Valerian, The Legendary

252 Layers.

Valerian stood in front of the timid-looking girl, and asked, “Why do you not go inside the shop and talk to him?”

Shiba shivered at the thought and said, “It’s not like I do not want to go in, that old man does not listen to reason at all, I am weak, and my physique is different from men’s. Do you think I can follow his way of forging?”

Valerian humm thoughtfully and said, “Then, from what I can understand is that the old man wants to pass down his skill set but you as a girl cannot follow his wishes, so not to let the family tradition die down, you created a style of your own.”

Shiba looked at him in surprise and said, “You make me seem like some valiant hero.”

The prince shook his head and said, “I am only looking for the logic. From what I can see, the old man is so stressed these days that his temper is getting a nick bit worse every day.”

Shiba nodded and said, “If the temper of the old man keeps getting worse, then it will make his skill deteriorate as well. The rest of the people may not understand this but I do. I have seen this happen when my mother passed away. At that time, I did not know what to do.

My father was decadent and did not express much of his love to me, but only I know that he loves me a lot. Otherwise, will he be so angry with someone he does not care for?”

Valerian nodded and said, “You do have a point. However, the situation is not going to solve itself. You two need to talk.”

Shiba sighed and said, “Last time I tried to talk to him, and was almost beaten up. I am scared of enraging him you know.”

.....

Valerian nodded and was about to think of a much comfier way for the two to talk to each other, when Shiba said, “You are his apprentice, I hope you can look after him a bit. If possible, help me.”

The young man was surprised, he could see deep pride hidden in her eyes, but at this moment this lady was bowing her head to him for the sake of her father. Valerian had always wanted a family and when he understood what was Shiba longing for, after some deep thought, he said, “Fine, I will try to help you, but no guarantees.”

Shiba nodded and after she cast one more gaze at the door of the shop she decided to walk away. Valerian waited till the girl was out of his sight and with a sigh he walked to the shop.

He opened the door and got inside when he spotted Old man Fern walking out of the forge and exclaimed, “Oh, Valerian, you can start trying your hand at some easy repair work.”

Valerian looked at the old man in confusion and then asked, “You mean like those fixing tasks?”

Fern nodded and said, “You can deal with the shield sent in by the soldiers at the camp. Also, I will be taking the rest of the day off, you will be alone here. Can you manage it?”

Valerian nodded and asked, “Teacher, if you do not mind me asking, why do you need to take a day off?”

Fern revealed a nostalgic smile and said, “I have to visit my wife.”

Valerian understood and nodded to the old man. A few moments later Fern left the store. The prince thought about his promise to Shiba and sighed as he mumbled, “Somethings cannot be rushed.”

Then he took up the dingy shield on the counter and examined it. The shield was a small circle, it was made for the infantry and provide them with better mobility. The marks on the surface were all slash marks and some shallow dents. Valerian flipped the shield on its back and then he began to undo the leather lining on the inside and also removed the handle grip too.

Then he segregated the parts that could be salvaged and dumped the waste into the trash can by the counter. With the shield in his hands, the young boy walked inside the forging room. He placed the shield inside the furnace for a bit, and then with the help of the tongs, he pulled it out and began hammering out the dents and the dings.

It took him a few minutes before the shield was beaten back into shape. He had to make sure that during the process his hammering does not affect the thickness of the shield. If it is too thin, it will be losing out in terms of performance. After the inspections were complete, Valerian added the lining and the handle grip back on and put the shield on the counter outside.

He was thinking of something and decided to make a sword for practice. These days half of his body was covered with mana and battle aura threads, the Maiden told him to prepare a weapon and start sparing with the soldiers around the Sripa Palace.

Valerian selected three metals for this after a few days of learning, they were called, Flame steel, Amicorn, and Silver stardust. These three metals were not good at mana conducting but they were idols for a sword.

Fern had told him, that if a battlemage wished to add magical material to their weapon later, it will be fine. Flame steel was a crimson-colored metal with a high malleability and would serve perfectly to provide flexibility to a blade, and Amicorn was a black high tensile metal. Once it has been smelted and beaten the metal will be hard and strong.

A sword needed to be hard and sharp, but too much hardness will make it brittle and it could snap in between, but adding the flame steel will provide the sword flexibility to absorb the shock from the clashes.

Valerian placed a block of Amicorn, weighing seven kilograms inside the furnace, and a block of Flame steel over the Amicorn block. The Flame steel block was half the quantity and size that of Amicorn.

The young man watched the flames in the furnace heating up the metals. The color of the two blocks turned fiery red and using the tongs Valerian quickly took out the two blocks and placed them on the anvil.

Then he picked up a big hammer and began to swing it down at the blocks. The forging room was echoing with the dinging sound of the hammer hitting the blocks. Valerian was gradually folding the two metals with each other and this process was long and arduous on the body.

Valerian hit the block with complete focus, he did not notice that old man Fern had come back and was standing at a distance watching him go at it. Valerian would place the block inside the furnace from time to time to make sure that the metal retains its heat.

Fern was surprised to see this boy using mana in his eyes to see if the two metals have fused, he never taught Valerian about this. The constant beating sound had gradually changed, and the form of a blunt metal plate was now visible on the anvil.

However, Valerian did not intend to stop. Silver Stardust was a powder material, it provided the products with a layer of sharpness. If Silver stardust was to be added to the blade, then the edge of the blade will cut through the rest of the metals like a hot knife through butter. However, the process to fuse Silver stardust was very delicate, one mistake and will ruin all the effort.

Valerian was calm, as he stoked the blunt blade inside the furnace. Fern frowned when he saw this, but the next moment, he was surprised to see Valerian using a heating bucket to sprinkle the silver stardust over the blade.

Silver stardust was cold metal, and putting it through the furnace would melt it. He wanted to say something when the young man pulled the blade out and began to hammer it at a fast speed.

Fern did not want this guy to fail but watching his crazy growth a setback was necessary. Thinking about this, he stopped himself and let Valerian do what he wanted. The molten silver stardust would harden and make the blade brittle and it will break in the process. That was what he thought.

However, the crackling sound did not come. Valerian started to shape the blade with softer hammer swings. The blade was prepared after a few minutes and then Valerian placed the blade into a pail of water.

The metal fumed and the water began to bubble. Gradually when the blade cool down, Valerian took it out, and Fern could not help but exclaim, “Wave pattern, you managed to forge a blade with a wave pattern.”

Valerian was surprised by his voice, and asked, “What is a wave pattern?”