Forging metal to the desired shape has more to it than you realize; for beginners, the mere fact the speed and strenght of your strikes determine how long the piece of metal will stay hot is simply mind-blowing to me. I learned this last time from watching Baba work and wondered how the old hag always had to use the blaster far less than me.
I watched the old hag for a while longer to determine why she always seemed to use the blaster far fewer times than me until I realized she moved far faster and better than me. As far as I was concerned, I didn't get it much, but one thing was clear: speed was part of it, so I would have to get a better rhythm.
I've only been forging stuff for a couple of weeks under Baba's guidance, but I've already got quite good at it for someone as weak as myself, as Baba put it, but that was not enough for me. If I ever wanted to become the best at the craft, then I would have to beat Baba, and she still beat me in everything.
My speed for finishing projects was far behind that of someone like her; my end products were not nearly as well made even though we used the same tools, materials, and techniques. I was just missing those little subtle details, like the fact that Baba didn't need to reheat her metal as much as I did. Things like those had messed with the end quality, right?
So ever since I've been able to forge and afford materials to practice with, I haven't stopped practicing this every day nonstop until my body collapses out of pure exhaustion. I've even gained a couple of levels from all the hard work. It's not like I can see my stats, so I'm kind of in the dark about how much progress those levels are getting me.
Yet one thing was sure: I would need weapons if I intended to gain my freedom and rescue Alice someday! LOTS OF WEAPONS! I might not be the strongest or fastest thing alive, but if I build enough weapons to use against the enemies, I will win, or at least I hoped.
At the end of the day, it's all just simple wish casting; a goblin like me has no chance of ever beating a human or anyone in hand-to-hand combat unless the human is naive or is attacked by a bunch of goblins at once. The reality of goblins is ruthless and grim in this world.
Goblins are far weaker and dumb than humans, noted by the mere fact weapon building for humans is so advanced, yet a spear for a goblin is like a trebuchet for a human. The sun suddenly hits my face as I stop dreaming and wake up in the middle of a bright, shiny day.
"Oh man, alright, it's time to go gather the usual materials," I say to myself as I wake up from my slumber. Every morning, before any work can be done, I've got to run into the woods to gather some materials. Not only do I have to collect some stuff but going outside the town also allows me to have some privacy, if you know what I mean.
You can call me nasty or criticize me all you want, but I've got to at least beat it up once a week, or I will go literally insane while I live surrounded by these plumpy, curvy women at the age of a teenager in this new small body, my sexual drive is just through the roof in here.
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It's pretty funny how quickly I adapted to using skirts and dresses as well; you'd think I would be ashamed or feel weird about it, but honestly, dresses are pretty freeing, man. Sure, I've got to be careful not to show off my crotch, but aside from that, walking is a little easier, and I have complete freedom of movement.
My only concern regarding my attire is that I will be in a Yaoi hentai manga if this light novel ever gets published by some big studio or publishing house. I can already see the pervs saying, 'I love you, Pan-Kun!' 'Pan-san's butt is so cute!' Oh gosh, no.
Luckily for me, the chances of that ever happening are small, so there's not much to worry about in that department. What I should worry about for now is to keep up the facade, or I will lose my penis and my head, most likely. These witches are crazy in the department of hating men. I mean, they really hate them with a passion!
I'm no one to judge them or anything, but they seem pretty hateful even by my standards, and I come from a timeline where the women claim there's a patriarchy oppressing them while the opposite is the case! Is that going to get me canceled on Twitter? Oh boy, I would love it if that were the case.
Is it clear that I miss my phone or what? I mean, I love magic as much as the next guy, but aside from work, there's not really much to look up to in this world. There are no such things as movies or replayable music, no TikTok or youtube shorts, nothing to read or print, not to mention the lack of porn.
I do sometimes miss those things, even if it's been quite literally years since my death. As far as today's events, there wasn't much I wanted to get done other than to practice the hammering technique that Baba used all the time; aside from that, I had nothing planned, so my morning routine felt empty until I chose to walk out further than I had ever before.
The fresh air of nature was quite refreshing while the sounds of the forest calmed my nerves down to zero until I heard a random leaf crunch not too far away, immediately putting me on edge. For a second, I looked around me, but I didn't see anything, so I relaxed again, assuming it had been a squirrel or maybe another type of rodent.
"Uhm, these mushrooms would be nice in a stew today. It's quite a cold day." I once again simply talk to myself in an effort not to feel so lonely in the woods, but I'm surprised when something actually answers my comment with a response of its own.
"You would be tastier," something behind me says, followed by the feeling of something pointy against my back, which quickly makes me drop everything I had in my hands. The voice sounded raspy and quite distorted, almost like my father, I would say, which clues me as to what the creature behind me was.
"No need to fight between goblins, is there?" I tell the goblin behind me, yet he doesn't believe me; instead, he chooses to laugh and call out his party to show itself, revealing a small group of ten around me.
"You can't be goblin! You Witch! You dress like a witch, talk like a witch, walk like a witch! YOU A WITCH!" The goblin behind the surrounding ones and I are all fooled by my appearance, which honestly speaks to Mother's fantastic job with my disguise if not even my own kind could tell me apart.
Still, I had to try and get the point across to the goblins before they tried anything stupid since I didn't want to fight. Not only would it go badly for me, but I could also end up dead. Dying right now was not an option as I still hadn't rescued Alice, so that was out of the question.
"My name is my proof; I'm pan," I say to the goblins, who all keep laughing while the one with the tip of his spear against my back removes my little hair bow.
"Dumb name, you not goblin!" "Kill them now!" "Revenge!" "They kill us!" "Kill the Witch!" "Witch must die!" "They no mercy!" All the goblins around me suddenly start chanting all that nonsense while I slightly panic since I was caught with my pants down. Basically, how would I even beat ten warrior-class goblins? Or even outrun them!?