Valerian, The Legendary

253 Expedition.

Valerian asked the old man, “What do you mean by layer wave pattern?”

The blade surface was filled with wave patterns. It was very fascinating to see, Old man Fern heard the question said, “When two or more metals are perfectly integrated together, they form this wave pattern. This pattern is a symbol of proper and complete integration of the metals used by the forger.”

Valerian nodded in realization and said, “I see, Teacher what do you think of this sword?”

Fern took the sword and gave it a swing, he said, “It is a good sword.”

He flipped the sword and he caught the glimpse of the glow on the blade. The silver shine on the blade made Fern say, “I did not expect Silver Stardust to react like this. How did you manage to make it work?”

Valerian said, “Teacher in a book on the shelves it is mentioned that if the stardust is put in a furnace for a few seconds, it will melt but needs to be rapidly cooled down to stop it from turning brittle. So, I channeled my mana to cover the outer layer of the blade, and the water attribute helped me cool it down.”

Fern was surprised and asked, “Until you could provide an isolating coverage for every particle of the molten silver stardust, the entire blade would have entered a stage of rapid cooldown. Which is basically impossible.”

Valerian shook his head and said, “I can divide my mana into fine threads and that is what I used to cover the blade surface. The structure of molten Silver stardust can be seen properly by using mana eyes.”

Fern was surprised and said, “I never thought something like this can be done. Kid, you have just solved a big problem for me. Hahaha.”

.....

The old man has been plagued by the arduous method of integrating silver stardust. This method will save him a lot of time and effort. Thinking about this he asked, “I can integrate this technique into my style of forging.”

The technique was found by his student so this could be seen as an evolution of his own technique. Valerian had no problem with this, so he agreed. Fern saw this child agreeing to him so quickly and without any trouble, that he could not help but sigh.

Valerian was swinging his sword, trying to get a feel of the weapon when he heard the sigh and asked, “Teacher, why are you sighing?”

Fern said, “If only you were my child.”

His voice revealed a slight sense of helplessness. Valerian asked, “Teacher, what do you mean by that?”

Fern shook his head and said, “Forget about her. I will go and record this in my manual.”

Valerian looked at the back of the old man, who was walking out of the forging room, and said, “Teacher, you are helpless, because your child is a girl?”

Fern stopped walking and looked back at Valerian deeply before he got out of the forging room. He did not wish to tell Valerian anything about this matter. The boy also did not force the old man because he knew some things cannot be done in a haste.

He tried his sword and after he got used to the weight of the blade, he started to carve a wooden handle to be used as a hilt. The crossguard was also made up of wood. The young prince tied a strip of leather around the handle.

After this was all done, Valerian took the sword with him and went out of the forging room. He looked at the old man, who was writing in the manual, and asked, “Teacher, can I take this sword?”

Fern raised his head and said, “Yes, you can, but from tomorrow, you will be forging alongside me and that will be your payment for this sword. Understood?”

Valerian nodded. He fiddled with the blade and Teacher Fern said, “Go to the tailor shop later, and ask them to make a sheath for this sword.”

Valerian nodded and asked, “But, I do not have money to pay them.”

Fern said, “You can go out to hunt some beast that you like and then bring back the corpse, sell the materials and you can get the money for your sheath, of course, ask the maiden for her permission first.”

Valerian nodded and said, “Yes.”

The sunset and the young man made his way back to the Sripa Palace. The guards saw Valerian carrying a sword and the captain said, “Oh, young man you have a nice blade.”

The prince replied, “Yes, I forged it today at the shop.”

The captain nodded and said, “With this blade, you can duel with me.”

Valerian smiled and said, “Only when the maiden allows me to.”

The captain nodded and then after a few words, Valerian went inside the palace. The people all knew that this young man was diligent in his training, and has won some goodwill of the palace guards and staff.

...

Valerian reached the palace and then he came to the dining hall. However, today, instead of the maiden, only Trin was inside the hall, he said, “Good evening, Your grace.”

Trin turned her head to look at Valerian with a smile and asked, “Good evening to you too.”

Valerian asked, “Her Excellency is not here?”

Trin shook her head and said, “Her Excellency went out to deal with some important task.”

Valerian nodded and wanted to say something when Trin said, “I see you have a magnificent weapon on you.”

The young man had not kept this sword in his magic pouch. For some reason he was very fascinated by this blade, after all, this was the first time he has tried his hand at forging and this product gave him a great sense of achievement.

When Trin mentioned the blade, he did not hesitate and stretched it for her to see. Trin took the blade and flipped it a few times before taking a swing. She smiled and returned the blade to the surprised boy, and said, “Indeed a magnificent blade, Master Valerian.”

Valerian came back to his senses and said, “I did not expect, Yoru Grace, to be so skillful in the art of swordsmanship.”

Trin smiled and said, “Mandatory training for the aid of the maiden.”

The young man understood, then he recalled something, and asked, “Your grace, can I go and hunt down a beast for materials?”

Trin was surprised for a moment and then she said, “What happened? Do you need something?”

Valerian nodded and told her that he needed to find some leather for the sheath of his blade, and also to try his growth and the level of this blade. After a slight thought, Trin said, “I can allow you to go out on an expedition but you will have to take at least two experts with you. They will not help you until the situation is out of your control.”

Valerian thought about it and then nodded. Trin smiled and said, “Fine, you can go to the shop and tell Master Fern about it tomorrow, but first, have your dinner.”

The young man smiled and then he ate.

...

The night passed away in a blink and the next morning Valerian rushed to the shop to tell the old man that he was going out for a hunting expedition and will not come to the shop. Thinking that the Maiden must have approved this, Fern nodded and said, “You better stay careful and come back alive.”

Valerian smiled and rushed away, Trin had told him that the experts will meet him at the city gate. The Clar-awks did not believe in using a horse to travel as they could fly on their own. The prince came to the edge of the village, and rushed along with the treeline, till he found two people standing there.

The gate of the village will change every few hours because of the magic spell that defended the place from invasions. Only the villagers could see through this change. The two guards looked at Valerian and nodded to him. One of them was a male and one was a female.

Valerian nodded to them and said, “Sorry to bother you with the hassle.”

The guards shook their heads and the lady said, “You do not have to worry, we go out to hunt and patrol regularly so you can just focus on your own task. We will be there if things get out of your control.”

Valerian nodded and was about to ask them to leave when the guards said, “Here, you need to wear this first.”

The young boy saw them handing him a bracelet. He asked, “What is this?”

The lady stepped forward and said, “This is a mana control bracelet. It will stop you from using magic in the forest.”

Valerian was surprised and the male guard said, “Her grace told us to give you this, it is supposed to be a training exercise and test for you. Only physical strength is allowed to be used.”