Chaos Cycle: The Eye of Genesis

A large hammer struck against the metal in the anvil heavily in the empty room of the Artificer department. The rhythm of the strikes was bland and heavy, as if the one with the hammer was trying to make something forcefully. There was no pattern, it was just mindless striking.

Elinor was in a bad mood since last night. Since he had to kill the man. He had not shown even flinched a little during the encounter, yet now he was striking the metal with all his strength. His emotions were undulated, and he was not trying anything to calm it down.

He could easily visualise the emptiness and soothe all the uncomfortable feelings for some time, but that was not a solution. If those uncomfortable emotions are bottled up, it could even break the void. He did not know why, but he did not want to do that. Maybe he had gone through that in the previous timeline that he can't remember now, yet the fear still remains.

But what he was doing was not a solution, either. He knew it too. It was just venting it to the metal he was stoking. He had killed a man, and it was nothing new to him since he had killed countless things in the previous timeline. But it was his first, and he did not know if it was his teenage emotions that were working up again or his inability to do a thing.

He had killed the traitor, yet it achieved nothing. He knew it pretty well. They will just send another one to do his job, and as for the loss of one man. That could be easily solved too; all they got to do was give a couple more bait and wait for the fish to catch themselves into it.

The face of the man tearing came into his vision, and he started hammering even harder and rougher. He hustled and bustled while grunting. All his emotion swept over the large hammer and to the red hot metal.

The hot metal could not contain the force he was hammering with and blew some of its content in liquid form around it. Some part of it had even gone to his foot. Fortunately, he was wearing the thick apron with the leather boots, or else he might be screaming in pain now.

Elior left the hammer and sucked in a deep breath. He was not doing this for a long time, yet his entire face and body were sweat ridden. And yet he still had not stopped venting. He was about to pick up the hammer again when he heard a voice.

"You have learned Emotion," professor Neldor said from his seat. Elior had not noticed when his old mentor came inside as he was venting wholeheartedly. "But that was not a correct way to do it."

Elior checked the packed up notifications and saw there really was a notification telling him he learned Emotion. And no, it was not what you think it was. It was a sub blacksmithing ability where the forger used his emotion and will to mold the metal. It could do wonders if metal was molded well with the specific will.

Even in the previous timeline, he had to work thousands of times harder than now until he learned this ability. Yet now he learned it even when he was not trying, though it was not the usual way.

Professor Neldor came towards him and stood. His entire focus was on the metal he was hammering. Even a glimmer of astonishment appeared in his eyes for a second. "Look at that ominous thing you have created," he said. "Full of insecurities, fears and other emotions that I could not understand. How could a boy of teenage years like you have worries like this?"

Elior did not know how to answer and knew his old mentor will not push him to answer. He only stood there like a block of stone.

"Dispose of these emotions from the metal," he said again. "Anything you made out of it will turn into something ominous that will harm the opponent as well as the person who is using it."

That could really happen. After all, the Force of mana, the spirit is deeply related to emotion. If it was not controlled well, it would be harmful to everyone. Even knowing all these, he did not move. The reason being he did not know how to dispose of the emotions in the metal. Hammering more with the opposite or positive emotion could do it, but he had no idea how to bring up positive emotion from within himself.

"Right, I forgot you are a novice," the teacher said, and took the hammer. He gave a few half-hearted strokes on the metal and all things turned normal in it.

"Let me teach you a few things now, or else that girl of mine will bug me again," professor Neldor said, bringing the hammer on his shoulder. "Now that you have touched Emotions, you need to learn how to control them. Your mind needs to be like water. Water that flew along with the nature."

The hammer stoke the metal and a sound of brilliance came. Elior's eyes shone as he wholeheartedly watched his old mentor practice.

"Water is life, water is soft." The hammering continued in a rhythmic way. "Yet it could destroy the stones, boulders after collective tryouts. Be like water, flow like water, drift your emotion like water. The water does not fight with nature, it lets nature take its course. After all, everything is a part of nature. . . ."

And the teaching stopped within a couple of minutes and so did the brilliance of Professor Neldor. "You try now." Then he gave away the hammer to Elior.

Elior took it and did not like the water his mentor told him to. From his experience, he knew this way will not work for him. He visualized the void as a hole of nothingness formed in his mind. All emotion left him and he started stroking the metal. He tried to bring in a little of his courage from the void and infused it with the metal.

The void shook, and he limited himself to even less. The hammering continued as his eyes were on the metal only. It was not as easy as his mentor told him, at least not for him. Sweats beads formed again on his forehead as he was trying to bring in his courage from the void of emptiness.

"Truly genius," Issac Neldor said, rubbing his beard. The tall man took his seat again, though his entire focus was on the kid before him.. "Maybe because it was of my teachings."