Master Of None

Midnight had started to train her flying again with Illias' rude tactic to surprise her and force her dragon instincts to take over. It wasn't a bad idea but Midnight had fully decided she hated it and would get revenge when she was more powerful than Illia. Meanwhile, The wandering blacksmith was carving the pieces of the centennial ice he would be fusing with the metals he had. The cold iron ore, blue koi scales, and centennial ice would be his base materials with the cracked frost dragon scales from Illia as the melding material. 

He had drawn out the hammer and planned to allow it to have a cooling effect on metal. This would help when he was forging against Midnight's golden flames to keep the metal from getting too hot and melting in to a molten puddle. It would also go to preserve the mana that was naturally in the metals and balance the parts that would come together to form the weapon that was being made for Walker. 

Walker burst in to the forge with a slight sheen of sweat on his face from training still. He had realized the time and rushed over to the forge so that the wandering blacksmith wouldn't feel forgotten. He also wanted to see the progress being made on the tools that were needed. It was also a good chance for the spirit mark to absorb the remnant mana from the materials used to strengthen Fleur who was still slumbering after awakening. 

"I made it. What do you have that you want me to work on? Just name it and it will be done." Walker's confident voice was enough for the wandering blacksmith to smile. He was glad that Walker had come on time since he needed help preparing the smaller tools. 

Once the blue print had been thrust in to his hands, Walker was confused and curious, "Do you really want me to make this small carving hammer? It is one of your most used little tools. I don't want to mess it up. You would be wasting materials on my failures." Walker feared that he would end u just throwing away the materials that they had worked hard to get. If so, he would be the worst kind of blacksmith. One that did not result in anything. 

There was a slight wave and a smirk from the wandering blacksmith before he focused on melding the frost dragon scales in to the cold iron. It was a process that required low and slow heat paired with an extremely watchful eye. This was a test for even the most experienced blacksmith and Walker would need to copy the wandering blacksmith here to make a smaller tool compared to the large forging hammer that was being made first. 

The materials were already set out of each other tools being made today in the table. They had been paired with their blue prints and even some hand written notes so that neither of them would forget the important details of each. It was a wealth of experience and knowledge that Walker was soaking up. He had started to create a small journal called the trick of the wandering blacksmith. It was sure to be a journal that many would kill for one day, however, it was just a personal notebook for Walker to refer to when he was forging or learning by himself. 

The very low flames in the forge were not what Walker had become used to. They were just enough to heat and cause the cold iron to melt. This was a surprise to Walker since normal iron would need much hotter temperatures than this. The water elemental mana was causing the heat and iron to meld much faster and the cold iron to act like melting ice. 

What was more interesting was the fact that the first scales began to soak up the cold iron and fuse with it. This was similar to a sponge and water but the scales then began to change shape and glow like metal. This was the wide difference when it came to elemental affinity materials. Each would react differently and learning how they would be the key to working with them. 

The blue koi scales were the next added material. The wandering blacksmith pulled the metal from the fire and added the koi scales. They were folded in to the metal and slowly became part of it. The result was a metal that became more dense and harder to fold over and over. When the large piece of carved centennial ice was added things became frantic. 

The wandering blacksmith was moving incredibly fast to fold the metal around the chunk of carved centennial ice. The centennial ice was becoming the center of the hammer while the metal was sealing it up. This would trap the water elemental mana and also the ice inside. It would then be carved with runes so that the cooling effect could be manipulated as desired with the wielder's mana. 

This was not the end though. The wandering blacksmith pulled a round metal rod made from cold iron and hammered it in to the bottom of the piece of metal. This was the handle being attacked before the metal fully cooled due to the centennial ice. It was a process that used the most strength and finally sealed the centennial ice within. 

The heavy breathing was clear to Walker. It showed the great effort needed to make this new hammer and how much skill would go in to it over the next years. The work was far from done however, the wandering blacksmith had to carve the runes and wrap the handle with leather. This left Walker to start on the small carving hammer made of the same materials that the wandering blacksmith had just used It would be a true test of any skills that Walker had developed in forging. 

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