Demon's Virtue

Eiro curiously watched as the students got to work. They inspected the piece of wood and started sketching their ideas out. Most people here had at least a little bit of experience with Woodworking, so their ideas were mostly quite realistic when it came to what could be made with the wood they were given.

Some of them were just thinking about rather ridiculous and wasteful things. Like a meter-long blade made by connecting individual pieces of the blade together. Something that would clearly make this 'sword' far too unstable to be used.

For the most part, everyone was doing quite a good job, though. And Eiro was especially proud of Rudy's idea. Partially because Rudy was his son, but also because it just seemed different from the rest. Basically, he wanted to make a model out of it, like a wooden sculpture of sorts. However, not just by simply carving a figurine out of the wood, but by carving individual pieces out of it and putting them together like a puzzle of sorts.

This way, the size of the model could go over the ten inches into any direction if he did it right. Just the actual shape of the model was something that Rudy seemed unsure about. As in, what the model was actually going to display.

He slowly turned his head toward Eiro, who quickly locked eyes with him. The Demon walked over to him, so that Rudy could ask his question.

"Do you think I can... model a certain monster..?" He asked. Eiro looked at him, thought about it for a moment, and then just nodded his head, "Sure, there's nothing wrong with that. Many artists display monsters in their work. There's nothing wrong with it, really."

Of course, Eiro knew which monster Rudy was talking about from the way he was acting. He felt quite honored, actually. And soon, the sketch was finished, and Rudy also noted down all the different pieces that he would need in order to construct this without any issues.

After enough time had passed to let everyone figure their ideas out, Hermia went around to collect the ideas, "Some of these are really quite unique." She pointed out afterward, "There are, however, two of you who I would like to commend. Rudy and Simón. These two figured out a way to make use of close to all parts of the wood, wasting as little of it as possible. And the concepts were still quite interesting, at that."

Hermia soon handed out small boxes to everyone that seemed to hold basic tools for them to use for this class, "The first project that you will be working on is the creation of whatever it is that you just sketched out. Of course, it doesn't have to be exactly what you made. You can change parts, improve on it, or even go for a whole other idea if you realize that yours is simply impossible for you." The teacher explained.

Eiro kept on listening, until the students began testing out their new tools on the block of wood they were given. Meanwhile, the teacher looked at Eiro with a curious smile, "Now, is there any way for you to show us a bit of your own skill? I'm curious what someone that is capable of creating such a prosthetic could make in about... one hour?"

The Demon raised his brows in response, and slowly stood up from his seat, "Sure, I don't mind. Do you have any wood that I could use?"

"Of course. You can use anything you want of what we have in our storage room. I'm quite proud of our variety." Hermia explained smugly. She led Eiro there, while the Demon thought about what he could make with what was in front of him.

In the end, when he made his material choice, he already made his choice for what to make with it. Sadly there wasn't anything to make something special with here, just boring, regular types of wood.

Luckily, Eiro had his satchel, which of course held a small box with a few small pieces of his own tree's wood, which he would combine with the wood Hermia gave him for a small... special effect, of sorts.

Eiro brought the wood back to the classroom, and started to work. Just for the sake of it, he borrowed part of Rudy's concept, creating a model out of many smaller pieces, and he then mixed it with his knowledge as a Prosthetist.

So that he could make something quickly, his model was going to be something small. A sparrow seemed alright, since it was also quite light. It would help make the effect easier.

The moment that he sat there, he grabbed his tools out of his satchel and placed the box next to him, slowly taking out the tools he would need and placing them side by side next to each other.

And then, he touched his fingertips to the first tool, and it disappeared instantly. Just to then come back in his other hand as Eiro began to carve into the wood. Small pieces were carved out first, the parts that would be on the inside of the sparrow.

He created the mechanics to make it move in his mind as he was carving everything out, and soon he had all the internal parts ready, with the exception of the central pieces. Those were made from Eiro's own wood, so that he could have some form of extra control over this sparrow.

They were just small cogs, pins, joints, and such tiny objects. Small on their own, but capable of having a great influence over the whole model's movement.

The last parts that he had to make were those for the outside, which he created to look as much like feathers as possible.

Once all the parts of this model were finished, Eiro placed away his tools and cracked his knuckles, quickly starting to put the sparrow's body together. Bit by bit, it grew and grew, and within a minute or two after he started putting the pieces into place, it was done.

The sparrow stood on the desk in front of Eiro, and as he raised his head, he realized that the students had all gathered around him to watch him work. Even Hermia seemed mesmerized, especially through Eiro's ability to make his tools shift from hand to hand instantly.

With a light grin, Eiro placed the wooden sparrow onto his palm. He let his own mana flow into it, together with some of his own life force so that he could more easily keep controlling the magic within the sparrow.

And that magic was simple Air magic that he filled every empty space within the sparrow with. Carefully, Eiro summoned his Three of Swords onto the inside of his prosthetic, as he encapsuled the sparrow with his hands. Without anyone being able to see, he fused the blades with specific part of the sparrow.

And then, after infusing the threads themselves with Air Magic to make them practically invisible, something only possible after Eiro infused his life force into the threads. Eiro was able to control the sparrow itself, however he wished.

It started to jump around on Eiro's hand, imitating a real sparrow, before he made it flap its wings and fly around the room with Air Magic.

"How is it... Are you using magic as well?" Hermia asked perplexed. Eiro simply smiled and nodded his head, "Of course, this sort of thing is simply impossible without magic." The Demon explained as if it was obvious.

He made the wooden sparrow flutter around, having it land by his side again. It still kept bouncing around like a real sparrow would, to make this image just the more magical to the students here.

"I can't promise that you will be able to make something quite like this in the future. I'm not only using my woodworking skills on their own, after all. However, if you wish to, you can spark new life into old life." Eiro smiled. He snapped his fingers and made his Three of Swords completely disappear again so that the sparrow was nothing but a small statue now, standing in place on the table in front of the Demon.

"And as I just showed you, while being creative is important, taking inspiration in that which already exists can also lead to the creation of wonderful things. Like this. You can be inspired by nature, or by the work of other people. It's up to you how you want the things you make to interact with the world around you." Eiro explained, and slowly picked up the sparrow, placing it into his satchel.

The students, excited to get to work after seeing Eiro's sparrow, made their way back to their own workstations and continued practicing with their new tools.

Meanwhile, Eiro was just observing them, taking a look at what kinds of people the students here were. Most were quite earnest, happy to be here at this prestigious school. Just attending would give them an immense amount of future opportunities. If they graduated properly, they would most likely be set for life.

Especially here in this division, where many students came from poorer households, that was something that they clearly appreciated and recognized. Eiro wouldn't get many chances to teach here, but he was sure that he would enjoy the few instances where he would.

After the class was done, he stayed inside of the room as the students left, to have another short conversation with Hermia. He was happy to have met her, she seemed like a nice person, one that was excited about her work at that.

When Eiro left, some students from other classes coming into the room as he was doing so, he noticed that Rudy was waiting for him in the hallway.

"Don't you have any other classes to get to?" Eiro asked with a smile. Rudy awkwardly scratched his cheek, "Of course I do, I just wanted to talk to you before heading off. You probably won't come with me all day, right?"

"No, no, I won't, don't worry. I was going to see how Sammy and Felix are doing. And then my first day is mostly done, I'll just have to visit the offices for some paperwork later." The Demon explained.

"Oh, alright! Erm... So, since we have to work on this project for a while, and not just in class, could I ask you..."

"Not to interfere?" Eiro asked. Rudy nodded his head.

"It's not that I wouldn't appreciate your help, I just want to do this on my own. I want to get better at this, you know?" The boy replied.

"Of course. Don't worry, Rudy."