Mark thought to himself, 'Since I am going to test the durability and efficiency of the sword it would make sense to have the furnace on standby in case I need to make a strengthening alloy. . .actually it is probably best if I just get one going right now.'
With that thought in mind, Mark also got the furnace started up and placed the green and purple ores into the furnace to begin the refining process. Then he told Anabel, "I am first going to check the ability of the sword to cut hard objects and see how well it stays together."
Anabel was keeping a safe distance from Mark but she was still walking around to observe what he was doing. Given the plan of action, she simply nodded that she understood what the next steps were. Mark was preparing for the strength tests and was talking out loud as he normally did, but with someone at the forge with him, it turned into more of an instruction session rather than a bout of schizophrenia.
With the test sword secured to his workbench, he first picked up his project sword and tried cutting the bedrock a little ways from the smithy where the bedrock came up into a sort of shelf that was not being utilized for anything. The sword sliced cleanly through the rock like it was butter, even without sharpening the compressed edge.
When Mark pulled the sword out of the rock, he observed no damage to the structure and the silver blade was without a scratch.
"That was a solid test. So far this sword would be able to be used to kill any of the beasts on this mountain and I would not have to worry about repairing it very often. Next, I will test it against something a bit more durable than the bedrock."
Mark and Anabel thus moved back to the smithy where Mark had set up the test sword on the workbench. Upon reaching the table, Mark took a good stance and made sure Anabel was clear. Then, he utilized a good amount of strength in his swing as he aimed to slice the test sword in half. When the two swords clashed, sparks flew and a horrible grating sound was made as well as the sound of metal vibrating at a very high frequency.
The sound of metal clanging could be heard as half of the test sword hit the ground. Mark had to take a second to let his project sword stop vibrating so much before he could set it aside to look at the test sword.
He first bent over to look at the handle half that was still secured to his workbench. The cut was not clean and it looked like the vibrating from his project sword was what allowed him to actually cut through the reinforced test sword. Then, he reached down and picked up the tip half of the test sword and confirmed the jagged cut.
'Maybe if I sharpened it it could have cut it cleanly or at least had a cleaner cut, but the real test was the strength of the blade.'
After examining the test blade, he picked his project sword back up. He closely examined the sword at the point of impact which had a visible nick on the dull blade. More than that, there were hair-thin cracks running up and down the blade that would prove to be detrimental in the middle of a fight.
He looked to Anabel who was trying to figure out how the test went but she seemed reluctant to interrupt his thought process.
"The sword is strong and I was able to cut that other sword that is reinforced with my strength alloy, and the vibrations didn't cause it to melt. The problem is that if I were to fight a person or beast with a weapon or claws or bones as strong as that alloy then this sword might be done in two or three hits."
Anabel nodded along with his explanation and replied, "So what are you going to do to fix it?"
Mark looked over to his furnace which had a molten alloy in the pan ready to be added to the forge and prepared to enhance the blade.
"Well, I am going to utilize that strengthening alloy to make it stronger after I fix the defects caused by this test."
With the forge ready, Mark placed his damaged project sword into the flames. Anabel made herself comfortable on the bench just outside of the forge which was adequately far enough from the heat of the flames to be cozy.
She thought to herself, 'I am so excited! This is much more entertaining than puzzle games at home!'
Mark moved over to the furnace and transferred the molten alloy into a crucible which was then set on the forge for later use.
Then, without prompting, Mark walked over to Anabel to tell her what he was doing while the sword was heating up.
"The sword needs to get white-hot again and I will attempt to fix the cracks and nick in the edge of the blade with some normal smithing, then I will create those lightning-shaped grooves in the blade so I can add some of the strengthening alloy to it."
Anabel nodded as she had a good idea of what was going to happen, but she still did not fully understand how it worked.
She asked, "When you worked on this last time, one side was silver and one side was grey. But when you were done, both sides were silver. I also noticed that there are different colors when the light hits the blade. I accept that this is not magic but how does this all work?"
Mark thought over her question and considered the details she included before answering. "The smithing process I utilize allows me to add the alloy to the metal while being capable of making a new alloy of both of the metals. It is a special technique that is a secret passed down by my family so I can't get into the specific details. Also, the silver metal shines different colors as the light reflects off of it because of the colored stones that make up the alloy. I have found that this alloy is typically silver but has a sheen to it that is differently colored depending on the original color of the ore and the combination."
Anabel nodded her head, feeling like she knew less than before she asked the question. She sighed and said, "I guess I will just have to see it again because I am not entirely sure what you are saying. . ."
Mark quickly replied though, "It is ok, you might not be able to get what I am saying without actually smithing yourself. I don't have to explain it often so there are probably details I am leaving out that make it hard to understand."
After having a good talk, Mark moved to his forge to check the sword while Anabel thought about all of the information.
The sword still needed some time in the forge and the crucible looked like it would be ready for use soon.
Mark already had his tools ready, but he made sure his smithing hammer was at the ready as he prepared his tongs for grabbing the sword. He watched the sword in the flames as it neared the perfect heat, the color turned brighter shades of red at a visible speed.
Before he could slip into a trance, the sword reached perfection and he pulled it out of the forge and began working out the imperfections. He hammered down on the sword with normal techniques and his normal hammer, but he still managed to slip into a bit of a trance as the rhythmic hammering on the steel alloy produced a melodic tone that tended to lull him.
Anabel too seemed to fall into a bit of a trance, though hers was more like a snake being charmed as she followed the movement of the hammer to the sword as she listened to the musical-like tone of the ping given off by the smithing.
She couldn't help but think, 'Wow, it really is pretty. The flames wrap around the head of the hammer as the sparks fly out at random trajectories giving the appearance of mini fireworks that some of the caravans bring around near the middle of winter.'
She also noticed when the hammer made an off-tone sound when Mark made his final strike.
Mark took some time to examine the sword before placing it back in the forge. He then took the time to check the crucible once again which revealed a molten metal alloy that had reached a consistency that was ready for the bonding step.
After giving the sword sufficient time, he pulled it out and began notching the lightning pattern he needed for a clean bonding process. When he finished both sides, he returned the sword to the flame until it was as white-hot as it would get before getting close to melting.
He placed the sword on the anvil and began pouring the molten metal into the grooves and placed the crucible on the forge.
With the sword ready for the fifth step, he grabbed the purple crystal hammer and began the process.
While feeling out the pattern needed for the new alloy, he quickly slipped into his normal trance which quickly turned into a peculiar vision.
During this vision, his hammer began to give off the strange white flames with every strike which seemed to keep the sword at the right temperature of the bonding process.
Anabel was watching closely this time and noticed when the flames coming from the strike of the hammer switched from orange to white.
'I knew it! There is something more going on here that Mark is not aware of! Whatever it is, it seems to help this special forging method but while it looks pretty he might be right about it not actually being magical.'
Meanwhile, Mark was hammering the sword with his body but his mind had wound up on a battlefield with an odd battle taking place between thousands of people with differently shaped and colored swords.