“Nice,” Tobias said as he watched Enzo pull the lump of metal from the furnace. “Set the iron there on the anvil. Normally, we’d begin adding charcoal to the furnace and building up even more heat, creating steel.”

As Enzo set the lump of iron on the anvil, Tobias took the tongs and turned them over, exposing a more flat facing of the iron.

“Since this is for practice, there’s no sense in going to all that trouble,” Tobias continued. “Take the hammer and wedge and divide up the lump into three roughly equal pieces.”

Enzo did as instructed, placing the wedge with great care just above the glowing molten iron. He glanced over at Tobias for confirmation before lightly tapping the wedge into the iron. The tool sunk a quarter of an inch into the metal with each tap.

“Come on boy, hit it!” Tobias barked. “It’s not going to stay hot forever!”

Enzo rolled his eyes in response. I was just trying to be careful. Bet I could keep it hot for quite a while anyway. As the idea dawned on him, a small smile crept across his face.

“Actually, let me try something,” Enzo said to Tobias before concentrating on the metal in front of him.

He focused on the energy radiating off the slowly dimming iron, and cycled the heat back into it. Gradually, the metal regained temperature until it was glowing nearly as brightly as it was when they’d first removed it from the forge. With a satisfied smirk, he maintained the circular energy flow and began tapping away, forming three nearly perfect chunks of iron.

“That’s cheating, boy,” Tobias growled.

“Hey, it worked, didn’t it?” Enzo replied. “And your Affinity is pretty broken here, too. You just hit something once and the metal molds to exactly what you want it to be.”

“That’s not the point,” Tobias grumbled. “You need to learn how to do things the right way before you start taking too many shortcuts. Especially when you don’t understand the limits of your Affinity very well.”

Enzo was about to respond when he began to feel light headed. He released the control of the heat radiating from the iron and stepped back from the anvil. The iron quickly began to cool, and Tobias replaced each piece in the furnace.

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You were cycling 2700 degrees of heat continuously into a decent sized chunk of iron for several minutes at the end of a long recovery day after a night of drinking,” scolded Tobias. Enzo shrank back from the harsh words, and Tobias’s expression softened.

“I know it’s hard to feel the boundary,” he continued. “Particularly with fire. Metals are much more, well, solid. When I was learning to use my Affinity, I could bend and break anything until I flat out couldn’t. The limit was clear, the metal wasn’t going to budge. I couldn’t really go too far without something like Lazarus channeling my energy.”

“Fire just comes so easily,” Enzo replied quietly. “I have an idea, and the mana jumps to do what I want. Talwen said fire is always demanding more. Always wanting to grow, to burn until nothing is left. It's hard to keep that in mind all the time.”

“Patience. Use our time here to find the warning signs, and the limits of your control,” Tobias replied. “Work with it slowly, don’t try to just jump ahead.” The smith walked over to the workbench and pulled a flask from his bag.

“Drink some water, then take up the tongs. We’ve still got metal to work. This time, do it the right way. Save your Affinity for another day.”

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Enzo took the flask and drank deeply. It's just like training in the cave with Talwen. Mind over matter. Discipline. Control. At least this time my teacher isn’t threatening to eat me. He took up the dark gray tongs and returned to his place at the anvil next to Tobias, determined to do things right this time.

“Thata boy,” said Tobias. “Now then. We won’t use all the iron to make the head for the warhammer, it’d just be heavy and impossible to wield. We’ll start by making everything into bars, and work on one chunk at a time. We’ll heat the next bit while we work, so you can see the process then immediately practice it.”

Enzo nodded and used the tongs to withdraw one lump of metal from the forge. He set it on the anvil and watched as Tobias struck the metal. With one quick strike, the old smith flattened the facing of the lump that rested against the anvil.

“Rotate it,” Tobias said and Enzo complied. “Watch as I strike it. I’m not trying to flatten the metal completely, but I’m striking hard enough to press the opposite side flat against the anvil.”

Enzo watched and turned the metal as Tobias struck each side in turn. The iron slowly began to cool, but not before Tobias had shaped the lump into a fairly even sided bar.

“Alright, this is about as cool as we can let it get.” Tobias said as he examined the dark red of the bar. “Shove this back into the furnace, then trade with me. You’ll hammer this next lump into shape.”

Enzo nodded and replaced the iron into the forge, then traded places with Tobias. As Tobias readied the next chunk, Enzo ran through the process in his head. He wasn’t gentle as he hit the iron. Solid strikes aimed at flattening the side pressed against the anvil. Hit it once or twice solidly, then rotate. I can do this.

Enzo struck the metal time and again, slowly feeling out how hard he needed to strike to shape the molten lump. He made good progress on the first pass and felt he’d figured out the right strength for each strike by the time the bar had cooled off. Tobias returned the metal to the furnace and pulled out the third lump.

“Again, a bit quicker this time,” the old smith instructed.

This time around, Enzo made quick work of the metal. His strikes weren’t perfect and didn’t create the same even distribution as Tobias's, but they were acceptable. As the metal finally cooled, Enzo was satisfied with the rough shape he’d been able to create.

“Not bad,” Tobias said as he examined the bar. He placed the cooling metal on a flat stone rack near the furnace and returned to the anvil. “Now, I know you think you’re going to start making a warhammer tonight, but I hope you see how unrealistic that is as your first project.”

Tobias pulled the poorly shaped bar from the furnace and placed it on the anvil. With three quick strikes, he hammered the bar into a nice, evenly shaped rectangle and set it next to the first on the cooling rack. Enzo didn’t argue.

“You’ll be watching tonight. I won’t use my Affinity, I want you to see how a smith forges a weapon,” Tobias continued. “You’ll start with small things. Nails at first, but hold on to the memory of tonight. It’ll serve you well when the time comes to forge your own weapon.”

Enzo quietly nodded and stepped to the side. He watched as Tobias withdrew the first bar they’d made and began to hammer away, shaping it. As instructed, Enzo didn’t touch a thing. Tobias grabbed punches and chisels as he worked, carving off surplus metal with every strike.

He reheated the metal several times through the process, each time focusing on a different part of the weapon. Initially, it was just the overall shape, forcing the iron to be more square. As Enzo watched, he began to pick up on the rhythm of the work.

Punching through the main hole first, allowing better grip for the tongs as he worked later stages. Cutting and thinning out two circular sections to remove weight. Taking one of those sections and stretching it, forming the hook. I get it, every step interacts with the ones before and after it. Just like heating the bars, you have to respect the metal and follow the process properly.

It was late into the night by the time Tobias was satisfied, but the finished product was incredible. The smith had managed to take Enzo’s rough design and turn it into a work of devastating art. Tobias turned from the anvil and handed the finished hammerhead to Enzo.

“The hard part is done, son. I hope it turned out how you thought it would,” he said, wiping the sweat from his brow. “Get some rest. Tomorrow, after you finish with Gunnar, head out into the forest and find the wood you want to use for the handle. Oak is a good choice around here, pine will be too brittle. When you’re ready, bring it back and we’ll work the wood into a handle fit for your first real weapon.”