Abe the Wizard

Chapter 29 Large Animal Trap

After returning to the castle in the morning and having breakfast, Abner rested for two hours before returning to his exclusive workshop at the blacksmith's shop.

In his previous life as a fitness instructor, Abner often went hiking in the wilderness with friends and had a lot of hunting experience. Drawing from his past memories, he wanted to create a large animal trap, similar to the ones Master Bontherm had described that the wolf cavalry used. These traps were fast and agile, making it difficult to contain them. The wolf cavalry was hard to besiege without sufficient forces. They could attack or defend in battle, making it very difficult to eliminate them. However, with an animal trap, things would be different. If a wolf's foot was caught in the trap, the wolf would be injured at the very least. By neutralizing the speed of the wolves, they would no longer pose a threat.

The creatures and even the people in this world were much stronger than the animals and humans on Earth in Abner's previous life. He estimated that only by creating a large animal trap could they cause harm to the wolf cavalry.

The structure of the large animal trap consisted of a thick compressed spring, two toothed clamping plates, a plate machine, a trigger frame, and a chain.

After compressing the spring forcefully and gently clipping it with the plate machine, a huge rebounding clamping force was formed. Once the trigger was activated, the two toothed clamping plates would instantly release, clamping down on the prey. Because the two toothed clamping plates had not completely closed and reset, the more the prey struggled, the tighter it would be clamped.

It was conceivable that if a wolf from the wolf cavalry was caught in this type of large animal trap, due to the speed of the wolf cavalry, the trapped wolf's foot would be in pain, and the werewolf fixed on it would be thrown out directly by the chain.

This world did not have such a large animal trap, and placing the trap would not attract the attention of the beastmen. With some concealment methods, it would not be discovered by the beastmen.

The process of making the animal trap was simple, except for the troublesome compressed spring. According to Abner's memory, the steel used for the spring needed to have a higher carbon content to maintain its elasticity.

Abner experimented with various rough blanks, carrying out multiple carbonization operations and producing many samples with different carbonization ratios. After testing, he found the sample with the best effect and finally determined the production process.

Subsequently, Abner carried out a large amount of production, making ten compressed springs. Seeing that there was still plenty of material left, he also made several large spiral springs for use as shock absorbers for the future upgrade of the carriage.

As for the other parts of the large animal trap, Abner did not make them himself. It would take too much time. With the highest quality compressed spring, other parts only required ordinary iron, so he assigned this task to other blacksmiths in the shop.

Abner called his senior brother, Jaden, and asked him to make the necessary components according to the dimensions in the drawings within two days. Jaden had no problem meeting Abner's requirements and promised to have several of the best craftsmen work overtime to complete the task.

Early the next morning, when Abner arrived at the blacksmith's shop, Jaden, with red eyes, told Abner, "Master Abner, all the components you requested have been made and placed in your workshop."

Abner was somewhat surprised. He had thought it would take at least two days, but unexpectedly, everything was completed in just one night. However, seeing Jaden's tired eyes, he couldn't help but say, "Why didn't you rest last night? There was no need to rush to finish these components."

"Several blacksmiths heard that it was your arrangement and didn't want to delay, so they worked through the night," Jaden said, not mentioning his own efforts, but instead referring to several other blacksmiths in front of Abner.

"You should rest first. Next time I forge the Greatsword, you and several other blacksmiths can watch on the side," Abner said with a smile.

"Thank you, Master Abner. I'll go tell them right away," Jaden thanked Abner and quickly left.

Abner walked into his workshop and saw a pile of components laid out on the ground, already divided into ten sets. This attention to detail showed Jaden's meticulousness.

Assembling these large animal traps required some effort, but Abner was never short of strength. Within half an hour, ten large animal traps had been installed.

He hitched two draught horses, each with five large animal traps, securely tied. Abner shook them by hand to ensure there were no issues.

Behind Harry Castle was a forest that Abner had been too busy to explore since arriving at the castle. He had always heard that large wild beasts appeared in this forest, so today he chose this forest as the testing ground for the large animal traps.

Although the castle had begun to increase its guard, no guards questioned Abner as he led the two draught horses out. His status was now different from when he first arrived. Everyone had heard that Abner had become a master blacksmith. In this world, the title of master in any profession represented the top few individuals in that field, and these masters were respected anywhere in the Holy Continent.

At this time, the afternoon sunlight was at its best, filtering through the gaps in the leaves to form patches of light scattered on the ground covered with fallen leaves. Abner's footsteps on the ground made a dull friction sound as he walked, and the horses also did not seem to like the forest environment, occasionally snorting.

After walking for about half an hour, Abner felt that he had entered the interior of the forest. He had not seen any large beasts along the way, but the presence of large quantities of animal droppings indicated that large wild animals had been present. There were no signs of human activity for at least ten minutes, so the placement of the large animal traps had to be in an area without human presence.

Abner crouched down to search for animal trails on the ground. Wild animals always liked to travel back and forth on the same path. These frequently trodden areas formed an inconspicuous trail, and experienced hunters would use this type of animal trail to set traps.

Although Abner had limited experience, he had received training in this area. After careful observation, he found an animal trail and used two large animal traps from the draught horses. He forcefully opened the jaws and set the triggers. Careful calculation was required for placing the traps on the animal trail to measure the size of the animal's gait. Even if the animal escaped the first trap, it would be caught in the second one.

After setting up, Abner made a mark on a tree. This mark served two purposes: it would remind him when he returned to this spot, and it would also facilitate future retrieval of the large animal trap. Additionally, all of Abner's marks had arrows pointing in the direction he came from, making it easy for him to find his way home in the forest.

Continuing forward, every ten minutes, Abner would search for animal trails and install large animal traps. After walking for a little over an hour, all the traps had been set.

By this time, it was slowly getting dark. Abner was preparing to pack up and return to the castle. There were only two hours left until nightfall, so he could still see the ground clearly on the way back.

Just then, a distant howl was heard, containing both pain and anger.

An animal had fallen into a trap. Abner immediately realized the reason. In this forest, the only thing that could cause a sound like that from a wild animal was his large animal trap.

Tying the two draught horses to a tree, Abner hurried in the direction of the sound. As he ran, he also observed the surrounding environment, looking for his own markings to avoid being caught in his own traps, which would be quite a joke.

After running for ten minutes, Abner spotted his own marking ahead and slowed down, walking carefully towards the trap.

Although the two toothed clamping plates of the large animal trap were closed, there was no prey inside. Abner crouched down and felt the iron teeth of the trap with his hand, finding blood.

This couldn't have been caused by a wild animal. Although Abner didn't know what had triggered the trap, based on the intelligence and abilities of wild animals, it would be difficult for one to escape from the trap without human assistance. If it were a powerful beast, it would have destroyed the large animal trap, rather than just forcefully prying open the clamping plates as it had done now.

Could it be a human? Abner shook his head. The sound he had just heard was definitely not a human's. This was something he could be sure of.