6-02: The Blacksmith Forges A Perfect Sword
Liafi took the mystery ingot to the forge, which was already hot and prepared for the entire smithing process. Even standing far away, Veronica and Nia were starting to sweat from the intense heat needed to forge arms and armor. Veronica had taken a seat nearby to watch the entire process, and after taking a seat, Nia surprisingly crawled up and sat on her lap, causing Veronica to giggle a bit.
Liafi threw the metal into the forge, using high quality tongs to pick it up and slowly turn it for even heating. Once the ingot was red hot, she brought it over to the anvil and began to bang on it with her hammer. Once it got too cold, she put it back into the forge. She repeated the process over and over again until it had the general shape of a sword.
Keeping it red hot, she had started to flatten the blade. But this time, she used a different method. While it looked normal, there was the added process of magical circles appearing and being absorbed into the blade. Veronica wondered what kind of enchantment Liafi was putting onto it, but she decided to simply wait until it was finished.
"How do you want your sword?" Liafi asked through the heat.
"Uh... Hand and a half, I think." Veronica responded. Liafi only answered with a slight nod as sweat dripped down her forehead.
The ring of the anvil echoed throughout the workshop, and constant repeating sound that was oddly calming. The blade was slowly taking form. Heating, hammering into shape, heat, hammer, heat, hammer.
Then she quenched the blade within oil, flames spouting from the top of the container, slowly receding as the blade cooled down. Once the blade was cooled down, Liafi examined the blade. She didn't seem too happy by the click of her tongue as she put the blade back into the heat to restart the hammering process.
She repeated this another six times before she was happy with the final product. But she wasn't done yet. First, she reshaped the blade with a grinder and bevel, making sure to make it nice and sharp, along with beveling the center out.
She then reached for a crossguard and examined it. Dissatisfied, she clicked her tongue again and got up, looking at her collection of crossguards. She kept digging g through until she found one that she was happy with. The sword accepting the crossguard with a tight fit, indicating that it was just perfect.
Next, Liafi heated the flat handle, just a bit then as it was hot, she grabbed a beautiful wooden handle and forcing g on to the handle. You could hear the heat searing the new handle, but it fit nicely.
And last but not least, she needed to add a pommel. A counterweight of sorts. She picked a flat, rounded pommel, sticking it onto the very end and hammering it into position.
Before she was finished, she gave it one final clean up and sharpening. And finally, the blade was complete.
"There we go. Blade is finished." Liafi said between breaths, wiping the sweat from her brow.
Veronica and Nia got up to follow Liafi back to the front, where she had set the blade down on the counter.
"One blade of an unknown material. A full, thick teng that is unlikely to break. A diamond shaped fuller that reaches three quarters of the blade to decrease weight even more, though I don't think it really needed it, considering how light the metal is anyways. A handle just long enough for to use with two hands. A straight crossguard with matching color, probably also one of the better crossguards I've got at the moment. The pommel for some kind of counterweight to make sure the blade actually cuts. And the handle made from wood that I got straight from the Elven forest."
There were most certainly various words that Liafi had said that Veronica did not understand whatsoever.
"Uh..."
"It's one of the best, and probably most expensive, swords I have ever made." Liafi dumbed it down for Veronica.
"Now, the sword itself is much lighter than a steel sword, meaning it's not going to cut as easily. But there's not much I could've down there, aside from turning this into an alloy, and adding a bunch of trash material into it, lowering the quality. So, you'll probably want to practice with it for a while before going out." Liafi explained.
Veronica nodded and reached for the blade as Liafi handed it to her, before it was quickly pulled away.
"Don't break this one."
"Yeah, I won't. Sorry about that..."
With a slight sigh, Liafi gave Veronica the sword. Though, it still had no scabbard.
"For now, it should fit any decent sized scabbard. I'll have a proper one ready in about a week or two, so come back then." Liafi said.
"Thank you. What do I owe you?"
"Nothing. Unless you want to give Nia a little sister~" Liafi said teasingly.
Veronica's face went red. Which wasn't to say that she didn't think of it.
"I'm joking. Now get out of here, and don't forget to give us a goodbye kiss before you leave." Liafi demanded.
That wasn't as bad of a payment. Veroncia leaned over the counter, giving Liafi a kiss on the lips. Then she knelt down and kissed her daughter on the cheek.
"I'm off!"
"Be safe Mommy!" Nia exclaimed as she waved Veronica off.
Veroncia gave a silent giggle as she left the workshop. Next stop, home. Hopefully Seraph has a spare scabbard that can hold this sword.