A Promise Between Men: part 2

The Eternal Flame sword.

Made under the scorching heat of the sun, Hammered down by the hands of a master blacksmith, and formed under the image of what a true flame was, the eternal flame sword was crafted for the purpose known only by its wielder's fate and the judgement of th sun's gaze.

As each hand that came to know of its legend, bowed at its hilt, worshiping it, pleading to be the one chosen to claim the sword.

But each hand that came…left empty and wounded with a scar that forever burns in their flesh.

The Eternal flame sword had no name…had yet to find its purpose…and its spirit was so egotistical, no hand could ever claim its hilt with their own soul. As for every soul that came upon it, its size was not big enough to devour the flames of this sword.

It was said to be capable of slaying demons…plundering the evil…and capturing the souls of the departed. But because of its ego, no hand was able to claim it for themselves.

This nameless sword was nothing more than a sword with a legend but with no history to its name. Only its creation was the benefactor, but no holder was deemed worthy to carry it to the centuries.

It was eternal.

It was nameless.

It was a legendary item crafted by the dwarves.

And for years, it has only ever faded back into time…waiting for the right holder to grab it and claim the right to its passage.

This was the summary to the context of what the book was written all about. A summary describing the legends of the Eternal Flame Sword. It was somewhat like Excalibur back in my world where only the rightful king Arthur was the one chosen enough to claim the sword and Britain.

Except this sword actually had no one to have the rights to claim it…and even though it was said that it was lost, no location was ever written down on its pages. So it doesn't really give much of a chance to be claimed by anyone at all.

Other than that, the book also told of the process on how the master blacksmith created this sword.

On the first day, the master carefully melded the finest steel with the dragon scales, creating a blade strong enough to withstand any foe of form. The sparks that flew from his anvil danced with excitement, fueling his determination.

On the second day, he forged the hilt and guard of the sword. With intricate designs resembling the sun, he fashioned the hilt to resemble swirling flames, paying homage to the fiery essence the sword would possess.

On the third day, he sought the aid of the wisest Elven mage. Together, they performed ancient rituals and chanted incantations to infuse the sword with everlasting flames. The heat grew unbearable, but the blacksmith remained steadfast, knowing that great power required great sacrifice. as the sun reached its first peek, he would bathed the sword in sacred oils and imbued it with the blessings of the spirit of the sun. Their words of encouragement and goodwill seeped into the very core of the blade, infusing it with their collective strength.

On the fourth day, he delved into his deepest reserves of strength and poured his essence into the sword. The pain was excruciating, but he endured, determined to create a weapon like no other. The eternal flame sword would become his masterpiece.

On the final day, the forge roared with a furious blaze. The master blacksmith placed the newly completed sword within the heart of the flames. And as the clock struck midnight, the world seemed to hold its breath, for a moment of awe-inspiring magic was about to unfold.

With that said, six days…it took the man six days to complete the sword. And despite it being a believable amount of time, a lot factors in making the sword is missing.

First is the dragon scale, we don't have that…and I'm very scared of the fact that there was even a dragon in the first place. Instead, we'll simply have to rely on changing the material with iron. The second process is no problem since forging the hilt and guard of the sword all relies on Josy's skill. The third process however will be a bit of a complication. With no Elven mage to rely on or even a mage itself, enchanting the sword with the flames will have to be something we have to think over…I guess I'll rely on the All-known book again for that. The sword should be bathe on its essence. And from how its described, it seems as if the sun itself will communicate with the sun. I don't know how will that go, but I'm curious why that happens…and the only explanation I can think of was because of magic. On the fifth process, it probably relies on the essence of the blacksmith…So I'll have to leave this matter to Josy as well. And on the final day, the sword itself should be completed.

Reading all of this process, it seems kind of weird that the sword took six days to even make, realistically, it should be done by Josy in under two days…but seeing as how the book originated from the dwarve's tactics, I can only imagine that this sword must have been incredible.

With that said, after telling this to Josy, he only ever looks to me with a serious expression.

"The process sounds very mythical…as expected of the dwarves." he smiled and looked to me with a profound expression.

"Yosh! Lets get started then!" he said as he stands up and made his way to the lower floor.

As I followed him down, I realized that the town chief was still in this room, looking at me with a calm expression.

"...Thank you." he said as he remained in the room.

"Well, we'll never really know if this will even work in the first place." I said as I was uncertain of the end product.

"Either way, I'm just happy to see Josy looking more motivated than he ever was."

"..."

"Don't mind me, help the man." he said.

And so, I went down stairs and already, I could see Josy lighting the flames of his furnace.

By smelting the Iron, In the forge, the Josy prepares a furnace, typically made of bricks, to smelt the iron ore. The furnace was heated by a bellow, a device that blows air into the furnace to increase the heat. When the furnace reaches the desired temperature, the Josy added layers of iron ore and fuel, alternating them to allow for the reduction of the iron.

Watching him on his process, I tried to study as much as I can since this was an important factor I needed to learn if I come back to the forest. I wont have to rely on anything other than my skill, so studying on how to be a blacksmith could benefit me very well. I can make pans on my own, or even furniture. So its good to learn while I have the chance.

Over time, as the intense heat causes the iron ore to separate from impurities, it resulted in a molten iron pool.

Next up was Forging the Blade. With the molten iron ready, the Josy carefully removes it from the furnace using crucibles or ladles and poured it into a mold specifically designed for creating a sword blade. Luckily by his profession, he already had a mold. The mold is usually made of sand or a combination of materials that can withstand the high temperatures. Josy made sure that the mold is filled entirely and for a time, it cooled down and solidified, taking on the shape of a rough blade.

Once the blade has cooled, the Josy removes it from the mold. It was then placed onto an anvil. Using a hammer, the he began began to shape the blade, striking it with measured blow to create the desired curvature and thickness. Throughout this process, the blade was regularly reheated to maintain its malleability.

After the shaping was complete, Josy moves on to tempering the blade. This involves reheating the blade and rapidly cooling it in water or oil, a process known as quenching. Quenching helps to harden the blade and improve its strength. Once quenched, he carefully examines the blade for any signs of cracks or deformities.

With the blade now hardened, Josy proceeds to refine its shape further. Using various grinding tools such as files, grinders, and stones, he carefully removes any rough edges and imperfections, smoothing the surface of the blade. This process required precision and attention to detail to achieve the desired final shape.

And finally, the blade was made. Next up was the hilt and guard of the blade…thankfully, Josy had already made the hilt and guard in advance. Seeing as how he was always in the process of completing the sword, it wouldn't be so weird to find that he had a bunch of hilts and guards pre-made. And just like in the book, the handle was very much similar to the picture in its pages.

Once the handle was firmly attached, Josy gave the sword its final touches. And with no halts, he etched his very own symbol down on the sword. A logo that marked his existence as a blacksmith.

Seeing as how the sword was complete, we moved on to the next process…which was on about the mage.

This process required me to have to do the work.

"What do I need to do to Enchant the sword with the Everlasting flame?" I asked the book.

[ANALYZING…ANALYSIS COMPLETE. DUE TO THE FACT THAT EVERLASTING FLAME COMES FROM THE CENTER OF THE SUN'S SPIRIT, YOU HAVE TO CALL OUT TO THE SUN'S PRESENCE AT THE SUN'S RISING ON THE FIRST MORNING. BY CARVING A CERTAIN ANCIENT RITUAL MARK WITH A MANA BLESSED BLOOD ON THE SWORD, THIS ANCIENT INCANTATION WILL ACT AS THE POWER SOURCE OF THE SUN, THE SUN WILL RESPOND TO YOUR CALL AND BY THEN, YOU MUST BARE THE HEAR THAT THE SUN WILL BLESS UPON THE SWORD. SEEING AS HOW THE SWORD IS SIMPLY AN IRON FORGE, YOU MUST NOT SURPASS THE LIMITS OF WHAT THE SUN GIVES, OTHERWISE, THE SWORD WILL WHITHER AND BE DEVOURED BY THE SUN'S SPIRIT.]

"Hmm, I see…" with how it may seem a bit complicated, if I just take the advice given to me by the book, I wont have to worry about anything going out of the ordinary.

Luckily, with how long Josy had in forging the sword, the sun is just about to rise in a couple of minutes. Before then, I have to prepare marking the sword with an ancient writing using my blood.

"Give me the sword." I said.

"...What are you about to do?" he asked.

"The next step." with that said, I poked my finger with a knife nearby and started copying what the book had just shown me a moment ago. Although it was a bit sketchy how these markings I wrote with my blood weren't similar to that of the dwarven writing.

After that, I just waited for the sun to rise…

With no call whatsoever, I placed the sword on the ground standing.

By then, I just waited…and not long after, just like magic, the sword and incantation reacted to the sun's rise.

"...Whoa." like a flowing river of light, the sun was giving the sword just what we needed. The sword reacted like a newly heated iron on the furnace. With its edges like a burning flame.

But before long, I felt like the sword was already filling up too much with the sun's energy. The sword was burning the land, even without the flames ever erupting and seeing it only meant that the sword was at its limits.

"Shit! We got to stop it!" I said as I feel like the sword was going to blow up.

"How?" Josy asked.

"...We have to stop it from getting any sun light." I said.

"I'll get a tarp!" he said as I ran back inside his home

As he came back, he was carrying a tarp big enough that it could cover the whole sword…but without thinking, he threw the tarp at the blade…and before it could even reach the sword, it burned into ashes.

"Fuck…"

"What about the sword's scabbard?" I asked.

"Umm…I should have one. I'll go get it." he said as he ran back inside.

"Here!" he came out and tossed me the scabbard.

"...What do you plan on doing against that source of heat? It could burn you y'know!"

"I'll have to try…cause if not, then we're fucked."

With that said, I pulled out my elemental crystal that creates water and poured myself until I was completely drenched. I didn't here…as I made my way closer to the sword, heat was still passing through. So I continued to rain down on myself with the water/

"Khk! So hot!" I said as I felt the heat still passing through.

Seeing as how the sword's blade was the only one releasing the heat, I didn't had to worry about getting my hand burned.

As I got near enough to reach the sword, I didn't hesitate.

Pulling out the sword from the ground, I quickly stuck it into the scabbard…

*~Sweek~*

And just like that, the burning heat was gone. But my skin was as red as a tomato.

"...Hmm, this stings." I said as I touched my skin, it reminded me of being sunburned once.

"So, what do we do next?" he asked.

"I don't know, but it talks about delving into your own strength and pouring in your essence into the sword…whatever that means."

"Hmm…I think I understand what that means." he said as I he came close to the sword.

"What are you going to do? This process completely relies on the blacksmith, so I don't have anything to do with it." I said.

"Hmm, delving on my strength and pouring my essence…I see." as he said this words, he held up his hand and I simply handed the sword.

"..." without saying anything, he made his way to the forest with the sword on his hand.

Don't follow me.

These were the signs he gave off as he walked on his own.'

And so I waited…

And I waited…

And I waited…

Until…

A burst of flames came erupting up to the heavens.

*BOOM!*

"!?" I ran to that direction as fast as I could…and without stopping, I came to the very spot where that flame occurred.

And on this forest, I saw the old man standing on his own as he held the sword without its scabbard.

Uninjured and unscathed, the old man simply looked to me and smiled.

"...What happened?" I asked.

"...I did it…after all these years, I finally did it." he said in his soft spoken old voice…and without any signs, he fell to his knees and collapses down on the ground.

"Josy!!"