Chapter 303 - Forging

Mercury continued weighing the ingots in his hand for a bit until he finally chose an ingot from the stack a few minutes later, he tapped it a few times with his finger, he could feel some 'lines' inside the ingots, and this one had the most straight and neat 'lines' so, therefore, he chose this particular ingot

"This one"

Marie snapped out of her daze and nodded before she gestured for Mercury to hand her the ingot which he did, she weighed it in her hand for a bit before she tapped it a few times and nodded

"Good choice, this is at least a grade 8"

Mercury tilted his head to the side slightly as he asked

"Grade 8?"

Marie showed a smile and explained

"It's the quality of the ingot, it goes from bad at grade 1 to excellent at grade 10"

"I see… Well then let's go with that one then"

"Sure"

Marie threw the ingot back to Mercury who caught it and followed after her back into the workshop where she looked at the furnace and made it light up before she asked Mercury

"How hot do you want the flames?"

Mercury felt the heat of the furnace for a bit before he answered

"A bit hotter than that"

"Sure thing~"

The heat raised a little bit more, Mercury nodded and wore one of the heat resistant gloves and dropped his cane before he limped over and stuck the ingot into the furnace for a bit before he brought it out again and limped over to the anvil and picked up the hammer with one hand and felt its weight for a bit before he placed the glowing hot ingot onto the anvil and struck down with the hammer once, then he thought for a bit before he raised the hammer again and stuck down sending another clang out in the workshop, Marie watched with approval as Mercury gradually got the feeling for how hard he should hit the ingot to shape it, then he put it into the furnace again and bright it out once more, after a bit the blade gradually took shape as Mercury worked quite fast at the end, shaping the blade like it was made of clay, then he brought it up and inspected it for a bit before he nodded and limped over and put it into the oil barrel before he looked at Marie and spoke

"Done"

Marie showed a bright smile and handed Mercury his cane before she walked ahead of him out to the back well, Mercury walked after her and after a short break the two of them returned back to the workshop where she picked up the now cold blade and looked it over for a bit before she gave a nod

"... Grade 7 blade, You pass Mercury"

Mercury showed a happy smile and made a fist pump before he asked

"Are the grades the same as the ingots?"

"Yeah, a good blacksmith can keep the same grade as the ingot to the finished product and a grandmaster can raise its grade by one, I am decent and can keep the same grade while smithing, you did well"

"Yay!"

"Well then, let's continue"

"Sure thing!"

"Haa…"

Mercury sunk into the bathtub in his new home, he had spent the entire day working with Marie, he had already taken a shower to wash off all the sot on his body, but now was the time to relax, at least for a bit, after soaking in the bathtub for half an hour he got out and dried off before he got dressed and walked upstairs and collapsed into bed…

"Can't sleep…"

Mercury got up from the bed again, he had been turning and twisting around for the best part of an hour so instead of laying there he got up and got dressed again before he grabbed his cane and walked out of the house, then he simply strolled around the city streets until he found an inn and walked in and sat at the bar, soon the bartender spoke out to him

"Hey new face, what can I get ya?"

Mercury showed a smile

"Some beer to start… Oh and something snack too"

"Got it~"

Mercury waited a bit before the bartender returned from the caller with a bottle of ale and poured it into a glass before he sat it in front of Mercury and asked

"So, what's your story Newface?"

Mercury sipped the cold beer

"Nothing special, I just arrived in the city"'

"Oh so that's why I couldn't place your face, Oh right your snacks, one moment"

The bartender soon returned with some jerky in a small bowl and placed it in front of Mercury as he asked

"So find any work yet?"

"Yeah, I started as a blacksmith's apprentice today"

"Ohh~ a blacksmith?"

"Yeah, is that so strange?"

"No, not at all, so how's your master?"

"A smith named Marie"

The bartender nodded before he spoke again

"Yeah I know her, a fine woman and an even finer blacksmith, you're a lucky kid"

"Yep"

Mercury sipped his beer before he spoke in a low voice

"Truth be told I had a hard time focusing on work, you know she works wearing only an apron on her upper body"

The bartender showed a slightly lewd smile before as he nodded a few times before he asked

"Wanna trade your workplace with me?"

"Nah~"

"Oh come on kid~ Just for a few--- ouch!"

The bartender cried out in pain as his long ear was made even longer by a female elf that had grabbed him by the ear while wearing a slightly cold smile as she asked

"Dear, why don't you go check the inventory downstairs~?"

"Y-Yes, dear!"

The bartender quickly ran down the stairs once his wife let go of his ear, the wife smiled at Mercury that sipped his beer innocently, after a bit she asked

"Can I get you some more beer?"

"I'm good for now thanks"

"Okay, sorry about my husband he's a little childish… Say I haven't seen you around before, what's your name?"

"Mercury"

"Mercury… Mercury… Alright I have remembered it, just call if you need something more to drink"

"Sure"

After Mercury finished his beer and snacks he paid his bill and walked back home before he went to bed again, this time sleep found him easily as he drifted off to sleep…

The next morning Mercury woke when his sharp scenes picked up someone knocking at the door, he quickly got out of bed and walked over to the window and opened it to look down at the person that was knocking and saw Marie and smiled

"Good morning"

Marie looked up and saw Mercury and showed a smile as she greeted him back

"Morning Mercury"

She was dressed rather boyishly, wearing a shirt and a pair of rugged leather pants with her hair tied in a bun on the back of her head

"Get dressed, I received an order of 50 blades that's due in a week, we have our work cut out for us!"

"Got it!"

Mercury quickly got dressed before he walked downstairs and out of the door where Marie waited on him, after locking the front door he walked along the street with her, the two of them walked in silence though Mercury noticed that she was glancing at him like she wanted him to start a conversation, so he obliged

"So… Who ordered those blades?"

"Another workshop, they'll be fitting them with handles and selling them to export"

"I see, then we have our work cut out for us"

Just as Mercury finished speaking his stomach growled, making him a little embarrassed as Marie laughed out loud before she spoke

"Let's go get some food first~"

Mercury nodded and followed Marie to a nearby cafe where he ordered some food and looked over at Marie

"Have you already eaten?"

"Yeah, I ate at sunrise"

"Okay, then I hope you won't get hungry by watching me eat"

Marie popped her chin up with her hands as she sat and looked at Mercury with a slight smile on her face as he ate, she wondered what it would be like if he ate her cooking, but then she quickly shook her head clearing her mind, then she hurried on Mercury

"Come on Mercury, we need to get forging! Eat faster!"

Mercury nodded and began shoveling food in, then after he was done eating he walked down the streets with Marie at his side, the air was delicate around them, though Mercury had no idea why as Marie kept glancing at him again, he, however, ignored it this time and soon they arrived at the workshop and after Marie got changed into her apron the two of them began working on the blades, the air seemed to improve once they focused on work, they changed who was the assistant each blade so Mercury got some practice in, in the evening Mercury was about to head home when he remembered he had brought his sword and decided to get Marie to look it over, once he drew the blade however Marie was stunned before she yelled in a frightened tone

"Adamantite!"