Allan sighed upon stirring much-unneeded thoughts, while motions of the past were always on the brink of his mind. He always thought about a lot of things since his curiosity went hand to hand with his good memory. Such general what he remembered was a figure of wonders and awe. When he was younger, he couldn't help but look up to these people, but it was sidelined when he became to work for his father full time.
“All of this doesn't matter anymore, since I can become someone like that general myself. Heheheheh. Most likely... Who knows? I surely hope that I can.” Allan chuckled in a little anticipation, unbeknown to the changing mind, and heart that slowly became to change. In the past, he would never imagine himself being excited about things like that. He was an observer, a curious kid who liked stuff like that because they were interesting. It was unknown even to himself what the future could hold, or even his own feeling about the distant future.
Feeling this cold and precious spearhead, Allan put it down, while he already had quite an interesting plan in his head. First came the shining and softening of the look of the pieces from a few days ago. This meant a lot of things, but the basic was simple. Polishing and grinding away the rough shapes of the metallic pieces, that weren't taken care of at all.
The end product would be using the black whetstone to polish them all into the finest piece he ever had.
With the black whetstone already on the table in front of him, William began to work through the rough-looking spearhead. Screeching sounds of metal against the metal sounded far from the room, with the distinct sight of metallic dust coming off of the spearhead.
The sound didn't matter to Allan, even though the sound was high-pitched and very close to him. His perception and focus caused him to neglect this sound, as this was very similar to the sharpening stations he was used to for the majority of his life.
Using his hands, forearms, and biceps, Allan moved his hands very carefully, so the spearhead would be firm in his grip. It was quite a bit of work, as it wasn't the smallest and lightest piece he held in his hands. In fact, it was quite a work to manage this piece.
There were quite a few occasions when his hand slipped and ate more metal than he wanted. This caused him small problems, as he wasn't that firm with his grip. Finest perception, as well as patience, was the key to the right style of polishing and sharpening. Especially with this type of whetstone, that was like any other.
Allan knew this very well, yet it was always the first time, which was the hardest. He believed those problems would cease to exist when he will become proficient with enough time, and practice. The more advanced pieces of the swords and weaponry are done, the more he will be sure about his skill. Easy or hard to make, it didn't matter to him, since he felt the need for that, and love for doing this.
That was one of the reasons he didn't mind Zigmund's idea at all. Forging more blades for them to sell was a normal thing to do. It would take a longer period, while the training on the Unmoving technique wasn't meant to be for a whole day.
1 hour flew by, with shaking hands, and a bit tired expression on Allan's face.
“Phew. What a blade!” Allan exclaimed as he brandished the shinier spearhead across his person. These were the times he wished to see, but those won't change just because he wanted. Even a tiny bit of glancing time would be sufficient for him.
But this wasn't such a simple and dreamy world where one would think and it could occur. No. Work as well as luck could all partake in the everyday life of every single individual. Allan knew it all too well but by a small margin.
He was still young, passionate, angry, and hopeful for the future, where he will see his father, Skoll, and his home. It didn't even matter if it was long gone, or something... else.
“There is still some stuff that feels quite clunky. That crescent moon blade on the top is certainly sharp and well forged, but it needs a little more curvature for it to be effective. That, or fusing it better with the spearhead itself, but how to do so? It feels way too thick and outside of the spearhead's body, which is good since I want to work with it, but the question is how?” Allan wondered, by feeling every inch of the blade with his hand.
This was a problem he didn't expect, since the solution wasn't that easy. Handling this sort of blade on top of the spearhead wasn't that great of an idea. Though it was too late for regrets since this was a challenge he wanted. Allan had to have the right angle and manage the spear and crescent blade to make them more streamlined. The primary attribute of this spear was unsurprisingly the tip of the spearhead and the body of it in general.
The crescent blade was added to make it more special. Any regular spear should have around 3 to 4 centimeters wooden pole, while the spearhead could even be a simple knife. Sharp knife in a rectangular pattern, with curvature, or whatnot. The design didn't matter all that much, since the premise of the spear was long-range combat, thanks to the long handles.
Alas, those things were all known to Allan, who returned to work.
He decided to grind the crescent blade with the finest motion on the very edge of the black whetstone. This should be more than enough, but time went slower, because of how slow and precise he had to be. It took him more than 20 minutes on both sides to finish this simple, yet hard process.
At the moment, what was in his hand remained the same as before. A rather smooth curved body of the spearhead, which went below the crescent moon-shaped blade. There was no obscurity or problems with the metal itself, which made Allan quite happy.
Allan hoped for the best and not cause the crescent moon blade to crack or became too thin. It went more than well, but sweat involuntarily appeared on his forehead for quite some time already.
“Good. Great!” Allan couldn't be happier, with the work he accomplished. All this spearhead needed was a little bit of oily treatment and finishing touches on hand grind-stones. Those were very tiny and effective ways to make the finishing touches, without the need to grind any metal away. In a form of a rectangular piece of pebble, or squarish kind of appearance with the finest whetstone-like surface. With it, Allan will make the spearhead shine like anything else, and the glitter from it will light the eyes of others useless. Wishfully, and rhetorically speaking, of course.
Putting the spearhead very carefully on the other table beside him, he didn't want to damage it in the slightest. Not the spear itself, but things around it. The sharpness that he felt from the tip, edge, and blade itself was unlike what he expected. With the amount of the mass of the metal, it was still heavy, and its incredible sharpness will be deadly. He only hoped that the metal he used wouldn't crack, fold, or chop in the tip or sides when one would hit something very sturdy or blunt. It could happen with any kind of blade, after all. With the mass of the spearhead itself, Allan couldn't help but feel uncertain.
“No. No. This is good. Time for the second piece!” He cheered himself before any other second thoughts will emerge in his mind. No negative feelings were necessary when one was done with forging. That was the saying of his father, who always believed the feeling of self-confidence and certainty was important to any blacksmith. One had to be proud to feel right about one's work, and showing it off wasn't bad as well. Although, in small quantities, since Allan knew he had met plenty of occasions where he made mistakes.
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Everyone is human, including his father, who always thought harshly of his mistakes. Scolding which happened after these times were times that Allan remembered to this day.
While ignoring his doubts, for the second piece, Allan had chosen the massive one. The biggest of the three pieces, while not hard to make, or the easiest. It was about a long curved blade with considerable mass, strength, and a massive handle that could be in all shapes and sizes. From one-handed and two-handed styles, the name glaive made an appearance. A weapon of quite a destruction, with a similar margin of power, like a spear. Though it wasn't that useable as a spear, it still had many important factors. Its handle could be metallic, or wooden, but the need for high security had to be firm and tough.
Surviving the strikes which traveled from the blade towards the handle, most of the stress went three, so it needed to be secured. That meant either the handle to the blade or making the design of the blade part of the handle. Either by thick nails, which could be forged between the pole and the blade or by regular practice of putting the blade inside the handle. Wrapping it with leader strips and securing it through the means like a regular blade.
Those were a few examples, while there were more than even Allan didn't know about. If the blade would malfunction, it could be a fault of either of the method of securing the blade. If the blade would become loose after a continuous barrage of attacks, shatter, chop, or even break apart. Those were the errors that Allan more than knew, and could easily happen to him as well.
The general rules and mindset behind each significant detail were known to him through the teachings of his father. As for the less important details, he was unsure about them but he will solve any problems that will come his way.
Truth persisted, and he was nervously placing his hands around the rough blade on the worktable. He knew he had never done such a huge blade like this in his life. Even Clayton barely did such work himself, but that could be because of the lack of materials that his father had in his true forge. Allan was long aware that the matter of his secret forging involved multiple days of working on each blade with dozens of hours needed for finishes.
Though, it showed to Allan a different light into the world of forging. Nothing could be done easily, and fast. Some time, effort, and patience were necessary in order to be a good blacksmith. Unlike the involvement of the "regular" forge, where the swords could take form in a single forging session, Clayton's true forge was more than normal. Each forging involved a longer period than necessary for many reasons. Those were still unknown to Allan to a certain extent.
The kind of materials was the obvious answer, but that didn't quench Allan's curiosity at all. He knew that any mistake he did could mean a loss of sometimes kilograms of materials. That meant gold, silver, and hours of potential work and sellable products.
“It was a challenge by mister Zigmund, so no matter what, I will be victorious!”
Allan noted in a self-assured manner and grabbed this piece with both hands. Moving his fingers across the edges, he recalled the shape that he had decided on. The further he moved it from the potential end for the handle, the thinner certain curves became. He forged it this way, but they could become that much more pronounced because of the black whetstone.
In the very middle of the blade was the widest part, which further became thinner, but not as significant as the edges. It moved to the tip, which was curving towards the distinct glaive design he planned for. This will be a significant butchering weapon in every possible conceivable world. One who would try to counter such a weapon needed their pants checked beforehand; otherwise, it would be awkward. Of course, the question of the quality will depend on Allan's plans, which were quite simple.
“The toughest part was actually forging it according to my mindful design. This should be the easiest work, but even I can't be sure, because the most problematic reason is my eyes. If there will be problems, it would be right now with sharpening and polishing.”
Allan thought to himself while beginning his lighting fast work.
This time, he held no hesitation, or care for being too gentle. Unlike the spearhead, which was too detailed with the crescent moon blade, the glaive blade was more straightforward. It all came to the amount of polishing and grinding of the curves, edge, and shape of the blade. There shouldn't be any problems, even if he will hold this incorrectly or not. In fact, the blade itself glided through the whetstone with no issue according to the edges, which further pleased Allan.
“Wow. Calm down! How fierce. This blade already feels like it could become alive in the right hands. Hehe.” Allan chuckled in the good mood and continued with further swings of his arms. Not stopping, he felt right in his element, while a creeping smile wouldn't be stopped, even if someone asked for it.
Like the spearhead itself, he used fast strokes on each curving side of the blade. Though this time, it needed to be more smoothened, unlike the spear, which had a hexagonal beginning, which was smoothened towards the tip. Unlike that, the glave will have to be smoothened completely, which meant no hesitation and grinding to come.
One stroke of Allan caused the singular movement on the surface of the black whetstone. There were no damages or uneven sides after Allan checked it with his palms after every 10th stroke. He had to check the blade regularly, so no issue will come later on. At this point, he was still getting used to it, but it wasn't that bad.
He did the same for all curved edges as well as the other side, which he had to turn around from time to time, so it would be even. In general, he made the regular practice seamless, while training, improving, and working at the same time. All in order to get the most out of the polishing to make it as best as possible.
In less than one hour, Allan was finished with all sides and almost cut his finger off when he checked the very tip of this glaive.
“I've overdone myself! Bloody hell, that would be something 36 would say. Hehe.” Allan joked around while sucking the blood away from his thumb. It was just a scratch. Nothing that would even Sarey care about.
In his both hands was a rather long, metallic blade, of quite mass, length, and wideness.
The weight of the blade itself was his approximation of a good glaive, but it may still be workable for some people. This wasn't for himself, but Allan was included to wield this sort of glaive, so he couldn't wait until the end of the day. After all, he already had prepared wooden handles which were pre-made, in order to save time.
Wood was wood, and Allan didn't have time for doing custom-sized handles every single time. Only the spear and this blade would get their handles, while there was still some room for experiments if he felt like it. As for the third blade, what was about to happen next, Allan will still make the custom handle, since it was for a one-handed sword. A small amount of time and wood was necessary for it, so he should be done with that in less than 30 minutes.
As for the handles for these already done two pieces. Allan simply decided on what he felt was the most correct choice. Since both of them were rather heavy, he had to be clever about it. The spear itself always included longer poles, so it was an easy decision. A straight, exciting wooden pole. Nothing more, nothing less simple.
Yet, that being easy is the simplest. The glaive, on the other hand, seems more problematic, because it ended up more massive than Allan anticipated. No... he wanted this to be like this, but the handle had to be adjusted to this, so there would be no tearing. The quality of the handle was also very important, after all.
“Both would work with a straight wooden pole. It's the best way possible, but I need to make sure everything is secure. For the spearhead, it is rather easy. I will insert it into the Towering rock tree which is known for very robust stricture when it comes to movements and a bit of flexibility. It is less flexible than other choices but still workable. But.. there is still something else. One possibility could be better than that. At least according to Zigmund's words. Bamboo of Red river. I am unsure what this Bamboo is, but he recommended this to me when the caravan left. It's made for any longer pieces, according to him, so I may give it a try.” Allan speculated for a bit while trying to remember more about what could work better. A chance of plans was never a bad idea, as this was about what he expected to happen. Sooner, later, then later, that is.
“Where is it, though?” Allan questioned himself, and before he knew it, a sudden question came to his ear.
“You are rather talkative to yourself today, aren't you? I couldn't watch it anymore.” Sarey's sweet voice filled with blatantly obvious mockery. Unlike her expectation of revealing herself, her words left no surprise in Allan's demeanor.
“Oh, I knew you were here all along, Sarey.” Allan managed to hide his little fright once again and acted as if he knew all along. Not making anything obvious.