Chapter 2: Focused Metal
Jack rolled over in his bed and reached for the dagger on the bedside table. The blade glinted in the sunlight streaming in from the window over the bed. The merchants had left just after the crack of dawn along with Tress and Boyle. Jack had talked for a while with the father and son the night before after the barkeeper finally left him alone.
Together they took the first close look at this dagger, an 8-inch blade made of iron and edged with a low grade of Focused Iron. The craftsmanship of the hilt showed that the maker was a decent weaponsmith, but not a decent mage. The quality of the Focused Iron was lacking. Being edged with the Focused Iron also showed the how cheap the blade was. Any decent dagger would be solid Focused Metal, only edging it with the metal would get similar effects, but it wouldn't hold Focus well and was weaker than a solid piece.
"If this clashed with my baton, it would have been dull after the first hit." Boyle had been quick to show his pride in his weapon. The staff and baton had been crafted by Amaras when he was still young. The work of a prodigy before his rise to fame, before he was summoned to the capital to work directly under the Duke. Although they had been made for Tress's father and grandfather, the weapons didn't show the years of wear on them. Amaras had become the primary weaponsmith for the Order of Royal Mages directly lead by the Duke. It went without saying that these weapons were exceptionally crafted. Now in his 90's, Amaras was living out his days in luxury in the capital doing minimal amounts of work. Even at his old age with his declined Focus, he still could produce some of the highest quality Focused Metal in the region, just not to the quantity he used to be able to. This is what made the Kruco Family weapons so well known in the area.
Both the weapons were made with ancient oak shafts with a line of Focused Metal running from the handle to the capped tips. The baton was made with Diffusion-grade Focused Iron while the the staff was made with Collection-grade Focused Iron plated with Focused Silver of the same grade.
Jack knew the basics of the grading of Focused Metal, but never hesitated learning more from someone with more experience.
Holding the dagger, he thought back to Tress's words and began the appraisal himself.
"Apply your about half of your maximum Focus to your hand. When you have a steady power built up, grab the weapon and shift the Focus into it. Naturally the Focused Metal will resonate and feel more powerful. Even poor-grade Focused Metal will feel this way. After feeling that level, slowly increase your Focus until you near your limit. Lower grade metal will not be able to full utilize the upper limits of one's power. That's why having a Flow-grade weapon won't make a novice into an elite fighter. It can accommodation high amounts of Focus, but not improve it."
Jack's fist began to glow slightly as he focused his mind on his hand. Closing his eyes, he grabbed the hilt of the dagger. Sense of touch and Focus increased with closed eyes, so the effect would be felt easier.
The dagger vibrated lightly as he shifted his Focus onto the metal. After adjusting his Focus slightly, the metal began to resonate with his Focus. He could already feel how crude the metal was in the Dagger at this low amount of Focus! Even compared to the practice weapons at the Western Academy this dagger was low quality.
He hadn't spent long at the Western Academy, so he didn't have any experience beyond the first practice weapons. With Enhancement as the primary Focus there, Jack had quickly fallen behind the others who were sent there to improve their natural specialty. He had also skipped too many practices to go to the Academy Library where he studied the basics of all three Focuses. It was no surprise that he fell further behind and eventually left before they could officially kick him out.
Through this time though, Jack learned the basics of all three Focuses: Enhancement, Projection, and Control. He wasn't proficient in any, but he knew enough to use the basics of each. In the case of Control, the basics weren't very powerful at all. The small protrusion of rock he raised to trip the thieves was the extent of his Control. His mental image of his Focus was a solid wall, but he only managed to raise the smallest ridge of rock. He had gotten extremely lucky that it was able to stop the thieves and scare off the rest. What he would give to be naturally proficient in Control! Those chosen few would transfer to the Central Academy and quickly get a high rank within the military.
Jack opened his eyes are looked at all sides of the dagger in his hand. His full Focus couldn't be utilized by the weapon, so there was no need to fully concentrate on the appraisal. Slowly, Jack Focused further and further towards the point of the dagger. It glowed more brightly, but not by much. Enhancement equipment was geared towards an equal distribution of Focus, iron was a neutral-class Focused Metal, so applying Focus evenly or at a single point required good control, but the metal itself favored neither over the other. For daggers and batons, a Divergent-class metal was ideal as it spread Focus evenly along the length of it. However, Convergent-class metals were occasionally used by Enhancers in weapons such as a gauntlet so they wielder could put more Focus onto the knuckles and hit harder. Projectors almost always used Convergent-class if they could afford it over a neutral-class metal. Concentrating on a point on the weapon allowed the Focus to project much easier.
This dagger was definitely low-grade and would be better than nothing, but junk that he probably wouldn't even be able to sell for anything worthwhile.
Jack packed up what little he had with him and slipped the dagger into the old sheath the merchants gave him for it. The merchants had paid the couple coppers for his breakfast so he went down to eat before going to walk around town.
The local job request board was naturally placed in the lobby of the tavern and inn so it would be seen by any travelers passing through. Jack looked the board up and down a few times looking for a suitable job for the day. In the end, he took a job doing manual labor. His Focus wasn't near enough to be an escort for a merchant or other travelers. Hunting in the forest wouldn't be an issue if he had better equipment. His newly acquired dagger wouldn't be fast enough for catching small animals and wouldn't hold up to large ones. At least manual labor be used to train his Enhancing Focus.
The woodsman's hut wasn't far from the Struforth's town center. The hut sat at the edge of the semi-clear area the town was built in. Although fairly young compared to Loriel and Mika's Landing, Struforth was growing rapidly and it was nearing the edges of the thicker portions of the Radobar Forest. Jobs for woodcutters were a constant need in the town both to clear area and provide building materials. Jack figured it would be a decent way to make some money while getting decent practice.
"Listen up!" The woodman called to the group of five men in front of him. "I have one axe that has been forged by a mage. It's low-grade, but better than a normal axe even if you aren't that good of an Enhancer." With that he gestured towards an axe leaning against a pile of logs. "Whoever can cut the deepest into a log gets to use it."
After the first two had gone leaving fairly normal cuts, Jack came up for his swing. Having not done much with an axe before, his form was terrible, but the slight glow around his hands gave him the edge over the first two.
THUD! The axe easily went deeper than the men before him. Even the basics of Enhancing went a long way compared to not using much Focus at all. Form was something Jack would have to learn, but just Focus would suffice for now.
THWACK!!!
"...Well no need for me to go" The fifth man just sighed and grabbed a normal axe.
Jack turned in time to see a short, stout man walk away while swinging the Focused axe over his shoulder. He walked with a limp towards the treeline.
"Only cut trees closer to the treeline. I'll pay 3 silvers if you reach the quota of 25 trees for the day. Every tree after that is 1 copper a piece if you choose to continue. Trees that are too small only count as half. Drag them each back close to the tree line. My sons will deal with them from there." The two young boys came out of the hut on cue. Their job was to cut the branches off the trunks and carry the branches back. The woodsman would drag the trunks over to organize and prepare for use. Jack headed towards the treeline to begin the days work.
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