27. Crafting and Testing the Battle Axe

Once the alloy had cooled enough in its mold to be removed, Mark carefully took both pieces out of their molds with a couple of different tools that helped prevent him from burning his hands.

Then he placed the pick side in the coals to keep it at a workable temperature as he set the other next to the bone handle. With a special tool for removing an insert, he pulled out a piece of iron that had burned off the mold which was meant to allow the head and pick to have an insert from the handle to anchor the two pieces before they were completely bonded to the weapon. 

"I haven't used a mold like this before but it should work with the fifth step. . ."

Mark continued to think out loud as he moved along with the forging process.

After he had the insert removed, he placed the insert on the handle into the slot for the head after sprinkling some bonding powder on both parts. Since he would have to rely on the fifth step to complete the bonding process he would have to take extra steps to test the axe later to make sure it would survive a rigorous battle.

For now, he ensured a flush fitting of the battle axe and sprinkled some more bonding powder on the axe head before pouring some of his new pellets on the cracks. The metal was hot enough to melt the pellets into a workable form but not so hot that the melted metal flowed.

Then, Mark pulled out his purple crystal hammer and began the fifth step forging process.

He quickly slipped into a trance as he envisioned a fully crafted battle axe smashing through thick hides as well as flesh and bone as if they were pieces of paper being cut by a pair of scissors. While he was lost in his trance, his eyes remained fixed on the work at hand and his hammering followed a modified rhythmic pattern between what he would use for bonding bone to metal as well as metal to metal.

The resulting sound was akin to a musical instrument that alternated between high-pitched ringing sounds and dull thuds that had a hint of a high pitch within them. The beating of a drum could occasionally be heard from the pounding of the hammer and random blasts of purple and white lights came off of the battle axe as Mark turned it when needed and held it down with his free hand otherwise.

After a couple of hours, Mark came out of his trance to see that the head of the battle axe was perfectly bonded to the metal and bone he had bonded together previously. There was no imperfection in the metal and bone as it looked like they had grown together rather than having been just forged together.

"Looks like this side is a success, time to finish this."

Mark then grabbed the counterweight and repeated the process of taking out the insert and fixing the piece to the battle axe with plenty of bonding catalyst and sprinkling the beads on the cracks.

The fifth step process went smoothly and the work was completed in a few short hours. When Mark was done, he looked out at the sun and could see that he still had a few hours of light.

"I should test this thing on something hard. . ."

He looked around for something hard to hit but found nothing. Then he looked at the axe before getting a good idea.

"Ah! The blade has not been compressed nor sharpened yet so I should just find a good chunk of beadrock to smash!"

After cleaning up his work area and checking the forge to make sure it would not catch fire in his absence, Mark grabbed the newly forged battle axe and carried it out to the west gate.

While he was carrying it he turned it over in his hands to get a good observation of it.

'It is lighter than a normal battle axe this size would be. . . but this bone is many times stronger than I would normally get with a reasonable handle.'

The route he was taking was deserted since it wound around the outskirts of the village so he didn't have to stop to talk to anyone or explain what he was doing with such a weird-looking battle axe.

The battle axe itself was not really weird-looking, but the bone was in stark contrast with what someone would normally expect to see the axe attached to in the hands of the user so it would look weird to someone that is seeing it for the first time.

'The axe and the counterweight are definitely attached well and they aren't moving around or cracking at the points of attachment. This thing should work and serve as a starting point in a new way to make weapons.'

As he approached the west gate, he was greeted by the guards but this time they had some questions. Questions of curiosity, not of his intentions since they couldn't care less what a protector like Mark was doing. 

They had always respected him but now they looked to Mark as a leader and protector of the village, a pillar that could help hold up the village.

But as Mark had surmised, they were curious about the weird weapon he had brought around.

"Mark, It's good to see you!"

"Yeah Mark, have you come to slay more beasts?"

"Woah! What kind of weapon is that?"

From the distance, they just wanted to be friendly and greet Mark, but as he got closer they could get a good look at the weapon he was observing so intently.

Mark was not a shy person and was not one to hide his work.

"Hey guys, I hope everyone is staying safe."

The guards nodded to his introduction with anticipation.

"This is a new battle axe I have been working on to see if I could use the materials from the beasts more proficiently."

He held the axe up so they could get a closer look at it.

"Usually we have to forge the axe in one piece and fasten it to a bone like this if we want to use a bone as the handle. The problem I am sure some of you have come to know is that it is harder to swing an axe head that is fastened to the bone like that."

Some of the guards nodded their heads. The way to fasten a battle axe head to a bone handle had always been to use some leather straps and a bit of forging, maybe a pin or two to help stabilize it.

The problem is that it would still move around and reduce the leverage the long handle gave it which would reduce the damage it could do.

Also, when utilizing the full power one could exert with a battle axe like this one, it would usually break before it had achieved an optimal level of usefulness for the cost it had in materials and time to make it.

"So I forged this one directly into the bone so there are not multiple pieces, this is a single-piece forged battleaxe."

The guards were now feeling the area where the axe and bone were bonded and could tell that it was a perfect bonding. None of them could even tell where the bone ended and the metal began.

"Wow."

"This is some fine work Mark!"

"When can I get a piece like this?"

The guards were excited about the possibilities and implications such a weapon posed.

The weaker guards could now use heavier weapons which would enable them to fight stronger beasts and look cooler. Most of them were just thinking how cool they would look with a badass battle axe or two-handed sword in their hands while they stood guard.

"Well I am glad to hear the enthusiasm for the weapons I craft but this one is not even fully tested, that's actually what I am doing here guys. I need to hit some hard stuff with this axe and it's not even finished. None of you realized it doesn't even have an edge to it yet?"

The guards were a little embarrassed when they looked at where the sharp edge should be only for it to be an unfinished blunt end with random pieces still sticking out of it from the mold.

"Geez I guess I got ahead of myself there. . ."

"Haha of course I noticed. I was just excited for when it's done!"

Mark actually had a good laugh at their reactions.

"Hahaha, well I gotta get out there before I lose the light guys."

The guards immediately went to open the gate for Mark.

"Of course Mark! Get out there and finish my weap. . . I mean your new craft!"

Mark just shook his head at this point in amusement. Since the gate was opened for him he quickly made his way out to a spot where messing up the bedrock wouldn't harm the defenses of the village.

He looked around to make sure the noise wouldn't attract any nearby beasts and then went to work.

He took a solid stance with the axe in both hands and brought the weapon down with as much force as he could muster.

"BANG!!"

The hammer smashed into the nearly indestructible bedrock and caused a noticeable crack to form before the axe bounced off with a metallic ring as the blade reverberated from the impact.

"Wow that was a good hit."

Mark started thinking out loud again as he began working on his observations. He pulled the blade up to his face to see how it was holding up.

"Hmmm, there is no noticeable damage to the blade or the bone, nor is there any change in the area where the metals and bone are bonded. . . well better give it another wack to make sure."

Then Mark wound up and gave the bedrock a big hit again with just as much strength as the last one.

"BAM!"

The rock cracked in a different spot this time and the metallic ring of the axe resounded in the air once more. Mark once again inspected the axe.

"Yep, this thing is just as good as one forged from a single piece of metal. Better since the strength requirement is lowered by quite a bit."

'Now I can make more weapons like this.'

Mark had a newfound feeling of excitement welling up with the many weapons he was thinking of making.