Another smile came from Kou's instructor, as after a few moments of consideration the lad came to the proper conclusion without any additional prompting. At his choice she flicked the piece of iron ore towards the lad while moving the rest of them off to the side. "Iron is a good choice... I consider it to always be a good base material. It can be combined with anything, strengthened, it can be polished to an unimaginable shine, and because of its nature... it can easily take on the enchantment of just about anything..." she mentioned. "Besides all that, it is an easy ore to work with at earlier levels, and relatively cheap or easy to come by so you don't have to waste coin trying to gather it as a material," she explained this part of jewel crafting as it was essential. More essential than even working with the metals initially. "Being able to find and identify it is important... how you do it is up to you... Dwarves have Keen eyes, and can identify potentially various different materials without much thought, especially if we've worked with them before. Some mage types know how different ores interact with their mana, allowing them to identify them at range... something like Magic Crystal, gives off its own magical aura, while something like iron has none of its own, but other metals, like silver and gold radiate somewhere in the middle. Keep that in mind... if it is something that interests you," she explained all while having a piece of iron ore for herself to make a demonstration happen.
"I think I should explain now, that iron starts at the lowest possible point, it's almost always low grade unless you personally upgrade it. Given that, you have to put a bit of yourself in making it... some of your soul..." she said calmly. "Well that is what old Dwarves would say, ya' know the ones who don't use mana~" she mused knowing it probably sounded a bit serious at least for a second. "A bit of magic will allow you to upgrade your metals, make them better for general purposes," she explained as she held that small piece of ore between her closed hands and when she opened them after exposing the metal to her mana, she she opened her fingers to show, a shiner more upgraded version of the metal. Not enough to change it from iron to some other metal, but enough that properties of it were obviously more advanced. "How much you put into changing it, is up to you, but you don't want to expend so much you can't concentrate. This is the first step in enchanting, as upgrading a metal makes it more conductive to mana. It gives it an individual property... The same can be said of gems when they're cut and monster bones when they are shaped... you should consider yourself, your soul, your mana a source of change for all things when it comes to creating pieces... it's a staple of creation. When you are ready give it a try."