Chapter 90: Forge Once Again 3

The second part of the session was devoted to a specific goal.

Creating several items.

Not just samples.

Elaria placed several simple blueprints in front of Adam.

A hammer head.

A small utility blade.

A spearhead.

And an unenchanted training sword.

Adam looked at the latter.

"You really want me to make a sword today?"

"I want you to try."

"It’s not exactly the same thing."

"No."

He took the blueprint.

Elaria started with the hammer.

It was the simplest of the proposed objects.

A relatively compact geometry.

Constraints that were easy to understand.

A striking face.

An eye for the handle.

A finish consistent enough to withstand repeated use.

Adam heated the metal.

Hammered it.

He reheated it.

Adjusted the shape.

Then he started again.

Several times, Elaria stopped.

"Too fast."

Then:

"This face isn’t straight."

Again:

"You’re removing too much material from this side."

And:

"Reheat it before continuing."

Adam corrected it each time.

The process was much slower than he had imagined.

But gradually...

The shape emerged.

After the hammering came the corrections.

Then the finishing touches.

Then the heat treatment.

Elaria oversaw each step.

When the hammer was finally finished, Adam placed it on the table.

He remained silent.

Elaria picked it up.

She inspected the head.

The faces.

The central hole.

Then the overall balance after adding the handle.

Adam waited.

"Well?"

Elaria made a few swings with it.

Then she struck a test piece.

Clang.

She observed the result.

"Correct."

Adam raised an eyebrow.

"Correct?"

"Yes."

"Is that good or bad coming from you?"

"Good."

Adam smiled.

Elaria continued:

"It meets the standards of a properly made, ordinary tool."

She handed him the hammer.

"I could entrust it to a craftswoman in the guild for routine work without fear of it breaking quickly or having a dangerous defect."

Adam looked at the object.

This sentence gave him, strangely enough, more satisfaction than a simple compliment.

"So I made a real hammer."

"Yes."

"Not just an exercise."

"No."

Adam rotated it slightly in his hand.

The surface wasn’t perfect.

The finish was nothing like Elaria’s.

But it was functional.

Solid.

Usable.

"Not bad."

Elaria smiled slightly.

"Not bad."

Adam carefully set the hammer aside.

Then he looked at the sword’s blueprint.

His smile vanished.

"Now, the part where you destroy my confidence."

"Probably."

Adam looked at her.

"You could have denied it."

"That would be pointless."

So he moved on to the blade.

And very quickly...

The problems began.

Forming a bar that vaguely resembled a sword wasn’t particularly difficult.

Creating a good sword was much more so.

The thickness had to remain consistent.

Symmetry mattered.

The distribution of the material mattered.

The point had to be formed without becoming too fragile.

The edge had to be prepared correctly.

And above all...

Any mistake in the blade’s length was repeated and amplified.

Adam struck several blows.

Clang.

Clang.

Elaria stopped him.

"You’re making this area too thick."

Adam watched.

She was right.

He corrected it.

A few minutes later:

"Your other side is getting too thin."

Adam sighed.

"I fix one problem and create another."

"Yes."

"Very encouraging."

Elaria took the hammer.

"Watch."

She worked for only a few seconds.

Three blows.

Then four.

She handed him back the weapon.

The transition between the two zones was already much smoother.

Adam looked at her.

Then he looked at Elaria.

"You make this look far too easy."

"Several decades of practice."

Adam remained silent.

"Okay. Hard to argue with."

He continued.

His first blade was only usable as an exercise.

The second was better.

The third slightly better still.

But none came close to the quality of his hammer.

Elaria didn’t seem at all surprised.

"That’s normal."

Adam put down the third blade.

"Because the sword combines too many constraints?"

"Yes."

She picked up the blade.

"A hammer primarily needs strength and the right behavior when impacted."

Then she pointed to the sword.

"Here, you have to manage rigidity, flexibility, impact resistance, sharpness, geometry, balance, and mass distribution." "

Adam observed his work.

"So achieving the correct shape is only the beginning."

"Exactly."

Elaria set the blade down.

"An unbalanced sword tires its user. A blade that’s too hard can break. One that’s too soft warps and loses its edge. Poor geometry reduces the cutting power."

Adam sighed.

"And that’s without enchantment."

"Yes."

"No magical materials."

"Yes."

"No mana during the forging process."

"Yes."

Adam looked up at the ceiling.

"I’m beginning to understand why the best blacksmiths are so highly respected."

Elaria smiled.

They continued for a while longer.

Adam focused mainly on his hammering.

The consistency.

The way he moved the metal rather than simply striking it.

The different heating stages.

The moment to put the piece back in the forge.

The moment to stop.

Then the quenching.

He tested different water temperatures.

Different oil temperatures.

And several durations.

Always on simple pieces.

The alchemical solutions remained closed.

The mana forging techniques as well.

Elaria was adamant.

"You’ll learn them later."

Adam put down his hammer.

"When?"

"When you’re able to consistently achieve the result you’re looking for without magic."

"So not soon."

"Probably not."

Adam nodded.

He preferred it that way.

He himself had always worked this way.

Understanding the fundamentals before using advanced tools.

Finally, Elaria consulted the clock.

"We’ll stop here."

Adam immediately put down the hammer.

His arms were heavy.

Very heavy.

Training with Selene had already drained a good portion of his strength.

The forge had finished the rest.

He released only a tiny fraction of his bodily tension.

But not his mana compression.

Elaria watched him.

"You maintained it until the very end."

Adam nodded.

"With some fluctuations."

"Much less than during your first session."

Adam looked at his inner mana.

She was right.

Even when he concentrated on the temperature.

On his hammer.

On the tempering.

On Elaria’s corrections.

The compression had continued in the background.

Not perfectly.

But it had never completely disappeared.

"Vespera will increase the difficulty if you tell her this."

Elaria adjusted her glasses.

"I’ll tell her."

Adam stared at her.

"Betrayal."

"Pedagogical coordination."

"You actually created an expression to justify this?"

"It’s correct."

Adam sighed.

They began to put away the tools.

Adam cleaned his area.

Then he retrieved the hammer he had made.

He looked at it again.

Elaria asked:

"Do you want to keep it?"

"Yes."

"Go ahead."

Adam put it in his inventory.

His first chisel had already marked his true debut at the forge.

Now, he had also produced a hammer good enough to actually be used.

Progress was slow.

But real.

He took off his apron.

Then his gloves.

"Thank you for the lesson."

Elaria nodded.

"Next time, we’ll continue with blades."

Adam immediately looked down at his arms.

"I shouldn’t have asked."

A slight smile appeared on Elaria’s face.

They headed back to his desk.

Before leaving, Adam stopped in front of her.

"See you later."

"See you later."

He started to turn away.

Then Elaria added:

"Adam."

He turned around.

"Yes?"

She briefly touched her own cheek.

Exactly where he had kissed her earlier.

The slight blush had long since disappeared.

But his expression was different.

"You can do it again next time."

Adam remained silent for a second.

Then he smiled.

"Noted."

This time, it was Elaria who looked away slightly.

Adam chuckled.

Then he finally left his office.

He walked through the Artisans’ Guild.

When he arrived in the hall, Mira and her crates had almost completely disappeared.

Only a few workers were finishing tidying up the loading area.

Adam glanced briefly outside.

The land of the dwarves.

Another destination to add to a list that was becoming far too long.

He sighed softly.

Then he left the guild.

His training with Selene was over.

His lesson with Elaria was over too.

And now...

It was time to head to his next destination.