vrcanaries Chapter 9: The Emerging Talent
Chapter 9: The Emerging Talent
"Clang, clang, clang"
The crisp, even sound of forging iron echoed throughout every corner of the thatched hut.
Inside the house, the original earthen furnace was reinforced and was no longer as sloppy and rough as it had been half a month ago. The bellows were replaced with a new one by the village carpenter.
In front of the forge, Gode stood shirtless, his bronze arms covered in fine beads of sweat. He swung his hammer, striking the red-hot iron bars repeatedly, sending orange sparks flying.
On a spring morning, before the mist over East Lake had dissipated, the tall and imposing Aunt Silin arrived at Roger's shop, and Roger patiently chatted with her.
"Rogge, tell me honestly, I'm still worried... These ingredients are too expensive! I almost sold out all the smoked fish I had stored at home to get these two pieces of ingredients. What if you guys ruin them again?"
"It can happen, it definitely can happen!"
Roger was both amused and exasperated. He verbally assured her, but secretly thought that this Slim woman had probably been tricked.
Most of her family's smoked fish stock, even a quarter of it, would have been enough for the three of them to eat for a long time, but she sold it to a shady merchant and only received two fist-sized pieces of bloomery iron in return...
Roger thought to himself, "If only I had intercepted them, the three of us would still be starving..."
"You can rest assured! The craftsmanship from Mertenheim is top-notch, as you've seen for yourself!" Roger said, giving a thumbs-up.
"You are our first customer, and we will absolutely customize your space to the highest standards!"
"The materials are expensive... but there's a reason for that... don't buy them again!"
"As you know, in the blacksmithing trade, some material wastage is normal. Although the materials are indeed a bit expensive for you... the craft itself is even more valuable!"
"Go to the fortress; the blacksmiths there might not be able to forge a decent weapon for you even in half a month."
Having understood Roger's meaning, Aunt Slin largely agreed with his statement and nodded in agreement. However, considering Roger and the others' situation, doubt returned to her face.
"Didn't you tell me before that none of you know how to forge ironware?"
The previous repairs of farm tools were for you to practice on..."
"Auntie Slin, don't worry about these details. Things are different now. Before, we were unwilling to fight, not that we didn't know how!"
Think about it yourself, besides us, who else can you rely on?
Before we arrived, if the villagers wanted to make farm tools, wouldn't they have to gather enough people and walk dozens of miles to the city fortress?
The blacksmiths at the fortress are too busy forging weapons for the nobles and the city guards to have time to properly forge things for us commoners.
"Even if they were willing to take the job, do you think they'd forge it for you for free just because you provide the materials? Forget three months' worth of smoked fish, even if you saved for three years, it wouldn't be enough to forge an iron sword, would it?"
"Most importantly, we'll call it for you free of charge!"
"If it weren't for your continued support, as this is our first official order, we absolutely couldn't give it away for free!"
After Roger's series of moves, Aunt Slin was left dizzy and confused, muttering a few words before finally falling silent and unable to utter another word of criticism.
She knew better than anyone else that this was indeed the case in this remote lakeside village.
A few years ago, the village's only blacksmith died on his way to the lord's conscription. Now, how difficult is it to forge a fine iron sword?
The village militia has forty or fifty members, but now only a few team leaders actually possess a decent weapon.
The remaining people were either carrying pitchforks or wooden sticks.
In peacetime, ordinary families wouldn't want three "good eaters" as their breadwinners, so Roger and his family would go hungry...
Aunt Slin helped Roger and his friends get back on track by regularly providing them with dried fish and fresh fish, and she became the first person to become familiar with them.
Now that Roger and his two companions have agreed to forge an iron sword for her free of charge, Aunt Slin complains on the surface, but she is secretly overjoyed.
"Rogge, I trust you guys the most, and I gave you the best materials!"
You guys play with the best technique!
My son is just missing a good weapon!
He was in the militia, and his weapon was a big stick. If his teammates hadn't pushed him a few days ago, he probably would have been gored through the stomach by a wild boar!
I still have a few baskets of smoked fish left at home. I'll bring you more after you finish eating them!
Upon hearing that smoked fish would also be delivered, Roger's ears immediately perked up, and he became even more polite to Aunt Slin, his "bread and butter."
Three big men can't just not eat, right? Roger couldn't do anything that involved risking his life, so he had to start his own business.
I promised the village chief I'd repair farm tools for free for a month, even though I had no money and no income.
If it weren't for Aunt Slin's occasional financial assistance, Roger would probably have lost another ten pounds...
"Don't worry, all the materials are here. I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"
After repeated assurances from Roger, they finally managed to send Aunt Slin away.
Wiping away his sweat, he turned and entered the blacksmith's workshop. Virgil was forging iron, while God was vigorously pumping the bellows beside him. The two shirtless men looked sweaty, and the small room was filled with the heat of firewood and the smell of sweat.
"Is Aunt Slin gone?"
Virgil, without looking up, asked a question while his hands continued moving.
"We finally managed to persuade her to leave. She said she trusted us, but she was still worried."
"This sword is our first serious business deal, so let's fight it well!"
Don't ruin the reputation of our Three Musketeers Blacksmith Shop!
"OK."
After a month of working together, the three of them have figured out each other's skills.
Rogge's ability to handle metal left the two men from the city-state of Mertenheim utterly astonished.
They were completely baffled. The same materials from the same forging furnace, the metal forged by Rogge had fewer impurities and the final quality was several levels better than what the two of them had processed!
If it weren't for the fact that Roger could only handle a very small amount of metal each day, and that he was almost completely exhausted after each forging session, the two of them would have suspected that Roger was possessed by an evil god.
Compared to Rogge's focus on high-quality products, God and Virgil, with their strength and the half-baked forging skills they learned from the city-state of Mertenheim, perfectly complement Rogge!
Rogge obtains high-quality metal blanks through refining, and then the two of them are responsible for the subsequent forging and shaping, which can then be made into finished weapons and equipment!
"Rogge, you'll have to put in some extra effort this time to forge this iron sword. We'll use the special steel billets you forged!"
Virgil stopped what he was doing and looked at Rogge expectantly. He was completely impressed by Rogge's forging skills.
They had both noticed that Roger was always on the verge of collapse after each forging session, and they naturally understood that Roger didn't want to do it too often...
"Alright! Same old arrangement: I'll handle the refining of the bloomery iron, and you'll handle the subsequent forging!"
Roger readily agreed, as he also needed to accumulate forging experience and improve his forging skills.
The wrought iron that Aunt Slin brought was filled with countless impurities and could not be used directly to forge weapons.
In the blacksmithing trade, the temperature of the forge is crucial. Unfortunately, God and Virgil were not skilled enough to build a proper forge and could not raise the furnace temperature to the standard required for forging. As a result, they could not effectively remove impurities from the iron billet.
Rogge...
Don't even mention Rogge; even if he's "well-informed," all he knows is "blast furnace steelmaking"...
Despite their immense strength, God and his companion were constantly hampered by the forge's rigid structure.
Fortunately, Rogge's abilities made up for this most fatal weakness.
Rogge speculated that the maximum refining capacity was directly linked to his physical fitness; the better his physical fitness, the more he could refine each day!
As it stands, he can only refine a fist-sized metal ingot by exhausting his physical strength each day.
All things considered, relying on him to refine and obtain pure metal ingots would be a losing proposition, and he really didn't want to experience the feeling of being completely drained of his physical strength again!
Items forged by Rogue can only be produced in the high-end, elite category.
Moreover, Rogge didn't want to stand out too much.
In a world where royal and divine authority coexist, it is not wise to flaunt one's abilities too much!
Therefore, Roger planned to portray God and Virgil as "master blacksmiths" in public to attract extra attention for him!
……
Rogge went to the forge, took the tools from Virgil, and used them to lift the rough iron that Aunt Slin had brought out of the forge. The iron was already red-hot.
He placed the red-hot iron firmly on the anvil, and holding the hammer, Roger began to strike rhythmically.
At the same time, the "Refinement" ability quietly activated, and Roger felt as if an electric current was flowing through his entire arm, gradually becoming tingly and numb...
God and Virgil watched Roger's every move intently, but they couldn't discern anything.
Whether it was their imagination or not, as Roger continued to forge, the iron block held in the pliers grew increasingly red-hot...
With each hammer blow, large pieces of iron filings peeled off the iron material and fell onto the table surface next to the anvil, accumulating into a layer of brownish-black iron dust.
……
After the material was processed, Roger stood by, panting heavily, while God and the other man admired Roger's "work".
Looking at the lustrous, silvery-white metal before him, God exclaimed with satisfaction:
"This material is better than any steel I've ever seen!"
"With this kind of material, even in Mertenheim, not many people could forge something like this..."
Gold and his companion found Roger's ability to accurately determine the purity of metals difficult to comprehend.
In front of the two men, Roger attributed it to "talent," and they naturally couldn't understand that Roger could observe the state of iron through "the Eye of Insight."
Roger always speaks very accurately.
Over time, the two of them gradually became accustomed to obeying Roger...
Rogge smiled but said nothing more, his Eye of Insight falling upon the metal ingot:
[Target: High-quality steel!]
[Evaluation: Uniform composition, excellent plasticity, toughness, and fatigue resistance.]
"High-quality steel!"
"That's enough!"
The next steps are up to the Gold brothers...