Chapter 107 (1/3): Forging Talent, Wasteland Tides

There were plenty of speculations about who the transfer student was on the forum.

[So weird, why would someone leave the Genesis Academy for no reason and come to the Second Ring?]

[It doesn’t sound voluntary. With all those resources, who’d come down here?]

[So it’s passive? Maybe they got expelled?]

[Makes sense. Probably some young master from a powerful family got demoted after making a mistake.]

[Or maybe they broke some forbidden rule?]

[By the way, does anyone know if it’s a guy or a girl?]

The comment section was overflowing with all kinds of guesses, but in the end, no one had an answer—not even the gender was known.

Su Fu watched for a while, then closed the forum. 

After all, it had little to do with her.

The most urgent thing now was to pick her courses. 

After thinking it over and over, she finally decided on five. 

Any more and she couldn’t handle it—five was just right.

But to be honest, starting from scratch, she felt like this semester would be exhausting.

***

A week later, in the Divine Artifact Forging Course classroom.

The classroom wasn’t the usual kind—instead, it looked more like a giant workshop.

Su Fu pushed open the door and was immediately hit by scorching heat and a mixture of metallic smells.

Forging was forging—a furnace was essential.

Every workstation was cluttered with all sorts of tools: hammers, pliers… and plenty of metal ores—iron, silver, gold blocks, and so on.

Beside each table was a small furnace, its red flames dancing within. 

The ventilation system overhead kept drawing away the smoke.

In just a short while, many students had arrived, and the workstations were filling up. 

Some were already skillfully sorting tools and checking materials—they were clearly not beginners.

Su Fu had chosen this course partly to make a better short blade for Teacher Tang, and also to understand how divine artifact forging actually worked.

But after listening for a week, she realized that forging divine artifacts was anything but simple—especially for someone like her, starting from zero.

“Su Fu! Su Fu! Over here!”

A familiar voice suddenly called out. 

She looked up to see George waving excitedly at her. 

Thankfully, she had an expert to consult.

As she walked over, George lowered his voice and asked, “So, did you finish last time’s assignment smoothly?”

Su Fu nodded, “It was alright.”

She took out her finished assignment—a strangely shaped piece of meteorite iron. 

Her skills were lacking, but, ahem, she had Creation Power as her cheat.

However, this time she hadn’t directly used Creation Power to imbue the meteorite iron with spirit. 

Instead, while researching upgrades to her ability, she discovered that her understanding of all things had deepened.

It was a completely different experience from imbuing spirit.

How to describe it? 

For example, this meteorite iron—in others’ eyes, it was just an ordinary forging material. 

At most, they could sense its hardness, melting point, or elemental composition.

But Su Fu felt as if she could “talk” with it.

She could sense the power inside the meteorite iron, its “personality,” its “preferences,” even have a conversation.

So, whatever she thought in her mind, the shape would take form.

If it didn’t work… well, she’d just chant a few more words.

She figured this might be one of the Creator’s Authority—to communicate with all things.

Su Fu even came up with a name for this skill herself: Communication Technique, or more casually, “Answer Me.”

She stared at the meteorite iron in her hand and mentally chanted, ‘Meteorite iron! Answer me!’

Meteorite iron: [……………..]

[Stop messing with me, I was exhausted yesterday.]

[Let me rest a while.]

Su Fu instantly felt guilty. 

She had been rushing the assignment yesterday and had really put the meteorite iron through a lot.

She muttered in her mind, ‘Sorry, sorry, go ahead and sleep.’

Although she could communicate with it, she was still a bit short of reproducing the miracle of dragon scales.

Just then, the classroom door was pushed open and the forging teacher, Frank, walked in.

He was tall, had a thick beard, his right arm was a strikingly cool mechanical limb, and his eyes were a metallic, cold gray. 

Normally, that would be enough, because if you looked any further down…

He wore a leather apron.

Su Fu closed her eyes.

No matter how many times she saw it, she still found it shocking.

As soon as he entered, he shouted in a booming voice: “Assignment check!”

“You little brats, bring them out for me to see!”

Wow, right to the point—no warning at all. 

The workshop instantly filled with low groans.

“Huh? Direct check? Did you finish yours?”

“Don’t even ask, I haven’t finished yet.”

“I’m doomed, I’m going to get chewed out for sure.”

Many looked like they were about to cry. 

The teachers at Tianqiong Path Academy really had high standards and the assignments were tough.

This time, they had to use the material’s properties to make precise alterations and twists, creating a small object that showcased the material’s essence—without changing its original characteristics.

Sounds simple, but for a beginner it was hellishly difficult. 

How to twist it? 

The moment you use any force, it breaks. 

If the twist is too simple, you get scolded anyway.

“How is this possible? We’ve only learned for a week!” one student whispered in complaint.

“I really can’t keep up…” another almost burst into tears.

But for every student who struggled, there were just as many geniuses who found it easy.

Frank walked over to George, took one look at the lifelike dragon George had made from meteorite iron, and broke into a big smile.

“Good! Very good!” Frank examined it closely. 

“Smooth lines, exquisite detail, stable structure, natural texture.”

“A grade, excellent!”

He clapped George on the shoulder and said, “As expected of Hephaestus’s Divine Summoner.”

With a big wave, he said, “You’ve passed the basic course! Next week, join the advanced class directly!”

The surrounding students were instantly envious and jealous, but also convinced.

After all, George was a forging major, specially recruited. 

Not to mention, he already ran his own workshop. 

As the saying goes—

Graduated with seven years’ experience.

No one could compare.

Then, Teacher Frank walked up to Su Fu. 

The smile on his face faded into something a bit ferocious.

He stared at the oddly shaped object before him—overall, it looked like a pig, but the nose was like a wind tunnel.

‘What kind of weird thing was this?’ Frank frowned deeply.

If you said Su Fu was bad, well, the metal surface was evenly patterned, and despite the odd shape, its structure was extremely stable—even managing to retain the original toughness of the meteorite iron while allowing it to remain malleable.

This kind of control over meteorite iron was something even upperclassmen might not achieve.

But if you said she wasn’t bad, the structural supports were all misaligned, and she’d ignored the most basic forging sequences—like a newbie’s mess that somehow, by dumb luck, turned out right.

A classic beginner trait.

His head buzzed. 

He recalled a favorite saying among his colleagues: Don’t worry about how many mistakes, just see if it runs.

Frank: “….”

If word got out that this was his student, it’d ruin his reputation as an educator!

And most importantly, the whole thing was terribly out of proportion.

In other words, it was ugly!

He looked at Su Fu and asked, “What exactly is this thing you made?”

Su Fu replied quietly, “Peppa.”

Frank: “……”

‘Well, well, you even named it?!’

After years in education, teaching both geniuses and duds, he had never met such a tricky student.

A pure newbie, full of flaws, yet with a freakish affinity for all sorts of materials—or maybe an innate, abnormal talent for controlling them.

Like today’s… uh, Peppa, or that Red Riding Hood and Grey Wolf from before.

But her material control was so impressive it deserved a perfect score—her sense of aesthetics was just, well, unique.

Frank took a deep breath, ‘Calm down, calm down…’

He was sure he could set this student straight.

It’s just aesthetics, after all!

“Alright, you pass this time.”

He gritted his teeth. 

Next time, he’d specify the design—he refused to believe it wouldn’t work.

The other students were already stifling laughter, but didn’t dare laugh out loud in front of the teacher. 

Their shoulders shook, their faces flushed red.

“That’s hilarious, I thought it was a reject.”

“She gets to pass with that?”

“Look at George’s dragon—the smooth curves, the perfect tail finish…”

“Su Fu’s thing… it’s like a three-year-old’s doodle.”

“As expected from a bumpkin from the Fourth Ring. She can fight, but she’s rough—zero sense of artistry.”

“She’ll never be able to sell her artifacts. If she does, I’ll eat gold on the spot!”

“Too ugly. Just looking at it, I feel polluted.”

Then Frank walked over to them and said, “Let’s see what you all made.”

Everyone: “…..”

Big mistake—they’d been caught.

The students who mocked Su Fu pulled out their own works, looking dejected.

Frank’s face instantly darkened.

“What’s this? A lump of melted wax?”

“You couldn’t even get the basic shape right, and you have the nerve to mock others?”

“Gaudy and flimsy—a single drop and it’d shatter to pieces.”

“Neither form nor spirit!”

“An utter waste of material!”

He tore into them, their faces turning crimson and they immediately fell silent.

After checking everyone’s assignments, Frank walked to the center of the workshop and surveyed the crowd.

“You’ve had a week of classes now—you should know in your hearts if you have the talent. The first week was a trial. You can choose whether or not to continue this course.”

He paused then continued,  “What I can tell you is: don’t run into dead ends. Find your true talent.”

After his words, many students looked gloomy. 

Some sighed, others fell silent—clearly, they’d decided to quit.

Soon, students began to stand up one after another, packing up to leave.

Frank saw that Su Fu wasn’t leaving and thought to himself, ‘Not bad. She’s a bit of a rookie, her taste is… unique, but her material control… If properly guided, her future will be limitless.’

Seeing most people had left, he said solemnly, “Since you stayed, I’ll be even stricter with you. And let me say in advance, this week’s trial was just a drizzle. The real challenge starts now.”

“In other words— It’s hell level.”

“And about the grading: your final score will depend on the quality of the artifact you forge in this course.”

He glanced at certain people, “Of course, if you’re confident enough, you don’t even have to attend my class—as long as your final artifact meets the requirements. That’s all. Now, the forging course officially begins.”

As he finished, the main flame in the center of the workshop roared to life.

“Today, we’ll learn the first lesson—control the fire.”

Su Fu: “…..”

She was stunned, ‘So a forger starts out as a fire tender, huh.’

Three hours later—class dismissed.

A group of soot-streaked students staggered out of the forge, cursing under their breath.

“Holy hell, this is insane, I can’t control it at all!”

“Ugh… even my eyebrows are singed…”

“I lost half my hair. How am I going to explain this to my girlfriend?”

“My hands are covered in blisters—it hurts like hell!”

“I feel like a piece of roasted meat fresh from the oven. Smell me—does it smell good?”

“Screw off! I’m straight!”

Three hours of fire-control training—it was pure torture!

At that moment, nearby students screamed as they saw them.

“Ah! What the hell?!”

“Save me!”

Everyone: “…..”

After realizing they were just people, the startled student patted their chest in relief, “Thought I’d seen a ghost! Scared me to death!”

“Jeez, what happened to you all?”

“Why so covered in soot?”