Reincarnation of Audemars - Who Am I...?

Just Who Are You, Kid?

"Good morning, kid. I was half expecting you to come in after lunch today. So, you want to have some tea first before we begin?" Blake motioned for me and held my shoulders tight.

"You seemed to have grown quite strong since the last I met you last night. By the way, that Level 2 Refined Iron piece that you made yesterday had been turned into a nice karambit. Do you want to take a look at its work?" Blake gestured me as I stood near his counter and he showed a piece of thin blade that looked like a talon with a small ring at the end to slip it through the finger.

(Look up under Wiki for the term and pictures of how a karambit looks like)

I looked at the piece and found it to be very efficient at personal melee combat, especially for an Assassin. Right now what I had is a bronze dagger given by Prius. I held it in my right hand with the blade outward and it felt light, almost like a feather but with devastating slicing power especially if targeted at the jugular.

*s***h s***h stab* "This is a nice karambit. With a price tag like that, I'm sure Assassins would love to have them." I said as I handed the karambit back. "Come on, let me work on those anvil," I said as I went round and enters the backroom where the apprentices are working.

The moment I entered, I was greeted by them as they were having their morning coffee break. The business had been slow lately and they managed to make small pieces like spurs for the boots, bridle for the horses and such. I removed my tunic and hanged it behind as usual and carried the 30-pound hammer.

I twirled it in my hand and I felt something was off. The hammer I was carrying was in fact too light. I looked around when Blake asked, "Kid, is there something wrong? What are you looking for?"

"Err... Do you have any more hammers here I could use? This 30 pounder sure seems a bit too light today." I casually remarked while some of the apprentices spluttered out and spilt their coffee when they heard my casual remark.

"Sure... Here's a 45 pounder that you could use. It had not been used for some time and this would be used to make those heavy plate iron armour. The last time I used this was like 1 year ago. You can have it, kid. Be careful not to drop this on your head. Hahahaha." Blake said as he handed me the 45 pounders with ease.

I twirled it in my hand and the weight felt fine. I set it aside first as I took 2 pieces of iron ores and placed them on the bed of coals before I operate the bellows once more. Once the iron ores had turned almost reddish-white, I used the tong and placed them on the anvil.

The apprentices who had never seen anyone work with 2 pieces of iron ores before gathered around. For 2 pieces of iron, ingot to work with is a norm but for 2 iron ores, it's close to impossible due to its irregular shape.

I used chi breathing and channelled the heat from the furnace to my secondary points and concentrated it on my right arm. I carried the hammer and raised it on top of my hand and adjusted my breathing rhythm. Then I struck down on the red hot iron ores.

*Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! *

Every swing, every aimed and direct hit was synchronised with my breath as I exhale hot fumes from the furnace through my pursed lips. The two iron ores were once again doing ballet as it was struck perfectly on top and sparks flew in all directions like fireworks.

50 strikes...

100 strikes...

200 strikes...

300 strikes...

I finally stopped and took the tong and threw the hammered iron ores that had become a single piece of iron ingot into the pail of water where it spluttered and sizzled and a cloud of steam came off it.

*Ding* Congratulations. Basic Blacksmith Level 6/10 attained. Level up 27/100,000. Progress 86%. Allocated point +50. Allocate now?

I removed the iron ingot that had fused together from two pieces of iron ores and looked at it and an announcement rang once more. I handed the piece to Blake who had his pipe on his lips. The moment he inspected the piece, his mouth opened again and it dropped to the floor with a thud.

*Ding* Congratulations on forging Level 6 Refined Iron.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD?!?! This can't be real, am I right? Kid, tell me this isn't real?" Blake was watching me and watching the iron ingot in his hand and back at my face again and his jaw can't be closed at all at what he had seen.

"What Boss? What happened? What's with this piece here? It looked alright to us." said an apprentice who had just started working with Blake for a year. To an untrained eye, it might look like an ordinary piece of iron ingot but to a seasoned Blacksmith, this is a true masterpiece.

"This... This piece here... Is a... Level... 6... Refined... Iron... piece..." stammered Blake as he handed the piece over to his apprentices to view. Blake had never felt Level 2 Refined Iron and he was close to producing them and last night was the first for him. And today, he got a shock of his life as paramedics were on standby on set in case Blake would foam at his mouth and fall into shock.

After making sure Blake was alright, the paramedics stand down and able to breathe easy. In case Blake fell into shock, the paramedics had to rush him to the nearest hospital for treatment or this novel would lose a side character...! Hah Hah Hah...

"How... Could... You... Produce... A... Level... 6...refined...iron...piece...?" Blake was hyperventilating as he spoke this sentence. He was struck dumbfounded, awe, surprise, shock and total disbelief as he reached over and took the 45 pounders in his hand. I was perspiring from head to toe and doesn't want to answer his question yet. "Paramedics, standby...!!!" I hollered.

I switched to my 1st quickslot and my Fluted Iron Buckler and 'Victory' Renaissance Iron Claymore appeared on my hands. I handed these to Blake and informed him, "I forged these yesterday using my old bronze sword and the wooden buckler. Do you have a stone grinder I could use here later?"

What came out from my mouth was very casual and had no hint of arrogance unlike some people, but what these apprentices perceived was totally the opposite when they saw the Renaissance Claymore and the Fluted Buckler.

"Hahahahah... My God! It looked like a freaking n****e. Hahahahaha...!!!." guffawed an apprentice as he took the first look at the Fluted Buckler and fell to the floor and was laughing so hard that he was clutching his stomach.

"I like the claymore with the quarterfoil design here. This part is definitely bronze... And it looked polished but the blade is blunt." said another as he held the 57-inch claymore in his hands after he had withdrawn it from the scabbard.

When Blake reached for the buckler he was amused at how it looked and laughed out loud but the moment he held it, he felt something was off as his set of dentures flew out and landed on the furnace. "Whis wis a wevel wour wuckler... Wou weally wade whis?!?! (This is a Level 4 Buckler... You really made this?!?!)

As soon as the dentures burst into flames on the furnace, an offscreen crew rushed over and handed Blake a new set of dentures to him right after he had spoken his sentence.

The other apprentices who heard this are in stitches after hearing the words that come out of Blake's mouth. But after comprehending what Blake was trying to convey, they stopped laughing and was looking at me either in awe or in a burning desire to throw me in the furnace since I'm sort of threatening their livelihood.

To make light of the situation, I took the Fluted buckler and placed it over my head and I suddenly looked like a Vietnamese Farmer. "Hahahahahaha..." I laughed out loud and everyone loosened up and laughed along with me. "Don't worry, I'm not here to steal your jobs away. This is my own collection and I'm never going to part with it. I'm here just to bang these Iron ores and you guys could forge them into weapons and armours."

I explained earnestly as I held my palm over my chest and bowed down, with the buckler still on my head. "Kid, you came here yesterday with a question and then i allowed you in here and you produced a Level 2 Refined Iron ingot. Today, you produced a Level 6 Refined Iron ingot and showed me your Level 4 Claymore and n****e Buckler."

"Just who are you, kid...?! Are you some member of a Blacksmith Alliance that we never heard of or part of the Forge Master Guild? There are 25 to 30 levels of Refined Iron and only those Forge Master could forge Purified Iron at will. Just who are you, kid?"