Chapter 208: Black Steel

I went back to the workshop, and ate my own meat, cooked over the furnace. I must admit, the idea of cooking the meat over the furnace... was original. With my hunger taken care of, I proceeded to make the third Azurite Ingot. The process didn't change since the last two ingots. I still hammered the Azur-Moonlight mix for 15 cycles, then added Blurite, and again hammered it for another 15 cycles.

In the end, I created the third Azurite Ingot. 'This is enough for one day. I need to rest now, even though I ate some food, I'm still quite tired. No wonder they employ those Grondons, to make Azurite Ingots. Stamina and strength are really the key, when it comes to smithing' I thought, and headed towards the room in the back.

The room, was empty. I left the two ingots on the table, and went back to the tavern. I needed to get some sleep, and I wanted something better, than whatever that cheap lodge could offer. Inside the tavern, I walked up to the counter and said "I would like to rent a room, for one night". The female Lizard, that taught me how to use the Sand of Time tool, said "Sure, what room would you like?".

I said "The standard one", and passed her 50 Copper Hals. She nodded her head and said "Here is the key. It's the room numbered 3 upstairs. If you want to extend your stay, simply come over here and pay for that period, or return the key". I nodded and thanked her, then went upstairs. The room number 3 was everything but lavish. 'At least it's clean, and the bed looks decent' I thought. The room also had a small table and a chair, but nothing else, other than that.

I laid down on the bed, and went to sleep. No dreams visited me that night either. I woke up in the "morning" and went downstairs. This time, the other female Lizard was standing behind the counter. 'They probably work some kind of specific shifts' I thought, and walked over to the counter. I said "Here is the key to the room". She nodded her head and took it. I said my goodbyes and left towards the workshop.

I went straight to the room in the back, and this time, the old Lizard was there. When he saw me, he said "Great that you are here. The ingots you've created yesterday, were all Top Grade Quality. This is really great work". I nodded my head, and asked "Can you now teach me, how to make Black Iron Ingots?". He replied "Of course, come with me and I will show you".

We went back to the same workbench, that I used to create the Azurite Ingots, and the old Lizard started his demonstration. "To create Black Iron Ingots, or to be more precise, Black Steel Ingots, you will need Black Iron Ore, Flash Tin Ore and Purified Coal. The process is not that complicated as well. We melt all the 3 ingredients together, then pound out the impurities. Thanks to the Flash Tin Ore, we can remealt the steel, due to the protection it offers against formation of further impurities".

I asked "Then, can't we use the Flash Tin Ore, when creating Azurite Ingots?". The old Lizard shook his head, and said "It's a good question, but the answer is no. Flash Tin works well with Black Iron Ore, but it would weaken the Azur Ore a lot. Hence we don't use it". He then continued "When we melt the ingredients, we need to hammer out the impurities. You need to use the same method, that you used on Azurite Ingots. Flatten the metal, then curve it around, and flatten it again. I suggest at least 10 cycles, to get a good quality Black Steel Ingot. Of course, the more you pound it, the better the quality will be, but don't be fooled. The ore has its quality as well. That means, even if you pound it for 30 cycles, the quality might not rise much, and you can stress the metal too much. This would in fact lower the quality, instead of increasing it".

I nodded my head, then asked "And when I want to form an actual ingot?". He said "You can melt it, and pour it to the mold of an ingot, just like you did with the Purified Steel Ingots. Do you have any other questions?". I nodded my head, and said "Yes, what type of proportions are the best, for one Black Steel Ingot?". He knocked his head lightly, and said "I forgot. You will need 1.2 kilograms of Black Iron Ore, then 540 grams of Flash Tin Ore, and 360 grams of Purified Coal. As I said, you will receive enough materials, to create 3 Black Steel Ingots, each day. Here are the materials".

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He passed me 3 normal bags, full of ore. "You can make them now if you want, then start your work on the Azurite later". I nodded my head, and said "I shall do the Black Steel Ingots first then". He nodded, and left me to my work.

'He recommended at least 10 cycles, but I will do 15 and check. Doing too many is also bad, but 15 should still be fine' I thought, and proceeded to weighting and melting the required materials. The metal was not that hard to work with, I soon finished 10 cycles, and had a look at the piece of metal. It was dark in colour, but not completely back. The Flash Tin, also gave it some shine. I check the metal from all angles, and could still see some impurities. I decided to continue, and follow my original plan of 15 cycles.

After another 5 cycles, the quality of the metal improved a bit, and possesed much less impurities. But, any further pounding would change nothing, and might even have the opposite effect. I decided to melt the metal, and create the Black Steel Ingot. 'I don't know how long this took me, but I'm not tired from doing one ingot. I can easily create two more, without a break' I thought.

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I repeated the same process again, and created two more Black Steel Ingots. 'Those 3 ingots, will allow me to create about a dozen of daggers. Couple more days, and I should be able to reach my previous number of daggers' I thought, and headed towards the room in the back. I was tired after making those 3 ingots, and wanted to rest a bit. More importantly, I wanted for the old Lizard to check the quality for me.

The old Lizard was sitting on his chair, when I entered. I said "Can you check the quality of the Black Steel Ingots, that I made?". He placed down some papers, and said "Sure, give them here". I passed him the ingots and awaited his verdict. He looked at them for a while, then said "These are of High Grade Quality. Quite good, but the materials I gave you, would easily allow for that quality to be made". He then passed the ingots back to me.

I asked "Can you tell me, how to check the quality of the ingots?". He replied "Sure, when you finish your task, I will teach you". I nodded my head, and left. I still had to take a rest, but I didn't go to the tavern this time, and stayed in the workshop. I decided to watch others, as they did their jobs, while I ate some meat.

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