NOVEL WEB Chapter 21: The Eternal Village’s Oldest Native
As he sat with a cup of fruit tea in his hands, Jonn could hear Tim’s hammer and muffled voices at the back of the house. He waited next to Molle, who soon shared a bit about their past.
“… It’s good to see the village improving, Jonn. For those of us who have seen a little of what the region was like before the terror of war, the hope is even greater than for the young people who were born into darkness.”
“Have you always lived in the Eternal Village, Lady Molle?” Jonn asked, looking into the woman’s eyes.
Molle’s wrinkles shook as she smiled, revealing her wide-set teeth. “Not me. But Tim, yes, he was born in the village. In my case, my mother moved here when I was 7. Ah, back then, the Barren Hills of Deepshadow were known by another name.”
“Oh?”
“Green Hills. That’s what the entire region looked like, from Arcanis to the Lands of Etheria. But the mages destroyed almost everything in the war decades ago… Sigh, the beauty of our region was lost with the Third Magic War.”
Jonn looked at Molle with interest, more captivated by the era of the Green Hills than the current times. “Were you and old Tim close back then? You must have enjoyed the area.”
Molle remembered her youth with a sweet feeling in her heart. “Tim was shy in his youth. I always liked him, but he made me wait a long 10 years… But we had our moments before the war. Unfortunately, the only really good moments after our marriage came at your hands, Jonn.”
She paused for a moment, remembering the son she had lost back then.
“But I don’t regret it,” she said after a moment, resolute in her words. “Tim was absolutely perfect as far as possible.”
As she spoke, two young men, a child, and one of the farmers slightly older than Jonn, came through the back door, catching Molle's and Jonn’s attention.
They watched as the man with black and white hair entered the house, dirty and sweaty, stopping by the sink to drink water.
“Ahh, whew, I’m finally done for the day,” Tim sighed before noticing Jonn sitting next to Molle.
“Village Elder, I hope I didn’t keep you waiting.” He smiled as he sat down on a stool.
“No, I’ve only just arrived. I was listening to Lady Molle’s stories.”
Tim looked at his wife and laughed. “I hope she didn’t tell you our secrets, haha.”
Molle shook her head, amused by her husband’s humor.
“Who knows, another day?” She stood up, gesturing to the boys and giving them some space to talk.
Watching his wife walk away, Tim picked up the basic forging book from which he had learned almost everything he knew. “Village Elder, this is the book your grandfather gave me, from which I learned the art of forging.
Back then, I was a hunter’s apprentice, but old Hewet soon saw that I had a different build. He showed me a few moves, and then I learned almost everything myself by studying this book.
Take it and study it. It will make our future conversations easier.”
The two boys looked at the book that Tim had promised to lend them once they met some of his requirements, their eyes shining at the sight of the thick cover with the symbol of a hammer.
Jonn opened the book out of curiosity, seeing various illustrations, representations of movements, sections on materials, and texts on the history of forging.
“Thanks for this. I’ll skim it and then pass it back to your two students for their study,” he said, nodding at the two guys to encourage them.
“Don’t worry about them. Those two will be fine. They still need to learn a lot.”
The two lowered their heads after Tim’s words.
Jonn laughed, but didn’t comment further. He wouldn’t keep the book for long, but he appreciated Tim was passing it on.
It’s 300 pages long. It’s not much; I should finish it in three nights at most.
“But don’t rush your reading. This book is dense. It’s full of technical terms, so talk to me if you need help to understand specific parts,” Tim advised, curious about how long it would take Jonn.
It took Tim 3 years to grasp what was necessary to create simpler artifacts. Now, with 30 years of experience, he knew how to make over 60 types of metal items, some with refined and complex details.
“I’ll certainly do that…” Jonn replied, still examining some blueprints and forging techniques.
“But I can introduce you to something for now. The process of forging a sword, for example, comprises nine stages.
First, we need to select the materials, usually iron and coal. Then we heat the bar using a special furnace and take the result into a mold. This is followed by forging, where we work with a hammer and anvil. This phase serves to lengthen and refine the bar to the desired shape.
We then bend and compact the result of the force, rolling it, which helps eliminate impurities and distribute the substance behind the charcoal that increases the blade’s strength. Then the blade needs to undergo heat treatment.
Finally, we sharpen and polish the blade with an emery board and sandpaper. Assembly involves other types of materials, followed by the finishing.
This is the usual pattern. It changes a little depending on the type of weapon we’re going to produce.”
Jonn considered this information, storing it in his memory for when he would read the book in his hands.
“Are there other materials we can use instead of iron and coal?” he asked.
“Iron and coal are always necessary. But old Hewet said that we could make the best blades using other types of ore along with iron and coal,” Tim replied, shaking his head. “However, I wouldn’t know which minerals and in what proportions we should add. He never went into detail about that in our conversations.”
There was a sadness in Tim’s words that was hard to ignore. This was a subject that bothered him a lot.
Seeing the old blacksmith clench his fists tightly, Jonn asked, “My grandfather didn’t go into details, old Tim?”
Tim immediately exclaimed in denial, “That’s not what I meant… I’m sorry for my attitude, Village Elder. Old Hewet helped me a lot. He taught me much more than just forging. But he wasn’t a blacksmith. He came from a strange place and knew many things. But he didn’t know each of these things in depth.”
Tim remembered the many conversations he had with Hewet during the over 30 years he had been by the old village elder’s side. Some of Hewet’s descriptions of where he came from still intrigued Tim.
He finished, “I’m afraid your grandfather didn’t know these forging methods in detail. He knew it was possible to create stronger items with other combinations of ingredients, but not the specifics… At least that’s what I gathered after realizing he never went into detail about it with me.”
He wondered aloud as he looked at his disciples, “Or maybe he felt I wasn’t ready?”
“I see. Don’t worry about that. We’ll get you a more advanced book eventually,” Jonn promised as he stood up.
“That would be a great help to the village. I may not take our forge far, but those two will have a better future than me.”
“Old Tim…” The two disciples looked at him differently than they usually did when being scolded.
Tim was strict with both of them!
Meanwhile, Jonn felt confident that he could find these answers, as long as he discovered other types of ore.
If I have the forging method and the materials, [Analysis] will give me the answer that old Tim doesn’t have. I just need to combine the properties of different ores, and I’ll reach at a production method similar to that of the blacksmith who created Acelin’s swords.
I’ll start looking for new quarries tomorrow. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to test it out in a few weeks.
“All right, old Tim, that’s enough for now. I’ll read your book and talk to you about questions I have regarding the terminology. We’ll discuss this more another time. Now you should rest. Tomorrow will be as long as today.”
“Certainly, Village Elder.” Tim accompanied Jonn to the door of his house, also bidding farewell to the two apprentices who left alongside Jonn.
The younger apprentice ran back to his house, while the black-haired boy, who must have been about 27, walked with the Village Elder on the way home.
“Village Elder, when can the rest of us learn to fight?”
Jonn knew that several men from the village were interested in the training that Petyr had been leading. So he answered, “Soon. When the first of us knows enough to teach others, we’ll each teach two more people. I imagine that the entire village will know the basics of combat in no more than a year.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” said the man, showing one of his fists. “The next time trouble comes to the village, I want to pick up a weapon myself and defend our people.”
One of Dreue’s relatives had lost a limb in the wolves’ attack weeks ago. Since then, he had been determined to learn how to fight.
Jonn eyed the 1.8-meter-tall boy next to him. “The village needs you and your strength. But focus on forging. Weapons are just as important as warriors.”
Dreue looked at Jonn in understanding before changing the subject. “Speaking of what’s needed for the village, when will the harvest be?”
“It should start in a month and finish at the end of the following month. Let’s see, Grandpa Hewet’s plants and seeds are unique. They grow hastily.”
The days passed, and the village remained peaceful.
Jonn was finishing his understanding of the book Tim had given him while the harvest was approaching. The Limonite mine continued to supply much of the village’s needs, with no signs of shortage.
The walls of the new village area were nearing completion, with the last details being made to protect the structure from the effects of the weather.
But today, something important happened!
In the middle of the day, as the sun began its descent from its pinnacle position, the entire village gathered in front of what would be the entrance portal to the thousand square meters of walled area. There was no gate yet, but as they entered the area, the villagers imagined what it would look like once completed.
Inside the area protected by the walls—about 80% built as planned—the villagers saw the foundations of future houses, particularly focusing on the first house finished!
The family moving into the area first stood at the head of the group alongside Jonn and Elie, while the others followed behind, eager to see the model of the house they would all have in the coming weeks.
With the construction of the house bases finished, it would only be a matter of weeks before all 12 houses in this walled area of the village would be ready!
////Novaro////
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