Chapter 25: Forging for Dummies
Even though she had only just started reading, the first sentence of the book made Angela groan. If she has to use one word to describe the book it would be "pompous".
"The noble art of forging is one that can only be mastered by those with the highest talent and dedication. That being said, even an imbecile can forge a simple blade and this book will show you how, the official title may be apprentice forging but it might as well be forging for dummies."
It was just the first paragraph and she has already been insulted. The introduction seems to go on for a fair few pages as well; whoever made this book must be insufferable to meet in person. Angela switches tack, quickly scanning over the next few pages so as not to miss any important information and she eventually gets to something with some substance.
"The first, and arguably the most important aspect of forging is heating the metal. Only the most experienced blacksmiths can do this perfectly as different materials have different ideal temperatures and different ideal heating methods"
Angela knew that different metals needed different temperatures but the mention of heating methods were something new to Angela, she was only using the runes. Thankfully now that she had gotten onto the substance of the book the author had much less time for pomp, only occasionally throwing out an insult at the reader.
The book goes on to describe the different temperatures different metals needed, this was useful but Angela could look back at this whenever she needed so she moved on to the next page: hammering.
"Hammering is broken down into 4 stages: initial, basic, advanced, master. The average person can reach initial, talented disciples can reach basic, extremely lucky disciples with hard work and talent can reach advanced and only the most exemplary smiths like myself can reach master."
The book then shows a description of various hammering techniques, each more complicated than the last. Angela makes a note of each one and then moves on; she would try them out later. Next comes the part that Angela is really interested in, forging a blade.
The process of forging a blade is long and complex. First, the metal needs to be heated (as stated before). Next the blade has to be hammered until it has the correct shape, for a longsword like Angela is planning that means it has to have a long blade that tapers with narrow edges. After that she needs to establish a blade, by repeatedly using small taps with a sledge near to the edges. Once the shape is complete a small extrusion has to be made at the hilt end of the sword, somewhere to securely attach the hilt to.
With the blade shape and handle attachment complete the blade needs to be 'washed' in flames several times, heating up to a white hot temperature before cooling down again; this will harden the blade while also making it more flexible.
Finally the blade needs to be attached to a handle. This is done by wrapping the end of the blade in a coil of wire or leather though Angela had no leather and so she would have to use wire.
Putting the book down, Angela yawns and closes her eyes, she would start forging tomorrow and she would certainly need all of her strength to do so; she remembers how difficult it was to cut down the tree.
The new day, if indeed it could be called that, came and Angela awoke. Her excitement did not stop her from continuing her daily ritual of washing but she did finish much faster than usual. She dons her dress and flies over to the forge, eager to start.
Though she had read the book the night before, Angela had no actual practice in applying the techniques and so she has no expectations of actually forging anything on her first few tries. For the first couple attempts she didnt even attempt to hammer the metal, just getting a feel for the act of heating the metal to the correct temperature.
After heating a few different pieces of metal angela felt like she had a pretty good feel for the right temperature and colour of the metal and started to hammer out a shape. Immediatly angela could tell she was doing something wrong, the metal was very uneven and bumpy. Thinking about what she could be doing wrong she realised that both the strength and positioning of her blows were all over the place. As the book had put it "more haste means less speed".
For her second attempt Angela focused on having each blow be evenly spaced with similar amounts of force. This came naturally to her as it was also a major part of rune inscription; although with different tools.
Next is establishing the blade. Angela uses the same technique she used to create the shape but the amount of force she had been using was far too high for this part and the blade bent, rendering her efforts useless.
Attempt number three. The first two stages go well and she comes to the part that she failed at. This time Angela uses soft taps before working her way up to the required force, a much safer method that trying to get it right first try. The rest of the blade is easily done with her experience from the second stage and the next stage is similar to the first and thus doesnt need explaination.
Angela takes out the finished product. Sure, it was a little bit rough around the edges, but it was a blade. It was a blade SHE had made. Not with the blueprint editor or the creation menu but with her own two hands.
She stares at the piece with pride and satisfaction. Her intense focus dissapating and the adrenalin leaving her system. That is when she is hit by the pain and wearyness of her muscles. In her focused state she hadn't even noticed the passing of time or the buildup of lactic acid in her body. In fact it had been almost 12 hours since she started and she was starting to even feel hungry but her arms were so tired that she couldnt even be bothered moving back to her shack to sleep, lying down where she stood.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
chibi_chan
chibi_chan forging is tricky.... my head hurts just researching it.
Im only going to do one chapter today, the rest of the time I want to spend editing my first few chapters and some other stuff on royal road.
ive also got to build up a stockpile as I wont be available at all on Saturday cause im going flat hunting :p
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