Jacob walked with Bran out towards the gate, but Oren was headed their way as they passed a bend.
"See you later, Bran. I'm going to catch up with Oren. I'll try not to sleep in too late tomorrow."
Bran waved him off, "I'll probably have some stuff to handle around the shop, so don't worry if you need some extra sleep."
Oren nodded to Bran as he made it to them, and Bran waved bye to both of the boys.
"Were y'all building some more machinery?" Oren asked Jacob as they turned to walk down the lane together.
"Well," Jacob replied, "It is a bit more complicated this time, but yeah, we were building more machinery."
Oren simply grunted to that, so Jacob caught his friend up on how he would be heading out to the wilderness for a few months, and that caught the young swordsman's attention.
"The wilds are a dangerous place, even for an experienced adventurer," Oren said with furrowed brows. "I need to show you something if you're really headed out there in just a couple of weeks."
He steered them out towards the yard instead of the house and grabbed a couple of sticks along the way. He gave one to Jacob, and when they arrived, he had Jacob stand in front of himself squarely.
"I'm going to show you a form for the sword since that is also what you keep around your hip when you travel. It will do you little good to have it in your hands when you can't cast a spell if you don't know how to properly wield it."
"Hey! I have used a sword to kill dungeon monsters before!" Jacob replied indignantly.
Oren simply shook his head. "That is fundamentally different. I have been in the gate here, and those monsters can hardly be called that. It is more like a hunting trip rather than a real dungeon dive if you take out the boss floor and the random gatekeepers."
"You will see when we spar after you gain some experience with these forms, and you will realize just how different using a sword is from swinging a sword. Now, watch what I do and copy me."
They went through several forms, and Oren corrected Jacob several times throughout the process. He had Jacob perform the form on his own from memory, showing him the correct form again when necessary.
Once Jacob could perform the entire sword form on his own and only needed correction in his stances, Oren decided they had practiced enough. Jacob was sweating and breathing hard from taking the forms seriously, even though he only had a stick.
Oren nodded at the effort, "Alright, this will be enough for today. You need to practice on your own for the next few days, and we can spar when I get back. Now, lets go eat with your family."
Once Jacob caught his breath, he replied, "Yeah, this is quite the workout already. I think I'm ready for a nap. Thanks for showing me how to actually use a sword. Just the footwork alone seems like a game-changer."
"Just wait until we get to the sparring sessions, then you will really see the difference," Oren replied.
Dinner came and went without much ceremony. Everyone was tired from the day's work, and the meal disappeared quickly beneath the usual mix of farm talk, laughter, and Lila trying to tell three different stories at once. By the time the dishes were done and the house had begun to settle, the warmth of the hearth and the long day had started to pull at everyone's eyes.
Back in Jacob's room, where the guest bed for Oren was built, Jacob caught the swordsman before he could get comfortable in bed.
"Hey, put that Cuiras up on my work bench."
Oren was a bit puzzled but did as Jacob asked as he countered, "Why, though?"
Jacob was already pulling out an earth core and his etching tool. "Because, with all that safety talk, I feel like I need to upgrade this enchantment. I learned recently that it is basically useless if you run into actual danger."
Oren nodded as Jacob began the enchantment. He knew that sturdy armor was necessary when fighting monsters, which is why his master had spared no expense when getting him this cuirass. It was made of an alloy as strong as steel and light as aluminum. With the initial enchantment, he already felt invincible.
Hearing that it could have failed him in a fight made it easy for him to accept Jacobs' generosity. It was a curious thing, though, seeing the young enchanter re-enchant it without removing the previous enchantment.
"How can you do that, by the way? I don't know anything about enchanting, but I at least thought it was impossible to re-enchant something without removing the initial enchantment first?"
Jacob had already inserted the core and was now shaping a couple of runes on the front and back of the cuirass.
"Usually, it is impossible, as far as I know. But the way I enchanted this the first time is compatible with this core and these enchantments. Also, I can just ask my magic to smooth everything out, and as long as my magical power is potent enough, it should be just fine."
And true to his word, with a final flex of his magical power, he set everything straight with the enchantments, and Oren now had a somewhat impenetrable shell that would extend its protections a bit past the plates up to his neck and nearly to his knees.
"Well, that's finished, no thanks are necessary. You are teaching me the sword after all. Lets just get to bed."
Oren picked up the cuirass, and he could already tell that it was much more powerful defensively, and he had a suspicion he would not need to take it to the smithy for repairs anymore.
Since Jacob wanted no thanks, he lay down on his bed as well, and they both soon fell asleep.
Jacob didn't sleep in late this time, but when he did wake, Oren was already gone.
Always off to the woods to patrol and kill goblins before the sun even rises. I hope he is getting the training he expects out of this. Oh well, more sleep for me, I suppose.
He had breakfast with his family before heading to the chicken coop to relax a bit since Bran had not shown up for adjustments to the harvester yet.
He still enjoyed seeing them cluck and pluck around the pen as they scratched at the dirt, looking for something to peck at. It reminded him of the previous year when he first had his memories rammed into his skull. Then he learned enchanting from his dad and met old Thom.
Oh crap! I forgot the dagger!
He thanked the chickens for reminding him of the dagger he owed old Thom and quickly retrieved it from his room before flying over to Ruvka. The villagers and adventurers gawked at him as he flew over the central well, but they were getting used to it.
Still, he noticed how some of the adventurers eyed him from the side as if they were trying to keep their gaze secret.
Not sure what that means, but they'd better keep to themselves.
He didn't feel like stopping to ask why the hell they were side-eying him, so he chose to ignore them for now, and he went straight to old Thom's weird house.
With the dagger in hand, he walked through the portal doorway, and he appeared directly inside the actual building that old Thom resided in.
"Well, if it isn't that little runt looking for salt grass. Did you find what you needed in that dunengon?"
Old Thom was sitting in his rocking chair facing the entrance of his building. He seemed like he was not surprised in the least that Jacob had shown up, even though Jacob had just made the decision to fly over less than five minutes ago.
Jacob nodded as he walked over to old Thom.
"I have a feeling you already know, but I did manage to get the grass I needed. And it worked for the fields. Old fields, my dad hasn't managed to grow anything good in for years, are going to be workable this year. They are already preparing to plant."
Old Thom nodded, "Yeah, I figured it would go down that way. I'm sure the Baron will be snooping around soon enough to make sure he gets his cut."
That made Jacob pause, "You know, there was a rider the other day. Anything I need to be worried about?"
Old Thom gave up a hearty chuckle, "Hahah, boy! That is nothing for you to worry about. This is something that Arthur will need to deal with, but you should be focusing on magic."
Seeing the reluctant look on Jacob's face, old Thom elaborated, "You will have your trials, but you must remember that your father is also pushing against the system. You and your father are both actively reaching farther than your station. And that is commendable. But if one of you steps in for the other every time each of you needs a helping hand, it will serve to cripple one or both of you. Adversity is where true strength is born, and I see it within both of you."
"It's good for both of you to be separated for a while as you each face your own tribulations. I can't promise either of you will come out unscathed, but I know for sure that you will be better at the end. I'll admit, I was a bit hesitant to help you when we first met, but I have kept an eye and an ear out to see how you would use this power that seems to have fallen into your lap. And it seems to me that you have no intention of abusing it, so take my words as advice and leave your father to his own trials as you face yours."
Jacob scratched his head as he took in everything the old sorcerer said, "Well, thanks for the advice, I guess that brings me to the reason I'm here... "
He reached into his pouch and pulled out the enchanted dagger.
Old Thom became more serious as the powerful artifact was pulled out.
"I see you managed to pass my test, and faster than I expected you to as well. I can tell just from the way that it interacts with the surrounding magic that this is a unique artifact you have made for me."
"It is," Jacob replied, "I managed to get five enchantments on it, but I had to run myself dry to get them all affixed."
That caused old Thom to give Jacob a new evaluating gaze as he shared his thoughts, "Boy, I didn't take you for such a hard worker. It's hard for someone to push past that limit, but it will take you far in the world of magic. You keep striving to push that hard, and you might just catch up to me!"
Taking the dagger into his hands, old Thom probed it with his own magic, but Jacob was unable to really tell how he was analyzing it. But he did hear the old man murmuring under his breath, "gods damned, glad I gave that ambitious fellow that hint all those years ago..."
With a flair of his wrist, the dagger was gone, and in its place was a rather bulging sack. Jacob could already tell what his payment was, but he waited for old Thom to tell him anyway.
"This is how I will be paying you from now on. I can see you are no stranger to monster cores, and this would normally be too little for such an artifact. But I am going to be a bit generous and invest in you here. These are all C-rank, and I have included the water, earth, and fire cores you are used to, but I am also throwing in a few nature, light, and darkness cores for you to experiment with. I can't teach you the craft, but you seem to be making fine progress on your own."
Then old Thom scratched his head as he thought for a second, "Although, from the way your mana field feels, I can see you aren't all that interested in enchanting. But, I will say this right now: there is no one on Meldra that can currently do what you do with this magical equipment. And that makes it all the more valuable. The small stuff you do will go unnoticed, as it can be easily confused with dungeon gear. But anything you make at the B-rank and higher will be quite noticeable. Hells, even this dagger you crafted would stick out in a major city."
Then old Thom looked Jacob in the eye, "That is why I would advise you to keep your enchanting skill near the same mastery as your magic. I know it seems like it will take you too long to catch up in your magical studies to be capable of even coming close to your current enchanting skill, but I assure you that day is closer than you think. Now, get out of my hut before I am forced to take you in as my own apprentice."
Jacob was a bit confused by how chatty old Thom seemed today, but he considered that the old man wouldn't see him for quite a while, so he brushed it off, "Thanks, old Thom. But, you don't have anything else you want enchanted yet?"
As he was ushering the young man out of the dimensional gateway, old Thom just shook his head, "When you get back, boy, I will have plenty of work for you then. For now, go spend some time with your family. And make sure you finish that funny-looking wagon machine. I want to see how it works properly come harvest."
Now, Jacob was a bit stunned as old Thom basically threw him through the gateway.
What the hell, is he actually spying on me from across the field or something? He has never come by the farm, or at least he has never announced himself...
And, before he knew it, the door was slammed behind him, which caused him to be pushed toward the steps of the old, rundown house.
He turned around and scratched his own head, now in confusion.
What was that even about? First, he wants to talk my ear off, and now he is throwing me out of his house? What a weird old man!
With that thought, Jacob took flight back to the Hemlock farm to spend the precious little time he had left with his family before heading out to the untamed wilds northwest of Thornhold.
With the old sorcerer's words replaying in his ears as he knew both he and his father would have their own troubles and trials ahead of them, he just thought to himself: I really need to upgrade the armor everyone has before I leave.
As the farm came into view, he realized that the peace they currently had was most likely just an illusion. He could feel the anticipation building in his chest as he knew a real adventure was looming just over the horizon.