Mr. Li and Matt departed the forge and headed back to the caravan after the merchant had settled the amount of goods he was expecting at the end of the week. They had also agreed that his men could come by to get their weapons and armor repaired at any time throughout the week.

Mark and Anabel were left alone as Mark waved off his visitors before moving to his forge to begin working. Anabel silently took a seat at a workbench out of the way where she could observe Mark as he worked.

There was plenty of light out as the sun was overhead, signaling the time of day to be slightly over half completed. The sky was mostly clear with sparse white clouds decorating the sky which Anabel would occasionally watch drift by as Mark worked on crafting the weapons and armor he had promised the caravan.

The rhythmic ping of hammer on metal was the only sound that could be heard over the slight but constant breeze that was common in the mountain.

Mark quickly crafted weapon after weapon, making several reinforced weapons as well as the bone-infused weapons before moving on to the different armors he wanted to craft.

Since he had already worked out the procedure for crafting each type of weapon, he was able to complete his daily quota within just a few short hours before he started working on armor.

He had previously established a method for crafting most infused armor, with the larger pieces being the easiest to craft since there was not much intricate work to be done. He quickly hammered out a few breastplates that utilized beast rib bones to protect the area where human ribs would be under the plate.

Since the armors were specified for protection against beasts, he just used chainmail between the intercostal area of the ribs instead of solid metal throughout which cut down the weight of the breastplates he crafted in this fashion.

The other piece of armor that was requested in high volume was helmets. These were also easy for Mark to put together since he could craft them in one piece, and they only wanted partial coverage with a focus on the top and back of the skull.

He had a few beast skulls that he managed to bond to an alloy that would provide plenty of coverage as specified, and it was again lighter than his standard reinforced metal helmets. He made sure to make them look appealing as the main piece of armor that people would notice, ensuring the skull sat atop the head in a manner that did not look ridiculous.

By the time he had finished, the sun was beginning to set behind the mountain tops across the valley behind the forge.

Mark organized the armor and weapons he had crafted for the day before moving to grab his project sword. As he went to grab the sword, though, he noticed that Anabel was sleeping on the workbench that was situated outside his work area.

He thought to himself, 'huh, I didn't even notice she stuck around after the old guys left. I guess she wanted to watch me work at the forge.'

Mark walked over to where Anabel was sleeping as he wiped his hands on his blacksmith apron. Upon approach, he reached out to gently shake her.

"Hey, Anabel, you should probably sleep on a bed at home. That can't be comfortable."

Anabel slowly arose, confusion evident on her face.

As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she focused on Mark to make sense of the situation.

"Ah? Oh. . . Mark, I was just watching you at the forge. I must have fallen asleep. . ."

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Mark chuckled a bit, "You can come watch me work anytime, but for today you should go home. I bet your mother is wondering where you have been all day."

Anabel blushed a bit at the reminder. "I have a feeling she has gotten her own ideas of where I have been. . . Any way! You are right I should head home."

After waking up fully, Anabel realized she did need to head home. The sun was setting and it would be seen as uncharacteristic of her to stay out as long as she had. Any longer and she would be getting teased by her siblings and parents.

After getting her bearings straight, she stood and straightened her dress before leaning over and giving Mark a big hug.

As this was the first time Anabel had embraced him in such a manner, Mark was unsure of what to do so he just patted her back until she let go after a few long seconds.

She just smiled up to him before turning to leave.

"I will see you later Mark!"

Mark just waved goodbye, a bit unsure of the reaction of his heart which was beating harder than usual.

"Bye, Anabel. . ."

He watched her walk back toward the village proper until she disappeared before he went back to his project sword.

With his racing heart, he thought to himself: 'I guess I am really excited to get back to experimenting with my sword after having to deal with all this merchant business today'.

He turned back to his work area and pulled his project sword from the place he stashed it to keep it out of the way when he was working. The sword still had a solid gray look to it but it had a colorful sheen on it after the previous periods of experimentation he had put it through.

The metal was cool to the touch and dense. Denser than any other metal object he had ever held in his hand. The sword felt natural in his grip, even with the unfinished metal handle. The blade seemed to hold on to him as much as he held it. There was some sort of unnatural attraction between his hand and the sword, but it felt weirdly natural to Mark.

He placed the sword on the coals that had already been used but he fueled the fire a bit more to ensure it would be able to provide the heat he needed for the next several hours. After taking care of the sword and fire, he moved to his tool area to grab his etching tool to prepare the sword for further alloy experimentation.

'I was holding off on utilizing the blue ore metals, but if the orange ores are able to provide the heat resistance needed for the vibrating nature of the blue ore metals to be viable in the alloy then what I have now will be enough to experiment with and the caravan should be able to find more for me.'

With a plan beginning to form in his head, Mark set the tool near the anvil where he would need it when the sword was heated up properly. After getting his work area prepared, he moved to the furnace to see if he could properly refine the orange ores.

Mark prepared the fuel for the furnace as he thought about how he would get the orange ores to release the metal within them.

'The indigo rocks were useless because they melted so easily, but I wonder if I could arrange them with the orange rocks in a way that caused the orange ones to melt and form an alloy with the indigo ore in one go.'

Putting his thoughts into action, he grabbed a few indigo ores and a couple of orange ores stacking them in a way that the indigo ore rested on top of, and around the orange ores. Then he lit the furnace up to see if his plan would work.

While he was allowing the refining process to proceed in the furnace, he turned his attention to the sword at the forge.

The sword was starting to change colors.

'Not long now, I should be able to notch the grooves I need before the refining process is complete. If the indigo ores won't help the refinement process of the orange ore then I will just have to try again tomorrow.'

As he thought to himself, Mark stared at the sword in the forge. He started falling into a trance as he stared at the sword, with the beautiful flames of the coals lapping around the blade as if dozens of small animals were trying to tase the odd-looking metal.

The trance did not last long enough for him to have a full-blown daydream, but he did plan out his next move with the blade. He mentally went over how each groove would be placed in the blade in preparation for the new alloy he was hoping to mix into the blade that night.

By the time he was done going over his plans mentally, the blade had reached the correct color he needed it to be to work on it and he grabbed his insulated handle to grab the unfinished metal of the hilt.

After placing it on his anvil, he got to work. He meticulously placed each groove as he had envisioned it and hammered away at the metal, correcting any defects as he worked. Occasionally, he needed to place it back in the forge to re-heat it but it didn't take long for it to be workable again.

When he finished both sides of the blade, he placed it back on the coals so it would be hot enough to accept the bonding process if the orange-indigo alloy had been successful.

After taking care of the blade, he walked over to the furnace where there was a pool of molten metal in the refined holding portion of the forge.