Chương 37: Swordsmith

Setting a goal can keep you going. Though they're often unmet and seldom exceeded. —The Artificer's Guide to Tempering Expectations I imagine the words, "Let's go make a sword," must have been exciting to Benjie. At least, it would've been for me as a kid. I remembered swinging plastic swords from my local dollar store, pretending I was a knight fighting dragons. By some miracle, as close as I'd come to that reality, the truth of it was a bit different. I was making the sword; I wouldn't be the one swinging it.

I only had a hammer to swing. Just as my reality had altered, so too had Benjie's. For he would not swing a hammer today to make a sword. He would pump the bellows.

"This… isn't… what I had… in mind." Benjie gasped, struggling to keep up with the rather meager pace required to heat the high-quality charcoal. I'd used much less of the charcoal as I didn't want to risk melting the steel, and the more efficient use of fuel demanded a little more work on his part. We'd only been going about ten minutes, and he was already rapidly approaching his limit.

"You got this! Put that strength to work," I encouraged, shifting the glowing disc of steel with my tongs to even the heat. I needed to make an enclosed forge soon, something permanent. This open top lost too much energy and didn't heat as evenly as I'd like.

"You know I don't have strength like the others yet, right?" he replied, mustering the strength to respond after swapping arms.

"Only adults get a class."

"What? I thought you'd get something, but I guess that makes sense. I suppose kids shouldn't have that kind of power until they're ready." I pulled the ingot from the forge and placed it on the anvil. Despite being exhausted and drenched in sweat, Benjie eagerly watched as I hammered a small wedge into the center of the mass of metal.

"Right now, I'm breaking this down into two pieces. We need one for our sword, and the larger piece for a pickaxe," I said, indicating the larger mass.

"It's going to be a much smaller sword than I'd like, but we have to be careful with our use of materials. This one will probably go to the cooks, or a butcher."

"Cooking with a sword?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They have knives, you know."

"Okay, so maybe 'sword' is just a little stretch. Let's call it a big dagger." I flipped the steel, hammering the wedge into the back and separating the two pieces. I put them both back into the forge to heat back up.

"You're up!" Benjie groaned, but acquiesced.

"Don't worry, we're just maintaining now. You don't have to go crazy. This charcoal gets way hotter than it should and holds its heat well." This continued over the next hour. I would heat the steel, Benjie would pump the bellows, and then I would hammer and explain my process while he watched. He'd ask the occasional question, but largely just soaked in what I had to share. It was my first time forging a blade. I couldn't imagine how difficult it would have been without a strength of twelve.

The base of eight was equal to a peak-performance strength human on Earth. With just four more points, I would have been making world records. At my current levels, each blow easily molded the hot steel a little closer to my vision.

"We're going to make something called a kukri. It's got a bit of a curve to it and can be used for hunting, cooking, fighting, whatever it's needed for." The disc-like shape of the ingot had me halfway to my goal. Flattening out the thicker side, I took advantage of the edge that was already partly formed. I hammered the lower section of the blade into an arch that flowed to the end of the full tang. Using a nail, I punched three holes, equally spaced, to fit a wooden handle.

A final heating was followed by a more delicate pass as the last touches were made, evening out any imperfections. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. As I worked, I reached out with [Mana Manipulation]. I felt at the coiled threads of mana within and followed them as I searched for any breaks that might indicate a fracture in the blade. They were faint, but present. Most importantly, they were whole.

Satisfied with the integrity of the blade, I stepped away from the anvil and placed the blade into the coals.

"This is the hardest step. We need to quench the blade now." I gestured for him to grab a bucket filled with water from the brook, warmed with a heated stone.

"We don't want it to get too hot, or we risk cracking the steel. Red to a little orange should work." I could tell he was nearing his limit and took over, allowing him to watch while I heated the fire. In the short amount of time that I had been working the forge, I could already begin to sense its peculiarities, how the air flowed, what parts heated more heavily. When the desired temperature was reached, a cherry-red glow, I dipped the blade with my tongs into the bucket.

I tilted my hand as I inserted it, starting with the tip, following the sharpened edge, until it was submerged. The glow quickly faded, and I held it until the water stopped bubbling and hissing. I pulled it out with my bare hands, finding it warm, but not uncomfortably so. A last, lower-temperature heating completed the heat treatment, and I inspected the piece. > Kukri Blade > A hardened steel blade. > Quality: Common > Grade: Medium > Material > Blacksmithing Leveled Up!

It still needed the handle to be considered complete, but it was a fine piece of work already. I handed it to Benjie after it cooled enough to touch. He eagerly took the blade, and a look of wonder fell over him. He clumsily swung it, then quickly stopped with a wince and massaged his arms.

"Hope you still got a bit left in ya'," I said, pulling the glowing, larger chunk of steel from the forge.

"We get to do the pick now!" I eyed the boy, but he didn't complain. He groaned, pouted for a moment, then began to work the bellows again. I placed the blade at the edge of the coals to temper again. This time, the process took longer. The steel was thicker and more difficult to heat. I had to beat it back into a shape that worked for me. Slowly, it took on its shape. A curve that ended in a point; the opposite end, a flat wedge.

I followed my same process again, reaching out with [Mana Manipulation], seeking any fractures. Being made from molten iron, however, had done its job. The threads of mana were again unbroken. I used my small wedge to slowly hammer a hole through the center of the pick for the haft, then heated it again for its hardening treatment.

"This one will be done differently. Obviously our bucket is way too small to fit the whole thing, but we don't actually want to harden the middle. If we leave it softer, it will flex and help absorb the shock from hitting stone." Benjie nodded, understanding.

"And we just harden the tips, so it doesn't dent up, right?"

"Exactly! You're getting it!" A weary smile touched his lips, and he found his second wind to push through for the final heating. I positioned my bucket by the forge and submerged the striking tip first. The water frothed, boiling at the intense heat of the red steel. The opposite end received the same treatment, and though it may not have been the ideal quench—the water was much warmer than I would have liked—it did its job. I repeated the reheating process to temper the steel, leaving it to sit among the coals.

Without the bellows, it could sit and temper at a lower heat.

"Gonna have to let this one sit for a while before I let you hold it."

"I don't think I could pick it up if I wanted to…" He looked down at his arms that had flopped uselessly to his side. I gave him a small grin.

"Still want to be my apprentice?" Making him work the forge until he looked like he was about to fall over wasn't purely out of just not wanting to do it myself. It was a good test of Benjie, to see if this is something he was ready for, or truly wanted.

"Of course!" he said, rising up. His arms still dangled like dead puppets. His explosive response surprised me, and I felt my grin grow into a full smile.

"Well, in that case…" I picked up the kukri blade and approached him.

"I dub thee…" I placed the blade on one shoulder.

"Wait. No, that's not right." I frowned and turned, searching the ground.

"Aha!" I spotted the blacksmith's hammer and swapped the kukri out. I placed the much more fitting tool on his shoulder.

"I dub thee…" I repeated, swapping shoulders, "Arcane Artisan's apprentice!" A notification pinged in the corner of my vision, and at the same moment, Benjie let out a loud gasp.

"I just… I just got a class!"