Three days later...
After testing his first 2nd-grade weapon, it took Vicente just over a day to produce all of his family's new weapons and ammunition with the materials he had at his disposal.
After producing more than 30 weapons and enough ammunition for hundreds of shots, he distributed these first new units to the strongest members of his group.
The Mazzanti family now had 78 magicians, 24 of them Apprentices and the rest Acolytes between levels 1 and 3. There were also 11 Generals between levels 6 and 7 who could also use the family's firearms.
With these numbers and the 30 new weapons capable of threatening anyone below the 3rd stage, the Mazzanti family's power had skyrocketed from an important local force to the strongest in the city!
No one outside the family knew this at the time. Still, even the army post in Millfall, which currently had four battalions due to the deaths of three Commanders, could not compare to this family!
Because of this progress, Vicente left his Mazzanti family the day before, more relaxed than ever before, and turned his attention back to the forge.
After leaving his family the day before, he had returned to the association building to continue his training and apprenticeship, having already reached the level necessary to be considered a 2nd-stage blacksmith.
But Vicente didn't want to get his 2nd-stage blacksmith badge just yet. He had progressed very quickly and didn't want to draw attention to himself until he needed more important access rights in this organization.
Until he needed access to better materials, which would require a higher classification on his part, he intended to keep a low profile, learning on his own at the association or with Benson on that man's property.
And so, today, Vicente would finally begin his experiments on the robotic armor alongside his master!
...
Arriving at his master's estate, Vicente quickly saw the large forge that existed there, set up differently today.
Some materials were in different positions, while tools he had never seen before were scattered here and there, in easy positions for one to spot and pick them up.
At the same time, the books were more organized than ever, with a few open on the tables in the area.
Benson sat in front of a metal dummy, similar to the one that served as the estate's butler, while he unscrewed some of its components.
Seeing this as soon as he walked in, Vicente realized that his master was more excited than he was to begin this project.
He laughed before he heard from Benson. "Vice, before we start practicing, take a look at these books I've prepared for you. They summarize what we're going to start today."
"Okay." Vicente walked over to the open books on a table and began to study them, quickly flipping through the many pages of books written by Benson.
Benson was a 3rd-stage blacksmith, but he was also a forging theorist. He didn't just use the methods of renowned blacksmiths. He created his own theories and developed new methods from them.
In theory, any blacksmith could do this. But in practice, a small minority of each profession did what this man had done all his life.
So even though he was only at the 3rd stage, Benson had accumulated unique knowledge that was hard to find anywhere else in Polaris Realm, things that made him seem more qualified than his level said he was.
Vicente realized this even more when he noticed some of his master's techniques that were very different from the accepted rules of the association.
'That is interesting. The most widely accepted theory of forging on the continent is that the mana we infuse into mana-absorbing materials gives power and some of our characteristics to the artifacts with those materials as components.
It's like a battery in a way, but also like a less intense and efficient replica of our affinities."
However, Benson believes that the blacksmith can manipulate these materials in such a way that they might expose some of the blacksmith's will.
For him, by infusing our mana into compatible materials, we can make them have energy, affinity, and a conscious purpose.
In other words, the continent's blacksmiths believed they could create artifacts that could contain energy and withstand, or rather display, stronger powers when wielded by people with elements related to the artifact's elements.
But Benson also believed that artifacts created by blacksmiths could have a certain autonomy, even without the use of magic enchantments.
For example, Vicente's master theory said one could make a sword fire a flaming attack during an attack, even if the user didn't give the command. In other words, even if the user had no affinity for that element, the sword could use its own essence to enhance the user's attack.
In the case of the robotic armor that Benson thought Vicente could produce, it supposedly could use magnetic powers to create field barriers, electromagnetic attacks, flight, and many more things Vice could do.
Thinking about how he could already put his attributes into his weapons and ammunition to create more powerful attacks, Vice couldn't help but agree with Benson.
He looked at his master and realized what this guy had done.
'It seems he taught me from the beginning, following his model of forging rather than the one more accepted on the continent.'
Vicente knew nothing about forging when he became Benson's disciple, which was only possible because of his disconnected past with the forging world.
By learning Benson's theory mixed with the theories most accepted by blacksmiths, Vicente had, from the beginning, used what his master deemed necessary to give his artifacts their own "will."
Therefore, Vicente had his own intuition about that theory, which didn't seem so strange to him, and in fact, he had already been using it without realizing it.
Going through all the books prepared by Benson, Vicente would finish his initial study of the robot armor project in 50 minutes when his master had finished preparing the training object.
"Now that you've familiarized yourself with the background of this project, it's time to learn it in practice. Come here." He gestured with one hand.
"I have taken apart the major components of this armor and divided them into 39 groups. I want you to understand how to assemble and disassemble each of these groups, but I also want you to understand how they were made. After that, you should make similar structures and assemble them.
Once you have the 39 groups, I'll show you how to combine them into the complete armor. From then on, we'll start testing your powers by updating our model using your mistakes and successes."
Vicente heard this as he saw more than 200 pieces scattered in 39 boxes on the floor.
Benson said. "Get started. I'll help you for the next three days. After that, you'll have to find your own way!"
