As dusk set in, two men were still bustling in the blacksmith shop.
The elder blacksmith, Misha, held a red-hot iron billet while the younger blacksmith, Berlion, swung his hammer. Their shadows danced against the wall, following the flickering flames, as if performing some special kind of dance.
With every strike from Berlion, Misha would adeptly adjust the angle. The two blacksmiths worked seamlessly together, swiftly forging a curved sword blank from the billet.
Misha tossed the formed sword blank into an oil barrel and called for his assistant to prepare the hilt.
Berlion went to the back of the shop to retrieve a wooden hilt made from the resilient and comfortable to hold edge material of oak, which had been pre-shaped to fit the user's hand.
The hilt, carved with spiral grooves, was tightly wrapped by Berlion with milky stingray skin, glued together with glue made from fish bladders.
