Chapter 249: Bodeer Blacksmith Shop - Making a Metal Shield

Jier woke up in a guest room at the Tie Zhang Inn; this was not the same room he had stayed in before.

It was funny to think about: after hearing about the events of the past few days from the people in the Cunzi, the Merchants had become quite keen on staying in the room he had once occupied, hoping to gain some small, indescribable sense of psychological comfort.

This forced him to move into a different room.

When he arrived last night, seeing that the Cunzi had already closed its main gate for the night, he thought he wouldn't be let in. To his surprise, after he revealed his identity, the sentry on duty at the gate of the Cunzi wall welcomed him and immediately ushered him inside.

After getting up and washing, he asked the inn kitchen for a piece of hard Bread, which he heated and toasted over a fireplace by the inn's main entrance before eating it.

Pushing his stored Handcart, Jier checked to make sure no one had touched it, then headed to the blacksmith shop in the Cunzi.

Presumably because of the cold weather, Bodeer the blacksmith was resting inside his house and had not come out early to forge. Jier had to knock on the door of the blacksmith's house to call him out.

"Warrior Jier? You've come to the Cunzi again, welcome, welcome." Seeing Jier, Bodeer the blacksmith was excited and wanted to invite Jier inside.

The Handcart outside was still loaded with valuable items and could not be left unattended; the street was not like the inside of an inn.

"I won't go in to sit. I came here this time mainly because of this." Jier led Bodeer to the Handcart, opened the protective felt cloth wrapped around it, and took out a piece of twisted, skeletal Elf Metal.

Bodeer the blacksmith hadn't cared much at first, but when his hand took the metal remnant, he was suddenly taken aback by its extreme lightness.

"What is this! By the God of Crafts, Warrior Jier, where did you get such a strange thing?" Bodeer the blacksmith tossed the metal remnant in his hand, surprised that something that looked so large could be so light; it far exceeded his expectations.

Smiling, Jier pulled the felt cloth back further to reveal more metal remnants: "I went to the south of the county to wipe out some bandits earlier, and these were all found in their lair. They are all my spoils of war."

Bodeer the blacksmith took out another piece of metal remnant and clapped the two pieces together, listening to the sound: "The sound is crisp, and the vibration in my hand is strong; this metal isn't hollow inside. This is truly rare. You've obtained a great treasure."

Seeing Bodeer the blacksmith praise the metal so highly, Jier felt relieved. He had been worried that these metals, scavenged from the Elf Ruins, only looked good and could only fool someone who didn't know better. Now that even a professional like Bodeer the blacksmith agreed on the quality of the metal, there was no problem.

"It is good stuff, I've made a profit. However, I have no way to handle this kind of unknown metal. You know how fast news travels in Kendall City; if I hand it over to them, I expect those big shots would demand to buy it from me, and I wouldn't be able to keep it for myself. After thinking it over, you, Bodeer the blacksmith, are the most reliable. I came here to see if you could help me process and forge these metals." Jier pushed the Handcart and parked it by the blacksmith shop.

Arriving inside the blacksmith shop, Bodeer the blacksmith placed a piece of metal remnant on a large stone table and used a Small Iron Hammer to tap it lightly, observing the metal's properties. "Truly excellent. With so much material, what do you intend to make? By the way, is the axe I gave you still working well?"

Jier took all the metal remnants off the Handcart one by one and pointed to the axe on the cart: "It works very well, it's just that it's too heavy. I have to keep it on the cart most of the time, otherwise, I'd be exhausted from walking around with it. Haha."

"It is very heavy. Perhaps because it was too heavy, my ancestors used it when the county was first being pioneered, but once everyone settled down, it wasn't easy to use anymore. Lighter and faster weapons were forged one after another, and it could only become a memento. Of course, since Warrior Jier has to deal with all kinds of Monsters, I believe using it is most appropriate."

Bodeer the blacksmith piled all the metal remnants on the stone table, judging their volume and weight. The volume was easy to judge; as a blacksmith who dealt with various metal objects year-round, he quickly determined how much of this metal there was in total.

But as for the weight, he still found it hard to judge; the metal's surprising lightness could truly deceive the eyes.

"We must first melt them down to see how they behave under high heat. Only by seeing their state under high heat can we determine how to process them next." Bodeer the blacksmith explained to Warrior Jier the general method he would use to handle this unknown metal.

"By the way, have you decided what you want to make? This is important; after all, there are many ways to make different weapons and equipment. When there is a simple method, we had best not use a complex one."

Jier already had a request: "You've helped me with my weapons and equipment several times, don't you think I'm in special need of something?"

Bodeer the blacksmith thought for a moment, then slapped his forehead and said: "It's a Shield! You're missing a good Shield, right?"

Nodding, Jier gestured at the metal remnants piled on the stone table: "Do you think these could be used to forge a metal, lightweight Shield?"

Hearing Warrior Jier's request and question, Bodeer the blacksmith rubbed the surface of the metal remnants with his hand, looked at the twisted and deformed pieces, and after thinking for a moment, said: "It should be possible. With this much, it should make a large metal Shield. However, I haven't made a Shield before, so I can only say I'll try. Whether it succeeds or not depends on whether this metal material, which I'm seeing for the first time, can be handled by the tools and methods I have here."

Upon hearing this, Jier was a bit worried. The equipment in Bodeer the blacksmith's shop was naturally not as good as the facilities in the blacksmith workshops in Kendall City, and the manpower was only him; counting Jier himself, there were only two people.

However, this metal had superior properties, and he didn't know what would happen if he took it to Kendall City. He didn't want to be manipulated or cheated in the city, so Bodeer the blacksmith's place was more reliable.

Agreeing to let Bodeer the blacksmith give it a try, Jier then temporarily left the Handcart inside the blacksmith's house, as leaving it outside all the time wasn't safe.

Compared to handling the metal frame in the ruins earlier, it was much more convenient and familiar for Bodeer the blacksmith to handle these metal remnants here. He had Jier hold one side of a remnant with iron tongs, then he used an iron chisel and a hammer to break the twisted metal remnants into small pieces.

By noon, the two of them had processed all the metal remnants into a large pile of scattered metal fragments.

Afterward, Bodeer the blacksmith called over a child playing outside and asked them to go to the village tavern to buy some food. Seeing this, Jier naturally couldn't let Bodeer the blacksmith pay; he took out his own money and told the child to buy more good food and drink, and keep the remaining money for himself.

While waiting for the food, Bodeer the blacksmith lit the large furnace, and Jier stood to the side, pumping the bellows mechanism to force fresh air into the furnace, causing the ignited wood shavings to light more large pieces of wood.

Pointing at the flames in the furnace, Bodeer the blacksmith said: "Let's first test if the temperature produced by the burning wood can heat this metal."

He poured the metal fragments into a groove in the furnace, which faced the rushing flames blown by the wind. The roaring flames sprayed onto the side of the metal, but it didn't seem to change much.

Jier watched anxiously, but Bodeer the blacksmith was very experienced; he used iron tongs to pull out a piece of roasted metal fragment and used a hammer to strike it again to test the condition of the metal after heating.

"It has softened, it's not as tough as before, but I still can't say it can be worked. This level isn't enough." Bodeer the blacksmith said.

Jier also felt it wasn't enough; after all, iron materials in the forging process were usually in a glowing, semi-molten state, but this metal still maintained its original appearance, without the slightest sign of melting.

Seeing that the temperature of the burning wood wasn't enough, Bodeer the blacksmith had Jier stop, then used an Iron Shovel to scoop the wood out of the furnace and set it aside to cool naturally. Then, he replaced the wood in the furnace with pitch-black charcoal.

"This temperature is higher, let's try again."

After the charcoal was put into the high-temperature furnace, it began to burn from the edges, and Jier switched legs to pump the bellows. The charcoal first heated up and smoked, then was stimulated by the air rushing into the furnace; the smoke vanished, but a colorless, high-temperature glow emerged from the charcoal, bearing down on the furnace groove.

This time, the heat of an unknown high temperature caused the metal in the stone groove to gradually become soft and limp; the pieces of metal, which were originally both hard and tough, became pliable.

Bodeer the blacksmith pulled out a piece and found that the metal could now be worked, but it did not glow like other metals; it remained the same, yet it had become soft enough to be worked.

Using a thick, short iron rod to stir the soft metal, they changed shape as the iron rod moved.

Bodeer the blacksmith thought for a while, then poured some coal into the furnace.

After the coal was poured in, a large amount of thick smoke emerged, but fortunately, there was a flue made of Bread Bricks above the furnace, so it wasn't choking inside the room.

The temperature produced by the heated coal was even higher. As the temperature rose, the metals finally could not maintain their original shapes and melted together into a semi-molten state.

The amazing thing was that even in this state, the metals did not glow while in the semi-molten state; they did not become high-heat, but maintained their original silver-white metal color.

"Warrior Jier, look, is this okay? This is the highest temperature my furnace here can produce. Although it's not completely melted, the semi-molten metal can already be worked."

Jier didn't stop his legs, just switched to the other leg to pump the bellows: "You're the expert, I'll listen to you."

"I'm no expert, the real masters are all in the city. Alright, is the Shield that kind of Round Shield common among the guards?"

He didn't want a Round Shield; the performance of a Round Shield was quite average in all aspects, but his Shield needed to withstand fierce attacks in battle and provide defense far exceeding that of armor.

"Let's go with that traditional shield shape, the one that's flat on top and an inverted triangle on the bottom. Do you know what the handle of a shield is like?"

Bodeer the blacksmith smiled and said: "Although I haven't made a shield, I've seen some relevant knowledge in the wood paintings passed down in my family. Don't worry, you are a Warrior, I assume you have an idea of what a shield should look like. When I'm forging it, if there's anything wrong, just point it out."

Jier nodded; that was all he could do.

Bodeer the blacksmith pulled out the stone groove and slowly poured the semi-molten metal onto his small iron anvil.

The heat of the metal mass was astonishing; Jier could feel a sense of suffocation. Bodeer the blacksmith had Jier stop, then fetched a bucket of water and used a wet cloth to wipe Bodeer the blacksmith's head.

The blacksmith was wearing a heat-resistant stone-plate apron, so only his head and hands needed protection from the heat.

Jier kept using the wet cloth to wipe the other's head, face, and hands. At this moment, the child from before returned with food and drink, and Jier told him to just leave the items at the door of the room.

The semi-molten metal mass was like a lump of high-heat modeling clay, requiring Bodeer the blacksmith to constantly use a metal rod to change the shape of this metal mass.

After the metal rod had been in contact with the high-heat metal mass many times, it began to glow red-hot itself, so Bodeer the blacksmith hurriedly thrust it into another water bucket.

Sizzle!

The ice-cold water immediately boiled at the point of contact with the iron rod, and then, Bodeer the blacksmith used the iron rod to press down on the metal mass that had already begun to cool.

After the first heating, he had barely managed to shape the metal mass into a shield form.

After the two of them hurriedly finished their meal, they heated the furnace again and placed the barely formed shield prototype halfway into the furnace to roast. Wherever it was heated, he would work on it.

Bodeer the blacksmith no longer used the iron rod; he swung his hammer and began to strike the bloated shield prototype with a *bang, bang, bang*.

The thick, small shield expanded bit by bit, and Bodeer the blacksmith even removed two small pieces of metal, saying they would be used later to make the handle.

The heating and hammering continued until evening.

Naturally, they could not work after dark, so they shut down the furnace and went to the tavern, where Jier treated, and he and Bodeer the blacksmith ate and drank heartily to replenish the sweat lost to the high heat and to soothe their ravenous stomachs.

The Villagers in the tavern saw that the previously active warrior Jier had arrived and came over one after another to greet him. Someone curiously asked if he had any interesting stories from the recent period. Their Cunzi was truly very boring, and every year, only during the Harvest Festival would a Bard come over to celebrate. Those who could come to the tavern to relax were all restless and lonely people who longed for all kinds of stories happening in distant places.

As it happened, Jier had stories to tell; previously he had always been in a hurry in the Cunzi, but now he was in no rush, so he told the Villagers in the tavern about finding the missing girl in the city earlier.

After he told one, everyone in the tavern begged him to tell another, and the tavern owner also provided the best liquor in their tavern.

Jier took a sip of the so-called best liquor, felt it was barely acceptable, and then told them about a murder case he had participated in while in Kendall City.

Of course, he omitted the part where that poor woman had finally provided him with information about the Elf Ruins. Some Villagers recognized the woman in the story who had married into Kendall City, and everyone expressed sympathy for the plight of this now-widow, while some Villagers who seemed to have known her in their youth and had been on good terms with her wore thoughtful expressions.

Jier snorted with disdain; did they have the guts to walk out of this remote Cunzi, go to a city where no one knew them, and find a widow to take off their hands? If it were people who often traveled and did business, they might have this courage and initiative, but these farmers who had likely only left home a few times would surely not even be able to find the person's door before slinking back in defeat.

Moreover, Jier had a deep impression of that woman; the extent of her strength and capability was not something an ordinary person could handle. Even if this bunch of Villagers really did marry that widow and bring her home, it was a toss-up as to who would be in charge of whom.