Months passed after the battle of Portland Island. Within the forgemaster's workshop, Oscar hamred down on the stacked tallic sheets to bind them together. His Reis Forging had improved well over the long training sessions under Aunt Rosett's supervision.
After a hamr strike placed a final Ein nail, the tal sheets lded into a singular block. Oscar sighed in relief, took the tal block, and placed it into the furnace, removing his Ein; the little pockets of air trapped between each sheet kept them distinct and separate. The chair squeaked as his body plopped on it.
"You've finally completed this step. No need to be so tense; you can relax and let go now." Rosett patted so black soot off her glass visor.
At her permission, Oscar relaxed and drew in a deep breath of the scalding furnace air, but his excitent overwheld the burning pain in his lungs. He leaped to his feet and shouted in triumph, "HAHA!"
He had not celebrated earlier because the constant training of the controlled state he needed to be in to do Reis Forging had conditioned him to be impassive to any situation, for any lapse in concentration would ruin the process. No longer needing to keep his cool, Oscar laughed and shouted, clenching his hamr.
Rosett's lodious chuckle rang from the side, and Oscar staggered, rembering where he was, and coughed to calm down. "I'm sorry for the disrespect."
"Don't mind it. A celebration should also follow a happy occasion." Rosett shook her head with her hand on her head and her waist. Seeing Oscar's outburst of joy reminded her of the many tis she had accomplished similar events. The happiest ti was whenever she and Draven would celebrate together.
The sudden sound of sothing popping in the furnace made Oscar and Rosett turn their heads. Rosett clasped Oscar's shoulder and said more seriously, "Celebration is over. Now is the ti to twist and complete it into the form from which the armant is born."
Oscar nodded and took out the flaming hot ingot; along the sides were many lines like a cake with over fifty layers. The ingot was complete, prepped to be twisted, and held tightly in one of Oscar's hands. Slowly, he turned the block and swung his hamr, not from above, but from the side to begin the coiling.
One by one, Oscar hamred the ingot, and slowly, it started to twist. However, this process drained him the sa way as the first step because he could not overwhelm the ingot with his power. Too much and the ingot would break and destroy the lining.
The lines needed to be intact, or the Reis would not flow through them properly. Despite being used for the destructive power of Reis, the Reis Forging required imnse control and delicate hands, hands that Oscar failed to have as the ingot shattered. Oscar sighed and gathered the remains, dropping them into the crucible to lt.
He expected this failure; after all, he had always endured failure after failure before finally succeeding. One by one, he shaved away at the looming mountains of Reis and Ein with naught but a spoon in hand. The only option that always remained to him was to try once more.
"Oscar." Aunt Rosett said.
"What is it?" Oscar sat on his chair.
"How is your success rate with armant creation?" Aunt Rosett sat down as well with her arms crossed.
Oscar groaned, recalling his record. "I succeed one out of four tis." After continuous training, he improved from his old success rate of one out of five.
"Not bad," Rosett sounded delighted. "Quite an improvent for soone without a suitable anima. Don't shrink back because you don't have their success rate, be proud you got this far without their advantages."
"I would prefer to be proud when I do surpass them when that happens." Oscar did not wish to be arrogant with what he had. There remained so much to be done for him to catch up to everyone else.
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Rosett smiled and laughed. "So stubborn. But that's quite admirable."
The small sound of a heavy bubble popping entered Oscar's ear, making him stand up to check the crucible. He turned to Aunt Rosett and said, "I'm sure my master would say the sa things, Aunt Rosett."
Oscar resud the long, arduous process of Reis Forging under Rosett's watchful gaze.
'He would say that even before his madness.' Rosett had a hint of lancholy in her eyes, and her shoulders dropped in sadness. She saw a visage of Draven's young self, still wearing the helt, overlaying Oscar's. 'I sotis wish I never t you.'
…….
Oscar exited the furnace, seeing it was late at night, and returned to his house to wash up and rest. He lay down on his bed and closed his eyes, thinking about how the year was almost over. This ti, instead of the usual year-end events, the Pavilion canceled everything and told their students to go ho to their families to spend the last days of the year.
To compensate, the Pavilion gave a free spell token to everyone to learn sothing new. Oscar used this opportunity and the rewards from Portland Island to upgrade his 'Stone Gaze' to 'Basilisk Eyes' and learn a new spell to help his chances of survival. However, his face turned somber; the actions of the Pavilion reminded him of soldiers saying goodbye to their families.
How many students would die for this? How many families would never see their sons and daughter again? Alone on his bed in the dark, Oscar felt a horrid feeling well up in his heart.
The next morning, Oscar opened the door to find a cheery Serena holding her usual basket of food. "Morning."
"Oscar?" Serena ca closer and stared at his weary eyes. "Is sothing wrong? You have bags under your eyes."
"Just thinking about the Ashen Grove." Oscar welcod Serena inside and began to eat.
Tucking her wavy red hair over her ear, Serena seed defeated. "I'm worried too. My father sent letters, telling to find a way to avoid going in. But I can't back down when the rest of us are going." Her green eyes drooped tiredly. "I hope we can all make it out alive."
Oscar finished his food and wiped his hands. He patted Serena's head and said in a gentle tone. "You should get so rest. No need to give food every day. Get a good night's rest and train hard."
Serena smiled from Oscar's comforting hand and blushed. In an instant, she hugged him tightly and humd in satisfaction. Oscar's body had gotten even sturdier than before.
"How troubleso," Oscar seed deflated but got out of her hold. "We should head out to et the others."
"Ok!" Serena smiled.
Together they went to their usual training room but found an angered Celestina grumbling. Oscar turned to the others for an explanation but heard a loud yell from the usually composed Celestina.
"Who does that idiot think he is?!"
Oscar sighed, realizing the reason for her current outburst was undoubtedly Gilbert Lockwood. Ever since the ti of Ashen Grove had been approaching closer, Gilbert's many attempts to contact Celestina increased to the point of irritating her. Oscar could offer so comfort as she ranted during their reading hours with a helpless smile.
It was odd that Gilbert saw him multiple tis alongside Celestina's group but did nothing. Did he forget him? Oscar hoped that would be the case, but Celestina's outburst against him during that ti in the library should have cented him in Gilbert's mind.
Oscar had no complaints as long as he could continue in peace without so grade-nine hovering over him.
Charles spat on the floor. "That bastard asked to accompany my sister to the Imperial Palace for year's end."
"Isn't year's end for the family?" Serena asked.
"He doesn't care about them that much," Frederick rembered the bullying Gilbert endured in his ho and couldn't bla him for keeping them at a distance.
"Everyone," Celestina said coldly. "It seems you're all talking and not training. Get to work."
"Yes!"
After a long session of training his Ein, Reis, and Reis Forging, Oscar made his way to the Neptune Archives to read. Celestina sat across from him with her brows furrowed.
With a sigh, Oscar closed his book and turned to her. "Are you that affected by his words?"
"He has no idea about the aning of the word no," Celestina grumbled, anger plastered over her face, but her hands remained delicate not to harm the book. "Why do I have to endure this? Tell , Oscar."
She plopped over the table with a tired expression.
It looked funny to Oscar. Over ti, he witnessed her becoming looser and freer around him to the point where she slumped like this without embarrassnt. His own brow furrowed; he thought about what to say to comfort her.
"What is it?" Celestina noticed Oscar's expression. "What's bothering you today?"
"Thinking about what to say to make you feel better." Oscar crossed his arms and looked up but found nothing.
"Pft!" Celestina chuckled and opened her book again, a small smile across her face with warm erald eyes. "That made feel better. Thanks."
"Really?" Oscar looked annoyed.
They read on for a short while because Oscar had an absurd schedule. Celestina turned to Oscar with a smile and said, "Have a good ti with your family. Happy Year's End."
"You as well. Happy Year's End." Oscar smiled, watching the back of the princess he loved for a few monts. He remained in the Archives and cleaned up his books, putting them away. Thinking about Gilbert's many attempts to woo Celestina, Oscar clenched his hands. "That's right. I will let her know my feelings after Ashen Grove."
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