Fasteners: The Tool [Blacksmith Research]

[Saber]

    Footsteps echoed quietly in the underground library as a single figure paced its open halls. With a book in his hand, the figure patiently read the words which were strewn in a simple and organized manner on the pages. However, the words were collected in such a way that it was initially difficult to understand. The book he held was the fourth one he had grabbed from the shelves around him and it was the only one with simple enough information that he could work with. One book Saber had grabbed had information about the different types of ore that were in the world, so he had placed it on the stone table for later. The second book was filled with only images of flying machines of sorts. He was not skilled enough for such a thing so that book was returned to the shelf. The fourth book was only a tale from the past, one about a group of dwarves that sought out a dungeon of sorts. Saber was not interested in fairy tales so he put the book back to its original location just as quickly as he grabbed it.



    The book he had open in his grasp, and the book he was slowly inching towards the forge with, had information on different sorts of metal fasteners and locks. They were things that could allow the connection of two different pieces of metal without having to form them all in one piece. For Saber, that would mean he could begin to create more complex pieces of hardware by making smaller pieces and connecting them later. As Saber flipped from one page to the next and read the descriptions, he slowly began to realize what he was reading. The description of the first fastener, called a Feathered Swirl Fastener (or an FSF at times by the book’s author), described an object which was short and had swirling threads around its base. The top of it could come in various different shapes, depending on the actual type of fastener it was and what its job was. It was also stated that the point at the bottom of the fastener could vary in shape as well depending on whether the fastener needed to pierce through something in order to be latched in or if it could simply be set into the hole and twirled in.

[Saber]

    It was then that Saber realized what he was reading. A threaded object with various different heads and different kinds of points which was placed into a hole and used to tighten a hold between two objects was the compacted description. In reality, this object was known as a screw. With that in mind, Saber flipped to the end of the chapter he was at. He stopped at the last collection of pages and stared down at the blueprints before him. He was astounded by the sight, and a grin crossed his face. Phillips head screws, flat-head screws, cap screws, machine screws, self-tap screws, and even set screws. Each type of screw had its own design, its own image, and was carefully labeled out to the exact dimensions needed. On the page after the last type, after the set screw, there was even a design for the screwdriver. In the reading, it was mentioned as “the tool used to put the FSFs in place”. The only problem for Saber was that the screw drivers weren’t exactly large ones. He didn’t mind it though as he would be able to make changes later. For now, he simply had to make one.

    The forge Saber had prepared during his morning routine and the coals inside of it were warm and glowed with a gently red light. Reaching to his left, Saber gently pressed on the blower and added a gust of wind into the bottom of the coals, causing them to flare up and ignite with more heat. Taking his time, the apprentice blacksmith gradually raised the heat inside of his large forge until the light from it completely illuminated his work area. Ash and residual pieces of flying coat seeped out of slots on the front, closed door, making the forge look sort of like a caged dragon was inside of it. It made the young man grin as he continued to increase the heat. Once he could feel it from off to the side, Saber released the blower and made his away in front of the forge. Warmth swallowed him up the instant he walked past the door and it made him whistle out of surprise. While moving by, he opened the forge door to allow some of the built up heat to escape, allowing the temperature to start dropping to the needed level.

    Opening up a small container, Saber retrieved a small chunk of purified iron ore that he had prepared the day he retrieved it. The blacksmith tucked the ore under his arm and flopped the container with the rest of the iron ore closed before making his way back to the forge. The burning coals were still hot and they looked like lava from how bright they were, but Saber reached in anyways. He placed the small chunk of iron just inside of the forge so it was close enough to retrieve later, and then the man quickly retracted his hands as to not lose them. As the ore began to heat, Saber put on his safety gloves and goggles to protect his hands and eyes. He grabbed onto his hammer, tongs, and a chisel as well, resting the tools on his anvil. Once that was set, he gave his trough a like kick, reminding himself that there was indeed water inside of it. He couldn’t remember if he had retrieved any that morning but it seemed he had.

[Saber]

    With his work station set, Saber returned to the open forge with his tongs in hand. The iron had already begun to glow because of the heat, but Saber didn’t grab it yet. The player withstood the heat and stared inside, watching as the chunk of pure metal was gradually turned into a glowing mess. A smile crossed the players face as he stared into the fires. He was only a beginner at this sort of thing, but he was confident in his abilities. He could feel Salvestro looking over his shoulder, guiding the apprentice along with each step. If it was one thing that Saber had learned with that old man was patience. Saber couldn’t force the metal to heat, and he couldn’t force it to take the shape he wanted. He had to wait for its temperature to rise, he had to coax it into the form he wished to it take.



    “Now…” Saber whispered to himself in his mind as the ore in front of him turned from orange to a bright yellow color. It was then that the tongs Saber held were pushed inside of the burning pit. He clasped onto the hot metal and lifted it off the coals. In that short period of time, his tongs had also begun to glow a little but they did not melt because of their material make up.



    Pulling the heated iron from the forge, Saber carried it calmly to this anvil and placed it down in the center. He placed the longer tongs down, grabbed his shorter pair and also grabbed his hammer. Then, as he held the iron ore in place, he began to swing. The top-heavy blacksmith hammer clanged loudly against the bright yellow piece of metal, causing it to spark and spit fire into the air. Saber winced as a few sparked burned his forearm, but he kept swinging. The player fought the pain and ignored the slight health reduction as he turned the mass of ore into a much more slender piece. It wasn’t perfect, but Saber was able to shrink it and was able to reduce the size of the material. Before it could cool any further, Saber grabbed his chisel.

[Saber]

    With tender care and strong positioning, Saber lined the chisel up and smashed it with the hammer, breaking off a decent sliver of metal on one side. He then moved the chisel to the opposite side, performing the same action as to make the ore even smaller. With his tongs, Saber took the new pieces and put them off to the side where they could cool off on their own for later. For now, he had to focus on the main piece. With haste, Saber placed the hammer and his short tongs down and grabbed the large pair. He gripped onto the piece of now colored ore and returned it to his own personal pit of hell. The fires engulfed the red ore and immediately began to reheat it. Due to already being heated once, and because of its reduction of size, the metal heated up much faster. Still, it was not immediate and Saber was forced to step back as he waited.



    When the time was once again right, Saber stepped forward and pulled the hot ore from its place on the flaring coals. He returned to the anvil, exchanged tools, and twisted the ore so he could begin to hammer at both sides with more precision. The ore became shorter, rounder, and thinner with each difficult but carefully placed swing Saber threw at it. The metal was barely seven inches in length and it was beginning to form into a long rod as Saber formed it, but it still wasn’t small enough in the front, forcing Saber to once again chisel off some of the metal. From a distant standpoint, Saber could see the basic shape of the screw driver. The head was slender and long while the handle was thicker. However it was not ready to be cooled just yet, and Saber was forced to return it to the fires. He grimaced at the thought of it, but continued to heat the tool. This time, he watched it with a sharper eye. It could not heat too much because of how fragile the end would be, but it also could not be to cool or the next part of his creation would fail. The heat had to be just right…

[Saber]

    Biting his lip, Saber held back. He second guessed himself for only a split-second before he decided to go. He reached in with the tongs, retrieved his nearly complete tool and returned it to the anvil. Rather than grab his hammer, the player took his chisel and quickly began to knock off more and more off the front part of the rod. He rotated the ore with his tongs and took off, sliver by sliver, pieces of the metal until the front eighty percent of the tool was an extremely slender piece of orange glow. Then, he switched back to his hammer. Saber held onto the very bottom of the screw driver and began to hammer at the handle, smashing several flat sides into it as to shape the piece into an octagon. That would give the handle a better grip, and would allow the tip to be flexed. As the ore continued to cool in its final stage, Saber delivered his last blow to the handle before switching right back to the chisel. He twisted the screwdriver about and focused on the very tip of the tool, chipping carefully at the end. When one end was angled and flat, he flipped the tool over and did the same for the other side.



    With the handle formed, the tip made, Saber grabbed the iron tool with his tongs and dipped it into the trough. Steam poured into the air immediately and forced Saber to lean away from the cloud as he watched. He held the metal beneath the water until the steaming finally stopped. When it had, Saber returned the screwdriver to the anvil. With the chisel, he carefully knocked out any clumps in the front rod and smoothed out the tip. After the final touch ups, Saber took a step back and looked at his creation, his first personal creation in the new world; a screw driver.