Chapter 62: (Chpt. 46) Igniting the fire that was forever lost (2)

Alice.

My body started being shaken by a mysterious force; making me mumble and drop a slight bit of saliva. I noticed the shaking stopped for a slight second, but as if having made its resolution, it continued. Eventually, after some happy mumbling, I opened my eyes with drowsiness. The first thing I saw was a man with brown hair and a small moustache; his face had slight wrinkles. I immediately turned pale. 

“Umm…”

“So, you are finally awake…” he sighed. “The smith is here.” 

I turned paler, Firil had just woken me up, and I had shown some embarrassing sight before being woken up… It did not help that he had to wake me up to tell me about the smith being here… I hastily stood up and tried to fix my unkempt hair, I managed to flatten it a bit. Looking at my hand, I froze, it had white hair… The shock did not last long... I was too drowsy to remember most things. While I did random stuff trying to wake myself up; namely slapping my cheeks a few times; Firil gave me a weird look. After a few seconds, I was finally fully aware of the world around me. 

“Sorry…” I awkwardly apologized to Firil; who just slowly shook his hand. 

“Don’t worry about it, just go ahead and meet him. He is waiting outside,” he quietly said in reassurance. I quickly nodded and went outside ⁠— ignoring the maids and butlers, I also forgot about Fenri. I even almost forgot the gate guard existed when I exited. I did manage to wave at him. But I realized something odd once I was outside the gate. 

There was no one. Confused, I glanced around the vicinity. But there was indeed no one. I stood there for a few seconds, not knowing what to do. Eventually, I thought it was better to go back inside; I turned around. 

“... Where is this girl?” I heard a confused and raspy voice behind me, it was somewhat familiar. I quickly turned around. There was a burly dwarf walking around. I somehow did not see him before, however, it was ‘that’ dwarf. We locked gazes. 

“Youu… What are you doing here?!” 

“I want to ask the same!” 

We were both taken aback by this and flinched. The first one to recover was the dwarf. 

“I am here to pick up a lovely girl that aspires to be a great smith!” He said with passion. However, I just sat there and quietly watched with an emotionless face. He was weirded out. “What? Are you not going to say anything? Shoo! stop wasting my time. I am waiting for someone,” he said in annoyance. But I looked at him. 

“I am the girl you are talking about…” I awkwardly said. He paused and scanned me entirely again. He looked for the house guard to ask him something, but he was missing. As I followed his gaze I heard the door of the mansion click and open. Firil came out. 

“What’s the problem here?” he asked. 

“Firil, is this the girl you told me about?” He said in annoyance as he pointed at me. 

“Well, yes. Is there a problem?” 

“... No.” He gave me a death glare. “I was just confused because she is an acquaintance.” He quickly explained; making Firl nod in agreement and then he pleasantly muttered something and went back into the mansion. 

The dwarf looked at me, I had forgotten his name. He turned around and waved over with his hand. 

“Well, let’s go girly.” 

“You aren't going to say anything else?” I was confused. 

“No, that other girl taught a valuable lesson after-all. Besides, I don't have anything else to say.” 

After he said that, he started walking. Leaving me with no choice but to follow him. We exited the residential area and the guards were somewhat surprised but did not say anything. People looked at us and gave us a variety of gazes but did not say anything either. The dwarf guided me in the guild’s direction, but we continued walking for quite a while. We walked for a long time, I was surprised the capital was this big. Eventually, we stopped. 

We were in front of a big castle that looked straight out of a movie. Imposing walls and beautiful landscaping work. However, I had no time to admire the castle. Why were we here? We arrived in front of the castle guards who did not even slightly move when they saw us. When the dwarf approached they opened the gate and allowed us to walk into the castle. 

“Why are we going inside the castle?” I asked as we walked down the bridge.

“Isn’t it obvious? We are going to the forge!” He joyously exclaimed. The word resonated with me not allowing me to retort at all. I paused for a few seconds and recalled a lot of things, but I still had to ask. 

“Why is the forge in the castle? Wouldn’t a forge be available anywhere else?” 

“Yes, but this forge is special girly. You will understand when you arrive.” He explained with pleasure. 

I gulped hearing what the tiny man was saying. A forge in the castle? Weird, but sounds exciting. Special!? I am all for it… I want to see what makes it so special. As I was trembling with excitement, we entered the castle and then the dwarf guided me to the inner garden. It had a myriad of colors from the bountiful flowers. I was confused as to why we were in the garden, the garden felt great because it was secluded. Anyway; he continued walking and I awkwardly followed behind. 

After some more walking, we reached a single towering door with metal framing. The dwarf opened it without much difficulty and made me enter. It was a forge. However, I did not look around much, I don’t know if this is what he meant by ‘special’. But, there was a second garden, this one had no flowers. Instead, it looked into a cliff, leading to a picturesque landscape; a lot of green forests and prominent rivers as well as mountains that pierced the skies. The dwarf noticed my gaze on the mountains. 

“There is a tale that says that a ferocious dragon lives there… Oh, well that doesn’t matter. It’s impressive but not the special part I talked about.” What does he mean? Also, what kind of dragon? Hmm... Is Fifi doing alright? What else could be special?

I paused and looked around. The garden was small because the entire flooring of the forge was made out of bricks. We couldn’t set the grass on fire after-all, I looked around trying to find the special part that the dwarf talked about. There was a single giant furnace that was brightly burning, an anvil, and a  quenching recipient, among other forge utilities. However, I saw nothing truly special aside from a chest. The chest looked rather plain and the metal edges it had were somewhat rusted. Nothing important. Worth mentioning that there were comfortable chairs looking towards the forge for some odd reason. 

“So, what do you think? Impressive right?” 

“Well, isn’t this a normal forge with a nice view?” I casually asked him. He sighed. 

“No, girly, you don’t understand.” He opened the chest. “This!” He was holding a piece of metal high up in the air as if it was something to admire. 

“So?” I tilted my head. He frowned hearing me and started grumbling. 

“This! Is mithril girly! Do you understand?! It’s one of the most valuable and durable metals that mankind has acquired!” His lecture did not achieve much but I decided to not say anything. 

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Mithril… I mean, it has been a long time since I have seen mithril. But, well, it was okay I guess… I wanted to see a new metal, regardless of its quality or purity. After all, discovery is the joy of people. So I couldn’t help but be disappointed by looking at another piece of mithril. The ingot he pulled out seemed to be high quality. It was almost white with a blue metallic shine.  

Seeing I was ignoring him; the dwarf grumbled for a few minutes as I was immersed in my thoughts. I absently looked at the landscape as I waited for the dwarf to finish his rambling. I did not think much of it. He also stomped the ground and was about to throw the mithril into the ground, however, he thought about it and went back to the chest and took a copper ingot and smashed it instead. After a few more minutes he had finally calmed down. 

“Girly… Don’t make me mad again… Got it?” I nodded. “Very well, I was told that you wanted to learn to smith.” I awkwardly nodded. “So, I will make you anything you request and you get to keep it. I will explain the process and teach you to the best of my ability.” He sounded very professional. I nodded yet again. 

“So, what would you like to have made out of mithril?” 

“A dagger,” I said without hesitation. He nodded without thinking much of it. 

 

“Okay, I will begin.” He placed the mithril inside the furnace and closed it. “I am not very good at explaining, but basically you need to bake it until you feel like it’s calling for you.” I instantly nodded, despite his weird explanation I understood what he meant. “In other words; take it out when it’s shining in a beautiful orange glow.” He smiled. 

We both watched the furnace with excitement, not uttering a single word. Who could say a word when watching a metal get heated to its optimal temperature for molding. I looked with max concentration at the metal. I could pretty much feel the metal inside the furnace and tell its state. It was about time to take it out. However, the dwarf kept waiting for a minute more and finally took it out. 

“Ain't it beautiful?” he showed me the metal. I couldn’t help but awkwardly nod. It was ruined... But I couldn’t really take over his work. It would be disrespectful, I had no choice but to keep watching him on the process. 

He kept explaining as he moved things around with his tongs and his hammer that seemed to be made out of some really high-quality metal. Eventually, he moved into the hammering process. 

“So, girly. I want you to pay close attention.” I would’ve paid my utmost attention even if he hadn’t said anything. “You want to shape it, you want to give it an identity and make it live. Treat it like your own child.” He had passion to spare, that was for sure. 

One hit in and the metal slightly bashed in; flattening ever so slightly. 

And another one. I absentmindedly watched him delicately hammer the mithril. I could see sparks flying; his eyes burning with passion and sweat dripping down his forehead wrinkles. However, the bright smile on his face was that of a child. I felt strange seeing him, it was almost like… Watching one’s own reflection.

Three hits, four hits, six... Ten… I continued to carefully watch his work as he hammered with passion. The shape was there, I could perfectly see it in my mind. I saw the perfect design, something that I would be proud of. I watched with sparkling eyes, accompanied by inhumane concentration, time slowed down.  At that moment I noticed the hammer ever-so-slightly changed its trajectory and bashed the edge of the metal instead; effectively flattening it slightly too much, also causing a not so nice metal ring.

The metal kept being hammered in all the wrong ways possible. I gritted my teeth, it was so painful that I thought the metal itself was screaming in agony, every single sound it emitted was a mistake, resonating in my ears and giving me a headache. He kept hammering it and eventually a fine metal dagger came out. He reheated it again and let it cool down, it was to keep the strength and flexibility of the blade and also make it soft, but I had a sour face. 

“Beautiful isn’t it?” He said with a bright smile. I nodded again, but I did not know what to say. While smithing is beautiful, when you don’t agree with others’ methods it’s quite painful. It’s like watching a smooth and unblemished surface get deliberately messed up. It’s something that you want to avoid but it just happens. I felt kind of similar to this whole situation. Almost as painful as deliberately hitting the face of an anvil...

He moved into sharpening the blade, annealing in ash or waiting for too long wasn't necessary for mithril, it could just be cooled at air temperature as he did earlier. It was easy to grind but was so sharp that it did not chip easily. I had no comments about it, his technique was great and overall he did not make mistakes. There was nothing worth mentioning, making a mistake in sharpening was actually quite hard. Maintaining a straight edge during the sharpening process in smithing was something to be expected from a smith and he had delivered. 

“Now I have to reheat it again.” He said as if I was going to be confused by this. I just nodded. “You see girly one needs to quench the blade.” I nodded again as he tossed it into the furnace again. Eventually, he took it out and threw it into the quenching tank with tongs. He waited with sparkling eyes as he looked at the sizzling oil. He repeated the quenching process a few more times. It was a bad idea to keep doing it since it affected the metal in a negative way… 

Once he was done with all his quenching he threw it into the furnace. "Time for tempering." He said as he took it in and out of the furnace to retain a constant heat on the blade, he did it for around thirty or so seconds before quenching it one last time. This hardened the blade but it also allowed it to retain some flexibility. It basically avoided making the blade brittle.  After taking it out of the sizzling oil he polished it with a file. He did a good job at it. 

He moved into making the hilt for the dagger as he continued explaining with pleasure and joy. Some leather and rope were used and he tightened them with strength into a uniform and linear pattern. It was simplistic but stylish. He did not add a hilt but did add a pommel. He quickly forged a small marble with some silver and peened it into place, then he turned to me with a bright smile. 

Looking at his expression of pure joy I had remembered. It wasn’t all about the process, or what’s right or what’s wrong. It was about enjoying it and having the passion to make it happen — to create things. It was an art. It was something for people to enjoy and watch. 

“So, what do you think?” 

“Truly beautiful,” I said with a faint smile. 

“Very well…” He smiled. “You can have it.” He handed me a dagger, it was pure quality but I still couldn’t help but be bothered by the methods he had used. However, I gripped the dagger and I felt a strange sense of comfort, it was as if it was made just for me. I realized yet another thing. He noticed my smile. 

“It’s my best work, I hope you love it as much as me.” He smiled again. “If you take it to a reputable enchanter I am sure something amazing will come out of it.” I took his word for it and placed it behind my back; adding some magical energy into the process. I felt a weird sensation and looked back at the dagger and inspected it. 

[(Unnamed) ⁠— Legendary. ⁠— A dagger crafted out of pure passion and outstanding skill: Who says skill is everything? Love ought to be somewhere in the mix, right? Enchanted by a girl that rediscovered something she had forgotten about; finding herself once again.]  

I twitched reading the odd description. But it was truly a masterpiece. The dagger was ever so slightly shining in a blue hue, it was barely noticeable. The dwarf took note of it. 

“Looks like it likes you!” he began laughing. I don’t think it was because of that… I reread the description and changed my mind; a faint smile surged on my face. ‘Rediscovering something…’ I happily mumbled as I sat down on one of the chairs away from the forge. The dwarf did the same thing. He had a blissful smile as he absentmindedly looked at the sky. I looked at the dagger and started thinking.

Rediscovery... Finding something new; a path at the end of the tunnel... Or a light? Or... something bright, like a furnace. What was one of the first discoveries for mankind? Was it fire? Hmm... Rediscovering something forgotten... I enjoy this feeling!

As I thought with a smile on my face the dwarf nodded and slightly rose up and fixed his gaze on me; bringing me back into reality.  

“Now it’s your turn!” Eh?

“Nonono, I can’t do it.” I denied it. I did not want to craft in front of this person or anyone for that matter. It could be bad for everyone. However, the dwarf narrowed his eyes, but he did not seem annoyed; instead, he fixedly looked at me.

“Come on girly. Do you think I am blind?! You have as much passion as me, just do it!” 

He gave me a rough pat on my back. I gulped as I looked back at the forge. 

Alice.

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