King of the Wilderness

Chapter 432: Chapter 241: Mastering Forging, Part 3

”All sides need to be evenly stressed, otherwise the tip will become skewed.” He quickly rotated the steel strip, ensuring that each side was hammered evenly.

When the color dropped to cherry red, he immediately stopped the heavy hammering and sent the steel strip back into the furnace.

”Now, it’s your turn.” He pointed to another identical 5160 spring steel.

Lin Yu’an took a deep breath, heated the steel strip to the perfect bright orange-yellow that he remembered, and then took it out. He recalled every detail of Old George’s actions moments ago and swung the eight-pound hammer.

”Clang!—”

The sound was crisp, the impact precise!

Old George’s eyes suddenly lit up! This strike, regardless of angle, force, or timing, was completely unlike a novice!

Lin Yu’an did not pause, quickly rotating the steel strip, beginning systematic ”half-surface hammering.”

Although his movements were not as graceful as Old George’s, they were like those of a precision machine, with each rotation angle and each hammer strike position perfectly precise.

”Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!—”

The sound, no longer clumsy hammering, became a rhythmic and crisp symphony.

The forging of the tip, which originally required repeated guidance from a master and would take a novice several attempts with wasted material to grasp, was successfully accomplished in one go! The conical tip had smooth lines, was centered, and was perfect.

”...Back into the furnace.” Old George’s voice carried an unintentional tone of surprise.

”Next, sharpening the edge.” Old George demonstrated again.

”It’s about thinning the blade part. The angle of the hammer strike should be smaller and flatter, pushing the metal out towards the blade from the spine, imagining you’re using the hammer to spread a piece of butter.”

He only demonstrated once, and Lin Yu’an immediately understood.

When it was his turn to operate, not only did he perfectly replicate Old George’s actions, but during the hammering, his body instinctively made extremely tiny adjustments based on the color and sound of the metal piece.

When the temperature was high, he struck firmly and powerfully. When the temperature dropped, he switched to lighter and quicker strikes to correct details.

This instinctive perception of material conditions and instant feedback is a blacksmith’s most precious talent!

Old George fell completely silent, standing quietly to the side, watching Lin Yu’an work with focus and efficiency like someone who had practiced for ten years.

Sharpening the edge, shaping the knife handle’s prototype, cutting with the hot cutting tool... all these steps, which seemed insurmountable to a novice, were mastered by Lin Yu’an with minimal guidance from Old George at an almost frightening speed.

Finally, a rough but proportionate and smooth-lined dagger blade was born in Lin Yu’an’s hands.

Old George said nothing, walked up to take the tongs from Lin Yu’an’s hand, and held the blade embryo up to the light, carefully examining it for a long time.

Then he looked up, his eyes set deep within wrinkles, staring intently at Lin Yu’an as if trying to see through his soul.

”Kid,” his voice was somewhat dry, ”you’ve never held a hammer before?”

”In formal forging like this, today is the first time.” Lin Yu’an answered honestly, but he added, ”However, I do have a bit of theoretical base.”

”I’ve gone through a lot of materials, from ancient iron smelting techniques to modern knife forging, I’ve practically gone through every known Sword Forging Competition video and tutorial on YouTube.”

”So theoretically, I know what to do at each step, and I know what reactions different steels have at different temperatures.”

He paused, a hint of nostalgia on his face: ”And during Alone in the Wilderness, with limited conditions, I once forced myself to forge a simple ice drill head. Of course, that thing was very rough and couldn’t compare to your craftsmanship here.

”But at least... it gave me a familiar feeling with hammering red-hot iron.”

After hearing these words, Old George slowly exhaled.

He understood.

This kid is not a blank slate but a ”near-apprentice” with rich theoretical knowledge.

What he lacked was not knowledge, not comprehension, and not even experience, but simply an appropriate platform, a real forge, a flat anvil, and a handy hammer.

Once given these, his deep theoretical accumulation would burst with incredible force like a flood finding a release point!

He had found a treasure; a genius with a perfect blend of theory and talent!

His serious face could no longer hold back, breaking into a huge smile mixing shock, joy, and relief.

”Good... good kid!” He heavily patted Lin Yu’an’s shoulder.

”No wonder! No wonder you picked it up so quickly! I originally thought that today I’d be lucky if I could teach you to forge square steel into a round shape.”

He looked at Lin Yu’an, with a hint of expectation in his eyes like Bole discovering a thousand-mile horse!

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(The additional twenty thousand words are still in progress, expected to be updated with thirty thousand words at midnight.)