"Boy, I know you should be able to create Soulflame qi if you are back. Quickly show me what you have learned."

James quickly created a match size bit of Fire qi on his index finger.

"This young master has already stepped into the Fire Dao." James boasted shamelessly.

"Good boy, you are ready to learn blacksmithing. You have not let me down after practicing for so many weeks. I believe you are wondering why the [Lumiid Serpesco Art] seems so amazing."

"It is far above a normal Devil Knight Art. I created that Art myself from study of this dilapidated artifact. It contains information on Soul Dao. I found it during my travels to other realms. I believe I have gained all I can from studying this book."

"From slowly studying this you would be able to gain more insight into the Soul Dao. It definitely helped this old devils craftsmans.h.i.+p skills to study the formation that went into this artifact. I do not specialize in Soul Dao so it does not have any more usage to me other than being a neat archaeological find."

"Boy, if you can work hard on your crafting skills impressing this old devil the next few weeks then I will gift this artifact to you. Maybe you could return this artifact to it"s peak state. Then you will have a great support tool. So are you ready to learn crafting properly?"

Devil ancestor is forcing my hand with a stick and carrot. He dangled a damaged artifact thats useful to my Dao right in front of me. A damaged artifact is above the type of item I could gain access to myself now with my meager amount of fel shards. This item would be a great boon to this young master. I must work hard the next few weeks!

"Yes. Devil Ancestor I would never let you down!"

"He he, boy you won"t be sneaking out again with such a nice treasure as the stakes. Now lets go to the forging room."

The old Devil Ancestor and the young devil master headed to the Devil Ancestors forge. It was a large dark room located in the bas.e.m.e.nt of the mansion. You could tell it was heavily used from the smell of sulfur and ash permeating from the very walls. The room was packed with various tools and equipment for forging.

"Blacksmithing is part of the Craftsman Dao which is also a part of the Creation Dao. Learning to forge and create metal weapons and armaments is the core of this Art form. The most basic requirement to be a blacksmith is having Fire qi. Fire qi is the fuel source used to power a devil forge. Metals depending on their Tier require different levels of Fire qi in order to be heated."

"The basic tools you need are a forge, hammer, chisel, tongs, fuller, and a slack tub. With these tools you can create any type of basic devil armament. The Devil Arts necessary for creating a devil armament are separated into forging, welding, heat-treating, and finis.h.i.+ng.

"Forging has six basic techniques: drawing, upsetting, bending, swaging, punching, and forge welding. Once you have understood these techniques properly you will be able to forge your first item. The most important things to a good blacksmith are his understanding of Metal Dao, his control of Fire Dao, and his precision with his tools."

"Understanding of Metal Dao is not needed to begin practicing blacksmithing, but to move forward in the blacksmith ranks it is a requirement. Blacksmiths are denoted into tiers just like Devil t.i.tles, and they correspond to the level of devil armament one can make. I can make Devil Duke Armaments so I am Devil Duke Smith."

"Even though I"m only a Devil Count my understanding of Metal Dao and Fire Dao is very comprehensive. With my understanding of the Daos I am able to forge Devil Duke Armaments. Your own Devil Wraps are a Devil Duke Armament using Sleysium a Tier 2 abyss metal known for its darkness and malleable properties. They are only a support type Devil Duke Armament and are formed from such a low grade metal, unless someone used them personally it would be impossible to tell that they are a Devil Duke Armament."

"When a Devil Duke gets a Devil Duke Armament forged they would want to use the best Tier 7 or Tier 8 metal they could find. Your armament is a Devil Duke Armament because it was forged with the Fire Essence of a Devil Duke Smith."

"Here you will find [Kogthoz Duke Smith Scripture, Volume 1 - Esquire] and an Esquire Storage ring filled with Esquire Devil Smith tools. Boy you better be glad your old Devil Ancestor is feeling generous today. A Devil Scripture is much more valuable than an individual Devil Art. A Devil Scripture compiles a Devils knowledge on a subject."

"This Devil Scripture is for the Esquire smithing. It includes information on all Tier 0 and Tier 1 metals that I know about, their physical descriptions, their usages, and where you can find them. At also includes my understanding of Esquire Metal Dao and Esquire Fire Dao with many Devil Arts for forging using these Daos."

"This old Devil Duke Smith dare not say he has written the best Devil Smith Scripture, but Volume 1 - Esquire is a best seller ha ha. If you weren"t a member of the Hudson Clan you"d have to pay a lot of fel shards to get your hands on this. Hudson Clan devils who have gained insight into the Fire Dao are given Volume 1 free of charge however.

"Even if they don"t want to become a blacksmith the Fire Dao information is very helpful. [Volume 2 - Knight] is different however. Like all Devil Knight Scriptures it requires clan contribution points or fel shards to be exchanged for.

"Now boy I"ve talked your head off again, I apologize. You will have to further your understanding of the Blacksmithing Dao by studying the Scripture. I will now forge an Esquire Armament. Though you do not have an understanding of blacksmithing yet, it will be helpful for you to have seen an Armament forged when studying the Scripture."

Kogthoz then went in front of his own forge and picked up a ruby looking metal by the side.

"This is Kufril, a Tier 1 metal with soul properties. It is good metal for making resentment weapons."

He imbued Fire qi within the forge and threw in the Kufril on his tongs. The metal quickly turned into a blood red color. He withdrew the metal from the forge and placed it on top of the anvil. He then executed several skillful hammer strikes, remaking the metal into the form of a small dagger blade. He then picked up the small dagger blade and ground it into a sharp dagger blade. Kogthoz took out a common dagger hilt and attached the small dagger blade to it.

James thought it was some skillful use of devilry. From grabbing the metal to completing the dagger it only took around 15 seconds. James felt his Devil Ancestor definitely slowed down so he could see all the steps as well. The mortal rule of thermodynamics means nothing to a Devilry pract.i.tioner!

Devils were taught mortal rules that govern the universe as elementary knowledge. Devilry pract.i.tioners cared nothing about these rules as it was a step beyond them. Devilry only cared about the rule of cool.

Kogthoz quickly shooed James out of his forging room after showing of such supreme skill. A Devil Ancestor always has to maintain a bit of mystery, shock, and awe when doing things. This old devil definitely got a few respect points from that unfilial brat. I should have time to complete a few new Duke Armaments while he is digesting that scripture.

James got back to his guest room and immediately dove into the Scripture. After his Devil Ancestor showed off how cool blacksmithing could be James had to learn it. I definitely can pull the ladies which such skills. "Hey baby you need a magic wand, this young master has the thickest and longest wand you have ever seen. My rod can go all night long baby"

James daydreaming didn"t last long as there was simply too much to learn. He would not become an Esquire Smith over night. He needed to gain a proper understanding of metal properties and how to work with them before attempting his first forging. He dropped the scripture, absorbed a few fel shards, and practiced his old dependable [Flint u0026 Steel Art] before heading to bed.