I made my way down the sidewalk until I was at the hall of life's glass doors. Hey, at least I know its real name now instead of plaque with the tools. As I walked in, I saw many signs but I wasn't quick enough.
"Ay pip squeak. Time to go" a deep womanly voice rang out, scaring me still. There was a giant woman with long red wavy hair while she had a robust body.
"Ms. Solaris?" I called out nervously and she let out a loud laugh.
"Who else would get you?" She questioned as we walked. Then, we made our way into an elevator. As soon as it closed, it openned back up and all I could feel was a heat wave.
Looking up, I saw rows upon rows of anvils and forges, while a lot of second years forged away at some metal. We walked through the middle and the hest wasn't as bad as I initially thought.
'Master, your clothes. They are repelling a lot of the heat' Veil noticed and I nodded in understanding. Soon, we walked back into large personal forge with a deep gold fire buring in the forge. Ms. Solaris stood behind the anvil as she dropped her metal gloves onto the anvil.
"So, why did you want to join forging? We accept all students at the start but to actually get in? You need to pass my personal test. After that, youll be my apprentice, or get kicked out" Ms. Solaris questioned me after taking a deep look at me.
I thought back to the countless nights of boredom behind my phone's screen, making bone weapons in the ruined forest. Not having anywhere to sleep safely. Then, I thought of an answer.
"I want to create safety, destroy all those who threatens that safety, and a way to grow" I called out with all the determination I could muster. She stared into my eyes for what felt like forever until she nodded slowly.
"Well kid, I can help you make destruction, and growth, but safety? There is no safety in this world, not after that golden flame fell from the sky" she replied as she slowly put her gloves on and touched a small black forging hammer on the side table.
Its surface was as black as night, absorbing all light.
"Grab the handle" she called out to me as she held the handle towards me. I stared at it for a moment before slowly reaching out. As soon as my hand touched it, I felt my koi getting sucked out through my arm.
I tried to let go but it was stuck to my palm. I swung it up but it didnt help in the slightest.
"AAAY! PIP SQUEAK! Don't swing that around. It will stop in a moment" she yelled at me and I waited. Slowly, my koi was running out and I felt nothing change until a spark of light ignited in the center.
It started as white, then a silver hue over took the white before spreading over the full thing. A minute had passed and the light died down.
"Looks like the basi..." her words were cut off by strings of green light wrapping around the hammer. It looked like hundreds of small vines growing in the surface of the hammer.
"Aaah, so. Your koi has a slight attachment to plants?" She asked me carefully. I nodded slowly before a system notification rang out.
I stared at the hammer as it sunk into my hand. Suddenly, I saw another white tattoo form on one of my middle fingers. How the hell is this even possible? This was obviously made by a human so... humans can make spirits? Or just spirit tools?
I stared at it before tapping on each trait.
"So, are you going to tell me?" Ms. Solaris questioned with impatience and I told her casually, ready to get started. She started at me for a long moment before looking at my hammer. Then, she laughed like she's never laughed in her life before
"Boy, don't let anyone know about the pure moon trait. They may kill you for it. Hell, even the stable vines trait is good, maybe if anyone here got a soul, you'd be the first choice to forge it" she laughed out. I stared at her in confusion until she calmed down.
"You may be the luckiest one here. Most never see a trait to purify materials, its a one it I dont even know. Then, the stable vines can be used to forge quick metals that tend to move when you try to strike, like souls or quick iron" she explained as i stared at my hammer tattoo in amazement.
"Ms. Solaris, how did you make this spirit tool? I didn't know that humans could make spirits" I asked out, making her nod. I feel like I can see the wheels turning in her head as she tried to answer. Then, she figured it out.
"You've heard of souls, right?" She asked in a weird tone, making me nod. She smiled as she went on.
"When a spirit drops a soul, its like it's power and intelligence in a form. We can get it a and meld it into materials, making them spirits, in a sense" she explained, and I felt my world turn. I have an elite soul in my soul space right now. I can merge it into something, making another bond.
"But, it isn't easy. Far from it actually. Souls are hard to hit because they shift from corporal to ethereal in seconds, move around at random, and can fight back if they wanted" she burst my bubble just as fast as it's came to me.
I couldn't kill it at it's weakest without getting hurt last time, but I got stronger as well. Yet, fire burns plants pretty well so id better hold off for now.
"So, let's start with a goal. I want you to be comfortable with using koi melding, a trait all koi hammers get. Actually, you saw a lot of second years doing it out there. You'll be forging reinforced panels for police trucks. Ill show you how to do it once, then you'll do it out there" she explained before pulling two sheets of metal out from a different side table.
One was a dark green while the other was a light brown. She lined them up perfectly, then summoned her koi hammer out from her tattoo. I giant golden war hammer appeared in her hands as she swung it down on one side. I felt the koi in the hammer push the 2 together as they hit, mixing the metals before she did it again.
"Try to complete at least 1 today" she called out as she pushed me to the door. I nodded as I walked out, finding an empty anvil and stood infront of it. A stack of both metals layed behind me as I pulled both to the anvil. Lining them up, I raised my hammer and pushed my koi through my arm.
After multiple usages of koi, I could now push koi through them with ease. It flowed through my hammer as I swung down. When it hit the metal, I heard a clink as both sheets hit each other. Sadly, only the surface layer merged. I looked down at it and paused. Im going to need a lot more koi for this.
Time passed slowly with me swinging down with all my strength and recovering koi after I use all 4 units of it. The cycle lasted for what felt like forever until I finally heard that beautiful chime, telling me my suffering was over.
Looking over the metal piece was working on, I say I was almost done and took a chance. I poured the rest of my koi into it and swung down one last time for today. It chimed clearly as it finally merged all the way.
Smiling, I ran out of the hall of life while I checked my watch.
[C3]
So, path studies was on the third floor? I ran towards the building with empty koi reserves and screaming lungs. My arms stung from all the hammering but I made it to the door in time. Walking it, I was suprised to see Tiana siting in this class but nodded regardlessly. Sitting down alone, I waited for class to start.
3 minutes later, a thick man with a dark skin completion walked to the podium.
"Hi, I am Mr. Foyer. I hate wasting time so lets start" he called out in a sharp tone, suprising me. All these professors have really different personalities. Hope I can remember them all.
"Im sure all of those in this class have one or at least hear of paths. Raise your hand if neither apply to you" Mr. Foyer called out and one woman raised her hands nervously.
"Thank you for your honesty, you're rejected from this course" he called out coldly before continuing.
"Now, the paths you have now are basic ones, probably with a max or 6 or 7. No?" He called out with an arrogant tone. I felt a slight annoyance building for this man as he continued.
"Well, let me be the first to tell you. You are not special. Almost everyone in this room has one. Yet, all of you are acting superior to one another" he called out as a pressure poured out of him. He had a rocky grin before it all disappeared like it never happened.
"Now that I levelled the field between peers, lets talk about what paths are" he introduced the conversations topic before he explained.
"A path is like one of the system's legacies. You can have as many paths as you can find, but none of you can use them. Anyone know why?" He asked aloud, making me think back to the notification I got when I unlocked my paths. Before I could think too far into it, he answered his own question.
"Because your koi isn't pure enough. When you evolve to ember rank, your koi thickens and gets purified by the surge of sparks running through it" he explained but that left me more confused. Then, what is darkness koi like in that flower I got? How does elemental koi play into your game here?
His lecture was full of all this profound rewordings of what paths were that after a handful of them, the bell rang, letting us out.
I walked towards my dorm while my mind kept going back to today. Now, I have to deal with the flower man.