One of the major courses in the Department of Blacksmithing was Metallurgy.1

And since it was a class that taught the basics of the forging processes, the content itself had the reputation of being easy among the students. However, despite the easy content, the assignments were notoriously difficult in many ways.0

“The next assignment is a small shield made of alloy number twenty-one. It should weigh 1.2 kilograms with a diameter of twenty-eight centimeters. The main theme of the assignment is recoil, so try to pay attention to dealing with that aspect during the forging process. Also, it has to at least be normal tier to be submitted, so keep that in mind.”1

“…”0

“…”0

Nervous of what In-Sung might say next, the students looked on with wary expressions. And upon seeing their faces after a glance, In-Sung wore a slight smile before continuing.4

“And, just like the previous assignments, you can submit this assignment anytime before the end-of-semester evaluation. Be thankful for the professor’s consideration.”0

“Ah…”0

“No way…”0

Hearing about the relaxed submission period, the students all sighed and covered their faces. While it might have seemed good because of the extra time, in reality, it wasn’t.0

The assignments in this class were graded on a curve. Meaning, that the better the other students’ submissions were, the lower their own would score, which naturally turned it into a game of strategy.4

I’m not good at making shields. But maybe it's doable if I invest about two weeks…0

I want at least an A in this class… I wonder how much the others will do…2

While there was a big gap among students when it came to their ability to utilize various materials and their specialties, there wasn’t a significant one if it strictly came down to their basics. And that...0