"In this direction is..."
"The workshop," Alaric completed her statement she was yet to fully voice out. She just nodded and walked silently by his side and fell into deep thoughts as she tried to recall what the wood he was carrying was named.
It struck her after a while. It was a Buloke wood famed for its hardness in some cases harder than the hardest metals in existence. It was rare to come by and it was not even available for planting in their continent. It was generally found in the Southern Continent.
If he wanted to cut it, he would definitely not be able to cause it any harm with his powers and that was probably the reason he had come to the workshop. She knew that the workshop was covered with soundproof walls to ensure that the noise that came from in the inside did not have any disturbance on the others outside.
They finally approached the workshop and stood at the door. There was a guard at the door who was shocked to see the two students there. It was even shocking that the two were in the academy premises in the first place.
Aware of his position, he quickly opened the door for them and closed it after they entered. The lights which were off were turned on and the whole view of the workshop filled their sight.
The workshop was generally taller than normal buildings though it was not a storey building. It was even longer with many sector such as furnaces for those who did smithing classes and also those who specialized on wood courses and craftsmanship.
There were cutting tools and holding tools all over the section made for craft. There were hammers and nails, tape measures planes, handsaws and hacksaws and many other things you would expect in a carpenter's workshop.
Those who did smithing classes also had the chance to learn about craftsmanship and later on graduate from use of wood to use of metal. Alaric led the way to the section designed for wood. He looked at the tools and he could only sigh.
The handsaw was definitely not going to work and he could only use the hacksaw. He took a tape measure and placed the wood on a table. Aurora could only look at him curiously at what he was doing. Patient enough knowing that she was going to know soon.
She stood at the opposite side of the table and looked at him take a few measurements and marking the wood. Standing there doing nothing made her feel useless and she could not help but ask him if there was any task for her.
Alaric who had finished drawing the first mark looked at her and smiled. He gestured her to come to his side which she obeyed but she regretted next second as his action caused a gasp to escape her lips.
It was unexpected when he turned to her and his hand held her by her hips and her heart raced and in the next instant, he raised her and made her seat on the table as he stood between her legs gazing into her eyes.
"Watch and learn silently," he said and went back to making other markings on the wood.
Aurora just looked at his direction with a pout and did as instructed. Not that she would be of any help anyway. Alaric then picked the wood and went to another tool, a vice and fixed the wood tightly.
He then went and came back with a hacksaw. He positioned himself and started moving the hacksaw to and fro. The first time, it did not even leave a mark on it and Alaric only sighed. He was going to have a hard time.
Aurora who was very observant on him did not miss it and she realized there was no way she could help. Not that she was stronger than him in the first place. She watched as he increased his pace and soon there was a small cut on the wood.
It did not take long before the whole blade of the hacksaw was submerged and the almost ten centimeter thick wood was half cut. But the time it was taking to cut was extremely slow and she could only imagine how tiring it was for the one doing it.
Aurora finally let go of the breath she was unaware she was holding when he finally gave a final stroke and the wood was cut. She watched as he loosened the grip and tightened it again after pushing it forward the same length as the one he had cut.
He went on to cut four more pieces and the process was painstakingly slow. She looked at his determined gaze and the droplets of sweat that had covered his forehead. She gazed as they merged and formed a bigger droplet that trickled down the side of his nose and reached his cheek where it would then fall to the ground.
After having four pieces of equal length of around fifteen centimeters, he then removed the remaining block and then fixed one of the wooden piece into the vice. He then started cutting it in a vertical manner downward. After he was done, with the first piece, he proceeded to the second and the third and finally the last two.
He proceeded to cut them further and after he was done, he was left with five pieces of equal length of fifteen centimeters length, five centimeters wide and two centimeters thick.
He then polished them leaving them smooth. After he was done, he went to the table Aurora was seated on, quietly observing him, and he placed them on it close to her. She picked one piece and traced it with he index finder. The wood surely was smooth.
"Mind telling me what you are going to do with the wood?" She asked masking her expectant voice.
"I shall engrave the arrays on the pieces," Alaric replied not hiding his intentions.
"Won't that array overexhaust you? I can't even bring myself to wonder how difficult and time consuming it was to draw them on a paper. I wonder how difficult it is going to be to engrave them on the wood," she spoke her voice not hiding her worry.
"Do not worry. Drawing them is more time consuming and easier but engraving them is less time consuming and harder. It won't take long though," he replied with a smile.
Aurora could only agree with a nod as she saw him pick one piece and started engraving arrays on the wood. The mini-arrays were too small due to the wood size such that they were difficult to see with a glance.
She watched as he created those smal sized mini-arrays and soon they turned into the incomplete patterns she had observed in the pages. It was difficult to believe the drawings that fit an A4 sized page was going to fit in a fifteen centimeter sized wood.
It took around one hour for him to finally engrave one side with the first array. It came as a surprise for she was skeptical that the array could fit. She watched as he turned the other side of the piece and started engraving it with the other page of the array.
It took another hour and when he was done, he started engraving more arrays to the sides which was two centimeters thick. It took a while and he was done in twenty minutes. He heaved and then placed it aside.
She picked it and studied it. The incomplete patterns from before did not appear incomplete anymore and she could not help but acknowledge his skill. She studied the whole piece which now appeared as an array plate. One could not tell there were mini arrays at all for it appeared like one array.
Time trickled by slowly and it was already past midnight and neither of them was tired at all. He was not tired engraving the arrays and she was not tired watching him do it. He was done with the second array plate and she observed it.
It was identical and it just struck her what he had said before. To make it work, one had to channel their energy into it. She did so and some of her energy was absorbed by the plate in her hand.
She watched it emit a golden glow after channeling some of her energy into it. The centre of the plate had a red glow as the core. It also had some light blue glows in the parts where the mini-arrays were.
She could not help but be amazed at his creation. She could only anticipate for the moment he would start teaching her. She was surprised when she felt some heat on the other array plate she had placed on her thigh.
It was glowing golden in a blinking manner and she took it into her hand and she felt it's shallow heat. She then realized something. The reason it had glowed was because the other array plate was activated.
Her curiosity took over as she channelled her energy into the second array...