NOVEL NEXT Chapter 124 - The Secret of Quality
James, now a retainer to the Aspirant Knight, was led by that same Knight's only other retainer, the Steward, to a room in the barracks used by the Knight's Order. It was smaller, with a only a bed, no desk or chair, but James was provided with another two sets of clothes, and some shoes.
The ink pot and quill, sadly, were taken back to the nobles' cell, but he was allowed to keep the papers, which included a copy of his contract of indentured servitude.
For the rest of the day, until dinner, the Steward sat with the Smith in a small conference room and interrogated him thoroughly about the slave camp and the Dungeon. James tried to remember everything he could about the location, and especially the slavers, but there wasn't much to go on.
At dinnertime, the Steward took James to the dining hall where all the Knights, attendants, and servants of the Knights Order were eating, and he introduced James to them as a retainer of the Knight Commander, so that all would know his face.
One of the knights whistled from his table. "Phew, good on the Knight Commander getting a personal Smith! Quite a catch."
From where he was standing next to the Steward, James noticed a large, brawny man staring at him with narrowed eyes.
The next day, after breakfast, the Steward took James to that same man, who was the Smith for the Knights Order here in Corto.
"Juan, I'd like you to assess James' skill with the forge," the Steward requested.
"Eh? What fer? He's the Commander's personal smith, ain't 'e?" The blacksmith put his gloved hands on his hips.
The Steward lips tugged down in a faint grimace. "That he is, but his training has been… unorthodox. There's a concern about the quality of his smithing."
Juan frowned at James. James, for his part, agreed with the Steward.
"That's right, almost everything I craft has a quality rating of 'Very Low.'"
"Well, ye've got the [Appraisal] skill, then, that's good…" Juan started, then realized what James had said. "Wait, 'Very Low?!' What the blazes have ye been doin' lad?! Were you trained at all?!"
James frowned, and shook his head. "No, just about a week before I had to… stop training."
"There are circumstances that need to be kept quiet," the Steward interjected. He clapped a hand on James' shoulder. "The Knight Commander is transferring next week, rotating back to the Capital, so we'd like to get him assessed, and you can have him as a helper until then."
He turned to look James in the eye. "Smith James, you are to assist Smith Juan during the day and report back to me at dinner. Understood?"
James nodded. "Yes, understood."
With that, the Steward left, leaving the Smith to be evaluated and put to work.
Juan folded his arms, and looked James up and down. The boy was thin, clearly hadn't been eating enough, but his muscles didn't look soft.
"Well, come on in, follow me."
And so James entered the smithy. A fire was lit in the forge in the back of the large room, the small building detached from others in the compound to prevent the spread of fire in case of an accident. Metal tools, clamps, pliers, hammers, and tongs hanging from pegs along a wall above a worktable. A large anvil sat near the forge, with proper horns on the end. James marveled at the nearly perfect flatness of the anvil.
[Appraisal]: Steel Anvil, Quality: Very High, Durability: 80/80
The tools were of similar quality, all made of steel.
Once inside, Juan turned back to James.
"So, only a week of training, eh? You at least know what all this is, right?" He gestured around the smithy, indicating all the tools.
"Yes, sir," James replied, and Juan visibly recoiled. He waved his hand in front of his face.
"Aye! None o' that! I ain't no noble, and ye ain't my apprentice or servant or nothin' neither! Relax, would ye?"
"Uh, yeah, okay," James stammered, and Juan smiled. "Good! Now, quietly now, what's this about ye making 'Very Low' quality junk? And what's yer level in [Forging]?"
"Well, that's all I've ever made, I'm pretty sure. Hammers, armor, knives, shields, everything gets that rating."
"...are ye sure yer [Appraisal] skill ain't wonky?"
James tilted his head. "Maybe, I dunno." He pointed at the anvil. "But I can see the anvil coming up as 'Very High' quality."
Juan rubbed his chin thoughtfully, smearing his face with soot from his glove. "Hmm…"
"And my level in [Forging] is five."
Juan raised his eyebrows. "Five ain't too bad. Matter o' fact, that's damn good for only a week of training!"
James grimaced. "Well, I had only barely got the Skill before I had to stop training."
"Hmm…" Juan smeared more soot onto his face. "And ye managed to level it up after, on yer own? Still… ye shouldn't be making such bad junk even with a low [Forging] skill. Unless…"
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Juan pulled a hammer and tongs down from their pegs and set them on the worktable, waving James to come stand next to him.
[Appraisal]: Steel Smithing Hammer, Quality: Very High, Durability: 20/20
[Appraisal]: Steel Smithing Tongs, Quality: Very High, Durability: 20/20
James frowned as he looked down at the tools, and Juan caught his expression.
"What kinda tools were ye using?"
"A green iron anvil, a green iron hammer, and blue iron tongs, mainly."
"What the…" Juan muttered. "Whatever fer?"
James looked up, confused. "What do you mean? It's what I had available."
"What kinda shop did ye get a green iron anvil from? What a waste of green iron…"
"Oh, no, I made them. There were, uh… circumstances."
Juan's eyes nearly bugged out. "Some circumstances, eh… And ye made yer own tools?"
"Yeah, that's what my master, Smith Jared, said all Smiths do."
Juan sighed. "And how many times did ye do that?"
"Huh?"
Juan narrowed his eyes. "Don't tell me ye just made one anvil and stopped there? One hammer, one tongs, and that was it?"
James pressed his lips together. "Well, I mean, I had a couple different hammers and tongs for forging, different sizes…"
"And the quality?"
"'Very Low.'"
Juan smacked his forehead with his hand, leaving a large smudge on his brow. "Well there ye are, lelo!"
"Huh?" James grunted.
"Here, look, look." Juan rubbed his hand along the anvil's top. "Look at it, how smooth it is. It's nearly perfect. Almost good enough to make Masterworks." He looked back at James. "Was yer anvil this smooth?"
James remembered his beloved Green Iron Anvil.
"Well, no…"
"Hold this hammer." Juan shoved the Steel Smithing Hammer into his hands.
James' mouth dropped open. The balance felt perfect. The weight felt just right.
"Heh," Juan chuckled. "Ye can tell, right? It's a world of difference." Then his expression became more serious. "James, muchacho, ye can't do high quality work with low quality tools. At best, ye can go up one rank, and that's if ye put a lot of effort into it."
James tightened his grip on the hammer, then took a deep breath and set it down.
"Since ye were using 'Very Low' quality tools, the best ye were gonna get was 'Low' quality out of 'em."
"So that's why…" James muttered.
"Now, yer master wasn't exactly wrong. A Smith should make their own tools, especially starting out. It's good practice. I'm sure he woulda gotten around to explaining it more deeply, once yer Skills improved. How long were ye using them Very Low quality tools, anyway?"
"Nearly two years."
Juan choked. "Two years?! Sebastian wasn't kiddin', that ain't or'odox, dios mios…"
James simply shrugged. What else was there to say?
He simply hadn't known.
Juan clapped a hand on his shoulder again.
"Well, now ye know. Now, tell me how ye were forgin'. Walk me through it."
Juan had quite a lot to say about how James had been doing things.
"Jus' plain smelted iron, eh? Still, yer [Smelting] Skill is high enough, ye jus' need to do it the right way…
"Molds? Molds?! No no no, dios mios, muchacho, that's gonna kill yer quality in the end, yer not even working the metal at that point…
"I mean, ye can quench that way, but yer not just trying to cool the metal… eh, ye don't have the [Quenching] Skill? Ye ferreal?
"Yer control ain't bad. Ye got the Dexterity boost, yeah? But yer just smashing the metal into a shape, ye can hardly call that forging…
"Oh, well at least ye got the [Heat Resistance] Skill… Eh, eight?! Ye like to get close to the fire, don't ye? Do ye even wear an apron…? No?!"
After lunch, for they both had much to think about, Juan gave his verdict without even seeing James work.
"Ye need to be trained right from the ground up. Sorry, but I don't even want to let you touch any of my real work, and there's not really time to train you myself."
James nodded sadly. Juan produced weapons and armor of Very High quality only; anything less was scrapped and reforged.
"But, that doesn't mean I don't have work for ye. I'll teach ye how to make steel. Ye got the [Heat Resistance] fer it, and it'll save me a fair bit o' time.
And so it was that Juan, the contracted Smith of the Knights Order of Corto, taught the Legendary Smith the process of Cementation.
First, they took some iron ingots, smaller than what James was used to but clearly the standardized size here in Corto, and hammered them into long bars. James was amazed at the difference it made, using a good hammer on a good anvil.
"It's fine fer ye to do this part, yer not doing nothing but bangin' the metal into shape."
Then, they packed the four bars they had produced into a carved stone box, and packed it tightly with charcoal.
"Now Smiths can get a Skill to make charcoal themselves, but I don' think it's worth yer time. A proper Collier will make better stuff, faster and cheaper. Jus' makes more sense to buy it from one o' them."
They sealed the stone box, and Juan had James carry it out behind the forge, where they was a kiln-like structure, and a dozen more stone boxes near it.
"I've been buying steel directly lately, jus' haven't had the time to make it m'self, even if it is strainin' the budget. But that's what the Knight's want, and it's their coin, so eh." Juan shrugged. "I got another anvil ye can use while I'm workin', jus' lemme check the boxes before ye seal 'em up. Once ye got the boxes all ready, I'll show ye how hot to run the furnace here. Then, until ye leave, I'll let ye watch me work and ask me questions, so long as ye keep an eye on the furnace and keep it to temperature."
James nodded. And then he smiled.
This was it.
This was where he should have been, two years ago, if he hadn't been abducted.
He was excited to be back in the forge.