Abe the Wizard-Chapter 17 - A Hundred Forge Sword
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Although Abel graduated to a level five novice knight, he still felt very low in energy. Seeing Abel looking like this, Mater Bentham immediately told him to get some rest. With the help of Knight of Marshall, Abel left the blacksmith shop
As soon as they left the blacksmith shop. Abel noticed Knight of Marshall’s private carriage rushing towards them from a distance. At that moment Abel immediately looked down at the Knight of Marshall’s boots, it was full of dirt. Normally it would have taken the carriage around 20 minutes to get here from the castle. Therefore Knight of Marshall must have run here by himself as soon as he heard the news.
Knight of Marshall was a royal, and the owner of a fiefdom. Therefore, if anyone found out that he was madly running around like this, it wouldn’t do any good to his dignity. However, because of Abel, the Knight of Marshall was willing to take this risk.
After seeing the Knight of Marshall with a face full of joy, Abel also began to feel warm inside. He could not believe a famous knight such as Knight of Marshall, was not only happy for his level up but also willing to go through all of this. At that moment Abel couldn’t help but said softly, “Uncle Marshall, thank you for everything you have done for me.”
“Don’t think too much kid”. Said knight Marshall as he patted Abel on the head. After they settled on the carriage, the carriage immediately began to set off towards the sunset.
“Ding. Ding. Ding.” The early next morning Abel had already arrived at the blacksmith shop. He asked Master Bentham if he could have a training room all by himself. Master Bentham knew that today Abel would try to forge a big sword for the first time and wanted to remain in focus, so he had agreed.
However, Abel’s intention was not only to remain focused, but he also didn’t want anyone to find out how he forged the sword. This is because he would be using some techniques that no one had ever seen in this world before. It was the carburizing and quenching techniques he learned on a science TV programs from earth.
To achieve this, during the forging process the back of the blade needed to be continuously refined to reduce its carbon content. The lesser the carbon content, the higher the quality the back of the blade could become. However, once the blade had formed its shape, if you used the carburizing technique to add some carbon back into the edge blade, it would greatly enhance its toughness.
Afterward, Abel placed the already formed big sword into a specially made crucible and buried it with some charcoal, soybean paste, and soil he had prepared a few days ago. It fit perfectly. Then, he sealed up the crucible and put it in the furnace for heating.
Charcoal and soybean paste were naturally used for carburizing while the soil acted as a dispersing agent. The advantage of carburizing technology was that the carbon would be distributed very evenly throughout the sword. On top of that, the carbon potential would also be high. Therefore, this technique was not only effective but also very efficient. This technique was still being used on modern earth today, it was called the “Steel method.”
When it comes to quenching, this world also had a similar method, which was throwing the sword into cold water for cooling. However, due to the rapid thermal expansion, it could also increase the number of waste products, which could throw the concentration of the metal. Therefore, it could sometimes cause a crack on the sword after being quenched.
However, the quenching method used by Abel was a bit more unique. According to the science program, it was an ancient sword forging technique.
After the sword had cooled down, Abel took it out of the quenching bucket. He flicked the face of the sword with his finger. It made a crisp sound. Although it was still hard to tell if the sword was high quality, it was complete never the less.
Abel then immediately called the servant to clean up the mess in the operation room, he did not want to leave any trace for people to discover what had done. In this world, inventions or creations like this could cause a disaster.
“Gedon, can you find someone to make a sword handle for me?” Abel asked embarrassingly to Gedon, who was busy doing his work.
Sword handles were made out of all kinds of material: iron, wood, and horns. Abel had never learned the art of sword handle engraving, so he could only ask Gedon for help.
“Is this the first big sword you made?” Asked Gedon took the big sword from Abel’s hand and looked at it carefully. Suddenly he said in an excited, hoarse voice: “Is this a sword of hundred skills? On my god, this is the sword of a hundred skills.”
Gedon had followed Master Bentham for five years, but could only forge a sword of 60 skills. Forging a sword of a hundred skills had always been his dream.
“Young master Abel, you are a genius.” Gedon sincerely praised Abel with all his heart, he then gently stroked the back of the blade with his hand as though as he had found something. He then put his ear against the back of the sword and flicked it with a finger to listen to the echo.
“No way, this is impossible!”
Although the performance of this sword seemed like the sword of a hundred skills, it was a lot tougher than those that he had seen. Master Bentham would normally forge a sword of a hundred skills every month, and they were the main sources of income in Harry’s Castle. Gedon not only closely watched the master make these swords, but he was also responsible for maintaining the condition of these swords. Therefore he was a lot more familiar with swords on hundred skills than most people.
However, the surface of the big sword Abel made was strange. It was very different from the one’s master usually forged. Gedon couldn’t specifically pinpoint what exactly was the difference, but from his experience, he knew this sword was much higher quality than the ordinary sword of a hundred skills.
To verify this, Gedon used the big sword to cut a piece of wood that was ready to be used as fuel. It was almost effortless. The big sword slid over the wood like a hot knife on cream, silently divided the wood piece into two.
“How did you make this big sword?” Gedon was anxious to know more about the sword.
“I just forged it according to your guidance, and Master Bentham helped me when I encountered difficulties,” Abel explained.
Gedon had been lied to. He thought the reason why the sword was so great was all because Master Bentham had helped Abel complete it. Therefore, he could not help but make up his mind and double down his training hoping one day he could also forge a weapon like this.
“I have collected some very good horns, perfect to use it as the handle for this big sword. I will help you install it tonight along with a scabbard. Can you leave this sword with me?” However, Gedon had another intention. The way this sword was forged was way too strange—he wanted to spend the night closely inspecting it, hoping he could also improve his skills.
That night Gedon did not sleep at all. He installed a sword handle made with the best horns and found a crocodile skin scabbard. Afterward, he inspected the strange sword in great detail under the oil lamp.
By the morning, Gedon came back to the blacksmith shop holding the big sword. He was astonished by his nighs inspection. If it wasn’t for fear of breaking Abel’s sword, he would have liked to strike this sword with another sword of a hundred skills in the master’s warehouse to see which one is tougher.
“Gedon, what’s wrong with you?” asked Master Bentham suspiciously after seeing the redness of Gedon’s eyes. How could an honest man like Gedon not sleep for a night
“Master, I’ve been thinking about the sword you made for Abel, and I could not understand,” said Gedon scratching his head while looking at Master Bentham in embarrassment, he wondered if he was just too stupid.
Master Bentham took the big sword from Gedon and pulled it out. He said, “This is the big sword that Abel had forged yesterday. I only guided him on how to refine the thickness of the sword the day before yesterday. When you reached a bottleneck at 80 skills, I will teach you as well.”
“So this is the big sword, the one that Abel forged?” Master Bentham was also a little bit surprised. Master Bentham’s experience was of course much higher than Gedon’s. He guessed the technique applied in this sword could very well be a secret technique passed down by a family to enhance the weapon’s hardness and sharpness. Although the master was very tempted, he also knew that trying to spy on a family’s secret technique was making that family your biggest enemy. It didn’t matter if the technique was from the Harry family or the Bennett family.
Well, that explained it. No wonder why Abel asked for a separate operation room yesterday. It turned out that Abel was using a family secret technique to refine the big sword.
Therefore Master Bentham warned Gedon to stop asking Abel about the sword and pretend that nothing had ever happened.
