With the black blade in hand, Allan checked it closer. Feeling the blade with his fingers, it felt like any other blade, but its internal structure or material should be extraordinary. A very small curve and sharp tip with no guard meant it was a sword for quick combat, strikes, and trust. It was sharper than ever and in excellent condition.
“Oh, father. I wonder how did you make this and why it was hidden inside the hammer emblem as well?”
Allan had no clue that this was the blade Clayton took with him on that special day of the invasion. However, he knew this blade was the one he had seen before and even its creation.
It held some memories even from the touch alone.
One surprising thing was clear to Allan. He became capable of handling this sword to some extent. Not like in the past with other Clayton's swords. While the mysterious gravity that moves within his body was strange, he considered it a mystery. The kind which he wants to uncover one day.
His handling was still not proficient or smooth enough, but much better than anything before. Right now, he had no mood to practice the sword. His work with the staff was good enough for him for now. It was to his advantage at the moment, and Allan looked forward to the day when he restore his eyes.
As he was lost in feelings of the past, Allan overlooked the present. Forgetting to put the special hourglass Sarey got him, he had no hunch about the time he put the Mithral inside the furnace.
“Forget it for now, but you will go with me. Hehe.” he chuckled and put the blade by a window, close to his diary. Like this, it would remain here, until he gets the eyes back. Same with dairy and the rest of the books, or what was left of them.
Changing his full attention back to his work, he waited half an hour before he the hammering of the scorching hot ore.
It seemed the time was right, as the softness was just right. Allan pushed his left hand to hold it with tongs. They survived the soul-fire because they were stored on the other side of the furnace.
Allan hammered it down with his right hand with the last remaining hammer.
Bang! Bang!
The sharp sound became the main course inside, as well as outside. The clicking sound of the metallic hits resounded throughout the surroundings, but it bothered no one.
This went for about additional half an hour before Allan reheated it. Putting the Ingreore ingots inside as well, he was getting ready for the 2nd piece.
Since he wanted to make the rough shapes of the 3 pieces, he worked with that in mind. The rest of the day should be enough for this, and so will his efficiency. Tomorrow, or someday later, he will be ready to make the final touches of sharpening them to perfection.
1 reheat followed another, and the shape that Allan wanted was beginning to show. The spearhead wasn't the easiest thing to do, but he knew how it should be done.
The biggest issue was the hexagonal shape, which he had to constantly hammer down with 6 sides to it. Those sides will go towards the sharp point, while more metallic mass will be at the beginning. This was a plan to make quite a robust spear, while not being cheap about the usage of the materials. That was the reason he was so throughout with it, so he wouldn't have to work too much afterward.
Hitting the now hexagonal-shaped spearhead, Allan poked the curves with a thin piece of a metallic plate. Like this, the heat would not wound him, and he took the shape through it to his mind.
It was a longer process than he was willing to take on, but there was no choice. It is better to calculate it once right, then be sorry for not doing so later. After all, the premise of the crescent shape had to be included here as well.
It took an additional hour for the final shape. It wasn't looking polished, but it was good enough. The Crescent blade was the biggest challenge, where he had to cut certain pieces of the scorching Black Mithral off of the spearhead. Making it a part of the design so it wouldn't be loose.
It took him 30 minutes alone to finish that, as this particular blade was on one side of the hexagonal shape. Since its shape, the tip and the curve went longer and wider. The tip of the crescent blade could pierce or cause damage in certain moves. It was making the spear much more intricate and deadly.
Retrieval or defenses were also easier. The tip of the spear could be stopped by the crescent design, which also acted as another sharp tip.
“Better than nothing. Sharpening will cease the imperfections anyway, so it's not a big deal.” Allan assured himself. The only worry in his mind was the bad reheating process of the crescent blade. He did not want to see it fail, but there was nothing but his work, which he assumed was correct. That's why, if it fails, it was his fault, as he wasn't good enough.
After the quench of this spearhead, Allan moved into the polearm.
Time was on his side, as the Ingreore ingot was ready for hammering.
This was a much simpler process than the complexity of the spearhead he had chosen. After all, the polearm had to be a massive blade, with an intricate design to go with the handles.
It should go well according to his plan. Shaping the tip into a curved one meant the swing would cleave the air itself with small obstacles. Of course, this was not the only thing that needed to be considered regarding the design.
A sharp tip was not as important as the edge of a whole striking side. Taking the right stance for shape, Allan hammered it further to increase the overall density in the very core outward. He also made sure to make some dull designs for the lower end of the blade, where it needs to be attached to the handle.
Like this, the shape changed slightly. The blade became thinner one millimeter at a time until it became an almost double-edged blade. Apart from the backside, where it was not, that curved to make it sharp.
A sharpened blade would be the only striking side of the blade, for obvious reasons.
Still scorching hot and soft, Allan made it work through his constant checks. Hammering the design in mind, the curvature was beginning to show.
It took quite a lesser time than the spearhead. The only thing which was challenging was the overall thinness he had to consider. A blade of quite mass, with a sharp side of the curved blade, which ends on a much fierce curved tip for massive swings.
Unlike the spear, this type of polearm that Allan decided on wasn't a thrust-type weapon. A chopper was a more correct term, while this would be the king of them all. He even considered this to be a Glaive type of weapon. Allan considered not worrying about making any claims for the right term.
For all that he knew, polearm and glaives weren't excessively different. Glaive was, in fact, a part of the polearm type of weapons. All consisted of long shafts, and the blades could be similar in many kinds of designs. Allan knew it all. The vision of the blade on top of the huge anvil made him call it glaive for its characteristics.
Checking the final piece of Ingreore ingot in the furnace, the heat was enough for this last piece.
It was one of the thinnest blades he planned, so this could go in either direction. Failure or success. Snap of the blade while hammering was common. It was a problem with ores or heat-treat of the metals.
So, Allan checked the small kind of ingot for a whole 20 minutes before he was sure it was ready to be hammered. Poking it, checking the general heat of the furnace through the touch. Just a few pokes to the scorching metal were enough to tell him it was good.
Before he started, he quenched the previous glaive blade so he won't forget about it.
With that being done, Allan moved into the hammering once again. A slight ache was already forming on his right arm, but he wanted to keep going with a smile on his face. Sweat long ago started to appear on his forehead, since he worked like a madman.
Bang! Bang!
The smoothness of the strikes began to echo once again in the nighttime that was already part of this day. It was ringing around for quite a time since this ingot was small, but with what Allan wanted, he had quite processing to do with it. Making the tough Ingreore as dense as possible, it will go for a while, without a doubt.
Allan kept rotating the now, longer metallic pole around the anvil. Hammering it to a longer and thinner piece of the blade for the premise of a thin sword. Allan turned it around from time to time before hammering it down once more. It was already quite long. Past 1 meter with a 3 centimeters wide rough and dull shaped sword.
After 20 minutes of continuous hammering, Allan couldn't take it anymore and rested his hand. He decided to reheat the rough shape of the blade to make the final push for the design in his mind.
At the very end of this session, Allan was already quite spent. His deep accumulated fatigue came back, yet he still persisted into the bitter end.
Pulling the blade out of the furnace. It barely fit inside because of its length. He was tired, and he didn't even check the quality of this reheat. He did not even check if it was even or not. Pokes with a knife or hammer would suffice. Even though the eyes would be the best for such a thing, but it was too bad for him.
Bringing two pieces of anvils together this time, Allan made sure the blade would have full ground below it. He continued where he ended and pushed to the very end.
Pulling every fiber of his being into the hammer and pushing the Ingreore to its limit. The blade was becoming thinner and flatter. This was an easier, but arduous process since it involved every little check within every 5 or 6 hits. The metal needed to be flat, string, and consistent throughout the entire length of the blade.
Considering the difficulty, this would be a challenge, even if he had eyes. However, this was good for his current situation, where he wanted to challenge himself. He wanted to go through the motion of the past.
It made his mind think of other things, while worries of the past, or the future, were useless. The present was for forging alone, and so was Allan's mind. He was already focusing on the forging for the past hours.
Allan was trying to push himself beyond his limits. Figuring out everything that he could. He soon ended with the first half in 10 minutes. He was pushing harder than ever because he wasn't sure if reheating would be great at this point.
Faster.
Harder.
Precise movement and hit which would amass just the right amount of strength were important. He didn't want to make the blade too thin, while the shape changed to be only a bit curved.
Another 10 minutes went by, and he sighed in relief. The blade itself was finished. There were quite a bit of imperfections that he noticed with his touch.
All of this could be solved with the black whetstone, so Allan was calm, considering the circumstance.
This was not the end of this piece yet, but the end of the most complicated one.
As for the handle, Allan decided to work with the small metallic plates. These ones would make a guard around the wooden piece of the handle, which would be inserted into the blade. This was a design, which he included to be a part of the blade. The metal would stick around as the softness of the metal would secure the tightness.
Allan never disliked the continuous blades. He took the plates and shoves a small hole in them with a hammer and a wedge. Putting the plates around the part of the metallic handle, it was secure after a few minutes of his tries. This would be his small experiment, while the wooden handle would go around the metallic one. After all, the wood is better to grip.
Wood was always nice to work with, and he was able to do it since he was young. Clayton taught him what he could at that age.
As he touches it, twisting it outwards and pushing it around, Allan curved the plates for a better guard. Still soft metal made the guard secure, as intended. With great strength, Allan managed it well.
Like this, he held the precise advantage and managed to work around the handle.
It quickly reached a memory in his mind. One memory when Clayton gave him advice on the handles.
They shouldn't get in the way while holding the blade. The blade should be firm, but also had some free movement. It was not always important for protection, as it could also be aesthetically pleasing. Allan made the metallic plates into 3 wing-like plates that will go around the handle. They would go below the initial security on the blade while flowing downwards around the hand.
It was done.
Finally done.
“Oh, my good lord... I am dead tired...” He muttered as the feelings of joy amidst the exhaustion made his mind. He rested unwillingly by the side of the still raging furnace.
Falling asleep on the spot, while holding the rough, yet finished sword in his hands.
The satisfaction he felt was quite something. An ending time of a hectic day was due to his mind.
The night was already quite far into its path. Every living apart from nocturnal predators of nature were resting for the next day.
Unknown to Allan, the temperature of the forge did not fall at all. It was only a moment when he fell asleep, and it was increasing ever since. A flaming circle started to emerge from his chest. It was soon revealed to be the soul-fire that wanted to take a look around once again. Whatever promise it made the last time was probably forgotten. The panic attacks from the last time hold no meaning to it.
Seeing nothing and no one. It was hard to say how its sight worked, but not a soul would be curious about such things.
Folding its limbs from its round body, a ball of fire jumped out of Allan's chest.
Stumbling against the sword beneath it, it panicked. Flustered and awkward, it changed its direction midair, with a gust of fire wind. It could have been called a fart, but the energy one? Who knows... It did not.
Appearing on the ground, it was looking at the wide and tall words around it.
It was a bit taller right now, since the last appearance. Around 7 centimeters tall.
It glanced at Allan, as its mouth seemed no different from before. Yet, it acted more reserved, as if it was a bit more mature.
Seeing there was nothing interesting, apart from glowing waves, it wasn't sure what to look for. Through, yes... it sensed those waves which were coming from one direction above Allan. As if rejuvenated by its wonders, it started to climb Allan's body.