Magic Meets Metal

After that it's been a month I learned the basic of swordsmanship from galen with a lot of pain in my body left after each training routine, I also started to sneak out of the house at night to practice in the woods, good thing that the moon of this world which is named lunador shines bright at the night which helped me while training. 

I have been practicing both my swordsmanship and magic any chance I get, My mom has also been helping me in magic as we both have the fire nature and she has had more experience using it and because of that my control of the fire nature is pretty good, But my wind nature is not so good the most I can do is release it in a big burst which only lessens my mana and is not that efficient during a fight, good thing that I have a massive amount of mana but I still need to be careful.

One day my dad approached me with a smile that was big as a mountain.

"Lucian prepare yourself, today your dad will take you to the city market and give you a tour of the city."

I have never really been out of the village that much in my life, it was only once but I was still a baby and it was to buy me clothes that time but I did see a lot of interesting thing one of those was the city library, which I wanted to visit for a long time, I was about to ask galen to take me there anyways.

"Really, dad then will you also take me to the city library?"

"Well we might visit it as well if you want, go and get ready I will prepare the wagon."

Me and galen left for the city and my only thought was about the library and the excitement to learn more as I was currently being blocked by a massive wall and needed more knowledge to get over it or break through it.

The traveling took quite a while but during the travel I saw a lot of different things that piqued my interest and amazed me but as we slowly reached the city, I saw the massive gate behind where lied the city market, the soldiers guarding the front of the gate also looked like experienced fighters with fierce look in their eyes.

Even while they checked our papers they had a serious expression, but as we entered the city the noises became much louder and the voices of people were overlapping my own thoughts, but seeing so many new things was amazing shops selling materials that I have never seen in my life and also the smell of different food lined up outside the shops.

"Son remember not everyone is friendly in the city so don't just go near anyone or talk to anyone random as criminals have been on a rise recently don't leave my side."

After a while of traveling through the city we finally reached our destination, a two story building which had no sigh outside so I was confused but as my father and I got off the wagon he told me to follow him inside the building, I was confused at first but right as i entered the building a wave of hot air hit my face and I realized what this place was it was a blacksmith shop as i saw a man who seemed to be in his late 40's beating a hot red piece of metal on an anvil.

"What are we here to do dad?"

"Today is the day you will choose the sword that you will practice with son."

"An actual real sword, isn't that going to be a little dangerous to practice with?"

"Don't worry son you need a real sword to understand the weight you will be swinging around in the future and it's better to start early."

Well I had the same idea but a real smithy, I thought we would just buy a sword from a shop or something but this is truly an experience.

"GIDEON" Galen shouted.

The man who was working on the metal stopped and with sweat covering his face he looked back at us, with a big built body and a bushy mustache the man stood up and I realized just how tall he was as he was even taller than galen who i thought was pretty tall.

"galen" Gideon said while putting his hammer on the table besides him. 

"And who is this little kid that you brought with you?" Gideon says while bending down his head to look at me.

"This here is my son Lucian."

"So this is the rascal that I keep hear you talking about, it's been a while kid since I last saw you, you were still pooping your pants back then." Gideon says while laughing.

I remember meeting him when I first came to the city market with my parents I was still a baby back then.

"So why did you bring your kid here is it to teach him blacksmithing?" Gideon says with a excited expression.

"No I came here today to get him a fitting sword for practice."

"A sword huh"

"I guess the sooner you start the better, why don't you let him choose the one he wants?"

"Sure, Lucian why don't you go with Gideon while i unload materials from the wagon"

"Then come with me little warrior, today you will be wielding your first real weapon." Gideon says to me and starts walking towards the basement stair.

I follow him to the basement and there were not only swords stored there but many other weapons like battle axes, throwing axes, spears, hammers, flail, armor, shields and many more tools and weapons, for a moment I was lost in thought after seeing so many weapons but I was quickly taken out by Gideon.

"So what kind of sword do you want kid? Looking at your size I think for now a short sword would fit you the best."

A short sword huh, I guess it would fit me the best since I can't swing around an actual long sword nearly the size of me.

"Sure I will take a short sword then."

"Ok then kid it decided now the only thing left is for you to pick out a short sword." With that said Gideon then opened a storage box behind him.

Gideon then took out one of the short sword and handed it to me, the sword felt lighter than I thought it would be, I expected it to be lighter than a normal sword but this short sword felt like it was made out of something extremely light, but it also felt really durable.

"You feel it don't you the sword is much lighter than any other short sword made out of normal metal, this short sword you could say is one of my earliest works but by no means is it any less then my best works, it's made out of a material called anadite it's a mana absorbing metal it was hard to work with and in the end I didn't have the courage to sell it off to someone else."

"Then why are you giving it to me isn't this special to you?"

"Everything I make is special to me kid that don't mean I won't sell them and even if this sword is special to me I know that it will be more useful in your hand than mine."

"Thanks I will make sure to use it well."

"Then why don't you show me some of your skills with that sword kid." 

"Sure."

As I grabbed the hilt of the sword it was completely different from the wooden swords that I had practiced with the balance of the sword was much greater and even the feeling of holding it made me excited.

As I swung the sword for the first time it felt amazing, I felt the sword absorbing my mana and each swing of the sword becoming more and more fluid, as I stopped I felt the sword dispersing the mana it had absorbed from me, as I looked back at Gideon he had a face of someone who had just seen a ghost as he was shocked and staring at me.

"Kid did anyone teach you how to channel mana?"

"Channel mana? What does that mean?"

"The thing you just did, you channeled mana into the short sword."

"Did I? I didn't know I was channeling mana it felt like the sword was absorbing my mana on its own?"

"Well the material that the sword is made out of has mana absorbing property and makes it easier for the wielder to channel mana in it, but you still need to have good mana control to do so, it seems like you are a genius kid as you are able to channel mana at such a young age." Gideon says while laughing.

So that was mana channeling huh, I never felt that while using the wooden sword but that might be because I never learnt it, This sword must have made it easier for me to use channeling and as Gideon said one need to have good mana control to use channeling so my mana control must have also helped.

"Gideon I have a question?"

"What is it kid?"

"Is it possible to also channel mana nature into a weapon?"

"It certainly is kid most of those who are the strongest in the world can channel their mana nature into their weapon." Gideon says.

"Then can you also do it?"

"Sure i can kid, when I used to fight on the front lines i was called the boulder born because of my great control over the earth nature." Gideon says with a proud look. 

Frontlines was this man in the army if he was then he must be very experienced, what connection does my father have with this man they look like friends but it might be deeper than that.

"What was the weapon that you used?" 

"Let me show you kid." Gideon with a smile walks towards the corner of the room and picks up something wrapped in cloth which looks like a giant hammer.

"Get ready kid you are going to be seeing a relic of my past." Gideon says as he begins to unwrap it.

As he unwraps it a dull but strong looking handle is slowly revealed, and then as he fully takes the cloth off a giant hammer is revealed, it has many dents and some material is chipped off but this just shows how much this weapon has been used.

"Wow it looks like it has been through a lot." 

"It sure has i call this bad boy quake." Gideon says while holding it in his arms.

"I used him a lot during my prime days I wanted to fix the small damages but stopped as I realized that it didn't need to be fixed and that it was perfect as is it." Gideon says while looking at the hammer.

"Can I hold it?" 

"Do you really want to kid it might be hard for you to do so as this hammer was made of a very heavy material and weights nearly 200 kilo's." Gideon says with a smile looking at me.

"I just want to hold it for a second."

"Sure but be careful." Gideon says while smirking.

Looking at him I know that he thinks I won't be able to lift it I will make sure to give you a surprise. 

As he hands me the hammer rather than falling I manage to hold it still and even swing it around a bit, Gideon's face went blank as he saw me swing around his hammer.

What did you think was going to happen, with all the mana training I have done I already have the idea of body strengthening I guess this will be enough to show him to not underestimate me.

"Kid, are you really just eight years old?" Gideon says with a worried look on his face.

I just smiled at him while handing him back the hammer.

"So will you teach me how to channel mana nature into weapons?"

"Looks like you are not just a genius but also a cunning brat, showing me your ability to impress me." Gideon says while laughing.

"Sure I will teach you kid." Gideon says while smiling.

"But remember kid my training is going to be much tougher than that of your dads so be ready, then from today you will call me sir you get it?" Gideon says while crossing his arms and staring at me.

"Yes sir I do."

"You are a fast learner kid hope that is also same during the training."

"Let's head back kid I have to discuss this with your dad."