Carl

“Wait wait. Hold on. Aren’t you supposed to be the blacksmith here?” Adrian questioned with his brow raised. 

“Well son, the process of making a greatsword takes a lot of time. And if you really wanna leave with the paladin here in time, you’ll have to help me forge it,” I replied.

“And to be honest, there is a legend that if a swordmaster forges his own sword, then there are some chances of it transmuting into a mythical one that surpasses all other swords of its same quality. But if you really don’t wanna help then I can of course do it all mys-”

“NO! I mean um, I don’t want you to overwork yourself. So I wanna help you make it. Where should I start?” the lad stammered.

“You should get that old manual on blacksmithing I have kept below my seat. Give it a read,” I said. With that, Adrian rushed off.

“Um… excuse me, Sir Carl. Is that thing about turning into a mythical weapon really true? For it's the first time I am hearing of it,” the paladin asked from beside me.

I looked at the paladin from head to toe, unable to control my sarcasm at the tomfoolery. “Who gave a fool like you the post of a paladin? You really believed that nonsense I said back there?” 

“Oh! So it was just something to get the kid to-”

My hand instinctively slapped the back of paladin's broad frame before he could finish his sentence. 

“Listen son, you may be a great paladin or warrior or whatever,” I stated. “but it will be for your own good if you just sit quietly while me and my nephew get at it, are we clear?”

The paladin quietly nodded and went to sit down in a corner, but before he could take a seat, I interrupted him again. “Also, since you are a paladin and whatnot, why don’t you check out the armory, I think you will find a few things of your liking there.”

On hearing this, the lad’s face lit up, “Oh how generous sir. Thank you." The paladin hastily walked to the armory as I looked at Adrian still engrossed in the book that I had recommended him to read.

“At the rate yer goin’ kid, you’ll take a whole year to complete that sword. Come let’s get-” 

I was interrupted by the paladin shouting from the armory. “Hey are these cinderdium and bolymite swords for sale Car-”

“SHUT THE HELL UP FOR A SECOND AND TAKE WHATEVER YOU WANT YOU BUTT OF A BLADE!” I sighed, exasperated by the paladin’s incessant interruptions. “Now where was I? Right. Adrian, let’s get started. I’ll show you how to get around all this.” With that me and Adrian went into the main forgery as the paladin lad stood gaping at the various items on display.

        Aero

Carl ordered Adrian to come over to the forging area and put on the fireproof gloves and apron he had handed him.

“Okay kid, the first thing we will need to do is have a sturdy core for yer blade, for what I have seen run off the mill mana steel ain’t cutting it for ya,” Carl explained to Adrian as they headed to the forge.

As Carl started heating up the refinery, he continued explaining. “Kid can ye get the bolymite ore from ‘ver there? We will need to melt it down and refine it, it's the purple lookin rock lying there.”

Adrian ran off to fetch the ore from the storage pile at the corner of the room, he looked over and found a decently sized purplish rock in one of the bins. “Here it is!” he exclaimed as he went to pick up the rock, which to his surprise was way heavier than it looked.

“Holy hell, Carl!” Adrian shouted out. “Are you sure this is the right one? This thing is too heavy to lift as it is, let alone be turned into a sword,” he complained while bringing the ore over to the forge.

“Just bring that ‘ver here kid,” Carl said while sighing. “That what you have ‘ver there ain’t a normal metal, that amount alone can feed an entire household for several days if sold.”

Watching all this from a few feet away I casually remarked, “That’s quite an expensive metal you are using for the blade, kid. Sounds like the sword’s gonna be a real sturdy one. It’s hard to get one’s hands on such a huge lump of bolymite nowadays you know?”

Adrian got a bit uneasy on hearing all this, “Then…. I can't use this metal. I could never afford this Carl. Can't we choose another one?” he said in a sheepish tone.

Carl just laughed. “Eh kid, why are ye worried ‘bout that. Just take it. I can't have a half-baked sword going out of my forge which will break just as soon as it is used.” As he turned to me, he continued. “Besides, I could always charge your old man or that paladin ‘ver there.”

Carl gave a hefty stomp on my foot which went unnoticed by Adrian but caused me to jump up and follow along with the smith’s intentions. “R-r-right Adrian. Just take the damn metal. Don’t worry about the cost. It's such a wonderful ore, it’d be a waste not to use it.” Adrian gave a confused look before turning back as he happily carried off the metal to the main table.

I rubbed my foot while sitting down on a nearby stool as Carl walked off behind Adrian. Unwilling to admit it, my thoughts had completely been captured by Carl’s actions. Just a cubic centimeter of bolymite ore went for a minimum of 1,000 seths. And a cubic centimeter of refined bolymite metal was at least 5,000 seths. The size of the ore that Carl had allowed Adrian to use for the sword was almost 200 cubic centimeters. That came up to a minimum of a million seths for just a metal in the blade.

That was enough to last an average family in the city for 5 years. And Carl was ready to shrug that off for forging Adrian’s sword. I had seen people being selfless, but this was way too much. Looking at Carl happily smiling and explaining smithing to Adrian in the forging room, my lips twitched.

 “It seems I have yet to see and learn a lot more in this world,” I thought to myself.

After that chatter, both Adrian and Carl got to work as I kept watching over Adrian from the raised platform above the forging area.

Adrian was sweating profusely as he helped Carl to take the ground ore powder to put it in the kiln, as the scorching heat of the furnace singed his skin gently. Then he helped Carl arrange the mold in which the sword was supposed to be formed, holding it down firmly as Carl poured the scorching hot molten metal down the mold.

After a few minutes they cracked open the mold as Carl carefully drew out a lush blackish blade in the shape of a straight long sword. “Well, now we get down to the hard part, of grinding this beauty into shape,” he exclaimed to Adrian while holding the rough blade in front of him. “But that’s work for another day,” Carl said as he put the blade away. “For now, kid, you should go and get some rest.”

“Wait, why can't we just finish it today?” Adrian asked desperately.

“Good blades need time to be built, kid” Carl said to Adrian with a smile on his face. “Plus, it’s night already, and your friend over there looks like he’s getting a little too comfortable here,” he explained while pointing at me, as I found myself lazily lounging with my feet on top of one of the tables at the raised platforms, with a book about smithing techniques in my hand. 

“It’s good to be eager to finish yer sword kid, but never hasten smithing. The best smithin’ products are the result of a lot’ of time and patience ye hear me? Now take that paladin out of my shop to somewhere he can get some comfortable sleep.”

Adrian walked towards me as he paused midway for a bit. He looked back at Carl and said “Carl… I don’t know how to say this but…. thanks.”

Before Adrian could notice the subtle smile starting to form on his face, Carl turned his back to Adrian “Ya right jus’ get going kid. You still have to come back and work tomorrow.”

 Adrian nodded and with a slight smile on his face. He picked up his backpack as we headed for Hilda’s inn once more.

The warmth that remained in the air after the sun had set and the gentle Autumn breeze blowing on my face was relaxing after the long day at the smith’s. Adrian had been so immersed in the forging that he hadn’t noticed the flow of time.

As we walked, I started talking to break the silence “So how did trying your hand at forging feel kid? It was your first time I suppose?”

Adrian smiled, “To be honest, I had thought it’d be really strenuous, but we seem to be leaving that work for tomorrow. Carl mentioned we’ll be done in about three days if we continue at this pace.”

I let out a chuckle. “Three diligent days for a single sword. Damn kid, you both are being quite extravagant. This sword is sure to turn out great if Carl is actually being serious about it.”

“Is Carl that famous?” Adrian asked me out of the blue.

I looked at the kid from head to toe as if seeing some alien creature for the first time. “Didn’t you tell me you knew Carl?”

“But… I just knew he is our local blacksmith we all go to for our repairs and daily smithing necessities.” Adrian looked a bit confused.

I stared at him and then burst out laughing, unable to contain my amusement.

“So you really are a privileged brat. Carl, or should I say, Carl Mint the Fourth, is one of the eight legendary blacksmiths of the current era. He comes from the Mint lineage, one of the oldest surviving lineages of blacksmiths. The Mint family became prominent during the Dagan Veron war as they used to make swords that were capable of penetrating the thick scales of the Dagans. These swords would almost never rust, and records say they could even slice through stones.

The eight legendary blacksmiths of the current era are the ones who helped out in the first onslaught of the third great disaster. They had made swords for the paladins, and they were revered as the most skilled blacksmiths of their time. Carl had proven himself capable by making a hundred whole swords of extremely high quality in just a week. That’s an impossible feat if you ask me though, most probably a rumor. But that doesn’t change the fact that even the arch-bishop holds great respect for his work. I’m amazed by the fact that he never once mentioned it to you. He sure is a humble old man huh?”

As we finished talking, Hilda’s inn came into view. 

“Well, we part ways here kid. Keep up the work on your sword. I’ll meet you at Sir Carl’s on the third day, during the evening. Hope the sword will be finished by then.”