"Leader, are you planning to forge weapons?"
"Definitely, didn't the leader just say that the black stone could form any mold? After melting the iron ore and pouring it into the mold, a weapon should come out, right?"
"Our Harper can also craft weapons ourselves now."
"Iron probably isn't enough at the moment, not many weapons can be made now, but once we have more iron mines, we'll all have weapons."
The surrounding crowd, including Charlie, immediately guessed Bruce's intention, feeling excited and buzzing with chatter.
If only it were as easy as they said.
Bruce shook his head internally, did not speak, and walked to the black polishing stone, placing his hand on it.
After probing a bit over it, Bruce immediately understood.
This polishing stone could transform with a light touch, but if force was applied, it became ridiculously hard, somewhat similar to a non-Newtonian fluid but evidently more advanced.
Bruce flattened the polishing stone, then lightly impressed the shape of a blade mold on it.
Next, he just had to wait for the iron ore to melt.
The heat from the Iron Refining Furnace made the whole cave as warm as spring.
The night provided no drowsiness, and everyone gathered, chatting and waiting with Bruce for the iron ore to melt.
Over three hours later, nearing midnight, the iron ore on the furnace finally melted completely into a mass of milky white hot liquid.
Bruce placed the polishing stone on one side of the furnace, then moved carefully to pour the liquid over the blade mold impression.
Sizzle…
As the liquid entered the mold, it solidified upon contact with the polishing stone, emitting a dense white smoke.
A while later, after all the molten iron had been poured out, Bruce relaxed his grip and looked down at the polishing stone, a smile spreading across his face.
"Fetch some water."
Charlie quickly jogged to the side of the wall and brought a ladle of water.
Bruce took the ladle and poured it over the polishing stone.
As hot and cold met, a more intense white smoke erupted.
No one displayed signs of impatience; they all craned their necks, waiting for the smoke to disperse, eager to see if the blade mold was complete.
A dozen or so breaths later, the smoke cleared, and a long, black iron ingot stealthily appeared on the polishing stone.
The iron ingot was about a meter and a half long, narrow at the top, wide at the bottom, with a distinct curve at the tail, clearly taking the shape of a blade.
"This is an iron ingot, not quite a blade yet, right?"
"It's already very close, probably just needs shaping. Didn't the leader previously bring back a blade? We've all seen it."
"It probably requires forging; the leader definitely knows, see."
---
Bruce picked up the iron ingot from the polishing stone, placed it on the Iron Refining Furnace, and lightly kneaded the polishing stone again.
Under Bruce's gentle kneading, the polishing stone quickly transformed into the shape of an iron hammer, and after leaving a half-meter-long grip, he stopped.
Using wood to fix the iron ingot on either side of the Iron Refining Furnace, Bruce raised the polishing hammer, took a deep breath, and struck the iron ingot forcefully.
Clang…
A crisp strike rang in everyone's ears.
Clang… clang… clang… clang… clang…
Then came a series of rhythmic hammering sounds, echoing like celestial melodies to their ears.
Their faces were full of anticipation, their eyes reflecting the sparks from Bruce's striking, and something indescribable within them seemed to stir softly.
Bruce resembled an indefatigable machine, hammering with increasing enthusiasm.
He wasn't quite sure what the others in the camp were thinking, but his spirit was surging with excitement.
After all, the blade mold he was forging could, in a sense, signify that from today onwards, the Harper Camp had officially entered:
The Iron Age.
---
Clang… clang… clang… clang… clang…
In the quiet cave, the powerful sound of smithing continued throughout the night.
No one in the camp wore a look of impatience; they were all fixated on Bruce, watching him hammer the Blade Mold, their faces filled with anticipation.
It wasn't until the sky started to lighten that Charlie came to his senses and hurriedly instructed others to seal the cave entrance again.
Coincidentally, this was when Bruce's hammering also approached its end.
Clang… clang… clang…
After the last three hammer blows landed, Bruce released the polishing stone in his hand and took a deep breath.
It was only then he realized he was soaked in sweat, his arms swollen, and intense soreness was coming from every joint in his body.
"Whew… This is several times more tiring than cutting trees!"
Bruce sighed inwardly, rubbing his arm, clamping the already formed blade with wood, and looking at the ten exquisite silvery white lines on the side of the blade.
Though his face was full of fatigue, he couldn't hide the excitement in his eyes.
"According to George, although Ten-forged is the most basic weapon, it would take at least three in the Earthripper Realm to continuously alternate hammering for a whole night. But with this polishing stone, I can do it alone!"
Bruce's excitement was not without reason.
Before he attempted it last night, he hadn't expected to succeed at once; he just wanted to see how many Forging Patterns he could make.
But as each Forging Pattern appeared, he discovered his limit was far from being reached, so he gritted his teeth and persisted, wanting to see where his limit truly lay.
Unexpectedly, he really did forge a Ten-forged weapon in one go.
And it was entirely on his own!
No, wait.
Turning his head to look at the polishing stone on the ground, Bruce immediately realized the greatest credit should go to it.
During his time at Rogel Camp, George had Bruce try their smithing tools, which included a hammer weighing over two thousand kilograms.
Such a heavy object couldn't even be swung continuously by someone in the Earthripper Realm for a whole night.
Yet this system-provided polishing stone, though weightless in hand, did not deform the Blade Mold with each strike.
In fact, judging by the blade-forming speed, its efficiency was far superior to the iron hammer at Rogel Camp.
"The only drawback is that the iron ingot smelted from Iron Ore can only be moved by those in the Earthripper Realm; the Axeheart Realm cannot suppress the rebound force of the iron ingot, so for now, I'm the only one who can do the smithing."
Bruce shook his head, showing a trace of helplessness.
George had said that only those in the Earthripper Realm could smith iron, and Bruce assumed the issue lay with the smithing tools—a hammer weighing over two thousand kilograms is a challenge even for the Earthripper Realm, let alone the Axeheart Realm.
But the polishing stone was practically weightless.
Couldn't Charlie, Tony, and others in the Axeheart Realm also use it for smithing?
However, after making the first strike last night, Bruce understood that the problem George mentioned about needing to be in the Earthripper Realm to smith iron did not arise from the weight of the tools, but from the iron ingot itself.
It seemed due to the material's properties, the iron ingot smelted from Iron Ore produced an intense rebound force when subjected to an external force.
Without exerting a force of over ten thousand kilograms, one simply couldn't suppress this rebound force.
Last night, Tony eagerly came to help.
Bruce couldn't refuse and let him try it—he ended up getting flung back with just the first swing, almost dislocating his shoulder.
While Bruce pondered, the others from the camp had already gathered around, their expressions full of excitement as they gazed at the Blade Mold in his hands.
"Chief, why is the blade still so black?"
Hearing Tony's doubt, Bruce chuckled and was just about to speak when Clark and Charlie came over with a large wooden bucket filled with water.
Bruce gestured for everyone to step back and tossed the black blade directly into the water.
Sizzle… sizzle…
The water in the wooden bucket boiled violently, with thick smoke rising continuously.
It took more than ten breaths before the sound slowly diminished and the smoke gradually dissipated.
Once the smoke had completely vanished, the blade in the bucket had also entirely transformed.
The previously black blade had now turned silvery white.
Even in the water, everyone seemed to perceive the cold gleam radiating from the blade, with the ten silver Forging Patterns on its side clearly visible, adding a touch of mystery.
Bruce, too, was somewhat thrilled.
He retrieved the blade from the wooden bucket, took the leather handed over by Charlie, carefully wiped away the water stains on it, and finally fitted it with the grip that had been prepared in advance.
Finally, a complete saber, only missing the final touch, appeared in Bruce's hand and in front of everyone at the Harper Camp.
"The blade is 1.3 meters long. Including the grip, it totals 1.5 meters. The thickest part of the spine is about two centimeters, with a net weight of 620 kilograms."
Upon hearing Bruce's detailed assessment of its specifications, everyone gazed at the saber with heated eyes and excited faces.
"Hold on, there's still the final step!"
Naturally, Bruce noticed the anticipation in everyone's eyes and signaled for them to wait as he leisurely brought over the polishing stone again.
The final step is sharpening the blade.
This part was much easier and didn't require Bruce to do it himself.
Charlie, Tony, and the others, who had been itching to try it since watching earlier, didn't even need to be called over.
They all eagerly gathered around, letting Bruce go to rest, while Charlie led the other nine in taking turns sharpening the blade, lost in their enthusiasm.
Perhaps because this saber was the first weapon crafted by Harper, Charlie and the others sharpened it with exceptional seriousness, changing the water in the wooden bucket again and again.
Bruce checked several times, thinking it was enough, but they insisted it wasn't, saying it needed more sharpening.
Bruce, helpless, had no choice but to let them continue.
Just like when Bruce was smithing the night before, the sound of sharpening from the group carried on for over four hours, stopping only when night fell.
"Chief, it's sharpened, come and try it!"
As night fell, the cave entrance was already open.
Bruce was practicing his boxing outside when he heard the call from inside, prompting him to rush back.
After the ten of them spent four hours sharpening the saber, almost everyone was soaked through, yet their faces still beamed with excitement, showing no sign of fatigue.
Bruce took the longsword, looking at its sharp and keen edge, a flicker of excitement flashed in his eyes as he walked over to the wood storage.
Knowing he was about to test the sword, everyone enthusiastically followed behind him.
Bruce chose a Vermilion Frost Tree over three meters thick, raised the longsword, and used roughly half his strength to strike a powerful blow.
Crack…
The sharp blade cut straight through the wood, slicing more than half a meter deep.
Moreover, after pulling out the blade, there was no damage or curled edge on it at all.
Bruce breathed a long sigh of relief and looked back at everyone, raising the longsword with a face full of smiles.
"Harper's first iron weapon is completed!"
Upon hearing Bruce's words, everyone in the camp erupted into cheers.
"Hahaha, it really worked; from now on, we can forge weapons."
"As long as there's coal, we'll have weapons from now on."
"From now on, not only the Rogel Camp at Redwood Ridge, but we at Harper can also forge weapons."
"With weapons, we're no longer afraid of those Cold Beasts, hahaha!"
"Long live the Chief!"
---
"Chief, since this is the first weapon our camp has crafted, you should give it a name!"
The jubilant confetti was breaking up with a suggestion from Charlie.
Everyone lifted their heads to look at Bruce, waiting for him to name the sword.
Hearing the suggestion, Bruce was initially taken aback.
According to George, as long as someone is in the Earthripper Realm, they can forge a Ten-forged Weapon.
So, in essence, this sword is a basic iron tool that any camp with Earthripper Realm can forge, thus its value is not considered rare.
But as Charlie pointed out, this is the first weapon crafted by the Harper Camp itself and carries extraordinary significance for Harper.
Even if it's just to commemorate it, it deserves a name.
Bruce lowered his head in contemplation for a moment, then lifted the sword with a gentle stroke, reflecting a cold light that shot towards the direction of Redwood Ridge outside the cave.
"Frostfire!"