Hundred Refinements Greatsword

Although he had advanced to become a Level 5 Apprentice Knight, Abel's spirits were still poor. Seeing his condition, Master Bentham hurriedly told him to get some proper rest, while Knight Marshall led Abel out of the Blacksmith Shop and headed outside.

After leaving the Blacksmith Shop, they soon saw Knight Marshall's carriage racing toward them from far away. Abel could not help glancing down at the knight's boots, which were covered in mud. The journey from the castle to the Blacksmith Shop took more than twenty minutes by carriage, but Knight Marshall had been too impatient to wait and had run over himself to arrive as quickly as possible.

It had to be known that Knight Marshall was a nobleman with a fief. Running wildly through his own territory was extremely embarrassing for someone of his status, yet Knight Marshall had done it for Abel.

Abel looked at Knight Marshall's delighted face. This knight, who cared especially about his dignity, was covered in grime, yet he was happy because Abel had advanced. Abel's heart warmed, and he said softly, "Uncle Marshall, thank you for everything you've done for me."

"What are children thinking so much for?" Knight Marshall patted Abel's head, pulled him into the carriage, and rode toward the castle beneath the sunlight.

"Ding, ding, ding." The next morning, Abel arrived at the Blacksmith Shop early and asked Master Bentham for a separate workshop. The master knew this was Abel's first time forging a greatsword and that he did not want anyone to disturb him, so he agreed.

Abel did not want anyone else to see how he forged this greatsword, because he intended to use several techniques that no one here had ever seen before: the carburizing and quenching techniques he had learned from science programs on Earth.

A sword's blank had to be forged repeatedly to reduce its carbon content. The lower the carbon content, the higher the blank's quality. However, after the greatsword had taken shape, carburizing could be used to add some carbon to the blade, increasing its hardness.

Abel placed the shaped greatsword into a crucible. It had been specially fired for him and was just large enough to hold a greatsword. He had prepared it several days earlier. He covered the greatsword inside the crucible with charcoal, fermented black beans, and soil, then sealed the crucible and placed it in the furnace to heat.

The charcoal and fermented black beans were naturally used for carburizing, while the soil still served as a dispersing agent. The advantage of this carburizing technique was that it produced an extremely even and stable layer of carburization, with a high carbon potential and excellent efficiency and results. In fact, this technique was still used on modern Earth. It was known as the "pack carburizing method."

As for quenching, this world also had its own quenching technique: throwing the sword into cold water for rapid cooling. However, this greatly increased the rate of defective products. The rapid thermal expansion and contraction from hot iron to cold water caused the internal stresses in the metal to become unbalanced during quenching, resulting in cracks when the sword was placed in the water. Sometimes, even if the sword survived the quenching, cracks would appear after it had been removed and left for some time.

The quenching technique Abel used this time was a relatively special one, a method for reworking ancient swords that he had seen on a science program. After removing the greatsword from the crucible, he first rubbed it back and forth over charcoal so the charcoal could fully contact the blade. He then placed it into a quenching barrel containing half water and half animal fat. The greatsword, heated to nearly a thousand degrees, entered the animal fat first. The fat absorbed a great deal of heat, but its heat conductivity was not fast, so the greatsword would not be affected by stress. It then entered the cold water. By then, its temperature was no longer as high as before, and the greatsword underwent a second quenching in the water.

Once the greatsword had cooled, Abel took it out of the quenching barrel and flicked the blade with his finger. It gave off a crisp ring. Although he did not know how good the sword's quality was yet, the greatsword had been completed.

He called servants to clean up everything in the workshop. Abel did not want anyone to draw any conclusions from those objects. Inventing things in this world was an extremely dangerous matter.

"Gaden, could you help me find someone to make a hilt for the sword?" Abel found Gaden busy at work and asked somewhat awkwardly.

Some sword hilts were made of iron, some of wood, and some of ox horn or other relatively hard materials. Abel had never learned the craft of carving sword hilts, so he could only seek Gaden's help.

"Is this the first greatsword you've made?" Gaden took the greatsword from Abel and examined it carefully. In an excited, slightly hoarse voice, he said, "Is this a Hundred Refinements Greatsword? Good heavens, this is a Hundred Refinements Greatsword."

Gaden had been studying under Master Bentham here for five years, yet he could only forge a Sixty Refinements sword. A Hundred Refinements sword had always been Gaden's dream.

"Young Master Abel, you truly are a genius." Gaden praised him sincerely. He then gently stroked the blade, as if he had discovered something. He tapped the spine lightly with his finger and pressed his ear against it, listening carefully to the greatsword's reverberation.

"This is impossible. How could this be?"

The sword displayed the quality of a Hundred Refinements sword, but its blade was far harder than that of an ordinary Hundred Refinements Greatsword. Master Bentham made one Hundred Refinements Greatsword every month. These swords were one of Hari Castle's sources of wealth. Gaden not only watched the master forge swords, but also maintained these Hundred Refinements Greatswords, so he was far more familiar with them than anyone else.

The surface of Abel's greatsword was extremely unusual and differed greatly from the Hundred Refinements Greatswords Master Bentham usually forged. Gaden could not explain exactly what was different, but his experience told him that this sword surpassed the other Hundred Refinements Greatswords.

To verify this, Gaden swung the greatsword at a block of wood intended for firewood. It passed through almost effortlessly, like a hot knife through butter, silently splitting the block into two pieces.

"How did you make this greatsword?" Gaden was desperate to learn about it.

"I only forged it according to your guidance. When I encountered difficulties, Master Bentham helped me," Abel explained.

Gaden seemed to misunderstand and assumed the sword was so good because Master Bentham had helped Abel complete the final stages. He secretly resolved to study diligently under the master so that he, too, could forge such a weapon in the future.

"I've collected some excellent ox horns. They'll be perfect for the greatsword's handle. I'll install it for you tonight and find a scabbard to match. Can this sword stay with me?" Gaden's thoughts were simple. The method used to forge this sword was extremely strange, and keeping it for one night would let him study it carefully, which would greatly benefit his own forging skills.

That night, Gaden did not sleep at all. He installed the handle using the finest ox horn and found a crocodile-skin scabbard. He then spent the rest of the night carefully examining the strange greatsword by lamplight.

The next morning, Gaden brought the greatsword to the Blacksmith Shop. A night's observation had left him utterly astonished. If he had not been afraid of damaging Abel's sword, he would have taken it and clashed it against one of the Hundred Refinements swords in the master's storeroom.

"Gaden, what's wrong with you?" Master Bentham could not help feeling puzzled when he saw Gaden's bloodshot eyes. Why did this honest man look as though he had not slept all night?

"Master, I can't understand the sword you made for Abel. I spent all last night thinking about it." Gaden scratched his head and looked at Master Bentham awkwardly, wondering if he was simply too stupid.

Master Bentham took the greatsword and drew it from its scabbard as he said, "This is the greatsword Abel forged yesterday. I only taught him how to forge a Hundred Refinements Blank the day before yesterday. When you reach the bottleneck of Eighty Refinements, I'll teach you as well."

"This is that greatsword? The one Abel forged?" Master Bentham was also somewhat shocked. The master's experience far surpassed Gaden's. The techniques contained in this greatsword could be called a family's secret art—a secret art that improved a weapon's hardness and sharpness. Although the master was deeply tempted by such a secret art, he knew that probing into a family's secrets meant making a mortal enemy of that family, regardless of whether the secret belonged to the Hari Family or the Bennett Family.

No wonder Abel had asked to use a separate workshop yesterday. It turned out that Abel had intended to use a family secret art to forge the greatsword. His actions now made sense.

Master Bentham warned Gaden not to question Abel about the matter and to act as though nothing had ever happened.