Commanding Wind and Cloud
chapter-18

The metal sparks finally stopped. All the blacksmith apprentices in the back room were frozen. They all stood there and stared at Qian Jin as if he was some kind of demon. “Where did this guy come from? He literally swung the hundred-pound hammer two hundred times in one go and smashed a piece of pig iron that was the size of a human head into the size of a baby’s fist,” they thought.

Just in terms of swinging that hammer, Franklin was the only person in the shop that could do that for two hundred swings; even Francis wasn’t able to do that; he was only able to swing it about thirty times. They couldn’t imagine how this guy who just walked into the door could do it. What was more crazy was that this young man was a warrior student from Oakland’s Warrior and Mage Academy! “That place only teaches people how to kill demons. Do they have someone that teaches blacksmithing now? From the looks of it, it seems like this guy is at least as good as boss Franklin. But Franklin is a Level 1 Blacksmith, and that title is accepted all around the continent.” The blacksmith apprentices couldn’t wrap their heads around it.

In the worst-case scenario, if Franklin ditched everything he had and ran to the Demon Empire, those demons who ate humans alive would give him proper respect. They would allow him to open up a shop in their territory, and they would even free him from paying any tax on his income; they would definitely not kill him like what they would do with any other ordinary human.

Franklin tip-toed to the anvil and carefully picked up the piece of iron that was already cooled down by the cold water through Qian Jin’s hands. Francis, who followed his brother, made a whistle-like gasping noise. He slowly reached out and touched the piece of iron that glimmered a strange light with his shaky hands.

“Bro… Brother… Th… This…”

After careful observation of this small piece of iron, Francis looked at Franklin in excitement and found that his brother, who was very confident and had experienced a lot of stuff, was still in shock.

“That’s right… it is a [Refined Iron].” Franklin heavily nodded. “And… it is a [Level 2 Refined Iron]...”

The quiet workshop was filled with a series of surprised murmurs. The only thing that these blacksmith apprentices were experiencing was shock. They whispered to each other, “[Refined Iron]? Did you hear that? Boss said that it is a [Refined Iron]!”

“Yeah, I heard that! And it is a [Level 2 Refined Iron]!”

“Oh lord! Did I hear that wrong? The boss said before that blacksmiths who could forge a [Level 1 Refined Iron] from a pig iron would be a Level 1 Blacksmith! And only Level 2 Blacksmiths can create [Level 2 Refined Iron]! Refining iron is the required test that every blacksmith has to go through in order to get ranked.”

“Boss had worked as an apprentice for many years and became a Level 1 Blacksmith after visiting and learning from a famous blacksmith instructor. How old is this guy? Is he already a Level 2 Blacksmith?”

“Did the boss make a mistake? This young man is from Oakland’s Warrior and Mage Academy. Aren’t they a bunch of people who don’t know anything other than fighting?”

“How would I know? But even if big boss made a mistake, would the second boss make the same mistake? Don’t forget, although the second boss is less talented at blacksmithing compared to the big boss, he is great at observing and identifying things.”

Qian Jin placed the hammer on the floor and stretched his sore arms; swinging this hundred-pound hammer two hundred times in one go was exhausting.

“[Level 2 Refined Iron]!” Franklin grabbed the piece of iron from Francis’ hand and carefully observed it as well. He reconfirmed his initial assessment. It was this great blacksmith who forged out the impurities from the pig iron and created this [Level 2 Refined Iron]!

Francis looked at Qian Jin and shouted in his own head, “Damn, we are lucky!” The only way to forge a top-tier weapon is to use the top-tier raw materials. However, the real precious top-tier materials are too rare. After numerous years of studying and testing, the great blacksmiths in history concluded that there is a way to create top-tier materials, and that is through forging and tempering!

Any regular material such as pig iron or copper could be forged into [Refined Iron] and [Refined Copper] slowly through the forging and tempering process. The refined materials are ranked based on their properties. Level 2, level 3… higher level materials would result in the weapons that were created from these materials to be harder and sharper.

Because even essence materials like refined metals were hard to find, a lot of good weapons were still forged from regular material, with only the edge of the blade being forged from refined materials. These weapons were popular and could be sold at a good price.

“[Level 2 Refined Iron]?” Qian Jin was also surprised by the surrounding blacksmiths’ murmurs. Back when he was still at the family, he had heard stuff about [Refined Iron]. He heard that it was the top-tier material only real blacksmiths could forge! “I made a [Refined Iron] with just some random strikes? And it is a [Level 2 Refined Iron]?”

There was only one thing in Qian Jin’s mind, “What the heck is that so-called Endless World? After getting tortured for sixteen hours in there, I actually learned how to blacksmith? And I can even forge out [Level 2 Refined Iron] now? If this is real, as long as I stay in there everyday, I might be able to become a god-tier blacksmith master! Even the most powerful Bloodline Warrior would have to address me by the name of master respectfully.”

Franklin walked in front of Qian Jin. He was not calm at all. The [Level 2 Refined Iron] that cooled down already felt hot in his hands. [Level 2 Refined Iron]! It meant a level 2 blacksmith! “This young man forged this out in a very short amount of time; it was way shorter than the time allotted for the Level 2 Blacksmith examination. He is obviously not someone who just advanced to a Level 2 Blacksmith,” he thought.

“Are… are you really a student from Oakland’s Warrior and Mage Academy?” Franklin asked carefully; his tone was very respectful.

Qian Jin stretched and rubbed his fingers that were stiff after holding the hammer tightly for too long as he nodded. “Yeah.”

“So… you are really planning to forge in our shop?” Franklin became more cautious. A Level 2 Blacksmith easily qualified to open up his or her own blacksmith shop. “Is this guy here to mess around and cause trouble for us?” Franklin thought to himself.

“Why? Do you think I’m here to make wine?”

“But you are a Level 2 Blacksmith.” Franklin glanced at Qian Jin worriedly, “My shop can’t afford your salary. I’m only a Level 1 Blacksmith after all.”

The excitement on Francis’ face turned into anxiousness. There was only one blacksmith shop at Oakland City that had a level 2 blacksmith, and it was a blacksmith shop that was named [Godhammer]. Although Franklin’s shop had a good stream of revenue, it would still be hard for them to hire a Level 2 Blacksmith.