Chapter 109: Younger Self

Damian felt as though he could relax, as the rest of the forging of the blade didn't require much work from him and he had done most of the work that was needed.

What was left was for the blade to be annealed, which was for it to be heated, then to allow it to cool slowly, using an insulator to slow down its cooling. This was done to soften the blade and allow for any finishing touches.

After that was the grinding of the blade, which would require him to file down the blade and sharpen it across a rough surface as he finalised its form. It was also the time to make any engravings or any final changes to the blade, which was made easier by softening the blade, through annealing.

When he was satisfied with the blade, it needed to be hardened so that it could be used in battle and could withstand impact and after the blade had been softened through annealing, it needed to regain its original properties.

To harden the blade it needed to be heated to the point of austenitization, which is the temperature that is the peak for the metal and allows for the full hardness of metal to be returned after heat treatment.

One needed to be careful when heating the sword as if it is overheated, it would ruin the lattice form of the metal and would become very weak and frail.

After reaching the austenitization temperature, the blade needed to quenched so that it would cool down very quickly and evenly and would harden the blade and it would regain its hard properties.

Iron is very brittle and can shatter or crack when it strikes a solid object and therefore it needs to be given more flexibility. This is done through tempering and after the blade had been hardened and regained its original properties, the blade wouldn't be very useful until it was tempered.

The process involved heating and monitoring the colour of the iron. The aim was for the edges to be of a wheat colour (not too soft), and a plum colour for the centerline of the sword (soft enough for soft flexibility and durability).

While tempering the blade, one needed to pay close attention to the colour change of the iron and to quickly remove the sword from the forge immediately after it reaches the suitable temperature.

After the blade is removed it needs to be quenched quickly to retain the hardening and tempering, then the blade should be cleaned with coarse emory paper, which gives it the smooth and shiny surface one wants from a blade.

He could polish and re-grind the blade again for any final touches and to improve the appearance of the blade, but the forging of the blade was completed and there weren't many improvements he could make to the blade itself after it had been completely forged.

It was quite a long process to form a blade, but an expert blacksmith like Elder Marth could form multiple basic blades at once, and while they were being annealed, he could forge other blades at the same time, so would be able to make dozens and even hundreds of blades within a day.

Walking over to Damian, he was pleasantly surprised by Damian who had massively surpassed his expectations and actually managed to complete the first and most important steps of the forging.

Damian reminded Elder Marth of his younger self and even had the same perceptivity and drive that he had, but Damian was in a better position than he was and didn't seem to be pressured by any ties and was an Internal Cultivator, which Elder Marth had always wanted to be.

He even had the determination and will power that was needed to be a blacksmith and was clearly a talented individual, however Elder Marth didn't want to make him become arrogant and spoil the child, despite his talent, so maintained an unaffected and plain expression as he looked at Damian's work.

"Your performance was average at best for a first timer and you have managed to complete the heating and the hammering, which are the most important part of forging a blade, but there are still many steps left and you can't even move," said Elder Marth with a seemingly disappointed expression.

Damian was unsure of what others would be capable of when forging a blade for the first time, but he wasn't willing to be seen as average and wanted to surpass everyone and everything.

Despite having hardly any Internal Energy left in his body and being very fatigued, Damian was still determined to complete the forging of the blade himself.

"1 hour is obviously not enough to anneal the blade, so you have not made this fair. I sat down, not because I am tired, but because I am letting the blade slowly cool down for the annealing process" said Damian still keeping up a strong front.

Elder Marth was surprised by Damian's claims of not being tired, despite knowing that he had seen him almost collapse in the puddle of sweat that had formed around his feet, but he chuckled and walked away from Damian who had managed to sit up.

"You are right I was unfair, I'll give you another hour onto that time, which would leave with you with an hour and a half. When I return I will see how the blade is and will make my final judgement" said Elder Marth as he left Damian alone, not planning to watch him like he had done previously.

There was no need to watch what Damian would do next as he had already made up his mind.

Damian recovered his Internal Energy for an hour while the blade cooled down slowly and was annealed, then the rest of the forging, although required a lot of work, could be done quite quickly and he had finished it within the 2 hours that Elder Marth had given him.