Heavy Metal: Chapter 23 – Blacksmithing. (Patreon)

“Tell me what that one is?”

“This one is a… ball peen hammer!”

“Correct, now what’s the one next to it?”

“Hmm… That’s a round drift and it’s used to hit through holes, expand, and shape them?”

“You’re quite the fast learner, how about we move over to the tongs then?”

“Sure thing!”

Rusty spent hours poring over the basic blacksmithing guide and quickly absorbed every piece of information that it had in store for him. He found it surprisingly easy to absorb the information for some reason, it was as if he wasn’t learning it but re-learning something that he had previously forgotten. The floating orbs commented on this phenomenon which could explain it.

“The knowledge he is learning was something you once knew, right Hero?”

“That’s right, I remember reading through these old texts before, though I can’t recall most of it, only fragments.”

“It seems that the library has our lost knowledge, there are some books on old ancient black magic, something that I have partaken in my past life.”

Rusty wasn’t really paying attention to the two orbs that were discussing as he was examining the various togs and trying to compare them to the drawings in the books. It seemed that the library didn’t only hold the knowledge of the late hero but also the demon king. There were books on tactics and evil magic that were above his intelligence level and for the time being he was focused on producing more weapons and not magical effects.

“I wonder, could our little Rusty here learn both dark magic and light magic? Something that shouldn’t be possible?”

“He does have those elemental skills…”

“That’s quite something… but it might be better if he doesn’t showcase it once he encounters more adventurers…”

The two orbs seemed to nod at each other while having the conversation. The two knew that it was unnatural for a monster to be able to use light magic, something that only special people like a hero should be able to. The same could be said for dark magic, which was only handled by the highest demon lords and their king. It was not something a monster like a living armor should be able to use and could cause him harm once he became a target of both sides.

“Sure… but, will he even listen to us?”
“If he has my tendencies, then it shouldn’t be a problem? I would be more afraid if he took after you, hero.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.”

“Hey, could you two keep it down, it’s hard to concentrate with all that noise!”

Rusty's voice echoed through the forge as he was finding it hard to focus on the blacksmithing tools on the ground. The two souls felt compelled to stop their banter in a strange fashion. It was as if the hollow armor had a sort of hold over them as if they were his thralls. Luckily, the gag order only worked for a few seconds before their ability to talk was returned to them.

“Interesting…”

The demon lord whispered while trying not to anger Rusty, who seemed to be in command. Now that they were quiet again, Rusty continued to flip through the simple blacksmithing guide while looking at the tools on the workbench. Under the watchful gazes of the two floating orbs, Rusty finally began to experiment with the tools laid out before him.

He picked up the hammer and after feeling its weight in his metallic hands, it was time to practice swinging it around. The rhythmic clanging echoed through the forge as he hit a cold piece of metal with it. For some reason, it felt right in his hand and after a couple of swings, it felt like it belonged there. However, hitting a cold piece of metal wouldn’t achieve anything, to begin blacksmithing he needed to fire up the forge and heat things up.

“Hm… what should I make first… a big shield? A large axe? Or maybe a two-handed sword?”

“Um… excuse me Rusty, may I offer some advice?”

“Huh? What is it? Make it quick, I want to try crafting soon!”

The white orb of light floated down towards the mess of tools that were on the workbench. During his study session, Rusty had made quite a mess. The Hero while lacking much of his memories knew the steps that needed to be taken to become a proper craftsman. Rusty might have had his memories and would learn it a lot faster but these memories needed to be awakened in a proper way.

“Sure… A wise man once said that you should learn to walk before trying to run.”

“Oh my, the hero saying something clever for once?”

The orb of black chimed in while chuckling but the hero just ignored him. It seemed that Rusty didn’t really know what he meant with that phrase, thus he decided to be less cryptic.

“I meant that you should probably do something easier, I propose you make a few simple small blades or nails first to get yourself acquainted with everything. Also, considering that we are working with bronze for now, it would be better to focus on molds and the smelter for now…”

“Ah, molds do sound simpler!”

Rusty nodded in agreement, realizing the wisdom in the Hero's words. Starting with molds and smaller blades would allow him to grasp the basics of blacksmithing. He was also limited by his materials and only could use what was already unlocked, in this case, it was bronze. It seemed that he needed to limit his weapons to the material that his armor was made from or to the things he could absorb from the real world.

While this place looked to be similar to a regular blacksmith's workshop, it wasn’t quite the same. One notable advantage was the creation of molds that seemed to take the desired shape of what the creator wished of them. Normally a person would need to create such a mold by carving out a wooden replica of the weapon and then inserting it into clay or sand.
Only thereafter could they start smelting bronze and pouring it into the cavity.

“A simple blade… is it this one?”

In one of the corners of the forge, Rusty found a section with various rectangular molds. They had drawings of the weapons that he desired and for the time being, he decided to go with the smallest one. It represented a small blade that was shorter than the daggers that the adventurers used. While it wouldn’t be a great weapon, it would probably be the easiest to make at this moment.

“Will this do?”

“Yes, that should be fine, you’ll be able to make a simple hunter’s knife with that one. Don’t underestimate its size, at close range, it can be quite deadly.”

Rusty nodded in understanding and slowly picked up the mold that would house his first creation. He wasn’t sure why but he was feeling something strange and could almost not contain his joy. He examined this mold closely and felt that it shouldn’t pose much of a challenge. It was quite simple, he just needed to pour the molten bronze inside and just wait.

“I’ll give it a try then!”

With the mold in hand, he approached the smelting furnace. There were no flames at the moment but after adding some fuel in the form of readily available wood. Once this fuel made its way under the smelter, it could be lit up by a lever on the side which the light orb quickly explained.

“If I remember correctly, if you find some coal outside it should become available as a fuel source. The wood here should be enough to handle the melting point of bronze but it won’t be enough to handle iron or steel.”

“Uh, Mr. Hero? How much of this fuel should I take?”

“You shouldn’t have to bring much, the soul forge just required one sample before unlocking the resource here. The materials here replenish themselves.”

“They replenish themselves? So the bronze ingots that I gathered won’t be used up during the smelting process?”

“They shouldn’t if it’s the same, however, once you are outside the soul forge, you’ll have to use the resources you have previously acquired…”

The hero attempted to convey his discoveries to Rusty to the best of his ability, but he remained uncertain whether his bronze friend fully grasped the intricacies of the situation.

“Imagine it as unlocking an achievement, once it is unlocked it becomes available without a limit.”

“I think I understand…so this means that I can just make all the bronze weapons that I want!”

“Something like that… but be careful.”

While Rusty was overjoyed with the idea of unlimited resources, there were some downsides to this soul forge that the white orb soon mentioned.

“While you are in the soul forge, your body remains inside the real world. If someone finds you during your stay here, then it could end badly.”

“Wait… I have been here for two days already… Does this mean that I’m in danger?”

Rusty panicked a bit as he remembered leaving his body in the crystal cave. He didn’t really try to hide himself from anything or anyone and assumed that no monster would be able to get in there either. However, his knowledge was quickly expanding and he now knew what those light crystals were. While they would work against the dungeon monster, they would do nothing against regular adventurers.

“It should be fine with the time dilation of this place but I’ll leave the rest of the explanation to you, dear hero.”

The orb of dark light decided to chime in before flying away. The demon lord seemed to be bored watching Rusty bumble around in the soul forge and vanished behind the entrance to the library. This left Rusty more confused and also made him realize that there were many things that he had no idea about.

“Time dilation?”

“Yes, time dilation. It means that time here in the soul forge moves differently from the time outside in the real world. While it may feel like hours or days in here, only minutes or seconds may have passed in the outside world. However, I’m not quite sure how much of it has passed outside…”

The hero tried his best to explain the concept in simple terms, hoping Rusty would grasp its importance. His memories were still lacking so he couldn’t disclose the difference. It was possible that only seconds could have passed outside in the real world or perhaps hours.

“So, you mean… if I spend too much time here, it could be dangerous for my body outside?”

“Exactly. You must be cautious and not lose track of time while you're here. It’s easy to become absorbed in learning and crafting, but you must never forget to keep yourself safe. If you die outside, you will also die here but… calm down. That cavern filled with lights should be reasonably safe.”

The hero wanted to propose the use of a clock to accurately measure the time dilation but decided against it. Rusty was like a newborn child who was just absorbing information and at this point, didn’t know much about clocks.

“Thank you for telling me. I’ll be more careful from now on, maybe I should dig a hole and hide there?”

“Uh… sure…”

Rusty’s proposal sounds preposterous but he was a living piece of armor that didn’t require food or breathing. If he dug himself a hole, he would probably be relatively safe from any outside sources. He lacked an organic body that would generate an odor so other monsters would probably not try to dig out a bronze suit of armor to eat.

Eventually, he brought his attention back to the task at hand. He approached the smelting furnace, wood in hand, and ignited the fuel. Flames danced to life beneath the smelter, casting flickering shadows across the forge.

“Here goes nothing…”

To the side, there was a row of bronze ingots that could be used in the smelting process. For this small blade, just one of them would be enough. The smelter here was a bit different than the ones presented in the guide and felt much simpler. Not from the aspect of size but by how it had various slots that fit these ingots perfectly.

The smelter was tall and oval in shape and on the sides there were various metallic tubes. There was a slot at the beginning into which he could press the ingot. It seemed that later in time, he would be able to mix and match ingots with each other but for the time being, only one slot was available.

After pushing the lone bronze ingot into the slot, he looked as it got sucked inside and traveled up into the smelting furnace. Finally, it started the melting process and now what he needed to do was to position the mold in the correct spot. This also was rather rudimentary as there were painted-on markers on the ground along with another support slot where he could place the rectangular mold in.

As the bronze ingot melted within the furnace, Rusty carefully positioned the mold in the designated spot, ensuring it was aligned properly. He watched intently as the liquid metal flowed down from the smelter, filling the cavity of the mold. The molten bronze glowed brightly as it settled, taking the shape of the blade within the mold.

For Rusty, it was an exhilarating sight, witnessing the transformation of raw material into a tangible object. He felt a sense of accomplishment wash over him, this was his first attempt at blacksmithing. Even though this soul forge space made this process a lot easier, it didn’t take away from him feeling elated. The light orb watched on in silence, moving as if he was nodding in approval at Rusty’s progress.

With the mold filled, Rusty waited patiently as the bronze cooled and solidified. The process seemed to take longer than he anticipated, but he remained glued to it. For a moment he forgot his drive to become the strongest warrior and became something akin to an artisan. He wasn’t sure why but creating things with his own two hands, seemed like something that was also his calling.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the bronze blade was ready. Rusty carefully opened up the mold revealing the blade inside. However, to his surprise, it wasn’t quite as good-looking as he expected. The blade wasn’t sharp at all and the handle didn’t look thick enough to hold. Luckily, he had someone to shed some light on this issue.

“Good, now you need to polish it and sharpen, then we’ll create a proper hilt and it will be finished.”

“Oh right, I almost forgot about that part!”

Rusty picked up the rough bronze blade, examining it closely. Indeed, it lacked the finesse and sharpness of a proper weapon. Crafting wasn’t only about pouring molten metal into a mold, there were lots of other steps that needed to be taken to finalize the product and he already couldn’t wait to get to work.