Large Beast Trap

After returning to the castle for breakfast that morning, Abel rested for two hours before returning to his exclusive workshop in the Blacksmith Shop.

In his previous life, when Abel had worked as a fitness trainer, he had often gone hiking in the wilderness with friends and gained extensive hunting experience.

This time, relying on his memories from his previous life, Abel wanted to make a Large Beast Trap. As Master Bentham had explained, those Wolf Riders were fast and agile, making them difficult to trap. Without sufficient forces to surround them, the Wolf Riders could attack when advancing and defend when retreating, making them extremely difficult to eliminate. But things would be different with a beast trap. Once a dire wolf's foot was caught, it would at least be injured. As long as the dire wolf's speed was neutralized, the Wolf Riders would no longer pose a threat.

The beasts and even the people of this world were much stronger than the beasts and people of Earth in his previous life. Abel estimated that only a Large Beast Trap could injure those Wolf Riders.

The Large Beast Trap consisted of a large compression spring, two toothed jaws, a trigger, a frame that opened the jaws, and a chain.

After the compression spring was flattened under tremendous force, the trigger held it gently in place, creating enormous spring-loaded clamping power. Once the trigger was touched, the two toothed jaws instantly released, snapped shut, and clamped onto the prey. Because the two toothed jaws had not fully closed or returned to their original position, the more the prey struggled, the tighter they clamped.

It was easy to imagine that if a dire wolf's foot were caught in such a Large Beast Trap, then at the Wolf Rider's speed, the pain in the trapped foot, combined with the chain holding it in place, would send the werewolf riding on its back flying straight off...

This world had no such Large Beast Traps, and placing them would not attract the orcs' attention. With a few concealment measures added, the orcs would be even less likely to discover them.

Making the beast traps was simple. The only troublesome part was the compression spring. According to Abel's memories, the steel used for the spring needed a higher carbon content so that the steel would retain its elasticity.

Abel used Hundred Refinements Blank for experiments. After repeated carburizing operations, he made many small samples using different carburizing ratios. After testing them, he found the sample with the best results and finally settled on the manufacturing process.

Next, Abel began producing them in large quantities. He made ten compression springs, and seeing that he still had plenty of material left, he also made several large spiral springs to use as shock absorbers when upgrading the carriage in the future.

As for the other components of the Large Beast Trap, Abel did not make them himself. That would have taken too much time. With the compression springs, which had the highest requirements, finished, the other parts only needed to be made of ordinary iron. He left that work to the other blacksmiths in the Blacksmith Shop.

Abel summoned his senior fellow disciple, Gaden, and asked him to oversee the production of the required components according to the dimensions on Abel's drawings, completing them within two days. Gaden naturally had no problem with Abel's request and agreed to have several of the most skilled blacksmiths work overtime to finish them.

Early the next morning, when Abel arrived at the Blacksmith Shop, Gaden told him with a pair of red-rimmed eyes, "Master Abel, all the components have been made according to your requirements. They're all in your workshop."

Abel was pleasantly surprised. He had thought it would take at least two days, but unexpectedly, everything had been finished in just one night. However, seeing Gaden's bloodshot eyes, he could not help saying, "Why didn't you rest last night? These components didn't need to be finished so urgently."

"Several blacksmiths heard that it was an assignment from you, so none of them were willing to delay. That's why they worked through the night." Gaden did not mention himself, instead speaking of the other blacksmiths in front of Abel.

"Go get some rest. The next time I forge a Hundred Refinements Greatsword, you and the other blacksmiths can watch from the side," Abel said with a smile.

"Thank you, Master Abel. I'll go tell them right away." After thanking Abel, Gaden turned around and ran off.

Abel entered the workshop and saw a pile of components arranged on the floor. They had already been divided into ten sets. These details were enough to show Gaden's carefulness.

Assembling the Large Beast Traps required some strength, but Abel had never lacked strength. In just half an hour, all ten Large Beast Traps had been assembled.

He brought over two packhorses and placed five Large Beast Traps on each one. After securing them firmly, Abel shook them by hand to make sure there were no problems.

Behind Hari Castle was a forest. Abel had been busy ever since arriving at the castle and had never ventured deep into this forest. He had always heard that large beasts appeared there, so today he decided to test the Large Beast Traps in the forest.

Although the castle had already begun tightening security, no guards questioned Abel when he led the two packhorses out. Abel's status was different from when he had first arrived. Everyone had already heard that he had become a master blacksmith. In this world, the title of master in any profession belonged to the small number of people at the very pinnacle of that profession. Such masters would be respected anywhere on the Holy Continent.

It was now the afternoon, when the sunlight was at its brightest. Sunlight streamed through gaps between the leaves, forming patches of light that scattered across the ground covered in fallen leaves. Abel's footsteps made dull scraping sounds, while the two packhorses seemed less than fond of the forest environment, occasionally snorting through their noses.

After walking for about half an hour, Abel felt that he had reached deep into the forest. He had not seen any large beasts along the way, but the broad patches of beast dung he occasionally found showed that large beasts had appeared here. There were no signs of human habitation anymore; he had not seen any traces of human activity for the past ten minutes. He had arrived at a suitable place to set up the Large Beast Traps. Because of the hidden danger posed by the traps, they could not be placed anywhere people might pass.

Abel squatted down and searched the ground for animal trails. Beasts always liked to travel back and forth along the same roads. The ground repeatedly trampled by beasts formed a faint path, and experienced hunters would use such trails to set their traps.

Although Abel did not have much experience, he had received training in this area. After observing carefully, he found an animal trail. He took two Large Beast Traps down from the packhorses, forced the jaws open, and set the triggers. Placing the two Large Beast Traps required precision. He had to calculate the beast's stride so that even if it escaped the first Large Beast Trap, it would still be caught by the second.

After setting them up, Abel made a mark on a tree. This mark would remind him that there was a trap here when he passed by again, and it would also make it easier for him to return later and retrieve the Large Beast Trap. In addition, all of Abel's marks had arrows pointing toward the direction from which he had come, allowing him to easily find his way home through the forest.

Continuing forward, Abel searched for animal trails and installed a Large Beast Trap every ten minutes or so. Gradually, he walked for more than another hour, until all the Large Beast Traps had been set.

By then, the sky was slowly darkening. Abel was preparing to pack up and return to the castle. There were only two hours left before nightfall, and he could still see the ground clearly if he left now.

Just then, a howl came from the distance. It carried both pain and fury.

A beast had been caught in one of the traps. Abel immediately thought of the reason. In this forest, the only thing that could make a beast cry out like that was probably his Large Beast Trap.

After tying the two packhorses to a tree, Abel ran toward the sound. As he ran, he observed his surroundings and searched for the marks he had made. He had to avoid being caught in his own trap; that would have been a great joke.

After running for ten minutes, Abel spotted his mark ahead. He slowed down and approached the trap carefully.

Although the two toothed jaws of the Large Beast Trap had closed, there was no prey inside. Abel squatted down and ran his hand over the iron teeth of the jaws. There was blood.

This definitely was not a beast. Although Abel did not know what had triggered the trap, given a beast's intelligence and abilities, it would be difficult for one to escape the trap without the help of hands. If it were a powerful ferocious beast, it should have destroyed the Large Beast Trap instead of merely forcing the jaws apart as they were now.

Could it be a human? Abel shook his head. The sound he had heard just now had clearly not been human. Of that, he was certain.