章 389: Some Good Old Smithing (2)

This time, I placed a smaller, yet stronger ingot of steel into the forge and began to heat it up, before pulling it out and hammering it down into a billet, which I then placed between the two iron billets and forged together, to create a strong core with softer metal on either side; something that I wasn't sure if it would work, matter, or whatever, but just seemed like an interesting thing to try out.

After all, I was here to just... experiment and have some fun, and this seemed like it was worth trying; maybe it would be an interesting pattern, maybe it would fail, but either way I would learn something for future reference, and that was all that mattered.

Hammering the new billet back into a long, flat, straight piece of metal, I moved on to shaping it into what I wanted it to be; not a weapon per se, but a tool instead to help out with the area around us.

Though... yes, it could be used as a weapon, if one so desired.

Not entirely unique, but something that was a bit harder to forge correctly thanks to its shape and use; a farmers sickle.

I had to curve the billet into a crescent like shape, keep it flat and 'straight' before tapering in the beginning of the edge, which would need to be sharp and able to cut through the relatively thick and tough shoots of grain or swathes of grass.

It would be a bit of a trial to do so, but as I began to use the horn of the anvil to curl the billet around, it shaped itself out pretty well, even after I went back and made sure it was flat.

Getting it to the shape I wanted, I began to taper the edge before heating it one last time, getting it to forging temperatures again before moving it towards the wire rack I had installed on the other side of the forge, where I hung it up and allowed it to cool on its own, allowing me to start on something else.

Now that I was here, and now that I had already worked up a sweat, I wanted to keep going and make one more thing, something that I was going to eventually gift to Aka in the future, when she got big enough... so in a week or so, considering how swiftly she's grown.

Thanks to my 'meddling', Aka was going to be predisposed to being talented with any and all bladed weapons, as well as having good coordination in general with both her feet and her hands, so my little kit was - maybe, most likely - going to end up learning how to fight.

Especially if Sari decides that Aka is going to learn how to fight; just like when Rhefia taught both Camara and Aethisia, I only plan on stepping in and stopping them if they either get hurt or show a desire to quit, so...

At the very least, I wanted Aka to have her own weapon to train with, one that would be light enough for her to wield at a younger age when she hadn't built up her muscle just yet, and a way for me to see just what she likes to wield.

Taking out a single ingot of steel, I stared at it before placing another beside it, trying to gauge how much I needed before shrugging as I began to heat one, planning on alternating between the two.

Maybe I'll need it, maybe I won't, but it'd be best to be prepared instead of having to do this later~!

So I got to work again, the sickle cooling on the rack behind me whilst the two ingots in the furnace slowly got to forgeable temperatures, where I then began to flatten them into billets.

This time, I wanted something simple and easy to make, since this would help me better understand the foundations of weapon forging; I was going to make a falchion for Aka to wield, something that would have a little bit of weight on it whilst also being something that would suit her energetic, active side...

She might be a lazy bundle of fluff most of the time, but like I had seen earlier I knew that she was rather quick and able to run for a good amount of time, which likely was a result from her doing the bare minimum and sleeping all day.

Something I think Sari was going to crack down on in the future, which made me chuckle as I imagined Sari hunting around the house and compound for an elusive Aka, who was likely sleeping somewhere.

Most likely though, Ehretia will be the crux of finding her sister, since the Doe was adept at it already whenever Aka slipped away to find herself in a bed or curled up on some pillows; something that made me chuckle harder as I imagined Sari using Ehretia to find our kit.

Amusing myself, I continued to forge that falchion and nodded as I chopped off half of the second billet, which I then combined with the first to create something a bit longer and thicker, folding it a few times to ensure everything was forged properly before moving onto the shape.

Roughly two and a half feet long and an inch wide, the falchion was just a bit shorter than a proper, adult version of the weapon, but since this was meant to be a training weapon for her here and now, well... it was the proper size.

Making sure it was flat and the edge was given a basic taper, I then went up towards the tip and gave it the signature curved point that was tapered on either side, allowing it to pierce as well as slash.

When I lifted it, I nodded at the weight and balance before heating it again, hanging it up beside the sickle before turning towards that last piece of the billet, which I began to forge into a twin set of thin, needle like daggers for Ehretia and Ipoala; they weren't going to be forgotten, and while Aka obviously received the most impressive weapon, I was going to supplement that with something else for the two girls, something that would suit them better.

All in all, my time down in the forge had turned out to be rather productive, and being able to focus on something besides sex for once was actually... refreshing.

Who knew~?