Chapter 217: Frying pan
Irwin hummed happily as he struck down on the large chunk of deformed dark red and orange metal. It was flattening rapidly, but he had to make sure not to use too much force because he didn't want to puncture it. Instead, he needed to make it into a large, flat sheet.
Two days had passed since he'd returned, and a group of woodsmen were working hard at chopping a path through the forest. It would take weeks, even with their carded abilities, making Irwin even more happy that he'd brought the massive chunk of ore.
Even if it was a pain, he thought, remembering carrying the ridiculously heavy object through the forest and into the smithy. He'd had to split it apart by heating it with his flame and then ripping it into chunks before he could even get it inside.
"I can't wait to see the first pots, pans, and utensils," Endil shouted happily from the other side of the smithy.
Irwin looked back, grinning at the other smith. Endil was puffing loudly as he worked the smelter's bellows. Even then, he was grinning happily. The chunks of metal lay beside him, ready to be tossed into the smelter.
"We have to make sure we don't forget some butcher knives," Irwin shouted back over the constant bubbling and hissing of the smelter and the whooshing of the bellows. "I'll also need to make myself a proper shaving knife!"
The idea of finally removing the thick, metal-wire beard made him happy, though he worried if the Degnin wouldn't be too soft.
He shoved the needless worry away and looked at the mass of contained fire rippling around the metal he was hitting. A part of it was licking the sides of Ambraz, but the Anvil wasn't bothered. He could have used his flame to melt the rest of the iron ore, but Endil had said they couldn't only rely on his card. If he wasn't there, Endil would need to be able to melt things, and he didn't have a fire card.
I really need to get some proper smithing cards for him when I can, Irwin thought as he looked over his shoulder. Endil had one full-hand of cards that mostly dealt with body-improvement. His first card, an uncommon hammer card, was the only true smithing card he had; it was a gift from his grandfather, Rhym.
Irwin thought about Rhym for a bit while he kept the flame at the exact heat the Anvil had instructed him to. As he kept hitting the now uneven, squarish metal sheet, traces of grimy stone and other impurities were slowly oozing down. He absently wondered why they had remained in the metal even after Endil had melted it. According to Ambraz, his strikes pushed out the remaining impurities due to the soulforce infused blows.
I still wonder why purifying works if you don't have your own soulforce, Irwin thought.
He'd asked Ambraz, who had actually been stumped, and eventually muttered something about the ambient Soulforce.