Journey of a Blacksmith MAGNUM

Im dead.

I tripped and hit my head with an anvil.

What has my life been up to this point?

Ive cultivated, and Ive done some forging.

Thats about it…

I haven even managed to properly forge a rank 3 artifact, or get a girlfriend, or even get in a fight.

How lame, what a waste of life.

Damn it, I see a light…

* * *

”…! ” I hear someone yelling.

”Young master! ” They suddenly rush to my side. ”Young master! I was so worried! ”

Its Sexta, one of the strongest people in the clan.

Shes my niece, even though shes older than me by a few years, shes been following me around since we were kids for some reason, her black hair is shoulder length, her body is a bit boyish and shes about as tall as I am, but if someone saw the two of us theyd think Sextas the younger one.

Shes wearing our clans uniform and theres a palm sized girl with black butterfly wings on her shoulders.

Thats a fairy, and they like to hang around geniuses, so Ive never seen her leave Sextas side, shes called Rokuko.

Why are they here though?

”Bwahaha! ” A familiar laughter loudly resounds through the room ”You sure gave us a good scare, but an injury like that is no match for me! ”

Its Master, my grandfather…

This guy is big, and everything he does is also big, two things I clearly didn inherit from him, seeing my current state.

Sexta hugs me. ”Young master! I was really scared you know?! For a moment I really thought you were gone. ”

Wait.

Im not dead?

I look around me, Im in a large bed, the floor is made of wood and the walls are painted in a very light orange color, theres light coming from the circular, open windows, theres a small desk below one of the windows with some books on top of it, but theres not much more furniture in here.

This is my room…

Amazing!

Its time to go live some life!

Honestly, the thought of being here one more second makes me want to puke.

Every second Im here is one second Im not doing…

Whatever Im supposed to do in a journey.

I have absolutely no idea what that is, but thatll be the first thing Ill figure out, and I certainly won be able to do that if Im stuck here.

”Hey, are you listening to us?! ” Masters loud voice brings me back to reality.

”I am. ” I lie to my grandfather as naturally as I breathe.

”*Sigh* Get some rest boy, your injury was bad. Sexta, you come with me! ” Master coldly barks an order to the girl after gently talking to me, I always get whiplash whenever theres someone else around me and Master, he treats everyone so much differently than me, hes always much softer on me.

I notice Sexta glare at him for a second, and then they both leave the room.

Perfect! That will make this so much easier.

I stand up and walk to a window, then leave the room through it-

Geh!

I fell…

Im still feeling a little dizzy, but if I let something like that stop me, then I might as well die!

I stand up and look around me.

The blue sky is above me with barely any clouds on it, this is the center of the clan building, its a big square open area, the floor is made of concrete, falling on it hurts, and theres a bunch of people here, some are doing their chores, others are just hanging out, and some are going to other parts of the building.

The high-level forges are to my right, the warehouses are to my left, the dining area is in front of my room, and in front of me theres the stairs, they eventually lead to the entrance of the building.

Perfect! I start walking towards the stairs.

”Hey! Octavius! Are you alright?! ” A familiar voice approaches me. ”I heard you had a pretty bad fall, and you just left your room through your window. ”

I turn around and see Septimus, hes my cousin, well, Im more like his uncle? Hes older than me though…

Its hard to explain.

Hes taller than the average guy around here, and at least a full head taller than me, we both have brown hair, though mine is more unkempt, we are also wearing the same clothes, our clans uniform, a red dress shirt with golden fire-like patterns at the end of our long sleeves, though he has a few unbuttoned buttons, the madman, and also pants that follow the same color pattern, its a very comfy uniform.

Anyway, this guy is a good friend of mine, but his timing is really bad today.

”Im feeling great! I have never felt better! ” I lie as naturally as I breath-

Geh!

Someone kicked me right in the stomach!

I fall to my knees…

Im in a worse state than I thought I was…

I already have a Pattern of magic and my Ether core! a kick like that shouldn have been able to beat me just like that!

I think.

”What are you waiting for?! Hes clearly delusional! ” I look at the person who kicked me in the gut.

Its Novena, the one person I know Im actually taller than, though shes kinda short even for a woman, but not by much!

She has long brown hair, she uses glasses, and she has a motherly figure, mostly because shes actually a mother of 2, and theres another one coming.

Shes Septimus wife, but she was a bit of a childhood sweetheart of mine…

Im happy for them, since they do actually love one another and theyve been my friends for as long as I can remember, so I can stay mad at them for too long even if I try.

Also its probably for the best, since shes Sextas sister, so shes also my niece…

That being said, I am bitter that Im still a virgin after 20 years of life, all of my friends have already gotten married and have kids!

And by that I mean these two, I don really have any other friends.

A life of only cultivation and forging leaves very little space for a social life…

Wait, thats it!

One of my objectives should be to have as much sex as I can!

I just have to be careful to not get some kind of disease…

I could do without the children too, not only would that put a stop to my journey, but if I have too many of those the succession line for the clan might get really weird.

I should get some kind of spell in order to avoid having any kids, though Im not too sure how that would work…

Ill think of something.

And I hope I don attract any crazy women, recently there was a disciple who got stabbed by another one because they didn accept a confession or something., its very scary stuff.

…There seem to be a lot of downsides for sex, aren there?

Eh, itll be fine.

Septimus picks me up like Im a potato sack and carries me to my room with Novena following us.

I puke on the floor and his leg.

* * *

Septimus left me on my bed.

”Geh… ” Im actually feeling quite bad…

Maybe I shouldve just died? I failed…

No! This wasn a failure, I have obtained a goal, an objective!

”Hehe… thanks guys. ” Despite everything, Im in a good mood.

”*Sigh* ” Novena rubs her forehead ”So whats going on with you? What were you even trying to do? ” She sounds tired.

”Did you want to use the bathroom? ” Septimus asks with a teasing smile.

”Yes, but I mostly wanted to leave this place. ” I sit on my bed.

”This place? As in the clan? ” Septimus got what I meant immediately.

I nod while I button up my shirt, some of the buttons unbuttoned on the way here. ”I want to leave this place and explore the world and have lots of sex and- ”

”So you really are delusional then… ” Novena nods to herself, and then looks at Septimus. ”Well have to tell Master to tighten security around Octo, or he might end up hurting himself again. ”

”Do we even have enough people for that? ” Septimus retorts, ”Those bandits have us running even more thin than usual. ”

”Ugh… Ill try to convince some of the disciples to help. ” Novena is rubbing her head. ”Im sure I can at least get Nicoleta or Sabina to help me… ”

”Im serious though! Do either of you actually enjoy cultivation? ”

Cultivation is basically the act of absorbing ether into ones Ether core, and then purifying it.

An Ether core is like an extra organ, it allows one to control the 5 kinds of elemental energy, turn that energy into mana, and turn that mana into ether.

Theres a lot of nuance to it, but in practice we just meditate in a room full of rocks and flowers all day.

Septimus shook his head. ”I know its not very interesting or fun, but its important you know? Though its not like I don see where you
e coming from, if I hadn met Novena I would be waltzing out of here with you. ”

Novena looked like she had a strong migraine. ”Well, what do you even plan to do after you leave Epice? The Walkman expanse is still imploding on itself, and skirmishes are not uncommon there, and not only that! Since you are the young master of our Paprika clan, you
e definitely going to get targeted once you leave, you
e just killing yourself by doing this! ”

”Ill manage somehow. ” I have no idea how, but Ill think of something.

Maybe I could wear a mask?

Novena looked even more tired, and angrily yelled ”You know what? I won stop you, you can get yourself killed for all I care! But at least really think about what you
e going to do, because if you do get killed, you
e not the only one whos going to suffer! ” Novena angrily storms out of the room.

”I agree with her. ” Septimus nods. ”Ill help you in any way I can either way, but at least think about this a little more. ” And after saying that, Septimus also left the room.

…

They are right, I need to think this through more.

I need a more elaborate escape plan.