Chapter 361: Chapter 324 – Playing with Fire

“While the dwarves were generally acknowledged as some of the finest blacksmiths and craftsmen in the whole known world, there were a few who had garnered enough reputation to rival their prowess in that field of work.

 

The very long-lived tribe of therians from Mistweave Isle was one of these rivals. As their people generally leaned to the earth affinity and its derivatives, they had fewer talented fire mages to work the forges like the dwarves did.

 

Instead, they harnessed the power of the molten earth that flowed freely beneath their island, and used molten lava liberally throughout their forging process, which resulted in metalworks that rivaled those made by the dwarves at times.” - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Dean of the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 692 FP.

“You have interest in stuff like these, huh? Not many came to the island to take a look at our people’s forging,” said Archmagus Ssuil as she brought Cal to one of the low, earthen structures built in a separate region from the town. Kino had tagged along with some curiosity as well, as apparently it was the first time she visited that area. “Most just came to look at and buy the finished products.”

 

“I’ve seen the Champion of Metal at work before,” replied Cal as she reminisced of the way molten metals seemed to flow and merge under the influence of the old dwarf’s magic in his forge. Despite the way he could have purely used magic to shape everything though, Hogarth had still insisted on using his trusty hammer to finish the work, unless he was working with Adamant where that was simply impossible to do. “It was quite a mesmerizing thing to have watched a master at work.”

 

Even amongst the dwarven blacksmiths themselves, there was a divide in method, as some favored the old style of blacksmithing, where they simply used magic to nudge the metal into the proper shape while their hammers did most of the hard work. On the other hand, the newer method that was popular amongst the younger generation was to entirely rely on magic for their craft from the beginning to the end.

 

Hogarth had been sort of in between, as he still favored finishing the job with his hammer, but had also been open to accepting and using the newer methods favored by the younger generation. One reason the older generations favored the hammer was partly because of two reasons.

 

One was because to rely entirely on magic naturally led to a form of elitism where the mages gained superiority over others, which was something they did not desire to see. The other was partly due to tradition, as the art of working metals purely with magic used to be reserved only for handling pure adamant, which was unworkable by any other method.

 

The way the locals of the island worked their forges was altogether different. Whereas most smithies had forges that were constantly stoked and fueled to burn hot, the locals simply had a trench of molten lava to serve as their forge.

 

They used large pincers made from some sort of coral - supposedly ones that grew around undersea volcanoes, traded from the merfolk tribes - that were extremely heat resistant and could handle a dip into the lava without issue to grab onto slabs of metal and dip them into the lava “bath” to heat them up.

 

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Heat was not the sole purpose of the “bath” however, as apparently the lava used in the forges had been selectively filtered by many mages to contain various molten metals and minerals that would merge into the slabs bathed in them. The resultant alloy they would create formed into a steel that was more flexible and malleable in the center, while remaining very sturdy and durable on the outside.

 

For more thorough alloys, metal mages worked by the side of the lava trench as they worked their magic to allow the alloys to form while they prevented the molten metal from mixing too much with the lava around it. The resultant alloy was then “fished” out and placed inside molds where they cooled down into ingots.

 

As for the metalworkers themselves, most of them worked the hammer and anvil with gusto. The three-fingered hands of the tortoises gripped the shafts of their hammers - which were shorter but heavier than what most people used - and slammed them down rhythmically on top of the heated metal that lay on their anvils as they shaped it through their blows.

 

They also used their own mix of oils to quench the finished products, one that gave the resultant works a unique, wavy sheen to their surface. Compared to most metalworkers however, their works tend to be low on decorations besides the sheen on their blades.

 

Most of their products focused on function over form, which was something Cal could appreciate. She picked up a finished sword to take a look at it. The sword was a hand and a half one, longer than a typical longsword but not as long as a two-handed sword and could be used with either one or both hands.

 

The single-edged blade was mostly straight with only a slight curve on the blade’s edge until it reached the upper end of the blade, which bulged forward and formed a semi-circular cutting edge by the tip. The blade was clearly meant for heavy chops rather than thrusts, the sort that was likely sharp and sturdy enough to cleave through bones with ease.

 

Cal had not looked too favorably on swords much, as they were more of a duelist’s weapon in her homeland rather than battlefield weapons. They were mostly popular amongst the nobles who often trained in fancy techniques to use them, sure, but on the battlefield a good spear or polearm generally gave far more of an advantage compared to them.

 

On the other hand, heavier single-edged blades meant for chopping and cleaving were not uncommon as they were a favored sidearm of many soldiers who could afford them. Her own student Ying Xiao used one, though with her magic reinforcing her body she used the normally two-handed weapon in one hand with ease.

 

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