We went to the shed behind the house, and there I saw a man standing with well-kept hair, fairly well build, and a scholarly air around him.
He was standing near a shelf with many metal strips and some lumps of ground-like color objects.
The shed was big enough to hold 6 people inside with an anvil and shelf on either side of the wall. On another wall of the shed I saw a huge hammer, and some small hammers, and on the ground near that I saw some clampers.
The man noticed we came in.
"Ho, ho, Lucian when you said that you want your son to learn blacksmithing I told you were joking, but now I see this place I can see that given 1 or 2 days this can be said to be a decent forge. I think you are preparing to buy a furnace and plan to place it near the anvil.", having said so, he noticed me and Thorne.
"Well, how are you, Azriel? And who might this young man be?"
I was puzzled about who this man was. I looked at my father.
My father smiled and said, "Azriel and Thorne let me introduce you to Mr. Silvermon, Adam Silvermoon, he is a formation master and also the father of Eira."
I see.
"I am fine, and this is Thorne, my cousin who will guide me in blacksmithing."
"Lucian, your son has not awakened yet, I am assuming that here. So if you insist your son on having lessons on blacksmith can fire you back, because if he is not awakened as a blacksmith then he can't move too much forward as a blacksmith in the future."
"You know Adam, my son does not play with others and usually stays in the house, so I am just preparing him for a productive hobby. It's a gamble from my side as well. Because you know he can't start cultivation if he has not awakened."
"Ok, I can see your point, though I would say just be sure if it's worth it. But I will always help you through. You know me."
"Yup, I know you so I asked you to help in all this."
"Thorne, please go through the things which are present here, I already know that a furnace and the liquid to quench the metal is not here. I have ordered those, they will arrive by tomorrow. Except for those, please notify me if anything else is missing."
"Ok"
Thorne then proceeded to walk around the shed and reached the end of the shelf where the hammers were kept. He picked one of the hammers, that hammer was the smallest one and went to the anvil and tapped with the hammer a few times on the anvil. He repeated the step and lastly took the large hammer and determined the weight of the hammer by tossing it in the air a few times. After doing that, he went close to the anvil and hammered the anvil with the large hammer. And by hammering I meant swinging the large hammer at the anvil.
My father, me, and Mr. Silvermoon, all were staring at a small boy of 0.4m height wielding a 0.6m hammer and swinging it on the anvil like it was a toy hammer. But the sound of the collision told us that the hammer was very real as was the action which was producing the sound. After a few more rounds of swing, he went near the wall and hung the large hammer to its place.
"I think that large hammer needs to adjust the strength of the handle with the hammer head."
We all, 3 of us, were nodding our heads like a chicken pecking on grains.
At this moment, I am rethinking if elemental manifestation was the right choice. I have no doubt that the reason Thorne was able to use the large hammer was that he has his super-strength.
"Anything else?", asked my father.
"No, everything else is ok."
"So shall I start?"
"Yes, please.", I replied
"Blacksmithing is a systematic process. There are 6 main steps and in between the steps, a formation master is required to carve runes on the artifact to make it a true mana-bearing artifact capable of flowing mana through it.
Design: The first step is to design the artifact. This includes deciding on the length, shape, weight, and balance of the artifact. Once the design is complete, you can create a pattern for the artifact.
Material Selection: Next, you need to select the material for your artifact. Historically, swords were made from a variety of materials including bronze, iron, steel, and other metals. Today, the most common material used for swords is quality metals. The quality of the steel is very important because it determines the durability and strength of the sword.
Forging: The next step is forging the metal. This involves heating the metal to a high temperature and shaping it with a hammer and anvil. The blacksmith must carefully control the temperature and shape of the blade to ensure that it has the correct curvature and thickness.
Annealing: Once the metal has been forged to the correct shape, it must be annealed. Annealing is the process of heating the metal to a high temperature and then slowly cooling it down. This process helps to relieve any stress in the metal and makes it easier to work with.
Rune carving: This step is usually done by the formation master to give the mana-flowing ability to the artifact. The runes also enhance the artifact and also gives the artifact its elemental affinity. Although the main elemental affinity comes from the choice of the metal in this step also you can define another element or enhance the already existing elemental affinity.
Heat Treatment: The next step is heat treatment. This involves heating the blade to a high temperature and then rapidly cooling it down. This process helps to harden the metal and make it more durable. The blacksmith must carefully control the temperature and timing of the heat treatment to ensure that the metal has the correct level of hardness."
"So, a blacksmith on his own can't make a high-quality artifact?"
"He can make an artifact on his own if he has parchment which is carved with the runes he thinks his artifact needs. In order to use it he just needs to imbue mana to the parchment and paste it on the artifact at the place he desires and then imbue mana again to burn the parchment."
"Is the parchment specially made or just plain writing manuscript."
"The parchment has to be specially made with the element in mind. But you don't need it now. For the next few months, you will familiarise yourself with various hammer techniques to give the desired shape and to reach the desired hardness and purity of the metal."
"So, let's start with the small hammer and some light malleable metal strips."
With this, I started to practice blacksmithing mainly hammering and how to use a furnace and different techniques for a few months.