That day, Sheng Hao had come to discover Sheng Wang's true nature as a teacher. He had already learned that he had treated him all along like his own blood in the other sessions, but now he was being taught as a true apprentice forger.
The reincarnated man couldn't help but feel pressure on his shoulders, the atmosphere around Sheng Wang turned drastically different when compared to the other sessions. He could sense now that the old man didn't like losing his time.
Sheng Wang was a revered blacksmith that has received the lineage of several grandmasters. Although he wasn't the kind of individual that would flaunt his gifts, he was still someone that had once placed the art of metal craft in a spot higher than his spiritualist's training.
Back then he had found in the profession of blacksmithing a path that wouldn't be influenced by his family's name, something that wouldn't be tainted by the power flaunted by the imperial families of the Jianshen Empire
Although his status as a gifted spiritualist helped him develop his craft. With Sheng Wang already having access to a vast amount of spiritual energy to use mystical techniques that could awaken the spirituality of the material throughout the smelting process.
He still had to train harder than his peers due to having started later than the other apprentice blacksmiths. Thankfully, he was tutored by harsh masters that enabled him to grow and acquire the skills he was blessed with today.
Throughout the Portalia Continent, there existed several associations that spanned through the different empires and kingdoms that existed on the continent. From the Blacksmithing profession to Tailoring, every single craft had banded and associated together to form a gigantic conglomerate that protected them.
This was one of the reasons behind Sheng Wang's seriousness, he didn't stop Sheng Hao from learning the craft of the many elders because he could always end up being protected by the different artisan associations.
"I want you to take care of everything. From the management of the fire to the hammering process." Sheng Wang's rough voice traveled through the courtyard.
"Feel the weight of your hammer and don't tense up too much during the strike or you will end up injuring yourself." After he finished speaking, his leg moved from the furnace to avoid bothering Sheng Hao's work.
Although it wasn't the first time he had let Sheng Hao manipulate the hammer, it wasn't in his own habit to let the young boy take care of everything by himself.
The old man was genuinely curious on the outcome of Sheng Hao's ability to work the rough low-quality ores. He had seen his physical growth through the past few years, and had seen him grow from a wobbling child to someone that had developed a balanced body.
He was sadly fully aware of Sheng Hao's major weakness, he was far too weak when it came to striking the rough reddish ore.
Although rough and of the lowest quality, the ores used by Sheng Hao were the same one used by Novice Blacksmith to develop their strength, accuracy and endurance, this was the most common type of metal used and could be either spiritually smelted or simply turned into steel alloy with the necessary ingredient. The versatility made it usable in different tools and small constructs, making it one of the most common worked metals on the continent.
There existed thousands of ores and spiritual metal that could be worked by blacksmiths. If the rare and secret recipes were taken into account, then the number of metals one could make was nearly infinite.
A Blacksmith's path was as vast as a spiritualist's. In fact, both paths were vowed to intersect as the highest level of forgery needed one to at least reach the rank 60 of spiritual power. Even as a blacksmith, one needed to always travel and look for new metals to work on as it would further expand their horizon and overall experience.
"You can start when you are ready, I will be constantly watching from this side. I will give you pointers when you are over with the work."
"Be prepared because my reviews aren't always the easiest to accept, but remember that everything you will go through is for your own good." The explanation ended with a silent sigh as Sheng Wang couldn't help but question the harshness of his words.
"Damn…" mumbled Sheng Hao who nearly jumped from his position due to his grandfather's word. A dry smirk appeared on his lips as he couldn't help but imagine that Sheng Wang was going to reveal his ruthless side. "I think he might murder me if I f… around now." He thought as he sighed while closing his eyes for a few seconds.
He grabbed the hammer that was sitting on top of the anvil, he couldn't help but nod lightly as he appreciated the way the handle fitted nicely when held by his small palm.
The weight was well proportionate, after moving his arm and wrist a few times he couldn't help but feel that this hammer couldn't have further fitted his current constitution. It was purposely made up for his own size and made it possible for him to swing it with full strength without facing any major backlash from the weight.
However even though the tool suited him perfectly, the anvil that rested in front of him didn't necessarily suit his small physique as he was forced to place a small stool for him to stand on.
The young boy soon stood in front of the furnace and maintained a motionless posture for a long minute. During these sixty seconds, Sheng Hao's mouth swallowed deep and long inhalation to force oxygen to flow to his brain. After a few cycles, the breathing set his mind in a correct atmosphere. The green and flowery smell coming from the courtyard entered his nose and calmed his senses as he felt refreshed by their natural aroma.
"I can do this!" he said in a confident tone before grabbing a few black pieces of charcoal and threw them inside the smoking furnace. His hands grabbed the triangular fan and started blowing air inside the furnace with vigor.
In less than a few seconds, his body had already broke in a sweat due to the rising temperature. His frenetic movement didn't help him at all, but he couldn't waste a single second if he didn't want to waste the limited resource of his body. By the time he sensed that the temperature was hot enough, his forehead was already packed with droplets of sweat.
"Time to turn this bad boy ablaze!" he exclaimed with his hands cautiously placing the gray-colored ore inside the furnace's entrance.
He breathed deeply while waiting for the iron's heat to rise to the correct temperature. In but a few seconds, his haggard breath was recovered and turned back into his usual rhythm of respiration before he grabbed his hammer without ever leaving the reddening ore from his sight.
The moment he sensed the rough and cold texture of the hammer between his fingers, he couldn't help but feel the temperature around him lessen and his tensing spirit calming down. It was as though the burning fire standing in front of him had reduced slightly, the sensation was difficult to assess and judge correctly but the young man couldn't help but stroke the short hammer with both hands.
Shortly after having further accustomed himself with the tool, he felt that the ore had taken the right glow and used a long and thin pliers to grab the hot metal. His legs swiftly moved the moment he took the reddish iron from the furnace, the next moment he swiftly arrived to the anvil and climbed on the wooden stool before placing the ore on the rectangular surface of the anvil.
His left hand continued manipulating the pliers as he corrected the placement of the ore, he waited a few seconds and took the opportunity to relax his shoulders.
The next moment he moved, and a loud tang resounded throughout the small courtyard. Sheng Wang's eyebrow rose high toward the sky, he couldn't help but feel his breath shorten due to what he had just seen. The strike executed by Sheng Hao wasn't anything powerful but the sound released by the ore was one that had a certain type of quality like Sheng Wang's own strikes.
"Was it luck?!"
Sheng Hao's face formed a strange painting. His face was elongated with his eyebrows too, raising high toward the sky, his mouth was wide open showing his small pearly canine teeth. In his eyes, one could easily see that he was surprised by the result of that first strike. He knew with certainty that what happened was purely due to luck, but the sound released by Sheng Hao's hammer was one that would only be released by talented Blacksmith.
It wasn't something difficult for Sheng Wang as he had already achieved that degree of mastery in his youth, but to see Sheng Hao execute in his first strike today had left him surprised. Sheng Hao resumed the refinement of the metal he was working on. However the dozens strikes that followed didn't result in the same sound.
"Well, let's assume this was but pure luck… Let's see how he is going to react to that," mumbled Sheng Wang who wasn't aware that his grandson was trying to re-achieve the same sound with every strike. Although the events were mostly due to luck and coincidence that Sheng Hao's hand had slammed the metal like that; the reincarnated man had simply felt like swinging the hammer in a relaxed manner and it had produced a decent result. The fact that he had nonetheless produced a strike that people trained for years to execute still had signification.
Although his eyes couldn't see if the refinement process was affected by that strike, Sheng Hao's ears told him specific feedback. That hammer strike, although lacking in strength and speed, had hit the precise spot the metal needed to break impurities.
He had seen his grandfather study the metal throughout the refinement, lightly tapping the metal and had understood that it was a judgment based on his extensive experience.
Compared to his grandfather, his experience with the hammer was too lacking, to the point where it could be counted as being nonexistent. But it had already been more than a few years that he started working with his grandfather. Even though he couldn't assist during the refinement of the metals, he could still see with his own eyes and hear Sheng Wang's expert movements. His eyes weren't able to follow everything, but his ears were sharp enough to enable him to follow the entire symphony released when the hammer connected with the metal.
Even though he wasn't able to execute a strike with a similar quality to his first strike. He still managed to slowly work his way around the metal, but he needed to take a break after every strike before moving his hammer again. Even though his strength wasn't his forte, his endurance wasn't lacking to the point where he wasn't able to hit the metal twice with his hammer.
Sheng Hao still decided to take his time, preferring to analyze each of his hammer strike to better understand the instrument he was holding in his hands and the metal he was communicating with.
According to what he had said, Sheng Wang didn't speak and maintain silence throughout the rest of Sheng Hao's refinement. Between each stop he would rearrange the angle, strength, and even the amplitude of his movements. Throughout the numerous changes, Sheng Hao was looking for the critical success he had managed to achieve in his own strike. And although he wasn't able to reproduce that mystical note, the sound produced when the hammer and the metal connected were solid and showed that his control over the hammer was growing with every strike that accompanied his forearm.
"I need to twist my waist more…" his lips constantly moved. Mumbling inaudible words as Sheng Hao spoke to himself.
"But this damn stool is getting quite unstable if I rotate too much…" his brain constantly worked. He soon accepted the setup he was working on and moved on from that problematic as he knew it wasn't something he could change.
In the end he was far too used to the problems that arose due to his young age, at least he had grown to the point where he was to control his body and strength correctly.
"F…" he cursed lightly as his last strike sent a small wave of force backlashing through his right arm and shoulder. The pain radiated to the muscles of his back and made him breathe a few seconds before calming down. "I've left the metal cool down too much…" he mumbled as he grabbed the metal and was prepared to throw it back inside the furnace.
He avoided Sheng Wang's gaze as he felt that his current work wasn't a success. He had seen his grandfather refine metal in one go without having the need to reheat the semi refined material. Even though he was just a novice, he couldn't help but compare himself with Sheng Wang and looked for ways to better his own technique by himself. Sadly the person he was comparing himself with wasn't a novice blacksmith but a masterful expert that had regained control of his craft after years of inactivity.
Thankfully, Sheng Wang didn't stop Sheng Hao from taking his time with the refinement process. In a corner of his eyes, satisfaction was gleaming brightly but Sheng Hao was far too focused on what he was doing to notice anything.