Light-Heavy Basic Hammer Technique

Light-Heavy Basic Hammer Technique

Today had truly been thrilling enough. So much had happened during the day, and when he returned at night, Aoduo had even chased him down to kill him. Dole felt that things had been coming one after another lately, throwing his life into a bit of chaos. That was no good sign. He had to become an apprentice quickly and learn to make simple tools. Then he would have money. When the time came, he would buy a house in the commoner district. With patrols in the slums, Aoduo would not dare act so recklessly.

Just thinking about it, Dole felt that his future was bound to be wonderful—definitely better than when his parents had been alive.

But the future was the future. For now, he had to handle what was in front of him.

The new place had no bed, only a hard wooden plank. Dole had no candles either. He had a dictionary but could not read any books. How miserable. In the middle of the afternoon, Dole could not find anywhere warm, so he could only call Dog Aoduo over and prepare to hug it to sleep through the night. Still, Dog Aoduo was quite warm.

Dog Aoduo felt utterly hopeless all night. Damn it, I'm a Hellhound, a level-seven creature, not your body pillow! Dog Aoduo roared inwardly.

Awoo...

A night passed. Though he had hugged Dog Aoduo, his back had still been pressed against the wall, so he was a little cold. When he woke up, his entire body felt stiff. Seeing that dawn was just beginning to break, Dole struggled to his feet and said to Dog Aoduo, "Forget it. We're both going to the blacksmith shop today. Just behave yourself and you'll be fine."

Dog Aoduo took a step back, indicating that it was not going, then lay on the ground and lazily rested its head on its paws.

With such a humanlike response, Dole understood. This was a protest!

Could this fellow really understand what he was saying? He was somewhat doubtful, but this thing was indeed incredibly intelligent. Forget it. If it did not want to go, then it did not have to.

Dole made a few preparations, took his book, and quietly left the new house. Though he knew Aoduo's people were unlikely to be outside, it was better to be safe than sorry.

A new day began.

Verek had arrived early today as well. His complexion was not very good, but he could still work. When he saw Dole arrive, the corners of his mouth immediately curled up into his trademark simple-minded grin.

He knew Dole's status was different now, so he did not order him around. But when he saw Dole still briskly begin tidying things up and lighting the fire, he nodded to himself. Children from the slums matured early and were hardworking. He liked that about them.

As an apprentice, Dole's duties were different from before, and he had much more freedom. He could observe how the blacksmiths made ironware and freely choose which master to follow. He chose Verek.

Now, he was no longer Verek's helper. He was Verek's assistant and apprentice. Verek had a favorable impression of Dole too, so he did not refuse.

At the outermost stall of the blacksmith shop, various household tools were displayed on the left—kitchen cleavers, hoes, and the like. A youth named Lin Rui was specifically assigned to watch over them and would go out to introduce them whenever customers came. On the right were all kinds of weapons, mostly swords: greatswords for battle, slender swords used by sword fighters, broadswords for riding, as well as spears, shields, and other weapons. Everything was available.

In Duomeng City, the one thing they might lack least was all kinds of weapons. Of course, most of these weapons were not sold locally. Every year, many merchant caravans came to purchase them and sell them elsewhere. So most of the time, the blacksmiths accumulated all kinds of weapons and stored them away until the caravans arrived.

The people of this world were fierce and martial. Even ordinary children were required to practice basic combat skills, so common folk sometimes carried weapons as well. Thus, weapons sold far better than ordinary tools.

Now that Dole was an apprentice, when work was not too urgent, he could follow Verek and learn to forge small items, such as kitchen cleavers, slightly more difficult scissors, hoes, sickles, and ordinary woodcutting axes.

The first thing he learned was a kitchen cleaver.

A kitchen cleaver might look easy to make, but it was not actually easy at all. Though there were molds, Dole completely messed up on his first attempt. He used a small hammer, yet even so, after only a few strikes, he smashed the newly made mold into two halves.

At that point, Verek began laughing at him and then taught him many little tricks.

Blacksmiths also possessed martial skills, and hammer techniques were one of them. Dole had been surprised when he heard that. A blacksmith actually had to learn martial skills? But then he saw Verek's hammering techniques, which did indeed contain traces of a hammer technique, and only then did he believe it.

No wonder no one dared make trouble at the blacksmith shop. These blacksmiths looked honest enough, but none of them were soft targets.

At noon, after the break, Verek called Dole over beside the anvil and said, "Ha specifically named you as an apprentice, so I won't hold anything back here. Our blacksmith shop has three hammer techniques: two basic hammer techniques and one low-level hammer technique. You'll need to learn all of them in the future. The basic hammer techniques are simple. I use them whenever I forge a lot of weapons, and you must have watched carefully before, so I won't say much about them. Watch closely. I'll demonstrate now."

He picked up a small hammer, casually clamped a discarded sword blank with tongs, and began hammering it. His movements were interesting. He lightly sprang upward without his feet leaving the ground, then brought the hammer down heavily. Yet the force that landed on the sword blank was not particularly great. After doing this three times, he switched movements. He still gave a light hop without his feet leaving the ground, lowered his waist, rounded his shoulders, and used the lever of his arm to the utmost. Then he bent his elbow and brought the hammer down hard. The sword blank shuddered heavily. After doing that three times, he switched to another movement. The general pattern was still the same, only the force varied between light and heavy. The final variation was a light tapping, but the movements were urgent and fast. The hammer struck the sword blank like pearls falling onto a jade plate, ding ding clang clang, yet with a distinct rhythm.

After a total of seven movements, Verek stopped and asked Dole, "Did you understand?"

Dole was slightly dazed. He scratched his head and said, "I remembered it."

Verek chuckled. "This is called the Light-Heavy Basic Hammer Technique. There are seven variations in all. As you saw, there's nothing particularly fancy about it. It's for forging, not for hitting people. Just practice it more. Usually, pay close attention to how I do things. Also, weigh the tool blanks often and sense the changes in their center of gravity. Make sure the thickness is even. Only then can you forge good things. Practice more. I figure it'll take you at least a month to forge an ordinary kitchen cleaver."

Dole immediately felt somewhat discouraged. It would take a whole month just to forge a kitchen cleaver. When would he become a real blacksmith?

But he also knew that becoming a blacksmith was not so easy. Verek was nearly thirty already and was only a level-two blacksmith. That alone made it clear.

"I'll work hard." He encouraged himself, then carefully recalled Verek's movements, feeling a little uncertain. Those movements did not look difficult, but mastering them was probably not simple. After all, forging weapons required countless hammer blows, and there was no room for carelessness. If the force was wrong after just a few strikes, the tool blank would be ruined outright. If he wanted to make a living at this, he had to study these matters seriously. Dole understood that much. He should just work honestly. Being able to eat his fill now was already good enough. Why be picky?

Seeing Dole's expression, Verek burst out laughing.

Just then, Ha walked over from the side with someone in tow and said to Verek, "Verek, business is here. This customer wants a sword made. Whatever his requirements are, make it that way! I'm leaving him to you."

Verek shouted a loud agreement, accepted the job, and began examining the newcomer.