Exploring the Forest 5

"Dad, I didn't expect you to let me make a sword anytime soon."

"It is good to know that you are not arrogant, yes you do not yet have the experience, the skill and the strength to make a sword, but seeing you working as a hunter I decided that I will change the way I teach you."

"You already have the necessary knowledge to create a sword, so I will let you try and teach what you do wrong and so you will gain strength and experience, I do not like to teach like this, but I think it is necessary."

"Why do you think this is necessary now?"

"Because soon our kingdom may go to war again, you didn't live in times of war, Jack, but I went through this when I was younger."

"I lived in the kingdom's capital within the walls and so I didn't have to worry too much about the war being young as I was, but talking to the soldiers I learned that thousands of people in the villages had died in that war."

"The people who live in the villages like us are independent and we can do many things that in the kingdom are not allowed, nor do we have to pay taxes to the king, but that is because we do not have the protection of the kingdom."

"When wars broke out, villages are the kingdom's first defenses and this has worked very well in recent wars, hunters in the village like you can take advantage of the forests to kill many enemy soldiers who reach the walls of the kingdom with much less force."

"As we are in the village now and I don't know what can happen I think it is better that I teach you everything I know and that you become at least a bad blacksmith, you have the knowledge and with experience, you will win more skill and can be as good as I am."

"Don't say that Dad, I'm strong now, I'll protect you if a war breaks out, that's what I trained for so much."

"I know that Jack, but I will feel more relaxed if you learn everything I can teach, so I will know that you will become a great blacksmith."

Hearing Tim say that Jack no longer questioned and started to concentrate to make his first sword, he knew how to melt the ingot and he knew how to put the molten iron into the sword's mold.

Tim just watched how Jack would make his first sword, for sure the sword would look like a sword because Jack helped Tim for several years and knew at least to make the iron in the shape of a sword.

But the biggest challenge was to make the sword sharp and to make the sword resistant even though it was not very big, for that Jack would have to have a great mastery with the hammer, then he would have to have the ability not to get hurt making the blade sharper.

Jack did all the procedures he saw his father doing, but after he put the sword in the mold he realized he had made many mistakes without noticing, luckily putting the sword in the mold was just to speed up the job.

Jack put the sword back in the forge and watched the right time to take the sword out, then Jack started hammering the sword and can feel how much strength he had to put in to leave the sword the way he imagined.

After repeating the process of putting the sword into the forge several times and hammering the sword, Tim finally told Jack to stop, Jack was already exhausted and felt his hands trembling, but he knew he hadn't even started making the sword yet.

"Jack, you made a lot of mistakes to make this sword, when you put it in the mold and realized it was wrong you should have stopped making the sword right there."

"But Dad, I haven't finished making the sword yet."

"I know that, but you can't take anymore hammering and that's why you started making even more mistakes, you know you don't have enough strength, but your stubbornness prevents you from stopping hammering."

"Besides that."

After saying that Tim hit the hammer with some of his strength and the sword that Jack spent hours making broke in half easily leaving Jack thinking that his entire day's effort had been lost.

"You had to correct the mistake of the sword mold so many times that you took away all the durability of it, the most important thing about a sword is that it has the resistance for the warrior to be able to strike and defend himself using the sword knowing that it will not break."

"There are types of swords that are made to have less durability and to be sharper to kill in a cut, but it would not be effective against knights in armor and animals with thicker leather."

"Our swords have to have resistance to defend and you have to have more strength to kill opponents and animals as well."

Jake knew he had done everything wrong when trying to make the sword and so he was upset, he thought that after helping Tim for so many years and always watching his father create hundreds of swords he would at least be able to make a sword on the first try.

"It's okay, Jack, it's normal that you wouldn't be able to make a sword on your first try, but I wanted you to try to have more experience when I teach you."

"You made several mistakes, but the main thing is that you made a mistake in the mold of the sword and did not stop trying to make the sword right there, the other biggest mistake of yours is that you realized that you had no more strength and stamina to finish the sword, but still kept trying to hammer."

"But it was you who taught me how to do this, father."

"No, what I taught is that making the sword over and over again is the right way to do it because that way you can make a perfect sword, I never said this is the right way for you."

"I have enough strength and stamina to be able to make a sword without having to rest, but in addition, I have experience not to waste my stamina doing the wrong things."

"As you don't have the strength you have to stop several times when you finish a process to rest, just so you can create your first sword, today we finish your training here and tomorrow you will try several times until you can create a mold correctly."