The lesson itself was fairly simple. They did not do anything hands on but Professor Strom showed them many different things about regular blacksmithing, discussing different concepts and emphasizing safety at every turn. Each of the unit members were taking notes as the man spoke while beating a piece of red hot metal slowly into the shape of what Jien felt was going to be a saber at the end.
By the end their professor was drenched in sweat much like he had been after working with Rosalind. He turned to his helper who he had not expected to be his student on the same day and told her calmly to make sure that they understood everything and were ready for their next lesson. He sent them on their way with the parting words "Try to wear something other than your uniform next time, you'll ruin it after a few lessons."
After they had exited his forge the man closed the door before they had even turned to leave. Jien turned to Rosalind with a slight smile asking, "Will you look over my notes? I have done the arcane equivalent but it seems like Professor Strom will be having us working the forge manually for some time."
Rosalind herself seemed rather giddy regarding the opportunity, accepting the offer. This promptly led to a cascade of similar requests from the others. After everyone had added their request she simply stated that they would make it a group study session tonight.
They swiftly made their way to one of the mess halls closer to the smithing district of the campus. The food and structure of the mess hall was the same but the people were vastly different than their local area. It wasn't uncommon for a group of sweaty, soot covered students of various shapes and sizes, likely with firm musculature, talking loudly about their projects and anything else.
The atmosphere itself felt more like one would expect from a city tavern than an academy mess hall. Alcohol was not served in the academy, which wasn't to say that it was impossible to get, but not in a standard mess hall. So the boisterous atmosphere had caught them all off guard. However, Rosalind easily managed to help them integrate with the others at their table.
The others were more than a little awkward, but she was able to keep the conversation going. During this time they had discussed a lot of the basics of blacksmithing in detail from a different perspective. Jien ended up with his notes on the table, writing as he ate to ensure that he was capturing the concepts that were being thrown around.
His knowledge base may have been decent but it was actually a bit difficult to find texts on the different crafts. Their were books on the basics but the reason that most of the classes were taking more of a hands on approach was because most knowledge was passed on by apprenticeship. For the Academy they needed some level of text for the students to study but if the Academy wasn't present it was likely that the only way one would learn a trade was by apprenticing hands on with someone else in that trade.
The one and only likely exception to this was likely to be studying formations. Due to its reliance on texts and patterns, each of which required great accuracy and understanding, there tended to be a fair number of texts on the topic, even if just being general in nature. Even then, most masters of the trade would keep their deeper level knowledge as a type of inheritance for their own apprentices.
The lively discussion with their meal was a bit longer than anyone expected but was very eye opening for Jien and his teammates. They soon made their way back to their own living quarters and sat around the table in the communal space to continue their discussion. Overall they discussed things for a few more hours before they decided to call it a night.
They took their turns cleaning up and preparing to rest for the night. Even with Professor Strom using his formation to cool the space around them it wasn't fool proof so most of them by then end of the lesson had sweat through their uniform. They took the professor's request to heart, knowing that they would need to wear some work clothes if they were going to work the forges hands on starting next class.
Luckily the next blacksmithing class they would have would be in a week, the day after their next alchemy lesson. Tomorrow's lesson was another that Jien was truly looking forward to. Unlike the prior two days, before they made to head their separate ways the others made sure to wring it out of him that the next class would be on formations.
The reveal of this left many of them pale faced. Even those that had been with Jien the longest tended to have a dislike of formations. This was mainly due to the amount of rote memorization one would need to be proficient. Jien had an advantage in that aspect and everyone that had trained with him before the academy knew it. Their were more than a few scowls in regards to the topic.
Luckily the all knew that Jien would be their mentor on the topic if needed. After all, they may be graded individually but they were also graded as a unit. It was paramount that they work as a team to make sure that each member could at least do the minimum in each area. Being diversified was great, but without a solid foundation in the basics of each area, if your specialist ended up incapacitated or worse dead then you were also more than a little screwed.
While Jien couldn't give them his memorization, he was more than happy to assist them. This was especially true when Rosalind more or less got on her hands and knees to beg Jien to save her.