"That was a very exciting vacation. Call on me again if your family caravan is taking another route like that, chatterbox."
"I won't do that again!! Victor!!! I can't believe you told the story when I was infatuated with lisa to my mom. I have never been more embarrassed in my life."
"Come on. What was I suppose to do? They want to know where their precious son spends his allowance. I can't lie to my employers too. They are ultimately just concerned about you."
"Yes, concerned! So concerned that they started calling on their connections to arrange a wife for me!!"
"Isn't that good! You don't have to worry about being fooled by a gold leech."
"That doesn't change the fact that my mother lectured me on what a proper gentleman is! I boiled throughout the whole journey! The company guards, my siblings, the employees! Everyone! Everyone heard it!"
"Cheer up. The escort fighters we're laughing about how its part of youth. They kept praising you for learning this lesson early on."
"How can I regain my image in front of the subordinates after this...."
"If you can't think about a solution then stop agonizing over it. Let it pass, you can slowly regain your image through your work. If you want an instant redemption then make a business that will aid your family massively."

"Brill! If I could do that then I won't be worrying like this. I don't even have the funds to start a new business."
"Oh! It's been a while brill. You look like you tempered yourself in the forge. You look much stronger than before. How about it? Want to spar?"

It looks like they had a very interesting vacation but so did I. I went to the desert soft but now I transformed into a bronze statue! Look at this strong build, look as this metallic bronze lustre, don't I look like a mini tank!

My skin got more durable rolling around in the desert. I tried swimming in it but it caved in every time I tried to dive in. Earth magic helped but since it diverted any damage the sand did while using it, it wasn't useful to train my body.

I did eventually find those iron worm. They lived near the watering hole to ambush animals and travelers. The meeting was a complete coincidence though, I wanted to learn how to swim too so I tried to create a pool but since it kept draining I searched for an oasis when they attacked me. I learned how to swim and got a free food so it was a happy coincidence.

My balance and stamina should have improved greatly too, since there is no solid footing in loose sand. It is too bad that I don't know any fighting style since I could have trained my footwork that way too.

"No thanks, I look solid but that is as far as it goes. I don't have any way to attack you other than to flail my arms."
"That is why I keep telling you to come with me during the weekends to learn how to fight."
"Maybe in the future. So, how was vacation for you two?"
"Well, you already heard how this fight for brains embarrassed me in front of the whole caravan so vacation ended early for me."
"It was a fun vacation for me though. We fought a lot of time on the journey, us in the escort team had a funny topic to discuss and chatterbox's parents gave me some extra money for the stories AND to continue being his friend."

If I knew they would pay for stories and to be his friends then I might have joined that caravan too. I could learn how to actually fight too so it isn't necessarily a bad trade from my desert training. At least I got to master the use of [Intermediate Element Mastery]. I would like some extra money though.

"That sounds fun, maybe next time I come along too."
"Don't!! Please! No more stories!"

It sounds like the experience traumatized him more than I thought.

"Classes starts again tomorrow. Should we go and drink our last hours of vacation away?"
"You earned a lot from my family, why don't you treat us tonight? They did pay you to be friends with me so why not start being 'friendly' by paying for our little party."
"I intend to put that money into some new gear. The more happy I am, the more 'friendly' I am to you. Don't think about that money, you won't be seeing that again."
"You two drink, I'll concentrate in eating."

I feel that drinking doesn't add anything to me so I will refrain from drinking. I won't cut it out of my life but I will only drink a couple of mugs short of being drunk.

"A round of beer here and three orders of the meat dish."
"So are you paying after all, victor?"
"Of course not. We will split it afterwards."
"I won't fall for that again. This time I won't get drunk so you can't dump the bill on me."

Tsk, victor must have included his history of raking in bills when drunk to the stories he told to chatterbox's parents.

"Don't worry about it. For now, we celebrate the your family's successful business, victor's eventful guard mission and my fruitful trip home."
"Cheers!"
"The family is successful but its a fail for me. Anyway, Cheers!"

It looks like I will have to pay for my meal so I won't eat too much for now. Too bad the iron worm I caught is only one of the small ones. I couldn't kill the big ones like the one the blacksmith department head caught. The skin was too thick for me to even do damage.

"I can't believe we have to start classes tomorrow. I don't want to go."
"I am happy that classes are back. Unlike you, who enjoyed our caravan travel, I want to forget vacation ever happened."
"Any idea on what we will do this year? I'm tired of making knives every time we go to class."
"We had to start somewhere. I am sure we will move up and start making weapons next."

I sure hope so. I want to start practicing the things that would establish my life in this continent as soon as possible.

"Welcome back you bastards. Did you have fun in your vacation? I don't really care but you better stop lingering in vacation mode because we are now starting your second year in this academy."

I can't believe we still get the same teacher for our class. I also can't believe they didn't mention that the teacher follows the class until they graduate or all of the students failed.

*sigh*

At least I don't have to start my relationship with the teacher from the start. The likelihood that the teacher would recommend me to good workplaces is better the more they know me. I would have like to make a bigger network but I can't change classes every year just to know different teachers, rather that would make a bad impression instead. Since I only have one connection, might as well make it a solid on.

"You are second years starting today so it is time to start prepping you on how to make armour. I hope to have a good year so I hope you all didn't forget the rules."

There it is, 'armour prepping' just like last year when we made knives, which I suspect to be 'weapon prepping'. Does that mean I have to wait until the third year we will finally start weapon making and armour making in our fourth?

"We won't be seeing the workshop for a while so feel free to leave your tools at home from now on. I will inform you when you need it again so don't worry. For now come in front one by one and grab a tool box."

Other than the chatterbox and a couple of other rich kids, no one has their own tools though. I also doubt the students would take the tools they borrowed from school home. The tools were all worn out and much too basic. I can buy those tools for 4-5 silver coins, that is equivalent to one face off with bomb alchemist. My income took a hit when we made the agreement but it got cleaner thanks to that too. I can't take more than the specified amount and he can't bomb me outside the specified time and place. It did become predictable but his ingenuity does make it entertaining. Especially when he included trap mines and homing bombs. It gets more elaborate over time.

Anyway, let us see what is in these toolbox. I wonder how they will prepare us for making armour?

"Now that everyone has a toolbox. Grab some cloth at that bin over there and make yourselves t-shirts, and pants. I will demonstrate the different stitches and where to use them. Remember it since I won't show you again."

*sigh*

If I think about it, it is logical to start from clothes making if you want to make armour. The best armour are perfect fit and the design calculations are almost the same. The step down version of armour making is making normal clothes.

"Like last year, to keep you all motivated, I will fail those who failed to make a decent set of clothes by the end of the month. Good luck students."

This is easy. You are just stitching cloth together to look like a shirt and pants.

"The requirements are a t-shirt and pants using these measurements. Remember these clothes are for actual real people and the measurement is a perfect outline of their body so adjust it to make a somewhat loose fit. No one wants a very tight set of clothes but no one wants it too baggy either. I will leave it to your judgement on the size of it based on the measurement I have given. Good luck."

You can't help but make it harder can you! I'm not a clothes designer, I never even aimed to be one. How am I suppose to know how much adjustment I am suppose to make. The size is even too small for my body type so I can't check it by trying it on myself.

Wait, I could just carve a wooden mannequin that could try it on for me. I have to learn how to carve from victor in this month but it is still two birds with one stone so this works out perfectly for me.