The Ancient Genes
Chapter 6 - Blacksmith

After a week, he recovered enough to be able to go to school. He was still unable to contact his parents but Mr Stark had promised to get the message to them within a week.

For now, he was still free loading in his house.

Right then, as he was brushing his teeth, a notification popped out and he felt himself plummeting to the depths of hell.

«Host's recovery has been completed»

«Initiating Quest...»

«Daily Quest: Training»

«100 Push ups»

«100 Sit ups»

«100 Squats»

«10 Km Run»

«Reward: 10 FP»

«Penalty: (-1000 FP)»

«Time Limit : 1 Day»

'You are kidding me, right. Please tell me this is a joke.'

«Host can avoid the daily training at the cost of 1000 FP.»

'Damn it, I can't afford it. And are you trying to kill me? Those numbers are inhuman. Besides, why do I even need to do this stuff? I just need to get FP and level up, right?'

«Reporting to Host, the Host needs to adapt to his rapidly increasing capabilities, or else the Host won't be able to utilise his ability in time of need. So daily training is very essential for Host to adapt to his increasing strength.»

Even though he got what it meant, he still clearly felt one thing.

That system was useless .

Thankfully, that day was Sunday or else he would have to do his training in the school.

He didn't even know what people would have thought. Obviously he would have heard them through his godly ears, if they talked behind his back.

He got out of the house, letting Mary know that he was going out for a walk. Mary was the old Maid in Mr. Stark's house, who took care of him these days.

.....

After an hour, he returned, dead tired, drenched in sweat.

He walked towards the bathroom planning to take a bath. But as he moved, he heard a sound.

Clang!

Clang!

Out of curiosity, he followed the sound and found himself at the entrance of the basement. Entering the basement, he found Mr. Stark was swinging a hammer and hitting a red hot piece of ore.

Seeing him enter, Mr. Stark glanced at him and then continued to swing his hammer.

Max turned around to see various kinds of equipment, weapons, ores, and some strange looking objects in the workshop.

After a while, the clanging noise ceased and Mr. Stark dipped the piece of ore into the water.

He then turned towards me before he asked, "Working out in the morning, kid?"

"Yes." Looked like his drenched clothes gave him away.

"What about you, Mr. Stark, is this some kind of hobby?" he asked.

"Even though I don't look like it, I am a 7 star blacksmith."

"Blacksmith?"

"Now, don't say that you don't know about blacksmiths."

Hearing him, Max shook his head.

"You know Mages wear special accessories, use special weapons which give boost to their strength."

"Yes, I know."

"As expected, everyone knows about things related to mages, but they forget us who support them by making equipment."

"But Mr. Stark, how can accessories and weapons boost someone's strength?"

"When equipment is made using mana ores, they can give a boost to the strength of even a common person depending on the level of craftsmanship."

"Oh, so are you good at it?"

"Are you looking down on me? I was among the top 10 blacksmiths of my batch in the Magic Academy."

"Magic Academy? Aren't those places for training mages?"

"That is only for the Mage department, there are many other departments, like Blacksmith, Formation, etc."

Before he could say anything else, he heard the system's voice.

«It is determined that in order for Host to get stronger, Host needs a competitive environment.»

«Initiating Quest ...»

«Compulsory Quest: Get into Magic Academy»

«Reward: 1000 FP»

«Penalty: -5000 FP»

«Time Limit: 2 months»

Damn it, another unreasonable quest, how do I even get there if I can't use Magic in the first place?

He felt like crying but no tears came out from his eyes.

As he was busy in his thoughts, Mr. Stark's voice pulled him out, "So do you want to give it a try?" He offered his hammer to him.

"Me?" he asked, pointing his fingers at his face.

"Yes, I am talking about you, only a month is left before your graduation ceremony. And you still haven't decided on your career."

"But, I haven't awakened any elements."

"You don't need to worry about it, Blacksmiths don't have affinity with all elements. So they use mana ores while making their products."

"What does that mean?" he asked.

"It means they use ores with mana energy in them to enchant their weapon. A person like me, who is an excellent earth mage, can easily add the quality of earth element to iron ore and make it an artefact. But I can't do the same in case of other elements. So, Blacksmiths use Mana ores of different properties for different kinds of weapons and enchantments ".

"So, you mean I, too can become a blacksmith." Hearing him, Max couldn't help but feel excitement washed over him.

'Finally, a path I can walk on. Every Mage needs a weapon. I will make the greatest weapon in the history of Mankind.'

'And then I will see if that Great Grandpa of mine still has what it takes to avoid me.'

Ha..ha..ha..

As the plan formed in his mind, he laughed evilly thinking about how all the great mages will beg him to craft equipment for them.

But his hopes were crushed once again as Mr. Stark's next sentence poured freezing cold water on it.

"But you will have a difficult path ahead. Mages like us use the mana within our body to strengthen ourselves. Since you don't have that option, you have to do it physically." He spoke with a smile.

'Damn it, another injustice with me. But wait! Don't I have the system with me? As long as I increase my STR stats, won't Blacksmithing be childs play?'

And as this thought crossed his mind, he heard the system's voice.

«With Host's current state, the system has confirmed Host's understanding of Blacksmithing to be (0/100)%»

Listening to that, he couldn't help but ask, 'You mean, I could create Blacksmithing as one of my skills.'

«Yes, «Blacksmith» Lv 0»

Requirements:

•Understanding (0/100)%

•1000 FP

'Ha...ha... I won't be fooled anymore, why do I need to expend FP when I can learn it myself? You know what, you should change your name to Host scamming system.'

«Reporting to Host, system's skill makes it easier for Host to apply his understanding practically. And once skills are made, the Host can increase his skill level simply with FP.»

'Yeah, I totally get it, so just shut up.'

With that, he reached for the hammer in Mr. Stark's hand.

Ah!

As he grabbed the hammer, he felt its weight.

Damn it, how heavy is this thing? I can't even lift it properly.

He activated «God's blessing» and received a mere 14% increase in stats which barely allowed him to lift the hammer onto his shoulders.

But now, he faced another problem, he couldn't move.

'Damn it, how can Mr. Stark swung this freakish hammer like a towel?'

As he struggled to take a step, he felt the hammer being lifted off his shoulders. He turned and saw Mr. Stark holding the Hammer.

"Go and take a lighter hammer from the shelf." He spoke, pointing towards the shelf.

Max walked towards the shelf. He picked one of the light hammers. But as he left, an old wooden box with a carving of a crescent moon and a hammer caught his attention.

For some reason, he felt a strong urge within him to open the box.

As he moved his hands, they trembled. His heart started beating faster.

He finally opened the box with his trembling hands and found an ordinary half-broken hammer in the box.

Looking at the marks on that, and the broken edge on one side of the hammer, he couldn't determine how old that hammer was.

But, he could feel one thing very clearly, the hammer was calling him.

He grabbed the hilt of the hammer, brought it closer for a better look.

Thud!

He heard a sound. As he turned back, he saw a hammer on the floor, and Mr. Stark was staring at him with wide eyes and a dropped jaw.

-----------