Chapter 88: Forge Once Again 1

Adam continued on his way to the Artisans’ Guild.

After training with Selene, every muscle in his body still reminded him of the blows he’d received.

His arms felt heavy.

His legs, too.

But after a few minutes of walking, his breathing had returned to normal.

More importantly...

His mana compression was still active.

In the past, maintaining this compression while walking would have required a significant amount of his attention.

Now, even after such an intense training session, it remained relatively stable in the background.

Adam noticed this.

But he carefully avoided celebrating it.

Every time he considered an exercise to have become easier, Vespera found a way to make it more difficult.

So he preferred to keep this observation to himself.

A few minutes later, the elegant building of the Artisans’ Guild appeared at the end of the street.

Adam stepped through the entrance.

As always, the atmosphere was a stark contrast to that of the Adventurers’ Guild.

Less shouting.

Less frantic movement.

But a great deal of activity.

Craftswomen were carrying crates.

Blacksmiths were examining metal parts.

Several alchemists were checking vials at long tables.

Engineers were discussing a disassembled mechanism.

Adam was about to head straight for Elaria’s office when a familiar voice caught his attention.

"No, not that one!"

Adam turned his head.

A little further on, near a large loading area, a dwarven woman was directing several workers.

Mira.

She was standing in front of several reinforced crates bearing different symbols.

Some were large enough to require several people to move.

Mira pointed to one of them.

"The one with the red circle goes in the second cart. The reinforced pieces stay together."

A worker nodded quickly.

"Yes, Lady Mira."

"And be careful with the one on the left. If you drop it, I guarantee the contents will survive better than the ground."

Adam slowed down.

Then a smile appeared on his face.

He approached.

"Hello, Mira."

The dwarf turned her head.

Her expression lit up immediately when she recognized him.

"Adam!"

She glanced quickly behind him.

"Alone today?"

"For the moment."

Mira observed his condition.

His clothes still bore some traces of training.

"Selene?"

Adam sighed.

"Has it become so easy to recognize?" "You walk like someone who just discovered their body has more muscles than they thought."

Adam was silent for a second.

"Yes. Selene."

Mira burst out laughing.

"So she’s training you properly."

"You all have a very disturbing definition of the word ’properly.’"

The dwarf seemed to find the remark even more amusing.

Adam then looked at the numerous crates around her.

"What are you doing here?"

Mira placed a hand on one of the crates.

"I’m picking up my orders."

"Are they finished?"

"All the ones I was expecting."

She gestured to the various loads.

"Some pieces required enchantments that we couldn’t easily perform before leaving. So I placed the orders here."

Adam watched the artisans continue loading the carts.

"And you’re leaving soon?"

Mira nodded.

"As soon as everything is checked and loaded."

She folded her arms.

"It’s time to return to the land of the dwarves."

Adam glanced briefly at the crates.

He still remembered their previous conversations.

The dwarves had their own blacksmithing traditions.

Some of their methods differed from those used by other peoples.

And Mira had already hinted that she might be able to show him some of them someday.

As if she were following his train of thought perfectly, Mira smiled.

"Besides, my invitation still stands."

Adam looked back at her.

"The invitation?"

"To come to our place."

She tapped the crate next to her lightly.

"When you have time, of course."

Adam chuckled softly.

"That’s probably the hardest part."

Mira raised an eyebrow.

"Find time?"

"Yes."

He started counting in his head.

Selene.

Elaria.

Shiora.

Vespera.

The projects.

Preparing the dungeon.

The research.

He quickly gave up.

Mira looked at him for a few seconds.

Then she burst out laughing.

"Okay. I see the problem."

Adam smiled.

"But I’d really like to come."

Mira’s face became slightly more serious.

"Then come when you can."

She placed a hand on his hip.

"You’ll be able to see real dwarven forges. Not just techniques adapted for human or elven workshops."

Adam raised an eyebrow.

"I have a feeling Elaria would really appreciate your way of presenting things."

"Elaria knows perfectly well that dwarves are better at forging."

A voice from one of the workers murmured something a little further away.

Mira immediately turned her head.

"I heard!"

The worker suddenly focused much more seriously on his crate.

Adam stifled a laugh.

Mira turned back to him.

"Well, better doesn’t mean the others can’t do anything."

"Very generous."

"I know."

Adam nodded.

"When I have enough time to travel, I’ll come."

Mira smiled.

"Perfect."

She then held out her hand.

Adam shook it.

"Have a good trip."

"Thank you."

She hesitated for a second.

Then added:

"And try to survive Elaria’s classes until then."

Adam looked up at the upper floors.

"After Selene, it should be possible."

Mira chuckled.

"You say that now."

They exchanged a few more words.

Then Mira had to resume supervising the loading.

Adam waved goodbye one last time.

"See you later."

"See you later, Adam."

He walked away.

Behind him, he almost immediately heard Mira resume her orders.

"I said the second cart! Not the third!"

Adam smiled slightly.

Then he headed towards Elaria’s office.

He knew the way perfectly now.

When he arrived at the door, he knocked twice.

Knock.

Knock.

"Come in."

Adam opened the door.

Elaria wasn’t behind her desk.

She was standing in front of a large table set up at the side of the room.

Several objects were lined up on it.

Adam immediately recognized their shape.

Trays.

Boxes.

Sets of pieces neatly arranged.

Reversi.

Go.

Chess.

But unlike the prototypes and plans he’d seen before...

These seemed finished.

Elaria held a Reversi board in her hands.

She checked the edges.

Then she turned it over to examine its underside.

Adam approached.

"Hello."

Elaria looked up.

"Hello."

Then her gaze lingered briefly on the door behind him.

"You knocked again."

Adam stopped.

"Yes?"

Elaria put down the board.

"Next time, just come in."

Adam blinked.

"Right in?"

"Yes."

She calmly adjusted her glasses.

"You don’t need to knock every time anymore."

Adam looked at her for a few seconds.

"Is that a new rule?"

"No."

Elaria remained perfectly serious.

"I just find this distance unnecessary now."

Adam quickly understood what she meant.

Their relationship had changed.

He no longer simply came to see the Master of the Artisans’ Guild.

And she no longer simply considered him a student or someone working on various projects with her.

Elaria continued:

"If I’m working, you can come in. If I’m busy with someone for a reason requiring confidentiality, the door will be locked."

Adam nodded slowly.

"That’s effective."

"Exactly."

A smile appeared on his face.

"You really do use that argument for everything."

"When a method works, there’s no reason not to use it."

Adam moved closer.

"Very well. Next time, I’ll go straight in."

"Good."

He stood before her.

Then, before Elaria could resume her inspection...

Adam leaned down.

And simply placed a kiss on her cheek.

Elaria froze.

Adam stepped back.

Silence.

She didn’t move for almost two seconds.

Then a faint blush gradually appeared on her cheeks.

Adam looked at her.

His smile widened.

"Interesting."

Elaria slowly turned her head toward him.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Adam."

He gestured toward her face.

"You’re blushing."

Elaria almost instinctively brought a hand to her cheek.

Then stopped mid-movement.

"That was unexpected."

"It’s the first time I’ve taken the initiative like this."

"I know."

Adam raised an eyebrow.

"Do you keep statistics?"

Elaria remained silent.

Adam stared at her.

"You really keep statistics?"

"No."

A short pause.

"Not written down."

Adam burst out laughing.

The blush on Elaria’s face became slightly more noticeable.

She glanced down at the games on the table.

"We need to work."

Adam smiled.

"Change of subject detected."

"Adam."

"Okay, okay."

He decided not to push the teasing any further.

His gaze fell on the finished objects.

"Are these the final versions?"

Elaria immediately regained some of her usual seriousness.

"The first finished products."

She handed him a tray.

Adam took it.

The workmanship was very clean.

The edges were perfectly even.

The pieces fit into a box underneath the tray.

"Already?"

"Production of the first batches began as soon as the designs were approved."

Adam then examined the Go and chess sets.

"They look much better than my drawings."

"Your drawings were functional."

"That’s a very polite way of saying they were bad."

"They weren’t designed to be beautiful. They were designed to convey an idea."

Adam nodded.

"Which is true."

Elaria quickly pointed out several details.

Then she put the products away.

"We’ll have plenty of opportunities to talk about games again."

Adam observed her expression.

"Forge?"

"Forge."

He looked at his still-tired arms.

"Obviously."

Elaria picked up her notebook.

"We’ll continue what we started during your last real session."

Adam recalled the basics.

Temperatures.

Hammering.

Anvil rebound.

Quenching.

Alloys.

The properties of metal.