For the rest of the day, I labored over the clay furnace. I didn't know what I was doing but fake until you make it. The next day I almost ran out of coal and iron when Hitetsu walked through the bamboo to see me covered in soot and sweat.
"Well, it seems like you didn't fall asleep, so we might not need to repeat this step. Well, let's see how you did." Hitetsu walked over, and I noticed he had a small hammer in his hand. He then started to break apart one of the shorts sides of the furnace.
Moving over to help my teacher, I covered my and in Haki and started to pull away chunks of molten coal. When we had most of the furnace destroyed, I could see a dark grey, almost blue bed of iron.
"Hmm, not bad. We can start with this, go ahead and pull it out so we can start breaking off the bad pieces." Hammering a stake into the metal, I pulled out the nine-foot bed of metal.
"Now you want to get rid of the dark pieces and look for the ones that are lighter and blue in color," Hitetsu said as he handed me a hammer and chisel. To the best of my ability, I started to chip away at the edges of the iron.
I ended up cutting away most of the iron to my shock, leaving behind only a small node no larger than my head.
"How come it's so small? I must have put a literal ton of iron sand into that furnace." Hitetsu smiled, "As the coal and iron combine, all the impurities float to the top will the pure iron sinks to the bottom. And since the metal never truly melts, some of the coal's carbon stays in the blade."
I nodded as I made mental notes, "Now let's forge a sword, shall we." My heart started to beat faster in anticipation.
An hour later, I realized that I wouldn't be making my sword. Instead, Hitetsu was doing the actual forging while I sat on the sidelines and watched. I took notes on how hard he struck when he reheated the metal. Unfortunately, Hitetsu was not a fan of answering my questions.
For an entire week, I watched him forge a singular sword, and I watched as a shapeless piece of metal turn into a deadly weapon.
"Now look and tell me what you see." Hitetsu handed me the naked sword blade, and I tried to see if anything was wrong. I shook my head, "I can't see anything. It looks fine to me."
Hitetsu smiled as he took back the blade, and he snapped it in two with his bare hands, "Now look." Hitetsu handed me the sword once again, and this time I looked inside the blade.
Still, the metal was uniform with no apparent flaws, "I still don't understand. It the same as the outside."
Hitetsu nodded, "In any katana, there are two qualities you must remember, sharpness and durability." I scratched my head, "Isn't that universal to all swords."
I blinked as Hitetsu tapped me on the forehead with his cane, "There are two types of steel Kawagane which has a high carbon concentration and will snap when struck. And Shingane has a low carbon concentration and will fold when struck. Now tell me what is wrong with the blade."
I looked at the blade again, "It's forged completely out of Kawagane, so the blade is brittle. Are you supposed to use an alloy of the two?"
"You are partially correct. Yes, the blade is brittle, but you don't use an alloy to make a quality katana. In the blade, there are two parts the flesh and the heart. The flesh needs to be strong and sharp, so it is made out of Kawagane, while the heart needs to absorb the impact, so it is made out of Shingane." Hitetsu said as he walked over to the remaining pieces of ore.
"Now come over here. It about time that you start learning how to use a hammer." I didn't point out the fact that he was to one who had stopped me from forging.
"Now you've watched me for a while, start by consolidating the steel." I nodded as I started to heat a node of ore. What Hitetsu meant by consolidating the steel was to work out any impurities left in the ore.
Once the metal was cherry red, I pulled on the rod connected to the node and moving over to the anvil. I started to hammer. Little by little, chunks began to fall off, leaving me behind with a few small pieces of iron.
Repeating this step several times, I stopped when I had a small stack of metal tiles, "Good, now sort your metal. You may have to make more." I followed Hitetsu instructions, and one at I time, I struck each tile with all my might.
Some of them dented, and others snapped, and in the end, I had enough for a blade, according to Hitetsu.
"You did well for your first time. Now that I know you have some skill, you can assist me." I sighed as I realized I was still far away from making my own weapon.
Using my handmade pieces of steel, Hitetsu started the forging process, stacking the tiles together Hitetsu and I began to hammer the tiles together into a bar.
The especially challenging part was folding, cutting the metal in half, and then hammering the pieces back together. This was how Damascus steel was made the millions of layers folded into the metal.
That when Hitetsu called it a day, both of us walked back to Hitetsu's house covered in soot and sweat. As we entered the door, I felt someone watching us, and I looked over to see the same purple-haired girl trying to hide from them.
"Tama stop being rude and come welcome our guest."