Chapter 17 A man is only as good as his tool

"Onwards to the blacksmith."

Kyle couldn't help but be excited as this was something he was really excited about. When he realised that he was in a sword and magic world, he knew he could use a sword the way it was meant to be used. When he was young he took up shin kendo and this created a love for weapons in general but in particular Japanese weapons, the most prominent being that katana as who could say that a true sword isn't beautiful.

Kyle couldn't remember where his love of these swords came from as these were among the memories that were wiped, but he could remember reading books about their forging and also watching documentaries about the processes. This interest expanded and he looked into various means of weapon forging, metallurgy and the ways these weapons were used. Ancient stories, historical records basically anything he could find about cold weapons he investigated. Some may say he was passionate about his hobby but most would just call him a nerd, now however this knowledge should hold him in good stead as he'd be able to see the forging methods used and alter them to suit his preferred style.

Hurrying up as he got more and more excited, he was almost running towards the blacksmiths quarters. Miranda was surprised by his actions as previously he always seemed apathetic and slightly aloof, but seeing the sparkle in his eye and the excitement which was almost radiating off of his body Miranda finally saw a boy of her own age who treated her well. This created a strange desire in the young girls' heart as she found she wanted to protect this joy and pure innocence she had glimpsed.

In just a few moments Kyle and Miranda arrived in front of the blacksmiths quarters. The building itself was far larger than any of the nearby workshops. Kyle was expecting to see multiple smoke stacks towering above the building as while the building was large it didn't have any special external adornments. There were 6 chimneys but these were no different than the chimneys of an ordinary house. The building itself was made with slightly inward curving walls making it look almost like an upside down fruit bowl. The chimneys were located at the top of this dome, Kyle assumed that this shape was to aid in the flow of smoke. There were multiple windows in the building but all of these were closed but there were small slits located at the base of the dome When Kyle tried to think what these slits were for he thought of the kilns and stoves that exist in this world and realised this was also to help in air flow within the building.

Reaching the entrance Kyle took a couple of breaths to calm himself down before pushing the door open.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!!!!?"

Hearing this thunderous shout Kyle was stunned for a second as the timing was perfect as it coincided almost perfectly with when he opened the door. Looking for the source of this shout Kyle spied who he assumed to be the foreman of the workshop berating the workers. When Kyle saw this man the only coherent thought in his head was 'it's a giant dwarf'. This may sound strange but if you saw him you would understand. This man stood clear of 6 feet, while he was this tall he was almost that wide as well but there wasn't any visible fat on him. This bulk appeared to be almost all muscle. Also sporting an impressive beard and a bald head which was so shiny you could almost hear the 'bling' sound effect like a certain caped superhero with a lack of reaction. He did look like an enlarged stereotypical dwarf from fantasy, he was even a blacksmith how many clichés can you put in one person.

This man's subordinates ignored his shouting and just carried on doing what they were required to do, although a few paused for a few seconds on seeing Kyle and Miranda before scurrying to carry on with their tasks. This pause didn't escape the foreman's sight and he turned towards the new arrivals and upon seeing them was first shocked as he could tell that Kyle was someone from the higher levels and they don't usually associate with the craftsmen, preferring instead to pass orders through intermediaries. This man was the chief blacksmith Randall who was a strong warrior in his own right being at level 9. All these blacksmiths were warriors as they needed the strength to be able to forge these metals as they had been infused with mana making them incredibly strong and durable.

Once Kyle got over his shock at Randall, he looked over the workshop and found himself a little disappointed. The forges themselves were impressive as raw metals were fed into the top and they were heated and controlled using arrays hence the lack of smoke stacks as the standard chimneys could handle the small amount of smoke released. These furnaces produced a heat that could appear at its hottest in a bluish white hue. This meant the heat was incredible and was hot enough to heat the metal turning it into an almost pure liquid.

Unfortunately this is where this worlds failing started to crop up as the metal in its liquid form was poured into moulds in the shape of the claymores or bastard swords everyone used. These were then just left to cool on their own without any further processing until they could be sharpened by hand with the hilt finally being affixed.

Being the nerd he was, when Kyle saw this he could only shake his head and lament this process. It was good for quick production but created many weaknesses and impurities in the metal. Kyle began to think about using formations to improve this process and also to allow him to produce better weapons and alloys than existed even in his previous world.

Seeing Kyle shaking his head at the process, Randall scowled at the new arrivals. All of the workmen on seeing this scowl ran for cover as this was never a good sign as Randall wasn't a patient or good tempered man at the best of times. Walking over to Kyle, Randall once again raised his voice.

"OI BRAT WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT, YOU THINK YOU CAN DO BETTER??"

Kyle turned his eyes towards Randall, not being intimidated in the slightest as he found himself rather annoyed at the lack of artistry in this way of sword forging.

"Yes I don't think that would be a problem."

Hearing this a vein became visible at Randall's temple and his face became slightly red in anger.

"OH REALLY, WELL THEN LOOKS LIKE WE'VE GOT A GOOD SHOW LADS. LET THE KID SHOW US HOW IT'S DONE!!"

Turning to his men Randall waved them away from the forges. Kyle looked around to see several buckets containing various ores. Walking over to them he could see some he already knew like iron, copper and tin but these were stronger than our versions as the introduction of mana had elementally altered them making them stronger. There were also other metals with mythical names like mithril, orichalcum and adamantine. Luckily all the stores were labelled so he could see what was what.

Kyle began picking through these metals, turning his soul sight to them one at a time. When he turns this sight to a person, what he sees is relative to interpretation and is highly dependent on how he perceives thing. When he turned his sight to these metals it was different, he could almost see their relative strengths and weaknesses. It's difficult to explain but think along the lines of a view using a heat sensitive camera. He could tell what impurities were present, how strong the metals are and how well they can conduct mana. The best part of this however was when he began comparing these different metals in his mind. He began to process the details at a shocking rate and somehow began to simulate how these would work as alloys.

This surprised Kyle as he didn't know he could do this. Again this didn't appear as in some isekai novel, instead it was more like a feeling or instinct. He knew what would work and how to process the materials to get the desired result. Kyle began selecting his materials', he chose all three of the more exotic materials and also chose a small amount of iron and copper.

Seeing what Kyle was doing the men present began to smirk as it's known these materials cannot be mixed. Usually you would have one exotic material for its special attribute and mix it with common materials to get the finished alloy. Mithril had good mana conductivity, orichalcum could allow for an elemental attribute to be added to the weapon and adamantine was highly resistant to damage or wear and could even repair itself given time. But when these were mixed together it could cause wild mana fluctuations causing the metal to fail.

Heading to an unused furnace Kyle inspected the formation that was present on it. This formation allowed the user to heat the furnace to a specific temperature and hold it there without the heat being able to escape. This was why there were several furnaces needed for different processing needs. Seeing this Kyle realised why they couldn't get these metals to fuse properly. He finally said to himself

"I need better tools."