Chapter 129: Blacksmithing

Tristan blinked his eyes over and over, to make sure what he just saw was not wrong. Incredulous expression was seen on his face as his brain projected the object in his hand.

"A horseshoe? Really?"

Alas, it was obvious that Master Laril was serious as Tristan spotted no humor on the former's face. Therefore, he could only sigh and accept his lamentable fate.

Horseshoe was one of the most wanted pieces of metal equipment in the Vanyar Kingdom and other kingdoms beyond. It was because of the existence of war horses. A warrior would only need one sword, while each of their horses need 4 horseshoes.

In this world, where horses were still the number one means of transportation, it was a no-brainer that horseshoes were in high demand.

Apparently, since the master and her 5 disciples were needed to make the 200 elven swords and armor commissioned to them, there was no one who was doing the seriously needed horseshoes. Naturally, now that Tristan had offered himself at the door, Master Laril would take this chance to solve her predicament and train the former at the same time - killing two birds with one stone.

All in all, it truly made sense. Even so, Tristan had to make sure he wouldn't waste his last few days making horseshoes, though. After all, his current situation was dire enough.

'This better be really great at helping me improve my Katra.' Tristan secretly thought in his mind as he put the horseshoe down.

The elf normally made the horseshoe customized to fit each horse. However, as Tristan was just starting, he was told to just make the average size horseshoe which obviously was not easier.

Atos was assigned by Master Laril to show and teach him the basics of blacksmithing. 

Tristan followed the former as they made their way toward the forging room.

Without further ado, Tristan's adventure in blacksmithing began.

Blacksmithing consisted of three main items - The forge, the anvil, and the hammer.

Tristan watched in clear interest as Atos took one small piece of steel ingot before putting it in the forge that was already heated to maximum. When the ingot reached a certain temperature and it was blaring crimson, he took it out with the tongs in a fast tone and put it on top of the anvil.

Without wasting even a second, Atos grabbed the hammer that lay on the side and used it to pound the scorching steel with everything he had. The pounding was so rhythmical that it almost made Tristan involuntary hum some tone.

In no time at all, Tristan could see the ingot was bending into the shape of the letter U by the relentless strikes Atos had unleashed upon it. Then, when the ingot had been pounded to the desired shape, Atos swiftly picked up the now U-shaped steel with the tongs and flushed it into some kind of liquid in an open container.

A sizzling sound was heard and clumps of steam appeared as the ingot dived and cooled in the liquid. Atos repeated this process a few more times and within less than fifteen minutes, a horseshoe was made.

The last touch was doing the punching to make holes and smoothing the overall horseshoe.

Tristan watched the entire sequence of the craft, and couldn't help but think, "That's it? That seems very easy, and surprisingly a very interesting thing to do. Definitely much better than sitting on the pagoda tracking eels."

After storing the freshly made horseshoe, Atos stepped aside to let Tristan taste the beauty of blacksmithing. Standing where Atos stood earlier, Tristan began to move as he followed the steps etched in his mind.

First, he took a similar steel ingot and put it on the blazing forge. Tristan subconsciously let out a smirk as he was confident he would receive success in the endeavor. All of this was because he was sure he had counted the heating timing properly.

'Around 50 seconds, I am sure of it.' Tristan inwardly thought as his mind acted like a clock, counting down the time to its seconds.

After his counts reached fifty, with the tongs already in hand, Tristan took out the searing ingot, placed it on the anvil, and began pounding after grabbing the hammer.

Tang! Tang!

Alas, Tristan's expectation where the ingot would bend to his will didn't happen as it immediately broke into pieces by his one hit.

A surprised, puzzled, then confused expression could be seen on Tristan's face as he tried to comprehend what just happened. Standing next to him, Atos was being so nonchalant as if he had expected it. He picked up the broken pieces on the anvil and melted it down into a new ingot.

"Don't worry. We knew it would happen. So, don't be disheartened and try again."

Atos even returned to his work, leaving him to take his time to make the horseshoe. 

In the meantime, Tristan was berating himself heavily for underestimating the difficulty of the craft. He sighed and thought he truly shouldn't belittle the craft that probably had only 5 people in the entire Vanyar City.

He grabbed another ingot and threw it to the forge again, but this time, instead of counting the heating process, Tristan looked and observed it carefully. Still, he didn't completely abandon the counting method, but instead, used it as a complementary approach.

Tristan decided to experiment with the process. He took the ingot out in different timings, to see how it would do; the first attempt was a few seconds early, while the next was a few seconds late.

The one which was early was still too hard, which resulted in cracks when Tristan tried to bend it. Meanwhile, the one which was late was too soft and broke even easier than before.

Finally, after dozens of attempts, dozens of different timings, and dozens of wretched failures, Tristan succeeded. For the first time, Tristan hit the ingot and it didn't break or shatter into pieces in one hit.

"I did it!"

Slowly but surely, with the utmost level of carefulness, Tristan used the horn part of the anvil in order to bend the ingot to the U-letter shape. He raised the hammer and sent it down, and then..

Tang!

The ingot broke again!

"What the hell?!!" 

Yeah, the craft of blacksmithing was definitely much harder than Tristan initially thought.

At this time, Master Laril came and launched in to berate Tristan. "At this rate, you will only ruin my forge!"

Tristan bowed and said, "I'm sorry, Master. Please guide me as I'm lost about this."

"You moron! You came here to learn Katra, right?! Then use it to understand the steel!"

Master Laril told Tristan that elven steel was very special. It was durable yet light, but it needed outstanding care in order to shine. Allegedly, the steel required a very specific heat to reach its maximum crystallization. In addition, it was so sensitive that pounding it required a specific strength as well.

"You understand now?! If so, go and do it properly! If you are unable to make one today, don't bother to return tomorrow!"

Tristan finally understood the reason Elder Anmar brought him to this place to learn Katra of all places. Katra would help him understand the complexity of the steel, which indirectly made him have to advance his accomplishment in it.

With this in mind, this time Tristan didn't immediately throw the steel into the forge. Instead, he held the ingot in his hand, closed his eyes, and chanted the words for the second stage of Katra. He didn't know how much time passed, but he slowly started to feel the steel ingot - its weight, its structure, and so on.

Then, in the middle of this, Tristan suddenly thought of an idea that probably could help him completely understand the ingot instantly. He grabbed it hard and suddenly, 

Blazing flames materialized on his hand, burning the ingot down.

[Heat Touch]

[25 Blood Essence consumed]

Everyone in the forging room, who had been observing Tristan, were surprised, including Master Laril herself.