Chapter 38
I woke up the next day and went straight to the workshop . I started my work as usual and waited for Grond to leave, like he usually did . I didn"t bring the moulds with me because I didn"t want Grond noticing them .
When Grond finally left, I went straight to my house and retrieved one mould . I wouldn"t have any time to actually cast more than one dagger in the time Grond was gone . It would take more than a week to create the 10 daggers that I wanted but everyday I would have more and more and more .
For now, I wanted to cast at least one . I would still need to sharpen it and polish it . Back at the workshop, I melted the purified steel ingot I had made for myself and poured it into the mould . I waited for it to cool down a bit and then submerged it into the water .
After the mould cooled a bit more, I broke it open and inside laid a brand new dagger . It was sleek and a bit dull but I knew I would have to polish it and sharpen the edge . Moulds were not able to create sharp edges or polished surfaces . Moulds were used to create the shape but I still needed to complete the dagger by giving it an edge as well as polish .
I went to the grindstone and started pressing the pedal to rotate the wheel that will allow me to create an edge of the weapon . I spend about 5 minutes on melting the ingot, then about 15 minutes creating it . I now had a bit less than 10 minutes to create an edge and polish the dagger . I didn"t rush this process though . I carefully grinded the blade of the dagger and created a very fine edge that would cut a falling hair . It wasn"t hard anyway because the dagger was quite thin already .
I could do the polishing later . It was also an easy process . I just had to "wash" it with sand . In the workshop, there was a tool to do that . You just put in the weapon or tool that you want to polish and sand inside . Then you close it and spin it around . After a while it would be polished . I didn"t have time for that right now and also it could be done without this machine . I would do it when I get the chance . I hid the dagger in my shirt and went back to work .
I wanted to play with it due to excitement but Grond would be here anytime, so I restrained that thought . After I created the rest of the ingots, I went straight to Nick . When I arrived he was not there . I could only continue on with my other plans and meet with Nick later .
I wanted to play with it due to excitement but Grond would be here anytime, so I restrained that thought . After I created the rest of the ingots, I went straight to Nick . When I arrived he was not there . I could only continue on with my other plans and meet with Nick later .
I went to the river and saw that my pond was now clean and the water flow was very good . I set my sight on the fishes in the river not far away and watched them to determine which ones had the ability to avoid the light . After about 30 minutes of waiting, I found 2 such fishes . Now the problem was catching them .
I set up the net and picked up some pebbles . I wanted to use the pebbles in order to lure the desired fishes into my net . I threw couple of pebbles while calculating the behaviour of the fishes that I determined would have the ability I was after . Fortunately one of them got caught in the net when I pulled it out .
I placed the fishes that I caught inside the pond that I created and went out to get more of them . I needed at least 2-3 fishes with this ability and just couple of normal fishes . I already had 3 fishes in the pond and one of them was able to use the ability to avoid the light .
I casted my net again and observed the school of fishes . After a while, I found couple that were able to use the ability and so I repeated my previous actions . After doing so for over an hour, I finally got 3 fishes with the ability to avoid the light and 5 fishes that were just normal .
I casted my net again and observed the school of fishes . After a while, I found couple that were able to use the ability and so I repeated my previous actions . After doing so for over an hour, I finally got 3 fishes with the ability to avoid the light and 5 fishes that were just normal .
I went to the river again and searched for the predator to those fishes . It could be a fish but there were also other predators . One such predator was a turtle . Normally you would think that turtles eat plants but this one ate fishes . I went after the turtle because It would hunt just one fish to satisfy its hunger and then rest at the bottom of the river . If I let it into the pond, it would just eat one fish and then rest . I wouldn"t have to worry that all the fishes would die to the predator and one fish a day or two would be easy to replenish .
The turtle I was looking for was not so easy to find though . Other predators were much more common but this turtle mostly spent his time at the bottom of the river and left only to hunt the fishes . I had to search for couple of hours before I finally found one . The turtle was not really aggressive towards me, it was annoyed that I picked it up but didn"t seem to get angry to the point where it would try to eat me . It couldn"t anyway . It was only about 40 centimetres big .
I took the turtle back to the pond and released it inside . It went to the bottom of the pond and stared at me . I though "Can turtles stare at people?" . Maybe it was annoyed and just wanted me to leave . I moved away from the pond couple of steps and the turtle started to get accustomed with his new surroundings .
Anyone would be confused if they got picked up, moved somewhere else and then placed down . The turtle noticed the fishes and seemed satisfied with his new home . If you have food that is very close to you, then you don"t have to look for it, just hunt it .
I took the turtle back to the pond and released it inside . It went to the bottom of the pond and stared at me . I though "Can turtles stare at people?" . Maybe it was annoyed and just wanted me to leave . I moved away from the pond couple of steps and the turtle started to get accustomed with his new surroundings .
Anyone would be confused if they got picked up, moved somewhere else and then placed down . The turtle noticed the fishes and seemed satisfied with his new home . If you have food that is very close to you, then you don"t have to look for it, just hunt it .
It seemed that the turtle was a bit hungry so he creeped under water towards the fishes . I watched the whole process . I noticed that the 3 fishes that had the ability to avoid light also had the ability to sense a predator . These fishes were responsible for informing others that predator was coming . They had a purpose in the group as well as means to avoid their own death .
The turtle got closer and lunged at one of the fishes . I was surprised when I saw that turtle . It was at least twice as fast as these fishes . No wonder he could hunt them . He caught one of the normal fishes and returned back to where I dropped it, which was closer to the first gate, where the fresh water was pouring into the pond .
I thought that my efforts were not in vain and I would be able to study the fishes in greater details due to only couple of them being there . I wasn"t scared that the turtle would leave because it had the food near him and a fresh water that washed the pond all the time . It could just go out of water and walk on land but these were simple creatures and the turtle would stay there . I was at least 90% sure of that .
I knew that the turtle will eat and then go to sleep for today and there was no longer a point for me to stay there, so I decided I would go back to the village and check if Nick has returned .I woke up the next day and went straight to the workshop . I started my work as usual and waited for Grond to leave, like he usually did . I didnt bring the moulds with me because I didnt want Grond noticing them . When Grond finally left, I went straight to my house and retrieved one mould . I wouldnt have any time to actually cast more than one dagger in the time Grond was gone . It would take more than a week to create the 10 daggers that I wanted but everyday I would have more and more and more . For now, I wanted to cast at least one . I would still need to sharpen it and polish it . Back at the workshop, I melted the purified steel ingot I had made for myself and poured it into the mould . I waited for it to cool down a bit and then submerged it into the water . After the mould cooled a bit more, I broke it open and inside laid a brand new dagger . It was sleek and a bit dull but I knew I would have to polish it and sharpen the edge . Moulds were not able to create sharp edges or polished surfaces . Moulds were used to create the shape but I still needed to complete the dagger by giving it an edge as well as polish . I went to the grindstone and started pressing the pedal to rotate the wheel that will allow me to create an edge of the weapon . I spend about 5 minutes on melting the ingot, then about 15 minutes creating it . I now had a bit less than 10 minutes to create an edge and polish the dagger . I didnt rush this process though . I carefully grinded the blade of the dagger and created a very fine edge that would cut a falling hair . It wasnt hard anyway because the dagger was quite thin already . I could do the polishing later . It was also an easy process . I just had to wash it with sand . In the workshop, there was a tool to do that . You just put in the weapon or tool that you want to polish and sand inside . Then you close it and spin it around . After a while it would be polished . I didnt have time for that right now and also it could be done without this machine . I would do it when I get the chance . I hid the dagger in my shirt and went back to work . I wanted to play with it due to excitement but Grond would be here anytime, so I restrained that thought . After I created the rest of the ingots, I went straight to Nick . When I arrived he was not there . I could only continue on with my other plans and meet with Nick later . I went to the river and saw that my pond was now clean and the water flow was very good . I set my sight on the fishes in the river not far away and watched them to determine which ones had the ability to avoid the light . After about 30 minutes of waiting, I found 2 such fishes . Now the problem was catching them . I set up the net and picked up some pebbles . I wanted to use the pebbles in order to lure the desired fishes into my net . I threw couple of pebbles while calculating the behaviour of the fishes that I determined would have the ability I was after . Fortunately one of them got caught in the net when I pulled it out . I placed the fishes that I caught inside the pond that I created and went out to get more of them . I needed at least 2-3 fishes with this ability and just couple of normal fishes . I already had 3 fishes in the pond and one of them was able to use the ability to avoid the light . I casted my net again and observed the school of fishes . After a while, I found couple that were able to use the ability and so I repeated my previous actions . After doing so for over an hour, I finally got 3 fishes with the ability to avoid the light and 5 fishes that were just normal . I went to the river again and searched for the predator to those fishes . It could be a fish but there were also other predators . One such predator was a turtle . Normally you would think that turtles eat plants but this one ate fishes . I went after the turtle because It would hunt just one fish to satisfy its hunger and then rest at the bottom of the river . If I let it into the pond, it would just eat one fish and then rest . I wouldnt have to worry that all the fishes would die to the predator and one fish a day or two would be easy to replenish . The turtle I was looking for was not so easy to find though . Other predators were much more common but this turtle mostly spent his time at the bottom of the river and left only to hunt the fishes . I had to search for couple of hours before I finally found one . The turtle was not really aggressive towards me, it was annoyed that I picked it up but didnt seem to get angry to the point where it would try to eat me . It couldnt anyway . It was only about 40 centimetres big . I took the turtle back to the pond and released it inside . It went to the bottom of the pond and stared at me . I though Can turtles stare at people? . Maybe it was annoyed and just wanted me to leave . I moved away from the pond couple of steps and the turtle started to get accustomed with his new surroundings . Anyone would be confused if they got picked up, moved somewhere else and then placed down . The turtle noticed the fishes and seemed satisfied with his new home . If you have food that is very close to you, then you dont have to look for it, just hunt it . It seemed that the turtle was a bit hungry so he creeped under water towards the fishes . I watched the whole process . I noticed that the 3 fishes that had the ability to avoid light also had the ability to sense a predator . These fishes were responsible for informing others that predator was coming . They had a purpose in the group as well as means to avoid their own death . The turtle got closer and lunged at one of the fishes . I was surprised when I saw that turtle . It was at least twice as fast as these fishes . No wonder he could hunt them . He caught one of the normal fishes and returned back to where I dropped it, which was closer to the first gate, where the fresh water was pouring into the pond . I thought that my efforts were not in vain and I would be able to study the fishes in greater details due to only couple of them being there . I wasnt scared that the turtle would leave because it had the food near him and a fresh water that washed the pond all the time . It could just go out of water and walk on land but these were simple creatures and the turtle would stay there . I was at least 90% sure of that . I knew that the turtle will eat and then go to sleep for today and there was no longer a point for me to stay there, so I decided I would go back to the village and check if Nick has returned .