Dagger In The Night

[Goku]

As the sun began to set over the bustling city, the market district slowly emptied, leaving the streets quieter and more peaceful. The usual cacophony of merchants shouting their wares and customers haggling over prices faded into the background, replaced by the gentle hum of nighttime activity. It was the perfect time for Goku to continue his lessons at Toren's forge.

The forge, a lively hub during the day, now stood with a serene yet powerful presence. The dying embers of the forge glowed softly, casting a warm light over the workshop. Toren, ever the diligent blacksmith, had agreed to help Goku with a special evening project: forging a simple dagger.

"Alright, Goku," Toren began, rolling up his sleeves and revealing his muscular, scarred forearms, evidence of countless hours spent at the anvil. "Tonight, you'll be making a dagger. It's a good exercise to practice the basics and understand the process of forging a blade from start to finish."

Goku nodded, his expression determined. "I'm ready, Master Toren. Let's do this."

Toren handed Goku a piece of steel, rough and unshaped. "First things first, you need to heat the metal. This piece of steel will be your dagger. Put it in the forge and let it heat until it's a bright, cherry red. That's when it will be pliable enough to work with."

Goku took the steel and carefully placed it into the heart of the forge. The heat was intense, and sweat quickly began to bead on his forehead. He watched the steel closely, waiting for it to reach the perfect temperature.

[Illuvia]

Luvi woke up fully rested from her nap and took a stroll back into the area where she had agreed to meet up with Lumina again. She was waiting for her with a pleased look on her face. “Luvi, how was your training?”

“It wasn’t bad,” Luvi said with a smile, “you seem to be in a good mood.”

“I am! I went to visit my family and I got some reagents so we can do some practice with alchemy.”

“Already? I thought we would do book work for a while longer. I grasped some of the concepts in the book you lent me but I’m not used to this sort of activity.” Luvi sighed embarrassedly.

“Nonsense. We have an agreement and I’m going to train you up as quickly as I can. The best way to do it is through hands on practice, and I’ll be right there by your side to make sure you don’t mess anything up too bad.”

“Oh alright, but what about Goku? I was supposed to meet up with him. Have you seen him?”

“Yes, he’s in the workshop again. Don’t know what he’s doing and for how long, I peeked in the window a while ago so he might be done by now.”

“I wonder if he even wants to join. He might rather do smithing,” Luvi mused, walking over to the door and knocking.

The smith opened the door and shouted, “Goku, your friends are here.” He welcomed the two women in and happily accepted the bread that Lumina had brought for him as a gift.

[Goku]

As the steel glowed a brilliant red, Goku used tongs to carefully remove it from the forge and placed it on the anvil. Toren handed him a hammer, the weight of it familiar yet still challenging.

"Now, start hammering. Keep your strikes even and controlled. You're shaping the metal, not just beating it into submission," Toren instructed.

Goku nodded, focusing on the task at hand. He raised the hammer and brought it down on the glowing steel, the sound of metal striking metal ringing through the quiet forge. The steel began to flatten and elongate with each strike, slowly taking the shape of a blade. Toren watched intently, offering tips and corrections as Goku worked.

"Good, good," Toren encouraged. "Now, pay attention to the thickness of the blade. You want it to taper towards the edge, but you need to keep the spine strong."

Goku adjusted his strikes, concentrating on creating a balanced taper. It was hard work, his arms straining with the effort, but he relished the challenge.

He was interrupted by the knock at the door. Toren went to let the women in.

“I’m kind of in the middle of something.” Goku called over his shoulder.

“If you have to go then we can stop here. The weapon you’ve made so far has many flaws and it would be best to start all over again next time. No point in annealing this.” Toren said with a clap on his back.

“Fine with me.” Goku said as he set aside the tools. He was tired from all the work.

“Thanks for the lesson. Luvi, Lumina, I assume we’re off to study some more?”

[Illuvia]

Luvi looked to Lumina and shrugged, “what were your plans, exactly?”

Lumina said as they walked outside, “I was planning on taking you to my house where we can do a little bit of alchemy. I’ve got the necessary equipment there.”

“That okay with you Goku,” Luvi asked as they turned the corner and came up to Lumina’s home.

Once they made their way inside, Lumina would carefully remove some things from her bag and put them on a table. The home was clean, except for the corner where alchemy took place. It was a mess. Lumina cleared some of it away so there was space for the three of them to sit. She would talk to herself as she checked her book and picked out reagents.

“So, I take it you’ve grasped some of the basics. Alchemy is the science of transferring properties. I have some bark here. What kind of properties do you think it has?”

Luvi said, “it’s hard, and it’s brown?”

“Yes, those are a couple. It’s also rough. So, we can use alchemy to extract those properties and place them on something else. Working with multiple properties is complicated though, so we will only focus on one, for now.”

Luvi asked, “which property are we working with, then?”

“Your choice. This is rather simple, so it doesn’t matter.”

Luvi thought for a moment then suggested, “how about roughness?”

“Alright then, roughness. For that, we should use…” Lumina looked at her book, “these reagents here, and mix them in this flask.”

[Goku]

“After you.” He said in agreement with the plan. He had done enough physical work so some mental work sounded like a good idea. He did not plan on doing much. He was more along for the ride than anything else.

Goku followed along and took a seat, watching intently as Lumina prepared her alchemical setup. The organized chaos of the alchemy corner intrigued him; it was a stark contrast to the rest of Lumina’s tidy home. As she carefully removed various items from her bag and placed them on the table, Goku felt a sense of anticipation building.

Goku watched closely as Lumina selected various reagents and began mixing them with the bark in a flask. The process was fascinating; it seemed almost like a magical chemistry experiment. He observed the careful measurements and the precise manner in which Lumina combined the ingredients. The solution began to bubble and change color, hinting at the transformation taking place within.

Goku’s eyes sparkled with excitement as he continued to watch. He had seen many incredible things in his life, but the intricate process of alchemy was new and intriguing. He could see the potential applications in their adventures and day-to-day life. He thought that he might want to make his own skin bark like and hard.

"Could we apply the effect of roughness to a smooth piece of paper?" Goku asked, curiosity evident in his voice. Goku handed her a piece of paper, and he waited to see if she would accept his request.

[Illuvia]

Lumina nodded at Goku, saying, “sure, let’s lather it onto the paper, let it dry for a little while and…” she waved the paper in the air a bit then ran her finger across it, “there, it’s rough.”

Luvi put her finger on the paper and noticed that it was rougher than paper had any right to be. “It’s like sandpaper,” she commented and Lumina nodded. “Now that you mention it, I’m sure this could be used as sandpaper, if the recipe was refined a little.” Lumina set her own solution aside and told Luvi, “now you try.”

Luvi stared at her blankly, not knowing that she’d expected her to be keeping track of all the things that were used. She said, “okay, so you took some bark,” as she pulled over some of it and tossed it into a flask. “And then you poured in some of this, and this, and a little of that.” She mixed it all together as Lumina stifled a giggle.

“How’d I do?” Luvi asked as she held up the finished solution.

“Try it and see.”

Luvi poured it out onto a piece of paper and could instantly see that it wasn’t quite right. The paper took on a strange color and when it dried it crumbled to the touch.

“So, I messed it up,” Luvi said with a sigh, “what was it?”

“You messed up basically everything. You picked one wrong reagent, first of all, and you didn’t measure the rest. You have to measure it per the recipe. And if you want to deviate from the recipe you have to take notes so you can have a record of the results.”

[Goku]

Goku watched Luvi’s attempt with sympathy. After seeing the paper crumble to the touch, he decided to give it a try himself. “Alright, Luvi, let me see if I can get it right.”

He carefully reviewed the steps Lumina had demonstrated earlier. “Okay, so let’s be precise,” he thought. “I need to measure everything correctly.”

Goku took the bark and measured out a precise amount, just as he had seen Lumina do. He then selected the correct reagents, one by one, measuring each carefully before adding them to the flask. His movements were deliberate and thoughtful, ensuring he didn’t rush any step.

“Alright, let’s mix this together,” he said, combining the ingredients and gently stirring the mixture. He watched as the solution began to bubble and change color, feeling a sense of accomplishment that it seemed to be reacting correctly.

Goku poured the solution onto a new piece of paper, spreading it evenly. He waited for the paper to dry, mimicking Lumina’s earlier technique by waving it gently in the air. The motion felt rhythmic and calming, almost meditative. He could see the solution starting to set, the paper gradually taking on a new texture. The anticipation built as he wondered how successful his attempt had been. The drying process seemed to take forever, but Goku remained patient, understanding that alchemy required time and precision.

Once it was dry, Goku ran his finger across the paper, feeling the texture change under his touch. The smooth surface he started with was now coarse and grainy though not nearly as much as Lumina’s had been. “It’s not perfect,” he admitted, holding up the paper. “But it’s definitely rougher than before.”

[Illuvia]

Luvi grumbled, knowing that she ought to have done better. She tried again, this time carefully measuring out each ingredient. It was easier said than done, however. For someone who had never done this sort of thing before, pouring out an exact quantity of liquids and measuring out powders by small units were difficult. It required a steady hand that she didn’t have. It was all too easy to pour just a little too much or too little.

Lumina looked at Goku’s work and said, “yes, much better than Luvi’s. You can flip through the book and try any recipe you like. All the reagents are cheap as it’s meant for beginners.”

Lumina watched Luvi closely, wincing when Luvi once again messed up. It was her third try now and she’d added too much powder to the solution and there was no way to remove the excess. She stirred it all the same and then dumped it out onto a piece of paper then immediately discarded it.

“I knew this wasn’t going to be easy,” Luvi said with a sigh.

“Well, this is how you get better,” Lumina encouraged, “People take years to get better at alchemy. I’m not all that great myself. I have a grasp over most mediums and commonly available reagents but I’m not skilled enough to go gather the rare stuff or work with it. And I’m probably years away from working with blood magic.”

“Blood magic? That sounds intriguing,” Luvi said, though she didn’t press for details.

[Goku]

Goku listened to the exchange between Lumina and Luvi, feeling a renewed sense of determination. He had done well with the roughness transfer, but now he wanted to push himself further. The idea of transferring the color of the bark to a piece of paper intrigued him. “Alright, I’ll give this a try,” he said, flipping through the book to find the section on color transfer.

He found the instructions and began gathering the necessary reagents. He carefully measured out each ingredient, aware of how crucial precision was. He took the bark and ground it into a fine powder, then measured the exact amount as specified in the book. Next, he measured the liquid components, taking his time to ensure everything was just right.

Goku combined the ingredients in the flask, stirring them slowly and steadily. He watched as the solution began to change color, taking on the brown hue of the bark. It was a fascinating process, seeing the color extract from the bark and infuse the liquid. Once he was satisfied with the mixture, he poured it out onto a fresh piece of paper, spreading it evenly.

He waited for the paper to dry, waving it gently in the air as he had done before. The drying process took a bit longer this time, perhaps due to the different properties of the solution. Finally, the paper was dry, and he examined his work.

The color transfer had worked, but it was uneven. Some parts of the paper were a rich, deep brown, while others were lighter and almost untouched. Goku frowned slightly, running his fingers over the surface. “It’s not quite there yet,” he admitted, showing the paper to Lumina and Luvi. “The color transferred, but it’s patchy.”

[Illuvia]

“I’m so jealous,” Luvi said when Goku showed off his newest attempt. It wasn’t great but it had at least worked. “I am getting nervous and second guessing myself. And my hand won’t stop shaking,” she said with obvious discomfort.

Lumina tried to be sympathetic, but Luvi didn’t need sympathy. “My hand is as steady as can be when I’m holding a sword. I don’t know why these little spoons and scoopers are giving me trouble.”

She tried to mix another solution but her attempts were getting worse, not better. This time the paper was more or less covered in bits of bark and goopy liquid. “That’s it, I give up. I’ve had enough for today,” Luvi said, shoving the reagents to the side.

Lumina sighed and said, “then your homework will be to practice pouring out liquids into this container. You can do the same with salt for practice with powder.”

“More homework, just what I wanted!” Luvi said, getting to her feet. “Speaking of which, I should assign you some. Go run to the barracks tomorrow morning and then back again.”

Lumina rolled her eyes, “don’t you think that’s a bit much?”

Luvi grumbled but said, “yes, probably. Okay, maybe we can go on a jog together. But be on time! We can meet at dawn.”

“Alright then, dawn. Switching from teacher to student is jarring. I can’t wait for us to be mutually satisfied with each other’s performance so this partnership of ours can bear some fruit.”