Wasn't a young girl learning calculus a rarity even for noble families?

Suddenly, a thought emerged in Jing Jiang's mind.

Could it be, his new apprentice was actually the noble daughter of some wealthy family?! Could she and her partner, have eloped together? And that's why they were here in Dark Spirit Town? To hide from her influential relatives?

Shaken to the core by the dramatic love story Jing Jiang had conjured inside his brain, he sympathetically gazed at Lei Mingxing.

Slowly his pity turned into determination, he would look after Lei Mingxing and help her grow to become a master artificer! So that she would be able to face her family boldly in the future!

Small theater:

Jing Jiang: My apprentice is too pitiful! All because her family wouldn't accept her lover... Don't worry, your boss will help you live freely in the future!

Lei Mingxing:???