Limits.

With my work done, I asked the old Lizard to teach me more about dagger smithing . This time, he showed me how to create daggers from Purified Steel . He also pointed out, that there was a certain technique involved in creating weapons, but it was reserved for advanced smiths . I tried asking him to teach me that, but he only said, that I was not ready to learn it .

"He probably wants to keep me in that workshop, as long as he can . Nevertheless, I can still stay here for a while, so I might be able to persuade him, to teach me that technique" I thought, as I walked towards Lazar"s house . I knocked at the doors, and Lazar opened them . He greeted me and invited me inside When I entered, I saw his daughter playing around . She seemed to be full of energy . I asked "Can we proceed now?" . Lazar looked at his daughter, and said "Yes . The sooner this is dealt with, the less worries I will have" .

I nodded my head, and said to his daughter "Just lay on the bed . You may feel a bit weak, after we are done" . She nodded obediently, and laid on her bed . I placed my hand on her forehead and waited . It was Frosty, not me, who had to do this job . After a while, the blue gas like strands of coldness, started leaving her body, and entering my hand .

When my hand became frozen, I took my hand away from her forehead, and waited till the ice melted . I repeated this a few times, until no more blue gas was coming out . "I wonder if that is all" I thought, and checked her blood . It was red, with no sign of blue colour whatsoever . Yet something was bugging me . "I feel like this is not the end of the story . Maybe the blood is back to normal, but something must"ve caused her blood to change the colour, and become cold . I wonder what it is, and if it"s still inside her body?" I thought .

The absorption, gave no results anymore . I turned towards Lazar, and said "Her blood is now back to normal . I would still like to check on her, before I leave this place . Is that fine with you?" . He nodded his head, and said "I have no issue with that . Do you think that this can return?" . I shook my head, and said "I don"t know, that is what I want to check . In order to do that, I need to wait a while . Hopefully, she will be fine" . He nodded his head, and thanked me .

With that taken care of, I went to the tavern in order to have a rest . Inside the rented room, I thought about the expensive thread, that I wanted to accurie . "If what he said is correct, than 1 metre of it, is already too expensive for me, and I need 50 metres of that thread . I also need them in at least 5 metres lengths, for my skill . Otherwise, connecting the smaller pieces together, might degrade my feel and accuracy" I thought .

Even if they had 50 metres of Iron Spider Thread for sale, and I could receive ten 5 metre long pieces, the amount of money I would need, would be staggering . "Even if I sell all my medicine, I would never be able to get that much money . There is only one solution to earn that much, in such a short time" I thought . The solution, was to sell the Yellow Dust . Of course, I didn"t want to sell any of it, but if I could sacrifice some of it, in exchange for that thread, I would be willing to make that sacrifice .

"I just wonder, how much they would be willing to pay, for the Yellow Dust" I thought, and went to bed . The days pa.s.sed like this, and another week went by . I worked in the workshop everyday, and learned how to create different daggers . I finally managed to persuade the old Lizard, to teach me the special technique for weapon smithing . He said that the technique was to strike the weapon in a certain way, in order to produce the best blade possible .

Each weapon had a different method of striking and shaping . Besides that, he said that the material used, was a factor as well . Therefore, there were many variations to the technique, but I was mostly interested in daggers . He showed me how to strike a simple dagger, in order to make it stronger, but also sharper . He told me that in order to do so, I need to "strike with the grain" . He explained what that meant "Each piece of metal, has a specific direction, towards which the "grain" is positioned . If you make a dagger without taking that under consideration, then although it might be good, it will never reach its apex . This requires a lot of experience, so you will not be able to do it now . I will explain the process completely, and show you an example, but you still have to spend many hours practicing" .

He then continued "To judge the direction of a grain, you need very good eyes, which you already have . You also need to work with that material for a long time, to be able to spot it, as it"s not that simple . If you take a closer look, there are very faint veins on each ingot, the idea is to strike the metal, in the direction of those veins . Of course, the veins will go in one direction, but they will be scattered throughout the ingot . The technique requires from you, to align all those veins, and make a blade in the same direction . It"s not easy at all, and it took me many years to learn it, but the final product is much better, compared with those created by intermediate smiths . All advanced smiths, have a technique which is either similar or better than this one . That is why their work costs so much more, compared to other smiths creating the same weapons" .

I nodded my head in understanding . It made sense, if the weapon made from the same material, could be a lot better when handled by an advanced smith, then it would obviously cost much more . The reason was simple . Imagine two people fighting . If both people had weapons and armours made from the same material and the same quality of the material . Then the person with the equipment made by an advanced smith, would possess an advantage . His or her weapon would be sharper, while the armour more durable . Although that advantage might be small, it was still an advantage .

After that lesson, I started producing daggers from cheap materials, in order to practice . I wanted to gain as much experience as I could, and learn the technique, that the old Lizard described to me . Besides that, I also received the news about Iron Spider Thread . The cost was, as he said 45 Black Hals per metre, while they had 4 spools, of varying lengths . They had spools that measured 11, 17, 18 and 13 metres of length respectively . This would produce the 50 metres I require, but in order to buy all that, I would need 2250 Black Hals . This was a staggering amount, even if I sold most of my possessions, I would not be able to acc.u.mulate that much money . Of course, excluding the Yellow Dust .

I ask Harlin about the Yellow Dust, and if they would be interested . He said very, but he had to ask about it inside the capital city Arangard . He said he would return with some officials, and I could show them the a demonstration . If they are satisfied, they would buy it . "He should be back any day now, if I can get enough money to buy all the thread I need, that would be perfect . I still have to test the strength, or at least, witness the strength of that thread . Otherwise, I might buy something, that would be useless to me" I thought .With my work done, I asked the old Lizard to teach me more about dagger smithing . This time, he showed me how to create daggers from Purified Steel . He also pointed out, that there was a certain technique involved in creating weapons, but it was reserved for advanced smiths . I tried asking him to teach me that, but he only said, that I was not ready to learn it . He probably wants to keep me in that workshop, as long as he can . Nevertheless, I can still stay here for a while, so I might be able to persuade him, to teach me that technique I thought, as I walked towards Lazars house . I knocked at the doors, and Lazar opened them . He greeted me and invited me inside When I entered, I saw his daughter playing around . She seemed to be full of energy . I asked Can we proceed now? . Lazar looked at his daughter, and said Yes . The sooner this is dealt with, the less worries I will have . I nodded my head, and said to his daughter Just lay on the bed . You may feel a bit weak, after we are done . She nodded obediently, and laid on her bed . I placed my hand on her forehead and waited . It was Frosty, not me, who had to do this job . After a while, the blue gas like strands of coldness, started leaving her body, and entering my hand . When my hand became frozen, I took my hand away from her forehead, and waited till the ice melted . I repeated this a few times, until no more blue gas was coming out . I wonder if that is all I thought, and checked her blood . It was red, with no sign of blue colour whatsoever . Yet something was bugging me . I feel like this is not the end of the story . Maybe the blood is back to normal, but something mustve caused her blood to change the colour, and become cold . I wonder what it is, and if its still inside her body? I thought . The absorption, gave no results anymore . I turned towards Lazar, and said Her blood is now back to normal . I would still like to check on her, before I leave this place . Is that fine with you? . He nodded his head, and said I have no issue with that . Do you think that this can return? . I shook my head, and said I dont know, that is what I want to check . In order to do that, I need to wait a while . Hopefully, she will be fine . He nodded his head, and thanked me . With that taken care of, I went to the tavern in order to have a rest . Inside the rented room, I thought about the expensive thread, that I wanted to accurie . If what he said is correct, than 1 metre of it, is already too expensive for me, and I need 50 metres of that thread . I also need them in at least 5 metres lengths, for my skill . Otherwise, connecting the smaller pieces together, might degrade my feel and accuracy I thought . Even if they had 50 metres of Iron Spider Thread for sale, and I could receive ten 5 metre long pieces, the amount of money I would need, would be staggering . Even if I sell all my medicine, I would never be able to get that much money . There is only one solution to earn that much, in such a short time I thought . The solution, was to sell the Yellow Dust . Of course, I didnt want to sell any of it, but if I could sacrifice some of it, in exchange for that thread, I would be willing to make that sacrifice I just wonder, how much they would be willing to pay, for the Yellow Dust I thought, and went to bed . The days pa.s.sed like this, and another week went by . I worked in the workshop everyday, and learned how to create different daggers . I finally managed to persuade the old Lizard, to teach me the special technique for weapon smithing . He said that the technique was to strike the weapon in a certain way, in order to produce the best blade possible . Each weapon had a different method of striking and shaping . Besides that, he said that the material used, was a factor as well . Therefore, there were many variations to the technique, but I was mostly interested in daggers . He showed me how to strike a simple dagger, in order to make it stronger, but also sharper . He told me that in order to do so, I need to strike with the grain . He explained what that meant Each piece of metal, has a specific direction, towards which the grain is positioned . If you make a dagger without taking that under consideration, then although it might be good, it will never reach its apex . This requires a lot of experience, so you will not be able to do it now . I will explain the process completely, and show you an example, but you still have to spend many hours practicing . He then continued To judge the direction of a grain, you need very good eyes, which you already have . You also need to work with that material for a long time, to be able to spot it, as its not that simple . If you take a closer look, there are very faint veins on each ingot, the idea is to strike the metal, in the direction of those veins . Of course, the veins will go in one direction, but they will be scattered throughout the ingot . The technique requires from you, to align all those veins, and make a blade in the same direction . Its not easy at all, and it took me many years to learn it, but the final product is much better, compared with those created by intermediate smiths . All advanced smiths, have a technique which is either similar or better than this one . That is why their work costs so much more, compared to other smiths creating the same weapons . I nodded my head in understanding . It made sense, if the weapon made from the same material, could be a lot better when handled by an advanced smith, then it would obviously cost much more . The reason was simple . Imagine two people fighting . If both people had weapons and armours made from the same material and the same quality of the material . Then the person with the equipment made by an advanced smith, would possess an advantage . His or her weapon would be sharper, while the armour more durable . Although that advantage might be small, it was still an advantage . After that lesson, I started producing daggers from cheap materials, in order to practice . I wanted to gain as much experience as I could, and learn the technique, that the old Lizard described to me . Besides that, I also received the news about Iron Spider Thread . The cost was, as he said 45 Black Hals per metre, while they had 4 spools, of varying lengths . They had spools that measured 11, 17, 18 and 13 metres of length respectively . This would produce the 50 metres I require, but in order to buy all that, I would need 2250 Black Hals . This was a staggering amount, even if I sold most of my possessions, I would not be able to acc.u.mulate that much money . Of course, excluding the Yellow Dust . I ask Harlin about the Yellow Dust, and if they would be interested . He said very, but he had to ask about it inside the capital city Arangard . He said he would return with some officials, and I could show them the a demonstration . If they are satisfied, they would buy it . He should be back any day now, if I can get enough money to buy all the thread I need, that would be perfect . I still have to test the strength, or at least, witness the strength of that thread . Otherwise, I might buy something, that would be useless to me I thought .