Mined Games chapter 15

The inside of the tent was bigger than the outside. Markedly bigger. I had no clue how the magic actually worked, but I knew exactly what kind of mana specialized in these kinds of spells. My kind. This was spatial magic, the first example of it that I’d ever seen.

It looked like some kind of great hall, stone, weirdly enough, just huge blocks of gray rock. There wasn’t really anything above us, the whole place sort of faded into darkness after about ten or fifteen feet up, and the only things in the room other than big ass forges was a bunch of long carpets leading from one end of the hall to the other, where I could see a door identical to the one a quick glance showed behind me.

Terry goggled around us. “Well fuck me.” He said in shock. “That’s a neat trick. Hey se-” He looked at Tanya, clearly about to use a term that she probably wouldn’t like, then glanced at her still visible hammer, and over to an anvil on a nearby forge, before paling. “I mean, um- miss. Do you guys use this place for anything except entrance tests?”

The woman shook her head. “Nope. These aren’t magic forges, so making them requires minimal effort. One of our council members cranks them out for all the cities and we keep a stockpile.” She pointed up. “As you can see, this isn’t a stable space, just a temporary structure. They last a few days because of that, which makes them easier to slap together.”

Riley stepped up, now acting a bit more formally, at least between the nervous glances he was shooting at Tanya. “Now, as mentioned, you’ll be making something. There are bars of metal next to the forges, the guild doesn’t let real mages waste time smelting mortal ore, so you’ll be purchasing your bars through us at a mark down, though for the test we cover the cost. You have four hours.”

Some of the others looked worried, but I just nodded. Four hours might not seem like enough for a mortal smith, but with almost any condensation at all it was more than doable. I strolled over to the nearest forge, happily noting the thing was already lit, which would have been a huge time suck.

Looking around, it was kind of hilarious to see how out of their depth most of these people seemed. I could see a few foppish looking guys and a noble daughter or two looking at the lit forges like the things would try to bite them.

Sadly, Terry wasn’t one of them. Seeing the big man grab some gloves and tongs and begin evenly heating his iron bar, I winced slightly. I didn’t want to go to classes with Terrence Halford. He was a grade A asshole. Still, now that I was an Apprentice that would be less of a problem, he wasn’t yet, and I was sure he had no chance of hurting me as he was.

The others I’d noted all seemed to know what was what too. Cecily had chosen a bar of what looked like silver for her project, and Grace was using gold, both of them clearly hoping to impress with something delicate and complicated. Annika was using bronze, surprisingly, while Duval had chosen iron like Terry had.

I’d have liked to watch them longer, but I was more worried about proving myself than what they were capable of, so I just whipped off my cloak and got started heating my own iron bar. I was most comfortable with iron when working, and I wasn’t stupid enough to try something new without the tutorial to help.

I noted shock and derision when people saw me, several of them staring in disbelief as they took in my Apprentice condensation rank. It was more than visible without the cloak to hide it, and I knew some of them recognized me. Sadly smithing under a heavy cloak would be stupid and wasteful, using a forge was hot, and overheating would slow me down.

Terry spoke up. “The fuck? You’re going to let Rourke take this test? I don’t know how he’s pretending to be an Apprentice but it’s bullshit. Everyone knows that he can’t condense because of his rock bottom sensitivity.” He sneered at me. “Get out of here you pathetic piece of trash. You’re making this test a joke.”

There was a crash as Tanya slammed her hammer into the stone to one side of her. A fucking crater was torn out of the wall as she glared at Terry. “I’m sorry. Are you running this exam? Did I suddenly become your subordinate? Because last I checked I was in charge here, so unless YOU want to be kicked out, you’d better shut that gaping sewage hole in your flat rocklike face and get to work.”

Terry flushed, his fists clenching, but it was easy to tell that Tanya was ALSO an Apprentice at least, maybe stronger. I didn’t have much experience judging condensation ranks, but I got an overwhelming feeling of power from the woman. Sadly, even Terry wasn’t stupid enough to mouth off and test her, and he went back to his heating with a glare.

The others looked at me with less hostility, more like a particularly interesting bug than some kind of human garbage, but I ignored it all. My best move here was to do my work. I started heating the iron, letting it develop that cherry red glow. It was almost pathetically easy to manage this without having to keep track of mana.

Once I got it started, I proceeded to draw the iron, beginning the forging process. I followed the steps I’d taken a hundred plus times, bringing my hammer down in the perfect strike. I had an intuitive feel for this now after so many different tutorial attempts, able to feel where I was supposed to strike, how hard, and when.

It was a shockingly simple task after trying to do REAL forging, and within an hour or so I’d finished my knife, quenching the familiar instrument and beginning the process of polishing, grinding, and wrapping, making the blade a usable implement and adding the hilt as I ignored everyone else.

When I finished, I appraised my project, curious to see what my standard was. While there was no mana, and as such Form wasn’t applicable, I did have a mental image in my head of what the knife should look like, and I decided to map the details and see how close all my training had brought me to making a proper blade.

The answer was…close. The added complexity of forging magic tools, made making this knife a lot like switching from advanced mathematics to simple addition. It was why I’d gone so fast. The blade itself was perfectly constructed. The edge was keen without being brittle, the blade was perfectly balanced at the base of the hilt, I’d checked every box.

Seeing that I was done, Tanya had come over to watch, and she gave a low whistle as she saw me testing the blade. Reaching out to pluck it out of my hands, she balanced it in the side of one finger, then whirled it up into the air and caught it by the hilt, flicking the blade to listen to the sound of the metal.

“Pass.” She said in surprise. “By a mile. This is probably the best work I’ve seen from an applicant since I started proctoring this test. It usually takes years to develop this kind of instinctive feel for metal. You’ve got a knack.” She looked me up and down. “Rourke…you’re THAT kid huh? You’re not faking your rank, I could tell. Interesting…”

I shrugged. “I fell into a pool of mana water when I was outside town. After I woke up the water was all absorbed. After that, my condensation got way faster. Didn’t need sensitivity for it since all the mana was trapped in my body.”

She gaped at me. “That…ok, well I guess luck is its own kind of ability. I’d keep that story to myself though. There are people who would probably kill you out of sheer bitterness for that. Hells kid, even I feel like taking a swing.” I stepped back, eyes going to her hammer, and she chuckled. “Kidding, only kidding. I swear you rookies have no sense of humor.”

Riley cut in. “No Tanya, you’re just not funny. Most people don’t find threats of bodily harm amusing. Which is why you aren’t married in your mid thirties, despite being such a looker. No wonder the Kent family doesn’t want you in charge. The whole line will die out if they have to wait for you to find a ma-” He stopped, realizing that he’d been saying quite a bit more than I think he’d intended to.

Tanya was glaring at the red haired man, and had let her hammer slip, catching it by a loop on the bottom and beginning to spin it slowly as she stared at him. “Oh, no. Please Riley. Continue. I’m so curious what you were going to say.”

The man tried to force a laugh as he stared nervously at the hammer. “I mean…you’re fiercely independent and those old fogeys have no idea what a treasure is right under their nose. You don’t want to get wrapped up in all those politics anyway?”

She narrowed her eyes at him for minute, before turning away, calling over her shoulder. “Smelting duty. Two months.” Surprisingly, Riley exhaled in relief, clearly less upset about ‘smelting duty’ than whatever he’d been afraid she would do to him.

Two hours later, the others started to finish up. Rather than check them one by one, Tanya noted the close timetables and decided to judge everyone else at the same time, telling the ones who finished to wait patiently and talk amongst themselves.

To my surprise, Cecily approached me. “Caleb.” The redhead said with a nod. “Congratulations on your good fortune. I look forward to working with you in the future as we attempt to master our craft. May I see your product?”

That was practically a warm hug from Cecily. The normally taciturn girl had never been particularly harsh to me, though I always thought that was because harshness wasn’t in her nature. Still, I appreciated the gesture, and gave her a wide smile. “Same here. I can’t wait to see what you made. And sure, feel free.” I flipped the knife over, offering it hilt first.

She looked it over stoically, then nodded and passed it back. Finally, the others finished, and Tanya called for them to turn in their testing projects. Everyone brought theirs to one of the unlit forges where Tanya had been sitting, and she slowly looked them over.

Cecily had made a small silver dove ring. She’d clearly put more emphasis on delicacy than function, but still, it was an impressive piece of metal work, and jewelry was just as enchantable as weapons. Grace had gone the same route, creating a clawed armor ring with a roaring golden lion’s head on it.

Terry made an axe, which was…clunky, but apparently good enough to pass, if barely, while Annika had made a small buckler that could fit over one arm. Duval had made the head of a spear, though it didn’t have a haft, and it was easily ten times better than Terry’s piece of junk, something the bigger man knew, based on his alternating glares at everyone else.

Of the fifteen competitors, seven of them passed, the other five, myself, and petite, delicate looking girl with olive skin and multicolored beads woven into her long hair. Her name was apparently Lanie, and she’d made a short sword with excellent balance that had gotten almost as much praise from Tanya as my knife.

With that finished, those who failed left, while the seven of us stayed behind. “Alright.” Said Tanya with grim amusement. “The test is over. You seven passed, and just under half isn’t a bad ratio. That’ll be all for today. Meet at the guild building tomorrow to get your class assignments. Welcome to the Blacksmith Guild rookies, the hard work is just beginning.”