The Ancient Genes

Chapter 7 - Magic Academy

Seeing him look dumbfounded, Max couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Stark is everything all right?"

...

"Um..Mr. Stark are you there?" he asked as he waved his hands in front of his face.

Ah!

Mr Stark finally snapped out of his stupor.

"Ahm... So where did you get this hammer from?" He asked as if nothing was wrong with him.

"It's from that box." Max pointed towards the wooden box.

He looked at the box with a complex expression before letting out a sigh.

Seeing him sigh, he couldn't help himself but asked, "Mr. Stark, is there any problem?"

"No, there is nothing wrong, it's just that the hammer is my family's heirloom."

"Oh! I am so sorry. I had no idea about it." Max apologised and turned to place the hammer back in the box.

"No, Wait! Don't put it back."

"Huh?" Max stared at him in confusion.

"I mean, you can use it. It's just a hammer after all." He said anxiously.

Seeing him behave weirdly, he couldn't help but feel something was wrong.

Still, he walked towards the working place with the hammer in his hand and Stark followed him.

After they Reached the furnace, he asked, "Mr. Stark, what do I need to do?"

...

Not hearing anything from him, Max turned to find him busy in his thoughts.

....

Stark looked at Max with the hammer in his hands, and a lot of feelings welled up in him.

Happiness

Jealousy

Anticipation

Finally, the unshakeable hammer had been taken out of the box.

'Does that mean the prophecy might come to be true?' Stark wondered.

But he couldn't understand why the wielder of the hammer was a person without power.

'Right now, I only can help him grow. That's what my family is supposed to do.'

As he was busy in his thought, Stark felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Mr. Stark."

And the voice finally pulled him out of his thoughts.

.....

Seeing him finally snap out of his stupor, he asked him once again, "Mr. Stark are you sure you are all right?"

"Yeah, I am fine." He replied without batting an eye and then continued.

"You should start working, go take a piece of ore out of the furnace and show me a hundred swings for tempering."

Max gave him a nod and used the equipment to take out a red hot piece of iron ore.

He raised the hammer and then brought that down with force, hitting the ore.

Clang!

The clanging sound continued as Max repeatedly swung his hammer.

"Swing it harder. Maintain your strength and hit the ore evenly or else you won't be able to get the impurities out." he heard Mr. Stark shouting behind his back.

And the process continued for half an hour, along with Mr. Stark's instructions.

"No..No, you are doing it wrong...."

"Not like that....."

After half an hour, he ended up with a pair of aching arms and a destroyed piece of ore.

"Enough practice for today, let me explain the process of blacksmithing to you."

With that, Max got an hour of lecture before returning to his room.

Returning to his room, he felt tired and laid down on his bed.

'Damn, that was way tougher than I thought it would be.

It looked like he had no choice, 'System how much FP do I have?' he asked.

«Reporting to Host, Host currently has 217 FP»

'How about my understanding of Blacksmithing?'

«Reporting to Host, Host's current understanding of Blacksmithing is 27%»

'If things continue this way, I can acquire 1000 FP within a month and create the Blacksmithing skill.'

But there was still a problem, how would he get into the Magic Academy? Even if he could have enough skill, the entrance exams of all the universities were already over.

'Damn it, I will just enter the Academy as a part time worker, if worse comes to worst.'

'After all, I couldn't afford to lose 5000 FP.'

...

Stark walked into his room, and took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Yeah....It's me, Stark. I need your help....you know about the hammer, right?... yes .. the wielder has appeared...'

....

After a month or so....

Max had finally acquired 1000 FP. And his understanding of Blacksmithing had also reached 100%.

'System, create the Blacksmithing skill,' he commanded in excitement.

«Creating Advanced skill «Blacksmith» Lv 0»

«Confirm: Yes or No»

Seeing the notification, he accepted it without any hesitation and with the creation of the skill, he felt an urge to swing his hammer.

Went downstairs, he confidently walked into the workshop and as usual found Mr. Stark working with his hammer.

During that one month, a lot of things happened. His Dad contacted him, it looked like he wasn't able to persuade his Grandpa. It also seemed that his Dad didn't inform Mom about the incident, which was a good thing, since he didn't want her to worry.

His Dad was planning to return alone instead of taking Max with him.

But Max refused him.

Mr. Stark had accepted him as his apprentice and he was planning to learn from him.

And with Mr. Stark's help, he was able to get his Dad's approval. It looked like a 7 star Blacksmith was really a big deal.

.....

Seeing him walk into the room, Mr. Stark turned and asked, "You are up early today, huh?"

"I am getting a good feeling today that I will definitely succeed today."

"Ha..ha.., you really think that Blacksmithing is child's play, understanding is one thing and doing it practically is another. You should be confident, but being this cocky won't do you any good".

Max walked towards the shelf and picked up the broken hammer. After working for a month, he could feel a connection with the hammer.

Taking the hammer, he moved towards the furnace and picked up a piece of ore.

"You!... you, what are you doing!! Put that back, are you crazy?" He heard Mr. Stark shout filled with shock.

But, he ignored him, and brought down his hammer.

Clang!

"You brat! If you destroy that piece of mana ore, you won't be getting away with it. I will let you starve until you are able to repay me."

Hearing Mr. Stark shout filled with anger, he couldn't help but regret his decision.

'Did I rush a bit too much? I better not fail this time. Because I could definitely imagine myself dying out of starvation.'

Ignoring everything, he continued swinging his hammer.

....

'This brat, where did he get so much confidence from? I will let him starve for a day if he destroys the ore.' Stark looked at Max with an annoyed look on his face.

After a while, he felt like he was seeing illusions and rubbed his eyes in order to confirm.

He could clearly see the edge of a blade being formed.

'Damn it.' He couldn't help but curse in his mind.

...

Stark started learning blacksmithing at the age of 11 and created his first piece of equipment after 8 months of training, created his first piece of equipment with Mana ore at 13, and became a 1★ blacksmith at 14.

After this, he was recognized as a genius, placing in the top 10 Blacksmiths of his era.

But this guy here was creating his first piece of equipment with Mana ore after one month of training.

'I knew it, the wielder of the hammer won't be an ordinary person.'

....

Max let out a sigh, seeing the shiny blade in front of him.

(Note: 1 STR = 2 Attack)

«Ice Dagger» [0 Star weapon]

Attack +1

Agility +1

[An equippable item crafted by the Host at a level below 1 Star Blacksmith. Made with the mana ore coldsteel, gives 2% chance of freezing an opponent on contact.]

He turned around, showed the weapon to Mr. Stark.

After an inspection, Mr. Stark returned the weapon to him along with a stack of documents.

"I thought of giving it to you later after the graduation ceremony. But it seems this is the right time. You have successfully created your first piece of equipment. If you want to become a top-grade blacksmith, you have to do it out there. You can't become a top-grade Blacksmith without experience. So go out there and make me proud." He spoke with a smile and patted his head before he left him standing behind.

Max didn't understand the meaning behind his sentences at first. But it all became clear as he opened the document.

The Ancient Genes

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