Over the next couple of hours, Goulth went through and explained what every piece of equipment around his workshop was. There was the forge, where he heated his metal bars, along with the anvil, which he struck the material against to shape it as he wished. There were also diverse tools, such as the tongs and the forging hammer. The process of blacksmithing didn't seem to involve as many tools as Red was expecting, but that wasn't all the man did here.

In the back of his house, he had an even larger furnace. This one, as he claimed, was used to smelt raw ores and create the alloys he needed. Goulth called it a blast furnace, and he went over the general process of handling it. Using steel as an example, the man explained to Red how he inserted both iron ore and coal into a blazing furnace and blasted them with air so the ore may melt and mix in with the coal, producing the desired alloy in the end. Controlling the temperature of the furnace and the ratio of coal to iron was of extreme importance in the process, and a simple mistake might make the steel unforgeable.

The youth finally started to understand how complex the man's work was. For instance, how did he measure the temperature of the furnace accurately, and even if he did, how could he make precise adjustments to it? Goulth told him this was both a matter of experience and observation, since different materials would change under specific temperatures. At the same time, he also admitted that blacksmiths who had opened their Spiritual Sea had special techniques to better control their furnaces.

In the end, it all came back to Spiritual Energy - once you could use it, a whole world of possibilities would open before you.

As Goulth's explanation shifted to different types of ores and materials, though, Red couldn't help but notice how he had yet to explain the use of a lot of other pieces of equipment in his workshop. There was a cauldron where an acrid smell was coming from, a table filled with paper drawings and plates etched with strange symbols, and all other kinds of things the youth didn't know the use of.

"Are those things also part of forging?" Red couldn't hold his curiosity back once he noticed the giant didn't intend on explaining it to him.

"Not forging, no." The man frowned. "I do all kinds of different things for the guild: alchemy, formations, talismans, rune carving, just to name a few."

"What do these consist of?" The youth followed up with another question.

"Nothing much at my level." Goulth looked somewhat displeased at having the topic shift from blacksmithing, but in the end, he still replied. "For alchemy, I just know how to make a few healing elixirs and medicines, but that's barely scratching the surface of the field. Some of the principles in forging and alchemy are interchangeable, and that's the reason I have some skill in that too. However, the methods used in those two tend to be very different."

"What about the others?"

"For those ones, I can't even claim to have scratched the surface." The man grumbled. "Formations, talismans, runes, and even spells are all different applications of the same subject - the Arcane Script, the language of the world."

Red frowned and looked back at the man's drawings. All he could see were cluttered shapes and strange symbols, and even though the youth couldn't read yet, none of it looked like words.

"A language?" The boy asked skeptically.

"You heard what I said!" Goulth exclaimed. "You think the world would just speak in perfect human words?"

"How would the world even speak in the first place?"

"It's just a figure of speech, you brat!" The man shouted. "Arcane Script is the special set of symbols and line patterns that can be used to represent or induce transformations in Spiritual Energy and its interactions with the world.”

"So like Spiritual Veins?" Red asked.

"It's a good comparison, but it's different in principle." Goulth shook his head. "Arcane Script is a series of extremely complex symbols and drawings which can cause different and often immediate reactions in Spiritual Energy. These symbols need to be etched or painted with or on special materials in order to truly work. To get the desired effect, you may even need to merge and draw hundreds of these weird shapes in specific patterns to form an even larger design. Rather than a language, it would be best to call it an exercise in precision and calculation."

"And do you need Spiritual Energy to draw them?" The youth questioned, curiously.

"They are powered by it, but technically you do not need to use any Spiritual Energy to draw or etch them." The man explained. "However, no normal human being would ever be able to muster the precision and concentration necessary to successfully draw most of those symbols. Even more than forging and alchemy, fields like formation building, talisman drawing, and rune carving, are often the domain of people who have opened their Spiritual Sea."

"...So why are you doing them?"

"Because Hector asked me to! Look at this!" Goulth showed his large and calloused hands to the boy. "Do these look like the hands of someone who can write Arcane Script?!"

Red wouldn't know, but he simply shook his head.

"And yet the old man says that I'm the only one who can do it!" The man threw his hands up in frustration. "I've been losing nights of sleep trying to nail those sketches, but it's hopeless! It's a waste of my time and talent! Learning Arcane Script is a lifelong ordeal, not to mention trying to master all the different applications. I'm an old man. I don't have time for that..."

A silence settled over the room, as Goulth grumbled to himself.

"...Can I look at them?" The boy suddenly asked.

"Go ahead." The man waved his hand. "But don't expect too much when you don't even know how to read yet."

The youth walked over and observed the drawings. They were indeed as complicated as Goulth made them sound. Not only was there an enormous amount of detail in each symbol, but some lines were so small that Red barely noticed them at first. And yet, according to the giant, these were all failures. Shaking his head, the boy put the paper down and walked back towards the forge.

'Maybe later.'

He was still interested in this so-called Arcane Script, but trying to comprehend or imitate it when he hadn't even drawn or written anything in his life before was a hopeless task.

"As I said, it's useless to think about it for now." Goulth explained. "I intend on testing your talent in different fields too, but the only thing I can teach you in-depth is forging. If you have interest or potential in these other domains, you might need to look for a different master."

"It's alright." Red shook his head. "I'm in no rush."

His priority was still recovering and learning more about the surface world. He was eventually going to explore all of his choices, but he didn't intend to waste the opportunity to learn useful skills from someone like Goulth, a master of his craft.

"That's spirit, kid!" The man smiled. "It's important to dedicate every second of your life to learning, but if you bite off more than you can chew then you're bound to learn nothing at the end!"

Red was not sure how the giant had taken so much meaning out of a simple sentence, but he just nodded along with his words.

"Then, where were we?" Goulth scratched his chin. "Oh yeah, come with me. You can help me set the forge ablaze!"

...

"What happened to your clothes now?" Eiwin asked with furrowed brows.

"I was helping Goulth with the forge." Red replied.

His clothing was full of charcoal stains, and one of his sleeves had caught on fire during an earlier accident. Goulth said that these types of things were part of the learning experience in a forge and next time he should wear something with shorter sleeves.

"...I see." The woman took a long breath before beckoning Red over. "Come on, it's almost time for lunch."

"But I just ate this morning." The boy was confused.

"Don't be silly." Eiwin smiled. "Everyone here in the guild has at least three meals a day, and you're still a child. You have to eat if you want to grow properly."

Red nodded and followed behind the woman. He wasn't going to complain when offered free food.

"Where are we going to eat?" He asked.

"In the meeting hall." She replied.

The youth stopped walking, and a moment later the woman looked back in confusion.

"What's the problem?" Eiwin asked.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Red responded with a question of his own. "Hector said I shouldn't appear in front of him."

"Master Hector rarely means everything he says. You've seen that yourself." She shook her head with a smile. "You're part of this guild now, and you'll have to learn how to get along with everyone else. The same goes for them, too."

Being on friendly terms with his companions wasn't a priority for the boy - particularly with the ones who didn't have very positive opinions about him. He would rather stay out of their way for however long he remained in this place, but he recognized the truth in Eiwin's words. Completely avoiding each other was an unrealistic expectation.

"Let's go then." Red nodded.

Eiwin smiled again and led the youth into the large building. Getting there, he was able to recognize everyone at the table — Hector, Domeron, and Allen — and each one of them had a different reaction to the boy's arrival.

Allen smiled when he saw Red come in.

Domeron just nodded in greeting before going back to his food.

And Hector's already angered expression seemed to get even worse.

"Little brat, didn't I tell you not to appear before me until you have something to show for yourself?" The elder snarled, putting his food bowl down.

Eiwin frowned.

"Master Hector..." She started to speak.

"I do have something to show for myself." Red interrupted her.

The old man seemed taken aback.

"Really?" Hector sneered in disdain. "What could you have possibly accomplished in just one night?"

The conversation seemed to grip everyone's attention at the table, as they stared at Red in curiosity. Eiwin, however, looked worried, but she didn't try to interrupt him.

"Here." The youth lifted his left arm in the air. "I managed to heal myself."

Suddenly, Domeron's loud laughter disrupted the tense atmosphere in the hall and the elder's face fell.

"What medicine did Goulth give you?!" Hector bellowed in anger, ignoring the man's laughter.

"Who said it was a medicine?" Red responded.

"What, so you just so happened to spontaneously heal yourself?!" The old man continued to press him.

"Maybe I made the medicine myself." The boy shrugged.

"Kid, didn't I warn you yesterday not to disrespect me again?!" A dangerous aura started to spread from the elder's body until it reached Red.

The youth, however, wasn't moved.

"What did I do wrong?" The boy asked. "I'm showing something for myself as you told me to do."

The elder was momentarily at a loss for words. Just as he was about to continue arguing with Red, though, someone else entered the hall.

"G'Morning." A voice the youth recognized greeted everyone in the room.

Looking over, the boy saw Rog walking towards the table, unaware of the strange atmosphere in the room. Picking up a bowl, the hunter scooped some food from the pots and sat down on a free chair across Domeron and Allen. Just as Rog was about to start eating though, he paused and lifted his head.

Everyone in the room was staring at the man.

"What?" The hunter asked in confusion.

When he didn't get any response, his gaze wandered across the room before finally settling onto Red's figure. His eyes widened.

"You're still here?"

Suddenly, a flying spoon hit the man's head.