"With this ability, I think you'll be able to complete some of my projects, Vicente!" Benson said as he looked at his student with a twinkle in his eye.
Benson had several dreams about forging. He wanted to see his projects gain life, something others had told him was impossible to achieve.
He had been quietly developing his projects for years, always looking for talented young people to help him develop them and bring them to life.
He didn't care if someone else finished his projects. As long as he could see some of his ideas come to life and succeed, that was good enough for him.
His ego wouldn't stop him from achieving his dreams with the help of others!
He felt he could achieve his goals with Vicente's help after seeing the recent improvements his student had undergone.
"Huh? Master?" Vicente didn't know anything yet, so of course, he didn't quite understand what that was all about.
Benson noticed his student's confusion and took a few steps back.
"Vicente, don't worry about your identity. It's safe with me. I don't see any problem with you being who you are." Benson said, settling that before moving on to his interests.
"But you should be careful who you show your magical abilities to. From the moment you show your powers as Cesar, anyone who sees you using your magic as Vice will realize you're actually the same person."
"I am aware."
Benso ran a hand through his beard and smiled. "Anyway, I'm glad about your progress. You must have benefited greatly from the pentagram. That's why your magic is so strong today, and you've already reached level 2. If you continue to work hard, you can reach level 3 soon.
As for your new traits, they will serve you well in the forge. From what I've seen, you can already easily extract metals from minerals. Your next step in forging is to further alter the properties of the metals under your control so that they combine in more interesting ways for your purposes.
By doing so, everything you make will have more power and, if you wish, can carry some of your properties. For example, the shield you've created can be very effective against attacks based on the elements Earth and Lightning. But it's still weak. If you deepen your skills, you might be able to create something that can even affect the environment around you."
As he said everything, giving Vicente a lesson, Benson had a twinkle in his eye and gradually got to the part he most wanted to discuss.
"... In this way, one day, you may be able to create an artifact with your own abilities, based on your affinities, of course. That will be the beginning of a new era for you as a blacksmith."
Then he nodded to the metal doll he used as a butler on his estate and said. "This is a failure of mine, but in your hands, it could become a success."
"A failure? What do you mean, master? It looks like an excellent autonomous puppet to me." Vicente commented as he recognized the first of his master's creations that this old man treated as his most important secret.
Benson laughed. "It would be if its purpose was to be an ordinary doll capable of doing basic services. But this one is to be a full body armor, a dream of mine."
"Full body armor?"
"If it worked properly, it could function as a robot armor. It would assist its wearer in many different ways without forcing them to give commands, while the wearer could command only the essentials and concentrate on their own powers.
With it, a person without the ability to fly could fly at high speeds, have blades hidden in their hands and feet, but also solid defenses along the entire length of their body," Benson expressed in a tone that showed Vice how important it was to the white-haired old man in front of him.
'That sounds like an iron man...' Vicente laughed as he listened to Benson. 'But would it work in the magic world? I know how valuable such armor would be, but would it be feasible to rely on something that could be damaged at any moment? A single elemental attack outside of one's domain can quickly end a battle.' He remembered Jasmine's attack.
But Benson didn't care. Every project had its flaws and risks.
"... Eventually, armors like this one could function independently of their wearers and perform missions for their owners! That would be revolutionary!"
"That sounds like it... But it doesn't sound like something a blacksmith would do. It must be very complex, the kind only engineers could do, along with blacksmiths and enchanters." Vice commented.
Benson looked at him with a smile. "You're not wrong. In that case, this armor would never work the way I imagine it because it would have to have a lot of mechanisms and magical inscriptions that would consume much mana. That would result in low efficiency."
He had tried a little bit of everything and had reached the point in his journey where he was looking for special talents that might solve some of the problems that were holding him back.
Benson knew if he had to rely on the partnership of professionals, as Vicente had said, his plans would not come to fruition.
"But it's different for you, Vicente. Electricity is behind almost everything that makes armor like this work the way I plan. If you make it with your special powers, it will be possible. It won't have to have as many mechanisms as items made by engineers and blacksmiths because of how you manipulate metals. And it will be able to have electrical properties, given your mana.
You would need precision and technique to make it work, which you don't have yet, but I can teach you.
With all this, I believe you can test my theory when you reach level 5." He said in an excited tone.
"Do you think it will work?"
"Possibly. But even if it fails, it will still be better than what I have achieved. I'm sure of that." He replied confidently before adding. "Anyway, if you help me with this, Vicente, it will also be important for you. As interesting as your weapons are, they have a limit you haven't thought of yet."
"Oh?" Vicente became a little more interested in what his master had to say.
