Stronger Together chapter 175

I had absolutely no idea how to forge iron. I knew nothing about  smithing or metal at all. I figured this out mind you, after the  fifteenth whack with that goddamn stick hit my fucking head. First I  tried molding it with my hands, they were strong enough that I could do  it like that. Whack.  Then I tried using force magic. Whack. Then I  tried using force Aura combined with light taps with my fist to mimic  hammer blows. That got me two whacks.

The  crabby old voice I was begging to loathe snapped out from behind me  "Fool! What are you doing? I told you to make me something, not destroy  my ingot." He pointed at the mishmash of metal that had resulted from my  attempts to make something, each interrupted by a fucking stick to the  head. "You want to learn forging from the masters but don't even have  the basic knowledge of a child. Did you come in here expecting to wave  your special metal around and shock us all with your skill? You have the  skills of a monkey."

I  gritted my teeth and rubbed my somehow aching skull. Which was  reinforced with divine metal but somehow couldn't hold up to that shitty  stick. "I wanted you to show me how to manipulate godsteel into more  intricate designs and show me runes and stuff. I can imbue it with magic  and shape it to my will, I don't need to beat it with a hammer." It was  nearly impossible not to glare at the old elf as I spat out my  reasoning. "All I want from you is to show me how to shape stuff and  cast the spells I don't need to know all the forge stuff."

Which  of course got me a stick to the head. Seriously I couldn't see those  hit's coming even when I was braced for it. They just smacked me out of  nowhere. "Fool! Do you know why we forge metal instead of just beating  it into shape with hammers? It isn't just because heat makes it  malleable, the forging, tempering, and quenching have a profound effect  on the strength and quality of the metal. Even if you can learn to mimic  those effects with your metal, you need to understand the process and  observe the results to do so! Using godsteel in it's raw form is  crippling it's potential. You will learn to forge properly so you can  understand how metal behaves when properly treated."

That...was  actually a really good point. I hadn't considered that magically  shaping the metal might not be the most effective way to mold it. If I  could manipulate the godsteel on a microscopic level to mimic forging  and tempering I would be able to create perfectly crafted gear with a  thought, which was what I'd come here for in the first place. I exhaled  slowly, preparing to get whacked. "I understand master, please instruct  me." I was expecting to be hit after that, but nothing happened. The old  elf put the stick against the ground like a cane and nodded.

His  rheumy old eyes twinkled "Finally. He learns." He saw my surprise and  snorted "Stop cowering boy. I'm here to teach. I'm not in the habit of  punishing students for sincere questions. I'll only hit you if you  aren't listening. Now, the forging process is time consuming but not  difficult to grasp, at least not the basics. Individual skill will come  with time and practice that allows you to notice and adjust for small  variables in the metal. Now the first step is to heat the metal. You  want to get a nice cherry red glow across the entire ingot, it may take  some time but just be patient and apply the heat evenly."

He  gestured to the forge, where a set of tongs sat next to a pair of  oversized gloves. Well, oversized for him. For me they barely fit but it  wasn't the end of the world. I picked up the ingot in the tongs and  stuck it into the flame. Brokkr continued to speak "Now traditionally  you would draw the metal if necessary, but since I said you can make  whatever you like that won't be needed. Drawing is the process of  lengthening and thinning the metal to allow for forging into different  shapes. You can draw metal in any direction necessary so it provides  many options. Careful that boy don't overheat part of the ingot or it  will be more malleable than the rest and leave flaws in your final  product."

I  tried to adjust the ingot in the fire with the tongs as he continued.  "Eventually the metal will reach total heat saturation if you leave it  in long enough, but the essence of forging is control. Control of timing  in the heating stage allows you to better control the timing of the  entire process." He walked me through the heating step by step before  asking me what I wanted to make. I decided on a dagger because it was  small enough not to be an issue. He explained the specifics of drawing,  as well as upsetting, which was the opposite of drawing and shortened  the metal by condensing it.

Finally  we had prepared the metal "Now that the metal is heated evenly we can  begin hammering. There are many ways to hammer and many kinds of hammer.  We use what the mortals call the Swedish Pattern Hammer, which is flat  one side and has a wedge on the other. The methods of hammering we will  be learning today are lengthening, chasing, curving, and flanging. There  are more complex hammering methods of course but those are the basics  that will help you manipulate the metal until you can develop your own  preferences."

Despite  the difficulty most people would have had with all this it wasn't a  particularly tough thing for me to master. With my enhanced reflexes,  physique, and brain I was able to intuitively grasp what I was doing as  it was explained. I considered the lack of a stick upside my skull the  greatest possible compliment. "Master, other than the hammering  techniques, are there any other things I need to learn before I begin my  first project? I have to admit I'm a bit excited to make my first real  weapon." I was trying my best to tamp down on my expectations but it was  exciting to imagine what kind of things I could make once I mastered  all this. It definitely didn't seem as hard as people made it out to  be."

Sadly my  question was met with a stick to the head "Fool! Impatience is the bane  of a blacksmith. You will be ready when I say you are. Now shut up and  learn. The first technique for hammering is called lengthening. When you  strike the metal with your hammer it compresses under the blow, this is  the basic concept of hammering, however by angling the blow you can  control the direction of that compression. By hammer at an angle up or  down the length of the metal you can extend your product with the  lengthening process." he gestured for me to try and we spent the next  fifteen minutes with me hitting the metal in different ways and getting  smacked until I got it right.

After  I finally got lengthening down to a decent extent we moved on. Brokkr  seemed pleased with my progress, as much as my aching skull would tend  to indicate to the contrary, and his voice was cheerful as he continued  "Now the next, hammering skill is called curving. By lengthening on only  one side you can curve the metal, giving yourself options other that  just hammering a straight piece of iron. Curving is less present in  forging blades, but still vital. Proceed." Curving was actually easier  than expected. Since it was based on lengthening which I had already  learned this one only took ten minutes of head smacking to learn.

After  I completed that he had me use upsetting to condense it back down into  an ingot, then lengthening again to get it ready for chasing. "Now,  chasing is curving in three dimensions. You  can do this in several  ways, but today I'll be teaching you the flat hammer support method.  You'll brace the metal on the main hammer and then use a chasing hammer  to strike it in a spiral pattern. Be careful with the metal, this style  of hammering can make the product thin and tearing can easily happen if  you strike too hard." The next hour was chasing practice, and my ears  were ringing so hard that I almost passed out. I tore the metal a dozen  times and had to re upset and lengthen before I finally got it.

I  sincerely hoped the final hammering method would be less complex and  painful to learn. I was also so grateful for my godsteel body, because  without the coordination and brain enhancement I would have taken weeks  or months to learn this. Brokkr had me upset and lengthen again, though I  was getting better at it through repetition. He glanced at me  impassively, or at least I thought he did. Reading svartalf expressions  was tough enough when their skin conformed to their face, with my master  it was damn near impossible.

He  sighed and began instructing me on the last hammering method. "You've  done...adequately so far. This will be the last method of hammering you  learn today. This is called flanging. It's done by curving only the  edges of the metal and is an integral technique in blade making. Place  the metal on the anvil and work on the edges. Don't strike too hard,  you'll want to choke up on the hammer for greater control the shape of  the metal depends on how well you were able to internalize the lessons  on curving that you already learned." Flanging was easier than chasing,  especially after having already learned the latter and it only took  twenty minutes to get it down.

Finally  Brokkr nodded. "Good. Now that you have the basic forging methods down I  want you to put them into practice. Make me a dagger. Just the blade,  the skills to hilt it will come later. I just want you to use what I  taught you to make a basic blade shape. I won't expect too much from  your first project, nor will I give too much advice, I want to see how  good your instincts are. You don't need to use all the hammering  methods, though you will be asked to put them to use in future projects.  Begin." He didn't bother to wait for a response, simply informing me of  the assignment and letting me start.

I  reset the metal like I was taught, upsetting and then lengthening it. I  used chasing to put a point on it, then flanging to produce edges. The  resulting weapon was fat and sort of lumpy and didn't look anything like  a dagger, but the expected criticism didn't come when I showed it to my  master. He noticed my tension and snorted "Relax boy. If you could  perfectly create a weapon the first time you tried it you wouldn't need a  master to teach you. I've seen worse from first timers than that no  need to be ashamed."

I  exhaled in relief and was about to speak when he cut me off with a  vicious grin "Of course, the only way to fix that is through experience.  On your next weapon I'll correct a few errors, and the one after a few  different ones. I want to see how many of your bad habits you can notice  and correct on your own without my intervention. Introspection is the  mark of a master smith." His expression gave me a bad feeling, and my  suspicion was vindicated when he brought down the stick on the anvil  with a crack. "Now, get to it. Your technique won't practice itself. I  want one hundred daggers before you can leave. And each one better be an  improvement." That confirmed it. I'd made a horrible mistake coming  here.