The following day, the Viscount's family was already investigating the death of one of their men, while some men were searching for information about Vicente.
Having not yet discovered his full name and whereabouts, this group had not yet knocked on the doors of the Fuller residence.
Meanwhile, Vicente made weapons for some of the Senior Apprentices in his group, the most he could do with the resources he had at the moment.
After working almost all night on these weapons, he had reached a mana density that put him in the last half of his current magic level. When he had finished what he had to do, he used one of his communicators to alert his people that he would be leaving his new weapons at the facilities where his men worked every day.
He couldn't go to his headquarters and risk running into his people. But he could leave these weapons with his contractors, and they could deliver the new weapons to Vice's men.
There was no way anyone would know about it because Vice's new weapons were practically identical to the old ones, and everything would be done in secret.
When Vicente left his house in the morning, after wishing Nina a good day at school, he quickly drove to four establishments in his area, where he left the weapons he had produced.
He had finally managed to get some storage space the previous day before isolating himself in his house to produce these artifacts. That way, no one saw him walking through the local streets with boxes of weapons this morning.
After that, Vicente quickly made his way to his master's estate.
...
"Are you here already? How was your time with the materials I gave you?" Benson saw Vicente at his door and was surprised.
For someone with a Yellow talent, Vicente was a very fast learner!
If it had been any other of his students, Benson would not have expected to see results in less than three months. But in a matter of days, Vicente was probably out looking for more material.
Vicente saw his master, and as soon as he entered the building, he said. "I have finished reading the material and part of the training. I'm just a few points away from reaching the level needed to create artifacts with 100% efficiency, master."
"Oh?"
"That's why I came here this morning. I want help to finish mastering the 1st stage of forging and get my license from the Association." He said, already inside the building that looked like a warehouse.
Benson frowned when he heard that, and his lips curled. "Have you reached that level? How? You'd have to be a Senior Apprentice."
You didn't have to have a high level of magic to create efficient or pure things. It depended more on intelligence, creativity, and affinity than on mana itself. However, considering the short time Vice had started training in the forging art, it would be impossible for him to reach that level so quickly without a breakthrough.
Vice smiled and stopped hiding his magic level, showing his master that he had reached the Senior Apprentice level.
After noticing his disciple's cultivation, Benson's expression changed to a satisfied smile when he saw that this young man had easily passed through the 1st stage.
"I didn't expect that... Well, it doesn't matter how you did it. It's good that you got stronger." He said, knowing that everyone had their own secrets and it was not his right to question them.
"I want to see what your current ability is like Vice. As we improve the quality of our powers, we will naturally find it easier to create better things and understand the world around us.
But first, let me tell you that you don't need to reach 100% efficiency to obtain the Association's 1st-stage blacksmith license. If that were necessary, there would be almost no such blacksmiths in our world." He laughed when he saw the mistake his student had made.
"Huh?"
Benson explained. "Earlier, I told you that you needed to master that material to pass the Association's test. But I thought you'd only raise your efficiency to 60%. That's the minimum the Association requires of its 1st-stage blacksmiths.
You would reach that level of efficiency if you finished studying that material while you were still an Intermediate Apprentice. But after you raised your magic level, you should have surpassed it after your breakthrough."
Vicente's natural talent for forging was already high, Benson sensed. Even though not all Senior Apprentice blacksmiths could produce items with a high level of efficiency, that wasn't necessarily the case for Vicente.
In Benson's vision, if this young man applied himself, he could even dare to produce items for level 1 Acolytes before he even became an Acolyte!
The items' efficiency would probably be very low, but given his talents, he might be able to accomplish such a feat!
Realizing his mistake, Vicente learned that he could try to join the Association. "Then I can just go to..."
"No. First, I want to see what you've learned. I doubt you've assimilated everything in those books in such a short time." Benson said, pointing Vicente to the training area of his forge. "I want to see what you're capable of and help you correct inevitable mistakes before we go to the Association.
As much as I don't like to get involved in the Association's affairs, there are many benefits for new blacksmiths who join our group with a perfect score. So, let's make sure you can make something 100% efficient with a hammer before we take the Association test."
Benson saw Vice as the future of his projects. He wanted this black-haired young man to get the most out of joining the Association. At the same time, he wanted to see the look of shock on the faces of some of his companions when they saw his student reach the pinnacle of the 1st-stage at only 14 years of age.
Vicente then asked. "Won't I get in trouble? I don't want to attract attention, master."
"Do not worry. The Association's test is individual, and only some elders who evaluate new disciples know the results of each one. At the same time, you won't use your magical ability, so it's unlikely that anyone will know your origin from an extraordinary result." Benson said to ease his student's worries.
"Anyway, let's get started. We can go to the Association this afternoon if you're quick enough."
"Yes, master," Vicente said, wasting no time in beginning to extract metals from ores, showing Benson how much he had improved since the last time he had come to this estate.
Eventually, he would use his skill to produce a sword, showing Benson an item with almost 95% efficiency.
After seeing his students' first actions, Benson gave Vicente some tips and showed him easier ways to create artifacts.
After resting from the first part of this test, Vicente would work with the hammer, finding it more challenging to create artifacts this way but still achieving 89% efficiency with the final product he would create.
This would all happen before noon, and in the early afternoon, Benson would show Vicente some alternative ways to solve his problems.
Once again, Vice would use the hammer in the afternoon, using the techniques Benson had refined to try to increase the quality of what he could produce.
As he did so, Vice felt his understanding of forging reach a new level and new avenues open up before him.
He finished his rest at the end of the afternoon, and Benson looked him in the eye.
"Vice, I can't tell you what quality the next artifact you produce will be. But with what I've seen you do this afternoon, I feel it's worth taking you to the Association as you are now." Benson said, confident his student could achieve 100% in the attempts he was allowed in this group of blacksmiths.
Considering how Vicente had improved over the last few hours, Benson was confident that his student would increase his understanding of the forging by the last of his attempts at the Association test.
Vicente looked at his master and clenched his fists, feeling how much he had improved. Although he was still a little short of producing items with 100% efficiency with his hammer, he was confident that he could do so with his skill.
Not only that, the quality of his powers was improving, and he already felt he could control even the metals in the Intermediate Apprentice's bodies.
'Good. Forging is the best way for me. Today's training with Benson has given me better results than all the combat training I've ever done.' Vicente thought as his master gave him some gifts.
"Vice, I know you're going to pass the Association test, so let me give you some congratulatory gifts." The old man said as he showed him a hammer with red inscriptions on it, but also a silver bracelet with some strange symbols on it.
Seeing this, Vicente narrowed his eyes and noticed the quality of these two items.
