Limits

Back inside the room. The old Lizard sat down on his chair, and said "I misjudged you badly. For that, I apologise. Have a sit, and let us talk about your employment". I sat down and said "It's fine. Also, don't worry too much about the Grondon. I gave him some medicine, and he should be fine very quickly".

He nodded his head and said "I understand what you did. You knew I would employ you, when I saw you strength. You would give the medicine to that Grondon anyway, right?". I nodded and said "Of course, he didn't do anything wrong. I had no reason to harm him, I just wanted to make a point". He nodded this time, and said "Good, you are an honest person. You told me how much you knew about smithing, and didn't hide anything. I sincerely apologise. Now, what type of conditions do you propose?".

I said "I'm not after money, as much as I am after the materials, and the workplace. I need to create more daggers for myself. If you can provide some good grade materials, and the workplace for me to create them, I can do any job you want". The old Lizard nodded, and asked a bit excited "Can I have a look at your dagger?".

I retrieved one of my daggers, and passed it onto him. He looked at it, and exclaimed "This has a perfect balance! It was made from a mold, but still, the quality is very good. Did you design that?". I nodded my head and said "Yes, I designed that dagger to suit myself perfectly". He nodded a few times, then said "The details are really great. I would be even tempted to buy it". I said "They are not for sale".

He didn't seem surprised and said "I figured as much. Alright, I can provide some materials for you, but it will not be Azurite. We are required to make a specific amount of it, and the materials don't belong to us. I can give you other materials, that are better than the current ones in your dagger".

I said "As long as they are better, I have no reason to decline". He nodded and said "Great! I will give you Black Iron, but don't be fooled. Black Iron, is twice as resilient as Purified Steel, but it's a bit heavier". I thought about it and said "That is fine. I can just get accustomed, to the new weight of my daggers".

I then asked "What type of amount are we talking about?". He said "I will give you enough materials, to create 3 daggers every day. The Black Iron is much more expensive, compared to the Purified Steel. That is as high as I can go". I nodded my head and said "That is acceptable. Can someone also teach me, how to make ingots from the Black Iron?".

He said "I will teach you myself, when you are done with your task each day. As for the length of your employment, stay as long as you want. I'm sure there will be work for you here". I nodded my head and said "Alright, then what am I supposed to do?". He said "Let's go to the workshop, and I will show you". I nodded, and we went outside. When I had a look at the workshop again, I noticed that the Grondon I damaged a bit earlier, was now working away. 'It seems that he drank the medicine' I thought, then followed after the old Lizard.

We came up to an empty workbench, then he said "I will teach you have to make Azurite Ingots. I hope you can make couple of them in a day, where Grondons can only make one. It is a lengthy and exhausting process, but not much can go wrong with it". I kind of expected that much, but I had no problems with it.

He took some light blue ore and said "This is Azur Ore, very rare and expensive". He then added some other white powder, and said "This is Moonlight Dust, It is in a form of powder now, but that's because it was processed. Normally, it forms underground, under special conditions. It's also quite rare". I nodded my head, while he placed them both in a furnace and melted them. He said, while we waited for the stuff to melt "Use the scales provided here, to measure the exact amount of materials needed. Did you use the scales before?".

I shook my head, and said "No, I didn't have a chance to". He nodded, and explained "This tool is very easy to use. On one side, you have a plate where you put weights, and the other side, is where you place the materials. For example, you will need 1 kilogram of Azur Ore and 300 grams of Moonlight Dust, for the mix. Use the weights, that indicate specific quantity on one side, then place the ore on the other side. When the scale is level, then that means you have the exact amount". I nodded my head, and said "I understand, it is simple to use indeed".

When the ore inside the furnace melted, he said "We now need to strike it, until we receive a uniform mass of metal. It should be of one colour, with no impurities. It takes quite some time for Grondons to do this step, as we cannot melt the metal again. We can only heat it up a bit. If we tried to melt it, more impurities would enter the metal, and so our work would be pointless".

He then continued, while pounding the piece of metal "It will take some time for me to do this, so I'm just going to explain, what to do further. When most the impurities are gone, you will have to melt the metal and add another ore. This time we need to add Blurite Ore. Blurite, is an ore that will add flexibility to the Azur Ore. While the Moonlight Dust, is there to give it a shine, but also strengthen the metal. This gives the Azurite more flexibility, strength and it doesn't become brittle. Again, you will use the scales, in order to measure how much Blurite Ore you will need. For one ingot, you will need 650 grams of Blurite".

I nodded my head and said "Then I pound out the impurities, that were produced due to the melting?". He nodded and said "That is correct. Besides that, you also have to thoroughly mix the Blurite, with the Azur-Moonlight mix. When it is thoroughly mixed, you don't melt it anymore, instead, heat it up and use this tool, to shape it into the ingot". He pointed at a metallic mold, that would be used to accomplish that. "In the end, it needs to look like this" he said, and he showed me a completed Azurite Ingot.

I nodded my head, then said "It's not that difficult indeed. I will give it a try, and then tell you how many ingots, I can create in a day". He nodded his head and said "Sure. Well then, I will leave you to it. All the tools you need are here. When you want to take a break, do so, you don't have to ask anyone for permission here. When you finish your first ingot, come by and show it to me. I will need to check the quality".

I nodded my head and said "No problem". He then waved goodbye and left me to my own work. 'Right, the process is a bit more lengthy and a bit more complicated, compared with Purified Steel Ingots, but I have much more strength and stamina, compared to the past. There should be no problems' I thought.