After their awkward conversation, both Frederick and Dean decided to keep quiet. It wasn't comfortable to talk about something so complicated.
Dean apologized for being insensitive, but Frederick didn't seem to make it a big deal. After all, that was just the reality that he needed to live every day. The man was used to that kind of question as well since Dean wasn't the first traveler who passed there and asked such a thing.
People were always trying to know if refuge A or B was the best one to settle, so they wanted to know how often Dreads appeared there, and how the survivors inside the refuge could survive.
"Don't worry, boy. Suffering is a matter of fact when you are alive in an apocalypse." He spoke when Dean tried to apologize. Since then, they stopped talking.
Frederick remained silent, sitting on a chair while looking carefully at each technique that Dean used when processing the materials.
He needed a lot of time to get it done, and if Frederick didn't have the goodwill to help him with some things, he wouldn't have had finished it on time.
Dean was determined to do his equipment as fast as possible, so he didn't mind losing more time of sleep. He was used to sleeping less than six or five hours per day due to his busy routine from before. Attend to school, work on the smithy, and exercise stole from him a lot of time. Before the Dread raid, Dean was at the peak of exhaustion, even go to school just to write on a paper and pay attention to the teacher seemed to be a huge effort.
It was a bad thing for his growth, but good to make his endurance get to a high level. If he didn't have this kind of skill, he wouldn't be able to follow his group to Refuge Oslan, after all.
"Ok, boy. The materials are ready. Seeing what you picked up here, I suppose that you are aiming to do a high-quality one, right?" Frederick said, wiping out the sweat on his forehead.
The high temperature of the smithy was making Dean sweat as well, but he was used to it, and even liked the feeling. He looked joyfully at Frederick, giving him a thumbs up.
"Yes! You got it. I would like to do something good here. The bad thing is that my deadline is short and I have just one try, but I think I can do it without problems as long as I stay focused."
Frederick went to sit on his chair again. At that hour, he should be sleeping already, but he didn't do so. He was curious about how Dean would do his weapon. It was a joy for him to see a blacksmith other than himself and his father doing something on the anvil.
He loved to forge. It was his passion since he was a kid. He felt pity for himself for never have the chance to know more blacksmiths, so now that he had the opportunity, he wouldn't waste his time sleeping.
Dean was also determined while looking at the anvil and holding the black hammer tightly in his hands. He wasn't willing to go sleep so soon as well. His mind was totally focused on the project that was appearing on his mind.
'I need a short sword. It has to have good balance and swiftness, so I need to do something light and with the proper shape. I took wood that is not that heavy, so I can decrease the weight of the grip. The leather I took is just thick enough not to let the sword's edge cut me, it is very light as well. The problem will be the blade since I can't make it too thin, nor too thick.'
"I can understand your dilemma. You seem to be going to fight Dreads often, so you want to have more speed, right? It will be a good addition to your body under development since your agility and speed are higher than your strength." Frederick guessed, finally breaking their silence.
"Hmm, yes. That's roughly what I thought before. Also, the Dreads that seem to be predominant here are wolves and snakes, right?"
"Rats as well. Big ones. But they last to appear. They like to reproduce a lot first."
"Oh! Ok, that's good to know." Out of habit, Dean groped his pants pocket and searched for his notebook, but it wasn't there anymore, of course. Because of it, he decided to just keep that information in mind.
"Well, anyway, these monsters that I can find here are always very fast. I need to keep up with their speed, so I need something lighter than this short sword that I have on my back."
Frederick nodded.
"Since it is like this, then now I understand the materials you brought, but you can't do anything about the weight of the Petroleum-metal, though. If you make it too thin, the Dreads will break it into pieces, unless you enchant your sword." He explained, although the first part Dean already knew about.
"Enchant?" Dean's eyes sparkled once he heard that word. He knew what it meant, but he wasn't believing that something like this could be done.
"Well, there are those Ascendants who can transfer their "Willpower" to inanimate objects and some living beings. We call it an enhancement. It's the case of the horse tamers, for example. Among them, some mastered this technique on weapons and can reinforce them in different ways."
Dean got in deep thought once he heard that explanation. By seeing his friends, he could guess that there were different types of Ascendants, but he was still totally ignorant about it.
'Wait a minute... If my type is an enhancer, then it would be perfect since I am a blacksmith! I shall study more about it later!'
Dean got excited about that idea. He wondered if the Ascendants choose the type of skills they would have or not. However, he would only know that once he got to read more Art of Ascendance.