"Why do we build swords?
Who do we build swords for?
What do we build swords for?
Where do we want to see our swords used?
When do we want to see our swords used?
Whom does our swords serve?
Whose hands does our swords belong?
How, do you want your swords be used?
Think carefully. There is no right answer and there is no wrong answer."
"Give me your answer at the end of dinner. For now, watch how I choose the ore. Today we work with steel, the most common of metal we use in since ages past. When we choose the ore, we look at the color. We look for the bright silver color. Any bits that are grey and black are rejected. We are not just blacksmiths. We are more like alchemist. We seek the secrets of the steel like how the alchemist seeks the elixer of immortality. We seek the best and take only the best."
"From now on, everyday before breakfast, you will take one hundred pieces of ore and from there, take ten out of these hundred and arrange then according to their quality. Your training is done when you can arrange all hundred."
"The school that your family follows may have a different way to choose their ore. The Hayin-Do school does it by sound. They use a tool to hold the ore and tap on the ore. The tool will make a chime that tells the purity of the ore. The better the ore the clearer the chime, or so the open secret goes. Without the blood oath that you must swear as the Chime-Bearer, the deeper secret behind it is unknown to us. Their Chime-Bearer bears the right to reject the ore brought for testing. Thousands upon thousands of ore pass by their eyes and if the quality is too low they can tell it with a glance as well. That tool works with rarer metals and materials as well so I can't fault them for being so secretive about it."
"For the school that I follow, it is called the Qian Cui or thousand hammer as we now call it.
The school that your family follows is called Wan Lian or ten thousand refinement. Our two schools used to be one. Then came the 2 brothers who grew to become the head grandsmiths of the school. They each specialized in one area. Qian Cui is about efficiency and Wan Lian is about quality. The school became two as they brought their expertise to greater heights.
Ah look at me. I digressed. "
Picking up 5 pieces of ore. I lay them out before Marcus. "Can you tell which one is the better of the 5?"
I watched as Marcus stared intently at the 5 pieces of ore.
After about 30 second or so, he shook his head but not without saying, "I am not sure which is better but I noticed that this piece is darker and should be a lower quality piece as compared to the others."
I looked again. I was impressed. He did not manage to pick out the best but he managed to pick out the worst.
"Very good. Can you tell me what makes the difference between the materials of a good sword and a nornal sword?"
"Uhhh. The quality?"
"That is the layman's term. What makes a better sword is the amount of flaws in a blade.
If I call the industrial made sword at quality scale of 1 and the cheapest sword I have would be at 4 or so. "
"There is a saying."
"The chain is as strong as its weakest link. "
"So judge not a sword by how good the blade is but by little flaws it contain. With the same amount of raw material to make 10 industrial quality swords, I am only able to make 4 or less swords. "
"But if you take the 10 swords and pit them against my 4 swords by two swordsmen at equal strength until they chip and break, the odds are that by the time all 10 break, only 2 of my work would have been broken and the third chipped and would still work.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
That is the difference in quality."
I paused my speech and looked at Marcus. It is a little much for his little brain to sort through. Also, I am waiting for that question that always comes about with this.
After sorting his thoughts and a brief hesitation, Marcus finally asked that million dollar question. "But if these 4 swords are better than those 10 swords, why is it that there are so much of those cheap swords out there and no one would buy your swords?"
"Time."
"Time?"
"It is the time it take to make a sword. The time it takes for me to make a sword, 10s of swords are made."
I paused for a brief moment once again before continuing. "Most people would not be able to bring out 10 percent of the sword's true power. Would it have mattered if it was a million gold sword or a ten thousand silver(100 Gold) sword? It would not. For a normal person, all that matters is that it is a sword that can cut. If the sword breaks I just get a new sword. A sword has become a tool to those people, and those swords have no soul."
"Soul?"
"Yes. Soul. A sword can kill. It can also protect. The soul of the sword stems from the desire of its owner. Now here is the question. Who understands the sword best?"
"Hmm... I am not sure. The one who uses the sword?"
"Nope, but for now it is time for you to go start your jog. The setting for the tool is now at 1.2 times. Two laps to the end of the district for warm-up. Just to be sure. I will check the tool again. I do not want another of that incident again. That was a big scare. And that fruit stall granny left my ears ringing. She gave me quite a earful."
I knelt down and waited for a moment.
Seeing that the boy did not move from his position after some time, I could not help but give an inward sigh before saying, "Now get over here. Time is wasting. There is still much to learn."
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So I began my 'light' exercise.
As I jogged, I began thinking about the questions layed out to me.
Why do we build swords?
Who do we build swords for?
What do we build swords for?
Where do we want to see our swords used?
When do we want to see our swords used?
Whom does our swords serve?
Whose hands does our swords belong?
How, do you want your swords be used?
Who understands the sword best?
As I thought about the questions, I began to think that there really was no correct answer to any of these. There were the easy answers to all these questions.
We build swords to kill.
We build them for warriors.
We want to see them used for war.
We want see them always used.
We want them to serve the winner.
We want them to be in the hands of the strong.
But when I reached the how, I stumbled. From every fiber of my being it screamed never. It screamed to never be used.
Then I realized the flip side to these questions. The desire to protect.
To protect. But why a weapon to protect. I did not get it.
I wandered about with the questions in my head, bumping into people along the way. Then a question creeped into my head. Would I hand a sword to this person?
As I kept jogging, I looked at the various people I passed by. It was a fairly odd question that occupied my mind instead of the questions I started with.
It was not long before I was back at the shop from my warm up.
I stepped into the shop only to see him snoozing at the counter once again. Then the same question came to me again. Would I hand a sword to this person? The interesting thing was not the reply. But the reasoning behind it. He knows the sword better than me.
It answered the question.
Who understands the sword best? A sword is just a sword. The sword is gifted its soul by its maker and nurtured by its user. The one who knows the sword best is the one who first held it. It holds the memory of its birth and the meaning behind it birth.
No wonder I always heard my grandfather say he had many sons and daughters and most of them never reached their full potential.
"So you are back. Got any answers for Me?"
I turn to look at Mastersmith Derrick and see that he is up and giving that same bored look as ever.
Of the so many questions the only one I could answer was who knows the sword best so I stuck out my chest and boldly declared that the one who knows the sword best was the maker of the sword.
It was an interesting moment as I watched Mastersmith Derrick's face change from bored to raised eyebrows to wide eye then the twitch between smiles and frowns. That whole facial contortion act lasted for a good 5 seconds before it settled on a stern face.
He sighed while saying this. "That is true for most parts. For a normal sword. That much holds true. You have not yet learn about the arcane so there is no fault in that answer. Yet."
"Arcane?" I asked, perplexed by his reply.
"Yes arcane. It is something you will learn of in the future. If you live up to your family name, it will take you about 5 years or so before I teach you about the arcane."
"For now let us eat our breakfast."