《Mortal God of Blacksmith》


 Chapter 1. Mark

    Mark Feng is the third son of a blacksmith but he does not have a great relationship with his older brothers. As the son of a blacksmith, Mark has duties at the forge while his older brothers do everything they can to get out of repairing the tools of the local villagers.


    Mark finds himself drawn into the flame while he leans into the ping of his hammer on metal. His brothers do not hate him, rather, they do not relate to him at all.


    Ever since they were young kids, they just never really got along. There was no animosity between them, they just never had any similar interests.


    Mark''s father, James, had a wife for about 15 years. She died just a few years ago when Mark was about 11 years old. Since her death, James has spent more time at the forge than with his children as he tries to drown himself in work when he is not trying to drown himself in alcohol.


    Since James enjoys the forge more than the company of his family, he tends to teach Mark more than his other sons. He can''t be bothered with their reluctance to learn the trade and he knows that his oldest is bound to be a merchant rather than a blacksmith.


    Ever since the oldest son, Rick, started learning math he found himself capable of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing even large numbers within seconds as everyone else had to use some sort of tool to keep track of the numbers.


    Since he had become so proficient in numbers, he had been able to earn the favor of many villagers as traveling merchants would tend to round up prices and other shady things with numbers that the simple villagers were unable to catch.


    Rather than earning the ire of the merchants, Rick caught their attention and after a few years, he started learning from the most popular traveling merchant about the outside world and the nearby villages.


    In the past, James would have put more effort into teaching his oldest son about the pride of the craft passed down by his father and his father''s father before him as long as their family had lived in the mountains.


    As far as James knows, their family had lived in the mountains forever. Therefore, James looked at his craft as an ancient and profound skill that could not be learned anywhere else.


    Since James has one son who loves working at the forge, why should he bother with his other two ungrateful sons who have no respect for such an ancient and noble discipline? He gets more time to drink booze and forget about his troubles when he has Mark do more and more of the work so it''s better to just focus on this one prodigy.


    Mark is now 15 years old and he has noticed that Rick has been away more and more as he is now near the age when a child will either start to take over their parents'' business or move out and find other work to do.


    ''meh, Ricky can do whatever he wants, I just want to spend more time with the forge.''


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    Mark usually dismisses his siblings with similar thoughts as he really cares for nothing but the forge and his father because his father still knows more about the blacksmith art.


    George, the middle child, has not even been in the house for months at this point and no one has noticed. He found a girlfriend in the town at the base of the mountains that they live in and he got there by paying for a spot on a merchant caravan.


    George was only 17 years old but he had been self-sufficient since he was 15, as he found people loved the wild fruits that grew on the mountains but no one liked to climb the steep parts or the sheer faces in most of the area of the range.


    Since he was in good shape and did not fear the mountain beasts, he regularly ventured out to fill his gathering sack before delivering his goods to his regular customers in the village or to the curious merchants who were always trying to get their hands on the elusive fruits of this particular mountain that were rumored to give a person extraordinary powers.


    George had never found any of the fruits to actually give any powers, but the rarer fruits were able to be sold to the merchants for many times what the other fruits could be sold for.


    Thus, George had already found a woman he would soon marry whose father would provide them with a house to live in and a job for George.


    Today, Mark was at the forge as per usual and already had the coals burning hot as he looked over the work list.


    "3 pairs of sheers needing some sort of repair, a sickle that needs the blade maintained and the shaft reinforced, oh nice a spear from one of the hunters..."


    Mark had a habit of reading the work order list out loud to himself as he usually had no one to work with, and since this was the 5th day of the week his father would be busy getting drunk in the house.


    "I guess I will get started with this spear as it will take the longest, let''s see what the problem here is."


    Mark took the spear in his hands and observed the blade of the spear as he looked for any imperfections that would need the touch of a blacksmith.


    "Alright, looks like it''s a small crack down the side near the center of the blade here. I''ll just heat this up and beat it back into place."


    Mark proceeded to heat the blade until it glowed with the signature intensity that told him it was time to fix the crack. He could see the crack better with the glow of the heat as the small imperfection was darker than the rest of the metal.


    He was soon lost in the swing of his hammer as each strike made a clear crisp ding that lulled Mark into a trance.


    "Ding."


    "Ding."


    "Ping."


    When he came to, he realized he had already repaired the spear and it looked even better than when he started.


    It was normal for Mark to get lost in his work, and it was one of the reasons he loved the forge so much. He would just focus entirely on what he was doing and before he knew it, he had repaired or created something better than even his father was capable of producing.


    He never thought too much about it as he would just continue to work through the order list.


    His father had noticed that Mark was capable of handling the work orders better than himself and decided to leverage the talent of his son to take more time off of work.


    Since Mark could handle the work on his own, James had more time to drink himself into a stupor.


    "If only you were still here Delilah. . ."


    James often thought of his dead wife as he drank alcohol by himself. He had been depressed ever since the death of his wife.


    The villagers had tried to help him and his sons at first but James, Mark, and George had pushed them away as their personalities never matched the villagers.


    Rick had always been a sociable person so when he started to get more attention from the village, he started to spend less time with his broken family.


    Mark didn''t really even notice the changes in his house since he was always absorbed in the forge.


    He knew his father was more inclined to drink alcohol than to work at the forge but Mark figured that''s just what people did when they lost a spouse.

 2. Stones

    "Today had such a small work order list. The only thing of note was that I got to repair the spearhead."


    Mark lamented the short day that ended just before lunch. His ability to repair most tools in the village had already reached the point that even when he took his time, he would quickly finish most repair jobs.


    "Looks like I will be collecting materials today."


    Besides repairing tools, the blacksmith shop was also responsible for having the necessary tools and weapons that the village would need.


    Mark had already learned what to look for with the ores that were needed, and it also afforded him the opportunity to collect the oddly colored or shaped rocks that he often discovered in the mountains.


    He grabbed his furs that had chains on the inside and furs from the mountain beasts on the outside to help him fend off the cold and also for if he needed to fight any of the mountain beasts while he was traveling.


    Additionally, Mark grabbed a double-strapped sack to carry on his back for the ores he would be bringing back.


    "Alright, it''s a clear day and no one has mentioned any large packs of any of the beasts on the mountain making any moves nearby so it should be a completely uneventful day. At worst I may be getting some good materials from a stray beast."


    He stopped by his work area at the forge and grabbed a spear off a rack in the back that looked quite a bit different than the rest.


    The shaft was made of some sort of bone and the head was made of a silver metal that gave off a green and purple sheen when the light hit it just right.


    This spear was the best one Mark had created with the best materials he could find, the metal was a mixture of two different ores he had found. One of them was light and the other one was hard.


    When Mark figured out how to mix the two ores together into an alloy, he found they made a material that was light and could keep a sharp edge even when he cut rocks with it.


    The new alloy spear was perfect for his hunting weapons but he could only find enough of the light ore that gave off the purple part of the sheen to make a single spearhead.


    He had tried to use more of the metal with the green sheen before, but the green sheen metal was too hard and would easily break when made into a blade.


    Usually, the blade would be too inflexible at higher green sheen ratios which would work just fine at first, but when Mark exerted too much force with it to hit something hard it would either crack or shatter.


    The purple sheen metal seemed to not only be able to make the blade lighter but also more flexible. It was also possible that the purple sheen metal made the alloy stronger overall but Mark was not really sure of the specific effects.


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    He just knew that the blade made at the right ratio was better than any alloy he had ever managed to make, especially for a blade.


    "Maybe I can find more of this ore today if I come across another cave."


    Mark looked at his weapon as he thought out loud of the possibilities of the adventure he would be embarking on today. His eyes then moved to the bone shaft where he was grabbing the spear.


    It was the femur of a beast he had managed to kill himself before it had become aware of him.


    Mark had developed a good aim with his spear and since it could pierce through stone, the beast did not stand a chance. He was not familiar with this particular beast but it had long strong legs so he figured it was fast. Nevertheless, he had slain it and brought its body back to the forge.


    His father used most of the hide and the bones to make many items to sell to the merchants, but Mark got to keep one of the long leg bones as he requested for his discovery.


    This particular bone was incredibly durable but also hard to work with. It took him a lot of time and effort to shape it into a usable shaft but when he was done he was left with the current 3-meter-long spear.


    The main problem he had with the bone was preparing it to house the alloy spearhead at one end. It was a long process that had less to do with blacksmithing and more to do with fine control of his tools.


    The spear was bigger than a typical spear, but the bone and metal were both lighter than they should have been for how durable they were. The reach advantage he secured with it had saved him some time and trouble more than once when slaying a mountain beast.


    After checking all of his equipment, Mark set off outside the gates of the village. The village guards just nodded to him as he passed.


    Mark was about 1.88 meters tall which put him a good head over most of the guards and they knew if Mark was carrying his spear, it meant he would be bringing back something interesting.


    There was no need to question him since he only ever did his job and nothing more or less.


    Mark nodded back to the guards out of respect, he knew they were just farmers and their kids, but someone had to be willing to step up in case there was an attack from the mountain beasts and the village guards were the first to fight but also typically the first to get injured and even sometimes die.


    Due to their willingness to put their lives on the line for the village, they had earned the respect of Mark as well as most of the other villagers.


    As Mark traveled out further from the village, he began to run to an area he knew was rich in the type of ore he needed for the forge that was nearby an area he had not explored yet which could contain caves considering the layout of that area of the mountains.


    It took him only a few minutes to reach his destination as his endurance had been built up over the years and he knew the mountains like the back of his hand.


    He quickly attained his quota of ores that were needed for the forge and began his personal adventure a bit further north into the mountains that would begin to get cold as the elevation would rise as he continued in this direction.


    The area he was traveling in was still rocky with sparse vegetation but he could tell the plants were getting less and less common which was typically a good sign for him since the mountain beasts liked to stay in areas with more vegetation.


    He continually looked around his surroundings as he traveled quickly across the rough terrain, looking for any strangely colored rocks he could take back and test in the forge.


    It was over an hour before he finally found a promising cave that had a small ore of the metal that caused a purple sheen.


    "Yes! I knew today was the day, it''s been over a week since I found a good cave. I just hate how there is usually some angry beast in these caves, maybe I will get lucky twice today."


    While the mountain beasts were good materials, they did pose a significant threat to his life and Mark would rather not die before he mastered his blacksmith art.

 3. Cave

    Mark made his way into the cave, looking at the walls and floor in the places he would expect to find one of the ores for the purple shining metal. He was also paying attention to any possible mountain beasts lurking in the cave as they liked to do in these types of caves for some reason. He was not really scared but he would rather not have to fight a beast on its home turf. Out in the mountains was different since he knew where he came from and any part of his known route would give him the advantage. But here in the caves, he knew that a beast could come from anywhere and the lighting was not optimal on his end for a fight.


    His reservations aside, Mark thought collecting his colorful ores was more important than a bit of safety.


    He made sure he produced as little sound as possible as he slowly walked one step at a time through the cave. It had started with a fairly small entrance that he had to duck under to get inside, but now it had become somewhat of a labyrinth. There were many paths for Mark to check and some of them were fairly narrow while some of them opened up into grand caverns.


    "High risk equals high reward..."


    Mark whispered to himself as he had to choose between a smaller cave path and one of the great caverns. He knew that there was a higher chance of meeting a mountain beast in the grand cavern but also that is where the colorful ore would tend to be as well.


    The great cavern had a ceiling about 20 meters from the floor with great pillars that almost gave the cavern rooms and many stalactites and stalagmites. Mark had to walk around the stalagmites as some of them were nearly as tall as he was. This also forced him to look all the way around these rock formations as the ores he wanted could be lying anywhere on the ground in this place.


    There were many rocks spread out all over the ground and he did find a couple of ores that were not of the usual color such as an orange one and a blue one but he did not find any more purple ones that he really wanted in this cavern.


    He continued on through a single passageway that started out as big as the cavern but became narrower as he moved through it. It also started curving to the left as he continued on, with the only light in the cave coming from the moss growing along the walls.


    ''Damnit, it''s starting to smell like beast in here.''


    The signature smell of a beast started to permeate the air and Mark knew that he was likely going to have to fight soon. He readied his spear and took extra care not to make any noise.


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    As he progressed through the tunnel he also started to smell blood which could mean a variety of different things, but none of them would prevent a fight.


    As the tunnel stopped curving, it opened into a smaller cavern with much less rock formations in it but he could see the faint glow of many different colored rocks under a big shadow.


    ''That must be what is making the smell, it''s much worse from this close. It looks like it is sleeping but it is going to smell me soon. I better hit it as fast and hard as I can.''


    Without thinking too much, Mark threw his spear with all his might to ensure he got at least one clean hit on the beast. He simultaneously watched the spear go through the solid-looking shadow and heard whatever it was roar with great ferocity. He heard the spear hit some rock before he watched the shadow turn around and then collapse after only taking a few steps.


    Mark grabbed some moss off of the nearby cave wall and walked cautiously to the collapsed beast with only a simple skinning knife for a weapon.


    As the light began to illuminate the beast, Mark realized that it was what the village called a warg. Its matted fur was nearly pitch black in color and about twice the size of a mountain wolf. It was horribly wounded with small cuts and large gashes all over its body and he could see a spear-sized hole right above the hips that still had some blood trickling out of it.


    He crouched close enough to it to see if it was breathing but far enough that he could possibly get a quick jab in with his razor-sharp knife.


    After waiting a few minutes, he figured it would be safe to move it aside to see what kind of ore it was lying on. He grabbed a good handful of fur that was not too torn up with both hands and pulled it aside after struggling with it for a few seconds.


    The ore had some blood on it still but he could clearly see orange and green rocks as well as a weird blue one and some that looked like they might be indigo that were no bigger than his fist, but he also found a couple of small purple ones.


    ''Jackpot! I have no idea why they like to lay on these things but that''s the upside of having to fight them. At least this one was nearly dead already or that small hole would have hardly been enough to slow it down.''


    Mark then started putting the ores in his sack as he kept a vigilant watch around himself in case it had any buddies. When he was done he looked at the beast that was dead for sure and grabbed his skinning knife again.


    ''Better not let such good materials go to waste. Some leg bones would be fantastic to craft weapons with and some of the fur should be salvageable.''


    He then took his knife to the dead beast and soon had three good leg bones that were perfectly preserved as well as a skull and a few patches of warg fur.


    ''All in all, I had a good haul from this cave, and I think I can feel a faint breeze from the opposite direction I came from. It''s time to get home.''


    As Mark made his way through the other end of the cavern, he soon confirmed that there was a faint breeze of fresh air coming through the passageway. Within a few minutes, he found one of the branched tunnels he took and made his way out of the main passageway. It was still light out when he took a big breath of fresh air at the entrance of the cave.

 4. Forge

    Mark took his time walking home since he did not need any more ore and he was not too worried about there being beasts on his trail. The scent of the warg mixed with blood would actually scare away most beasts and the ones it would attract were much deeper in the mountains. Mark was able to enjoy the cool mountain air and the nice view of the distant peaks on his way home.


    As he made his way to the village gates, he noticed there was already a change of guard. It means he was gone for about 6 hours which is typical for an outing like this. He could also tell it had not been too long since he still had some light which would last about another hour before the sun ducked down below the mountain.


    The guards gave him a nod of respect as he walked past them, and he returned it in kind. They could see he had slain another mountain beast which would likely have killed a few of them if it had attacked the village so they were always grateful to see him carrying more beast parts past the gates.


    He made his way around the side of the village away from most gatherings of people. The guards might not care for the sight and smell of a slain beast, but the other villagers would rather not have it around them. It was faster to walk to the side of the village his smithy was on by going around it anyway.


    When he got home, he put his spear up and headed to the forge. The first thing he did after setting his sack of materials to the side was get the coals burning so they would be ready by the time he needed them. Then, he got a couple of metal buckets full of water and set them next to the forge to boil them for the bones. The residual tendons and meat needed to be removed and the easiest way for him to do it was to boil them.


    Next, he started sorting through his rocks and the ores he needed for the forge. His priority was to refine the iron, tin, and aluminum metals into ingots before he could play with his special rocks. The process was not very labor intensive but he did need to make sure the fire in the refinery was kept hot. He found it best to start with the aluminum, then the tin, and finally the iron. For some reason, doing it in that order seemed to prevent the tin from sticking to the refinery as much and the iron was the easiest to work with so he liked to save it for last.


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    Managing the boiling and refining process took up most of his attention so he was not able to do much during the initial phases, but eventually, he had some time to pin the scraps up to dry and rub their special tanning oil on them to ensure the best end product with the leather side. It was well after sundown that he had managed to finish the refining process for the metal and the bones.


    All he had left for the night was to clean up. He threw the boiled beast meat and tendon residue over the side of the cliff that the smithy was near and put the buckets up. Then he organized the cooled bars of refined metals for the smithy where they belonged.


    After he was done cleaning up, he put his ores in his personal work area so he could work with them the next day. He would have plenty of work to do in the morning so there was no point in prolonging his night further than he was already going to.


    ''I really wanted to refine these new ores but it took longer to do my job tonight than I thought it would. I suppose I just have a little time to work on this project.''


    Mark liked to work on his sword at night. While he took a spear with him outside the village, that was only because it was much easier to create the spear. His sword has been a work in progress for several months, and the method of weapon forging passed down by his family allowed him to add and remove any part of the sword he wanted before the final quench.


    He pulled out a grey sword from under his workbench and threw it in the coals to get it heated up. After he confirmed it was in a good position to be heated up in a uniform manner, he walked over to his hides that had been strung up and stretched out.


    The hides had a specific spot between the smithy and the outer wall of the village that they needed to be placed in order to properly develop. It takes a few minutes to place them if he doesn''t run and he was trying to relax for the rest of the day so running was not an option.


    As Mark was walking over to the spot he looked to his right and took a deep breath.


    ''ahh, it''s always a beautiful sight every time I see it.''


    Mark felt nostalgic as he looked out over the low wall on the edge of the mountain that overlooked the valley. The way the moonlight hit the river that ran right through the valley and illuminated the vegetation in the surroundings always took his breath away.


    ''It really is such a beautiful cool night, and the breeze smells so sweet like the petals from the plumb blossoms that are blooming upwind right now.''


    He placed his hides in the proper position and leisurely made his way back to the forge. He made sure to stop by the low wall again and spend a few minutes just looking out at the valley.


    Once he got back to the forge, it was time to begin working on his masterpiece once again.

 5. Sword

    Mark pulled the sword out of the forge and noticed right away that the color was just right to work on. He made sure that the color was the same at every part before setting it on his anvil to hammer it.


    The first strokes of his hammer gave off crisp metallic dings that instantly drew him in. Between the sound of his hammer and the heat of the forge, Mark soon lost himself in the process. He put every fiber of his being into each strike, willing the blade to become something greater than the materials he was working with.


    Mark had no thoughts as he worked on his blade. He only felt what needed to be done, and he allowed his instinct to guide each placement of the hammer strike. Eventually, the strikes would give off a white glow with each ding of the blade. Each strike would fill his eyes with visions of battlefields filled with death and destruction. Cries of the battlefield filled his ears as the strike of his hammer produced more and more white bursts of light.


    Mark snapped out of it as his last hammer strike made a weird sound as if the sword itself was telling him that was enough for the night. He looked at his progress and smiled to himself as the shape of the sword was as he had envisioned for it.


    He did not even think about how he didn''t need to heat the sword the entire time he was working on it. He didn''t even realize how long he had been working on it. Not that it mattered, nights in the mountains would last up to 18 hours this time of year.


    ''It looks like the color is finally starting to change to a light red color. This grey ore I found really might be special after all. I can start adding some green or purple next time I get to work on it.''


    Mark had been experimenting with the green and purple metals and how they should be mixed to get the best result. His spear is the latest success in making a metal that is perfect for weapons.


    He also had high hopes for the blue ore. It seemed to be capable of absorbing kinetic energy and utilizing it to vibrate. The resulting blade would more easily cut objects but it would also cause the metal to quickly heat up which is a problem with a pure blue blade or even when it was mixed with iron or aluminum. The final end result was always a piece of scrap that had to be re-refined and Mark did not have enough time to only work with the blue hue metal.


    He had high hopes for the orange glowing ore though. He had not found a good temperature to refine it yet and he was planning to dedicate some resources and manpower to getting a hot enough flame the next time he had time to try to refine it. If it took so much heat, then maybe he could get a working metal that could match the blue ore.


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    He mulled over the possibilities as he put his unfinished weapon away and cleaned up the smithy. Once he was satisfied, he headed to his house which was just down the path he had gone to place his hides.


    He stopped at the low wall again to look out over the valley. The moon was now in a position to illuminate even more of the surrounding vegetation while giving an otherworldly glow to the river that ran down the center of it.


    Mark just stared at it for a few minutes. There was not longing in his eyes, only contentment.


    ''I really love this. Just getting to work on the forge and my projects all day and going to bed after this view. Really, nothing could be better than this.''


    After taking in a few deep breaths of the sweet mountain air with his favorite view, Mark walked the rest of the way home with thoughts of his side projects.


    His home was a small structure built on top of the exposed bedrock. There were four rooms in it including the living areas but unlike the village houses, this one had many areas that were supported by iron. It would normally be very expensive to use iron for this type of structure in a house but for the blacksmiths, it''s just some extra work in the mountains and at the refinery.


    Mark knew that his father would be too drunk to hear him come in and get ready for bed and he had not seen his brothers for a while so he was not careful with his noise as he started getting ready for the night.


    He burned some lamps for extra light and got some water from their faucet. It was not normal to have running water in their village, but one of their ancestors had figured out how to do it as long as they kept the tank on their roof filled with water. Again, their flagrant use of iron in this mechanism is not something the other villagers could afford even if they were to know about it.


    He just needed to wash up some out back where the bedrock started to slope so the water would run off toward the side of the mountain. Their house was not as close to the edge of the village but they did sometimes work on stuff at their home so they made sure it was still further out than most of the other houses.


    Mark washed off the soot from his face and arms and then the sweat from the rest of his body and headed back home. All that was left to do was get into something comfortable and climb into his soft bed.


    His bed was made of some very soft beast fur he had gotten from a bipedal monster in the mountains. The Yeti''s, as they were called, were normally quite peaceful with the mountain people but this one was harboring some of the shiny stones that Mark liked to work on so it had to die. The soft fur ended up being a bonus that now aided him in his nightly sleep.


    The last thoughts Mark had as he drifted off to sleep were of his projects and finally of his hammer hitting metal. Soft pings filled his ears as he fully fell asleep.

 6. To the Town

    Mark awoke from his sleep, well rested, as the sun hit his face through his window. His room was designed for those who wanted to wake up to the early morning sun and Mark liked to get to work early. His sleep filled him with energy but he only viewed it as a tool to keep him fresh at the forge. He had no dreams that tried to keep him in bed which was normal since his only dream was the forge.


    He didn''t spend too much time relaxing as he got ready since he found the forge to be a great place to relax in the morning. He simply washed his face and mouth out and got dressed before he started to walk to the forge. The orders for the next day were usually collected and placed next to the front door by someone from the village. On his way out, Mark grabbed the orders and started looking through them.


    The sun was still just over the top of the mountain range that it rises above in the morning during his morning walk. The dew was still on the grass blades that were sporadically scattered across the bedrock that the village was built on. He heard some birds in the elder tree that overlooked the village from near his home and they were not too annoying for Mark.


    ''If dad is not at the forge already then he will be arriving soon, it''s probably good that the birds are singing so enthusiastically this morning.''


    Mark didn''t care if his dad worked or not but he was always wanting to learn the last part of their family secrets in blacksmithing. It would be best if his father passed down everything he knew before he drank himself to death.


    He arrived at the forge and started working on the orders he had picked up on his way, noticing immediately that his father was not there yet. It mattered not to Mark, since his only concern was doing the best he could do to make the best products and best repairs for his orders that the material would allow.


    While the main material he used was iron, he still found himself slipping into a trance as he poured his heart into each strike of the hammer. As he observed his metals heating in the forge, he could feel himself becoming one with the red-hot energies given off by the raw products that were being refined at his direction. It was easy for Mark to get lost in his work, and he had been doing so at an increasing frequency lately. He had not noticed, as his only desire was to devote all of his attention and energy to his craft.


    "Hey! When you''re done staring at that damaged pitchfork come over here so I can teach you a couple of things while I am still sober."


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    Mark was suddenly broken out of his trance as his father finally said the words he had been waiting on for the past few months. Since Mark had mastered the previous level of information handed down by his family, he had been telling his father every time he caught him sober that he was ready.


    While Mark was getting the pitchfork set aside for later his father was getting his own forge ready.


    ''That boy has always been wholly devoted to the forge when he is working, but I have noticed lately that it''s more than just focus. Perhaps he really has the talent of his ancestor and I can die knowing our legacy is in good hands.''


    There was not much for him to set up and by the time he was done, Mark was at a good observation spot. Without looking back, James started by putting some iron and aluminum in their respective crucibles to prepare for the first step of his instruction.


    Mark looked out over the part of the mountain that he could see from the forge area. His father had an open area behind him so he could look out at it while he took breaks which Mark had opted not to have so he had more storage room on his side. He didn''t want to waste his time during the day taking breaks.


    ''I can finally learn the extent of our family inheritance and be considered a master blacksmith. After today, I will not need my father for anything and he can drink himself to death like he always wished.''


    As Mark looked back at the forge, he noticed his father turn to the side to grab something off his workbench. Mark followed him with his eyes instead of getting lost in the flames as he had learned in the past that doing so was a good way to get his father to head home and drink for the day.


    His father was not a mean man, just a miserable one. Since he lost his true love, he had never recovered and longed only to join her once again in the next realm.


    "I am going to draw out a couple of things for you to look at so you can follow along with what I am saying over the next few hours. Just pay attention, if it''s you then I know I just have to do this once. Thank the gods your idiot brothers gave this up ages ago."


    As Mark began to devote his attention to his father, his oldest brother, Rick, was finishing up his journey to the bottom of the mountain range their village was in so he could visit the nearest town with the traveling merchants.


    "We still have the majority of the day ahead of us so when we get to the city we will just go straight to the trading district and set up our caravan. Rick, you should be taking notes as soon as we get to the gates. Some protocols and procedures need to be followed each time we enter a town and it is different for each town. This is important for when you will lead your own caravan."


    Rick was looking at an older man talk as he nodded his head every few words.


    "Yes sir, I will make sure to remember every detail."


    The old man nodded his head in satisfaction as a small smile found its way to his face.


    ''My own children and grandchildren failed me but this one has promise. I might just have to adopt him.''


    The old man continued his elderly musings as the caravan made its way to the city gates that were now in view.

 7. Commerce

    As they arrived at the city gates, Rick grabbed a scroll and an inkwell. He was curious as to how the merchants interacted with the city guards and since this was a small town, it would be a good introductory step in learning how to do it for himself in the future.


    The first notable thing that everyone in the caravan did was to dismount, whether they were riding a horse, beast, or in a wagon. Everyone took to walking once they were within 250 meters of the gate.


    ''So, it is necessary to dismount and present the force you represent before approaching the gates. I wonder if it''s the same for every place and if there is a minimum distance to dismount from.''


    Rick was scribbling his thoughts down and made a note to ask the caravan leader, Bo, about the specifics when they had set up their camp later.


    He also noticed that as they approached the gates, the guards were presenting themselves in a friendly manner as more guards that were unarmed were coming out of a side door in the gate. He was wondering what they were for when the front of the caravan stopped about 20 meters from the gate.


    The unarmed guards then quickly walked to the caravan and started looking around and inside of the wagons while Bo talked to a scholarly-looking guy with a scroll and quill in his hands.


    Rick took note of every part of this process that he witnessed and made way for the inspectors as they came by. They said nothing and just quickly looked around and moved down the caravan.


    Once the inspection was complete, the people of the caravan loaded back up and entered the city.


    Rick took a position on top of a wagon so he could observe everything that was happening, he was also curious to see how the city looked.


    The tallest buildings in the town were only 3 stories high, but they were bigger than any building that Rick had ever seen so it was amazing in his eyes. He also could not see where the city ended which was also new to him.


    ''There are so many people in this town, merchants must be a vital part of keeping it going. Where do they even get enough food for everyone?''


    Rick could get the answer to his question if he just thought about it for a bit, but his amazement turned into awe which hindered his normal intelligent thoughts. For him, it was as if he was gazing into a vast and beautiful canyon filled with wildlife for the first time in his life. While similar sights were nothing new to Rick, seeing actual humans in a city was something he had never witnessed nor had he even imagined it before.


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    He could hear music being played somewhere in the city with instruments he had never witnessed before. Somewhere else, there was the smell of good food being cooked that made his mouth water in anticipation. The sights and smells were overwhelming for him and he found himself lost in this new experience.


    He never stopped taking notes though, after his brief awe-struck break he continued to take notes about how the caravan moved through the streets and he even made a small map with directions to the market district from the mountain gate. He didn''t know the name of the gate they came through but since it was the only one with a large mountain looming over it he decided to name it the mountain gate.


    After reaching the market district, the caravan set up their stalls and their living area behind a fur wall on the other side of their stalls. It was a quick process that took less than 2 hours and they were already selling their goods. Rick observed everything and took his notes while consolidating his thoughts before he approached Bo to ask him specific questions.


    "Master Bo, I have watched the entire process of entering the gates to setting up the stalls and I have a few questions to ask you. Is now a good time to talk?"


    Bo Bringham, the master of the caravan and lead merchant of the Western Mercantile group just smiled as he joyfully answered.


    "Of course my boy! I am glad you have questions, ask me anything you need to know I am curious to see what insights you have on this matter."


    Thus, Rick began asking all the questions he had written down and discussing the initial insights he made through his observations.


    Meanwhile, George was working at his father-in-law''s shop as an assistant in the same town.


    His father-in-law is a goldsmith and they sell the jewelry that he makes at the shop. His new wife, Fen (yes, she is now Fen Feng), stays home to take care of the house as she had been taught to do her entire life growing up.


    Since her father is wealthy, the dowry he paid for George to marry her included a nice plot of land with enough room to grow some crops and a few animals to raise for food. The chickens and pigs needed daily attention while their cows just needed to be supplied with enough feed to keep them happy. There was not enough land in their plot for the cows to graze, but the type of grass they liked to eat grew abundantly in the fields near their home. Thus, Fen just needed to go cut down some grass from time to time to keep the cows happy and healthy.


    The pigs ate their scraps along with some slop they purchased in town for cheap. It was just discards from various places that served food that would not make them any money otherwise.


    The chickens just liked to eat the bugs in the pin and some seed from time to time. The seed actually came from the grass the cows ate as it produced a bunch of seeds at the top of its blades when it grew.


    Fen was skilled at taking care of the house and the land with its animals as she was raised at this house that her father owns. Besides Fen is also a handmaid, Rachel, who raised her and also lives at their home with them. There is a small servant house for her next to the main house that she has lived in for the past 20 years since she was just 14 and was purchased by Fen''s father.

 8. Brothers

    The shop didn''t stay busy, but George made plenty of money from his commission due to the price of the jewelry made by his father-in-law. Gold was not a rare resource in this town due to its proximity to a mountain range that had lots of gold ore just lying around it. The merchant caravans provided a steady flow of this ore and gold smiths made lots of jewelry for the merchants to sell elsewhere on their routes.


    The main reason for the traveling merchants to visit the villages is just to get the precious resources that are in abundance in the mountains. The rest of the services that can be attained from the villages and the goods they purchase are actually not enough to get traveling merchants to visit them. Even the refining of the raw resources can only be done in the city at the base of the mountains, the villages have their own way of doing a rudimentary refinement but nothing that would sell in the rest of the kingdom.


    The villages know this fact and therefore do their best to gather these resources in abundance so the caravans will continue to trade with them. While the caravans do not need their services and don''t make enough money from the trades for it to be worth it without the raw materials they are able to acquire cheaply, the same can''t be said about the villagers. In order to get specialty goods, they need the caravans so they do their best to keep the caravans happy.


    The reason such skilled craftsmen even live in the city at the base of the mountain is so they can refine the raw materials that the merchants gather from the mountains first. This way, they don''t have to wait around for the raw materials and they can get them at a cheaper price.


    George''s father-in-law, Quin Balnot, has been a goldsmith in Foothold City for about 40 years. His lineage in this city goes back several hundred years that can be accurately traced and every generation has produced at least one master goldsmith.


    The Balnot family has an amicable relationship with the caravans which has resulted in the prosperity of the Balnot family. Fen is just one of his many children and had been a worry for the family since she had not found anyone to marry even though she was already 19 years old. The family learned how George was courting her and Quin approached them with the marriage offer. They both agreed and this is how George was now working in one of their shops.


    Today, George had not had many customers so he was checking with his supervisor to see if any deliveries needed to be made. The main caravans that they sold to had already left to distribute their goods to the kingdom so there had not been much work for the Balnot shops for a few days.


    "Adam, it''s nearly closing time and I am ready to go home. Are there any deliveries that need to be made today?"


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    Adam had been running this shop that was on the road that lead outside the city to the small farm that George lived on with his wife.


    "George, I received a letter from the branch that the West Caravan has set up their shops in the market district today. I can send you with a small part of the order today since your father has not completed their usual shipment yet. It seems that we will be having you deliver the good for a few day in a row to get it all to them this time."


    George nodded his head, "It sounds like they are going for a longer trip around the kingdom this time."


    George had not been with the shop for long but he had already figured out how things work.


    He thought to himself, ''Merchant caravans don''t want to carry more than they need since extra weight can slow them down but if they are going for longer trips then they will take more stuff with them.''


    Adam replied, "Yeah, I heard that they were renting more wagons and horses as well as a dragon-rhino. They must be taking a safe cart with them as well. Anyway, here is the stuff."


    George just grabbed the goods he was going to deliver on the way home and waved goodbye to his boss.


    It was a short walk to the market district that just required a short detour on a loop that would bring him back to the road that led to his house.


    He quickly identified the quartermaster of the caravan that took care of the goods and received the orders from the various shops in the area.


    "Mr. Artin, its good to see you again. The caravan has been in the mountains for a couple of months already."


    "Haha, George! It''s nice to see that you have gotten comfortable in your position with your father-in-law''s store. Last time I got orders from you, it seemed like you were worried you would lose the goods."


    George was happy to be complimented by one of their best customers and he showed Dean Artin, the Quartermaster, the sack of goods he had for them.


    The gold jewelry had been individually wrapped in a special wax paper that sealed it from any abuse it might endure so the quartermaster just had to open a couple before resealing them to ensure a good product.


    He had never had a problem with the Balnot shops so he just had to check a couple of random pieces of the goods to ensure the quality as a formality.


    As they were chatting and getting the delivery taken care of, Bo walked up to see who was already delivering to their caravan.


    "Well if it isn''t the Balnot shop, we just got in today and you have already brought us part of the order! You must have people watching the gates and the market at all times hahaha!"


    Bo slapped George on the back as he joyfully greeted him.


    "Oh, Master Bo, yes sir we surely take care of our best customers. You can expect the rest to be delivered in just a few short days this week."


    Bo was glad to hear news on one of their most important suppliers, "Thank you, George, it is always good to know we are being treated right. By the way, let me introduce to you my assistant and the person who will be taking over this caravan within the next few years."


    George was interested in seeing who would be the next caravan master when Bo finally decided to retire so he said his goodbyes to Dean and followed after the current caravan master.

 9. Meeting

    As they approached the general area of the temporary living arrangement of the caravan, Bo called out to his protege.


    "Hey Ricky! Come here for a second."


    George was unaware of the fact that his brother was the one that the master of the caravan had such a high evaluation of and he just waited to the side in ignorance.


    Since Bo was such a large man George actually didn''t see Rick approach them at first.


    "Master Bo, did you need me for something?"


    Rick approached while wiping his face off, it seemed he was in the middle of eating something good.


    "Yes, I would like you to meet. . ."


    As Bo turned aside he was interrupted by the brothers.


    "George?!"


    "Rick?!"


    They were in shock, they never thought they would meet each other after so long under such circumstances.


    In their mutual stupor, an awkward silence ensued to which Bo felt the need to break.


    "Ahem. . . It seems that the two of you know each other, I hope you didn''t steal his woman or something Rick."


    "Ah?"


    "Ah!"


    Rick was the first to register what Bo was saying which resulted in him taking on a rather embarrassed look.


    "Master Bo, actually. . . "


    As Rick was trying to explain, George finally got over his initial shock and interrupted him.


    "Rick! What the heck are you doing down here!?"


    Rick felt the need to explain things to Bo but his curiosity got the best of him.


    "When am I doing here? What the hell are you doing down here George? I don''t even remember the last time I saw you!"


    George was a bit taken aback by this. He was sure he had let someone know that he had come down the mountain with that caravan a few months ago. . .


    "Damnit!"


    George suddenly yelled out.


    Bo was beyond confused at this point. Did they both know each other from the village?


    George continued, "It was Mark! I told Mark I was coming down the mountain a few months ago!"


    This caused Rick to pause. ''A few months ago? What the actual fuck? I haven''t seen my brother in months and I never noticed?''


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    Rick took a deep breath.


    Then he turned to Bo.


    "Master Bo, George is my middle brother and the other one he mentioned is my youngest brother Mark."


    Bo nodded to the explanation. ''Makes sense, it seems they don''t have a great relationship. It seems that Rick didn''t even notice George was missing, yet that Mark didn''t even tell his family that the middle brother was leaving, or he may have even forgotten what his brother told him from the sound of it.''


    Bo laughed at this point.


    "Hahahaha!"


    ''This is only good for me, it sounds like I don''t have to worry about Rick getting homesick on me!''


    "Alright boys, it seems like we have a reunion going on here, how about we get some food and drinks to catch up?"


    With that, the trio headed to the area with food and alcohol. It was normal for the caravans to celebrate a reunion by drinking all night and tonight would be no different than any other. Actually, Rick would soon realize that the caravan people would find any reason to finish off their supplies of the cheap stuff.


    Back at the mountain village.


    "Achoo!"


    ''What the heck, I haven''t had a cold since I was a kid.''


    Mark was getting his personal things together as he was preparing to try some of the new techniques he had learned out on his sword. He wanted to line up his refined colored ores so he could grab any part that he needed when he wanted to use it.


    After teaching Mark the last part of their inheritance he was too tired to continue working and headed back to the house to drink. This resulted in Mark taking over the rest of the work for the day but it was a light load anyway. Thus, Mark now had several hours to work before he even lost daylight.


    After getting his ores in order, he took out his personal sword and placed it in the forge. With everything in order and no one to interrupt him for the rest of the day, Mark allowed himself to get lost in the flames of the forge. He watched as they danced around the sword that way lying on the hot coals. It seemed that the flames were trying to tell Mark a secret, one that was just out of the purview of his understanding. It was as if he was just about to understand what the flames were trying to say, but he was never able to understand.


    Nevertheless, Mark devoted all of his attention to this process and he watched as the sword gradually heated up. He would turn it from time to time to ensure that the heat spread perfectly across the entire blade and no part of it was heated up faster than any other part.


    He continued to study the flames until eventually he felt that the sword was ready. With the signature level of intensity of glow that the sword gave off when it was ready, Mark placed it on the anvil so he could prepare to perform the second step of his inheritance technique.


    The first thing that Mark ever learned was how to tend to the forge and to heat the metals to the proper heat to be worked on. Then he was allowed to learn how to prepare the metals that would be worked on for further refinement by smoothing out any imperfections in the shape of the metal from the heating process. The second step of the blacksmith inheritance techniques included how to grind the metals down to finish them after all the work had been done. The reason for this is because these parts of the forging process were easy to teach children.


    The third step of the inheritance techniques included repairing and shaping/reshaping metals. This was the most intensive process and is where George and Rick gave up. This process required a strict attention to detail and the ability to spot imperfections in a piece of metal while it was glowing with the intensity that was given off when the metal was hot enough to be worked on. This step included sub-steps that had to be followed in order to perfect the object being worked on, whether is was a sword or a shovel.


    The fourth thing that Mark had learned was how to refine the metals he was working on by adding different metals to it that could strengthen it in some way. This was much harder than the third step because it required several techniques to heat the original metal in a way that it could safely be removed while the new metal was added and bonded to the rest of the original metal. This technique was required to reinforce weaknesses in weapons and tools that kept getting damaged in the same ways over and over. This technique could also be utilized to upgrade a weapon with superior metals or to create an alloy without affecting the integrity of the original weapon/tool.


    The fifth and final technique that Mark learned from his father just this day was how to alter the crystal lattice structure of the metal directly.

 10. Preparations

    Once Mark was done with the second step, he moved on to the third step of the forging process.


    Ping. Ping. Ding.


    The reshaping process for his sword took minimal work due to the nature of the metals he was using for it. They hardly changed their shape when heated to high temperatures and Mark just had to make minor adjustments. This step also required him to check for any cracks that could have formed that would require ore dust to repair. He had never found any on his sword but if he started the fourth step with even a tiny crack, he could ruin the entire sword so he systematically checked every time just to be sure.


    Even though this sword remained near perfect from the beginning, Mark performed the sub-steps nearly religiously.


    Ding. Ding. Dink.


    While he tended to the substeps with an almost religious fervor, he lost himself in the ping of his hammer on metal. He devoted his very soul into the process like it was the most important thing in the world. He had done this part countless times, and yet he did it as if it was the first time every time.


    Once he was done with the third step, it was time to move on to the fourth step.


    He still had daylight but when the forge was going it didn''t even matter much. The sun was nearing the peaks of the mountains though so he knew he still had less than half a dozen hours before it was time to close shop.


    More than enough time for his purposes today.


    His newly refined metals were waiting for him near the anvil and he placed the sword back in the forge. The sword needed to be heated up before the specific parts of the sword were removed to add the new metals to it.


    He looked over at the metals he had prepared in advance as he thought about his next steps out loud as he tended to do when he was alone at the forge.


    "I have a very small purple hue along with some green hue metal that I want to try out today. Good thing the ratio I need for my best alloy is 3 green to 1 purple. He then placed the metals he would need during the refining process into a combination crucible and set them in the par of the forge that would melt them relatively quickly."


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    He then looked at the sword that was still heating up to its best temperature and casually flipped it to ensure it was heated up evenly again.


    "The sword is even more of a red color than a grey color this time. I really wonder what that grey ore was. I never found more of it but the lightweight nature of it with its uncanny sturdiness made me think of a sword."


    The way he was taught to add new metals to old metals was to vaporize the old metals in a spiderweb pattern to the extent that he wanted to exchange the metals. That or to make room in the same pattern with a special etching tool. He did not really understand why it was done that way until he learned the final part of the inheritance. The purpose of restructuring the crystal lattice was twofold. One part was to mix the metals in an alloy that would normally be done in the crucible with a catalyst but that was impossible to do once the object was cast without re-melting it. The restructuring process ignored common sense and allowed the blacksmith to make the alloy regardless. The second reason was to compress the metal which would change the density of the metal or alloy.


    There were several reasons to change the density of the metals, and for the sword is was so that when the edge was created it would be just as difficult to sharpen to the extent needed as it would be to sharpen it. For this reason, Mark had already decided to make the sword a bit bigger than he needed it to be in order to make a dense edge that would not need much maintenance.


    Once the sword had finished heating up, he placed it on the anvil and checked the crucible to make sure the metals would be ready to be added when he had finished his etching process. After seeing that the metals were already melted and combining with the aid of the catalyst, he grabbed his etching tool and a smaller hammer that would allow him to make the spiderweb pattern he needed.


    The way he decided on making the pattern was to do it to both sides with an inverted pattern that would allow him to do half the regular pattern on each side. The half pattern on each side would be exactly the same just inverted so that the symmetry of each pattern would match up to the empty parts of the opposite side. This way, the full pattern would be realized in a way that would cause resonance between the two sides when he was on the fifth step.


    Mark did not need to use chalk to make sure the pattern was perfect as he was already wholly focused on this task. In his eyes was only the sword and with each placement of the etching tool he first waited for the approval of the sword before he made an indentation. He worked his way up the blade from the bottom where the grip would be all the way to the tip that would eventually be condensed to a sharp point.


    Each part of the pattern was done meticulously and the final overall pattern for each side had no imperfections. The bottom and the middle areas had fewer indentations as the alloy would not be as rich in those areas. Mark had a limited amount of purple ore so he could not make the same same alloy at every point.


    His decision to make the sword stronger at the edges was approved by the sword itself, as far as Mark could tell by instinctually listening to the aura of the unfinished sword.


    In the end, Mark needed no partner as he was never working alone when he was forging.

 11. Reforging

    Once Mark felt that the sword was satisfied with the patterns on both sides of the blade, he systematically grabbed the crucible that contained his new alloy with some crucible tongs.


    This part of the technique needed to be done over sand so he could collect any residual parts of the alloy that leaked out of the blade while it cooled enough to be worked on.


    He first laid the sword on the sand and then sprinkled a bonding catalyst in the cracks. It had to be a very fine layer or it could mess up the process, but Mark was well-practiced in this sub-step so there were no problems.


    Next, he carefully poured a bit less than half of the liquid alloy into the spiderweb indentations, mindful of not spilling any of it. He placed the crucible back on the coals and studied the liquid that had begun solidifying.


    There were a few tale tale signs that he had learned over the years that indicated a successful bonding and it seemed like everything was going just fine.


    Once the alloy was no longer a liquid but a malleable semi-solid, he started to hammer it into the blade to complete the bonding process. This part of the technique was the longest so he allowed himself to get lost in the sounds of the hammering and soon he was in his own world, allowing the spirit of the sword to guide his next move.


    Ping. Ping. Ding.


    Each strike of the hammer pulled him further into his craft. He had no thoughts and only moved on instinct, hitting the places that felt like they needed to be hit. Whatever part of the sword called to him was where his hammer struck and with each strike of the hammer, he imparted a part of himself into the sword.


    Mark had no idea that he was doing this, he was in a trance that few blacksmiths ever experienced in their lives yet Mark would slip into this trance every time he was working his craft.


    As he hammered the sword, the alloy began to bond with the old metal harmoniously.


    Ping. Ding. Ping.


    Soon, it was hard to tell where the old metal ended and where the new metal began. Only when the sword cooled and the red glow gave way to the true colors of the sword would it be obvious.


    But it was not time for the sword to cool yet.


    Ding. Ding. Ping.


    While lost in his craft, Mark did not notice the white light that was emitted from each strike of his hammer. Once again, this mysterious light kept the blade at the perfect temperature as he spent over an hour just on this step, on the first side of the blade.


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    After each strike of the hammer, just as the white light cleared and the blade could be seen, very faint symbols could briefly be seen on the blade. This was also something that Mark did not notice as he truly became one with the sword as his body moved on its own. The symbols were so faint that the color could not be discerned if someone were watching him, yet no one else was at the forge with Mark to see them anyway.


    Ping. Ping. Ping.


    Once again, visions of a battlefield were superimposed over his eyes as the cries of metal on metal filled his ears. He could smell blood and fear as he hammered away at his sword, yet it seemed only to empower him.


    While he felt empowered by his own bloodlust, it seemed that the sword also had a thirst for blood as it resonated with the feelings of its master. The red-hot blade seemed to also glow a red color that was closer to blood than hot metal in hue.


    As it seemed like something was going to happen with the blade, the sound of hammer on steel made the odd sound that could bring Mark out of his trance.


    Ping. Ding. Dink!


    Whatever the blade was trying to do, it was evidently not time yet. The blade had returned to normal by the time Mark was seeing it again and there was not a trace of the mysterious white light.


    Mark observed the blade for a while and noticed it had begun to cool. Since he needed it to be red-hot for the bonding process, he put it back in the coals of the forge to let it get back to its peak glow.


    Mark watched the sword heat up for a while but then turned his attention to the crucible without allowing himself to fall into a trance again. The sword would be ready soon and attempting to decipher the secrets of the flames would be a futile effort at this point.


    The crucible still had more than half of the alloy within it which would be more than enough to finish this part of the refinement process which would set him up for the next time he would work on the blade.


    He wanted to practice the final form of his inheritance tonight, but as he looked out at the tops of the mountain peaks that he could see above his storage area, Mark noticed that it was later than he thought it would be.


    It was already dark out, which meant that he would only have enough time to finish his current step in refining this sword. It was not too much of a letdown, he knew that it was more important to perfect every step rather than rush to try a new thing. He could always practice the fifth step on the mundane objects that needed crafting or refinement during working hours.


    As he actually thought about it, he figured that it would actually be best to practice this final form before actually using it on his pet project. While his smithing technique did allow him to fix any mistakes in the crafting process, he only had a limited amount of the purple ore and it was rare to find it when he went out to gather more iron and aluminum.


    "Looks like the second half of the sword is ready."


    Mark noticed that the sword was telling him it was ready with the signature glow it always had when it was able to be worked on effectively.


    Once again, he pulled it out and placed it on the anvil with the unfilled spiderweb pattern facing up.


    He sprinkled the catalyst powder into the cracks perfectly and grabbed the crucible with its tongs and began meticulously filling the cracks with the alloy.


    Mark''s eyes began to glow as he soon lost himself in his craft once again.

 12. Release

    Mark finished the second half of the blade and it looked exactly the same as the first half. There was a seamless bonding of the alloy and the original metal on both sides of the blade that did not become apparent until the blade cooled.


    The grey metal now had a beautiful design that looked more like snaking silver lightning rather than spiderwebs. Also, the blade had become slightly longer and wider due to the additional metal that had been added. When tilted to the side, a slightly violet sheen could be seen when the silver reflected its surroundings.


    At the end of the bonding process, the blade once again tried to awaken with the blood-red hue but it still was not able to. It seemed that the blade was still imperfect, and needed something more to allow it to reach its awakening.


    Once the blade was cooled enough to put it up, Mark cleaned the forge and rearranged his things in the order he would need them for the next day. The colored ores were placed back in the storage area where his personal things were kept and he wiped down the areas that had collected soot.


    The tanned hide pieces that Mark had previously created were rolled up in a corner. He wanted to make some armor with them but he was too busy with work and his blade. He looked at them briefly as he thought about what to do with them.


    "I would like to add them to my existing adventuring garb since warg fur is so resilient. Some gloves and arm guards made from this leather would help during fights against the mountain beasts while being fairly warm. . ."


    He continued to make plans as he walked home.


    His thoughts were interrupted as his favorite view caught his attention though, and he looked out over the valley once again. The moon was hanging right over the river causing a reflection off the surface of the water that gave the surroundings an ethereal feeling. Mark felt as if he was peering into the realm of the fairies.


    Once Mark felt that he had taken in enough of this wonderous sight, he continued on home.


    The house was silent as he normally was at this hour and as he stepped inside, he could smell the booze that his father was drinking.


    "James probably spilled some again. I''ll remind him tomorrow to clean it up."


    Mark had no problem with the smell of booze in the house as it was normal for him to go to sleep with it in the air. His window brought in enough fresh air that it never bothered him and he would sleep just fine this night.


    He thought of the forge as he laid down and envisioned himself striking hammer to metal and fell asleep with the rhythmic ringing of the typical blacksmith forge in his ears.


    The sun shone into his eyes as it came over the peaks of his window and he awoke feeling refreshed but he also smelled a foul odor in the air.


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    Occasionally, James would soil himself due to excessive drinking and Mark had to wake him up with a bucket of cold water so he could clean himself.


    Mark just did as he usually did and went outside to fetch a bucket and fill it with water from a nearby pond that was still nearly freezing cold due to the nightly mountain temperatures.


    When he splashed his father, there was no reaction.


    He noticed that there were bottles of booze spilled on the ground and his father was on his bed face up.


    He then noticed the vomit next to his father''s head.


    Mark knew that someone who was heavily intoxicated should never sleep on their back. It was common sense in the village to roll someone over on their side if they were intoxicated because they could choke on their own vomit.


    His father had died in his drunken stupor last night.


    "Sigh"


    Mark didn''t really care that his father finally drank himself to death, but he was annoyed that it would take time from the forge that day.


    "I need to grab all of this shit and burn it."


    There was a good spot behind the house that was just bedrock that overlooked a sheer cliff that dropped about 50m. It would be easy to burn the body and the soiled materials, but Mark knew it would not be a quick endeavor.


    He set off to the smithy to grab a couple of things for the occasion.


    Bodies were regularly cremated in their village. At least one person died per year for various reasons so the method of cremating a body had been perfected for a long time.


    He just needed to get some coals from their stock behind the house and make a fair pile that would make a small platform beneath the body and everything else that would be burned.


    There was even a cage that would prevent most ash from spreading while letting in plenty of oxygen.


    He grabbed the cage that was recently repaired and carried it back to the smithy. There were only a few of the cages in the village and they were sent for repair when someone died even if there was no reason to repair it. The reason was just to keep them in working condition and also so there was a centralized spot for the cages.


    It was a lot of iron and the smiths were not keen on handing out their personal stock for everyone to use.


    Therefore, the cages were limited and if there was a mass burning it would be done in a different location than normal where the ashes could spread freely.


    Mark set the cage near where he would build the coal bed and began shoveling coal into a pile.


    He would alternate carrying coal to the spot he intended to use and compacting it slightly in the area where the body would lie.


    He knew well that it could not be too compact but he also knew that coal had a natural tendency to leave the space it needed to breathe due to the rigid structure and shape of each piece.


    Once he was satisfied with the coal pyre he sprinkled a fire catalyst over it from left to right and top to bottom. Then, he went back to the house and wrapped James'' body in the furs he used as a bed cover along with the blankets he had thrown on himself before he passed out the night before.


    Everything else could just be thrown over the cliff edge.


    He then carried the body and placed it on the bed of coals before he lit it on fire. It quickly engulfed the body and furs in a hot flame that was spurred by the catalyst and then died down as the catalyst was used up.


    The body had to be burned slowly to ensure everything would become ash and Mark wouldn''t be stuck with a half-burned corpse.


    Mark then covered the body with the cage as the first bit of ashes started to form and he watched it burn to make sure everything would go as it needed to.


    "I guess he finally got what he wanted. Good thing he taught me the last part of the inheritance before he actually did it."


    Mark was not sad, as he knew that James had wanted this release for a long time.

 13. Responsibilities

    Once the body had completely turned to ash and the coal had finished burning, Mark removed the cage and then brushed all of the ashes over the side of the mountain with a broom. There was a backdraft from the mountain behind him so as he brushed the ashes off, they shot down instead of spreading out which prevented anyone in the village from having to tase James'' ashes.


    Mark then went into the house and grabbed all of James'' stuff and proceeded to throw that all down the side of the mountain as well.


    He saw no sense in keeping anything as it was all useless garbage at this point.


    Anything that was made of metal was set aside so Mark could re-smelt it for use later. There was nothing useful in the room anyway, just some mementos.


    Once Mark had cleaned out the room he grabbed some more water and splashed everything down with it. Then he used a broom to scrub from the top of the walls to the floor and brushed it all outside before he lit a fire in the furnace to dry everything. Since the house was made of stone and iron, it would all heat up just fine during the day and there was no danger to leave the furnace burning while he took care of everything else.


    The part of his father dying that Mark disliked the second most, after having to waste time burning the body, was having to inform the village. He knew they would feign grief for him since that is what they had done when his mother died and it would likely take a while for Mark to get them to leave him alone.


    "I wish I could just get back to the forge. . . sigh"


    Of course, Mark was only thinking about the forge.


    "At this rate, I will barely get to finish orders today, and tomorrow I''ll need to go get more iron ores to make sure we have a good stock...errr....to make sure I have a good stock..."


    Mark talked to himself before setting off as he was feeling a bit frustrated.


    He walked to the center of the village and added James'' name to a tablet that had the names of people who died and when they died.


    The village had these tablets to put in their hall of remembrance where the dead could be honored. It was their way of having a graveyard where families could go do grief and mourn their dead in whatever way they did that.


    Mark just did it so everyone would know that the head blacksmith was dead and the new head blacksmith was the one they had been working with the most the past year.


    James had started to check out a year ago since Mark had become proficient enough to do most of the work and he had shown up to work less and less as he acknowledged Mark as a master blacksmith.


    Everyone in the village already knew who to go to for their blacksmithing needs so it was not a big change.


    After Mark carved the name people started to walk up to him as they had all seen him when he started carving and a few people could be seen walking up from their village management hut.


    The leader of the village, old Craig, was walking with a couple of people who had gone to get him when they noticed what Mark was doing.


    As was the custom, Mark waited until everyone that was gathering up had come within earshot and he announced the death of James.


    "As you all suspect, James is dead, he died in his sleep peacefully last night and has gone to be with my mother."


    He kept it short and he noticed immediately that people were already feigning their sympathy for whatever show they wanted to put on.


    It didn''t matter to Mark. He knew that people only cared for the blacksmiths as long as they were producing the things they needed and agreed to act as the village muscle.


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    He then headed over to the management hut with the chief after receiving everyone''s condolences.


    The chief needed to make sure they would continue to have the support of the blacksmiths.


    He knew that Mark had been in charge for the past year, so this was more of a formality than anything. He also had to show his sympathy for the loss of a member of their community.


    As Mark neared the chief, he said, "I am sorry for your loss Mark, your father was a foundational member of the community. The services provided by your family have always been one of the main things keeping our little community going. We are here for you if you need anything."


    Mark just wordlessly nodded his head as they approached the building.


    It was made of wood with a thatch roof which was typical for buildings in this village.


    The insides were mostly empty in the front where people could congregate and in the back behind a door, there was a lounge area where people could sit and chat.


    The chief led them to the lounge area and had drinks brought in.


    There was a table with some rudimentary snacks and fruits on it already. The drinks were brought in from the back door by a maid.


    Mark looked at his cup, recognizing the wine typical of this village that was made by fermenting a red fruit that looked like a strawberry. It was called Zor wine since that little red fruit was called Zoreple Fruit.


    The difference between it and a strawberry was that the insides had the texture of mangos.


    As a wine, it had a sweet scent like watermelon and Mark was quite fond of the taste. He proceeded to take a swig of it before looking over at the chief.


    ''Surely he wants to talk about something right?''


    They hadn''t talked about anything since they had arrived so Mark assumed that old Craig was letting him get comfortable.


    The chief looked back at Mark and decided to begin their discussion.


    "I am sure you know that we hold your family in high regard, not just because you provide us the tools and repairs needed to keep this village going but also because we have always been able to rely on the blacksmiths for protection."


    Mark knew that this was going to be the discussion they would have. "Chief, nothing is going to change even though my father has passed. I have the capability to handle everything on my own and as a matter of fact, it has been my responsibility to keep the smithy running for the past year. Everything that has needed crafting or repair has been done by myself, with the exception of just a few things that James took care of because he was bored."


    "So, is there anything else that you want from me chief?"


    The chief was not surprised to hear the rumors in the village be confirmed. It had been a long time since he had seen James and even when he had seen him, the old blacksmith had been drunk.


    Everyone knew that his wife was the love of his life and that her passing had been especially hard on him.


    They also knew that the family was not bonded like a normal family due to the passing of the mother.


    It was common knowledge in the village that the two oldest sons of the blacksmith had left the village and neither of them had been seen again for at least a month or more.


    The concern was that Mark would also leave, which would put the village in a difficult position.


    "Mark, I know you probably want to grieve in peace so I won''t keep you here longer than necessary. We just want to know if you plan to stay in the village."


    ''What the hell? Why would I leave the village?''


    Mark''s thoughts were incredulous.


    He looked into the eyes of the chief to see a stern gaze locked into his own.


    ''Oh, he is serious. . .''


    The chief could see Mark''s confusion so he explained a bit more.


    "Young man, I don''t know if you have noticed but your brothers have been gone for quite a while now. George was seen leaving with a caravan months ago and Rick had left over a month ago. With this pattern, we were worried the passing of your father would result in you also leaving the village."


    ''Ah, so that is what this is about.''


    Mark had a look of understanding on his face now.


    ''I guess my brothers took off, I didn''t even realize they weren''t around anymore.''


    George had actually told Mark that he was leaving, but Mark was busy thinking about his prototype at the time and couldn''t be bothered with such useless information.


    Mark just looked back at the chief.


    "I will not be leaving the village anytime in the foreseeable future. My forge is here and my work is here and also my home is here so I have no reason to leave."


    The chief was visibly relieved so he sighed and took a drink of the wine.


    "The only other thing we are concerned with is village muscle. It has not happened in a while but when a visitor of the village gets rowdy, the village has always relied on our blacksmiths to be the strong arm of the village. While we do have guards, it always tends to be someone much too powerful for the guards to deal with, and for some reason, you blacksmiths are even stronger than the stonemasons."


    "We had an incident a few years ago that your father managed to bring under control within minutes of arriving at the scene that was being caused by a drunk guard from one of the caravans. James managed to knock the guy out and carry him back to the merchants he was there to protect."


    "We want to know if you also have this strength. We know that you regularly come back with warg pelts and bones so I think I already know the answer but I need to ask if this is something you can deal with in the future if we need you?"


    Mark was unsure of how to answer a question like this.

 14. Back to Work

    "To be honest chief, I have never fought with anyone in my life."


    The chief just looked at Mark with his own confused look now.


    "Ahem, I can understand why no one your age would pick a fight considering how big you have always been."


    Mark didn''t just undergo some sort of growth spurt, he had been much taller than anyone his age since he was a toddler.


    His father was the one who used to go out to collect ores, and he would regularly fight the mountain beasts.


    He would bring the meat back for his kids to eat, and Mark always ate the most. It had long been known that eating mountain beast meat would cause someone to get stronger, but if someone ate too much it would just cause them to vomit it all back up.


    No one knew why this was, but only Mark''s family knew that this did not apply to Mark for some reason.


    Thus, Mark was bigger than his oldest brother by the time he was 6, and no one ever picked on him, not even his brothers. Not that anyone really had the time to pick on him.


    Mark had always been at the forge since he could walk. Any time his father was working, Mark was there observing.


    Regarding the question the village chief had, Mark added: "Chief, while I have never fought a person I have in fact bested many mountain beasts. Some of them I have had to fight with my bare hands until I could get control of my weapons so it shouldn''t be harder to fight a person if I need to."


    The chief was relieved to hear that such a giant would be willing to protect the village, even if he was not sure that he actually could. But thinking about all the beast pelts that the guards and villagers have reported him bringing to his house, the chief felt reassured.


    The chief then thanked Mark, and they finished their cups of wine before Mark headed home.


    He received more words of sympathy on his way home to which he tearsly replied.


    Everyone just attributed it to his grief and ignored any form of disrespect they may have otherwise felt with such a response.


    When Mark made it home, he noticed many gifts at his door. Some notes of encouragement but mostly cooked foods.


    "Huh, this happened when mom died too."


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    Mark was not reluctant to grab the food and bring it into the dining area. He was almost out of dried warg meat and needed something else to eat anyway. Some cooked regular food would be nice for a change.


    After eating, Mark grabbed a pocketful of the leftover warg meat and the orders for the day and headed to the forge.


    Since he took few breaks during the day, he usually just kept some dried meat on him to snack on.


    The orders for the day were few so he figured most people had held back due to the death. Mark just thought was annoying. It would only make more work for him tomorrow on the day he needed to go out and look for iron.


    "Well, I guess I just need to adjust how long I search for the purple ores, no need to stuff everything into one day. I still need to do the fifth step for my sword anyway."


    All that was needed for the day was a few repairs and one craft.


    Crafting was probably easier than anything else, especially when it''s like today where he just needed to craft a tool.


    Tools didn''t have much to them and the only hard part was the quench.


    Not that Mark ever had a problem with a simple quench anymore.


    The tool he needed to craft was a hand pick which didn''t even need to be sharpened. He just needed to cast it in the mold and add a handle.


    It was also called a hammer pick and it was used by the masons to work on rocks or something, Mark was not sure exactly what it was used for he just knew how to make it.


    He threw a refined iron bar into the crucible and placed it in the flames that could melt the bar.


    Then he located the correct mold and sprinkled some black sand on it. The black sand would not melt when the molten iron was poured into the cast and it would prevent sticking without messing up the shape due to how fine it was.


    It also had a property that he liked where it would kind of stick itself to the mold in a way that basically defied gravity but was easy to wipe off later.


    With that taken care of he just waited for the metal to finish melting before he poured it into the cast and used the small leftover to make beads out of by slowly pouring it into water. Later he would smash the beads to make some crack dust.


    He then set the tool aside to cool while he went on to the repairs on the list.


    He had a shovel with a crack, easy to fix, and a couple of things that just needed to be sharpened.


    He wanted to take his time to reinforce the blades of these tools since they were looking sketchy and he knew he could prevent them from making their way to his forge or his blast furnace in the near future.


    He started with the shovel and just heated it up before using a binding catalyst and some crack dust to fill the crack. Then he hit it with the hammer a few times to set the repair and make sure the bond was strong.


    Once he was satisfied with the repair, he got a sanding tool out and made the repair less noticeable by sanding it down. This process was necessary for this type of tool since the repair needed to be as smooth as the rest of the shovel to prevent unnecessary strain on that area.


    Once he was done with the shovel he grabbed one of the bladed tools, a scythe, that needed to have its blade reinforced and sharpened.


    It was a bit more work than what was commissioned, but since he didn''t plan to collect the ores today he would take some extra time to practice.


    He would just reinforce it with some iron and then compress the edge before sharpening it which would make the edge much more sturdy than before.


    For this process, he wanted to remove some of the original edge that had rusted and then replace it. Both parts of the fourth step that he was familiar with.


    Then he would finally get some practice with the fifth step.

 15. Fifth Step

    To start, he sprinkled a bit of a special catalyst that his family made themselves. This dust would immediately bond with any metal that it touched so Mark had to utilize a wood tool they had to have custom built by a carpenter in the village.


    There was another tool he could use for anything that was not a blade but the wooden one was faster to use and would suffice for the part of the blade he was working on.


    He just had to place it between two parts of the wood and clamp it down by screwing in a part on both ends. Then he added the powder where he wanted to remove the metal and wipe it off before flipping it and doing the same thing.


    Then he removed it from the tool and placed it in one of the melting parts of the forge.


    The catalyst then glowed brightly as the part he wanted to remove began to disappear. There was no gas, it just vanished with the catalyst.


    His father always taught him that this technique turned the unwanted metals into energy.


    "We smiths believe that all things are just energy, and this technique just adjusts the form of that energy to a more volatile form that can''t retain its physical properties. Thus, we remove this physical energy by making it intangible energy."


    Mark remembered the words of his father when he first learned this technique.


    ''It''s just going back to energy. . .''


    Mark was halfway in his typical trance when he was watching the process. He didn''t allow himself to slip fully into the trance though, since this step was quick and he would need to remove it from the heat quickly for the next part.


    Once the bright glow subsided, he pulled it out of the melting flames and placed it on the heating coals.


    Then he poured some melting beads into a crucible and prepared a mold.


    For this part, he had to fill the missing places in the original mold for this tool with some iron before he let it cool so he could actually expand it.


    With the mold prepared he pulled the red-hot tool out of the fire and sprinkled the bonding catalyst on it before he placed it in the mold and poured the molten iron into the empty spots where the blade was melted off. He put the rest of the molten iron in the crucible back in the melting area of the forge.


    While he let it cool, he grabbed the red-hot hammer pick that had been cooling long enough in its mold and quenched it to ensure the metal would last throughout the years.


    With that done, he took it over to the whetstone to polish it off before he sent it off to its owner. To do this with a whetstone, he sprinkled a coarser sand on the stone and then used that to polish the metal. It was just more convenient than some other methods. Then he rubbed it with some wood ash to give it a shine.


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    He really didn''t have to do this part but his father always said the people like shiny stuff so he did it anyway.


    Once that was done, the blade was ready to be worked on again.


    He pulled it out of the mold and smacked it a few times with the hammer to ensure it was well-bonded and to work out any inconsistencies in the metal. Then he placed it in the heating coals to make sure the whole tool was well heated.


    While it was heating, he got his expansion tools ready since he now needed to make the spiderweb patterns.


    The blade was ready quickly, so he took it out and made the patterns he needed.


    Since it was just on the blade of the tool, he only made the spiderweb pattern on one side so it had the entire pattern along the edge.


    Once that was done he sprinkled the bonding catalyst and poured the rest of the molten iron into it and then let it cool.


    While it was cooling he ate a couple of pieces of the dried warg while he was staring at the fire in his forge.


    The flames were trying to tell him secrets once again and he was trying to decipher what they were saying.


    There was silence at the forge, save the soft crackling of the fire, and Mark absentmindedly put the food in his mouth as he stared at the flames.


    This went on for about 20 minutes until Mark was taken out of his trance when he bit his finger. He was out of meat and since he was basically eating while unconscious, he ended up biting his own finger.


    There was no pain and no damage. He had strong skin, especially on his hands.


    He just turned to the blade he was working on and grabbed his hammer to set the bond.


    Ding. Ding. Dink.


    It just took him a few hits to get it ready for the next step. While letting it cool off the rest of the way, he went over to his father''s workstation.


    The fifth step required a special hammer that one of their ancestors created when they invented the fifth step.


    He grabbed the hammer and looked at the unique design.


    It had a large purple crystal on one end and a regular hammer head on the other end. The metal and crystal had been fused with some bonding technique that Mark was unsure of replicating. It looked like it was genuinely a hybrid metal-crystal hammer.


    The metal was also a blue color instead of silver. It was not even one of the ores that had a blue sheen to it, the metal was just blue.


    It felt right in his hands though, it almost felt alive. It also gave him the feeling as if they were exchanging power between human and hammer. It was a weird feeling to him.


    With everything ready for the fifth step, Mark prepared the blade on his anvil as he took a seat on his stool and he observed both sides of the blade.


    Once he was satisfied, he began the restructuring process as he used the hammer to compress the metal back to its original width and length.


    To accomplish this he had to hit the hammer at the angle he wanted to compress the blade and the hammer would give off a very slight purple blast of light with each hit.


    He had to wait about a second between each hit which resulted in him almost carrying a musical beat as he worked the metal to a desirable position.


    It did not take long for Mark to compress the blade and give it a rudimentary edge.


    After the fifth step, he just had to give the blade of the scythe a sharpen so it could be used properly in the future and then buff out the impurities on the surface of the blade from heating with some wood ash.


    Once that was accomplished he just placed the scythe with the shovel and pick before he moved on to the next tool that needed an edge replaced.

 16. Growth

    After Mark had finished fixing all of the tools and getting acquainted with the specifics required for the fifth step, he carried the tools to the dropoff area next to his house and then he returned to the forge to clean up.


    The sun had already set below the horizon and the moon was beginning to come over the peaks so Mark just walked past his favorite night spot, sparing it quick glance, before he made his way back to the forge.


    He had to clean up the mess from the work he did that day and when he was done the moon was already high in the sky.


    He just walked over to the spot with his favorite view at that point and lost himself in the ethereal nature of the valley.


    It allowed him to clear his mind, and it was different than when he was in a trance at the forge. While he felt relaxed and a bit awed, he was not in any sort of trance. Looking out at the distant river in the valley just made him feel relaxed and after an unknown amount of time, he felt ready for bed.


    On his walk back to his house all he thought was, ''It''s too bad I couldn''t work on the sword today, but there is always tomorrow.''


    He ate a bit of the food some of the villagers had brought him and then went to bed.


    Once again, he fell asleep to the rhythmic hammering of the forge as he imagined working on his creations.


    Mark woke up to the sun on his face which was his favorite way to wake up. The light was warm and comforting which gently woke him up and he felt like that gave him a more rested feeling when he woke up.


    He did his normal routine of washing his body with a wet rag and eating some of the food the villagers gave him. Usually, he would just eat some dried mountain beast meat but he had recently run out of it.


    Today he would begin with a foraging route since he still needed to stock up on iron and hopefully some mountain beast meat. Since he would be going out of the village he dressed in his mountain beast furs instead of the thin blacksmith garb he wore at the forge.


    All he lacked to look like a real mountain man was a grizzly beard.


    ''I never thought this would happen, but if I don''t kill a mountain beast today I''ll have to go hunting for them.''


    He was thinking of the route he would take as he headed to his forge to grab the rest of the gear he would need for his adventure.


    ''Today I will have to travel about 6 km north of the village through the natural bridge pass. That is where the Unikuma dwell but their horn could be a good crafting material. The meat is tough but it''s still good . . . they are hard to kill though. Maybe I will give it a try if I find one on its own.''


    The Unikuma that he was worried about was a bear-type mountain beast that had a single horn on the top of its head. The horn was typically 13-19cm in length but it was possible for an exceptionally powerful and old Unikuma to grow a 28cm horn.


    While he was thinking about eating some Unikuma and getting a bigger rug than the bear rug he already possessed, he reached the forge and began taking out the gear he would need.


    The spear, of course, as well as a larger skinning knife and the sacks he would use to carry everything.


    ''I am not going to commit any sort of genocide today. I don''t need that much meat or fur and the horn would only be good for a handle on a knife. . .''


    He looked over to where he kept his sword.


    ''Well if I kill an elder Unikuma then maybe I''ll have the perfect hand grip for this sword. . .''


    Then he shook his head.


    ''That would be a terrible way to kill myself. Even thinking about those things gives me the creeps. . .''


    When he was done with preparations, he unceremoniously left the village. The guards had no questions for him, just the typical respectful nod which he returned.


    When he was out of eyesight, he ran around to the north path and maintained a reasonable speed as he made his way to the natural pass.


    It was a landmark that basically signified that he was leaving the ''safe'' area of his village outskirts where some rocks fell from higher up the mountain and lodged themselves between two rock formations. It created a natural bridge between the rock formations that were angled in opposite directions and led up to different peaks.


    Once he ran under the natural bridge, he slowed down until he was walking and he continued to walk for a few hundred meters before he slowed down further so he was making less sound.


    He had to be cautious and carefully observe his surroundings so nothing could sneak up on him while he was gathering the ores.


    He soon came upon an area that was covered in iron ores from a recent rockfall and he started collecting the best ones he could find.


    The entire time he did this he kept a lookout so he didn''t get too focused on the rocks.


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    Once he had collected the most reasonable ores, he moved on and carefully made his way further from the village.


    He managed to collect a full sack of ores without running into a Unikuma, which he found to be a bit disappointing so he continued on to see if he could find one nearby.


    The terrain in the area he was looking in was filled with large rocks and boulders that regularly fell from the sides of the growing rock piles on either side of him that pushed themselves up into mountains.


    This is why there was never a lack of iron that didn''t need to be mined. Actually, any metal could be found on the ground in the mountains since they all fell down with the rest of the rocks.


    There were multiple paths he could take over many large rocks that opened into vast areas that had rocks piled around as natural walls that he could climb into and walk around to look for ores. Since he had already met his iron quota, he was looking for the much rarer colored ores. They were easier to find in caves but they did fall down with the rest of the metals from time to time.


    Since he was looking for a beast he figured it would be good to also look for some of the colored ore he was always in need of.


    As he searched for a Unikuma, he discovered the bones of a warg that had long been killed and eaten. The bones were mostly cracked or broken so none of them would be usable for anything he could think of.


    ''It looks like I am for sure in Unikuma territory.''


    He proceeded with caution as he walked closer to the edge of the mountain. It was a bit more dangerous to walk closer to it but it also caused him to blend in a bit better than when he was in the middle of the clearing.


    He walked from rock to rock, sometimes having to jump over a crack which he managed to do silently.


    Eventually, as he walked around a rather large pile of rocks, he spotted a young adult Unikuma. It was sleeping on its back in the sun on a big flat rock.


    ''I am down-wind of this thing thankfully. It looks like it is sleeping but they tend to sense danger or killing intent, I''m not sure. I need to be careful here.''


    As he pulled out his spear he thought about how he would go about killing the bear.


    ''It is about 100 meters from me at a downward angle. That is well within my throwing distance. The problem is if it begins to move as when I throw the spear. It could mess up where the spear hits or even cause me to miss."


    "hmmm"


    ''I could throw a rock at it, if it is running at me it might be easier to predict where I need to throw.''


    ''It''s dangerous, but fighting this thing in general is dangerous. The lure approach is possibly the better choice since I have a better chance of getting a lethal blow that way. . .''


    He bent over and grabbed a rock with his free hand.


    ''Lure and stab it is. Lets . . .''


    His thoughts were interrupted when he suddenly heard a crack and stone scraping against stone from above him.


    ''Fuck''


    He dropped the rock and his spear and jumped under the first large rock that he could near himself.


    He didn''t even turn to look at the bear. The rocks in this area could kill everything that happens to be hanging around.


    In less than 5 seconds, after hearing the sounds of it tumbling and scraping against the more solid rocks on its way down, he hears the crash and splintering of a massive rock. It hit near his hiding spot so it caused the rock he was on and the one he was under to shift, but luckily it was just a little and he could still easily get out.


    He also heard the sound of the Unikuma yelling for help.


    It sounded hurt.


    Mark was not dumb though, he waited and listened for more rocks. Usually if one broke off there would be more to break off, but he hoped it was an isolated event.


    After waiting for about a minute, with the bear still calling for help, he slowly and carefully came out of his hiding place.


    The aftermath was quite terrifying but it looked like he was not in danger of getting smashed where he originally was standing and he grabbed his spear. The real danger he avoided was the splintering of the large rock that shot smaller rocks everywhere.


    He looked around the big rock he was using to spy on the Unikuma to see what happened to it.


    Where the bear had originally been is where the edge of the massive rock had struck, and the Unikuma was about 20 meters past that point. It was obviously running away when it got struck by a smaller rock that broke one of its legs and then it got pelted with the shrapnel from the large rock.


    ''If that thing was not so sturdy it would have instantly died.''


    Mark looked above his head and didn''t see any rocks moving.


    ''Now is my chance. I better hurry.''


    The bear was still calling for help, but Mark figured any other Unikuma would be cautious of the rocks falling and they also were probably not nearby.


    He jumped down from his little ledge and gave up the stealthy approach, opting for a full sprint, leaping from rock to rock with his momentum when it was necessary. He quickly made it to a vantage point where he could see the Unikuma from above and jumped at it as it was trying to drag its broken body across the rocks.


    While the bear turned to him, he threw the spear to its chest without hesitation.


    The spear slid right through the bear''s chest bones and opened a large hole in its heart. After punching the hole, the spear continued through the bear and stuck in the rocks behind it.


    Even though it had a broken leg and a large hole in its heart that was now pumping out lots of blood, the bear still tried to attack Mark.


    Mark just pulled out his knife and sliced the paw that was swiped at him which cut deeply but also resulted in Mark getting batted aside.


    That seemed to be all the bear could do with its dwindling life because it then fell back next to the spear and let out a pitiful groan that was closer to a whining sound.


    Mark quickly ran over to the spear and pulled it from the rocks it was stuck in before stabbing the bear between the eyes. He wanted to make sure the thing was dead before he started harvesting it since even a dying Unikuma could easily kill him from up close.


    Mark quickly went to work skinning the fur and cutting off large pieces of meat, then getting some intact bones from the beast. He also managed to get its horn by hacking it off with the spear.


    He didn''t feel like he had time to be careful with these things and the result was sub-par harvested materials.


    ''At least I can''t ruin the meat.''


    As he finished packing up everything he grabbed his spear and stood up to leave. When he did so, he looked up and found the biggest Elder Unikuma he had ever witnessed and it was staring at him.


    Time seemed to freeze in that moment.


    ''Oh, looks like I am going to die.''


    As soon as he thought that, the Elder Unikuma let out a ferocious growl as it leaned toward Mark. It was a sight to behold and it caused Mark to falter. His fight or flight response kicked into overdrive and he couldn''t make the decision to do anything. He just stood there staring at the horrific bear.


    Before the Elder could move in on Mark though, another terrible and horrific thing started to happen.


    The ground began to shake.


    This stopped the elder in its tracks. Its rage could be seen replaced with . . .


    ''Is that fear? Wait, the ground is shaking.''


    Mark realized that something was going on and he looked around.


    It was not the ground that was shaking.


    It was everything.


    The whole mountain was shaking.


    ''Oh double fuck''


    Mark promptly turned around and ran as fast as he possibly could.


    ''It''s the fucking growth!''

 17. Escape

    The mountain that Mark lived on was not a normal mountain. The reason that it always had an abundance of metals just lying around it was because it was actively growing. The entire mountain range was growing and each individual rock formation was pushed up as the peaks grew independently of each other. This resulted in an abundance of metal ores just falling from the sky to the ground regularly and prevented Mark from having to travel far from the village to get ores.


    Unfortunately, this also resulted in very dangerous periods of rockfalls that happened randomly. There was no cycle in the growth of the mountains, they just seemed to grow whenever they felt like it. The growth resulted in the mass evacuation of the beasts on the mountain to safer areas that don''t have growing mountain peaks within their immediate area.


    Mark had a rough go at getting back to the village once the growth started. The majority of the rocks that litter the areas where Mark went to look for ores were there due to the growth. Mark knew that it was a possibility to get caught in the growth every time he collected items in the rockfall areas but it was important to get the minerals from the rocks and the materials from the beasts. Large amounts of rocks always fell during the growth and it was necessary for villagers to stay in the village.


    Apparently, the village had been destroyed several times within the first several hundred years when it was first established in their mountains. The current place had been found through trial and error, and it was a safe place for the growth. They were on a rocky area with lots of bedrock but apparently, it was not part of any of the mountain peaks that were growing.


    Thus the area around the village was a safe haven, but the monsters on the mountains also knew that. They knew that the greater village area was normally not safe for them since hunting parties would regularly come out to kill them. During the growth, the village guards were all active and had to defend the entrances to their last breath and no one was patrolling the greater village area. So the beasts would flood the greater village area during this period but some of the beasts would try their luck with attacking the village.


    Mark was not really worried about that as he had larger issues to worry about at the moment. He was fast, but having a bit of extra speed was not that impressive when the rocks falling on his head were larger than the houses in the village.


    He had more than one close call and plenty of rock shrapnel stuck in his exposed flesh to show for it. The durable leathers he wore were the only reason he was really still alive while his exposed areas had only taken hits from minor bits of rock.


    The only thing he could do was to ignore the pain and continue onward, fueled by the adrenaline pumping hard through his veins and his overwhelming desire to return to the forge.


    Along the way, he witnessed several dead mountain beasts. Mostly mundane animals that were no threat like mountain rabbits or mountain wolves. But, occasionally he found a dead or half-dead warg that likely ran out of some cave he missed.


    He knew from experience that if he made it out of this rock valley then he would be able to come back later to harvest them.


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    In the moment, he just ignored them and continued his retreat home.


    It only took him a few minutes to make it to the natural bridge but it felt like it took hours.


    Once he passed through the archway, he was basically safe. He didn''t let his guard down but the greater area around the village was mostly safe from the falling rocks. He could feel a massive amount of tension release from his mind as he could relax a little. He was not fond of near-death experiences.


    He still ran as fast as he could to the entrance to the village as now he was worried about the monsters from the rest of the surrounding growth peaks coming to the village.


    As he approached the last hill to the village, he took his spear off his back so he was ready to fight anything. He knew there was likely not any Unikuma since he just came from their main area and it would be faster for them to get to a safe place in the opposite direction from where he ran.


    There were still many beasts that could take his life and the fastest ones that may have beaten him there were the wargs. They had been increasing in number lately, as he had noticed, and even having to fight one was potentially deadly for Mark.


    The village had protocols to deal with such beasts during the growth, though, so he knew they were not completely helpless.


    Regardless, he slowed his pace slightly so he could position his body in a better position to throw his spear as he topped the hill to the northern village entrance which he was coming upon as he was back on the main road.


    After cresting the hill, he found the barricades in place and the spears that were stuck in the ground around the barricade were devoid of any sort of monster.


    The guards were very happy to see Mark though, and some even noticed the sack of meat on his back. That meant that Mark had already tasted blood for the day and they felt that it was a good omen for when the fighting began.


    Mark trotted over to one of the easily defensible spots in the rock that he could climb up and the guards at that spot let him up readily.


    "It looks like there have not been any beasts attacking the main entrance yet, do you guys know about the other gates?"


    Mark was not big on socializing with people in the village but he was prone to helping defend the village in times of need. He would regularly get his meat as well as some crafting materials from these periods of the growth.


    "No sir, there has been no word of attacks or breaches at any of the gates and the villagers are assumed to be safe in the crevice."


    The crevice was a gap in the bedrock at the back of the village that the villagers would hide in during monster waves and during times of the growth. While it seemed like a dumb idea to hide in something that might collapse during earthquakes generated from a growth, the bedrock in this area had proven to be more than capable of withstanding it without shedding even a small rock.


    Mark was used to the respect shown to him by the guards like he was their captain or commander and he understood that he saved the lives of many of these guys before. He especially had the thanks of the guard he was talking to due to an incident that he had walked into in the past. His name was Sid and his mother had made Mark a meat pie a few months ago after Mark had saved his life from a pack of Wargs.


    Sid was older than Mark but he was still a young adult who overestimated himself past the greater village area. He was lucky that Mark had been in the area at the time.


    "Thanks, Sid, I am going to drop off this stuff. . ." Mark said as he slapped the packs on his back, ". . . and then I am going to check on the situation of the rest of the village before I come back here. I think you guys will be safe for a few minutes since even Wargs have a hard time getting past this setup."


    Sid straightened up as he nodded hard at Mark. It was still obvious that Sid was taking everything that Mark said seriously and he went back to guarding the pass that Mark had come through.


    Mark quickly went to the forge and dropped off his sacks and made sure everything was secure before he headed off to other parts of the village to check on the security and well-being of the villagers.

 18. Defense

    The first place that Mark checked was the crevice. He had to make sure that this main defensive position was still holding strong and that nothing had managed to make its way into the village yet. It would be a foolish thing to defend a village while everyone was being slaughtered on the inside.


    He quickly moved through the village, spear in hand, but didn''t see any monsters or any people.


    ''It''s reassuring to not see any signs of fighting within the village, it looks like all of the entry points have managed to hold off everything so far.''


    He quickly approached the crevice and found the guards still maintaining the security of the villagers within. They looked nervous but they also seemed relieved to see that Mark was moving around the village in battle mode.


    Sam, the one in charge of the crevice defenders, walked forward to talk with Mark.


    "Sir, it is good to see you out and about. Is there anything you need from us?"


    None of the rest of the guards found it odd to see their commander addressing Mark in such a respectful manner. They all knew that Mark was a beast slayer and it helped that their 178cm tall leader had to actually look up to make eye contact when talking to Mark.


    Looking into Sam''s bright green eyes, Mark could see a mix of fear for the general situation but also a mix of respect and relief. Mark was glad to see that Sam was taking his position seriously and felt the villagers would be fine here as long as someone like Sam was leading the crevice defenders.


    "I was just checking on the crevice to make sure the villagers were well protected. Now I am going to check the gates and I will probably run from entrance to entrance to make sure none of the mountain beasts will be able to get in. I also want to prevent as many deaths among the guards as I possibly can."


    Sam nodded at the good news while Mark continued.


    "If you need any help, just use the signal horn as normal and I will rush over here. Sound good to you Sam?"


    Again, Sam was washed in relief. ''As long as Mark is willing to defend the village to such an extent, everything will be fine today.''


    "We will be fine here Mark, you go take care of the gates, and don''t let any of those things through. We would be hard-pressed to defend this area even with the barricades in place."


    Mark knew he was right, the hastily erected barricades would hardly provide any defense against wargs that could just climb over them. It was imperative that the gates held strong.


    The guards did not have any sort of blind faith in Mark either. There had been various breaches in the defenses of the village before and it was usually Mark that showed up to take any beast down that the guards couldn''t handle. The village had to rely on Mark during the growth especially since it was normal to get attacked by the more ferocious mountain beasts during this time.


    The normal attacks on the village by mountain beasts were bad enough when they were just looking for food or wanted to establish a further-reaching territory. Those attacks could be fended off by the regular guards without any issues most of the time since the resistance they could put up when they worked together was usually enough to deter a mountain beast from committing to the attack. It was another story during the growth because these beasts were more like cornered animals trying to find a sanctuary they could survive in.


    The mountain beasts of different groups would attack each other even if they were of the same species, and the fighting usually made its way to the village where the villagers had to fight tooth and nail for their survival. While the greater area of the village was plenty safe for the animals, it would get overrun very quickly and different groups of beasts would be pushed closer and closer to the village.


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    This was evident as Mark made his way to the East gate.


    The guards were currently in a fierce fight with a few already sitting to the side with injuries that were being treated by other guards with first aid supplies.


    There were no head nods of respect as they noticed Mark approaching. This time, they blatantly cheered out loud when they realized that the most powerful person in the village had come to assist in the defence of their position.


    "Yeah! Mark is here!"


    "Mark! Show these beasts why the village is not as safe as they think it is!"


    "Whoo! Urgh! *cough* *cough*"


    Some of the guards were not in a good enough shape to be cheering for him but he appreciated the sentiment and was humored by their enthusiasm.


    He quickened his pace and jumped up on a battlement to thrust his spear right through the skull of a Gullen Boar.


    The beast had a thick golden coat and two sturdy tusks that it was using to try to smash through the wall near the hole Mark just used to kill the thing. It was nearly tall enough to look through the hole which was about 3m high on that side of the wall.


    With enough time, these boar beasts were known to put large holes in the walls of the village. Luckily for the village, the walls were mostly large piles of rocks that were impenetrable except near the gates where they had to be made of wood. Thus, the only places that needed to be carefully defended were at each entrance of the village, and there were only 3 of those.


    After the beast fell and didn''t get back up, the rest of its pack scattered. They apparently found it more reasonable to fight the other beasts around the village for a safe place to wait out the growth than to attack the village any longer.


    From what Mark could tell, the Gullen he just killed was the biggest and likely the leader of the pack. The reaction and disorder caused by its death was too much for it to just be a large member of the pack.''


    There was some more cheering as the morale of the defenders was lifted.


    ''I should see if they would drag that thing in for me.''


    Of course, Mark was just thinking of the crafting materials he could make from the beast he had just slain but he didn''t let it show on his face.


    He proceeded to check up on the guards at that point and made sure there were no repairs that required his strength to fix before he headed to the North gate again. Since the North gate was between the East gate and the West gate, it just made sense to him to check up on it instead of skipping it.


    Before leaving, he checked in with Alex who was taking charge of the east gate. He was just a higher-ranking guard than the rest and not an officer since the east gate generally was considered safe due to the layout of the terrain in this area and the known beasts that could attack.


    While the gullen were fierce, they were rarely a threat and the guards that got hurt this time around were likely just untrained. They would learn from their mistakes, and the timely intervention of Mark just showed them how to properly utilize the battlements.


    After shaking his hand, Mark addressed the temporary leader, "Alex, don''t let the rest of these guys get hurt while I am gone. Show them how to use those spears, you know what I mean?"


    "Of course, of course. These guys panicked and tried to lean over the wall while that beast was smashing into it. Honestly, the wounds are mostly self-inflicted."


    Alex said the last part quietly and Mark just silently nodded his head before taking off.


    The gate was not far and from the initial looks of things, they were not having a hard time yet. He also didn''t notice any injuries among the guards so that was a good sign to him.


    As he approached, he was noticed, and Sid walked over to meet up with him.


    "Hey Mark, how are things with the rest of the village?"


    Mark looked at Sid and replied, "The villagers are all safely in the crevice and there have been no breaches in the defenses at the gates yet, from what I have seen. I still need to go check on the West gate but I figured I would stop by here to make sure things are still standing. The East gate had an attack from a pack of Gullen and some of the guys there got injured trying to get them to leave but I managed to kill their leader by sheer luck so the pack dispersed."


    Sid nodded his head and looked over to the West gate where the guards were still looking over it.


    "We have a pack of regular mountain wolves outside the gate but they seem wary of us. When they get too close we throw rocks which has kept them from trying to damage the walls."


    Mark thought about the pack of wolves outside the wall that he could not see and then replied: "It''s probably a good thing to have them there if they aren''t going to attack actually. While they are not as powerful as the rest of the mountain beasts, their presence could deter others from approaching this gate."


    Sid nodded to this and added, "We figured that would be the case so we have refrained from attacking them outright. I think you should just head to the West gate, thinking about them as me a bit anxious. . ."


    Mark knew that Sid was right so he thanked Sid for the update and took off to the west to make sure there was nothing catastrophic happening at the last gate.

 19. Panthers

    19. Panthers


    Mark quickly approached the West gate which had the highest chance of Wargs appearing. The gate and walls in this area were specifically designed to ruin the day of any warg that tried to jump over it.


    To begin with, the walls were high from the outside, about 8m. It was already approaching the limit of what a Warg could jump over and to make it worse for them, there were many spikes and pikes sticking out of the top in different directions. They had even found over the years that Wargs can''t even see the obstacles at the top very well so they end up hurting themselves at the West gate.


    The bedrock was also high and narrow in this area as well. The wooden walls were connected to 12m high bedrock that was impossible for the beasts to climb on top of due to the nature of the terrain and the wall was only 6m across. There was even a corridor that gradually opened to 8m over about 15m until it finally opened to the rest of the mountain. The gate had been established likely due to the difficulty it takes to get around to the west side from the north gate. An entire expansive area with many hills and valleys as well as streams and cave systems is located on the west side of the mountain and it is important that the villagers have access to it. Therefore, they keep the gate maintained and defend it during the growth.


    The west gate was hardly ever used for anything though. Some people, like Mark, would use it to gather materials for whatever profession they practiced. There were also people that gathered the strange fruits lately since George had not been around for a while and the merchants that usually purchased from him had been asking around. It was mainly Mark who used the west gate since it was also a bit more dangerous than the other two gates but other people used it enough that they had never thought of shutting it down.


    As Mark approached the gate, he immediately noticed that it was under attack and it was not by Wargs.


    There was another highly deadly beast that lived beyond the west gate but it was much rarer to see them.


    The Chimeric Mountain Panther is one of the most deadly beasts on the mountain that the people of the village know of. It is feared even by the Unikuma due to the amount of damage it can dish out while avoiding the lethal strikes the large bears can dish out.


    The chimeric mountain panther looks mostly like a mix between a mountain goat and a panther. Since it is a panther it has the body and head of a panther with its back legs being more like a mountain goats with the hooves and everything. The head of the panther also has large mountain goat horns that it can use to ram into its prey as well as other chimeric mountain panthers. They are not as prone as actual mountain goats to hitting each other with their horns but they have been known to do it. The main reason it is called ''chimeric'' is because of the tail. They have long tails that end with what looks like the head of a snake.


    There is not actually a snake that is part of their body, but they do have fangs on the end of their tails that they can bite with. The eye-like structures are ornamental and the tail functions as a normal tail just with the ability to bite and inject a poison as the beast wills. It is not an actual chimera but when the village was established, the original inhabitants thought it was for a long time.


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    Mark thought out loud as he approached the gate, "I finally get to kill one of these things, I wonder if those horns are as sturdy as they look. . ."


    Completly unbothered by the horrifically deadly beast at the gate, Mark ran up to the nearest guards and told them to get back. As they noticed who had shown up, they needed no second command. Mark was here to kill a deadly beast and they were going to do whatever he instructed them to do.


    As the guards backed away from the gate, Mark got a good look at the situation since they were not stabbing their spears up at the beast.


    It had apparently managed to either climb up the gate from the outside or jump up it and agilely avoid the spears and spikes while finding sufficient purchase in the small gaps between the traps to latch itself to the gate in a surprisingly defensible position as it slowly maneuvered closer to the top of the gate where it would presumably slaughter the guards and then kill everyone in the village.


    Mark asked a few of the guards for their spears while the panther eyed him suspiciously.


    ''It seems to have reacted to the way the guards treat me and how things have dramatically changed since I showed up.''


    Mark thought this as he continued to prepare to stick the beast with one of the spears. He either wanted it to die or fall off the gate. Preferably it would die but he knew that the thick fir on this beast was known to give hunters problems in the past. None had been killed in modern times so he was not certain what parts of the rumors were true about the beast.


    Looking at the thing though, it did seem to have quite a thick coat.


    Mark took his observations in stride as he walked a bit closer before throwing the spear so fast it didn''t even whistle through the air. One moment he was throwing it and the next moment it was piercing through the front right shoulder of the chimeric mountain panther.


    The spear failed to penetrate deeply. First, it was a spearhead that Mark had never repaired so it was just basic refined iron. Also, it seemed he hit a bone because there was a loud thud that was quite uncharacteristic of a flesh wound. Almost immediately after the thud, everyone could see the wooden part of the spear explode. The force of the throw and its stop were too much for the rudimentary grip, but there was still a piece of shiny silver iron sticking out of the shoulder that seemed to be going nowhere anytime soon.


    The panther let out a loud scream that almost sounded like a woman dying, which scared the shit out of the guards. Mark was mostly unphased because he didn''t really care what the panther did, he was focused on how to kill it. The guards, however, found themselves taking several steps back.


    While they had the utmost faith in Mark to slay the beast, it was still horrifying to hear anything make that kind of sound.


    Even though the panther had been hit hard, and was apparently hurting, it still did not let go of its hold on the gate as it tried to find a way over with newfound vigor. Now it was spilling a fairly large amount of blood on the gate, but it was not enough to make the animal lose its grip and Mark could tell that it would not die of blood loss anytime soon. The panther did seem to get frantic as it was feeling around the spikes and spears with its front paws and tail faster and faster is it failed to find a safe way over the gate.


    To Mark, the animal seemed to be panicking.


    "This thing doesn''t realize that I have 5 more spears. . ."


    Mark simply grabbed another spear and readied it to throw when he had another good shot at the panther.

 20. Big Panther

    Mark let loose with the spear and it smashed into the lone panther in much the same way as the first spear. This time Mark had hit it in the ribcage and he seemed to miss any of the ribs because the spear went right through the body of the panther, leaving a rather obvious hole in the middle of it.


    Blood really started gushing out this time and Mark could tell that he managed to hit a lung.


    The panther did not scream again.


    Instead, the beast frantically grabbed at the spikes as it pulled itself up which resulted in it getting impaled and tangled on the defenses of the gate before it collapsed in a bloody mess without ever managing to get over the top of the entrance.


    "Someone help me get it down, I want those materials."


    While the guards were still in shock from the events that quickly led to such a ferocious beast dying right after Mark appeared, he had more practical ideas on the matter. He was already thinking how the tail would look cool if he got it preserved by the leatherworker in town and maybe had it glossed up a bit.


    ''That thing would be great for an ornamental sword or even a spear, I bet the caravans would pay a lot for it.''


    Mark was not usually one to think of money, since he had a relative abundance of it. He mostly liked the idea of someone paying a bunch of money because they enjoy his work. While he is obsessed with the forge and hardly thinks of anything else, he is also obsessed with making the best possible crafts by applying all of his skills. Thus, he does get a bit of enjoyment when people find his products to be special or when they show great appreciation for his workmanship.


    As Mark and the guards worked to get the chimeric mountain panther down from the gate, a shadow flashed right up to the gate and started swiping at them. The only person in range of the sharp claws that were like mini-daggers, as a large paw swiped left and another swiped right, was Mark. The warg fur that he had recently crafted into arm guards came in handy as he was launched off the top of the gate. The impact was like taking a hammer to the forearms.


    "Argh, what the fuck!"


    Mark was taken by surprise but managed to land on his feet. His arms felt numb though. He took a second to crouch down and check the damage as the guards ran up to him.


    ''Good thing I put these together with metal bands or I might have had both my arms broken.''


    There was no blood, the durable leather of the warg fur held up to the sharp claws of the panther. He could also tell that his arms were just numb from the impact and they did not get broken.


    He stood up as the guards made it to the spot he was flung to. Partially, they wanted to check on Mark but they were also worried about the even larger chimeric mountain panther that was not trying to pull the dead one off the top of the gate. It looked like it was older and much more powerful, as well as quite pissed that they had killed a panther that it knew. Or maybe it was the leader of some sort of panther pack?


    They knew the Panthers of the mountain to be solitary creatures that would only live near each other but not with each other. They could not tell if these things were male or female until they started cutting them open either so it was a bit of a mystery why there was a bigger one taking care of a smaller one.


    Mark didn''t care about the why, as he stood up he walked over to the pile of spears they had made before trying to take the first panther off the gate. His own spear was standing straight up, stuck tip first in the rock. He shook his arms as he grabbed a regular spear and unceremoniously threw it directly at the large panther''s face.


    It flew so fast that even Mark could not see it, but the large panther seemed to sense it as it swiped the spear to the side. It collided with bedrock and exploded from the force. The spearhead also shattered and peppered the large panther with shrapnel since the iron was not strong enough to pierce the bedrock.


    The small fragments did not penetrate the fur of the large panther, but they did manage to further anger the giant beast.


    It growled as it identified Mark as the one that threw the spear at it, and then it promptly used the dead body of its ally to spring itself over the wall with ease.


    Before anyone could move, Mark yelled at the guards.


    "DO NOT RUN!"


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    They froze at his words but he followed up before they could panic.


    "Back away slowly as you face the panther. I know the Wargs will attack people and other animals just because they run from them. Do not show that level of weakness. Back off so I can face this thing."


    As he was talking, Mark grabbed his spear which was sticking out of the rock right next to himself.


    He readied his weapon as he maintained eye contact with the panther and approached it steadily.


    He could see now that this beast was about 3m tall up to its shoulder even as it was crouched slightly as it cautiously approached him. The dead, on the gate, looked like it might approach 2m so the one he was facing was quite a bit larger.


    Just the paws of this beast were the size of Mark''s head. While he should have felt fear from this thing, he just felt excited. It had been a while since he actually had to face a beast like this since they seemed to get wounded before fighting him lately. But this one was fully functional and ready to rip his head off at a moment''s notice.


    Mark had no thoughts as he devoted every bit of brainpower to observing this beast. He knew the panthers were very fast and had a ridiculous reflex. Additionally, they were so agile that they could maneuver while in the air.


    As the distance between the beast and the teen closed, it was the panther that made the first move. It used its spring-like back legs to launch itself forward while it swiped with both paws. The movement was almost too fast for Mark to make his own move.


    The left and right were blocked off and there was no way he could jump over the giant beast so he dove right under it. As he did so he used his spear to cut open a large gash from the chest to the belly before the panther managed to twist in the air and swipe at Marks''s undefended back.


    Mark could not follow the beast with his eyes but he could tell what it was doing and he knew he had a small window to react. Since he could not twist his body around fast enough, he moved the spear behind his back and grabbed the shaft with his other hand so he had something to prevent getting smashed right in the spine.


    The sturdy bone of the beast that made his spear held up as the panther smashed into it with its sharp claws and Mark was flung across the bedrock as the panther landed and licked its chest. There was quite a bit of blood coming from the gash that Mark managed to make and it was obvious that the panther did not anticipate the spear being so sharp.


    Mark rolled over the bedrock and lost his grip on his spear but managed to pick it up in the roll as he got back on his feet and faced the pather at the same time. The panther had not immediately followed up in its attack as Mark had anticipated. Instead, it looked rather weary of the spear in his hands.


    The village guards were still just watching with bated breath. This fight was unlike anything they had ever seen in their lives in the village and they wanted to support Mark but they were afraid that any noise would be a distraction and anything they tried to do to help would just end in their deaths. So they just followed Mark''s instructions and kept backing away slowly.


    Mark was not going to back down just because he had been thrown around like a sack of hay. He had drawn first blood and he felt rather confident, and his demeanor was completely different from the panther that was now taking up a more defensive approach to the fight. Mark charged in headfirst with his spear held high like he was going to strike directly at the beast which caused it to hesitate.


    The panther swiped with its right paw as it tried to back away as it was keeping its body close to the ground, but Mark side-stepped to the left (his left, panther''s right) and thrust his spear at its right shoulder. The sudden adjustment of his position managed to take the panther by surprise but it still managed to react faster than Mark could stab at it. The reach of the spear still allowed Mark to make a cut in the fur as the panther jumped to the side with its powerful legs, but the beast also managed to swing its tail right at Mark as he was still pulling his arm back from overreaching to strike the panther.


    He managed to move his left arm out of the way as the tail bit into the leather covering his body. The result was the panther hissing at Mark as the tail recoiled and anyone that was paying attention to the tail could see that the fangs in the mouth were broken.


    It seemed to cause the beast quite a bit of pain, which Mark utilized to make another big move. He actually threw his spear as fast as he could at the panther that was still reeling in pain but was keeping its body low to the ground again as it hissed at Mark. Due to the way it jumped away from Mark, it was now angled slightly adjacent to the way Mark was facing which gave him a good profile to hit with his spear.


    Mark had taken account of where he was standing before he threw the spear, and as the spear flew through the air at a speed that made it impossible for even the panther to see at such a close distance, Mark could be seen rolling to his left where the pile of guard spear was still sitting.


    The panther reflexively swiped at the spear, even if it could not see it, which resulted in its left paw getting mangled and the spear penetrating into the beast''s rear right leg. To further exacerbate the panther''s situation, the spear also penetrated deeply into the bedrock which effectively pinned the panther in place. It turned to grab the spear shaft with its teeth since the thing was too long to simply slip through the hole in its leg but as it turned, it received a basic spear right in the neck.


    The guard spear managed to slip into the soft flesh between the spine and the trachea which severed a couple of major arteries that supplied blood to the beast''s brain.


    The panther immediately swiped the wooden spear shaft with its right paw which resulted in all of the blood that was being held back by that shaft spraying over the bedrock as the beast collapsed.


    Mark knew he had won, but he did not relax. Instead, he grabbed another spear before he ran up to the beast, and stabbed the spear through its stomach at an angle to get under the ribcage to destroy the heart.


    He then retreated to watch the blood ooze out of its wounds until he felt safe enough to grab his spear.


    He then looked over at the guards who were just staring at him or the beast in shock.

 21. Rover

    Mark just ignored the guards as he went back to the west gate and grabbed the other chimeric mountain panther.


    Since the big panther had pulled this one loose, Mark just had to lift it up and throw it over to his side of the gate. By the time he managed to throw it over and get off the gate, the guards had mostly recovered and were approaching him.


    The first to speak up was Phill, the lead guard for the west gate.


    "Mark, that was terrifying and amazing at the same time. Thank you for saving our asses, I don''t think we would have been able to kill that first panther much less the monster that jumped over the gate."


    Mark was just dragging the panther over to the bigger panther as he listened to Phill. Once he had the corpses side-by-side, he looked at the man who was also a bit taller than the rest of the guards.


    Phill was about 182cm tall so he was still a bit shorter than Mark but also quite a bit taller than the average guard. His hair was also noticeably different than most people on the mountain as it was a wheat blonde where most people had either black or brown hair.


    While the man was taller than the rest of the guards, he showed Mark no less respect than the rest of them; more even as it seemed the responsibility of his position could be heard in his words.


    Mark just shrugged.


    "I think you guys would have managed. Anyway, I need to check up on the other gates now. They might be getting attacked like this one and could probably use some help. I will come back to make sure this gate is secure once I am done."


    He received some more praise and thanks as he took off back to the north gate. He just took it in stride since he would be back for the corpses anyway and he felt that the thanks were unnecessary.


    The guards, though, felt that they owed a life-debt to Mark. Each of them knew that the smaller chimeric mountain panther could have wiped them out if it had managed to get over the gate. After Mark left, no one even said anything about the corpses of the panthers but they kept watch over them and silently decided amongst themselves that no one would be allowed to move the bodies until Mark came back for them.


    The north gate was ostensibly the safest gate but also potentially the most dangerous for a couple of reasons. It was the safest because it was the side with the least beasts roaming outside of it. The path leading to the north gate had the most traffic from merchants as it was the path leading down the mountain. Thus, it was regularly cleared by professional guards so the beasts didn''t even try to make their territories anywhere near the area. It could be the most dangerous side because it had the longest wooden wall that could be breached and the bedrock walls were hardly higher than the wooden walls in this area.


    Mark took note of the amount of time he took to dispatch the mountain panthers and how long it was taking him to run from gate to gate as he ran.


    "There shouldn''t have been enough time for anything to attack, but even if they are under attack the defenses should hold up long enough for me to get there. Then I can head to the east gate."


    Mark was not worried about the east gate since it was likely the safest. While the Unikuma were on that side, most of them came from the rock valley that he had been in and he had seen what was presumably the furthest of their kind run in the opposite direction. That valley wrapped around to the south and after quite a distance of horrible terrain it was possible to get to the west gate but that was highly unlikely. There was also a path down the mountain further to the east if the southern area was ignored which led to a fertile valley but it was inhabited by Giant Vampire Moose. Nothing wanted to fight the various groups of Vampire Moose in the area.


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    "East gate just has snakes to worry about if anything and those can''t climb walls. . ."


    While mulling over the possibilities he quickly came upon the north gate where the guards seemed to be resting. Some of them looked like they just fought and the wounded had already left to be replaced.


    Mark looked around until he found Sid who was just laying his back on a rock while watching the clouds.


    "Don''t you think you should be watching the gate more?"


    Sid looked up.


    "Ah, Mark, you are back. Yeah. . . I probably should. . . but if you look over the gate you will see that we have recently slain a Buffalo Toad. . ."


    He was obviously worn out.


    "Oof"


    Mark knew what it meant to fight a Buffalo Toad.


    While they were not particularly tough or ferocious, they did have a special scent that they let out that would make their attackers feel like they had been put through extremely high-intensity stress both physically and mentally. This is why Sid and some of his men were lying about, seemingly without a care for the things going around them. They literally don''t have the energy to care.


    "Just rest here Sid, I will check things out at the east gate and then I will come back here to make sure you guys have the manpower to take care of this gate until you and your guys recover."


    Sid just laid his head back down and closed his eyes.


    "Thanks, Mack . . ."


    Mark knew Sid was excessively tired if he was already messing up his name.


    ''Sleep well Sid, and don''t die on me''


    Mark was not really worried about Sid but he did like the guys'' personality and he thought it would be a shame for the village to lose such a character.


    Mark did check the gate for the giant toad and, once his curiosity was satiated, he quickly headed to the east gate.


    ''The east gate will be fine, then I can come back here and this growth should end soon after. I will probably have to check the west gate once more though.''


    Thinking out his next few steps on his quick journey to the east gate, Mark took into account the lessening intensity of the shaking around the village area. It had already been about an hour since the growth had started so it seemed to be a weak one this time.


    While they were not that frequent, although random, they had been observed enough times by Mark personally to get a rough estimate of when it was winding down.


    Upon reaching the east gate, Mark noted that there was literally nothing happening and the guards just looked tense. The injured guards who just had minor self-inflected injuries, were seen back at the wall looking out of the holes for any approaching beasts.


    Mark walked up to Alex to see if anything had happened.


    "There were some wolves that were approaching the gate but we scared them off with some rocks. They seemed interested in the Gullen you killed but one of them got a rock right in the skull and they all took off after that hehe."


    Mark nodded his head as he looked over at the gate.


    "The north gate has had some trouble with a Buffalo Toad so I will have to personally reinforce that area and the west gate already had a couple of mountain panthers assault the gate and one of them managed to get over the top. I was there to kill them both and they are reinforcing it with more spikes and spears but I want to make sure they don''t run into any more problems."


    Alex looked visibly disturbed, "Damn, a beast managed to breach the west gate? I don''t remember the last time something like that happened but I guess they did have you there. I really feel bad for the guys at the north gate though. It really sucks having to fight the damn buffalo toads."


    Mark agreed on that.


    He had to fight them before and their leather is basically useless to him. He could only sell it to the traveling merchants since it was only good for making potions or something he was unaware of and no one did that in their village.


    Raw materials never got him much money so he could never trade it for anything really good.


    "Yeah, those things are a pain in the ass and a waste of my time. . ."


    Mark more mumbled that part to himself but Alex understood what he was trying to convey.


    "Anyway, I need to head out, you guys take it easy. They do look like real guards right now by the way."


    Alex smiled, "Ill get these guys whipped into shape in no time, don''t you worry about that Mark! hehe, now get out of here and make sure the rest of the village is safe!


    Mark quickly left at that point. There was no sense in sticking around when the north gate was weak at the moment.


    He quickly checked in on the guards at the north gate and looked out over the top of the walls before he ran over to the west gate to make sure they were fine.


    Since they had nothing attack them since he was gone, Mark just left them without much conversation and went to stay at the north gate until the guards were recovered.


    Occasionally he acted as a rover to check on the other gates until the growth finally ended.

 22. Securing the Greater Area

    Once the growth ended, Mark and a good portion of the guards went to the crevice to join the village meeting that would soon take place.


    While the guards were the ones protecting the village, they were not the only ones who could slay the beasts. The hunter parties were also capable of fighting the mountain beasts and they were the ones who would replace the injured guards that needed to rest during attacks on the village.


    They were not trained in guard duties so they were never the first picks when the village needed to be defended and their skills were better for ambushes and planned attacks. Nevertheless, they were still skilled in killing animals and they regularly had to take on the mountain beasts when they went out for a hunt.


    There were other groups of people that would go out to slay the occasional beast. The leatherworkers had to get their own beasts from time to time when they had custom orders for specific types of beast leather for one reason or the other. Stone masons would sometimes have to defend themselves when they were collecting and transporting different types of stones. Overall, there were many groups in the village that had their own ways of killing the beasts and they would all band together after a growth to drive the beasts out of the greater village area.


    After each time there was a growth, the village elders and those capable of hunting beasts would have a meeting while a sensibly sized group was left guarding the gates. It was rare to have a beast attack after the growth but not unprecedented. Everyone else was at the meeting to form a party and head out to clear out the greater village area since that is where their farmland and most of the gathering areas were located.


    They did not have to slay all of the beasts and animals in the area, they just had to drive them out to an acceptable safe distance. The beasts and animals would get the hint when the parties came out in force.


    This was accomplished via several methods that had been developed over the centuries.


    The hunting parties would form their groups which were typically the same each time, with the young adults joining in on experienced groups to get the necessary instruction to do it themselves down the road. The people who were incapable of fighting the beasts would hang back behind the hunting groups with various pieces of metal like pots and pans to make loud noises.


    There were also people with torches that would wave them around if the beasts got too close to the backline noise people which was also effective in scaring off the animals.


    People like Mark who were used to fighting the beasts on their own would go out into the greater village area and indiscriminately slay the beasts as quickly as they could or at least cause them some damage. Their goal was to strike fear in the beasts so the rest of the villagers would have an easier time scaring them off.


    Once everyone had gathered, the village chief had them break up into their groups.


    "Guards, hunting parties, and Mark, head to your gates and begin the clearing process. Everyone else, grab the materials you need and form up outside the gates to follow the clearing parties.


    Everyone knew what to do so the gathering part was more of a formality. The guards mostly wanted to make sure the people in the crevice were fine before they headed outside the gates. The crevice people also wanted to make sure their family members at the gates were alive and well. The injured guards were either placed with the noise line or sent home to recover.


    Mark decided to head to the west gate since they had the craziest interaction during the growth period.


    ''There is no way anyone else would be able to deal with the chimeric mountain panthers. I better take care of any that are still hanging around before anyone gets killed.''


    The west gate guards noticed that Mark was headed west and they felt relieved. No doubt they had similar thoughts as the blacksmith.


    It didn''t take long for Mark to get to the gate and they had already unblocked it by that point, making sure to have a strong presence at the gate to deter any potential attackers. He noticed that the guards were tense but otherwise fine, and they started to relax when they noticed Mark approaching.


    Mark just nodded to the guards that stood to attention for him. They obviously were treating him with even more respect than they used to. He had thought of chatting with them but he had other things of on his mind.


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    ''When I get done with this I need to collect all the beasts and process them. Maybe I should ask the leatherworkers and some butchers for help since that would speed things up and would just cost me some meat that would spoil otherwise and some leather that is not that important to me. . . ''


    ''I really like the look of those chimeric panther horns. . . they were even able to deflect my spear which I know is exceptionally difficult since it can stick into the bedrock around here.''


    Of course, his thoughts were all about his new toys he could play with at the forge. He would not even craft them for anyone else as they would just go into his research since he had never gotten to work with the panther materials.


    ''I also noticed that their leather was quite tough, that first cut I made on the big guy was not as deep as I thought it would be because I met some resistance from the fur and skin before I cut into the flesh.''


    What he would do with such leather was not quite apparent yet, but he could already see his adventuring attire getting an upgrade.


    He soon came upon his first group of mountain animals after he ran out of the bedrock corridor and into the expansive mountain terrain. The wolves he ran through didn''t stand a chance even though they tried to defend their newly acquired territory. The ones that did not immediately get cut down by Mark ran off as fast as they could, scattered instead of the cohesive unit they had been.


    ''Damn wolves, pests more than anything. Why couldn''t it at least be wargs. . .''


    Mark was feeling ambitious as he had already secured quite a few materials for his crafts. His greed was only apparent when it came to getting new things to try out at the forge.


    He continued to run around the western area of the village but it seemed his initial slaughter had alerted any of the other beasts in the area because they all fled upon seeing him. Soon, he had reached the limits of the eastern area that the village kept under control and after checking every side, the rest of the guards and noise makers caught up with him to confirm that the east side was secured.


    Since he was already on the furthest northern part of the east side after his sweep, he decided to head to the northern territory. It would be a difficult task for anyone else, but Mark traversed the terrible terrain with practiced ease. He would often cross these areas of great chasms and sheer cliffs to search for the special ores when he couldn''t find them in the caves. The in-between areas between the territories were rarely crossed by people or beasts so any of the special ores that managed to fall in these areas would stick around for Mark to find them.


    With that in mind, he kept a lookout for any of the ores he could work with and actually found some small rocks of the orange ore he needed to finish his plans with his sword.


    ''I finally have enough orange to test my theory of the vibrating ore and then implement the alloy in my sword. I need to finish this cleanup quickly.''


    He did not manage to find any more ores as he made his way to the greater northern area of the village, but he made a mental note of the place he found the orange ores so he could come back later to check again.


    The northern area had a warg that was running away from some hunters when he showed up, and he noticed that his fellow villagers were out for blood so he threw his spear into the fleeing warg''s body which greatly slowed it down and allowed the hunters to catch it and brutally kill it.


    He made his way over to them to make sure they were good.


    "Hey guys, is everything alright here?"


    One of the hunters, Josh, looked over at Mark.


    "Oh, hey Mark. . . thanks for the help there. Yeah. . . everything is fine. That warg had hurt my brother Tevon and it really pissed us off. I know we don''t need to kill every beast that is in this greater area but we felt the need to put this one down. Again, thank you for the help. It almost got away."


    Josh looked quite pissed still but Mark noticed his expression soften as he talked. Mark also noted that Josh seemed quite chatty so he decided not to ask him things in the future.


    "I think you guys should take the warg since it caused you so much trouble, besides, I hardly did any of the work here."


    It was common for hunting parties that went after the same beast to have disputes about how to split the loot, but Mark decided that he had more than enough materials for the day. Some warg fur would not be a significant harvest and having the thanks of the hunters would be a bigger deal. He made them weapons and repaired their stuff often but he didn''t get much of a chance to interact with them. Unlike the guards, the hunters didn''t have an exaggerated sense of respect for him. He was not looking for that level of respect but he did think that it would be easier to trade with them in the future if he gave them this one.


    The hunters were not only surprised at his generosity, but they were also quite impressed with his humble attitude. They knew that without Mark, they would not have been able to slay the beast but Mark would have taken the thing down on his own with ease. They expressed their gratitude and as Mark walked off they talked among themselves about how they needed to make sure they repaid him in some way in the future.


    As for Mark, he made his way around the greater northern area and found that the cleanup had gone quite smoothly. One group had to run off some gullen, but it seemed that they knew of the other gullen that had been killed because they ran off in fear. The rest of the groups just had regular beasts to deal with and the noise was instrumental in chasing them off.


    Once Mark was sure that the greater area was secured, he headed back to the village to collect his treasures and begin his experiments.

 23. Processing Beasts

    It took the rest of the daylight that Mark had after such an eventful day, but with a bit of help from the guards he had managed to get his slain beasts to the forge for processing. The beasts scattered about the rocky valley were not as easy to bring back but they managed to bring them all back to the village.


    While it would be ideal to process them immediately, he knew he could wait for a night since beast blood rarely clumped up before a day and a half had passed due to its voracious nature.


    Mark was excited but managed to get to sleep early that night so he could get up early the next day and start working. The work orders would be backed up for a few days after the growth and everyone was understanding about that since everyone had their work delayed every time the growth messed up their regular schedule.


    His sleep was dreamless as it usually was and he managed to wake up before the sun came over the peaks of his window.


    He finished off the food that had been cooked for him by the villagers since he was out of dried meat and set off to the forge to get the dead beasts ready for processing. There was a big tree near his forge with many large straight branches sticking out of it that were perfect for draining their blood. He just needed to drain the beasts before the leatherworker and butcher who had agreed to help him, in exchange for some beast meat and a warg hide, showed up.


    He just grabbed some rope that was lying around the forge and started stringing up the beasts. He then grabbed one of the knives he made while experimenting on the special ores since they cut beast hide like butter.


    After stringing up the beasts with their heads down where he could reach them, he slit their necks to let the blood drain.


    The tree that he always drained the beasts at is the same tree used by all of the blacksmiths of his line to drain beasts of their blood. It was his father that had taught him how to do this and his own father taught him.


    It was not really a tradition as it was more of a practical way of preparing the beasts for processing.


    He looked at the tree that could almost be considered an elder tree. It had a thick base sticking out of the ground at one of the areas on the bedrock that was actually a field with a stream running through it. The tree was situated at the far end of the field, near the blacksmith forge. It was about 6 meters in diameter and the top of the tree was about 14 meters from the soil it was growing out of.


    Each branch was at least 8 meters from the trunk it branched out of and they were about a meter thick closer to the ground. The first branch started about 3 meters off the ground and the branch stumps closer to the ground revealed that someone a long time ago had made it that way on purpose.


    . . .


    The elder tree that was further on the other side of Mark''s house was over 20 meters in height and it had a trunk about 12 meters thick. The branches of that tree did not start for over 4 meters off the ground though but they started at 2 meters thick and gradually got smaller as they went up to the top of the tree. The reason the tree near the smith was not considered an elder tree was because it looked small compared to the actual elder tree.


    There were ideas on why these two trees grew so large on the side of a mountain where nothing should grow that tall.


    The prevailing idea was the beast blood that was drained at the smithy tree. No one used the elder tree to drain beasts but the villagers say that it was used a long time ago when it was not so tall, just like the smith tree is now. This theory was supported by the fact that the smithy tree grows every year while the elder tree has not grown a bit since even the village elders were children.


    It was thought that the beast blood had some special property to it but no one had been able to make some sort of medicine or potion out of the blood that would benefit humans.


    The only evidence of the special nature of the beast blood was how plants and trees would grow when it was spilled on the ground. This idea was not without merit either, since the beast meat was known to help people grow strong if they could handle it.


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    Everyone on the mountain ate some beast meat but no one was able to eat it like Mark. That is why everyone could fight the mountain beasts, they were all a bit stronger than normal humans.


    Even though Mark could eat beast meat without any problems, the weird old witch lady in the village still couldn''t make a beast blood potion that even Mark could consume and have any tangible effects.


    Anyone who tried to drink the blood would vomit it out almost immediately because it was disgusting. Mark had also tried to drink the blood of beasts after the witch lady had insisted he do so from time to time but it just made him sick.


    While he would not vomit from it, he would still feel wrong for the rest of the day and he had no measurable benefits from it.


    The potions that the witch lady made were better as they did not make him sick but he still did not have any tangible benefits from it.


    The best he could do was eat some beast meat which was noticeable as he got bigger every year. Since he was still growing as a 15-year-old boy, the boost of the beast meat was turning him into a giant of a human.


    He was not quite at a ridiculous level yet as there were bigger mercenaries that showed up with the caravans, but even they were surprised when they learned that the giant blacksmith was only 15.


    His height was not the only thing that the beast meat aided in with his growth. Mark was an abnormally muscular teenager.


    . . .


    After Mark had finished draining out the blood of the beasts, he cut them down and carried them next to the smithy to be processed. The butcher and leather worker showed up a bit after Mark had pulled them to the side and started skinning the smaller panther.


    The butcher was a stout bald man and the leather worker was a skinny but tall man at about 186cm which put him at the same level as Mark and the only other person in the village that could look Mark directly in the eye.


    "Good morning Mark, looks like you''re already up and at ''em eh?"


    The leatherworker seemed to be a morning person.


    Mark didn''t look up from what he was doing but replied, "Yep, just trying to get these materials ready to be used as soon as possible."


    The leatherworker nodded his head and started pulling out his skinning tools as the butcher did the same.


    "I suppose we will get to work then, what do you think Grom?"


    The seemingly emotionless butcher just grunted a reply. "Hrm." He was not a very vocal person.


    The leatherworker chose the biggest panther since it would require the most finesse, while the butcher started to work on the gullen.


    "I will be able to keep this pelt the most intact as it is going to be the most useful for you, Mark. Even though these hides are quite tough, there are still some parts that will need a more experienced hand to work on. It will only give you a bit of extra material but I am sure you know how valuable such material is."


    Mark was thankful for the help of the skilled leatherworker, but he was also starting to get annoyed with how chatty the guy was.


    ''Man, this guy can talk. He has been here less than 10 minutes and I already want him to leave.''


    Instead of being rude, Mark just replied, "Thanks".


    With the three of them working at the same time, they managed to get the beasts skinned quite quickly and the leatherworker grabbed some of the warg fur as his payment.


    Mark and Grom managed to not kill the guy but he was just as chatty during the entire skinning process as he was when he first arrived.


    "I suppose you guys will be able to take it from here, meat is not exactly my specialty but I guess you did only mention needing real help with the plets to me. Once again, thank you for the trade Mark, and don''t hesitate to ask for help in the future if you have a pile like this again. I can always use some of the fur and leather from these beasts, they make for great trade goods with the merchants. Though, I suppose you already know that. Hahaha."


    The leatherworker seemed sincere so Mark took note of his offer.


    "Thanks, Edward, I will keep that in mind in the future."


    They shook hands and Edward left with his payment.


    ''Long winded as ever. . .''


    Meanwhile, the butcher never stopped working and he had already butchered 3 of the beasts while Mark and Edward were gathering the hides together and talking.


    Since it seemed that the butcher would need no help, Mark took the newly skinned leathers over to his tanning area and strung the hides up before rubbing the special paste on them to tan them into a sturdy leather.


    When he got back to the butcher, the man was already done with the beasts, and the bones were nearly perfectly cleaned and in a pile next to the meat. He was currently putting his payment into a pile.


    Mark was quite impressed with his work so he made the suggestion, "Frank, you can take some extra meat. I think you did a bit more than we agreed to so I think it is only fair."


    The bald butcher just nodded his head and took a large slab of meat from the big panther.


    It seemed he had wanted this piece but was hesitant to take it initially since they had not mentioned that meat in their agreement. He looked back and Mark nodded his head with satisfaction.


    ''If I keep Frank happy then I should be able to get his help in the future as well. It takes me forever to get the meat off the bones when I do it myself.''


    As Frank grabbed his sack of meat, Mark spoke up again.


    "Frank, I would like your help in the future with getting the meat off these beasts. Would you be interested in the work?"


    Frank just wordlessly, but seriously, nodded his head while making eye contact with Mark before he walked off toward his butcher shop.


    The last thing Mark needed to do was put the beast bones he wanted to keep into the giant boiling pot before he went home to get the work orders for the day.

 24. Repairs

    After he set the bones to boil, he headed home to grab the work orders for the day. The processing of the beasts that morning only took a couple of hours so it was not even midday yet, as Mark had noticed by checking the position of the sun as he headed to his house.


    ''There will likely be a few weapons that need repairs from the growth, probably a few tools related to skinning and tanning as well. Other than that, I should have taken care of most of what is needed for this time of year since the harvest is long past.''


    Mark thought to himself as he considered what he would be working on for the day.


    When he got to his house and grabbed the work orders, he found that his assumptions were correct as he bundled up the spears and the few tools that needed to be worked on before heading back to the forge.


    ''James hardly ever used the fifth step to reinforce these blades, I guess he didn''t enjoy the forge as much as I do but maybe it had something to do with the sadness that took over him when mom died. . . either way, I am going to reinforce these blades so the villagers have more reliable weapons to slay the beasts with. This should also make it easier for them to kill the beasts since a condensed blade should not only hold up more easily but also have a harder sharper edge that would be better for cutting the thick hides and bones of the beasts.''


    Mark was thinking more about the villagers than he normally did since he had seen so many of the guards get injured during the growth. He would typically just be glad to have some work to do at the forge but now he was actually considering the wellbeing of the villagers. The growth typically got him thinking more of the villagers for a few days afterward and it also made him realize that his crafts need someone to use them so he knows if he made them as good as they could be made.


    ''If I can make them more powerful, then I could spend more time working at the forge instead of trying to prevent this village from going extinct. . ."


    Of course, it was all about getting more time at the forge.


    More than making the villagers more powerful, reinforcing the weapons and tools they use with the fifth step would extend the life of each of them significantly. If Mark continued to reinforce everything that was brought to him he would eventually have much more free time than he normally has.


    While Mark thinks this is a long-shot idea, he still finds it to be a nice thought since he would be able to spend more time doing his research.


    When he got back to his forge, he placed the weapons and tools that people wanted to have repaired on his queue table and got his coals burning. Then he considered the order he would do the repairs.


    "I might as well do all of the tools first then the spears since the tools just need some heating and bonding to repair the cracks and imperfections. Then I can etch the patterns and add some metal to the spears before letting them cool and then I''ll use the fifth step."


    Once the coals were at the right temperature, he set all of the tools in the fire to let them heat up. When they were ready, he pulled them out and hit them with the hammer to see if they needed anything more than some reshaping, and for the ones that needed some extra care, he would pour a bit of the bonding catalysts or some metal sand, or both, and hit them again until they were fixed.


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    While the maintenance of the tools would not pull Mark into his trance, he did find it refreshing to finally be hammering on some metal. He had been under a bit of stress recently and he was able to let some of it out as he got in the mood to do some real forge work.


    After the tools were ready, he put them aside and then set the spear blades in the fire to heat up as well. While watching the blades heat up, he let himself get lost in the dance of the flames as he tried to decipher their secrets once again. He started to feel himself melt into the flames as he lost track of time. A feeling of his soul becoming one with the fire overwhelmed all of the other senses and Mark started to forget about all of his stress and worries. Another feeling of power started to take root in his solar plexus as he focused on the flames. The glow of the flame with the shadow it produced and the slight crackle the coals gave off all seemed to add up to something but he could never quite figure out what it was.


    Before he was able to understand the secrets of the flames, he was brought out of his trance by the special glow of the metal which meant the spear blades were ready to be worked on.


    He proceeded to systematically reinforce each blade of each spear and after a few hours, he had completed his work. With the blades done, he just had to put each spear back together and ensure the shaft of the spear would not be the next reason it was brought back to his forge.


    With the spears and tools completed, Mark gathered them all together and dropped them off for the villagers to come by and grab them near his house.


    He still had about half a day to do whatever he wanted so he headed back to his forge to see what he would do with his new materials.


    He had a few bones from the wargs and chimeric panthers but the leathers from the beasts were still tanning which would take a couple of days at least. The fangs and horns of the various beasts he had killed were also possible crafting ingredients that Mark wanted to test out.


    He was especially interested in the chimeric panther horns. He had four of them and each one was harder than any non-metal material he had ever worked with.


    "I wonder what those panthers will taste like when their meat is done drying out. . ."


    Mark got a little distracted mentally before proceeding with his experiments.


    His first course of action was to check just how durable the horns were. Since he had four of the horns he could spare the weakest-looking one for the necessary experimentation, so he grabbed the less pristine horn of the smaller chimeric panther and set it on his anvil.


    As he set it on his anvil, he realized that there was no good side of it that was actually flat enough to keep it from rolling around which would hinder his ability to do some of the testing he was most interested in doing to the horn.


    "It could cause me some problems if it is rolling around, and if I hit it too hard it could end up getting shot out of the forge. That would just be a big pain in my ass. . ."


    Mark once again took to talking out loud to sort through his problems.


    "I guess I can cut it with my spear. I already removed them with the spear and the ends have a smooth cut so I already know it''s not going to be as impressive as this alloy. . . I bet if it''s impressive enough, though, then I could make a good trade with the caravans. Maybe they have some cool metals I have never seen before or maybe they could have picked up some of the purple or orange ores!"


    Mark had to force himself back to work as he thought of all of the possibilities that good materials could result in. Of course, his greatest interest was making better alloys at his forge so he could make superior crafts.


    With his internal debate settled Mark grabbed his spear and proceeded to cut the horn in half long ways by stabilizing it in a vice-grip type contraption that he regularly used for this type of procedure.


    Once the horn was flat on one side, he placed his first testing half back on the anvil which was satisfactorily stable on the block of metal.

 25. Testing New Materials

    To test the horn, Mark first grabbed a regular hammer made of refined iron to see if the horn would hold up to blunt force from refined iron.


    "I have already seen the blades slide off the horns without leaving a scratch so I know it is at least harder than refined iron, but just being harder than this iron does not mean it is impervious to any attack from a weapon made out of it."


    Mark was talking to himself again as he prepared to conduct the tests. With everything in place, he began smashing the hammer on the horn.


    "Thonk, ping!"


    His hammer hit the horn and subsequently slid over to the anvil before ringing from the metal-on-metal contact.


    Mark placed the hammer on the anvil and shook his hand as he looked at the results of his first experiment. He picked the horn up and started to turn it right in front of his eyes. With the bone right in front of his eyes, he was able to scrutinize every small detail of the horn.


    "Hmm, there is not even a little scuff on it. It looks like this thing is quite durable indeed. I doubt any weapons with these things would be good, but they would be great for handles to one-handed weapons."


    Satisfied with the initial test, he then grabbed a pot of water and put it next to the fire, and threw the horn in to let it boil for a while.


    "We will see how this thing holds up after being boiled as a sort of test of its longevity as a material and the different types of durability it has."


    Mark then walked over to his iron pot of bones and grabbed one of the bones from the panthers and set it on his anvil.


    They had not been boiling long enough to soften them up, if that were even possible, but the sinew and bones had long fallen off at this point.


    "I am fairly certain that these bones will be fine for any type of weapon but if they can take some punishment then they will most certainly become battle axes. It is hard to get a light and durable handle for battle axes so it would be nice if they can hold up to some stresses."


    After Mark was done talking to himself, he swung his hammer down with as much force as he could muster and the hammer hit the leg bone square in the center.


    "Bam!"


    The hammer didn''t slip off the bone as the bone was not as rounded as the horn, but the results were much the same.


    Mark once again picked up his experimental piece and rotated it in front of his face.


    "No obvious fractures and not even an indentation from the hammer. What the fuck did these guys eat?"


    The unblemished bone proved itself to be an easily workable material and since it was a femur from the hind legs of the panthers it was easily long enough for a battle axe.


    "I should see if the fifth step will work on these bones. . ."


    Mark was now considering the implications of his inheritance since the hammer that he used for the fifth step had a big purple crystal seemingly melded with the metal of the hammer.


    "If they could seamlessly bind metal with a crystal like that, then I should be able to do the same with a bone like this right?"


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    He was still looking at the bone in his hands as he considered trying the fifth step with it.


    "I should test how it deals with high heat then."


    He then placed the femur on the coals like it was a metal weapon that needed to be heated up before being worked on. He also took an extra step in heating up the bone by rolling it back and forth in the fire slowly to see how it was being affected.


    The bone slowly turned black as it accumulated the byproducts of the coals burning but the bone itself showed no signs of weakening, catching fire, or fracturing.


    After leaving it in the flames long enough to turn metal red hot, Mark removed the bone and began to examine it again.


    "The bone is black but it does not look burned nor has the smell changed, it seems more like some soot has gathered on it. I should hit it while it is hot, then when it cools I can clean it."


    He placed the bone on his anvil and grabbed his hammer again. With a good swing, he struck the bone.


    "Thunk!"


    There were, once again, no problems with the bone after striking it so Mark struck it a few more times.


    "Thunk!"


    "Donk!"


    ""Thunk!"


    Each strike gave off the sound of a hammer hitting something solid, but the bone never showed any signs of breaking or weakening.


    "Well, it seems like if everything looks good when I clean it off then I should be able to work with this bone like it is a metal. The places where I hit it have some of the black smeared or cleaned off but I need to clean it entirely before I can conclude those spots are not damaged."


    Mark then placed the femur into a barrel of water. Even though it was still quite hot, he figured the rapid change in temperature would be a good test as well.


    "It shouldn''t act as a quench since it''s not really metal but I guess I''ve never worked with bones like this. Well if it''s ruined I still have three more to work with."


    He watched as it cooled rapidly, causing the water to boil and steam. Once the water had calmed down and the bone looked like it had cooled off, he took it out of the barrel and touched it with his hand.


    "Still warm but it should be workable. Now for the pattern. . . "


    He turned it over in his hands once again as he thought of how he would etch a pattern into the bone to fill it with metal before using the fifth step. As he was looking at it he used a rag to wipe off the impurities from the flames so he could clearly see what was going on with the surface of the bone.


    "If I use the knife to carve it, it should work without too much effort. That blade was a prototype of the spearhead after all."


    As he was talking to himself he walked over to his bench and grabbed the knife that he thought could carve the bone.


    With the knife in hand, he started on the side that he wanted to attach the axe head to and started carving a spiderweb pattern that actually looked like a spiderweb instead of lightning since he needed to cut out a circular area to anchor the battle axe blade to.


    "It''s a bit rough but this knife is doing just fine carving this hard bone. Another thing I am seeing is that it does not seem to have suffered much damage from the flames nor from dipping it in the water before letting it cool down."


    Satisfied with the work of the knife and the pristine condition of the bone after being put through so much, Mark continued on to the other side of the bone where he would put the pick end of the battle axe that would also act as a counterweight.


    It only took him a few minutes to finish the pattern with his knife.


    "Now for the metal."


    Mark just looked at the bone with the carved patterns on it for a while.


    "What metal should I use?"


    Mark looked over at the refined metals he had at the ready.


    "There is plenty of iron but that is quite heavy on its own. It is fine for spears and swords but a battle axe will require much more metal for its two parts which would make it unusable for probably anyone but me."


    He looked over at his aluminum bars that he used to make the lighter alloys out of.


    "An aluminum alloy would be great since it could make the axe much lighter, but it might compromise the ability of the refined iron to reliably smash things with a bunch of force repeatedly."


    Then his eyes landed on some of the small bars of the silver metals with different sheens to them.


    "If I just used a little bit of these with some aluminum and refined iron, it could make a fairly light but durable metal that won''t cost me huge amounts of time to reproduce. . ."


    Mark just thought about what combinations of the different metals would be best for his current project before he broke himself out of his reverie.


    "For the initial bonding process, I just need some refined iron as a base that the different heads can be attached to after I cast them with whatever alloy I choose. For now, I just need to do this bonding to see if it will even work."


    Mark then grabbed the refined metal beads and set them in the crucible to melt on the flames.

 26. Battle Axe Preparations

    Once the pellets had melted, Mark positioned the bone with the carvings in it on the anvil. He set it up to receive the molten metal on one side.


    "If this actually works then maybe I could make a one-handed war hammer with one of the horns as the pick and another for the handle. . . probably the one I cut apart would be good as the handle if it makes it through the rest of the tests."


    Mark poured the molten iron into the spiderweb pattern as he thought to himself out loud.


    While the metal cooled, he thought about the alloy he would make for the axe part of the weapon.


    "With a bit of the metal with a green sheen, it should reinforce the axe enough to prevent any damage from using it in fights."


    Mark grabbed the fifth-step hammer in preparation for the procedure that he would soon try out on something other than bone.


    "I wonder if they really used the fifth step for this hammer. If they did, then what did they use to do it?"


    After letting himself get distracted he moved his attention back to the beginnings of a new battle axe.


    With the special hammer in hand, he began the fifth-step process. This time was a little bit different since he was trying to bind metal to bone but after a few strikes of the hammer, he was able to intuitively feel what he needed to do.


    ''hmm, it seems this will work just fine I just need to strike it a bit softer every half second instead of every second. . .''


    With his new rhythm picked out, Mark continued to bind the metal and bone together with what sounded like the beat of a snare drum.


    The ping of the metal was combined with the dull thud of the bone while having the sound altered by the strange blasts of purple light from the crystal that seemed to travel through the metal that the fifth-step hammer was made of.


    The pattern of strikes came naturally to Mark as he just struck where he felt it was needed. He worked off a combination of visual cues as he could spot the next area that needed some work as well as the sound and vibrations that he received in feedback with every strike of the hammer.


    Since he was unable to actually quantify each strike with a precise technique, he instead had to rely on how he ''felt'' with each previous strike to decide where the next strike would be placed. After years at the forge, this process was somewhat instinctual to Mark.


    The decision had to be made in a fraction of a second because of the cadence needed for these materials, hence the need to ''feel'' where each strike would go.


    After he got the hang of the cadence and pattern needed for the bonding process, Mark fell into his trance as the purple blasts of light and the sound of the hammer hitting the materials pulled him in.


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    He continued working for nearly an hour as he systematically merged the metal and bone on the first side of what would soon be a battle axe.


    With a weird-sounding ''thud'' he was broken from his trance and he looked at his finished product with little memory of the entire process.


    To Mark, it had just been a couple of minutes.


    Looking at the finished work, he knew it had been much longer than it had felt to him.


    "Damn, this is just like the crystal!"


    He picked up his creation and looked at the parts where metal and bone had merged while holding it close to his eyes.


    "There is a seamless bonding of the metal and bone here, I am unable to tell where the metal ends and the bone begins. It is as if the metal and bone have always been part of each other."


    After he was over his amazement, he began to work on the other side of the bone handle.


    The second side did not take nearly as long to get finished since he had already figured out the method, he just had to allow himself to fall into the groove of working on the battle axe and he soon found himself in a trance.


    The entire process still took about an hour but when he was done, he realized that he could actually make a nice battle axe out of the bone.


    "All I need to do now is cast the hammer and the blade and I will have a brand new battle axe."


    He walked over to his stock of metals that he currently had ready.


    "I should just need 2 bars of iron to make the axe. . . if I split it into thirds I should be able to have a ratio of 3:2:1 for iron, aluminum, and the green sheen metal."


    He then grabbed the metals he needed and placed them in a clean crucible.


    Since he only needed 2/3 of a bar of aluminum, he placed it on the anvil and used a vice clamp to fix it in place before scoring it with a scoring tool. He then used a two-handed square head hammer to knock off the 1/3 he didn''t need before adding the 2/3 he needed to the crucible as well.


    He then placed the crucible in the forge area for melting metal.


    While he was waiting for the metal to melt, he looked at the horn that was still boiling in some water.


    He reached into the boiling water with some forceps and grabbed the horn before setting it on the anvil.


    Then, he grabbed a hammer and gave it a good smack to see if it was still as tough as before it was boiled.


    "Thunk, ding!"


    The horn was still just as hard as far as he could tell and there were still no marks from the hammer strike.


    "Huh, I guess this horn is still quite sturdy even though I can cut it with my spear. This stuff really could be used for a weapon."


    He then grabbed the horn with one hand and used his knife in the other to cut it into workable pieces.


    When he was done, he also grabbed the other half of the smaller horn and cut it into identical pieces which he would use with an aluminum alloy to make a sturdy handle for a one-handed battle hammer pick.


    After he set those pieces to the side, he looked at the crucible with the alloy he was going to cast as his battle-axe blade and counterweight.


    The molten metal was glowing red-hot and had the occasional bubble pop up from the bottom of the crucible which told Mark that it was time to get the cast ready for the blade and counterweight.


    Since he had already planned to eventually make a battle axe like this one, he just checked his pre-made mold to ensure it would have appropriate dimensions and, when he was satisfied, he placed both molds in a good spot to cool.


    He then grabbed the molten alloy and poured it into both molds and was happy to see that he even had some leftovers that he dribbled into some water to make filler beads.


    He collected the beads and put them into a small leather pouch and put symbols on it that signified it as being a special alloy before he placed them to the side where he could grab them when needed.


    Since he still needed to bond the blade and counterweight to the shaft, the beads could prove to be useful before they even went to storage.


    Mark then turned to the cooling molds.


    "All there is to do now is wait."

 27. Crafting and Testing the Battle Axe

    Once the alloy had cooled enough in its mold to be removed, Mark carefully took both pieces out of their molds with a couple of different tools that helped prevent him from burning his hands.


    Then he placed the pick side in the coals to keep it at a workable temperature as he set the other next to the bone handle. With a special tool for removing an insert, he pulled out a piece of iron that had burned off the mold which was meant to allow the head and pick to have an insert from the handle to anchor the two pieces before they were completely bonded to the weapon.


    "I haven''t used a mold like this before but it should work with the fifth step. . ."


    Mark continued to think out loud as he moved along with the forging process.


    After he had the insert removed, he placed the insert on the handle into the slot for the head after sprinkling some bonding powder on both parts. Since he would have to rely on the fifth step to complete the bonding process he would have to take extra steps to test the axe later to make sure it would survive a rigorous battle.


    For now, he ensured a flush fitting of the battle axe and sprinkled some more bonding powder on the axe head before pouring some of his new pellets on the cracks. The metal was hot enough to melt the pellets into a workable form but not so hot that the melted metal flowed.


    Then, Mark pulled out his purple crystal hammer and began the fifth step forging process.


    He quickly slipped into a trance as he envisioned a fully crafted battle axe smashing through thick hides as well as flesh and bone as if they were pieces of paper being cut by a pair of scissors. While he was lost in his trance, his eyes remained fixed on the work at hand and his hammering followed a modified rhythmic pattern between what he would use for bonding bone to metal as well as metal to metal.


    The resulting sound was akin to a musical instrument that alternated between high-pitched ringing sounds and dull thuds that had a hint of a high pitch within them. The beating of a drum could occasionally be heard from the pounding of the hammer and random blasts of purple and white lights came off of the battle axe as Mark turned it when needed and held it down with his free hand otherwise.


    After a couple of hours, Mark came out of his trance to see that the head of the battle axe was perfectly bonded to the metal and bone he had bonded together previously. There was no imperfection in the metal and bone as it looked like they had grown together rather than having been just forged together.


    "Looks like this side is a success, time to finish this."


    Mark then grabbed the counterweight and repeated the process of taking out the insert and fixing the piece to the battle axe with plenty of bonding catalyst and sprinkling the beads on the cracks.


    The fifth step process went smoothly and the work was completed in a few short hours. When Mark was done, he looked out at the sun and could see that he still had a few hours of light.


    "I should test this thing on something hard. . ."


    He looked around for something hard to hit but found nothing. Then he looked at the axe before getting a good idea.


    "Ah! The blade has not been compressed nor sharpened yet so I should just find a good chunk of beadrock to smash!"


    After cleaning up his work area and checking the forge to make sure it would not catch fire in his absence, Mark grabbed the newly forged battle axe and carried it out to the west gate.


    While he was carrying it he turned it over in his hands to get a good observation of it.


    ''It is lighter than a normal battle axe this size would be. . . but this bone is many times stronger than I would normally get with a reasonable handle.''


    The route he was taking was deserted since it wound around the outskirts of the village so he didn''t have to stop to talk to anyone or explain what he was doing with such a weird-looking battle axe.


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    The battle axe itself was not really weird-looking, but the bone was in stark contrast with what someone would normally expect to see the axe attached to in the hands of the user so it would look weird to someone that is seeing it for the first time.


    ''The axe and the counterweight are definitely attached well and they aren''t moving around or cracking at the points of attachment. This thing should work and serve as a starting point in a new way to make weapons.''


    As he approached the west gate, he was greeted by the guards but this time they had some questions. Questions of curiosity, not of his intentions since they couldn''t care less what a protector like Mark was doing.


    They had always respected him but now they looked to Mark as a leader and protector of the village, a pillar that could help hold up the village.


    But as Mark had surmised, they were curious about the weird weapon he had brought around.


    "Mark, It''s good to see you!"


    "Yeah Mark, have you come to slay more beasts?"


    "Woah! What kind of weapon is that?"


    From the distance, they just wanted to be friendly and greet Mark, but as he got closer they could get a good look at the weapon he was observing so intently.


    Mark was not a shy person and was not one to hide his work.


    "Hey guys, I hope everyone is staying safe."


    The guards nodded to his introduction with anticipation.


    "This is a new battle axe I have been working on to see if I could use the materials from the beasts more proficiently."


    He held the axe up so they could get a closer look at it.


    "Usually we have to forge the axe in one piece and fasten it to a bone like this if we want to use a bone as the handle. The problem I am sure some of you have come to know is that it is harder to swing an axe head that is fastened to the bone like that."


    Some of the guards nodded their heads. The way to fasten a battle axe head to a bone handle had always been to use some leather straps and a bit of forging, maybe a pin or two to help stabilize it.


    The problem is that it would still move around and reduce the leverage the long handle gave it which would reduce the damage it could do.


    Also, when utilizing the full power one could exert with a battle axe like this one, it would usually break before it had achieved an optimal level of usefulness for the cost it had in materials and time to make it.


    "So I forged this one directly into the bone so there are not multiple pieces, this is a single-piece forged battleaxe."


    The guards were now feeling the area where the axe and bone were bonded and could tell that it was a perfect bonding. None of them could even tell where the bone ended and the metal began.


    "Wow."


    "This is some fine work, Mark!"


    "When can I get a piece like this?"


    The guards were excited about the possibilities and implications such a weapon posed.


    The weaker guards could now use heavier weapons which would enable them to fight stronger beasts and look cooler. Most of them were just thinking how cool they would look with a badass battle axe or two-handed sword in their hands while they stood guard.


    "Well I am glad to hear the enthusiasm for the weapons I craft but this one is not even fully tested, that''s actually what I am doing here guys. I need to hit some hard stuff with this axe and it''s not even finished. None of you realized it doesn''t even have an edge to it yet?"


    The guards were a little embarrassed when they looked at where the sharp edge should be only for it to be an unfinished blunt end with random pieces still sticking out of it from the mold.


    "Geez I guess I got ahead of myself there. . ."


    "Haha of course I noticed. I was just excited for when it''s done!"


    Mark actually had a good laugh at their reactions.


    "Hahaha, well I gotta get out there before I lose the light guys."


    The guards immediately went to open the gate for Mark.


    "Of course Mark! Get out there and finish my weap. . . I mean your new craft!"


    Mark just shook his head at this point in amusement. Since the gate was opened for him he quickly made his way out to a spot where messing up the bedrock wouldn''t harm the defenses of the village.


    He looked around to make sure the noise wouldn''t attract any nearby beasts and then went to work.


    He took a solid stance with the axe in both hands and brought the weapon down with as much force as he could muster.


    "BANG!!"


    The hammer smashed into the nearly indestructible bedrock and caused a noticeable crack to form before the axe bounced off with a metallic ring as the blade reverberated from the impact.


    "Wow that was a good hit."


    Mark started thinking out loud again as he began working on his observations. He pulled the blade up to his face to see how it was holding up.


    "Hmmm, there is no noticeable damage to the blade or the bone, nor is there any change in the area where the metals and bone are bonded. . . well better give it another wack to make sure."


    Then Mark wound up and gave the bedrock a big hit again with just as much strength as the last one.


    "BAM!"


    The rock cracked in a different spot this time and the metallic ring of the axe resounded in the air once more. Mark once again inspected the axe.


    "Yep, this thing is just as good as one forged from a single piece of metal. Better since the strength requirement is lowered by quite a bit."


    ''Now I can make more weapons like this.''


    Mark had a newfound feeling of excitement welling up with the many weapons he was thinking of making.

 28. New Weapons

    Mark quickly made his way back to the village gates after his successful test with the battleaxe.


    The guards were all curious about the results of his testing but Mark just pushed through the gate while giving them the news of a positive result and a promise to begin forging some new weapons that everyone would be able to purchase.


    ''It would be good for the guards to have some of these weapons but they are just there to scare off the beasts. The best thing I could do is get these weapons into the hands of the hunting parties to see how well they do in actual battle.''


    Mark then began to take inventory of the different things he could make into weapons with his newly minted knowledge as he finished his journey back to his forge.


    ''Let''s see, I should have a couple more rear leg bones from the chimeric mountain panthers so I could make more of these battle axes, but I do want to try out a greatsword. Hardly anyone in the village has wielded a greatsword due to the weight but with the bones, I could reduce the weight enough for some of them to use one. . . if not then I am sure the traveling merchants would be interested.''


    Mark''s thoughts were interrupted by the sudden realization that he had no idea when the merchants would be coming to the village.


    ''I guess I should ask around to see if anyone is keeping a schedule of those guys.''


    With his plans for the merchants taken care of mentally, he got back to his important thoughts.


    ''Ok, so there are also horns I need to figure out how to use. I guess that one-handed hammer pick will be a good learning experience in utilizing these new materials. Geez, that will also make for a lighter weapon now that I think about it.''


    Mark set the battle axe over his right shoulder as he caressed his smooth chin with his left hand in thought.


    ''I hope having lighter weapons won''t be a problem in battle. . . though I suppose it would be better for prolonged battles.''


    "Gah! That''s not my problem! I just need to make the weapons, the users will let me know if they suck or not!"


    Mark made it to his forge before he was able to make plans with all of his materials but it helped him get back on track to see the actual materials so he could decide what to do with everything.


    "The fangs could be made into daggers or something but they would only be good for stabbing. Maybe I should just make one of those types of daggers and see what people think of it."


    Mark then placed the battle axe on the anvil as he made his way into his workspace. He grabbed his hammer as he walked around the anvil to get a good angle before starting the work needed to finish the axe.


    Since part of the fifth step was compressing the edge of the blade in order to ensure a more durable edge that would last much longer, Mark had the purple crystal hammer in his hand as he began to work on the axe.


    He soon found the sweet spot in rhythm and power needed for each strike of the hammer and he was soon lost in the soft ping given off by the metal-on-metal contact which was accentuated by the purple blasts of light that lulled Mark into his typical trance state.


    The smell of blood filled his nostrils as the taste of sweat and fear entered his mouth. His heart began to beat wildly with the adrenaline that was pumping through his veins in response to a vicious battle. Screams of terror entered his ears and he felt his hands gripping the bone shaft of the battle axe as it was swung into the sturdy body of some beast. The strike was fast and powerful, turning the area of impact into a bloody hole as the axe made its way all the way to a vital spot on the enemy which resulted in a mortal wound.


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    While Mark was experiencing some sort of battle in a vision, he worked meticulously on the axe without ever losing his rhythm and even began to slowly increase the speed with which he struck the weapon without causing any damage or imperfections to appear.


    Soon, the white blasts of light that came out of his hammers when he was in a deep trance started to mix with the normal purple blasts of light from the fifth step process.


    Runes appeared and disappeared with each strike of the hammer, visible only to an astute observer though there was none around to see.


    He worked on both sides of the blade of the axe and even finished off the counterweight pick while in his trance and as he finished, the battle axe flashed with a beautiful array of white runes across the surface of the weapon. The runes would have been a sight to see for any random person that could have walked by but, again, there was no one to observe the phenomenon and Mark was still in his trance.


    After the flash of the unknown runes, Mark was soon brought out of his trance as his work was finished.


    "Thunk!"


    Mark was a little startled when he was suddenly brought out of the intense battle he was just in. It took him a few seconds to get his orientation this time around.


    "What the fuck was that?"


    He had experienced similar visions before but they were much more muted and easy to forget when the forging process was over.


    Nevertheless, he picked up the battleaxe to observe it while he carried it over to the whetstone.


    "Why does this thing seem like it is so much better than before the compression stage?"


    As a skilled blacksmith, Mark had his intuition for the potential of a weapon and right now his intuition was telling him that this weapon was many times more potent than it was just earlier in the day.


    "Meh"


    Mark shrugged and began grinding the newly compressed edge of the axe to make it sharp. While he could tell it was a much better weapon than earlier, he was not too concerned with it. He was just glad to have made a good weapon.


    When he was finished he gave it one more last good look over before setting it on a shelf for new products. He would eventually find someone to buy it or he would sell it to the merchants.


    "Damn, I forgot I need to ask around about those pesky merchants. . ."


    Mark looked over at the sun and could see that it was beginning to set behind the top of the mountains. While he still had light for the next hour or so, it would be best for him to leave the village people alone.


    "Everyone is probably preparing for the evening, I should just wait until tomorrow before I go bothering someone."


    With the investigation of the merchants'' schedules put off, Mark looked at his piles of beast parts.


    "I should make another big weapon first, the greatsword would be a fun one to do and it might take a while so I better get started."


    He pulled one of the bigger sturdy femurs from the chimeric mountain panthers out of his pile of bones and set it on the anvil. Then, he prepared a similar alloy to the one he used for the battle axe and got it melted in the forge while he carved out the necessary bone for the bonding process.


    Following the fifth step procedure he had developed with the battle axe, he managed to bond the metal with the bone down the entire length of the weapon so he could do a ''slip-on'' for the blade.


    Basically, he would make both sides of the blade at the same time but the middle would be a hollow ring connected in a pattern that would complement the pattern on the bone so another layer of metal could be added after the initial bonding process was complete to ensure the stability of the blade.


    This weapon would be much heavier than the battle axe he had created but it would be significantly lighter than a normal great sword.


    With the preparation work completed, Mark set aside his project and smothered the coals before heading back home for the night.


    He stopped by his favorite night spot to observe the valley below to let his mind wander.


    The view was tranquil as ever and a bit of mist was coming of the river as it meandered through the valley.


    Once Mark was done looking at the ethereal sight, he made the rest of the trip back home. Before he went to bed he ate some monster meat since he had not eaten much during the day.


    As he lay in bed trying to drift off to sleep, he only thought of the new weapons he would be making the next day.

 29. Merchant Schedule

    The next day, Mark woke up feeling well-rested after another dreamless night of sleep. After eating his fill of monster meat, he made his way to the tanning area to see if all of his leather was ready.


    The normal amount of time for the leather to be done tanning had already passed so Mark expected to have a few pieces of workable leather by now.


    His morning walk to the tanning area was peaceful, the bird that sang in the elder tree was up and had already begun to fill the surroundings with its tunes. The morning mist was already settling onto the grass and rocks as dew but it suffused the air with a slightly sweet smell that Mark enjoyed breathing in deeply.


    While enjoying his morning walk, he quickly made his way to the hides. They were a bit damp from the dew but they were ready to be taken down and stored away for later use.


    After shaking them off one by one and rolling them up for transport, he gathered them together and carried them to the forge.


    ''I just need to finish up this sword and set it aside before I head into the village to see what the merchants are doing.''


    Since this was not the first time this type of greatsword had been made at the forge, Mark already had a hollow-center mold with the pattern he needed for the bonding process among the store of molds at the smithy.


    He mixed his alloy in the melting crucible in the same combination he used for the battle axe and set it in the melting area of the forge.


    He watched the flames while he allowed the metals to melt together. As they danced and licked the crucible, he studied them to try to understand the secrets of the flames. The longer he looked, the more he felt that they were trying to divulge some secret of the universe that was just out of grasp for him to understand.


    Before he was able to decipher their secrets, he was brought out of his stupor and realized that the metals had melted and mixed with big bubbles slowly coming out of the molten alloy.


    With the alloy ready, Mark poured it into the mold and allowed it to set before removing the hardened metal with his tools so he could apply the bonding powder before he set it on the bone handle he had created the day before.


    He then set them both in the flame so they would have an evenly distributed heat profile before he began the fifth step. He grabbed his purple crystal hammer and set the sword on his anvil before he went to work on the bonding process.


    Mark completed the initial bonding process for the greatsword and swung it around a bit while he melted some of the alloy pellets in the crucible in order to create a smooth finish plating to cover the bonded patterns which looked weak. The plated finish would serve to connect the bonding patterns and prevent people from thinking there was a weakness in the blade.


    The plating was applied to both sides of the blade so it had a smooth finish that made it seem as if the blade was made of one piece of metal that just grew into a bone at the handle instead of being fixed to the bone with multiple pieces of metal. There was no way to tell where the bone ended and the metal began.


    Mark then applied the finishing touches by compressing the blade and sharpening the edge before he set it aside in the area for his latest works. With the work for the day out of the way, Mark began to get ready to set out to the village center where the free villagers went to relax on their days off.


    All he had to do to get ready was clean up the forge and make sure the coals wouldn''t catch anything on fire. He also got a rag and dipped it into one of his buckets of water before wiping himself down. A bit of black soot that had gotten on him came off on the rag which he hung up near the cooling forge to dry.


    He felt no need to go by his house, so he checked the position of the sun and decided to head to the village center. At this time of the day, there should already be people at the open market selling different foods as well as some entertainment spread out around the main road.


    It didn''t take long as there was a stone path that led from the outer area where he lived to the main road that ran from the center of the village to the north gate. He just had to cross a small footbridge over the stream, that ran through the village, near the young elder tree.


    The stream carried icy water from the mountaintops and was the main source of water in the village. It created the small pond in the park where the young elder tree grew which was where Mark sourced his water.


    He perused the various stalls in the village center where people sold their wares every day. There were mostly food stalls from the farmers and people who cooked meat to sell for people walking around. Some people would also sell everyday items or advertise services since this was a central location that prevented people from having to walk to the other side of the village to a home shop or to get a service that someone provided without a shop.


    As he was looking around, trying to figure out who he would ask about the merchants, he heard a feminine voice call out to him from behind.


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    "Hey Mark, I never see you around here anymore!"


    When Mark turned around he realized that Anabel, a girl about the same age as his brother George, was the one that was talking to him as she walked over to where he was stopped.


    "Oh, hey Anabel. I was just wondering who I should go to in order to figure out when the merchants would be coming around."


    Anabel walked up to him and giggled a bit as she twirled her straight straw-colored hair.


    "hmmhmm, Mark, as one of the village shop owners, shouldn''t you know the schedule?"


    Mark was a bit embarrassed when she put it that way. Of course, he should know the merchant schedule, he just never discussed it with James or figured out how to get ahold of it after his father died.


    "Honestly, my dad dealt with all the merchant stuff and I never bothered to learn it from him. I guess that was an oversite on my part."


    Anabel squinted her eyes at him before grinning and replying.


    "Well, since you protected my brother during the growth I guess I can help you out just this once."


    Mark felt like she was messing with him but she was very nice about it so he didn''t read into it too much.


    Anabel was the sister of Phill, the guard from the west gate. Phill was an adult and the oldest child of the baker while Anabel was around 17 and the oldest daughter of the baker while there was another brother between the two of them in age and a child sister as well as another baby brother in their family. Since the baker was quite wealthy for a villager, he and his wife were more than capable of raising so many children at once.


    ''I remember Phill, he is a good guy. . . I guess I will have to thank him later since his sister is helping me on his account. . .''


    Since Mark now had justification to drag Anabel around, in his mind, he went on to ask for her help.


    "If you are willing to help me, Anabel, it would be much appreciated."


    Anabel smiled big for Mark when he directly asked her for help. Her straight pearly white teeth accentuated her bright icy blue eyes which accumulated in a smile that would cause any other man to stumble.


    ''He is quite clueless, but he is cute when he asks for help so I won''t tease him any further.''


    She began to straighten the hair she was twirling on her fingers as she answered Mark.


    "The merchants should be arriving at the third hour past midday. So you are going to have to wait about four more hours before they get here and then probably another hour for them to be ready for customers."


    Mark looked at where the sun was positioned in the sky to confirm the time of day and realized that he had to contemplate his options at that point.


    ''If I go back to the forge I could probably craft another weapon or maybe try to reinforce some armor with the fifth step now that I have the hang of it. . . I could even try to incorporate some bones directly into armor to make a more sturdy light armor or a lighter piece of heavy armor. . .''


    Anabel could tell by the blank look on his face that Mark was thinking deeply about what he should do with his time.


    "Mark, if you are free for the next few hours then why don''t we check out the food and entertainment that the village has this time around? I heard there are more activities going on for the next couple of days since the winter festival is this weekend."


    Mark thought about it before he gave his response.


    ''It would be a big waste of my time to spend so many hours away from the forge. But she did help me out and she seems to be excited about these festivities. It is also much more festive today than usual. Maybe it''s not such a bad idea.''


    Once he had made up his mind he told Anabel.


    "Alright, I could do with a break from work."


    He inwardly cringed at the lie.


    Though Anabel seemed to like the answer because, once again, her face lit up and she gave Mark a smile that would melt a normal man''s heart.


    She led Mark to the theater area first where there was a stage outside for plays.


    "I heard there was going to be a play today so we should check it out first!"


    Mark just followed along as he considered a polite way of how to get out of this side-tracked adventure.


    ''Sure a play can be fun for little kids but I really do have some good ideas for those weapons now. . .''


    While he was still contemplating his options, they quickly made it to the stage where the play looked to have just started.


    There was a bit of a crowd so Anabel grabbed Mark''s hand so they wouldn''t get separated. It reminded Mark of when they were kids and he would be brought along to play with George and Anabel. She would often pull him along by the hand through the village as they explored since Mark tended to wind up back at the forge with his father unless someone watched him.


    As they watched the play, Mark realized it was an enactment of the legend of the Mountain Peak dragon. It was a common story told around the village from which it got its name, Dromorgen Village from the old tongue which just means "Mountain Dragon Village" but the old name stuck long ago.


    The play was at the part where the first village chief was wandering the mountain tops while the village founders were stuck in a clearing as they fought off mountain beasts.


    Mark thought it was kind of interesting how they acted out the scenes with people in costumes acting like beasts and songs that carried the scenes when there was a lack of background since they couldn''t really make a substitute for a mountain.


    Mark and Anabel watched the play until after the scene where the village chief encountered the dragon which took pity on the human and gave him a "key" which the dragon said a "great blacksmith" could use to "carve out" their place in the mountain.


    No one really knows what it means but it is one of the many reasons the blacksmiths are regarded so highly in the village.


    The blacksmiths handed down no part of the legend but from time to time whispers of secrets hidden by the blacksmith family would be spread around the small village.


    Mark, of course, had no idea if there was any truth to the legend and his father had mentioned when they were kids that he thought it was just made up long after the village had been established because there were no secrets handed down by the blacksmiths before him besides the fifth step.


    After the scene with the dragon, Anabel looked at Mark.


    "I am a bit hungry, should we go see what we can find to eat? There is usually some good stuff being cooked nearby and I keep getting a whiff of something that smells amazing."


    Mark wasn''t too interested in the play so he didn''t even have to think about his reply.


    "Yeah, let''s go get some food."


    They left the play towards the nearby stalls that were selling different foods and Mark didn''t even realize that they were still holding hands.

 30. Play First then Work

    As Mark and Anabel walk away from a stall near the play they had just watched, hand in hand, Mark focuses on eating the meat off of the kebab he just purchased. Anabel is just giggling to herself in joy as she occasionally takes a bite of her own food.


    ''He still doesn''t realize that he is walking around town holding hands with me!''


    Her cheeks were flush with excitement and she noticed the looks they garnered from the other villagers from time to time. No one was obvious with how they were looking at the apparent couple, but she knew that they would be the center of gossip for a while to come.


    Mark, on the other hand, was more focused on the meat he was eating.


    ''hmm this isn''t monster meat but it is pretty good. . . did she just squeeze my hand?''


    Mark looked down at their hands and realized that she had indeed tightened her grip. He looked up at her as she was looking around to see if everything was ok with her.


    ''She isn''t scared, she seems more excited than anything. I guess she is still worried I will run off to the forge before she can show me around her favorite spots.''


    Mark, of course, had realized a while ago that they were still holding hands but he just thought it was like when they were kids and she wanted to make sure he didn''t slip away when her back was turned.


    Mark noticed the music in the air as they finished their skewered meats.


    ''Seems like we are going to be listening to music for a while. It sounds nice at least.''


    Anabel took Mark to a spot under a tree with some shade where they could sit and relax while listening to the music. The musicians nearby were playing a smooth melody with instruments that were made of wood. One of the instruments looked like the person had to blow air into it while another had strings that the person plucked.


    The notes were high pitched and the flow of the music was at a medium tempo that kept the music at the edge of the listener''s attention as they relaxed and listened. Mark and Anabel just leaned against the tree with their eyes closed as they took in the sounds.


    Mark ended up falling asleep because he was so relaxed and a few minutes when he woke up he had his head in Anabel''s lap. She looked down at him as he began to stir and Mark opened his eyes to her smiling down at him. He was confused at first but after waking up he realized that he had fallen asleep.


    "It''s quite comfy here, very relaxing."


    Mark had no intention of moving as he really was comfortable and Anabel seemed content with letting him lay down a while longer.


    She ran her fingers through his hair as she watched the musicians play their instruments. They listened to the music for a while longer, enjoying the mild weather under the shade of the tree.


    After the music ended, Mark got up and helped Anabel stand as well.


    "What next?"


    It seemed like Mark was enjoying himself since his question sounded a bit enthusiastic to Anabel.


    She grabbed his hand and started to pull him to another part of the park where sports were usually played.


    "We are going to the stick-hoop field! hahaha!"


    Anabel looked very excited to Mark which kind of confused him.


    ''What the heck is a stick-hoop field? Is she really that excited for a game with sticks and hoops or is that just what the field is called?''


    Mark, of course, followed along as she pulled him by the hand.


    The stick-hoop field was over a hill in the park area they were in and as they approached the crest of the hill they could hear shouts and cheering.


    Mark was curious to see what would make such tame villagers so enthusiastic, usually, the villagers just kept to themselves and tried not to cause a ruckus. He had never really seen them talk loudly to each other, so to hear such energized cheering was a surprise to him.


    Anabel continued to pull him along, oblivious to his shock, and they quickly found a crowd around a square field where there were about a dozen people with sticks in their hands.


    The players were in two distinct teams with one side having white clothes on and the other side with blue clothes on. There were a couple of people pushing around a woven hoop with their sticks while the others were trying to either block the opposing team or help the person pushing the hoop.


    It looked odd to Mark but the way they were pushing the hoop around and even passing it across the field to their teammates made it look like they were dancing.


    Anabel looked over at Mark, seeing that he was actually a bit interested in the game.


    "The way they move, it seems like there is a certain harmony right?"


    Mark looks away from the game to see that beautiful smile coming from Anabel.


    "They look like they are quite enjoying themselves and the villagers are also certainly enthusiastic about the game, but what is the goal here? They just keep pushing the hoop back and forth."


    Anabel giggled a bit at his inquiry.


    "Those tall poles at either end of the field are the goal!"


    Mark looked to the poles as the game continued and then looked back at Anabel.


    "You mean to say they are going to somehow get those hoops on the poles with just their sticks?"


    Anabel was amused by his curiosity, but she just looked at the field as if to say ''watch and see''. Mark, though, noticed another detail that confused him.


    "Why do they only stick to the sides of the field or the center of the field and only by passing the hoop to each other?"


    Anabel just smiled before explaining.


    "See those lines on the ground? They might be a bit hard to see from here, but if someone is pushing the hoop then they can''t cross the line, but they can roll the hoop over it to someone else."


    As Anabel was explaining how the game is played, the red team managed to get the hoop past the defenders by crossing the hoop several times over the lines and at the end of the field they had multiple people pushing the hoop in different directions. With the opposing forces of the hoop, it flew up into the air with the assistance of another person directing it and it went over the pole after the person guiding it jumped with their stick touching the hoop.


    The people watching the game started cheering and Anabel turned to Mark.


    "And that is how they score points."


    She was smiling at Mark who had a look of incredulity on his face.


    ''He must be thinking the game looks fun''


    Meanwhile, Mark was also thinking to himself.


    ''What a boring game! I can''t believe I actually wasted precious forge time watching such a dumb game!''


    But when he looked at Anabel with a pleased look on her face he decided to keep his thoughts to himself.


    "Well that was quite interesting, should we go check out the other events before the merchants get here?"


    Anabel nodded her head and led Mark away from the fields.


    "There is a spot where the village chief is telling stories about the history of the village over this way."


    They walked across the fields to the main road and made their way back to the village center where they were able to see the merchant caravan that had just arrived. The merchants were still walking to their area and had not begun to set up yet.


    "Well Mark, it looks like this will be our last stop before you talk to the merchants."


    Mark looked at the merchant''s arrival with no emotion but nodded in acknowledgment to Anabel.


    ''Finally, I can get them to buy some of the weapons and armor I''ve got piled up at the smithy.''


    They turned down a side street that led to a large flower garden that had seating in the middle of it around a central platform where the village chief was telling his stories. As they approached the small crowd, they were able to hear the end of the current story the chief was telling.


    ". . . and he thrust his sword deep into the heart of the vile-beast that had nearly destroyed the village, ending the terror of the villagers and restoring the peace that had been lost in the months prior to the beast settling near the village."


    The crowd erupted into cheers and clapping as the end of a good story left them entertained and ready for more thrilling tales of the village''s past.


    The village chief noticed the newcomers as they found a good place to sit and listen to the stories, and a knowing smile crept onto his face when he noticed they were holding hands. Anabel didn''t miss his change in facial expression and she unwillingly smiled bashfully as she grabbed Marks arm with her other hand as she blushed.


    Mark figured she was just having trouble balancing as they moved through the outer layer of the small crowd to get a good seat near the village chief. He failed to notice the surprised looks they were getting from the nearby villagers that they passed.


    Mark and Anabel finally found their place to sit together and some of the people started whispering to each other but before Mark could hear what they were saying, the village chief cleared his throat which cut the whispers as everyone turned their attention to him.


    He then looked around the crowd as he introduced the next story, locking eyes with Anabel at the end of his introduction.


    "This next story is one of young love and words unspoken, and it demonstrates the need for one to be clear with their intentions so as to avoid heartbreak and regret."


    With his words, Anabel, still holding onto Mark''s arm with her other arm, turned and buried her face in his shoulder in embarrassment.


    As the young couple nestled into their spot together, the rest of the village that was gathered around the wise old man quieted down until only the soft howl of the cool wind blowing through the mountains could be heard. The occasional trailing voice off in the distance, carried by the wind, could be heard without being able to make out what they were saying. Such was the solemnity the villagers gave the chief.


    Chief Kertak stroked his white beard as he leaned against his hand-carved bow staff, letting the tension build as he looked around at the villagers who sat in anticipation of the next story, devoting their rapt attention to the chief.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    "In these mountains, a few hundred years ago, there were two young adults from this village. One was Varek, the son of one of our hunting parties and the oldest of his siblings. He was often hunting with his father after coming of age, learning to lead his own party as his father did."


    The old man began slowly pacing back and forth as he told the story, utilizing the bow staff as a cane.


    "The other person in this story was named Rachel, and she was the daughter of a seamstress in the village proper. They grew up as child companions since they were born in the same season, and as you all know, they ran around the village together until their coming of age."


    At this point in the story, Anabel already got the point the village chief wanted to make but she didn''t want to leave since Mark seemed to be interested in the story. Mark, on the other hand, was just thinking about how he would approach the merchants at the caravan and who he would need to talk to so he could sell his extra weapons and armor.


    "Since the hunting parties needed their garments often repaired, it was up to Varek to take care of his father''s team as part of his initiation. Thus, he crossed paths with Rachel quite often. He had begun to notice Rachel as a woman after spending less time with her as a friend, but he was always too enraptured with her beautiful smile to form any coherent words when he intended to confess his feelings. Rachel on the other hand, found Varek to be quite charming and hoped he had developed similar feelings for he but she was too bashful to make the first move."


    The chief took on a more solemn tone as he continued the story, "The growth that year had been ominously absent, and the village annals document the problem with such quietness in the mountains quite explicitly."


    There were heads nodding in the crowd at this point, tension building in the air as the story began to look bleak.


    "The unfortunate truth to a quiet growth year is that, without fail, at the end of the year there will be a growth that will shake the mountain as if it is splitting from the base to the tip. During this time of the year, Varek and his father were on patrol for the village. It was during their shift that the massive growth began."


    The crowd looked devastated. There were some people staring straight at the village chief with wide eyes and a couple of people let out a quiet ''oh no''.


    The chief continued on regardless. "Rachel was at home, sewing a heart gift for Varek, as one would normally give to someone they were interested in but couldn''t find the words to tell them. She had complained to her mother that Varek had been unresponsive to the hints she had left for him to express how he felt for her and how he seemed to be oblivious to her desire. Her mother had convinced her to sew the heart gift, and she reluctantly agreed, though you could hardly tell she was initially against the idea if you could see how happy she was sewing away. That is until the growth began. At first she was just scared, but then she gasped and softly said ''Varek. . .'' as terror was evident in her eyes."


    A look of sadness came over the chief''s face as he continued the story. "Varek and his father led their team back to the village through the north gate as safely as they could. They avoided rock falls and fought off packs of wargs and even a Uruk. They lost no one from their team, but they did have a couple that were hurt during the trek back. Nevertheless, they lost not a single man and made it to the village to reinforce their defenses."


    The village chief shifted uncomfortably as he prepared to finish the story.


    "They passed through the north gate and headed to the crevice to get an idea of what the village situation was like. When they arrived there was already panic and when they pinned down a guard, the man informed them of a breach in the west gate. That was all Varek needed to hear before he sprinted off with hardly enough time for his team and father to register what was happening. As it turned out, Rachel''s house was near the west gate."


    This time there were audible gasps from the crowd. They knew what was about to happen but they couldn''t bear to look away from the village chief, they had to hear it with their own ears.


    "His team came upon the loosely contained breech. It was a pack of wargs that were desperately fighting to get into the village, with a litany of bodies both man and beast strewn about from the makeshift line put up by the remaining west gate guards and those that come to reinforce them. Immediately they threw themselves into the fray and fought hard to force the wargs back past the gate and beyond until the breach could be sealed. When they returned to the safety of their village walls, Varek rushed to Rachel''s house finding it completely fallen down. He yelled for Rachel and moved the rubble aside as his team and father arrived to help him. They only managed to find a bloody heart gift and a trail that led a roundabout path to the new sealed gate."


    There were tears in the villager''s eyes at this point, but the chief continued on to deliver the last few lines.


    "Varek rushed to the crevice, hoping against all evidence that she had made it to safety. By the time they got back to the safety of the crevice, the growth had stopped and people were already coming out of the safe area. Varek spotted Rachels''s mother, who could only shake her head with tears in her eyes. Varek could feel his heart break in two."


    The sad villagers were now trying hard not to cry. Anabel, though, was trying to get Mark to leave without making it obvious.


    ''That tricky old man said that last bit when he was looking at us! What a manipulative old coot! I need to get Mark out of here before I die of embarrassment!''


    With Rachel getting ready to leave, Mark realized that they could head over to the merchant area so he stood up and practically pulled Rachel through the crowd of sad villagers, oblivious to the tears falling down their cheeks.


    As they got out of earshot of the villagers, Rachel asked Mark: "Why are we leaving in such a rush?"


    Mark slowed down and looked at Rachel at this point and thought about his reason.


    "Well, I thought I really wanted to go talk to the merchants but now that I think about it I suppose it is because I was feeling really awkward back there...hmmm."


    Rachel felt her heart skip a beat when Mark mentioned something he felt.


    ''Oh crap! did he realize what the chief was trying to hint at?''


    She tried to ask about it as innocently as she could, batting her eyelashes as she said: "Was it the story?"


    Mark still had an inquisitive look on his face when her question pulled him out of his thoughts of forging another sword.


    He shook his head to answer, "Oh, no . . . no the weird feeling was the atmosphere or something, I am not sure it just didn''t feel right back there."


    Perplexed, Anabel decided to just walk with Mark and enjoy holding his hand and arm as they made their way back to the village center to see if the Merchants were done setting up.


    When they arrived, they could see that the merchants needed more time to finish their preparations so Anabel suggested they go back to the music area and grab a bite to eat while they waited. They got some meat skewered sticks and sat under a tree again as they enjoyed the soft melody playing. They sat cross-legged next to each other this time, and when they were done, Mark helped Anabel up and they went back to the village center.


    Upon arriving, they could see that the merchants had finished setting up for the most part and they wondered around until Mark recognized the merchant from this caravan that is father used to do work with. As soon as the merchant noticed Mark, his eyes became as big as saucers and he rushed over to greet the giant.


    "Mark! It is good to see you, young man." The merchant exclaimed as he reached out to shake Mark''s hand. Mark was a bit confused has to why the man remembered who he was, but no one else would be confused considering how much larger Mark was than any other villager on the mountain.


    "I have been meaning to talk with your father about our arrangement, as we were unable to procure a supply the last time we were here."


    Mark nodded his head in understanding and casually said, "Yes, well I can talk with you about what you need since my father is dead."


    The poor merchant looked mortified. His long black mustache seemed to droop as his entire demeanor deflated.


    Mark misunderstood the situation and hastily mentioned, "Oh! Don''t worry! I still run the forge and I can easily supply you with anything you might need, now what is it you need exactly. . . Mr.?"


    The merchant looked over at Anabel who gave him a sheepish smile, indicating the situation was rather odd but something she would expect from Mark. So the merchant gathered himself and put on a professional attitude.


    "You can call me Mr. Li. . . Well, Mark, my team ran into quite a ferocious pack of monsters as we ascended the mountain, and while we managed to prevent any casualties my guard did end up with many pieces of broken armor and some weapons that are no longer usable. I have a list of things we need forged and a small pile of armor that can be repaired."


    Mark nodded thoughtfully as he listened to Mr. Li before he replied. "Oh yes, we had a growth so you must have run into the mountain beasts that were displaced. I am glad to hear that no one was killed. Let me grab the armor you need repaired and you can get the list of items you need forged from scratch."


    As Mark moved toward the visible pile of armor, Anabel grabbed him to wait.


    "Hold on, what about the price? You are a merchant and you didn''t even mention the rate you would pay for these items? And Mark, what are you going to just do all this work for free?"


    The merchant looked a little bit embarrassed and Mark started scratching his head as he thought over what Anabel was saying.


    "Well miss, I suppose I should state the price I am willing to pay per piece. Generally, I pay 2 copper per repair and from 30 copper to 80 copper for each new piece of equipment depending on the piece. I am told that weapons are harder to create than armor so I am willing to pay closer to 80 copper for weapons and each one is up for negotiation or we can average the cost upfront based on what needs to be crafted. For the armor, I could pay a rounded 40 per piece when we do bulk orders since that would be about average."


    Mark just nodded his head as he listened, but Anabel started to look furious when the man was done talking. The merchant just ignored her and talked to Mark, but Anabel stopped Mark as he started walking off again and talked to him in a low tone.


    "Mark, you need to ask him about his ledger. He is required to keep a ledger with the history of each store he deals with and he is also required to show the owner of the shop the ledger when requested. The ledger will show you how much he was paying your father for the work that was being done."


    Mr. Li was now the one who looked angry, but he was also starting to look a bit nervous as he knew he had messed up.


    Mark just did what Anabel said to do, and interrupted Mr. Li as he began to question the situation.


    "Young miss, are you talking for the owne. . .


    "Ok Mr. Li, it shouldn''t be a problem to show me the ledger my brother told us about would it?"


    Mr. Li cursed the damned mountain hick that had learned about the merchant trade and blabbed to these simple mountain folk. He was supposed to be able to get fine craftsmanship from this place from peanuts, and he almost got away with paying only half the peanuts.


    If he were able to accuse the girl of talking for Mark, he would have been able to wiggle out of the requirements, but it seemed that Mark had a good sense about him and just did what the girl told him to do before Mr. Li could counter.


    He reluctantly pulled out a small book and handed it over to Mark, as he was legally obligated to by The Empire.


    ''I could just try and refuse, but if any word got back to the village I would be hunted down by the merchants association. The prices the old man charged were cheap anyway and I bet I can talk this young one down even with the incessant wench at his side.''


    When Mark opened the book, he and Anabel immediately realized the large gap in the amount Mr. Li had just offered and the amount he was paying Mark''s father for the work that Mark had been doing the past year.


    Anabel gasped as she pointed out the obvious.


    "He was trying to pay you less than half what he paid your father for the same services!"


    Mark looked a bit offended and looked to Mr. Li for an explanation.


    Mr. Li looked embarrassed due to the accusations and the look that Mark was currently giving him.


    ''If I have learned anything in the last few decades of being a merchant, it is that you don''t want the people that are repairing your equipment to look at you like that.''


    Mr. Li decided to drop the previously angry front and do some damage control.


    "Wait, wait, wait, it''s not like that!"


    Mr. Li looked frantic and apologetic so the two youths listened to what he had to say.


    "I was offering you the standard rate for an apprentice, you must understand that I would not be willing to pay the same price for craftsmanship done by a less skilled worker. I would not try to rip you off, I just need to get my money''s worth on these kinds of deals."


    Mark nodded his head but began talking without having to include Anabel anymore. While he didn''t care for money, he did understand the need to do deals like this for the prosperity of the village and he had learned a thing or two from his father about this over the years at the forge. He just didn''t care much for it.


    "Mr. Li, would you say you got your money''s worth from this date to this date?"


    The dates he was pointing at were the past year, and he even gave the man some leeway in when Mark had actually taken over as the main smith as it seemed his father waited a couple of months to ask for an increase in the price of the goods.


    Mr. Li nodded his head as he looked at the exact dates that Mark was pointing at, wondering where the previously silent young man was going with this.


    "Um, yes I would say that the best work your father ever did was during that past year and after the work gradually improved over the few months before that beginning date it seemed to reach the pinnacle of what was possible with these materials so he asked for an increase in the price then. Since the work was so good and it caused the repaired and new gear to last much longer, I was more than happy to oblige. But that is also why I am offering you a lower price at this time."


    Towards the end of his explanation, Mr. Li looked like he had regained his confidence in the offer he was making to the mountain blacksmith. But he did notice that Mark had not lost his confidence either.


    "Mr. Li, I would have to ask for an increase on the original offer you made me since I am the one who has been repairing and producing the gear for the past year in this mountain."


    Mr. Li looked a bit confused at this statement but before giving his retort, Mark continued.


    "We can head over to the smithy right now if you would like to see the proof?"


    At this point, Mr. Li was quite perplexed. If the boy was lying he could even demand even less for the initial work from the young blacksmith, but if he was telling the truth then Mr. Li would need to jump on the asking price of the young genius that he had never seen in all his years as a merchant. It would be unprecedented to meet such a young master of the craft and he might even offer to sponsor the young man with better materials to further improve on his craft.


    To put the nail in the coffin, Mark then mentioned further his current progress.


    "And if you think that I had reached the peak previously, you will be quite surprised to see what I have made recently."


    At this point, Mr. Li had to agree, since the young man did not seem to be simply boasting.


    "Young man, if you have done what you say you have done then I would be willing to pay you the previous price and much more."


    Mark smiled to this reply but wanted further clarification. So he grabbed Anabel''s hand before turning back to Mr. Li.


    "Is it ok if I bring Anabel along? She is my good friend and I would hate to leave her here."


    Finally, the pieces clicked together in Mr. Li''s head as he realized why the odd girl was still hanging around during the business talks. He put on a knowing smile as he looked at the now-blushing Anabel.


    "Oh, you can do anything you like young man. We are going to your place of business after all."


    With confirmation, Mark turned to walk to his forge while holding hands with the unusually silent Anabel.

 31. Smiths and Stones

    The journey to the smith was uneventful. Mr. Li had brought one of the caravan guards with him which was normal for a merchant of the caravan, and he gossiped with his guard about the relationship between Mark and Anabel as they trailed behind the couple that was still walking hand in hand.


    "I am telling you Mr. Li, those two are a couple and the boy doesn''t even know it!"


    The two grown men had to gossip in whispers since they might be close enough for the youth to hear them, but they were addicted to gossip just like any other person who had to take long boring trips through the country and they couldn''t help themselves.


    "Look here Matt, you were not there when we were agreeing on this little trip to the smithy but I was. I am telling you it was the boy who grabbed the girl''s hand and insisted that she come along which is normally not acceptable unless she is his betrothed or they are already married! And even if they aren''t, you can still see how they are looking into each other''s eyes while they giggle and talk like two young lovers! They MUST be madly in love and you must be a blind man! Ah! Young love! You know I can''t resist a good love story!"


    Obviously, Mr. Li was one of the main gossipers of the caravan, with a soft spot in his heart for young adults who were finding love for the first time. He was known amongst the caravan crew for going easy on those young couples that were beginning to start, which is surprising to outsiders given his serious business-like attitude that he usually fronts.


    Matt was younger than the old caravan merchant, and he could see plainly what was going on so he tried to get Mr. Li to see what was happening between the young adults.


    "Mr. Li, come on! look at how the boy is acting. . .he is obviously not courting her and it seems he is barely paying attention to her subtle advances. No, he is just going with the flow! Anyone could see the girl has feelings for him but he is lost in his own little world!"


    Mr. Li took some time to closely observe the two in question but noticed they were quickly approaching near the smithy since he had been there a couple of times before, so he ended the gossiping quarrel with a final quiet sentence.


    "I guess we will see after this interaction at the forge."


    Matt just nodded at the comment from his boss and kept his eyes forward, taking upon himself the look of a serious guard to keep up appearances. He glanced around at his surroundings, noticing how there was much more open space in this part of the village which was in stark contrast to the more densely packed village area they had come from.


    He casually thought about what he was observing: ''It seems like the villagers don''t like hearing the blacksmith at work. It makes it seem like the blacksmith area in the village is a small estate.''


    Mr. Li silently thought on his own musings of young love as he could see the forge in the distance, but more than that he was able to identify the distinct smell of smoldering coals before he could clearly tell that the work area ahead of them was the forge.


    Mark and Anabel made it to the forge first and Mark began getting some of his latest work together, putting in order the reinforced weapons and armor from the least complicated stuff and ending with his better pieces. At the end of his best normal work were the weapons that utilized the bonding of metal and bone together.


    As Anabel went to grab a smaller weapon, Mark made sure to warn her, "They are excessively sharp, make sure you are very careful with them Anabel."


    Anabel was not a dainty woman, but she was still unable to safely pick up most of the weapons that Mark had created. Instead of helping him move those weapons, she just picked up things that he dropped or knocked off of tabletops. Then she tidied up here and there to make the spread as presentable as possible in an active forge.


    As Mr. Li and Matt approached, Mr. Li looked over to Matt with a smile to convey his thoughts on the observations he made as he watched the young couple work together. Matt just scoffed and shook his head as he maintained his composure and Mr. Li chuckled a bit as he composed himself before the blacksmith or the girl noticed him.


    By the time Mr. Li and Matt made it to the shop, the relevant weapons and armor that Mark wanted to show them were spread out for inspection. Matt looked impressed but Mr. Li had that typical look of a merchant that was critiquing the goods. They both started at the objects closest to them, with Matt moving up the line of goods more quickly than Mr. Li considering his interest in the make of the tools rather than the look of them which Mr. Li had to consider for selling purposes.


    While Mr. Li was walking along he kept his eyes on the items as he looked them over and he ended up walking onto Matt who had stopped to stare at a weapon. Without raising a fuss, Mr. Li looked over as Matt slowly picked up a weapon and quickly realized why the item had caused such a reaction in his bodyguard.


    Matt held the sword in his hands with ease, yet he was shaking with the knowledge of what he was looking at.


    ''Is this bone bonded to metal!?''


    He looked over at Mr. Li with an incredulous expression on his face, unable to express his feelings over the discovery of such a weapon. His mouth just hung open as he stared at his employer.


    Mr. Li was shocked, but far from stunned. He knew when his trusty eyes spotted a hefty profit waiting to be taken by his honed ability in negotiations.


    "Hopefully this kid just thinks these special weapons and armor are only worth double the regular items."


    He addressed his stupefied worker as he pushed past to observe the rest of the specially bonded items.


    "If you like the weapon so much, maybe you should just buy it, Matt."


    Matt understood that Mr. Li was trying to downplay their reactions and give him a way out in order to protect his profit margins. He quickly composed himself and took a quick step backward with the weapon in hand to let his employer by. He played off his earlier display of stupidity as him just taking a closer look at the weapon with interest as he thought ''if I have to purchase this weapon with my own money to keep the kids in the dark then I will do what I have to do'' and readied his coin pouch just in case.


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    Mark and Anabel just watched the two men look over the weapons without noticing anything too strange. Mark assumed they just liked the weapons and Anabel didn''t have a reference for how people normally browsed such items as her true expertise lay in different types of baked goods.


    Once Mr. Li had finished looking, and Matt had nonchalantly placed the sword back, they reconvened to discuss the amount that Mr. Li was willing to pay and if that was acceptable to Mark. However, on the way to meet up with Mark and Anabel, a certain pile of colored stones caught the eye of Mr. Li.


    Mr. Li looked over at the pile and Mark followed his gaze as the old merchant had suddenly swiveled his head in the direction of Mark''s work area.


    "Mark, why do you have a pile of those worthless mountain stones by your forge?"


    Mark looked over at his unrefined pile of ores and thought about it for a few seconds. Seeing no harm in telling Mr. Li about his hobby stones that help in some of his weapon creations, he explained.


    "Mr. Li, those stones are unrefined ores that have special metals that I can use to make allows so the weapons you have looked at function as I intend them to. For example, the big weapons are lighter because they are partly fused with bones from the mountain beasts but also because I use an alloy that makes them stronger with fewer metals."


    Mr. Li just nodded his head at the explanation given by Mark but thought about it in his own mind concurrently. ''This little genius not only can bond bone to metal in a way where I can''t even tell where the bone ends and the metal begins but he also figured out a way to make an alloy out of these cursed magic metals. . .''


    Of course, Mr. Li knew about the metals that Mark was playing around with, it was just unexpected that the young smith was capable of creating a workable alloy with the metals. He had met many old and experienced smiths, many of whom were regarded as geniuses themselves in their craft.


    All of them had tried their hand at creating workable alloys and very few had found any uses for the alloys they had figured out how to create. The only people that had any use for the magic metals were the actual wizards that he had met in and around the large cities of the empire and even those elusive people were uninterested in some stones they could create artificially, and for cheap at that.


    Mr. Li had learned long ago that he could not provide the metals for a reasonable price to the only people that would have any use for a metal they would only have to refine rather than create. The price that he would have to charge just to carry it with him in his travels was more than the wizards were willing to spend just to save some time.


    Many had told him if he could provide the metal rocks in bulk that it might be worth the price since it would last a while, but the amount they considered bulk was basically impossible for the logistics of his caravan. They would have to use their spatial chests to carry the stuff which would leave them susceptible to rot and bugs ruining their food supplies which could be deadly.


    Looking back at the weapons crafted by Mark, Mr. Li knew if he could get the material composition of the weapons verified by an experienced smith then he could make a fortune on the weapons, even if Mark wanted to increase the price Mr. Li had to by by 500%.


    ''Whatever he wants for these unique weapons, I will only talk him down a little even if it is a significantly large amount.''


    Mr. Li looked back to Mark who was observing the old man after explaining his uses for the magical metals, and Mr. Li finally responded.


    "Well Mark, it seems you do have a very well-crafted supply of weapons and armor. I can personally verify that these works are much better than anything your father ever presented so I would like to seriously discuss the pricing as you are expecting it at this point."


    Before Mark could say anything, Anabel leaned into his ear to whisper something to him. Mr. Li couldn''t hear, but he knew it was some advice on how to make more money based on the reactions of himself and Matt.


    Mr. Li knew that he couldn''t blame Matt for his reactions, and he knew that he himself had had a visibly surprised reaction to the new weapons and armors that the young man had created. He just found it so unexpected to find such talent in a backwater mountain village.


    He also wouldn''t get upset at the blatant breach of proper protocol that had been established in the village with the young girl whispering advice to Mark at the negotiation table. Mostly, Mr. Li just thought the sight before him was quite adorable and he didn''t want to embarrass the young couple as he feared it could cause dark seed to be planted in the relationship early. He had already shipped the two young adults and was too invested in seeing their relationship bloom over the coming years.


    Meanwhile, Anabel was just giving some basic advice based on the few things she had picked up during their exchange.


    "Ask for even higher of a price than what your father was getting. The reaction of the old man was not so obvious, but that guard was utterly surprised. I would ask for double or more for those weapons you made with bones."


    Mark didn''t verbally reply, but he took her suggestion into account and nodded his head to her while he kept his eyes on the merchant.


    "Mr. Li, my asking price for the normal materials that are well crafted out of only refined iron is the same as the price my father was asking for the past year. For those weapons and armors I have crafted with beast bones, I will have to ask if you are willing to pay one gold piece and 30 silver per weapon and one gold 40 silver for the armors since they are more intricate."


    Mr. Li immediately frowned at the asking price.


    Inwardly he yelled in his own mind since even he had a conscious, ''GAH! ITS TOO CHEAP!!!''.


    Outwardly, he kept his normal expression that he used for a first offer in negotiations.


    Of course, he would capitalize on a profit and he had already promised himself to haggle.


    "Mark, you have a reasonable suggestion for the normal materials. There is no reason to pay any less for your current work which I have been paying for already. However, these new weapons are untested by anyone that would be buying them. While it will be easy to sell them simply due to their novelty, I do not believe it would be so simple to ask for a high price right off the bat."


    Mark nodded as this made sense to him, but waited on Mr. Li to continue to see if he was just blowing smoke.


    Mr. Li continued after a short pause to make sure Mark was following.


    "I think it would be best if I purchased the new weapons at one gold 10 silver a piece and the armor at one gold 15 silver a piece. But to make up for the difference in your ask and what I am willing to pay I will have my men go out every day we are here in the mountains to bring you these colorful rocks for your use."


    Mark was stunned at first, but had the sense to not let it show. He had little use for gold and silvers, when he normally spent coppers on his personal supplies that he purchased int he village and the little he purchased from caravans. He quickly thought to clarify a matter before he agreed though.


    "Mr. Li, when you say that you will have your men go out to collect the rocks every day you are in these mountains I would ask you to clarify your exact intentions. Do you mean you will have them do it while you are here this trip, or for every trip you come to the village?"


    Mr. Li inwardly smiled at the clarification that the young blacksmith brought up. It was a good thing the kid was thinking a bit, thought he never intended to screw the young man over.


    "Of course I intend to have my men to gather theses stones every time we come to the village. We will also be bringing what we find as we make our way up the mountain from the village below to ensure that our trade in goods and weapons are equal in your eyes."


    With this explanation, Mark was quite satisfied. He nodded his head and took a second to seem like he was considering the proposal as he thought about how much fun he was about to have making some more weapons and probably a couple of pieces of armor after they were done with the negotiations. The he responded to finalize the deal.


    "Then Mr. Li, I believe we have an agreement on the price of the goods we will be trading."


    Then Mark looked over at Anabel with a big smile which caused her heart to leap into her throat and her blushing did not go unnoticed between Mr. Li and Matt who shared another knowing look.

 32. Back to the Forge

    Mr. Li and Matt departed the forge and headed back to the caravan after the merchant had settled the amount of goods he was expecting at the end of the week. They had also agreed that his men could come by to get their weapons and armor repaired at any time throughout the week.


    Mark and Anabel were left alone as Mark waved off his visitors before moving to his forge to begin working. Anabel silently took a seat at a workbench out of the way where she could observe Mark as he worked.


    There was plenty of light out as the sun was overhead, signaling the time of day to be slightly over half completed. The sky was mostly clear with sparse white clouds decorating the sky which Anabel would occasionally watch drift by as Mark worked on crafting the weapons and armor he had promised the caravan.


    The rhythmic ping of hammer on metal was the only sound that could be heard over the slight but constant breeze that was common in the mountain.


    Mark quickly crafted weapon after weapon, making several reinforced weapons as well as the bone-infused weapons before moving on to the different armors he wanted to craft.


    Since he had already worked out the procedure for crafting each type of weapon, he was able to complete his daily quota within just a few short hours before he started working on armor.


    He had previously established a method for crafting most infused armor, with the larger pieces being the easiest to craft since there was not much intricate work to be done. He quickly hammered out a few breastplates that utilized beast rib bones to protect the area where human ribs would be under the plate.


    Since the armors were specified for protection against beasts, he just used chainmail between the intercostal area of the ribs instead of solid metal throughout which cut down the weight of the breastplates he crafted in this fashion.


    The other piece of armor that was requested in high volume was helmets. These were also easy for Mark to put together since he could craft them in one piece, and they only wanted partial coverage with a focus on the top and back of the skull.


    He had a few beast skulls that he managed to bond to an alloy that would provide plenty of coverage as specified, and it was again lighter than his standard reinforced metal helmets. He made sure to make them look appealing as the main piece of armor that people would notice, ensuring the skull sat atop the head in a manner that did not look ridiculous.


    By the time he had finished, the sun was beginning to set behind the mountain tops across the valley behind the forge.


    Mark organized the armor and weapons he had crafted for the day before moving to grab his project sword. As he went to grab the sword, though, he noticed that Anabel was sleeping on the workbench that was situated outside his work area.


    He thought to himself, ''huh, I didn''t even notice she stuck around after the old guys left. I guess she wanted to watch me work at the forge.''


    Mark walked over to where Anabel was sleeping as he wiped his hands on his blacksmith apron. Upon approach, he reached out to gently shake her.


    "Hey, Anabel, you should probably sleep on a bed at home. That can''t be comfortable."


    Anabel slowly arose, confusion evident on her face.


    As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she focused on Mark to make sense of the situation.


    "Ah? Oh. . . Mark, I was just watching you at the forge. I must have fallen asleep. . ."


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    Mark chuckled a bit, "You can come watch me work anytime, but for today you should go home. I bet your mother is wondering where you have been all day."


    Anabel blushed a bit at the reminder. "I have a feeling she has gotten her own ideas of where I have been. . . Any way! You are right I should head home."


    After waking up fully, Anabel realized she did need to head home. The sun was setting and it would be seen as uncharacteristic of her to stay out as long as she had. Any longer and she would be getting teased by her siblings and parents.


    After getting her bearings straight, she stood and straightened her dress before leaning over and giving Mark a big hug.


    As this was the first time Anabel had embraced him in such a manner, Mark was unsure of what to do so he just patted her back until she let go after a few long seconds.


    She just smiled up to him before turning to leave.


    "I will see you later Mark!"


    Mark just waved goodbye, a bit unsure of the reaction of his heart which was beating harder than usual.


    "Bye, Anabel. . ."


    He watched her walk back toward the village proper until she disappeared before he went back to his project sword.


    With his racing heart, he thought to himself: ''I guess I am really excited to get back to experimenting with my sword after having to deal with all this merchant business today''.


    He turned back to his work area and pulled his project sword from the place he stashed it to keep it out of the way when he was working. The sword still had a solid gray look to it but it had a colorful sheen on it after the previous periods of experimentation he had put it through.


    The metal was cool to the touch and dense. Denser than any other metal object he had ever held in his hand. The sword felt natural in his grip, even with the unfinished metal handle. The blade seemed to hold on to him as much as he held it. There was some sort of unnatural attraction between his hand and the sword, but it felt weirdly natural to Mark.


    He placed the sword on the coals that had already been used but he fueled the fire a bit more to ensure it would be able to provide the heat he needed for the next several hours. After taking care of the sword and fire, he moved to his tool area to grab his etching tool to prepare the sword for further alloy experimentation.


    ''I was holding off on utilizing the blue ore metals, but if the orange ores are able to provide the heat resistance needed for the vibrating nature of the blue ore metals to be viable in the alloy then what I have now will be enough to experiment with and the caravan should be able to find more for me.''


    With a plan beginning to form in his head, Mark set the tool near the anvil where he would need it when the sword was heated up properly. After getting his work area prepared, he moved to the furnace to see if he could properly refine the orange ores.


    Mark prepared the fuel for the furnace as he thought about how he would get the orange ores to release the metal within them.


    ''The indigo rocks were useless because they melted so easily, but I wonder if I could arrange them with the orange rocks in a way that caused the orange ones to melt and form an alloy with the indigo ore in one go.''


    Putting his thoughts into action, he grabbed a few indigo ores and a couple of orange ores stacking them in a way that the indigo ore rested on top of, and around the orange ores. Then he lit the furnace up to see if his plan would work.


    While he was allowing the refining process to proceed in the furnace, he turned his attention to the sword at the forge.


    The sword was starting to change colors.


    ''Not long now, I should be able to notch the grooves I need before the refining process is complete. If the indigo ores won''t help the refinement process of the orange ore then I will just have to try again tomorrow.''


    As he thought to himself, Mark stared at the sword in the forge. He started falling into a trance as he stared at the sword, with the beautiful flames of the coals lapping around the blade as if dozens of small animals were trying to tase the odd-looking metal.


    The trance did not last long enough for him to have a full-blown daydream, but he did plan out his next move with the blade. He mentally went over how each groove would be placed in the blade in preparation for the new alloy he was hoping to mix into the blade that night.


    By the time he was done going over his plans mentally, the blade had reached the correct color he needed it to be to work on it and he grabbed his insulated handle to grab the unfinished metal of the hilt.


    After placing it on his anvil, he got to work. He meticulously placed each groove as he had envisioned it and hammered away at the metal, correcting any defects as he worked. Occasionally, he needed to place it back in the forge to re-heat it but it didn''t take long for it to be workable again.


    When he finished both sides of the blade, he placed it back on the coals so it would be hot enough to accept the bonding process if the orange-indigo alloy had been successful.


    After taking care of the blade, he walked over to the furnace where there was a pool of molten metal in the refined holding portion of the forge.

 33. New Alloy

    The molten metal in the red-hot containment area was orange, which didn''t tell him much since all molten metals were orange at this point. He watched the furnace for a while to confirm there was no more metal left in the ores to be refined before he opened the hatch that he placed the ores into for refinement so he could see if the orange and indigo had melted together.


    Upon opening the hatch, he was first assaulted with a waft of heat as it blew up past his head. He was used to this happening when he opened the hatch to the furnace, and he just squinted his eyes a bit so they wouldn''t dry out too much.


    After he adjusted his vision, he was able to see the crumbled remains of the indigo and orange ores where they settled after releasing the metal within them. They retained a bit of the indigo and orange color, though that had dulled a bit.


    ''Looks like a success, now I can take this alloy and work it into the blade. I got lucky with this one, but it looks like I can just arrange the indigo ores around the orange ores in the future to refine them.''


    Mark picked up the removable tundish by attaching the detachable arm for it and quickly poured the molten metal into his crucible. After placing the tundish back into the heating area, he picked up his crucible with his heavy-duty crucible tongs to place the crucible on his forge.


    Mark allowed the molten metal to cool down to a working temperature on the coals of the forge which were much less intense than the furnace. Once it was thickened to a working consistency, he pulled his sword out of the coals with one hand and grabbed the crucible in the necessary tongs with the other hand.


    He kept the sword steady on the anvil and poured the metal that was now just able to be poured mostly evenly over the grooves that would serve as the binding site for the alloy.


    Once he had poured enough metal onto the sword to be worked with, he placed the crucible back on the coals of the forge and grabbed his hammer.


    He started the fifth step with light hammering, to get a feel for the new alloy that he was working with. It was not soft and over-maleable like the indigo metal was when he had tried to work it in the past. It was also not too hard in its molten state that would make it unworkable, but it was different from the other alloys he had made up to this point.


    ''It feels like it needs a specific direction, like the balance needed in the metal was not achieved in the refinement phase. . .this is going to take some work.''


    With his probing hammer strikes, he moved his hammer around the blade to see the different densities of the metal as it moved to fill every indention he had made in the sword. The different sounds the hammer made as he hit the metal in different areas gave him feedback on what he would need to do to push the alloy to the most suitable form.


    As he struck the sword with his hammer, he began to lose himself in the work. He focused only on the sounds and feelings of the vibrations from the hammer and the sword in either of his hands. Each form of feedback drew a picture in his mind''s eye. The idealized metal began to take form and soon Mark was not even watching what he was doing, he was working from sound and feel as he closed his eyes to concentrate on his other senses.


    White bursts of light began to come out of his hammer with each strike that landed on the sword. The metal that should have begun to cool looked like it had just come off of the fire still. As he continued to hammer at the weapon, the white flashes of light occasionally took on the form of unknown symbols though there was no one around to see for sure what was happening.


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    Mark was oblivious to the white bursts of light and the possible symbols though. He was lost in his own little world.


    He found himself floating in a void, where time and space had no meaning. He could still feel himself hammering the metal while adjusting his strikes as needed for the alloy to align with his wishes, but at the same time, he found himself floating through a place of darkness.


    Before his eyes, he started to see lines that took on different shapes as they connected together. Small turquoise spheres started to surround larger orange spheres which created a distinct pattern with an orange circle surrounded by three turquoise circles.


    Once the pattern he found had stabilized into a definite shape and the circles looked to be spaced perfectly apart, they started replicating in the same pattern. The pattern spread out in all directions until it met a grey wall on one side, and on the other side it seemed to hit an invisible wall but as far as Mark could see north and south, the pattern continued.


    In his vision, Mark was brought between the spheres where he could see the orange and turquoise spheres trying to merge into the grey wall, but there was no space for them to merge. Instead of merging, the turquoise spheres and the orange spheres began to expand until their edges touched.


    Mark was still able to see what was happening because he was in a space between the spheres that they naturally were unable to occupy and on one side was a hole between the spheres where the grey of the wall could still be seen.


    Upon closer inspection, Mark could see that the grey wall was actually comprised of many triangles stacked together. This caused him to think about the structure of the grey wall.


    "Hmmm, those triangles would be perfect as a filler for these spaces between these spheres."


    And as he was thinking this out loud, the grey triangles began to fill the spaces between the spheres, and Mark''s point of view moved to above where the spheres met the grey walls.


    Meanwhile, in the real world, the bright bursts of white light intensified as Mark found the rhythm he needed to utilize the fifth step in this new alloy he was trying to incorporate into his sword. The squiggles of light that looked like symbols at times began to form a more definite shape, but anyone who was watching the phenomenon would likely miss this little detail.


    In Mark''s vision, he watched as the grey wall and the colored spheres merged with the grey wall filling the spaces between the spheres. This allowed the spheres to expand into the area of the grey walls which they continued to do until only the spheres were visible on half of the area where the grey wall was situated.


    "It looks like those areas managed to merge, but the spheres are sticking out far above that part of the grey wall. It just looks like a mess. It would be better if the spheres could be compressed. . ."


    Once again, as Mark thought out loud, the shapes in his vision seemed to go along with his musings and the spheres began to be compressed. But they only compressed a little bit before they stopped, seemingly unable to compress any further. Mark thought it was a shame they wouldn''t look very uniform but before he could say anything he noticed a myriad of white symbols made of light forming above him before they rained down on the spheres like a flood or flames.


    The sudden influx of bright white symbols of light snapped Mark out of his vision/daydream as his hammer made an off-key ping, which brought his attention to his blade. Sure enough, the blade had been completed on one side with the metal bonded into what looked like a perfect alloy. The blade on the side facing him was now silver, and as he moved it back and forth in the light it had a teal sheen at some angles and a neon-orange sheen at other angles.


    Looking out of his smithy, Mark noticed it was dark and when looking back at his blade he could see it was cold.


    "Well, I guess I should call it a day here. The other half of the blade can be fixed up tomorrow."


    He put the new alloy away in a holding area where it wouldn''t collect impurities as it cooled and then put the rest of the smithy away.


    When he was done, he walked home to get some sleep so he could get an early start in the morning.

 34. Blades and Purple Rocks

    Early in the morning, Mark was awoken by the bright sun on his face. He felt the warm embrace of the powerful star which ensured the continuance of life in his world. The gentle warmth was always a nice thing to wake up to as the light stimulated his eyes and brought him out of his dreamless sleep. Upon his wake, he promptly washed up and grabbed some food to break his fast before heading to the smithy.


    He leisurely strolled along the early morning path with dew still sticking to the rocks and blades of grass that were sporadically growing in this area of the mountain. He sipped water out of the animal skin he carried around him to ensure he could quench his thirst at any point in the day.


    He breathed deeply on his way to his workstation, filling his powerful lungs with the cool damp morning air. The feel of breathing the sweetly scented air was relaxing, and it always brought a sense of accord when coupled with the wondrous view of the mountains on the skyline with the vast valleys below.


    He passed his favorite spot while taking a long swig of the cool spring water without pausing to take a longer look since he reserved that for the nights he felt like seeing something ethereal. He did see a couple of the vampire moose down in the valley watching over some of their calves playing in the river.


    His walk to the smithy was always short, but also invigorating. It was like the walk along the mountain path was filled with energy that helped fully wake him up with some sort of stimulating energy and today he felt it even more deeply than usual. He was in quite a good mood as he began setting up his working area for the day.


    He refilled his coals at the forge and had them lit while he arranged the tools and materials he would need for the morning.


    ''I should finish the sword first since it will be quick with the established method from last night. Then the quota for the day can be fulfilled.''


    As he thought about his course of action he noticed the items he had created last night were gone, as per the agreement with the merchant Li. The caravan guards had come to pick them up at some point while the sun was still down.


    After getting everything ready, he pulled the unfinished sword down on his anvil while he waited for the coals to reach a white-hot temperature. As he was looking at the flames that were steadily getting hotter he heard feet shuffling behind him to his left.


    He thought to himself as he looked over, ''I wonder who would be out here this early when the guards already took their armors from yesterday. . .''


    It was not unusual for someone to bring things by for repair, but to his knowledge, there should be no one this early in the morning unless someone broke their sword this early.


    As he swung his head around, he was greeted with a beautifully startled face. One framed by perfect blonde hair with immaculate swirls that flowed down like a waterfall. Anabel looked to be in the middle of climbing onto the table just outside of his smithy, and she had a surprised look on her face for a second as though she thought she had made no sound trying to shuffle up onto the ledge of the wooden platform.


    Her surprise was momentary though, as her startled look quickly transformed into a radiant smile that caused Mark''s cold heart to thump unexpectedly. Her perfectly straight white teeth seemed to glow with the light of the morning sun, and it accentuated her already perfect face. It was enough to cause any young man to forget himself as he looked right into her icy blue eyes that drew him in as if he were being hypnotized.


    Anabel blushed a little when she noticed that Mark was staring at her.


    "Did I come too early? You seem to be a little surprised. . ."


    Mark shook his head to get ahold of himself.


    ''What the hell was that, did I just forget to think?''


    Looking a little flustered, he quickly replied to Anabel, "Sorry, yeah I guess I was not expecting anyone to come by the forge this early. What are you doing here anyway?"


    He could tell that she was wanting to watch him work, seeing as how she was seated on the table. He was just a bit confused as to why.


    She casually replied, "I wanted to see what you do at the smithy here all day, so I figured I would watch you work. Why? Do you want me to leave?"


    Mark thought about it for a while before he said, "I guess it is ok for you to be here, but I think you will quickly get bored."


    To which Anabel said, "If I get bored then I will go find something else to do!" And she flashed him a quick smile that caught him off guard again.


    Fully flustered, he mumbled, "Fine but I won''t be able to entertain you while I am busy."


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    Content with his consent, Anabel made herself comfortable as she watched him get to work.


    He placed the sword on the coals in the forge which looked hot enough to heat the weapon while he got the alloy ready by putting the crucible in the hottest part of the forge. Then he grabbed a poker and shuffled the coals around the crucible and sword to help them heat up faster.


    After poking around in the fire for a bit, Mark just watched the flames as they licked at the blade. The temperature of the blade was visibly heating up at this point and it wouldn''t be long for it to be hot enough to start working on it.


    He then got out his etching tool to fix any of the previously notched grooves that he made in the side of the sword he was working on today. Since the heat could potentially close or warp the grooves, they would probably need to be fixed. He set it next to his anvil to have it at the ready and checked on the sword again.


    Meanwhile, Anabel was just watching him work. She seemed to be content with her entertainment for the day.


    When the sword was ready, Mark pulled it out of the forge and got to work smoothing out the imperfections and fixing the grooves he needed for the fifth step. When he was done, he looked at the forge and could see that the alloy was ready to be poured.


    He utilized the crucible tongs to remove the alloy from the forge before pouring it evenly into the grooves of his sword. He replaced the crucible in the forge to keep the alloy ready if he needed it and grabbed his hammer to immediately begin the fifth step.


    As he swung his hammer, the crystal gave off the purple blasts of light that were normal for the fifth step which Anabel noticed and grew even more interested in the work Mark was doing. She didn''t notice that he was bonding two different types of metals into a new alloy, but the light show given off by the hammer was quite pretty in her eyes.


    Mark quickly became oblivious as he returned to his visions of spheres and pyramids. He did as the previous time and directed the tetrahedral structures into the holes between the spheres and quickly finished his work.


    When he realized that he was just finishing up on the fifth step, he made sure all of the silver metal was in the correct place without any blemishes before he stopped hammering in the rhythmic pattern he needed to perfectly bond the alloy. He left the sword on the anvil and nearly shit himself as Anabel spake from directly next to him, "HEY! What was with all the lights and fire?"


    Startled, he looked over to his left where he could see Anabel looking up to him with large pleading puppy-dog eyes. It seemed whatever she was talking about was so interesting to her that she would put up with the stifling heat of the forge to get a closer look.


    Mark just shook his head as he gently pushed her back by grabbing her shoulders.


    "Anabel, this is a smithy and I am working with lots of fire and hot and even molten metals. There are going to be all sorts of fires and flames with sparks flying while impurities and deformities are hammered out of the products. You are going to need to stand back a bit further to make sure you do not get injured."


    Anabel ignored the admonishment from Mark and decided to press the issue.


    "Mark, that hammer shoots out purple light from its crystal every time you hammer the metal, are you sure that is normal? It looks like magic to me and even the witch lady in the village is just some sort of alchemist. Magic is not supposed to be real! What are you doing over here really?"


    Mark was a little flustered, but before he could answer he was interrupted by, or possibly saved by, a couple of the caravan guards that were carrying their swords in one hand and what looked like purple rocks in the other.


    "Hello there! Sorry to interrupt y''alls interestin'' conversation about magic or whatever, but we were wondering if Mark here could fix up these swords?"


    Anabel was a little shocked that the pair just walked up so casually, but the accent indicated that he was one of the guards born to some of the ''country folk'' as the caravan people called them. They were known for being a bit informal, and even a little rowdy at times. But they were good people who seemed to have a culture more like the mountain villagers than the caravan people.


    Mark was about to respond when they interrupted him again. Anabel giggled a bit at this as she rarely got to see Mark at a loss.


    "Old man Li told us that we could bring ''em by since we messed ''em up killing some uh th'' mountain beasts while we were collecting rocks. He said if we bring these pretty purple stones that ye might put a rush on it fer us."


    Mark could now clearly see what the purple stones were, and he nearly shit himself again for the second time that day.


    ''Man, do I need to go to the restroom or what? But those stones are definitely the purple ores. I''ll have to fix those swords right now. Maybe it will be incentive enough for the rest of the guards to bring the purple stones by as well.''


    Mark took the stones from the first man and observed them closely before putting them in the small pile of the other purple stones he collected before doing the same with the other man''s stones.


    "Do you guys want those swords reinforced while I am at it? I think it would be a fair trade for those purple stones and the blades will be much less likely to chip."


    The two guys just nodded their heads eagerly and the other guy spoke up this time.


    "If ye would do at fer us, we would greatly appreciate it."


    Mark just moved to place the swords on the already hot forge as he replied.


    "Just tell your buddies I''ll fix or reinforce anything they want if they bring me those purple stones."


    The two men shared a look before giving Mark a resolute nod.


    "Ok then, this won''t take long so you can wait around here or come back later, whatever you guys prefer."


    The men just walked over to a patch of grass and sat down as they waved back to Mark.


    Anabel was looking at the stones with interest at this point.


    "Hey Mark, why were you so eager to fix their weapons when they gave you these stones?"


    Mark looked over at Anabel and started smiling as he rubbed his hands together. The look he was giving her creeped her out a bit as she had never seen Mark look like this.


    "Well, Anabel, these stones are part of the project I am experimenting with to see if I can make that sword as strong as possible."


    Mark was pointing at the sword he had laid on the anvil.


    That''s when Anabel remembered her questions about the lights and flames.


    "Hey! You were telling me about those flames and the purple light from that crystal. It looked like magic to me, was it not?"


    Mark just shook his head a smiled.


    "Alright, I''ll tell you about it, but it''s not magic."

 35. Magic but Not Magic

    Mark added some filler alloy to a crucible before placing it on the hottest part of the forge and checked the swords in the forge before telling Anabel more about the forging process.


    "Look, the hammer is special but it is not magical. I utilize a forging technique passed down through my family that lets me do special things to the metals that are not possible in otherwise. At least as far as I know, I actually have not experimented much on trying to accomplish the same thing with a different method."


    Anabel thought about the beginning of his explanation but still thought it was magic. "That does not explain the light show and how you are creating those weird flames!"


    Mark just shrugged as he continued his explanation. "Right, the purple light and the flames. Firstly, the light is just some artifact of this special gem in the hammer look."


    Mark then grabbed the fifth-step hammer and hit the anvil with the hammer end, producing a purple light from the gem. Then he looked back to Anabel.


    "As far as I can tell, the gem just lights up after it has had a sufficient impact with the metal end which has been bonded to the crystal. As for the flames, that is also something normal that happens when I hit sufficiently hot metal."


    To prove his point, he grabbed one of the swords that was now hot enough to be worked and hammered it a few times, producing orange sparks and flames. Then he placed the sword back in the forge to be ready for the reinforcement process.


    "As you can see, the hammering of these metal objects when they are glowing from the heat will result in the production of flames and sparks. This is not magic, it is just something normal that happens all the time."


    Anabel still was not convinced as she argued "But the flames from earlier looked white, the patterns of the flames even looked different! They looked like they were almost living, or trying to form words. . ."


    Mark just smiled as he thought back to when he first started watching his dad at the forge. "I remember when I first got to look at the forging process. Back then, I also thought it looked magical but I assure you the only magic taking place is the precision with which I place each hammer strike which is unmatched by any blacksmith I have ever seen."


    Mark having only seen one other blacksmith in his life didn''t have much to brag about, but he was quite confident in his work. Anabel actually started laughing due to his arrogance, but she conceded that the forging process must have been much cooler than she originally thought.


    Thus, Anabel replied "Geez, even the old hag has less interesting alchemy tricks than I have already seen at the forge. It is no wonder you like this so much."


    Mark just nodded his head as he grabbed hold of his etching tool. Then he grabbed the sword back out of the fire to begin the etching process in order to reinforce the sword with the fifth step.


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    The fifth step was necessary because he was unsure of the material that the sword was made of originally since it was not his handiwork.


    ''My swords would have lasted longer even without reinforcement.''


    He then etched some basic patterns into the blade that would allow a uniform bonding process. He then grabbed the crucible he placed earlier and filled the grooves with the molten metal. After replacing the crucible, he began the fifth-step process with the purple crystal hammer.


    He paid attention to the flames and lights that were being produced during this process but noticed nothing out of the ordinary. It was mostly just more of the same with lots of blasts of violet light from the crystal with every swing of the hammer and the occasional flair from the molten metal and the red-hot sword.


    When he was done with the first half, he placed it back into the forge to get the other side ready for the bonding process and to have enough heat left over for compressing the edge of the sword.


    In the meantime, he grabbed the other sword, gave it the etching, and completed one side of the reinforcement process as well. When he was done with the second sword he traded it for the first sword and repeated the process for the second half of the blade.


    With the first sword finished with repair and reinforcement, he utilized the compression process of the fifth step to compress the edge before setting it next to his whetstone to cool. Then he did the same for the second sword and finally ground the edges of the swords down until they were sharp enough to slice cleanly through rock without the edge dulling in the slightest.


    With his work finished he returned the blades to the men who gave them a couple of swings before leaving, satisfied with the work.


    Mark and Anabel could faintly hear them talking as they walked away.


    "It ain''t as light as it used to be, but it sure is the finest weapon I ever did own! I doubt this thing will need any repairs fer the next few years!"


    The other guy replied, equally as excited "Yeeh! Imma havta go test er out on some o'' tha mountain beasts today, whatcha say?"


    The first man gave his assent, which Mark an Anabel could see through his animated actions but they were far enough away now that the reply was not heard.


    After the excited guards were out of sight on their way to play with their new toys, Mark looked back at Anabel.


    "So, did the forging process still look magical?"


    Anabel thought about it and replied, "Yeah, it really does look like magic with all of the sparks and the purple light that crystal gives off, but I guess it is more of a show than actual magic. Though I swear earlier when you were working on that other sword that the flames turned white!"


    Mark just nodded his head as he thought of a possible reason for the difference in flame color.


    "Well, that sword is actually special since I am using a new alloy to create it. The most recent addition to my alloy is a metal that has a very high melting temperature so I needed to get the metal white-hot in order for the bonding process to work. Perhaps that caused the flames to be different?"


    Anabel thought ''oh that actually makes sense, I didn''t notice that sword was so much hotter than the other swords.''


    Then she looked up at Mark and gave him a big smile, "Thanks for explaining your work to me! I really thought you were holding out on some magical stuff earlier but it seems the beauty of the forge was just unknown to me."


    To this, Mark also smiled as his craft was being openly praised by someone who could see the greatness of forging for what it was.


    "Well you are welcome to stick around and watch me fulfill the quota of the day but I won''t be working on the sword until later."


    In response, Anabel found her spot outside the forge and made herself comfortable as Mark started arranging the materials he would need for the rest of the day.

 36. Food then Forge

    "Mark! Are you done yet? We should go get something to eat!"


    Upon finishing up the last piece of armor that needed to be crafted for the day, Mark was assaulted with the pleading voice of a grumpy Anabel. To her credit, he supposed it was high time to get some food after working so long without a break. While he was content with some beast jerky, he doubted she would be interested in eating something that was likely to make her sick.


    He quickly cleaned up his work area and set the forge to smolder so it would quickly heat back up when he got back after eating. Then he organized the equipment and weapons he just forged so someone from the caravan could come by to get them whenever they wanted. After getting everything set for his absence, he dusted himself and walked over to Anabel.


    "Alright Anabel, what are you wanting to eat for lunch?"


    Anabel seemed a little grumpy due to hunger, but she quickly perked up when it was finally time to get some food. She only had to think for a second before she decided on what she wanted to eat, and she knew that anything she chose would be the first in a long time for Mark, if not the first time.


    "I know what I want to eat, you will just have to come along and see!"


    Mark was already prepared to go along with whatever Anabel was wanting to do, so he just wordlessly followed her as she turned around and began walking toward the village proper. While they were walking along, Anabel was humming a tune that indicated that she was in a good mood, ostensibly due to the prospect of food that would soon be entering their stomachs. Mark, on the other hand, was just thinking about work as one might expect from him by now.


    ''When we get back I can test out the sword. The bedrock should be a good test of the strength of the alloy, but the sword should be capable of easily slicing through it. Maybe I should affix another sword reinforced with the strength alloy to a workbench and try my sword against that. Yeah, that should work. But if it slices through that too easily. . .''


    "HEY!"


    Mark was suddenly broken out of his ruminations with a startling shout from Anabel. She giggled as she managed to make him jump a bit.


    "What are you thinking about, it''s not work is it?"


    Mark was a bit taken off guard, but he managed to recover easily enough.


    "I was just thinking about what we are going to eat. It''s not easy to guess since the caravan is in town and it is possible for it to be anything. Who knows what one of you inner village people would be interested in eating when they bring something different with every caravan."


    Anabel made a playful sour face at him before she began giggling again. She already knew he was just thinking about work again since he hadn''t even asked her where they were going to eat in the first place. ''I bet he is going to love the city-style meals that are available at the food section of the caravan. I don''t think he has even eaten at one of them before. As far as I can tell, he only eats that disgusting monster jerky. . .''


    Due to her hunger, and the fact that Mark seemed to be lagging behind as he periodically got lost in his thoughts, Anabel grabbed Mark by the arm and pulled him along until he picked up the pace. By the time they got to the caravan, Anabel had a firm grasp on his hand with her hand and her other hand was holding on to the forearm of the hand she was holding.


    Once again, the seeming couple drew the eyes and gossip of the villagers.


    Anabel faintly heard: ''. . .sleeping together? I heard she was at his place last night and no one had seen her return. . .''


    She blushed and looked up at Mark who had an oblivious look on his face. She could tell that he was, once again, thinking only of the forge. However, she also began to think about the flame and sparks that exploded out when Mark hit the metal with his hammer. The crisp ping and the visual display still seemed like magic to her and she was excited to see him work on his special sword from last night.


    She quickly led Mark over to one of her favorite cooks who traveled with the caravan so she could finally have a nice meal.


    "Well if it isn''t the beautiful baker''s daughter! Come to grace this old woman with that appetite of yours again have you? And who is this giant fellow you have brought along with you eh? It''s been a long time since I have seen a young man with so many muscles packed onto such a large frame. . . he wouldn''t happen to be part giant would he?"


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    Anabel was happy to hear the long winded welcome of her favorite cook, the old woman always treated her well and could talk by herself for hours without letting her guests get a word in edge-wise.


    Mark was snapped out of his daydreams again. "Huh, hammer."


    The old woman appeared visually stupefied at the random statement from Mark. This got Anabel caught up in a fit of laughter at the old woman''s expense while Mark tried to figure out what was going on.


    When Anabel got ahold of herself, she introduced Mark to the unusually docile old lady who looked to still be evaluating the muscle-bound idiot.


    "Mark, this is Lady Ai, and she makes the best chicken fried rice in the caravan. You have to give it a try, I bet it is much better than that jerky you seem to eat exclusively.''


    Lady Ai waved off Anabel in a shooing manner with a scowl on her old wrinkly face. "Come girl, I have told you time and time again to call me Nang. It''s not hard to remember that my name doesn''t start with Lady!"


    Anabel didn''t back down, and only retorted, "Miss Nang, I have to introduce you properly first, this is Mark''s first time meeting you. You wouldn''t want him to get the wrong impression now would you?"


    "Bah! Little brat! See if I cook you anything good if you keep talking to me so formally!"


    The old lady seemed to enjoy the back and forth with Anabel, and Mark caught on that this was probably their normal interaction when this caravan came around. He didn''t know why he thought that, but a feeling within him made him think that.


    "Anyway, Old Nang, let''s get some chicken fried rice! I am starving and Mark here has been working hard all morning so give him a double serving!"


    The old lady smiled at her moniker given by the pretty young girl and acquiesced. "Very well, Annie, I can assure you that neither of you kiddos will walk away from here hungry."


    Mark was happy to finally get around to the meal part and added, "Thank you miss Nang, I could probably eat for three people at this point."


    The old woman didn''t look surprised as she walked over to her cooking area with a regular-sized plate that she returned for Anabel before she grabbed what looked like a platter one would serve a family with. She loaded it until it was heaping with chicken fried rice and brought it over to Mark with a big spoon.


    "Eat up now, you look like you''re still a growing boy and you are going to need every bit of nutrition that you can get at this point. It''s going to take weeks'' worth of food for a normal person to keep you going, so make sure you aren''t skimping out on any meals, you hear me? And Annie, you bring this young man around as often as you can, I doubt there are many in the village or this caravan that can provide the amount of food this giant needs to eat."


    Anabel and Mark were busy stuffing their faces with the delicious food, so they weren''t available to respond to the old lady who was talking at them more than talking to them, but the old woman didn''t seem to mind as she just kept talking along while watching them scarf down her food.


    "I hear he is the one that has stuck a deal with the caravan leader to provide the weapons and arms them hard-working guards need to protect the caravan as we march through these treacherous lands. While this food ain''t free, as I expect our normal fair for the food yall are eating, I sure am willing to cook enough for both of yous to eat to your stomachs content. And this young man is going to need plenty of it to make all of them weapons and armors I''ve been seeing the guards walk around in. Mighty fancy lookin it has them, it does."


    Mark was wondering if the old lady would ever stop talking, but he ended up just having to tune her out while he continued to stuff his face. At this point he wasn''t even sure if he had been chewing the delicious food he had been shoveling into his face, all he knew is that it tasted so good he was involuntarily moving the spoon from the plate to his face as fast as he could. He had to force his mouth to do what it could to keep up.


    He looked over at Anabel who seemed to be enjoying the food just as much as him, as she had a look of concentration on her face as she staired at the food before her while she similarly stuffed he face with a smaller spoon.


    It took a while for them to finish, with Mark cleaning his platter before giving it back to the old woman. He had to lean back in his chair and hold his belly with how swollen it was after being stuffed with so much food.


    Anabel similarly leaned back and closed her eyes for a minute before turning to Mark.


    "Well, what do you say we head back to the forge so you can keep working."


    At those words, the previously deflated blacksmith perked up like a hound that had caught the scent of its prey and quickly stood up from his chair.


    "You''re right! After such a good break, there is no need to stop the forge until late into the night tonight!"


    The old lady smacked his shoulder with a wooden spoon as he made this statement.


    "Hold it right there you muscle-bound idiot! You better bring this young lady back here within an hour after sunset to get some more food! You can''t expect everyone to starve themselves to work themselves to the bone like you now can you?"


    Seeing the truth in her words, Mark looked a little ashamed and replied to the advice, "Thank you old Nang, I will be sure to bring Anabel around often so we can get plenty of your food."


    The old lady dropped her fake scowl and replaced it with a bright smile, "Well good, then yall take care and come back soon!"


    Anabel had herself a good laugh at the exchange between the two as she exchanged pleasantries before leaving with Mark. She had paid the bill while Mark was getting assaulted both physically and mentally by the old woman, and Anabel knew it was just her way of keeping things lively.


    The sun was still up at high noon when they got back to the forge, and Mark quickly got the forge ready to heat up his sword and arranged the tools he would be working with.

 37. The Sword in Question

    Mark thought to himself, ''Since I am going to test the durability and efficiency of the sword it would make sense to have the furnace on standby in case I need to make a strengthening alloy. . .actually it is probably best if I just get one going right now.''


    With that thought in mind, Mark also got the furnace started up and placed the green and purple ores into the furnace to begin the refining process. Then he told Anabel, "I am first going to check the ability of the sword to cut hard objects and see how well it stays together."


    Anabel was keeping a safe distance from Mark but she was still walking around to observe what he was doing. Given the plan of action, she simply nodded that she understood what the next steps were. Mark was preparing for the strength tests and was talking out loud as he normally did, but with someone at the forge with him, it turned into more of an instruction session rather than a bout of schizophrenia.


    With the test sword secured to his workbench, he first picked up his project sword and tried cutting the bedrock a little ways from the smithy where the bedrock came up into a sort of shelf that was not being utilized for anything. The sword sliced cleanly through the rock like it was butter, even without sharpening the compressed edge.


    When Mark pulled the sword out of the rock, he observed no damage to the structure and the silver blade was without a scratch.


    "That was a solid test. So far this sword would be able to be used to kill any of the beasts on this mountain and I would not have to worry about repairing it very often. Next, I will test it against something a bit more durable than the bedrock."


    Mark and Anabel thus moved back to the smithy where Mark had set up the test sword on the workbench. Upon reaching the table, Mark took a good stance and made sure Anabel was clear. Then, he utilized a good amount of strength in his swing as he aimed to slice the test sword in half. When the two swords clashed, sparks flew and a horrible grating sound was made as well as the sound of metal vibrating at a very high frequency.


    The sound of metal clanging could be heard as half of the test sword hit the ground. Mark had to take a second to let his project sword stop vibrating so much before he could set it aside to look at the test sword.


    He first bent over to look at the handle half that was still secured to his workbench. The cut was not clean and it looked like the vibrating from his project sword was what allowed him to actually cut through the reinforced test sword. Then, he reached down and picked up the tip half of the test sword and confirmed the jagged cut.


    ''Maybe if I sharpened it it could have cut it cleanly or at least had a cleaner cut, but the real test was the strength of the blade.''


    After examining the test blade, he picked his project sword back up. He closely examined the sword at the point of impact which had a visible nick on the dull blade. More than that, there were hair-thin cracks running up and down the blade that would prove to be detrimental in the middle of a fight.


    He looked to Anabel who was trying to figure out how the test went but she seemed reluctant to interrupt his thought process.


    "The sword is strong and I was able to cut that other sword that is reinforced with my strength alloy, and the vibrations didn''t cause it to melt. The problem is that if I were to fight a person or beast with a weapon or claws or bones as strong as that alloy then this sword might be done in two or three hits."


    Anabel nodded along with his explanation and replied, "So what are you going to do to fix it?"


    Mark looked over to his furnace which had a molten alloy in the pan ready to be added to the forge and prepared to enhance the blade.


    "Well, I am going to utilize that strengthening alloy to make it stronger after I fix the defects caused by this test."


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    With the forge ready, Mark placed his damaged project sword into the flames. Anabel made herself comfortable on the bench just outside of the forge which was adequately far enough from the heat of the flames to be cozy.


    She thought to herself, ''I am so excited! This is much more entertaining than puzzle games at home!''


    Mark moved over to the furnace and transferred the molten alloy into a crucible which was then set on the forge for later use.


    Then, without prompting, Mark walked over to Anabel to tell her what he was doing while the sword was heating up.


    "The sword needs to get white-hot again and I will attempt to fix the cracks and nick in the edge of the blade with some normal smithing, then I will create those lightning-shaped grooves in the blade so I can add some of the strengthening alloy to it."


    Anabel nodded as she had a good idea of what was going to happen, but she still did not fully understand how it worked.


    She asked, "When you worked on this last time, one side was silver and one side was grey. But when you were done, both sides were silver. I also noticed that there are different colors when the light hits the blade. I accept that this is not magic but how does this all work?"


    Mark thought over her question and considered the details she included before answering. "The smithing process I utilize allows me to add the alloy to the metal while being capable of making a new alloy of both of the metals. It is a special technique that is a secret passed down by my family so I can''t get into the specific details. Also, the silver metal shines different colors as the light reflects off of it because of the colored stones that make up the alloy. I have found that this alloy is typically silver but has a sheen to it that is differently colored depending on the original color of the ore and the combination."


    Anabel nodded her head, feeling like she knew less than before she asked the question. She sighed and said, "I guess I will just have to see it again because I am not entirely sure what you are saying. . ."


    Mark quickly replied though, "It is ok, you might not be able to get what I am saying without actually smithing yourself. I don''t have to explain it often so there are probably details I am leaving out that make it hard to understand."


    After having a good talk, Mark moved to his forge to check the sword while Anabel thought about all of the information.


    The sword still needed some time in the forge and the crucible looked like it would be ready for use soon.


    Mark already had his tools ready, but he made sure his smithing hammer was at the ready as he prepared his tongs for grabbing the sword. He watched the sword in the flames as it neared the perfect heat, the color turned brighter shades of red at a visible speed.


    Before he could slip into a trance, the sword reached perfection and he pulled it out of the forge and began working out the imperfections. He hammered down on the sword with normal techniques and his normal hammer, but he still managed to slip into a bit of a trance as the rhythmic hammering on the steel alloy produced a melodic tone that tended to lull him.


    Anabel too seemed to fall into a bit of a trance, though hers was more like a snake being charmed as she followed the movement of the hammer to the sword as she listened to the musical-like tone of the ping given off by the smithing.


    She couldn''t help but think, ''Wow, it really is pretty. The flames wrap around the head of the hammer as the sparks fly out at random trajectories giving the appearance of mini fireworks that some of the caravans bring around near the middle of winter.''


    She also noticed when the hammer made an off-tone sound when Mark made his final strike.


    Mark took some time to examine the sword before placing it back in the forge. He then took the time to check the crucible once again which revealed a molten metal alloy that had reached a consistency that was ready for the bonding step.


    After giving the sword sufficient time, he pulled it out and began notching the lightning pattern he needed for a clean bonding process. When he finished both sides, he returned the sword to the flame until it was as white-hot as it would get before getting close to melting.


    He placed the sword on the anvil and began pouring the molten metal into the grooves and placed the crucible on the forge.


    With the sword ready for the fifth step, he grabbed the purple crystal hammer and began the process.


    While feeling out the pattern needed for the new alloy, he quickly slipped into his normal trance which quickly turned into a peculiar vision.


    During this vision, his hammer began to give off the strange white flames with every strike which seemed to keep the sword at the right temperature of the bonding process.


    Anabel was watching closely this time and noticed when the flames coming from the strike of the hammer switched from orange to white.


    ''I knew it! There is something more going on here that Mark is not aware of! Whatever it is, it seems to help this special forging method but while it looks pretty he might be right about it not actually being magical.''


    Meanwhile, Mark was hammering the sword with his body but his mind had wound up on a battlefield with an odd battle taking place between thousands of people with differently shaped and colored swords.

 38. Battle of Swords

    The battle taking place in front of Mark was a clash of swords. Different types of swords with different shapes and differently colored metals which Mark could tell was because of the different alloys each sword was made of. Some of the swords in the clash were two-handed and some were one-handed while some people in the fight wielded a sword in each hand.


    Mark tried to focus on these people''s faces, but try as he might he was unable to clearly see what they looked like.


    ''Well, it seems I am not here to take account of the people fighting in this battle. These swords must have some sort of significance to them. Each one looks to be a different sword, but it appears that there is not one sword that is better than another. . .''


    Mark moved throughout the battlefield to get a good look at the swords that were clashing together. He noticed that there was no difference in the wielders of the swords in terms of power, only in how the sword was designed to be utilized.


    There were some fighters that could deliver powerful blows but were subject to counterattacks if their target managed to dodge or deflect the blow. There were fighters who were quick and nimble with swords, which allowed them to make quick attacks, but there was not as much power between their attacks. These fighters had to be as accurate in their blows as they were fast if they wanted to get death blows in this fight.


    Each type showed their strengths and weaknesses over the course of the battle as Mark watched, finding no singular weapon to be the best. They all seemed to have their utility in his eyes so he just continued to watch. The battle was fierce with arms getting sliced off and heads rolling in the blood-soaked dirt.


    Neither side seemed to be gaining ground as they both had an assortment of people wielding the different styles of swords. They just killed each other and moved on to the next person, each trying to overcome the other with their ability with the sword.


    The battle had to shift several times as bodies began to pile up as the corpses of the fallen did not make great footholds. Mark watched the battle flow and shift as one side would gain traction for mundane reasons and the other would overcome the advantage just for it to all end up in a stalemate again.


    While Mark was watching these events, Anabel was seeing the light show of a lifetime. Every time Mark brought his hammer down, the flames that burst out were a different color. Sometimes they were green, sometimes white, blue, and even purple to match the color the crystal on his hammer gave off.


    "I knew there was something magical about the way he was doing his forging! There is no way that is normal!"


    Anabel found herself talking out loud as she thought due to her fascination with the work being done by Mark. As she watched, the strikes of the hammer that began as a simple pattern that almost sounded like music began to take on a discordant rhythm.


    When she noticed the hammer strikes become discordant in their pattern and sounds, she also noticed that the colors of each hammer strike began to mix. Instead of having a single color but different with each hammer strike, now the color of the flames seemed to be a mixture of several colors that were each trying to overtake the other colors.


    As the flames tried to gain dominance over each other, she noticed that the blade seemed to be heating up even more than before. On top of that, even the flames in the forge seemed to be getting brighter and hotter. Even from her spot, which had some distance from the workplace, she was feeling the heat and began to sweat.


    A worried look took over her face as she realized that Mark had to be experiencing a much greater heat than usual, but she didn''t try to interrupt him as he was working just as hard as ever. He did not seem to be deterred by the great heat and each strike of his hammer looked methodical despite the discordance in the rhythm and tone of the strikes.


    While the flames of the hammer strikes seemed to shoot out from the point of impact and dance around his hands and torso, they never seemed to burn him or his blacksmithing apron. These observances worked to assuage the fear that began to assault Anabel, and she managed to calm down but she did have to find a new place to watch Mark from.


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    Once she settled a good distance away from the heat, the cool mountain breeze was finally able to reach her and help to cool her down. She realized that she had been exposed to a slow increase in heat and had actually managed to become quite hot while Mark was working and it was not until she was exposed to the actual temperature of the mountain that she realized how long the heat of the forge had been building up.


    She looked back toward the peak that stood over the village, and she could see the snow cap at the top in the distance giving off some snow in the wind as the wind blew the loose ice off of the peak. The violet plum blossoms from the wild plum trees could be seen blowing over the village which added to the peaceful scenery that helped Anabel to relax after being exposed to such high temperatures for so long.


    After getting her fill of the beautiful scenery, she turned her attention back to Mark who was still working as hard as ever. The flames from the sword seemed to get even bigger and more colorful as did the flames of the forge. The flames in the forge even seemed to be coming out to try and lick at Mark as he continued to hammer the sword, with the flames from the sword even lashing out to meet the forge flames from time to time. The bursts of light from the hammer added to the dazzling display of color that was taking place in the forge as Anabel began to feel the heat once more.


    Her previously calm expression began to take on a worried look once again as she realized that Mark was being exposed to some seriously dangerous heat at this point. She could see the wood pillars of the smithy begin to give off steam from trapped water in the porous wood material which could not be a good sign.


    Meanwhile, Mark was oblivious to the heat as he continued to spectate the battle which had raged on for days in his mindscape.


    "I wonder what the point of the battle is if neither side seems to be winning. . . either side could benefit from a commander giving orders to prevent this stalemate."


    With his words though out loud, both sides received reinforcements from the distance as they normally did, but this time there was a larger person with both groups that began to give out orders to the people fighting as they stayed in the back.


    With the addition of the commanders of each side, the battle began to pick up pace as the stalemate became more dynamic. With each side gaining an advantage through tactics, the battle was being won in some areas and lost in others. The commanders were pressing on weak points and sending reinforcements where they were losing ground.


    The battle line disappeared as chaos took over with the battle shifting to large groups of people fighting in areas of the battlefield while others remained empty. The commanders seemed to be aware of the situation and were taking advantage of it with their strategic deployment of troops, but Mark could see that it was still just a stalemate. It just looked more chaotic than before.


    "Hmm, the swords all seem to be equally matched without there being a definite ''best'' sword. It is the same with the commanders, due to their ability to lead being equal, the battle has just devolved into chaos. . ."


    Mark continued to watch for a while as the battle managed to reach an equilibrium where the chaos had abated and given rise to multiple battle fronts which the commanders had to keep track of simultaneously. When Mark looked at this, he wondered what could be done to win the battle on either side but he did not have a good answer.


    As he came to the conclusion that the battle would have to be won through attrition, he was brought out of his mindscape and back to the forge. He could hear Anabel yelling at him from a distance but he was focused on the dented, chipped, and warped blade in his hands.


    He flipped the sword over and examined every angle and noticed that he had finished both sides at some point, but he had not managed to correctly bond the alloy together. The blade was a mixture of different colors without any single color managing to have the dominant appearance of the blade which made it look like a rainbow without any sort of pattern.


    To make matters worse, the bonding was incomplete in some areas leaving gaps between the different alloys of metals, while some areas seemed to bond together but were just melted and cooled on top of each other.


    Mark couldn''t help but think, "Damn, this sword is a mess. What the hell happened. . . the fifth step has never turned out like this."


    He turned the warped sword over and noticed that there was no pattern to the bends and cracks, it looked like someone tried to destroy it and failed. And the colors of the sword were new as the alloy he created was always silver, like steel. The color usually came off of the glint in the metal from the reflection of the light. He could even see some of the old grey from the base sword poking out which he thought he had already fixed in the previous alloy, but it seemed like whatever happened this time had caused the bonding process to somehow come undone.


    "This is going to take years to fix. . .damnit, after all these months and this is the result. . . I need to call it a day. . ."


    He then remembered that Anabel was calling for him from a distance and he looked up, realizing why she had been yelling at him this entire time.

 39. Back to Work

    When Mark looked up from his sword, he realized that the entire smithy was steaming. It looked like the forge had gotten too hot or something as all of the wood was giving off the accumulated water it had stored since the last time this had happened.


    Mark just shrugged as he turned to Anabel who was less frantic, seeing as how Mark was responsive now.


    "Mark! Are you ok? It looks like the smithy is going to catch on fire! Are you hurt from the heat? Do I need to get the witch woman?"


    While Anabel had calmed down, she still seemed a bit frantic as she shot off question after question as she was still yelling at Mark from a distance. Mark set down the sword on his black anvil and walked over towards Anabel while answering her.


    "Anabel, everything is fine. The forge just gets too hot sometimes as causes the wood to steam like that. Don''t worry, the wood is made from branches of the elder tree that fell in the past. The entire village could get consumed in a firestorm and the smithy would still be standing."


    Anabel walked toward Mark seeing that the wood began to stop steaming since the head had died down.


    "I am not worried about the smithy! What about you? How can you be in that intense heat and still be fine? And you still have eyebrows!"


    Mark was visibly confused at this point as he replied.


    "I work in the smithy every day next to the high heat? As I said earlier, this has happened before and the heat is not an issue for me since I have had to tolerate it for many years now."


    After calming down and accepting the explanation Mark gave her about his condition, she remembered the amazing light show she got to see before it became too hot for her to continue sitting at her spot. She then began to press him about magic once again.


    "You said that what you are doing here is not magical but how do you explain all the different colors of flames that came off of the sword this time?"


    Mark thought about the way the sword looked currently and after thinking about what she was asking he managed to come up with a good idea of what had happened.


    "If the flames were all different colors, maybe it has to do with the alloy the metal is made of. When it cools down I will show you what I mean, but the sword is made of many differently colored alloys and I bet the flame color depends on the alloy that is being struck."


    Anabel shook her head in protest as she pressed on, "But sometimes the flames were many different colors at once!"


    To which Mark replied, "Actually that makes sense, given the current state of the sword."


    Anabel was not convinced, but Mark could tell that his explanation had done well to alleviate some of her concern about magic. While he could not remember well the visions he had while working on the blade, he could remember them as a distant dream and he did consider that something magical was happening but the results of his work always seemed normal to him.


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    Anabel walked over to the forge with him as the heat dissipated and when she laid her eyes upon the sword she gasped.


    Mark picked up the bent and bowed sword with several chips and cracks running up and down the length and width of the blade as he turned to Anabel.


    "I must have done something wrong when I was affixing the alloy this time because this is not how my blades look when I am done. But as you can see, the colors of the alloy all run together in a mess that should have become one solitary color but instead this time they fought me and the blade is basically ruined."


    Anabel looked at the poor condition of the blade and noticed all the different colors of the metals that the blade was made of.


    "You''re right, those metal colors do look similar to the colors of the flames that came off of your hammer. I guess the metal does affect the color of the flames when you are working on it, but it does really look magical when it is happening. Especially considering the light the crystal of that hammer gives off, the whole thing is like a big magical firey show!"


    Mark noticed that Anabel was getting excited the more she talked about the forging process, and he could relate. The forge always looked magical to him too, and he felt he had a good understanding of why Anabel had begun to watch him work. Of course, he was wrong in his assumptions but it would take him a long time to understand why a pretty girl would hang around a smelly hot forge all day.


    Mark put his project sword to the side as he sighed and looked over to the sun that was approaching the tips of the mountain tops in the distance. He cleaned up the forge and smothered the flames before turning to Anabel who was back in her normal spot.


    "I am going to end the day here early. It has been eventful but I bet you are hungry, so let''s go get some more food from that old crazy lady?"


    Anabel grew a large smile on her face at the suggestion and agreed with Mark that food at this time would be nice. They quickly made their way to town, with Anabel clinging to Mark''s arm again which Mark had grown accustomed to at this point.


    The village folk still turned their heads and gossiped at their passing, which Anabel seemed to enjoy and Mark was still oblivious to. Mark did feel them watching him pass, but he was already used to it since, even before Anabel started bringing him into the village more often, he showed up so rarely that his presence always garnered attention.


    They quickly found the caravan with the crazy old lady and a few people were already being attended to so the couple had to order from a table with a waiter. The crazy old lady could be seen cooking behind the makeshift counter next to her wagon. Since she was busy, no one had to endure her rambling as they consumed their food.


    Anabel suggested a different meal for them this time since Mark had rarely gotten to consume beef and he couldn''t remember the last time he ate some from the caravans.


    "I think some spiced beef and veggies would be a good meal for dinner, it comes with a bed of rice and different dipping sauces. What do you think Mark?"


    Mark trusted Anabel to pick out the food since she did a great job the last time and replied affirmatively, "I think that sounds great, let''s get it ordered."


    The waiter nodded and wrote down their order before clipping it to a line that was over the cooking area where the old lady was working at. She had her back to the customers so she didn''t know that Anabel had shown up with Mark again, so she just kept working hard to get the orders out.


    More people soon gathered at the makeshift restaurant and the old lady was swamped with orders, so Mark and Anabel ate their food and left without incident. They said their goodbyes as they approached the road that split their journey and Mark made his way home for the night.


    The sun had already gone down below the mountains and darkness had taken over the village so Mark just went straight to bed as he thought about how he would fix his sword.


    ''It should be salvageable as long as I continuously heat it and hammer it back into shape. I''ll add more alloy as needed and try to mold it into a proper blade. If finesse didn''t work the first time, then I will just have to utilize brute force over a long period of time. The heating and cooling should allow the whacked-out alloy to rearrange into a favorable formation. . .''


    His last thoughts as he drifted into a dark dreamless sleep were about how he could improve his craft so he could create the perfect blade.