“So, let me get this right, you are placing me in the same room with a girl I barely know?”

“Yes, do you have a problem with that?”

“I don’t,” Adrin answered. “Don’t you think that she might have a problem with this?”

“You’re saying you won’t crawl into her bed tonight?”

Adrin groaned, “No, I won’t.”

“Tch, fine, you are no fun, your room is next door,” Hana said.

“Thanks, Miss Hana, if there is nothing else, I’ll retreat to my room now.”

“Humph, suit yourself, you’ll never get a girlfriend acting like this,” Hana pouted.

“I don’t need or want a girlfriend,” he replied.

Hana was gawking in disbelief as he turned his back to her. The way she was carrying herself, Adrin was certain that the lady was expecting for him to fall for her, and he had to admit, he would have if he wasn’t awakened.

Hana was pretty and had a very nice, well-kept body, but his old wise past warned him about the woman. Miss Hana was carrying that burden around like a shield whether she realized it or not.

Adrin didn’t know who or the details, but she had been hurt before. He was pretty sure the lady was shit-testing him, but as he said, he didn’t really care about it.

He knocked on the door a few times and announced his entry before opening the door. Lucky enough, there was no one inside or any sign of nasty surprise. He checked the two closets in the room to confirm there were no shenanigans going on and only closed the door after that.

The layout was simple. Two small beds in the room, each paired to a closet by the door. There was a clear glass window with lavish curtains opposite the entrance, and he was glad there was such technology already in this world.

The beds, pillows, and fabric were much softer on his skin but still couldn’t compare to the modern luxury. Everything was a huge upgrade to his old place but it didn’t make him feel safe or at home at all.

Learning the existence of systematic slavery from someone was very different than seeing with his own eyes. He couldn’t afford to waste any time when it was revealed that he actually had some talent dabbling in magic.

The slave collars were made from metal, and mastery over metal was the very same thing he would need to fulfill his dream. He didn’t think blacksmiths could make anything close to what he needed with their ancient tools.

Adrin sat in meditation focusing on his mana control exercise while going through everything he knew about metal in his past life. The flowing mana actually made it easier to go through the folds of lifetime memory of his past life.

He recalled that metal was actually a crystal in its natural form and what held their molecules together was called a metallic bond. Humans achieved metal forging by supplying heat to the metal until it reached the recrystallization temperature.

The heat would cause the atoms to vibrate and weaken the electrostatic forces between the atoms. This reaction would soften the metal enough so it could be worked with the hammer and anvil combination.

Of course, there was also cold forging and warm forging but he didn’t think it would be applicable here, in the medieval magic world. The most he could expect was cast irons, and it was nowhere near enough to what he would need. Even making something like screws would be challenging enough without the cold forging machines.

However, this world had one thing that would make everything much easier. Mana. A mysterious source of energy within the air itself. He was literally breathing in and out an almost inexhaustible supply of abundant energy.

The question was, can he use mana to target specific metallic bonds in order to shape the metal? The only reason for the massive amount of heat or energy needed was because there was no known physical way to specifically target the electrostatic bond.

The stone wall between the rooms crumbled, his eyes were quick enough to see the stone blocks turned into sand. The sand was enveloped with mana before it turned into simple round stone stools and a table. He got off the bed and checked the newly formed table and stool. It was as solid as the walls themselves.

The culprit was smiling when he turned towards her.

“How’s my [Stone Meld] skill?” The woman asked and a light bulb lit up inside his head.

“You are a genius, Hana, care to tell me how you got the skill?”

“I- I got it while I was younger,” she said and it confirmed his theory. Inspiration points could help him if he was stuck. There was no need to be so worried about it.

“When can I descend into the dungeon?”

“No! You’re not descending to any dungeon!” she whisper-yelled. “Do you want to die that much?” Hana crossed her arm.

Adrin clicked his tongue, he knew she would say that. The lady was more than happy when she found out that he was a mage, and there was no way she was happy for him. It was more likely she was happy for herself for whatever reason.

But the aspiration point should be his best chance and now he knew why he had hesitated to spend the point. Although he wasn’t going to just sit around.

“Don’t worry, I’m just bored, that’s all,” Adrin lied through his teeth. “Maybe I can go hunting or something?”

Hana sighed in relief, “I’ll consider it, or should I bury your feet in stone?” she tapped her finger on her crossed arm a few times.

Adrin was taken aback, by the look on her face, the lady was seriously considering it.

“I can’t believe this, are you seriously considering it?”

“How hard could it be? I’m sure the girls would be happy to keep a young talented mage fed and warm in bed. I know I will if I’m them.”

“Yeah, right,” he scoffed.

“You don’t believe me?” Hana said in disbelief. “Not every awakened person can become a mage, and if you are, you already have one foot into nobility. Commoner girls would literally throw themselves at you if you let them.”

The lady was speaking from experience. He could tell from the tone that she was uncomfortable with what she was saying. Did she have thrown herself at a mage before?

“Well, that’s scary,” Adrin groaned.

“Scary? Wait, don’t tell me, are you into boys?”

“What the hell lady, no, of course not,” Adrin stood up. “Where does that come from?” The last he needed was some stupid rumors spreading around.

Hana breathed in relief once again, “it will be hard to win a place in a family if you are. Not many men are so finely tuned as you, you know.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. So what’s the big idea for making a hole through the wall in our rooms?” Adrin sat down as he tried to steer her thoughts away from her idea of burying his feet in stone.

“No reason,” the lady said, shifting on her feet. “Just one thing, you’ll need Mana Molding skill to get the Mage class. How many inspirations have you used?”

“Just two,” he replied. Now it was she who changed the subject.

Was he going to get company tonight? Hopefully not. It would just complicate things. The lady might just want to talk or keep an eye on him. Either one or maybe both. Hana walked into his room and sat beside him, a little too close for comfort.

“That’s good news,” said Hana as she leaned and held his arm. He didn’t think the lady realized it when she took a sniff at him.

Marla had warned him that this would eventually happen. The [Lascivious] ability had helped her in buying her way out of slavery, but it could backfire if not properly handled. He just needed to steer the conversation away from anything related to it.

“You’ll have 2 more points at level 5. I’ll suggest getting an element skill with the extra points. I can teach you [Stone Meld], if you want,”

“Thank you, but I have something else in mind.”

“Like what?”

“Can anyone shape metal like you shape the stone?”

Hana looked at him in disbelief. “Yes, but an Iron mage is exceptionally rare. Normally, Arcanesmiths will use fire to forge anything. Why do you ask?”

“I’m just curious,” he said while in relief. He knew the question would distract her. “So how do I get Mana Molding?”

Hana took out something from her robe pocket and handed him a pebble, “float this on your hand, you’ll get the skill when you succeed.”

The lady was practically pressing herself on him as he took the pebble. She was biting her lower lips and kept squeezing her thighs together. He had to distract her somehow. His ability was affecting her, there was no doubt about it.

An idea came as she was moving in to kiss his neck.

“I think there should be another girl in my village with a magic gift,” he said to Hana. “Her name is Emilia, the village head’s daughter.”

Hana gasped, “are you sure?”

“Of course, but I don’t know if she wanted to be here or not,” Adrin faked a sigh. “She seemed to be enjoying life in the village.”

“Let me worry about that, I’m going to get a huge bonus out of this!” Hana cheered.

Nothing motivated a woman more than monetary gain. Adrin would ask for forgiveness if Emi truly never wanted to come along and became a mage.

Hana opened the door and the other girl was already there with food on a large plate.

“You go ahead eat with Nerina, I’m going to speak with the captain, we'll use the fastest one we have and I'll even splurge some mana on them!” Hana said before disappearing from sight.

Adrin breathed in relief.