Dwarfs, as the legend says, at least back on Earth, are a race filled with passion and dedication when it comes to crafting. Well, it seems that it is the same here too. As I stare at Ashtir, it clearly shows how much care he puts into smithing even though he is just making ingots. Imagine how much concentration he will demonstrate if he actually starts crafting weapons. Either way, I am really impressed.
It has been a few hours in the smith. I feel like I am starting to adapt to the heat. Maybe it is the suit? Not sure. The heat is becoming really comfy. I am starting to get sleepy. Or maybe is it because I am still three? My body needs to sleep often? It seems that we still need around 30 minutes to mix the molten iron. Should I take a nap?
Dang! Dang! Dang!
This hammering sound, even though it is very noisy, feels very comfy as well. It is like a lullaby that can put me to sleep. The rhythm of the hammering is so precise that it makes the random smashing sounds into something pleasant instead of annoying alarm sounds.
Alarm?
Yeah, I miss my phone.
It has been 3 years since I touched an actual device. What will happen if I introduce modern technology here? Hahahaha, the dwarfs might actually go crazy, but the technology here is too different from back on Earth. I might need something to fill the gap.
Magic? Does magic exist here?
I have never seen one before, but there are some hints in the books that I have skimmed through before. As my eyes get heavier, the forging sounds start to get softer.
Well, if magic exists, these dwarfs should already be using it, right? But I do not see any hints of magic in this forge. Maybe it does not exist? Or maybe it existed before… I am not sure. Let us worry about it later.
The very well-lit cave suddenly turns into darkness without me even realizing it.
Ashvir! Ashvir! Wake up.
Papa? Where are we?
We are still at the forge. It has been two hours since you have been dozing off.
“How did you make this color? Is this a different type?”
“It might have been cooked differently.”
“Is it better than what we currently use though?”
“Woooh, wooooh, what can we make from these?”
“I think I have seen this kind of metal before. This might be the same one that they are using for the old flags. This might be a phased-out metal that our ancestors were using before.”
“Do you mean it is trash? Even though we have not really tried it?”
“No, no,” then he whistles and looks away.
What is going on, Papa?
“Ohh? That? One of our dwarfs checked on us and tried to bring us some drinks, but he saw the metal that you made with 6 spoons. It turns out the color is different from the metal that we are currently using. It looks like you made a discovery, Ashvir! Congratulations!”
“A discovery? That guy said that it already exists.”
“Well, that guy does not know what he is talking about. HA HA HA.”
“Oooiiiii, give me two of each ingot! We will take them home!”
“You there, try to check the storage to see if there is anything similar in there. You can dig as much as you want and find something.”
“The remaining ingots stay here. Keep one as a backup. I will leave the experimentation to you guys!”
“Yeaaaaahhh!!”
“Let us go home for now, Ashvir. I know you are tired.”
“Uhmmm!”
As the way back, we brought two of each ingot.
Crude iron, a dull gray ingot, has a bit of grain on it. It looks like a chunky ingot. The color is uneven, making it a grayish and blackened hue. It is like all of the tools that we brought were just melted and mixed in, then put into a mold and cooled. I saw Ashtir mixing it very carefully, but why did it turn out this way? Is it because nothing is holding them together? Maybe it is how it is designed to be? Or is it because it was not mixed long enough like the others? Well, it was only mixed for 10 minutes, so that might be it.
Wrought ingot, this one looks cleaner and darker. It feels like it was mixed more than the crude one. It is a solid dark gray ingot. It looks sturdy enough to be used as a weapon or a tool. Maybe. Is it the lowest kind of metal used for durable metalwork? Is it like the black iron in those fantasy world novels that I used to read back then? The lowest class of actually usable metal. Well, I will find out soon.
Steel ingot, well, it is steel, so basically the usual steel that we use back then, but this one looks sturdier. Maybe. That being said, this should be the backbone of weaponry and armor making. Since it is steel, it looks grayish. It is not shiny like the finished product back then at the factory, so this might not be processed yet. Either way, steel is steel.
The last one, the one that I apparently discovered, or maybe rediscovered, has a dark grayish color but not like wrought iron. It is closer to the steel color but has a hint of silver in it. It is very smooth. It has that premium feel when touching the ingot. Come to think of it, it is like an alloy mixed with wrought iron. Maybe it is partially alloy? Does alloy and wrought iron work together though? Is that why that dwarf called it a phased-out material? If it is, they were using these for a reason, at least back then. We just have to make it work, I guess.
Ashvir? Are you still awake?
“Yes, Papa.”
“What makes you think 6 spoons and 50 minutes of mixing will work?”
“Well, Papa, the steel one took 4 spoons and 40 minutes, so maybe adding something into that makes it better? Six is better than four, right? And 50 is better than 40.”
HAHAHAHAHA, that is right. Maybe that kind of thinking is the thing that we are missing.
“Missing?”
“You know, us dwarfs take smithing, crafting, and engineering too seriously. The quality of work makes us what we are. Maybe because we are too focused on honing the things that we usually do, we forgot to experiment and make something new.”
I stared at Ashtir for a few moments, trying to digest what he was saying. It sounds right though. Quality is good, but quality with variety is better? Wait, that does not sound smooth at all.
HAHAHAHAHA! Well, maybe it is too much for you right now, but someday you will understand.
“Uhhhhmmmmm!”
“Did you enjoy the forge!”
“Yeah!!!”
“Really? HAHAHAHAHAHA. I will bring you there again soon once I am free! HAHAHAHAHA.”
Back in the forge, after Ashvir and Ashtir left.
Five dwarfs are trying to meddle with the new ingot that Ashvir and Ashtir left.
“We only have four to work with until Ashtir comes back. How do we want to process this?”
“Well, let us use two of them first.”
“This silverish part of the ingot looks very interesting, but it looks like it is mixed with wrought iron. Should we separate this first?”
“Yeah, yeah, but how?”
“Let us put it in a crucible and heat it enough to melt the wrought part and leave the silver part solid.”
“Wait, what if the silver part melts faster than the wrought part?”
“Let us use two crucibles then. One hot enough to melt the wrought one and one just a bit weaker to make sure that we are not going to melt the wrong part.”
“Yeah, let us do that.”
As the dwarfs started to get creative on how to process the new metal, their tattoos started to glow for a bit, not enough to be easily noticed but clear enough to show a faint red glow on top of the orange light from the fire in the forge.
“OOiiiii!!! I found something similar to that ingot!!! It is at the very back of the storage! Look! It does not have the dark parts of the ingot that we just saw!”
“Yeah!! That is it. It looks just like a silver ingot, but it is not silver! It feels really sturdy.”
“Really! Let me see it, let me see it!”
As the dwarfs gathered and examined the ingot, the dwarf that just returned and brought the ingot noticed something.
“OI!!!! Is your tattoo glowing?”
“Glowing? Wait, what? No, it is not. Are you drunk? It is just the reflection of the coal. Did that storage do something to you? Where did you find this ingot, really?”
“It might just be my imagination then. Well, I found this in a hidden stash in the storage. It seems that we have not explored that area for the past hundreds of years. I found a room that has tons of this ingot. It has strange markings on it. Or maybe it is just too old for me to read, but the end of the markings says something like ‘loy’ on it. Maybe that is what the metal is called?”
“Right, right, all of the ingots there are marked with that ox logo of ours and the tattoo that our boss has. Like the one on that flag!”
“Really? Is he hiding something from us?”
“No, no, everybody knows Ashtir. This may be something that was missed for the past hundreds of years. Yeah, yeah, that is it!”
The dwarf looked at the flag again.
“I might be imagining things, but did that flag just spark red like the one that I saw on your tattoo?”
“Stop drinking during work! I will hit you! Anyways, leave that new ingot behind and let us continue working on what Ashtir left us!”
“Yeaaah!!!!!!!”