Allan simply smiled from sorting things out with her. Imagining the prices isn't his forte, as caring about the business was his father's work. Taking the same sanding stripe from before, he began to polish the glaive wooden pole until it was smooth.
It wasn't strength per se, but it had 2 lines of curves in 2 parts. One in the middle, the second a half a meter above it. Just simple curves of two parted handles on top of each other.
“What sort of design is that? It is nothing like the spear at all.” Sarey wondered out loud.
“Do you know what spear is for?” Allan asked, asking instead of explaining.
“Thrusts, swipes, and all sorts of other moves,” Sarey answered quickly.
“Then how is it handled? The pole, with hands and so on.”
“Both hands for the most part. It is for both power and stability to use the point of the spearhead.”
“Then you know it very well. What about this glaive of mine?”
“You call this a glaive? I see. Hmmm. It is not that straight like a spearhead so I think it has something to do with the shape of the blade or weight. I don't know... It's strange considering the pole.”
“You are more or less right. You talked about the handles in a correct way, since the spear is a very point-heavy weapon. Its tip is important, but the Bamboo of the Red River was quite great, so a simple straight pole works best. Let me demonstrate this pole right here to you, so you will understand it a little better.
Allan said, grabbing the glaive, he went outside of the forge for a moment. It was better to swing such things around outside rather than when he was around in his forge.
Allan crossed his hands. Each part of the curved handles went for each hand and swung it with his full power around himself.
“Oh, impressive. It is for the better grip?” Sarey shouted in understanding, but it hadn't ended yet. Allan continued with the swing and changed his hands from horizontal to vertical slices right beyond the ground. Then changed it once again to horizontal with no time to waste.
It was also like a mad dance when he couldn't stop himself. In truth, that was the most correct choice of words since the momentum of the swing was a little too much for him. Each swing took him a while to adjust his body before he could continue with another one.
“Phew. Do you get it now? I think this is a powerful way to handle such weapons.”
“I agree. That is quite an easy way to make things more comfortable. It is only wood that changed. That is a cheap way to get some advantage.”
“I think so too. That's why a few experiments aren't that bad. After all, this sort of pole can be changed if it's bad. Unlike blade, pole replacement can be much cheaper. ”
Sarey couldn't help but nod to herself. Surprised that Allan thought about this like that, he was someone very familiar with sorting things out in his mind.
Allan wanted to try something special. This design would allow others to handle this long weapon with a single hand much easier. The curves in the middle would allow for a better grip, while the lower end of the pole would rest between the forearm, biceps, or armpit. He tried that, but the weapon didn't allow him to do so. He moved and stopped before he would regret it.
“It would rip my tendons in my arm to shreds. All in all, pretty great results.” Allan reassured himself in silence and moved once again to the insides. He still had the third blade to finish. It was getting late, and he still had some time to finish it and get a bath before sleeping too late.
The single-handled sword he planned was easy to finish, so he chose the easiest route. He already made well beyond hundreds of finishes for Clayton's swords in his shop, and this wouldn't be much different.
Carving the wooden handle will be done first since it involved an easy solution of two parts of the wooden, with sap, and securing it with leather strips. Next would be the sharpening of the blade. The lower end of the finished sword would go right across the wooden planks to form a handle.
Not all wooden types could be useful but Allan had most of the greatest types of wood for this sort of craftsmanship. Some types had unnatural firmness which could result in cracks after not even a long time of usage. Others would become loose because of some moisture, or simple wear and get out of the sword. Though, the good security of sap, leather strips, or rope could prevent most of these things from happening.
Carving the shape of the handle first, he began to carve two halves. He incorporated the design of the sword itself to the handle and made it curved down below the hand which would hold it. Like this, one could strike the foe much faster with an extended handle that bent forward. Unlike a straight sword, the blade he made was more curved, so having the handle also curved would come as no surprise.
Such a blade as this could be used for everything apart from big defenses. It could shatter or bend with enough force since it's not thick, but a light blade. No matter the method Allan could use, certain types of blades would be prone to cracking, from other ones.
One excellent thing would be the potential speed and sharpest of the tip and edge itself. It was meant to be a striking weapon and rather a flexible blade to wield. Its slight curve would make any slice easier.
Allan smirked as he tightened the grip around the two finished handles, and secured them with sap, and leather. Right in front of him was an elegant looking blade which could handle even a child. Although barely since he used quite a dense type of metal. It was light for adults. The amount of heat needed for full heat treatment was abnormal, but he made it work. Making the metal as dense as possible through a couple of hours of hammering was worth it.
“Very easy and even handling. Each swing will go and return by itself. Nice!” Allan smiled ear to ear and sighed with relief. Everything ended as he hoped for. With all of his 3 pieces done, he and another project could come next. He was not afraid of the next ones. Only anticipation was in his heart.
The last finishes for each piece included some final polishing with drops of oil and wiping each clean. No dust should remain on them as making them presentable was also his work.
Presented on his table were a sword, long glaive, and towering spear which was the longest so he rested it beside the table. Leaning on the edge and looking like a beauty to behold, only Sarey could marvel at them. Allan himself knew everything there is to know about them so, he didn't need to see them.
“Are you disappointed that you can't see your own work?” Sarey asked right beside him.
“No, but I will look forward to the day when I will see them with my own eyes,” he answered, taking the spear into his own hands. It's right there before his face. A fancy edge, with a sharp point, and a glistening crescent moon blade.
“Who knows where that day will come? 36 hardly told you the basic requirements for reaching that stage.”
“No need to worry about it at the moment. I still need to finish the stages according to their order. The body is a temple and bones and blood with following that. He at least talked about it like this before.”
“Right, Have you thought of the next work? You've done so well this time. Not like the previous ones. I have a completely new sight of your work now.”
“ Thanks. I have something in mind, but It will take some time until I will do them. There won't be another night where I will spend hours upon hours forging. It is better to do them one by one.”
“I agree. There are many more important things that you have to do.”
Allan sighed upon hearing those words. It made him recall the past and the shop where all that mattered was time and importance. Now, he had other problems, with a path of Immortals to follow. Allan had little problems with himself doing everything necessary for the fine blade. He even enjoyed it more than he would assume. Possibly even more so without the involvement of his father.
“Is this what the young bird feels when they fly out of their parent's nest?” Allan wondered. Placing the spear back to rest, he took the blade, and the glaive away.
“No! I was forced to do this. Taking things away from me... That is the fault of The Dawn.” He self-assured himself and rather thought of something else.
Unfortunately, that time would come another time as his anger of the past, was still inside of him. It was hiding there. Hidden underneath the care and toughness are some of the other things that refrain him from being helpless.
Sarey was getting tired from all this watching in this case but she liked to look at this version of Allan. But with all the things being taken care of, the end of the day is here. No one could stay up all day and night. Doing work and no rest wasn't possible.
Sarey yawned in tiredness, and so did Allan after being done with everything. Not like Allan cared too much about it, since he felt like he could work for an hour or two if he pushed himself hard. An energetic body that he had now been quite good for himself and even he, himself was less aware of it than he should be.
Gradual changes to his body were making some impact on him. Be it by himself or the strange fate of soul-fire and red orb in his body. There was no destructive force within it since it all revolved around him as his body was his and only. It was no longer in the fierce clash of the Red Orb, that wanted to devour his whole being.
Sarey took a last glance at the spear and tried to hold it as a normal spear. It was too forward-heavy, and she could probably manage a few thrusts with her form.
“Let's end this here. Wanna take a bath together again?” Sarey asked and put down the spear with slight disappointment. She knew there was no way for smaller and lighter spears to be unmanageable for her. This spear was too much for the current her, yet a small promise was decided by her in her mind. In the future, she will wield this one way or another. Putting this goal to use would be a long-term goal, while this sort of spear will be somewhat of an expectation for her.
If it was a normal one, she knew she would be able to wield it with no speck of trouble. It was a silent promise. She would never tell it out loud or anything. The majority of promises she took were like this, with almost all of them unsuccessful or out of her memories.
“Sure.” Allan agreed and took the messy leather-covered cloth from himself. Dust and pieces of wood were all over himself and dirt from spars and a whole day of training took a toll on his being.
Cleaning the surrounding tables and wood on the ground, both moved towards the deep night for a quick bath and bed.
Tomorrow would be another regular day when they both knew what to do.
The routine of Allan crept into Sarey's mind. Had it been around a month since all of this training began, or was it Allan himself, that came into her life? She was unsure but glad to have a company—especially this interesting one like Allan.
Reaching inside, Zigmund fell asleep long ago. No spying or other activities were pulled out by him in the past few days. It seemed he acted by his words and let them be. Being an indirect teacher for Allan was enough, as there was no need for him to be involved with some of the messed-up things. To his unawareness, the finished blades from today will wait a long while for a buyer. Whenever he had the opportunity to sell them or ask around for a buyer, it wasn't the easiest thing to do, since he still hadn't seen the first batch of blades. All that Zigmund ever saw from him were the basic pieces and not the 3 much-improved weapons.
Allan already figured that his work could be worth more than he assumed. At least from Sarey's comments. It all pointed to the materials he used, the quality of his work, and the whole package. The base price for that bamboo was very expensive and adding to that the work and processing, the spear should be the most expensive. All blacksmiths would charge at least twice on top of the initial price of the materials. Some would go even higher with their greed and take even more profit.
They would sell to other merchants or famous adventurers, or royalty, who would buy some precious and luxurious goods. A blade like the third one Allan made could be quite valuable by the lofty eyes of royalty. It was quite a shiny one, and with how easy it would wield, any weak royal would find it nice. Only time would tell what was in for Allan's blades as more worries will happen in the near future. Zigmund was the official owner of them in Allan's heart. Although he was hopeful about using the glaive personally. He was most proud of his glaive, which he liked the most. He was unsure if Zigmund would be lenient enough to let him keep that.
Saray let Allan rest a bit while she was making the warm water. In about the time it took to make a tea, water was already pouring into the barrel.
The pair went inside. Resting and cleansing their bodies, they weren't talking much about this hectic day. It had been a few days of this situation where Sarey used this opportunity of not wasting water to bathe together with him. Her true intentions were secret as to her whole appearance to Allan. The time she let him touch her face left an unknown impression on him. She never felt that before and even... It wasn't all that bad.