The Ascension Age

Aire felt like crying. He thought that it might work, sure. Of course, he wasn't expecting something this great of a boost, especially since he was only able to use it during the Pinpoint Furnace stage and didn't have the energy to keep using his power anymore after that. 'Stella, this isn't good. Such a result will definitely catch everyone's attention.'

Stella shrugged her shoulders in the Mind World as she said, 'Well, what's done is done. In any case, supervisor Due has already considered you a genius when it comes to smithing. He'll probably cover your ass this time so that you won't leave.'

Sure enough, Due came flying when he received the clerk's call. After all, such a result couldn't be ignored. He quickly talked with the clerk, warning him to keep his mouth shut before pulling Aire to a corner and asking, "Aire, how did you do that? I was already impressed that you achieved a result of over 40% on your first try. Nevertheless, I can't understand how you've improved this much on just your second try."

Aire scratched the back of his head, thinking up of an excuse as he replied, "Errr...to be honest, I just find it too easy. When I tried to make my first alloy, I paid attention to all the wrong steps I made. On the second try, I just fixed them. I didn't expect the result to reach so high like that. Perhaps...I was lucky?"

"Lucky?" Due had to admit that there was a chance that someone would be lucky during their forging process. After all, there were many variations during it, so although it was rare, some people might really hit the jackpot.

"That might indeed be the case. Can you try it again?" Due asked not long after. He had to confirm it.

Aire shook his head as he said in response, "I can't. My class will start in one hour, so I need to leave." Aire obviously didn't want to stay there much longer. "Besides, I used up almost all of my Stellar Energy after the second try. There is no way I can force myself anymore. I need time to recover."

As soon as Aire said that, Due took out his communicator and began to make a few calls. In just a minute, everything was dealt with for Aire. "Alright. I've already arranged your absence from today's class. As for your Stellar Energy, I'll give you a Stellar Crystal so it could recover faster." Sure enough, Due wouldn't let Aire go away that easily.

Aire understood that he wouldn't be able to leave. However, Stella didn't want him to do that anyway. 'Hey, you aren't thinking about hiding the fact you can forge such high SMA alloys, right?'

Aire was taken aback, responding, 'What are you talking about? Of course, I intend to hide it!' The last thing Aire needed was a lot of attention.

'That won't do.' Stella shook her head right after. 'If you do that, you won't even be able to do that again. After all, you'll have to hide your abilities forever since it wouldn't make sense if you suddenly one day go back to forging this quality of metal,' Stella said. In the end, she had never been a big fan of Aire's ideas of hiding his talents all the time.

'I see...' Aire had to admit that Stella was right. Besides, forging such high-quality alloys would be of great help for Sera and Kymei. Aire didn't forget that it would need all four of them to create the Stellar Suits. 'But what if someone connects it to my Stellar Energy Aptitude results?'

Stella laughed in response as she replied, 'Hahaha! Did you forget the first excuse you gave Zule? Just say you held back because you didn't want to catch too much attention. Besides, you're forgetting something else.' Aire's interest was piqued as he waited for Stella to continue. 'Aire, the test results of both Stellar Energy Aptitude and side occupations are shown together. It doesn't display how much you have on each one of them.'

Aire understood where Stella was coming from, inwardly heaving a sigh of relief as he responded, 'That makes sense. Still, the teachers and especially that Spiritas called Ramalia would have access to my separated results. Ramalia just so happens to be after you as well.'

Stella shrugged her shoulders as she said with a smile, 'I'm an Ascension Age Assistant sent by Gigon from outside of this Universe. Do you really think Ramalia would be able to find me in your body? You're underestimating me way too much.'

Aire had to admit that Stella was right. After all, if it was just covering her own presence, she wouldn't have any issues hacking whatever testing equipment was used on Aire. All those would get were normal results. 'Alright, guess I'll follow the plan.'

Not too long after, Aire was given a Stellar Crystal provided by Due himself. Usually, these things were quite hard to get. Nevertheless, Due's a supervisor of one of the Stellar Smith Faction Branches. He had the right to ask for a few if necessary.

Aire then sat down and began to recover his Stellar Energy with the Energy Blood Flow Assistance skill. Stella wasn't dumb, so she made sure that Aire would absorb Stellar Energy to increase his power as well and not only recover his energies. Around an hour later, the Stellar Crystal cracked because of the lack of Stellar Energy inside.

"This..." Due looked at Aire with a hint of surprise. "You absorbed everything already?"

Aire nodded in response. "Yes. Fortunately, this was enough for me to fully recover. So, should I start now?" Aire asked with a smile.

Due, who was planning to keep the rest of the crystal's energy for later, sighed and nodded as he said, "Sure...go ahead and show me if you really have the ability."

Aire nodded and put on the belt to use the Pinpoint Furnace. Just like last time, he gathered his power under the belt so that it would be absorbed together with his Stellar Energy. On top of that, Stella hacked the equipment, preventing Due from finding anything different during the process.

By the time Aire finished all the steps and got the Latom Blue Alloy, another three and a half hours had passed.

Following that, Due immediately sent the 2.43 kilograms of alloy to be tested.

-Latom Blue Alloy, 81.67% SMA-

Due's sadness due to the loss of his Stellar Crystal immediately disappeared as his eyes lit up as he said while cackling, 'My 17th branch has finally found a golden egg! Hahaha!'