Limits

The next day, I went back to the workshop, and started my work from preparations, to create my own daggers. I needed to create moulds, as well as a tiny hole in my dagger, that would later be used to attach a string to. The problem was balance. If I added a hole at the back of my dagger, the balance would suffer. Not by a lot, but it wouldn't be perfect anymore.

I also had to take under consideration, the material my daggers would be created from. 'I have to redesign my daggers. If I continue using the same mould, I will only degrade them. I need an improved version of my daggers' I thought. This was not easy, I had to figure out the new balance, and the shape.

I took some wood, that was lying around in the workshop, and started carving. 'I need something, that will have a greater penetrating power. The dagger has to be perfectly balanced, and it needs to be useful for both, close combat and as a hidden weapon. It will weight more, due to the materials used, so the size can stay relatively the same' I thought, as I carved out the new shape. I carved like this, but to no avail. All my tries, were either out of balance, or I didn't like the feel of my newly designed dagger.

'I need to focus more, and focus on the aspects that I need to improve' I thought. The carving knife in my hands, began moving on its own. I didn't stop, but allowed my instincts to shape my new dagger. After a while, the new shape of my dagger emerged. It felt out of balance at first, but then I added a small hole, at the handle of my dagger. 'Now, it's perfectly balanced. My body seems to know what it wants the best' I thought, and took a more detailed look at my dagger.

The main blade of the dagger was even more wavy now, but the most important thing, was that the wave of the blade allowed for the balance. It also stayed in line with the small blade protruding from the handle. It had a very small hook blade, incorporated into the main blade. 'My dagger possesses three blades now. Not only is it great for throwing, it's also perfect for close combat fights' I thought. All sides of the dagger had a blade, which would allow me to damage my opponent, however I attacked. The handle on the other hand, was now a bit more curved, to align the front and back blades.

'I can even use this dagger, as a kind of knuckle blade. If I chose to fight that way' I thought. My new dagger had much more potential, then the previous version. Not only was it more versatile, it was also created with the Stringed Hidden Weapons skill in mind.

'Good, I just need to make a new mould, and cast it. Then, take care of the polishing and sharpening process. I can't wait to get my hand on those daggers' I thought, and went straight to work. Creating mould, was not that difficult. I had to use the clay, and imprint the wooden dagger in it. The mold was one time use only item, therefore I would need 10 mold, in order to create 10 daggers.

I got to work, and created my moulds. It took me a while, as I decided to make 20 moulds. I didn't create more on purpose, as casting, polishing and sharpening that many of them, would still take a while. Just the process of preparation, took me some time. I decided to cast my daggers next time, as I wanted to finish those Azurite Ingots.

As usual, I made two Azurite Ingots, then took a break, before working on the last one. After a while, I had all three Azurite Ingots ready. When I visited the room at the back of the workshop, the old Lizard was there, sitting on his chair and going through some sort of paperwork. I said "Here are the three ingots". He nodded his head and asked "What would you like to learn now?". I thought about it for a while, then said "Can you teach me, how to create daggers? It seems that this is your race's specialty".

He nodded his head, and said "Yes, we do like to use daggers, it seems you do too. No wonder you want to learn how to make them. There are some advantages, when creating a weapon, without using moulds". I asked "What advantages are there?". He explained "Although your daggers are quite good, as you were able to design them very well, and carve out the original. But, those daggers are not as sharp, or as sturdy as they can be, when using the moulds. If you compare the work of a smith, with a dagger from a mould, then the weapon forged by smith will be much better, of course provided the smith is experienced".

He then continued "I will teach you how to make simple daggers first. If you want more lessons, you know what you will need to do". I nodded my head and said "Sure". He was referring to my work, at the workshop. Money was not really what interested me the most, but the knowledge. He knew that perfectly. That was why, he taught me something each time, I finished my task.

We went to the workshop, and he started the demonstration. "We will use Steel again, for the purpose of this lesson. When creating a dagger, a whole Steel Ingot, would be too much, so first, we will need separate the ingot into half". He started heating up the Steel, until it became red hot, then using a special hammer, separated the Ingot into two halves.

He then continued "First step is called Shaping, as you already learned with swords. I will be striking the bar, until I get the general look of a dagger". He struck the metal with a hammer, from left and right. Sometimes flattening the piece of metal, and sometimes thickening some parts. In the end, he created a general shape of a dagger. It wasn't as intricate as mine, but it was still a curved dagger.

The old Lizard then said "Now that I have the general design of the dagger created, I will show you the next step, which is called Tempering, it will be a bit different, than before". He cooled down the dagger in a barrel of water, then heated it up again. When the dagger was red hot, he bagan flattening it, then returning it to the previous state. He repeated that five times, then cooled the dagger to a greater degree, until it was only hot to touch.

With all of that done, he said "I now need to Shape it, for the last time. I will give it a more defined edge, as well as create the handle piece, to which we will attach the Holder". I nodded my head and watch the process. He heated up the dagger again, then flattened one side of it, to create an edge of the blade. When he was done with the Shaping, he then flattened the back side of the dagger, to create a very thin handle.

The old Lizard said "This is a Flattened Style handle. You can slide a more comfortable and well design handle on top of it. The advantage, is that the handles can be exchanged that way. I will now show you the second method". He started reshaping the dagger a bit. The dagger became a bit smaller, as he had to borrow the materials, in order to build up the handle. He created a rounded handle, that could be used, without any sort of materials strapped around it.

"This is called Complete Style handle, where you can add some sort of string, rope or material, for better comfort, but the shape will not change. You wouldn't be able to attach a handle, like you could with the Flattened Style handle" he said. I nodded and asked "Which one is better?".

The old Lizard said "That depends, on what you are going to do with that dagger. If you want to fight in close combat, a thick metal handle is better, because it's more durable, and the dagger has less probability of breaking. On the other hand, if you are going for the lightness and agility, a Flattened Style handle would be better".

He then continued "Now we cool the dagger completely. This is simple Steel, so water is fine, but more rare and unusual ingots, require different tempering baths. For example, if you were to create a dagger from Black Steel Ingots, you would need to use distilled water. A water that has been cooked couple of times, then cooled down, and sieved from all the impurities. This is to make all the minerals inside, disappear".

I nodded, and asked "So, now we sharpen and polish the dagger?". He replied "Yes, the next process is Sharpening, then we do the last process of Polishing". He demonstrated that to me as well. He showed me how to properly sharpen the blade, as well as how to polish the whole dagger. When he was done, he passed me the dagger and said "This is a dagger created by a smith, without using a mould. If you make a mould of this dagger, and cast that using Steel, your dagger would be twice if not three times worse than mine". I was a bit stunned and said "That is really good improvement".

He replied proudly "Of course! Smithing is not as simple as you may think. Yes, the ingots require a lot of strength, but making ingots is not the whole profession, that smithing is. If you want to call yourself a smith, you must know how to make armors and weapons, not how to cast them". I nodded my head and thanked him. He returned to his room, while I went back to the tavern, in order to rest.