Moving Mountains

4

.^^ The Damascene Longsword ^^

— Josef —

"So, how do I rank up these Skill Things, Mrs.Arcbrand?" I asked, glancing at her and changing the subject.

She nodded. "You just have to use them to Rank them up. Smithing ranks up when you complete a piece of a higher Rank than your Skill."

I sighed, thinking of how much work it would be to make those skills go up, then chuckled, recognizing the fairness inherent in that portion of the system. You had to build skills, like anything else. "Curious... well, what do you think?" I held out the short sword, careful not to drop the blade into her hand, as it was obviously too heavy for her.

She squinted, eying it, and hummed. "A naval blade, eh? You're a sailor?"

"Ha! No, I prefer Forests. It just seemed appropriate, given we're in a Nautical Town." I shrugged.

"Mm... well, it seems well made, and it's very pretty, but I wonder how it will stand against a Dwarf Blade..." She muttered a few things to herself, and rummaged through a chest full of broken weapons, set aside for repair. She eventually pulled out a longsword that had the tip broken off, and set it between two anvils. "Give her a swing."

I nodded and waited until she stepped back, then swung the blade down. It made contact, and I frowned slowly when a chip appeared on my blade, even though the longsword snapped in half. "Well that's simply unacceptable!"

Mara raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Let me see that..." she had me set the blade on the anvil, then stepped up onto a stump, sitting next to it, and pulled out a small eyepiece. "Oh! Well well, you did better than I expected... far better."

I snorted. "It cracked. Unacceptable. I'll try again." I re-worked the crack into a small serrated section of the blade, then set it aside, and started over, deciding I would fold the damned metal myself, not let some stupid magic decide the grade of my blade.

The metal I placed into the fire was dusted with Anthracite, which caught and flash-burned, leaving a crystalline residue that coated the metal, forcing the inside to heat up quicker and hotter.

It was soon white-hot, and I nodded, setting it on the anvil, before I shattered the Crystal with a quick crash of the hammer. Without skipping a beat, I began flattening the metal, getting it ready for folding. My skin could apparently handle short contact with the metal, so I didn't bother with tongs, and just used my hands and the anvil for the proper stability.

Every fold I threw some Anthracite onto the metal and let it flash-burn, so I would be able to see the marks, and decide when to stop folding. On the third fold, fifteen minutes or so later, Mara left me to my own devices.

Right after, Brill came to watch, and asked me a few questions about the folding process, which I happily explained. They weren't secrets, after all, except for my Anthracite trick, which I left out, and definitely not my family's secret coal blends, (the maker's mark for most blades, beyond the name engraved in the hilt,) which he understood.

He listened to everything, and then nodded, apparently sated. "Damascene Steel, you say? Curious."

I went back to smithing, igniting the little voice asking if I wanted to use 'Blacksmith'. 'Hmph. Stupid magic obviously isn't as good as just doing it myself... I'm slightly ashamed I didn't know that from the start... ma would beat me half-silly.'

The sun eventually went down, and Mara brought me some food, which I ate while the metal was heating, and thanked her with a smile.

"I was wondering if you were the type who relied on their skills for proper metalwork. I'm happy you aren't." She patted my head, and sat down on another bench, working with silver thread to make something.