Meanwhile, Noah's gaze never strayed away from Master Ralvol. He was analyzing every action of the master blacksmith. The more Master Ralvol got into the explanation, the more Noah's expressions intensified.
He also couldn't help but let out a squeal in childlike wonder when the blue lights formed a hologram of sorts in mid-air.
The entire scene could be described as life-changing for Noah. He felt he was finally being introduced into an entirely mystical world. It was not because of the magic hologram. Despite it looking more advanced than their public version. He could probably find one with similar capabilities in the military. What excited him more was the fact that it wasn't based on science but freaking MAGIC. Yesterday just felt like a teaser now. This was the real deal.
Every new term brought with it a wave of curiosity which was followed by delight at being given otherworldly knowledge. In a short span of time, he heard terms like Mythril, Mana Forge, Magic and grasped their definitions and possible applications.
The realization he would be learning and testing out those possibilities here was almost dreamlike for Noah. He was using all his will to not just run out and touch and tinker with the Mana Forge. He once thought modern technology was the best thing he could ever witness. Now, looking at the magic metal being synthesized before him, that thought seemed laughable at best.
The movement on Master Ralvol's side brought his attention back to the forging.
Master Ralvol stood up and went to the cooling compartment. Opening it up, he took out the mold and set it down on the anvil. He then picked up his bulky hammer from the table. Aiming at the mold, he dealt a solid blow on the side. He followed it up with another one. The mold broke into two parts with the upper part falling off.
He then rummaged through his various tools to take out his tongs. Using his tongs, he picked up the block of Mythril alloy inside the mold. Though, he had to hammer it a few times to get it loose.
"Now kids, here comes the main part. One thing you have to realize is that magic metals are treated differently compared to normal ones. With normal metals, you will have to leave the metal to slowly cool down to room temperature before you could start forging. But in the case of Magic metals like Mythril, they have the added variable of mana. The point you need to know is that intrinsic mana i.e. mana inherent to anything is very stubborn to change in general. Therefore, when the Mythril alloy cools to normal temperatures, its intrinsic mana follows suit to its physical state and settles down to its form and nature. The good thing is that it makes it tougher as well as more resistant to external changes." Ralvol paused and continued.
"You can probably guess the bad part. This also makes it much harder to deform and repair it if the need arises. It would probably take hours to melt it down through conventional means even in my Mana Forge, much less in normal forges. Therefore, we do the forging part before it has settled into its shape. It is far more efficient and gives a much better final product because the mana is capable of being molded right now. The Blacksmiths mold the mana to suit their needs allowing for a greater finish." He took the still glowing metal alloy and put it in the forge.
He then pulled a lever on the side, after which huge flames burst out of the forge enveloping the surroundings in a reddish-orange tinge.
"What it now requires is simply patience and continuous hammering." Saying this, he took out the glowing metal block and placed it on the anvil using his tongs. Using his other hand, he picked the hammer. This time, the hammer began to glow slightly blue with the engravings lighting up. Pulling the hammer swiftly and in one decisive motion, he struck down.
A loud clang of metal clashing with metal resounded through the forge. The hammering had begun.
A steady rhythm of constant hammering sound took over the surroundings. The sparks and clangs formed a beautiful picture in the forge. Master Ralvol had a look of intense concentration on his face as he hammered at the metal block which was gradually forming into a blade. Every few minutes, he took the blade and placed it back in the forge for reheating. This process of hammering and heating continued over and over. He sometimes used different tools like chisels and the anvil to help in the shaping of the blade.
Everyone stared at this display of skill and craft with rapt attention. The metal block was finally looking like a blade.
With a final strike, he put the hammer down. Then, picking up the hot blade with the tongs, he swiftly dipped the glowing blade in a tube filled with some sort of oil in one go. Flames accompanied by lots of smoke erupted as the blade got submerged in the oil. He kept his hand steady for a few moments till the flames died down and pulled the blade out slowly.
Master Ralvol then wiped the oil from the blade using a cloth nearby.
With his gloves still on, he brought up the blade closer to his eye and inspected it for cracks, bends and other problems. Finding nothing major, he nodded in satisfaction and then said to the group.
"The forging part is done. The whole dipping of the blade in the special vat of oil mix is known as quenching. Very important for the blade. It strengthens and toughens the blade overall, drawing on in its true potential."
He picked up the still hot blade and moved to the section containing different contraptions and attached blades. He touched one of the plates on the side which lit up in response. This was followed by the rotation of rollers on which a rough-looking belt was fixed, just slightly left to the lit plate.
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"The next part is grinding. This involves literally grinding the blade down on a grinding belt to form a razor-sharp edge as well as giving details to the shape and fixing minor problems. Being a magic metal, it also requires that we do it before it completely cools down."
The rotation increased rapidly to produce a whirring sound letting everyone know that this was the grinding machine. Master Ralvol then held the blade firmly and pressed it onto the grinding belt to create a shower of sparks.
Silence permeated around the forge as just the sound of blade grinding on the belt reached their ears. He was being completely silent as all his concentration was on sharpening and shaping the blade.
The showers continued for some time before dying down. Master Ralvol then wiped the dust and impurities off the blade giving a finished appearance to the blade.
"See, the blade finally starting to look like one. Grinding really brings out the shine in the metal. After this, a hilt is fixed. Since I wanted to keep it simple, I had already formed the guard in the blade." He said showing that the other side of the blade away from the edge extended outwards before thinning in a rod shape. The extended part will become the guard and rod section was where the handle will be fixed.
"Now, the only thing this blade needs is a handle." He picked the drilled-out wooden block and showed it to the apprentices.
"We can fix it to the blade using an appropriate hardening agent. In simple terms, glue." Saying this, he took out a bottle and opened it. The bottle contained a dark resin-like substance. He scooped the glue using a thin and long spoon-looking tool and applied it inside the hole in the wooden block.
He kept filling it with more glue until it seemed to fill the hole completely. Then, he took the blade and joined the rod section with the wooden handle. The blade slid in smoothly and seemed to fit the handle perfectly. He applied force to allow the glue to bond the blade and handle together.
He kept up the force for an entire minute before loosening. He then wiped the glue overflowing from the joint part.
Then, he took the entire blade back to the same section he drilled the hole in wood before and soon machine sounds started coming from there.
"The handle is very important for the blade. It should have a good grip and feel to it. Remember what I told you before, that every person requires different handles. We need to make the handle fit comfortably in the wielder's hands but since this blade is not made for a custom order, I will just give it a generic shape."
He trimmed the wooden block using a sawing machine to shape the handle adding grooves and ridges for the grip. Ralvol continued to add finishing touches until he was finally satisfied with the look. Finished with the handle, he turned off the saw machine using a nearby lighted-up metal panel. He then moved back to the main workspace.
Brushing off the wood carvings, he placed the finished-looking blade on the anvil.
"The Blade is finished now, is what I would I like to say. But there are some steps needed still. Steps that become the key difference between determining whether you are amateurs or professionals." He took out extra bottles, whetstones and clothes while continuing his lecture.
"The look is very important for the blade. No one buys a blade that looks like it has been used for years. A good-looking blade also means that the blade is well maintained and sharp for use." Master Ralvol started applying the oil on the handle and blade using a cloth. The entire blade seemed to have had a magical touch up wherever the cloth touched. By the end of it, the blade looked completely different with everything looking shiny and new, especially the blade. Before it looked decent enough, now it felt like looking at the blade directly might cut him. He was almost blinded by the shine off the edge.
Though Master Ralvol seemed adamant at perfecting the already great-looking blade as he started sharpening it under the whetstone.
'How sharp does he want the blade. It already looks like it could cut through everything.' Noah couldn't help thinking about what was going on in the master's mind. Then again, he didn't know anything about the weapons here besides the two words, sharp and strong. The blades made would definitely have to perform much better than conventional blades to be able to handle the stress put on by those knights. That was definitely the reason. The warfare here involves superhumans and monsters. Clearly, normal weapons wouldn't cut it. He even thinks that normal steel wouldn't be able to cut through a knight's skin. With the strength they had shown in the morning, their toughness shouldn't be too bad.
Just thinking about the knights donned with magical armor and swords sent chills up his spine. He didn't fancy the chances of conventional earth military against them. A single fully armored knight would probably require joint effort and concentrated bombardment from multiple battalions to take down. Anything less powerful than an RPG shouldn't even faze the knights, so infantry is mostly useless. To take them down in a single clean hit would probably require the large electromagnetic railguns on warships.
Moreover, from what he managed to gather, there are hundreds of knights just in this kingdom. Yep, He now thinks it is better they were teleported to this world, not the other way around.
While Noah was feeling dread thinking about the knight's combat power against normal humans with guns, Master Ralvol was finished with his sharpening.
Turning to the apprentices, he said to them.
"The blade is now usable. It came out quite decent and alloy seems to have synthesized quite well. Let me test it once." He headed straight to the steel armors donned on the testing dummies some distance away. The dummies were bolted to the ground.
The group including Noah heard the master's words and swiftly followed behind him. They were eager to see the blade in action.
Master Ralvol stood straight before a dummy and took a deep breath to steady himself. Then he suddenly struck at the armor. The blow was swift and a sharp sound came out from the clash.
When everyone took in the result, they were awestruck. The blade had penetrated fully through the armor leaving only the hilt visible.
"This is the vast difference between magical metal and non-magical ones. One can't even compare the two. Moreover, this isn't even this blade's final form." Master Ralvol's demeanor changed after saying that. The atmosphere suddenly felt pressuring.
Noah could make out the aura emerging from the master's body. It was the same as Knight Sanders. Though, this was just the beginning as the blade's edge started glowing in azure.
"Let me show you the renowned prowess of mana blades." Ralvol said in a deep voice and slashed instantly.
Noah couldn't even see the blade as it struck the armor. The only indication it struck was the short sound he heard and the changed posture of the master.
He was even starting to think that master Ralvol could have missed but the next thing made him slack-jawed. The upper part of the armor slid down along with the dummy and fell to the ground with a resounding thud. A clean and sharp cut was placed at the midsection of the armor.
Silence fell among the group at this fantastical scene.