Birds of a feather flock together. As a blacksmith, Long Yi had no particular interest in other hobbies. The three of them each went their separate ways, and Long Yi quickly arrived at a smithy.
From a distance, he could already hear the resonance of hammer blows. This was a sound he had grown accustomed to over the past eighteen years. He could tell from the sound that the blacksmith wielded a powerful force and a large hammer, though it was unclear what was being crafted.
"Golden Hammer." Long Yi recognized the sign and knew this must be a shop run by a dwarf. Only dwarves would be so fixated on gold and gems, even using them as their own surnames. If this dwarf called himself Golden Hammer, he naturally carried on the legacy of the Golden Hammer craftsmanship.
The shop was not significant, nor was it guarded. Long Yi easily made his way to the back yard, where the sound of metal collision grew louder. Finally, he saw a dwarf, whose face was almost entirely buried in his beard, lifting a hammer about the size of a small barrel.
Clang!
The hammer fell, and the object on the anvil sent sparks flying. When the sparks landed on the dwarf's beard, a burnt stench filled the air.
"Hey, lad! Are you going to stand there gawking? Come and help me!"
The dwarf yelled without even looking at Long Yi.
Long Yi chuckled. It had been a few days since he last worked with metal, and his hands were itching to hold the hammer. So he grabbed one nearby and walked up to the dwarf.
The dwarf's hammer was large and heavy, but just right for Long Yi. After the dwarf's stroke, Long Yi followed with a second one. The rhythm was a bit off for the first three strokes, but after that, Long Yi was able to hammer with the dwarf's cadence.
Long Yi had learned his blacksmith skill from his father in this very manner. Now he was already a competent blacksmith who could work independently. This collaborative craft was like second nature to him.
The dwarf said nothing, and the two hammered away for a solid hour, revealing the rudimentary form of a Dragon-slaying Sword.
The dwarf picked up the sword and was about to quench it in a water trough nearby when Long Yi suddenly raised his hand and said, "Wait!"
The dwarf was a bit stunned but did pause.
Long Yi used a pair of tongs to pick up the heavy Dragon-slaying Sword, turned to Bajie, the plump Demon Abyss dragon, and said, "Bajie, medium flame."
Bajie lazily breathed out a flame, and the Dragon-slaying Sword immediately turned a deep red. Long Yi then tested the water temperature at the edge of the trough before slowly letting the edge of the sword touch the water surface. After some probing, he let the water slowly submerge the entire Dragon-slaying Sword.
"Boy, can you tell me what you are doing?"
The dwarf's eyes, hidden in his beard, were twinkling, but his question was unclear.
Long Yi smiled earnestly and said, "This Dragon-slaying Sword is made of Charcoal Iron. Quenching it slowly in lukewarm water in this state of red heat will greatly enhance the hardness of the blade, while also ensuring tremendous resilience in the body of the sword. You, after all, are a Golden Hammer blacksmith. You surely know this little trick. You probably have simply chosen not to do it."
The dwarf burst into laughter but said no more. He reached into the trough to pick up the now-cooled Dragon-slaying Sword and randomly pulled out another pre-made Dragon-slaying Sword from a pile nearby, placing it on the ground.
Clang!
The Dragon-slaying Sword on the ground was cleanly cut in two.
Seeing the Dragon-slaying Sword broken in two, the dwarf broke into hearty laughter.
"Good lad! It's rare to find someone who understands metal among the students of the Dragon Knight Academy. I thought the Academy was full of dimwits! A bunch of newbies are advancing this year, planning to order a batch of Dragon-slaying Swords from me, a Golden Hammer. Did they think I would treat it as if I were crafting a divine weapon for them?"
Long Yi laughed, "This is nothing more than a basic metal heat treatment method. Right now, I don't have a way to measure the temperature precisely. Otherwise, when it comes to heat treating metal, I can do it perfectly."
This was no bragging on Long Yi's part. In his time, metal heat treatment was a separate discipline. Numerous engineers had dedicated great effort to this field, with one failed experiment after another leading to a series of accurate values.
It could be said that in a world without magic, their understanding and methods of processing ordinary metals had reached an extreme level that this world could not surpass with simple observation.
Long Yi was a pilot and had worked hard at learning mechanical repairs. Consequently, he had also picked up metal processing, metal heat treatment and other related skills.
Given a sophisticated machine, he might not be able to construct a jet plane, but rebuilding a piston-driven propeller plane would pose no difficulty.
However, in a world with giant dragons, any fuel-powered machinery was destined to be of no use.
Besides, Long Yi really couldn't make a precision machine.
Upon hearing Long Yi's high aspirations, the dwarf burst out laughing.
"Boy, you certainly have confidence! Judging by your hands, you've held a hammer for at least ten years. Who is your master?"
Long Yi replied, "I don't have a master, but my father was on good terms with you."
Finally, the dwarf carefully looked at Long Yi, "I, Golden Hammer, can recall only a few humans with decent blacksmithing skills that I get along well with, and those whose children would be grown enough... are you Long Yi?"
The Golden Hammer dwarf remembered the child adopted by his friend, but he never expected he had grown so much.
Long Yi smiled and nodded, "Uncle, hello, I am Long Yi."
The dwarf gave Long Yi's shoulders a once-over, then examined his hands closely, and finally gave a nod of approval.
"Kid, haven't heard much from you since your old man died. Now out of nowhere, you've become a Dragon Knight and in your letter, you mentioned that you've got something exciting in store
for me. I hope you aren't just here to boast. I've been toiling away at the fiery forge, playing with red-hot iron for seventy years – boast in front of me and you may burn your tongue!"
Dwarves are the world's most renowned miners and blacksmiths – no one disputes this claim. Every year, countless humans aspiring to become Master Blacksmiths venture into the underground Furnace Fortress, the dwarves' biggest city and the sacred site of blacksmithing. This place has witnessed the creation of the most famous Dragon-slaying Sword in the world, The Hundred Dragons
Slash. An awe-inspiring weapon crafted by dwarves, refined by elves, and enchanted by several Dragon Mages.
Legends say that this sword slayed a hundred dragons without the slightest dulling of its sharp edge. Moreover, the owner of the sword ended the large-scale conflict of the
Seven Kingdoms, shaping the present relatively stable world scene.
Seeing the dwarf's disbelief, Long Yi didn't lose his temper. He knew you could question a dwarf on anything but their mining and blacksmith skills. Especially this dwarf in front of him, possessing the surname Golden Hammer – he had much more pride than other dwarves for the Golden Hammer was the surname of the blacksmith who had crafted the Hundred Dragons Slash!
So if he didn't provide compelling evidence today, Long Yi felt he would be kicked out by the dwarf the very next moment.
"Well, in that case, let me show you Uncle Golden Hammer what I've crafted myself," Long Yi said, reaching for his waist.
"Alright, alright, if you can present the tempering craftsmanship as you said, I, Gaite Golden Hammer, will craft you a Dragon-slaying Sword for free today!"
The dwarf grinned, a sense of sarcasm evident in his eyes. This kid indeed had talent, but if he intended to challenge their dwarf pa, he was still far too green!
However, when Long Yi pulled out his weapon, the dwarf's eyes widened in surprise.
It was a curvature-rich dagger that represented a large knife with a dragon-bone blade, two black wooden handle counterparts, and a streamlined blade grind that integrates the
blade smoothly, leaving no breaks or awkward bends. The entire blade had been polished to a mirror finish, and even the blade edge was mirrored. On its side, under the illumination, the whole body projected a faint blue color!
The blade was integrated seamlessly to the handle part with almost no gaps in sight. The rivets on both sides of the handle were polished as smooth as the handle itself. Additionally, dozens of oblique patterns had been etched onto the handle for enhanced grip.
Damn!
This thing!
It's freaking beautiful! I love it!
Could it have been crafted by an elf, given its delicate design? No, it isn't an elf's creation! Elves tend to overdo things by decorating even a short knife with all sorts of elf-style patterns. However, this dagger had no redundant embellishments – it was a practical weapon that didn't sacrifice aesthetics.
It felt special, fully fitting the palm despite being a single-handed grip.
"Damn it! Do you think you are going to fool me, Golden Hammer, with its good looks?"
With that, the dwarf Golden Hammer raised the dagger and thrust it toward the Dragon-slaying Sword he had just finished crafting.
Clang!
Creak!
The Dragon-slaying Sword surprisingly got pierced by the dagger!
The dwarf quickly withdrew the dagger and carefully checked for damage. He found that although the tip had collapsed under the impact, the rest of the blade remained intact!
Poor metal!
The dwarf instantly pinpointed the problem. The dagger was made of second-rate blue steel, while his Dragon-slaying Sword used top-grade charcoal steel. Blue steel theoretically surpasses charcoal steel, but second-rate blue steel tends to be softer, whereas top-grade charcoal steel is extremely hard. That the dagger, with its excellent heat treatment despite the contrast in materials, could pierce the specially tempered Dragon-slaying Sword made of charcoal steel, was extraordinary!
Could I do this?
Golden Hammer asked himself.
After weighing it, he thought perhaps, probably, he maybe could?
But he admitted that he could not have crafted it as beautifully!
"Kid, how did you do this, so... so beautifully?"
Dwarf Golden Hammer stammered, unaccustomed to the word 'beautiful' coming from his own mouth.
Dwarves preferred things that were high-end, handsome, cool, and explosive - they certainly did not take to 'beautiful'. In their view, fascination with 'beautiful' was for elves, for the effeminate! What dwarves craved was manliness and strength, not beauty!
So, when Golden Hammer's first impression of a weapon was of it being 'beautiful', he was utterly astounded.
Long Yi could tell by Golden Hammer's expression that he had accomplished what he set out to do.
"Actually, this was crafted using some small contrivances I invented myself," Long Yi replied.