My Servant System

It didn't take long for the Empress and some others from the Royal Family to make their way into the training grounds, the news that I had already alloyed the Fiend parts drawing them out quicker then if it was anything else I had made.

Leone approached me and gave me a quick kiss, before doing the same with Kat and Jahi, standing between them and waiting to watch the events unfold as the Empress stepped forwards and took a bundle from my arms as well, revealing the bronze daggers as she asked "These are all different alloys? Or is this bronze mixed with the scales and this is mixed with the bones?"

"Correct, they're paired up together; six total alloys for both the scales and bones, as I wanted to have a simple baseline to understand their differences better. Like if the scales react poorly to having a softer, lighter metal but the bones react excellently, then I can try to fine tune a new alloy to better work with those materials."

"Makes sense. So, what exactly did you plan on doing with them now? Basic durability, sharpness, and stress tests?"

I nodded again, watching as Lady Lorelei retrieved a bundle followed by Jahi, leaving two in my arms, though yet another was taken by the humming Lady Igna, who seemed to be in a rather jovial mood.

Looking down at the remaining bundle, I blinked a few times before shrugging, gesturing towards the training dummies and saying "If you want, go ahead and try to cut the fabric. Don't put too much stress on the blade, but still try to deal damage with it."

I had given up on the idea that I would be able to create another baseline at this very moment using myself as the tester for each alloy, instead just embracing the fun that would come from everyone trying it on their own... though I was worried about the Empress, Lady Igna, and the Marquess breaking the blades since they weren't the most refined weapons at the moment, and the strength those three possessed was rather... high.

As for the other test - magic conductivity - I was afraid of ALL of them using the blades, since each had their own unique and really potent mana, with some being volatile and others just being incredibly strong.

So... I had no idea how their magical strength would translate to the blades, but one could hope..?

Either way, I was left with the iron alloy blades, which made me rather happy since I could deduce quite a bit from just this alloy if all the others fail.

Taking a deep breath, I cleared my mind and looked at the training dummy closely, raising my hand and holding out the scale alloy first, pointing it at the fabric torso before slashing downwards, the sharp knife in my hand leaving a thin, clean gash from the shoulder down to the waist of the dummy.

Well, it would seem it can cut... 

Eyeing the dummy again, I placed the blade gently against the sternum and pulled back, before plunging the blade into the fabric and piercing it cleanly as well, sinking it deep into the dummy - to the point that my hand was resting against the dummy's chest.

After pulling the blade out I stared at its edge, before my eyes landed on the wooden arms attached to the side.

Since it could handle fabric and the softer bundle of materials inside, I wanted to try it against something harder, so I angled the blade and slashed down at the wrist of the dummy, nodding as the knife sheared through the wood cleanly as well.

Stabbing forwards next, I splintered the wood and left a relatively 'clean' wound, able to clearly tell where the knife had been and where the force of the impact had furthered the damage.

To round it all out, I slashed and stabbed once more, verifying the results and inspecting the blade, running my fingernail down the sharpened bevel and finding no rolls or warps, while the tip was still as straight as ever.

The dummies weren't made from normal materials either, so this was a good test for the alloy in my hand, making me a bit happy as I switched it out for the bone alloy instead, which was heavier and much harder to work then the scale alloy.

I mirrored the tests on the other side of the dummy, creating a clear picture of their results as I slashed, stabbed, slashed, stabbed, and slashed and stabbed again.

The wounds were deeper and easier made, the blade suffered no damage, and the only drawback seemed to be the weight compared to the scale alloy; if the scale was featherweight, the bone was middleweight in comparison, almost 1.5 times the weight of the scale alloy.

For a dagger that meant little, but the second I began to work on anything longer, thicker, or just generally larger, that weight would add up quick.

An example being the armor for Jahi that I had just made; if I made it with the scale alloy, it would be roughly 60 pounds, while the bone alloy would be 90 pounds, and that was with just general estimation.

That... is a gigantic difference, which would ask the question; is that weight worth it, or not?

To tell that, I needed to do something that most smiths hated to see, since it could show how imperfect your work was or just wipe away hours of work in mere seconds, but it was necessary...

Creating a table swiftly from rock, I then layered the top in metal and took a deep breath, before stabbing the blade down once, twice, three times to observe how it reacted to such a strenuous test.

Each blow hurt my heart a little since it could've broken very easily, but looking at it made me nod in appreciation at how the tip remained straight, while the blade itself had no fractures or warps in it at all.

Repeating it with the bone alloy, I got the same result and breathed out a sigh of relief, only to move onto the next test quickly, wanting to get it over with.

Testing knives on a dummy was fun, but it provided only a little information, so I needed to do these harsher tests next to understand even more.

The last that I wanted to do in such quick succession was testing the edge against metal instead, so I made a pipe and had it rest atop the table, before slamming the blade down again and again to test the edge.

This time, the scale alloy did get damaged a little, rolling beneath the pressure after the third hit, but the bone alloy remained firm.