Chapter 101: Skyrocketing Improvement

Chapter 101: Skyrocketing Improvement

After Ryan tactfully informed Ragle about Broris' intentions, Ragle didn't mind the observation and readily agreed.

Perhaps, in the eyes of Ragle, a senior blacksmith, the ordinary blacksmiths in town wouldn't be able to learn much from observing her work.

Just the flux part required a precise ratio of white fluorite and barbarian blood, which would be an insurmountable challenge for an ordinary blacksmith.

However, Ryan thought of something and quietly asked Ragle, "Ragle, can the greatsword be infused with both radiant stone and star iron?"

"Oh, you mean meteor iron. I don't know what you call it in your barbarian tribe," Ryan explained.

Ragle's eyes lit up, and she replied, "Of course. Do you have star iron? I was a bit worried that using only radiant stone might make the sword's hardness and toughness a bit weak. That would require more attention during the forging process."

"But if a small amount of star iron is added, I can assure you that your new weapon will be above the standard of radiant stone weapons even in our barbarian tribe."

Ryan smiled mysteriously and said, "I'll have it soon."

Then, Ryan took Broris to a corner and, after some haggling and allowing Broris to observe, a condition he couldn't refuse, Ryan successfully acquired Broris' prized possession, the star iron, for thirty imperial gold coins.

Of course, this price was due to the star iron being only slightly larger than a fist.

But it was more than enough to be infused into the greatsword to enhance its hardness and toughness.

Broris, with a mix of joy and heartache, immediately announced that the blacksmith shop would be closed for the day.

Ryan initially thought that Broris, who was usually stingy, had given the blacksmith apprentices a day off. Logically, these apprentices, who had long complained about Broris' stinginess, should have been overjoyed.

But when Broris announced the news, the apprentices looked at each other in surprise. Then, they all found reasons to stay and continue working.

However, Ryan soon realized from their occasional glances at Ragle that their intentions were not entirely pure.

In the end, Broris forced the apprentices to leave!

Ryan and Broris closed the blacksmith shop, hung a sign saying 'Closed,' and returned to the courtyard to assist Ragle.

However, they were surprised to see that Ragle had already started on her own.

Ragle had already mixed some clay and was building a small, cylindrical furnace, seemingly intended for melting Ryan's radiant stone.

Although the blacksmith shop had a regular furnace, Ragle was using it to melt the star iron.

Considering the small size of Ryan's radiant stone, the furnace's base diameter was only slightly larger than a washbasin, and its height was about one meter.

Soon, Ragle finished the construction and began to carefully add charcoal to the furnace.

Ryan, eager to participate in the creation of the radiant stone weapon, felt itchy with anticipation.

After some thought, Ragle realized there was nothing Ryan could help with, so she said earnestly, "Ryan, I really don't need your help. I can handle it myself."

As Ragle's words fell, Ryan imagined a wave of blacksmithing experience slipping away.

His mind racing, Ryan came up with a reason that wasn't really a reason. He straightened his face and said, "Ragle, since this is my greatsword, please assign me some tasks so I can be involved."

Ryan emphasized the word 'my' to make his point.

Although Ragle didn't understand Ryan's enthusiasm, she agreed to his request, considering it was his weapon and a reasonable desire to be involved.

Without further thought, Ragle nodded in agreement.

Ryan breathed a sigh of relief, relieved to be included.

However, Ragle couldn't find any tasks for Ryan, so she casually said, "Ryan, you can help by installing the bellows and pipes for this small furnace."

"Install the bellows?" Ryan was taken aback. He didn't have the skill to do that.

Broris, seeing Ryan's stunned expression, couldn't help but laugh. "Ryan, come with me, and I'll show you how it's done."

It was clear that Broris was in a good mood.

Not every blacksmith had the opportunity to witness the creation of a radiant stone weapon.

Soon, Ryan followed Broris to the storage room and brought out a set of bellows equipment.

It mainly consisted of a rough iron pipe over two meters long and a floor-standing circular bellows made by sewing multiple layers of cowhide together. By pulling and pushing the bellows, air could be drawn into the furnace.

Under Broris' guidance, Ryan connected one end of the iron pipe to the furnace and the other end to the bellows.

"Good job, Ryan!" Ragle inspected the setup and nodded in approval, indicating that Ryan had done well.

"Almost there. Keep adding charcoal to heat the clay until it solidifies, and then we can start melting the radiant stone." Ragle patted the clay in her hand and stood up.

"Is that it?" Broris exclaimed in surprise, unable to understand why Ragle was using such a simple method for melting the radiant stone.

This method was typically used for melting brown iron ore, red iron ore, and other basic iron ores.

Broris didn't know the exact melting point of the radiated stone, but he knew it was much higher than that of iron ore.

Instinctively, he felt that this wouldn't work, but seeing La Glei's natural expression, Broris swallowed his words.

After all, he had finally obtained permission to observe, and he didn't want to lose that privilege because of his big mouth.

"Yeah, just put the radiated stone and charcoal together in a while." La Glei said confidently.

After everything was ready.

La Glei placed the radiated stone, which emitted a soft glow, into the newly dried clay furnace along with the charcoal.

"Rain, will you be bellows?" La Glei asked.

"Of course, bellows are my specialty!" Rain nodded confidently.

Finally, it was time for the part he was familiar with!

[You performed the bellows task, and your understanding of it has increased!]



[Your Bellows skill has improved, and you gained 3 experience points.]



[You focused on the bellows, and your Blacksmithing profession experience has increased.]



About half an hour later, La Glei began the most crucial part of the process.

She took out two walnut-sized white stones from her waist pouch, which were probably white fluorite. She placed one into the furnace where the star iron was being smelted, instructing Broris to carefully observe the changes on the surface of the star iron.

The other stone was placed into the furnace with the radiated stone, and immediately, La Glei used a small knife to cut her wrist, and a trickle of blood flowed out and dripped onto the radiated stone.

"La Glei, didn't you say you only needed a little blood? Why did you do this?" Rain's heart was both surprised and touched.

Just as Rain was about to stop bellows and rush over to stop La Glei, she said, "Don't stop. If you stop now, it won't be enough.

This gave Rain a strange feeling.

At this moment, La Glei seemed to emit an invisible power, as if the birth of a radiated stone weapon required this process.

This made Rain's body, which had just stood up, freeze for a moment, and he could only continue bellows vigorously, looking at La Glei with a mix of admiration and concern.

Fortunately, this process didn't last too long.

Seeming to have determined that the blood was sufficient, La Glei quickly took out a white linen bandage to wrap her wound.

After about half an hour.

The impurities in the radiated stone gradually melted into slag, flowing out of the furnace's mouth like lava.

The essence of the radiated stone in the furnace was now only the size of an egg, soft like rubber, but its glow was ten times stronger.

"It's almost done! I'm going to take it out and forge it." La Glei checked again and said to Rain.

La Glei held the glowing radiated stone with a pair of fire tongs in one hand and a heavy hammer in the other, beginning to strike it.

"Ding, ding!"

With each strike, sparks flew, and the glow of the radiated stone seemed even brighter, but the white bandage on La Glei's wrist turned a shade of red.

"Let me do it?" Broris and Rain spoke in unison.

"No! Your strength is not enough to further remove the impurities." La Glei glanced at Broris and shook her head in refusal.

This made Broris blush a little, having been a blacksmith for half his life, he was told by a young girl that his strength was insufficient.

"I'll do it!" Rain, who was skilled in using the hammer, was still confident.

"Can you?" La Glei, with a slightly pale face, glanced at Rain.

Rain seemed to have enough strength, but how skilled was he with the hammer?

After bleeding, La Glei did feel a bit tired, and if she could conserve some energy for the subsequent forging process, it would obviously ensure better quality for the greatsword.

"Don't worry! With you guiding me, it should be fine. Besides, if I can't do it, you can take over later."

"Okay, go ahead."

"It's too heavy! Lighter!"

"Okay! Like this?"

"Yes, that's good. This weight is just right."

After continuous forging for half an hour, when the impurities were mostly removed, La Glei had Rain forge the radiated stone into a thin, long strip.

The star iron underwent the same process.

Then, La Glei used a pair of fire tongs to take out the red-hot greatsword from the original furnace, and with the other hand, she used a pair of tongs to place the thin strips of radiated stone and star iron on top of the sword.

She then directed Rain to repeatedly forge them with the hammer.

"Ding, ding!"

With each strike, the greatsword's fusion with the radiated stone and star iron deepened.

"Fold it over."

"Fold it?" Rain asked in surprise.

"Yes!" La Glei stepped forward, replacing Rain, and folded the star iron, radiated stone, and sword together in the middle, placing them on top of each other.

After repeating this process twice.

Rain's greatsword no longer resembled its original appearance, instead, it had transformed into a rectangular iron bar about 20-30 centimeters long and 10 centimeters thick.

"Forge it into a sword blank."

"Okay." Rain vigorously swung the hammer.

After repeating this process multiple times, the final stages of shaping, tempering, and polishing began. These processes were more delicate and were completed by La Glei herself.

And finally, Rain had time to check the system notifications:

[You performed the dual-bladed greatsword forging task, and your understanding has increased!]



[Your Dual-Bladed Greatsword Forging skill has improved, and you gained 1 experience point.]



[You focused on dual-bladed greatsword forging, and your Blacksmithing profession experience has increased.]



[Your Radiated Stone Forging skill has improved, and you gained 1 experience point.]



[You focused on radiated stone forging, and your Blacksmithing profession experience has increased by 5.]



[Congratulations! Your Blacksmithing profession level has increased!]



Indeed, Rain looked at his Blacksmithing profession level, which had now reached level 3, and his heart felt as sweet as honey.

And what awaited him next was an even bigger surprise.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end