Chapter 4588: Shaping the Vessel (Part 2)

This time Senton didn’t let go of the blade and used fire magic to tap into the fiery blaze and have it fill the blade like water in a glass.

As he checked the process with Fire Vision not to ruin the last four hours of his work, he recalled one of Lith’s lessons about magic.

"The analogy between mana and water is a bit simplistic and is great for beginners, but please, be careful not to get trapped in its boundaries." Lith poured water into a glass in front of the class.

"So yes, the mana is the water, and the glass is the spell. It could be a fireball, lightning, healing, anything you want. The mana always adapts itself to its vessel." Lith tapped against the glass, and the liquid shifted through the six colors of the elements.

"Yet don’t forget that the only limits of magic are your willpower and imagination. Anything you can picture, you can do it with magic as long as you have the skill and power necessary." Lith spilled the water from the jug, and Senton expected it to drench the table.

Instead, it floated a centimeter above the wood and took the same shape as the water inside the glass, as if poured into an invisible container.

"Always remember, mana adapts itself to its vessel like water, and the vessel is whatever you make it to be. Spells don’t have a fixed form. We give them a name and divide them into tiers to make them easier to understand and remember, but that’s it.

"Mana has no form until you conjure a spell, decide what it must do, and the way it must do it." To prove his point, Lith spilled six more blobs of water that floated in mid-air and took the shape of the elements, with the darkness blob becoming muddy while the light one reflected sunlight like a precious gem.

Then Lith had the six elemental blobs merge into one and mimic the tier four and five spells they had seen him perform countless times in the recordings of his battles.

’The vessel is whatever I make it to be.’ The words echoed in Senton’s mind as he resumed his work barely minutes after being forced to stop.

This time, however, his mind shaped the heat accumulated inside the metal just like his hammer shaped the blade’s edge, keeping the metal malleable without making it brittle.

’This is Lith-level cheating.’ Senton thought. ’I couldn’t do this if not for magic and Fire Vision. Yet I wonder if I can cheat harder.’

The furnace was relatively close to the anvil to avoid the blacksmith going back and forth, which gave Senton an idea.

He formed a mana channel leading the heat of the burning coals into the blade’s tip, and from there, his mana directed and focused the heat along the blade’s edge.

Senton only had to focus on manipulating the heat, limiting his mana expenditure enough to finish the blade before Invigoration lost its effectiveness.

With no longer the need to take breaks to reheat the metal, once Senton found his rhythm, he never lost it again. His mind was now free to focus on its task without interruptions, with only a fraction of his consciousness engaged to keep the metal’s temperature stable.

Once Senton was done, he held the ceremonial blade aloft to check the quality of his work under the magical lights of the smithy, and found it to be perfect. A roaring applause snapped him out of his daze as the rest of the blacksmiths expressed their admiration.

"That’s my son, you knuckleheads." Zekell puffed his chest out with pride. "Now get back to work. I don’t pay you to stare at my boy. Also, he’s a married man."

Everyone laughed at the joke and congratulated Senton before going back to their respective tasks. Each smith offered him something different. First a chair, then a dry towel, a glass of water, and lots of snacks.

Senton understood what was happening once he put down the finished ceremonial blade and found himself drenched in sweat. He felt dirty, thirsty, hungry, and most of all, tired.

"You better clean yourself up before dinner, son. I’m all for some manly musk, but not when I eat." Zekell laughed as he patted Senton on the shoulder.

"Dinner? How long have I worked on that blade?" Senton looked out of a window and saw the dying light of day.

"Almost as long as those slackers stared at you." Zekell grunted. "I didn’t kick their asses only because I was too busy admiring your work like the rest of them, son. How did you do it?"

"How did I do what?"

"Working the metal and shaping it according to your will without suffering the constant interruptions and the heat of the furnace is the dream of every blacksmith." Zekell replied. "How did you do it?"

"Magic, Dad." Senton scratched his head in embarrassment and felt his hand become sticky with grime. "My lessons with Lith, remember?"

"I always knew you had the talent." Zekell snarled with joy. "I can’t wait to brag about you at the dinner table."

***

"Congratulations, Senton. I think you’ve reached enlightenment your own way." Lith stood up to shake his brother-in-law’s hand.

"I did?" Senton couldn’t believe his own ears. "But I’m just an orange core."

"And so was Dad when I taught him how to fish with magic." Lith shrugged. "Your understanding of magic has nothing to do with your core level."

"Also, always remember that everything you’ve learned today about fire magic, you can also apply it to the other elements." Solus said. "Once you master this technique, your spells will reach a whole new level."

"Congratulations, dear." Rena was happy for her husband and a bit disappointed with herself.

’I practice just as hard as him and have a much stronger core, yet no enlightenment. Maybe I should find a hobby.’ She thought.

"Congratulations." Silverwing said. "Even if on a much smaller scale and limited to the fire element, you’ve grasped the same principle that allows the greatest of mages to Forgemaster themselves a tower."

At those words, Senton spat his food back into his plate, and everyone needed sheer willpower not to stare at Solus.

"How?" He asked after cleaning his mouth with a napkin.

"It’s actually simple." Menadion replied. "The basic idea of a mage tower is a device that draws the world energy onto itself so that its master doesn’t have to conjure or harness it.

"Just like you did with the furnace, a mage can focus solely on manipulating the world energy the tower collects. On top of that, since the world energy doesn’t pass through their bodies, the mage can cast spells of incredible power that would normally harm their body without even suffering from mana abuse."

"Of course, this is just the most basic version of a tower a mage can craft. Which is exactly where I’m stuck right now." Silverwing sighed, yet Orion felt his admiration for her soar.

He and Jirni still had a hard time believing the legendary First Magus now lived next door. Even more unbelievable, however, was the fact that no one else seemed to share their awe at being in Silverwing’s presence.