The Rules of the Forge

"Grandpa Daval, I'm here!"

"Good timing, I just finished preparation."

I have arrived at Grandpa Daval's Forge. It was a completely separate house that's on the edge of the Village. It was a sweltering room that had every known tool a blacksmithing would ever need.

The storage was also built underneath the Forge so there was no need to leave the Forge. There would be times when Grandpa Daval would spend days creating something then he would throw it away, saying, "It's trash."

'Then the Village Chief would sell it and we'll have enough funds for a year. He's such a shy old man.'

Noon arrived. It was after lunch and with my stomach reloaded and my body relaxed, it was now the allotted time for us to begin.

Time to forge weapons.

"What's with the smile?"

"Heh, it is because I am about to forge a weapon to the most prolific and greatest blacksmith I know."

"I'm the only blacksmithing you know, brat."

"Exactl—ahhh! Drop the hammer!"

It's fun helping Grandpa Daval. He's really grumpy, but he's someone who's very kind… though a little sensitive to words.

"Enough of that. I'm going to begin now; go to your station.I don't have the time to worry about you, kid."

With a salute, I followed Grandpa Daval's words and retreated to my corner of the room.

It was behind a blast shield that's layered with powerful glass. It was etched with weird symbols on the side. It was a low-grade magical weapon that Grandpa Daval created. Or so I am told.

The Apprentice Corner was what I called it.

Here, I could see the whole Forge. In the past, when I first started watching him work, I accidentally got burnt and was hit by Grandpa's elbow by accident. I got a nosebleed and I lost a tooth.,

Of course, it didn't leave any mark but it caused an uproar. Almost burning his Forge in a panic and hurriedly brought me to be healed.

Grandpa Daval barred me from watching his work, but after much begging and using the card called throwing a massive tantrum, he created my very own station, complete with a soft couch and some bowls of snacks.

A smithy should be noisy once it begins, but in Grandpa Daval's place, he started with a few breathing exercises. Only the sputtering of the fire on his forge could be heard along with his breathing.

Grandpa would do this so that he's completely focused. Even when he's just creating an ordinary knife, he does this still.

"If you're going to create something. Then you should do it to the best of your abilities." Is what he told me.

Whatsmore, when Grandpa Daval starts breathing something amazing happens.

The fire of the forge would move in accordance to his breathing.

The forge would come alive right before my eyes.

My eyes that's veiled by darkness were illuminated by the breath of life that was the fire. This is the reason why I love watching Grandpa Daval forge items.

It felt natural. It's a weird feeling, but that's the only way to explain this sensation.

The forge was hot but not suffocating. In a place like this, ventilation was a must.

"Let's begin." he announced.

Grandpa Daval picked up the steel ores from the side and began heating it up in the fire.

Grandpa Daval started with the spear's socket. In this era, one cannot simply acquire steel for a low price; those who request a weapon must provide the materials. This time was not any different.

I can only see the metal getting devoured and molded by the flames. The flames break it down, then it becomes more malleable as though it was clay.

It looked easy, but the heating process was complex yet straightforward.

When heated beyond what's necessary, it would become liquid.

Too low would not even make it bend.

It was a delicate dance that the Blacksmith had to learn. Knowing what must be on direct flames and not.

A beautiful sight to behold, and when Grandpa Daval pulled out the steel from the furnace… is the most beautiful thing in this world. A brilliant light of their very essence. Activated to the very limits.

I cannot see anything in this world. Behind the hazy fog of darkness. But when they come out of the fire, they glow more beautifully than gems.

'But… it still has a few black spots.' but they always have them. So, it must be normal. Right?

BAM!

Grandpa picked up his hammer and hammered down onto the steel to spread it. Every strike of his hammer, I could see a part of his colored silhouette assimilating with the hammer and then into the steel.

He was becoming one with his own craft.

Grandpa was giving it all in this most minor of things.

After that, he began beveling its edges before folding to make it easier to forge weld later. Using a mandrel, Grandpa folded it to roughly fit the needed shape.

Now, it was time to create the spearhead. The spearhead was composed of two things, the spear's core and its edge wrap or cutting edges. Grandpa began the creation of the core.

There was plenty of steel left, but he did not use them. Instead, he used a different material – [Rabid Hellhound Spine] and [Black Fire Ore]. Of course, the Spear's Cutting Edge would be made from the fangs of an [Avaldore] (Lava Crocodile).

I can't see it to confirm, but I'm reasonably sure that it's that. Grandpa already briefed me on what kind of materials he would use to create this spear three weeks ago.

Rabid Hellhound Spine [Danger Lv. 45 - 70] – a material harvested from the carcass of a Hellhound an hour after its death and then preserved by having it submerged in a jar filled with a mixture of Red Slime Essence and something called the Galiva's Saliva that's similar to formalin.

Black Fire Ore – the processed feces of a Black Dagalva Salamander. It is good at conducting fire mana and elements.

Avaldore (Lava Crocodile) Fangs [Danger Lv. 80 – 100] – hard and sharp enough to tear through the hard shell of Black Shell Armadillos with ease.

Back on earth, I have seen spears and weapons made of bones and the like. If this was my first time seeing this, I would believe that he's just creating a hybrid of a Viking spear and a bone spear.

But that's not it at all. Grandpa Daval was doing something beyond what I believe is possible.

If back on earth, there were a variation of spears based on their designs, here where magic existed, weapon variation was endless.

The different materials would, of course, be hard to craft into a blade for an ordinary blacksmith; the magical properties in the weapon would be hard to contain. But Grandpa Daval was no common blacksmith; his [Crafting Class] was called [World Smith], someone who could create anything using any material.

I don't know what Grandpa's level is in his class, but, according to Mother, if he wanted to, Grandpa could work for a King and become a Nouveau Riche.

The process of what he's forging was called Artifact-Refinement – this was also the first time I see one being crafted. Grandpa always said that it is dangerous for me to watch while being too young, so this was the first time I'll see him create an Artifact.

Once this is over, a weapon capable of overturning a fight would be created. A true Artifact.

'...just what kind of effects would it have!'

I could hardly contain myself.