388 No one great enought
These little mistakes followed for another 10 tries, until Luke finally understood what he was doing wrong.
“I only need to create one beam, just one electrical source. I’m creating several” Luke said.
It was as if hundreds of small rays were thrown out of the sword, with that amount, a magic circle as simple as the one on the outside of the sword would never be able to control this attack.
Luke then began to channel more energy, but this time, he visualized a single gigantic bolt of electricity coming out of his sword. He visualized the weapon shooting that lightning bolt as if it were a rain cloud attacking the earth from the sky.
The lightning flew out of the sword, and finally Luke was able to control it the way he wanted. It took the form of a dragon, as it flew around wherever the half-wolf wished. That dragon burned the four test dummies that were in the front row, completely exterminating them.
They burned to ashes, leaving only that soot and dust, which showed the size of the force that attacked them.
Ezra was completely surprised by the effect of the attack, he could not believe that this sword was so strong. He even offered that item to some of his colleagues to test, and they all had the same reaction as Luke.
They were confused about how to use the item, what its function was. Some of Ezra’s colleagues could not even power the sword. For the little blue-haired blacksmith, that weapon was practically an embarrassment. However, Luke completely put an end to this fear.
The half-wolf managed not only to master the sword, but also to understand the initial idea of that equipment, something that not even Ezra, the blacksmith who created that sword, had understood.
It was common for Ezra to receive different proposals from his master. Hephaestus was a somewhat confused woman, especially when it came to dealing with Ezra. He never understood why, but it seemed at times that she was more strict with him than with the other blacksmiths.
This excess of demands, combined with the incessant training that Hepha made Ezra undergo, made the little blacksmith extremely skilled. Ever since he was very small, he had always been training and working with the hot iron.
As much as Luke had now demonstrated the use of that weapon, he still didn’t understand what was the mistake that made it impossible to use that sword so far. When Ezra questioned Hephaestus about the failure of Sleepy Rain, the master forge only said that she never fails when she is producing a weapon.
Luke would continue with the testing, but Ezra was confused and curious, he wanted to understand what was the reason for the failure of his sword, what he had missed and what Hephaestus wanted him to produce.
“Luke! Can you come here?” Ezra called out, nodding to the half-wolf.
When Luke approached Ezra outside the room, the little blacksmith was again with his notepad, ready to write down all the feedback from the test of his creation.
“Tell me, how did you master this sword? You are not the first to try to use it, but you are the only one who has had some success in controlling this weapon” Ezra said.
Putting his pencil to his mouth, Ezra was looking at his notebook with a confused face. It was as if he was trying to understand by himself what could have happened. Before Luke could give an answer, Ezra continued talking.
“Actually, no other person was able to activate the weapon’s electrical enchantment. That was what surprised me the most about your test, I had picked up Sleepy Rain just to show you the effects of the first circle, the toxic smoke” Ezra said.
‘Well, it makes sense. I would have no reason to bring a weapon that no one had been able to use.’
“I’m glad you didn’t give up that sword, that challenge was really something interesting. I kind of needed it’ Luke said, as he reached out his hand to mess up Ezra’s hair as usual.
‘This is more fun than I imagined.
[I wish I could mess up his hair too. He’s so cute when he’s angry]
I didn’t realize you were so fond of children.
[Well, to tell you the truth. You’re like a child to me too, I think you’re cute too]
That was weird Balance’ [Hey!
[Hey! Don’t call me weird]
‘That’s right, I can’t be disrespectful to a Goddess.
[Absolutely! Why aren’t you gentlemanly with me?]
I’ll try to be more polite, sometimes I forget that you are a Goddess. I see you more as a best friend.
[Oh! That was cute]
I can’t help it, you know me better than anyone else.
[Hehehe, I know all your secrets big boy]
Ezra then grabbed Luke’s arm and pulled it off his head.
“Master Luke, why do you always get so distracted? Sometimes it seems like you just shut down and focus on your thoughts” Ezra said.
‘Ah… See Balance! Stop taking away my concentration’
‘I’m sorry, I was just thinking about some things. Anyway, tell me, what do you want to know?” Luke said.
Ezra then started flipping through his notebook, after going over a few pages, he turned to the blank page and started asking questions.
“Regarding the weight of the sword, what was your opinion on the balance of it?” Ezra said.
The half-wolf then placed one of his hands on his chin and looking up, he began to think about how to answer that question.
“It’s a bit of a tricky thing to explain. On the first attempt, I felt that the sword had extremely bad balance… It was as if it had two completely opposite centers of gravity, which made swinging it extremely uncomfortable. It was cutting the air in a strange way.” Luke said.
This initial analysis shook Ezra up a bit. As much as the little blacksmith was used to getting it wrong, it was always difficult to receive that kind of feedback. As much as Ezra had forged hundreds of swords in his brief life, he was never able to get used to negative opinions, in fact, it was precisely this discomfort that made him seek perfection.
Ever since he was little the little blue-haired blacksmith was forging, at first he made knives, after all the heat and effort were too great for a child. The number of different pieces of equipment Ezra had delivered to Hephaestus was countless, only to receive a dry, analytical look, and then to see his creation thrown on a garbage heap.
As Ezra grew older, his skill increased. However, he was never strong enough to forge on his own, so master Hephaestus taught him how to control the water golem. After mastering water magic, Ezra was finally able to receive praise from his master Hephaestus, who, as strict as she was, still possessed a gigantic affection for the little blacksmith.
Luke noticed the complicated face Ezra had made. Then he began to explain what he felt after stabilizing the sword’s internal mana.
“Don’t worry Ezra, this weapon is very good indeed. Let me finish the analysis” Luke said.
These words echoed through Ezra’s heart, and he lifted his head excitedly to receive the rest of the analysis.
“The weight was yes unbalanced at first, but I understood what was going on” Luke went on to explain, however, Ezra stopped him from continuing, speaking over him.
“What did you understand?” Ezra said, agitated and excited.
“Relax buddy. Well, the center of gravity of the sword blade was centered at two different points, which were just where the magic circles are located. The difference in type of magic caused the balance and swing of the weapon to be altered” Luke said.
As the half-wolf gave his explanation, Ezra was intently taking notes. With his head, the little blacksmith shook his face in confirmation, asking Luke to continue explaining.
“I felt as if the flow of my mana was confused inside the sword, it wasn’t a smooth, precise path like in the other weapons we tested. It was a much more complex and confusing path, it even seemed random. That’s what made it difficult to use the magic circles in the first test.
Crossing his arms, the half-wolf went on to explain.
“The third enchantment was the one that completely changed the game, it was a turning point, for sure. I only needed to activate that enchantment on the edge of the sword, and from then on everything went smoothly. By manipulating the internal structure of the sword’s mana flow, I was able to control the spells… Even the weight of the sword came into balance, it felt like a completely different weapon.
This explanation made Ezra’s eyes widen, he had thought that the problem was completely the way he had forged it. It was difficult for Ezra to produce a low quality sword these days, in fact it was practically impossible. When he received a guidance or sword diagram from Hephaestus, it was certain that a masterpiece would come out.
So Sleepy Rain was really an attack on the boy’s Ego. His honor as a blacksmith.
“What defines whether this weapon is perfect or not is only one factor. The user who is wielding it, so don’t worry, you just didn’t have anyone skilled enough to use your creation masterfully” Luke said.