Chapter 72

I finally let my attention shift back to the strategic issues as I followed her toward the forge. In particular, why she had suddenly changed her initial estimation about the production of the dagger. "So, the last time we talked, you mentioned that you need three days to complete the dagger. Why the sudden change?" I asked.

"Is it really important?" she countered with a lazy, dismissive tone as she walked in front of me, her leather-clad hips shaking sexily with each step. However, it was her tone that caught my attention more than the beautiful dance of her hips. It was too dismissive, too even.

She was trying to hide something.

"Not really, just curious," I answered. I decided not to confront her about it, even though the sudden change of delivery date was suspicious. Even more suspicious was the invitation to help. Previously, her determination to keep her secrets was clear, subtly but decisively rejecting my offer. Now, only a day later, she had changed her mind completely.

How interesting.

"How strong are your mana reserves?" Oeyne asked as she stood in front of the forge, a pile of processed magical reagents and an ingot of alchemical silver already prepared. "The forging process for your design is very mana intensive, and once started, it needs to be completed, otherwise, the structural matrix of the dagger would dissolve."

"My mana reserves are quite decent, definitely top percentile," I answered, and she nodded in satisfaction. Of course, without a qualifying statement, she no doubt assumed I was comparing myself to the students, while I was actually comparing myself to the faculty.

"Good, then forging the dagger together will be simple," she answered. "But before starting, let's do a practice run with a simple dagger," she said, before grabbing an ingot of iron, completely mundane, and put it in the forge.

In a mundane forge, no matter how hot, an ingot of iron would have taken several minutes to melt. In her high-quality magical forge, it took seconds for it to reach a nice glowing heat with a soft consistency. "Watch carefully," she ordered as she created a complicated web of arcana energy before wrapping it around the ingot, forcibly shaping it and levitating it magically to her anvil.

Once at the anvil, she kept her magic wrapped around the soft iron as she put low-quality magical ingredients inside. Due to its nature, the magical ingredients flared, pushing against the web, but she suppressed the effect forcefully through her arcana mana. Interesting technique, I noted. The working principles were simple, and the notes I had read on her shelves while waiting for her had already taught me the working principles behind it. Essentially, she was skipping several critical steps in forging through the application of the spell in a process that normally required letting the steel absorb the magic bit by bit.

Interestingly, none of the books I had swiped from the Guilds mentioned such a technique. Most of their blacksmithing content was about measuring the ideal amount of magical material for each round of forging, and possible ways to enhance effects, while guides on how to prepare said materials were spread between Alchemists and Enchanters based on the steps required and the source material used. Of course, Oeyne's technique was not purely advantageous, actually applying it required a great deal of Blacksmithing skill and Strength, not to mention some magical aptitude.

The radical difference in their approach and Oeyne's technique was interesting, and certainly explained the fight between Oeyne and the guilds. Oeyne's technique required a combination of skills and not only did it cut through the traditional Guild boundaries, but also it was much quicker to get results. They couldn't be happy about Oeyne perfecting the technique even further.

I continued watching Oeyne beating the iron of the dagger rapidly, each push smoothing the raging magical presence of the dagger. Five minutes later, a workable dagger appeared in her hands, and she dunked it in a large barrel filled with water, creating a large cloud of steam. Just as she reached for a second ingot, I cut her off. "Do you want me to try that one?" I asked, but without waiting for her to answer, snatched the iron ingot and threw it in the flames.

"Are you ready? Already?" she asked. Her shock only survived for a second, leaving its place to a cold intent to interrogate.

"Sure, as long as you just want me to maintain the spell matrix, of course," I explained rapidly. Actually, I wouldn't have minded trying my hand on blacksmithing, as while I lacked the skill, my stats should cover the deficiency, at least enough to handle crafting a simple iron dagger. However, doing so would have revealed my hand unnecessarily, so I kept hiding my hand.

Using a levitation spell, I dragged the ingot through the flames and put it in front of her, wrapping it tightly with my magic as she infused it with the magical materials. Honestly, it was even easier than I had expected, because the technique itself was rather straightforward, only requiring me to keep the matrix stable. And while I lack the practice with it, my magical abilities were simply superior to hers, making it an easy achievement.

[+1 Arcana]

[-15 Mana]

"Not bad," she said, impressed as she turned. "But let's see how you handle a real challenge." With that, she slammed her hammer on the steel much harder than the previous times, creating a flare of magic through an intentional mistake.

The strength of the flare wouldn't even create a flicker on my spell if I didn't allow it, but I deliberately fumbled the matrix for a second, flooding the room with a flicker of magic, before I suppressed it again, for two reasons. First —and less importantly— I wanted to look my learning curve convincing. More importantly, I wanted to have a screen to confuse her senses as I let some of my mana stick on her body, infusing her leather top.

I wanted to play with her a bit.

[+2 Arcana]

[-24 Mana]

"Try to keep the lines more stable," she commented as she continued to beat the glowing rod of iron, missing my little trick in her concentration. With that, our trial run continued. She made a couple more mistakes, but with lower intensity, allowing me to control them easily.

However, five minutes into our practice session, she started squirming. It was barely noticeable at first. I noticed it only because I knew what to look for, a lingering gaze here, an uncomfortable shuffle there. But as my subtle magic continued to tease her already-erect nipples softly, those little tells grew into a delicious show. Her nipples hardened enough to clearly show through the texture of her leather top like it was no harder than soft velvet.

Delicious, I thought, as she finished the dagger and we moved onto another ingot. "Let's make sure you can handle it flawlessly before we move onto the real stuff. We shouldn't waste the real materials," she explained, her voice carrying the slightest hitch.

At that point, I assumed that she was going to hide her arousal as much as possible, which was why I was surprised when her fingers grasped the buttons of her top, and flicked open two in quick succession, creating a deep, delicious cleavage, more appealing than the best caramel dessert. "Working in a forge gets hot," she explained with a smirk when I looked at her with a quirked eyebrow, surprised by her action.

"I see," I answered, not bothering to hide my gaze as I focused on the recently-revealed caramel valley, matching her smirk. If she was going to play off her arousal like that, why should I play stupid, after all. A brief consideration later, I decided to push her as well. "You know what, you're right. The heat is really uncomfortable," I explained as I pulled off my shirt, revealing my muscular torso.

She was shameless enough to match my hungry gaze as she visually explored the curves of my torso. "It's hard to believe you're a mage."

"I'm a surprising man," I answered even as created another spell matrix to stabilize the iron ingot, flexing my body slightly as I did so to give the perfect pose, stretching my Charisma to the limits. "Let's work," I added with another smirk when I noticed her getting absent-minded just for a moment. I was proud of my body, and with the assistance of my Charisma, it was no wonder even an experienced woman like Oeyne was being affected.

"Let's work," she reiterated, but before she continued, she popped open another button, turning her already impressive cleavage into something borderline obscene, showing that she wasn't exactly hung up on turning up the heat. Her hammer slammed repeatedly, her tits jiggling with each repeat, making my shaft rock hard, so much that I would be afraid about the final score of our little game if I hadn't already rigged the game, making her loss a certainty.

[+300 Experience] 50% Penalty!

I could see a subtle blush creeping up her neck as she continued her work, missing the significance of her growing arousal. Unfortunately, she still needed to get to the perfect temperature, so I turned my focus on the task at hand, namely, the spell matrix she had taught me. Now that I got a feeling about its objective, I started modifying it, weakening some aspects while strengthening the other parts.

[+2 Arcana]

[-65 Mana]

"You're doing it wrong," she commented as she looked at me, with a slight hint of disappointment coloring her looks. Apparently, she valued competency quite a bit even when it came to her pleasurable activities.

Luckily, I wasn't screwing anything up. "No, actually, I'm not," I corrected her. "Try making a big flare," I offered. "It'll hold better than your rudimentary structure. I bet that no matter what you do, you won't be able to break it through your blacksmithing skills."

"Oh, really," she murmured, the shine back in her gaze, with a considerable boost. I met with excitement instead of anger I had been expecting after I challenged her expertise. "You're willing to bet on that, huh. What do you have in mind?"

I observed her sudden change of demeanor. Apparently, Aviada undersold her gambling habits. "Well," I murmured with a wide smirk. "Since you're going to lose, it doesn't feel fair for me to make the bet. You should be the one to set the bet."

She laughed. It was a clear, crystal laugh that made her body shake repeatedly —and considering her deep cleavage, creating a delicious view. "It's nice to see the empty confidence of youth. How about if you lose, you're going to help me with a task. With your skill, it shouldn't take more than a week, maybe two," she said in a manner that could have been easily mistaken as nonchalance, but my senses were too sharp to miss the subtle tightening of her tone. She clearly wanted my help, for something important if she was willing to sacrifice extract quite a bit of wealth off me. It made sense, especially her sudden decision to teach me about her secret techniques.

"Hmm, sounds interesting," I said. "A bit soft, though. Still, if you're going to be a coward, I can only ask you to forge my sword for free. Anything more would be unfair."

As expected, my words triggered her quite a bit, enough for her to slam her hammer to the anvil, creating another flare of magic as it damaged its structure. I used the opportunity to turn the heat on the little trick that was making her more and more aroused. "Big words for a little boy. Do you really think you can handle my full effort," she said.

"Of course I can, little girl," I said, mocking her right back, though I avoided mentioning her real age despite her dig. No need to ruin the deliciously heated atmosphere that way. "How about if you lose, you give me a massage. Body to body," I offered, letting my eyes dangle down her body, cutting through the last flickering sense of professionalism.

"And if you lose, you stay in here for the night, following my every order," she said with a smirk. "Every, order," she repeated just to highlight her words.

"Deal," I said as I raised my hand, casting the spell matrix again. Outwardly, it wasn't very different from the initial form, with some cosmetic changes. However, the theoretical basis of it was completely changed. It was harder to cast skill-wise, but much stronger. "You have five minutes, do your best," I said to her with a challenging smile.

"I only need one hit," she boasted as she raised her hammer. Over her head, the hammer started to shine as she gathered her strength, and she slammed it. If I was using the matrix at the same proficiency I had displayed earlier, the flare of magic would have destroyed my restraints. Instead, it didn't even make it stretch. She frowned as she slammed twice more, only to fail both times.

"Are you finished with the warm-up yet," I asked her even as I gestured with my other hand, and levitated a chair, and sat with my legs crossed, just to drive the message better. It was a sharper challenge, but I was willing to risk it.

"Yes," she said with a frosty tone, though her heaving chest didn't agree with her coldness. She pulled another magical ingredient and threw it on top of the dagger, this time much stronger. Essentially, it was cheating, as a fresh ingredient would increase the strain several times, but ultimately, I was confident in my skills, so I said nothing. Since I had already taken the step to push her further, proving my capability was the better idea.

[-126 Mana]

[+1 Arcana]

She continued beating the dagger, each hit stronger than the previous one, shaking her body beautifully. Each hit caused a flare of magic, giving me the cover to magically tease her further, softly tickling her breasts, a subtle intervention that could have been easily mistaken for the way her tits were rubbing against her leather top as she beat the anvil aggressively, trying to break my confinement structure.

Despite her attempts, every flare was successfully fed back to the dagger, strengthening it instead. Through that loop, it was even easier to contain the flares, keeping me from wasting too much mana. Her magical abilities were good enough to realize that fact, and she started alternating her rhythm in an effort to disrupt that effect, but got only partial success. More interestingly, as she did so, she forgot one important detail. Her leather top was already not optimized to hold her perky tits, and the amazing cleavage she had created didn't help. When she delivered a particularly strong hit, one of her tits popped out of her top, creating a delicious view.

[+300 Experience] 50% Penalty!

Before she could fix it, I made sure to flicker my spell, not enough to lose the bet, but give her just enough hope that she might ultimately win the bet if she distracted me sufficiently. Her hungry smile revealed that she understood that point.

"Damn, this top is too tight," she murmured as she pulled it off, giving me the delicious view of her naked upper body. As she smashed the anvil, again and again, her tits jumped up and down, creating a delicious view for me. My spell matrix flickered with each beat, like she was succeeding in her task, but never taking the last step, my face stiff with a fake strain. Then, five minutes finally elapsed.

"And, time," I said with a smirk as I met her gaze before letting my eyes drop down to her spectacular tits that defied her age and the gravity at the same time proudly. I couldn't wait to see if they had the caramel taste like their color suggested. "It seems that I'm the victor."

"It seems the case," she answered grudgingly, but despite her defeat, her eyes were burning with excitement, Understandable considering she was on the edge of a climax, unaware the last step was cut off by a magical chasm. "Should we continue with our task," she murmured as she grabbed her top once again, but didn't put it on.

"Nope," I said even as I turned and walked toward her bedroom. "I want my massage first." I walked away, excited about the service I was about to receive.

"As you wish," she called from behind as she followed me...

[Level: 27 Experience: 357200 / 378000

Strength: 31 Charisma: 46

Precision: 27 Perception: 30

Agility: 28 Manipulation: 33

Speed: 26 Intelligence: 37

Endurance: 25 Wisdom: 36

HP: 3699 / 3699 Mana: 4914 / 4914 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Tantric [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Master Subterfuge [93/100]

Master Arcana [81/100]

Advanced Speech [50/50]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share

Empowerment (1/1)

Teleportation

COMPANIONS

[Cornelia - Level 17/25]

[Helga - Level 13/17]