What do you see beyond the hill?

CHAPTER 8: DEEP UNDERSTANDING, IT SAID

By the time the maid has reached the third book, the sun is already starting to settle.

"You can stop there for now."

"Thank you, Sir Will." It must be exhausting to read for so long.

"Go and rest. I am sure you need it."

"Don't worry, I can still be of use to you."

"Whatever you say."

She puts the book back on the table and leaves. As she closes the door, I take the pillow again but it seems they have changed it. It isn't the ones I shredded yesterday. You guys are too meticulous on stupid things.

"Now, what else can I take?" While I am thinking, someone knocks on the door. "Yes?"

"Sir, the priest and the blacksmith have arrived." A new voice speaks without a solemn tone. Did the maid leave? As I thought, she was tired.

"I am coming." I will just try to learn for now.

I leave my room and find the maid and a butler standing at the door. So, she didn't leave? I follow them downstairs and I find a priest talking with Telestal while the blacksmith is sitting on his own, his eyes close, his face darkened by years of work.

"Master…"

"AH, yes. High priest Igland, Sir Will Otun, the hero under my care." As Telestal presents me to the priest, the guy looks at me with some pretty harsh eyes. I guess he already knows about the fact that I only have one skill. Though, the first people guessed from the color of the bracelet so there is that as well.

"…I greet the hero who will-"

"Save your breath if you don't mean it, priest." Before I can say it, the blacksmith intervenes and stops the priest from finishing. His head stops midway on the bow he had initiated, making him look a bit pitiful.

"Sir Rasshen, please. This is inappropriate." Telestal looks at the blacksmith with begging eyes while the priest has a completely different opinion on his face.

Still, he doesn't say anything which is surprising. I thought he would surely reply. Or maybe this guy is important. The blacksmith doesn't reply to Telestal and turns towards me instead.

"Boy, why have asked for me to come here?" Straight to the point just like I like it.

"I need to learn how you craft your weapons and armors, or more precisely, I need to see it."

"Does your skill allows you to copy things?"

"Nope. Also, I would prefer that you don't ask about my skill."

"You want to learn from me and you aren't ready to share. Do you know of greediness?"

"I heard of it, yes. What is your point?" And stop looking at me like that.

"Sir Rasshen, please do not forget that he is a hero."

"Stay out of this, boy." It seems this guy has real power over Telestal. Everything he says is followed like a chorus. "You, take this."

Rasshen takes a spoon from the table near him and throws it to me.

"What do I do with this?"

"This is all the knowledge I can transmit to you. Even if I show you my skills, you won't learn more than this anyway."

"Hm…" I look at the spoon but I can't say there is anything to it. It is a normal spoon made of steel. "Oh, well, if you say so." I guess I should start with that then.

"You can call me once you have understood what I mean. If not, then I guess this is will be it."

"And how will I know that I understood?" Is this guy actually messing with me?

"Don't worry, you will. I am leaving, boy."

The blacksmith stands up and leaves, followed by Telestal who doesn't dare oppose him. I don't know who that guy is but he sure has some power he carries. After he left, the priest who was left alone, slowly cooking in his own rage has a look that says he would surely kill someone if he is given the opportunity.

"You can leave if you don't want to be here. No one will blame you."

I leave as well after that and right when I close the door, I hear a loud scream of anger coming from the dining room. Sadly for you, I have better things to think about. While walking upstairs, I try to decipher the blacksmith's message by observing the spoon as closely as I can.

But before that, does he know what I wanted to learn from him? From the way he acted, it seems to me that he did. That would mean he was asked something similar before. And even the way he was behaving shows that he isn't just a no-brain believer.

"That's interesting." Let's see how much time it will take me to find the missing link.

***

Throughout the afternoon and the evening, I have been observing this spoon, and yet, I still can't see anything particular.

"Status window." I open my stats to see how it is evolving. I have been amplifying three handkerchiefs while thinking about it after all.

                                                                            [

                                                                      Will Otun

                                                                    Gender: Male

                                                                        Age: 16

                                                          Mana points: 12006 (10 pts/s)

                                                                  Class: Magic knight

                                    + 50% damage against demons when using swords and spears

                                    +60% damage against demons when fighting with no weapons.

                                                        +30% damage when using magic

                                                      Class bonus: + 10000 mana points

                    Your deep understanding of magic and the high compatibility of your body with mana                                        has made your class evolved to adapt to your body.

                                                                      Passive skill:

                                                                      Mana flow

                            Mana flows naturally in your body like blood, allowing you to increase the                                                            output of skills and regulate your mana pool.

                                                            Skill: Amplify (Rank F-S)

                                              You can increase or decrease a property.

                                                                Current rank: E (15%)

                Current level restrictions: You can increase or decrease the properties of objects you touch and yourself. A deep understanding of object's structure is needed to efficiently amplify                                                                                        them.

                                    Mana cost: 6 mana points per second of usage.

                                              Affliction: magic cancer (Diminished)

            Your body has absorbed too much magic and is slowly deteriorating. Mana flow is              currently diminishing the illness's progression. An overuse of magic will aggravate the illness.

                            You have drawn the attention of the god of law and balance.

                                                                                    ]

Hm…So, the mana cost for using amplifying has increased by one now after it has reached the E-rank. That would mean, it should be around eleven when it will reach the S-rank. With my current mana and the rate at which it refills, I can handle it but, if there are any changes, it might be harder.

"Sigh…It can't be easy, right?"

I take the spoon and try to amplify it but nothing happens. A spoon that is made of steel, which means that if I remember correctly, that documentary once said you need to mix iron with charcoal to obtain steel. That means I am supposed to see this as a mix of iron and charcoal? No, I don't think that's the case, the mix is perfect and there are no traces of charcoal.

"Is there someone there?"

"Sir?" Yup, the maid is there.

"Please, enter."

She enters and closes the door behind her. She is showing a great smile on her face that almost scares me. That's the smile that girl was showing when she was about to bother me.

"Sir, how can I help you?"

"Do you have any books on smithing here?"

"I believe we have some books introducing that topic. But…"

"You were forbidden to show them to me?"

"I am sorry, sir." So that blacksmith really thought of all possibilities.

"It's okay, then. Please continue with the books on the different types of demons and monsters of your world."

"We weren't finished with the records about the heroes, sir."

"I heard enough to know what I wanted, don't worry."

"Oh, okay."

She starts reading another book but I only half listen. This spoon is taking too much of my attention. What could it be that I am forgetting? Is there something that I should see that I can't?

"Once a demon's body part is severed by a regular human, it turns into either gold or steel and can be used to-"

"Wait, what?" What did she just say?

"Once a demon's body part is severed by a regular human, it turns into either gold or steel?"

"I see…I see. So, this is made of a demon's body, I guess?"

"Yes, I think so. The steel used in our world comes from the fight with demons. But steel is less dropped than gold. We also know from the previous heroes that gold is very valuable in their world. That's why when the heroes succeed in their mission, they are sent back to their world with ten times their weight in gold."

"Right. Anyway, you just told me something really important."

If this is considered as a body part then this is going to be simpler than I thought. Though, it will be more difficult. Let's just see this as a piece of meat. Each fiber is just like the fiber of a handkerchief.

"Sir…"

"Amplify." A small waving light appears around the spoon and its color changes to become slightly shinier. Now, we are talking.