[PP/F1+] <<Tricks of the Trade>>

[Alec 0]

Alec nodded to his mentor and straightened up the area after Macradon had finished crafting the Rapier that had been ordered. Once he had everything straightened up and in order he pulled out some spare Materials and practiced with them he heated them in the Combi Forge then took them over to his Obsidian Anvil and began to work the Material he wasn't really looking to create anything just practice his technique and trying to incorporate some of the things he had just watched his mentor do. He hammered and turned, hammered and turned he placed the Material back into the forge to reheat. He continued this process flattening and reshaping the Material over and over again untill it became late and was time to shut down the forge for the evening. With that Alec placed all the tools in their proper places, swept up the forge and ensured everything was organized and tidy before he let himself out for the night.

@Macradon

Edited July 24, 2019 by Alec

[Macradon 0]

The entire day went on preparing the rapier, which was fine. The mentor and the apprentice cleaned up in the shop once again, and went on to do their own things, for them to again meet the next day in Alec’s apprenticeship. Before Alec arrived at his shop, Macradon had received a request order for a Two Handed Assault Spear, hopefully something Alec could work with, as it were spearheads Macradon had made him work with, so maybe this was the day where Alec would be able to finish a request for the Blazing Typhoon, maybe finally his merits done for a customer, all they had to do was at least try. When Alec would arrive at the shop, Macradon would sit at the desk and wave at his apprentice “Hey Alec, a request has come, and I want you to try and make it. It’s a Two Handed Spear, so you should have some knowledge on spearheads, show me what you got!” Macradon said and went down to the smithy.

[Alec 0]

Alec flashed a grin to his mentor as he told him about the new order that had come. "Your business sure seems to be booming." The large man stated with a grin as the pair made their way back into the forge to work in the ordered piece. Once inside the forge Alec got everything set up, including his Obsidian Anvil which he set right next to his mentor's. Once everything was ready Alec removed a piece of Material and placed it into the Combi Forge to heat as he grabbed his tongs and hammer. Once the Material was ready he removed it from the forge and began to work on it. Almost instantly he destroyed the piece of Material. With a heavy sigh Alec tossed it into the slag pile and removed a second piece of Material which he also placed into the forge. As that piece reached working temperature Alec removed it and began forming a spear head. Once he was done he quenched the spear head and looked at it with a shake if his head. It was barely worth using as a practice weapon. This extra scrutiny from his mentor was making him nervous. With a deep calming breath and a roll of his massive shoulders Alec removed a third piece of Material and placed it within the forge to heat. When it was ready Alec removed it and set to work with a single minded focus. As he finished he quenched the spear head and removed it staring at it in wonder. He had done it!! He thought to himself as he turned to his mentor and with a wide goofy grin he presented his first Perfect piece to his mentor for inspection and appraisal.

@Macradon

Name: Assault Spear of Guiding
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 5
ID: 119963
Roll: 12
Item Type: 2HAS
Tier: 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements: ACC 3
Description: A simple assault spear that guides the players' hand towards it target
Post Link: 

Edited July 25, 2019 by Alec

[Macradon 0]

Macradon would shake his head “Nay, my business has always been like this, small bursts of business, and then silence until someone needs to have their gear upgraded, they come in irregular waves.” Macradon replied, it has been like that for a while, it was never a steady wave of customers, it was small bursts, one month there would be 4-6 orders, while other months would top 1 at best, it just went like so, and Macradon had become accustomed to it. But since the latest order came in, Macradon let Alec do the job, and for once, he actually did it, he made a perfect piece of equipment. “Well done, Alec! I’ll send a notification to the customer right away! Proud of how far you’ve come. Just look at it! A perfect piece of equipment! Unfortunately not something you get to keep, but with enough practice, you’re easily gonna make something that you can keep one day!” Macradon said and brought the spear up to his shop to stand ready for pickup. After setting the spear aside, Macradon would walk back down to Alec “Whaddya say we try to work out a new prototype of your Wrist Axe?” Macradon asked Alec, trying to see if he was willing to work on that project now.

[Alec 0]

As his mentor took the crafted order and brought it to the front of the shop for the requester to pick up when ready Alec waited calmly for his mentor to return casually doing some light clean up after the last bit if crafting. When Macradon returned and offered to help Alec with his prototype Alec nodded his agreement happily as he quickly pulled out his prototype and the sketches associated with it. "As you can see here." Alec pointed out. "I've worked on the angles of the axe head blades here and here like you said." As the large man pointed to the diagram. "And here I've angled the spike forward like you suggested to increase the damage for punching." As Alec again pointed out the design changes he looked to his mentors to see if he had any further design suggestions to make before he set about working on the piece.

@Macradon

[Macradon 0]

Listening to Alec’s considerations from Macradon’s comment, he would nod his head at his apprentice. He would quickly grab some paper and a pencil, and begin sketching out his thoughts. “What I like about your initial thoughts was how the axe was made, double sided, which isn’t uncommon in fantasy settings like this, the only problem I see are the inwards facing blades that can pierce your own forearm, I don’t find that appealing at all. What I would do is -” Macradon said as he began sketching it out to show Alec the basic idea “This part of the blade, I’d rather just cut it short rather than having it risk the possibility of you piercing yourself if you retract your arm too much or it gets pushed into you. With this flat part it still poses a risk, but not as much as the curve towards you. You could probably make the flat part angle away from you, that could reduce the risk of you hitting yourself even further, but this would be a fine design for you axe. Whaddya say?” Macradon asked.

Edited July 25, 2019 by Macradon

[Alec 0]

Alec watched and listened to his mentor as he went to work adjusting the larger man's initial sketches and ideas. As the Grandmaster Blacksmith spoke and adjusted the drawings Alec he nodded to show he understood what his mentor was suggesting. "Those are very wise and I like those adjustments and will apply them to my new design and build." Alec replied to his mentor. "I'll get to work on that immediately." Alec stated as he turned to the workbench and forge and set to work. Alec pulled out a Tier 2 Material and placed it in the Combi Forge to heat when it was ready Alec pulled it out and began working the piece. When finished the weapon was no better than a practice weapon so he removed a second Material and restarted the process. As Alec finished his second attempt the result was the same as the first. Alec let out a heavy sigh as he removed a third Tier 2 Material and began working on his design. Alec worked until he ran out of time in the day placing the Material back in his inventory for later use. "I think I need a break for the day." The larger man stated. "It's just not coming to me today I'm afraid." He said in his deep baritone rumble.

@Macradon

[Macradon 0]

Macradon watched as Alec would try to create the prototype, something that he could actually use, and not something that just ended up being a display piece. Trying to figure out what Alec could do to improve it, Macradin would think for a while, but at the end of the day, there wasn't anything Macradon could put a finger on, and the master and apprentice would call it a day and clean up the place. Escorting Alec out again, Macardon would close down the shop for the day and head home. Tonight he skipped dinner because he wanted to figure out how Alec could get a proper prototype done, it was just difficult, since Macradon had never really worked with gauntlet type weapons like this that weren't martial arts gauntlets, or gauntlet shields, this was a whole new ball game for the Grandmaster Blacksmith, and it was exciting. Not really finding any improvements, Macradon would sleep. As the morning came, Macradon would prepare the forge for Alec to work at once again.

[Alec 0]

Morning came and Alec walked into his mentor's Blacksmith shop. As he entered he called out in his deep baritone rumble. "Good morning Macradon. How was your evening?" As he made his way through the shop and into the forge at the back of his shop on the First Floor of Aincrad in the Town of Beginnings. Macradon's shop was perfectly located for all new or starting Players to see and access, which was a genius business strategy. The new and starting Players would come on and then would most likely come back as repeat business for the sake of loyalty. Alec smiled at his mentor as he entered the forge and finished setting up before he placed his Obsidian Anvil next to Macradon's own anvil and prepared for the days work as he mentally prepared himself for the day. "So what's our training plan for today?" The large man asked his mentor in a cheerful voice as he waited for his instructions for the day.

@Macradon

[Macradon 0]

Waving at his apprentice, Macradon would reply to his greeting “Morning, Alec! My evening was quite pleasant, even though I didn’t get too much sleep. How about you?” Macradon asked back. Macradon would await answer from his apprentice, and afterwards walk down to the smithy “Well …” Macradon started out as a reply “We have multiple ways right now. We could either keep on working on your Forearm Axe prototype, or maybe work one something else, it all depends on what you want to, and I’ll try to teach and adapt accordingly.” Macradon said. Anything worked for the moment, nothing was too out of the ordinary if they switched to something else, and nothing would be of loss if they just kept on working on the prototype, since Macradon was learning a bit more of these exotic weapons, and Alec was being taught how to blacksmith, hopefully one day being able to compete against the Blazing Typhoon.

[Alec 0]

Alec smiled and nodded to his mentor. "Mine wasn't too bad either." The large man replied as he head with the other man into the back of the shop and the forge beyond. "I'm not real sure." Alec replied to the question of what to craft for the day. "I'd love to work on my prototype but unfortunately I'm starting to run low on Tier 2 Materials and I'm afraid I'll need to go do some Gathering before I sit down to do any serious Tier 2 or Tier 3 crafting." The large man offered by way of an answer. "Maybe some armor or shields today? That is if you think I'm ready to try tackling one of those? Otherwise I can start on some other weapons but I'd love to sit down and work on my idea with you some more today at least in the drafting table and proof of concept areas at least." The large man replied to his mentors statement.

@Macradon

[Macradon 0]

Listening to Alec, Macradon would ponder "I got a big pile of Tier three materials if you want to work on those." Macradon said and opened his inventory to show Alec his current Tier Three Material stash of a whopping 352. "But if you're more inclined to work on some Tier one Armor, we can do that." Macradon said "It really depends on what you want to do, if you want to do armor, we'll look at sheet metal and hinges as well as curvature. If you want to work on different types of weapons, we can look at their blade structure and what kind of metal you need for which, and the different carbon values depending on the part of what weapon." Macradon said, there was a lot to learn, but Macradon would help Alec through it all instead of having to learn about it by trying out all the time, like what Macradon did, no mentor to teach him, no one to give any guidelines, all Macradon had was just the sheer experience he had gathered from this long journey of becoming the Grandmaster Blacksmith.

[Alec 0]

Alec listened quietly and attentively as his mentor spoke. "Well, I guess the real question then is what do you feel as my mentor is the next step in my training?" The larger man asked I'm his deep baritone rumble. "I don't want to rush ahead too far and overstep my skill level. So I'll defer to your expertise." Alec stated. "You have leagues more knowledge and experience, so in all honesty I will work on any task and project you feel would be the next logical step in my progression as a Blacksmith." Alec stated. "So just let me know what you would like me to work on and I'll focus on that task with all my attention and focus until I've mastered that task and can move on to the next." The large man stated with a smile to his mentor as he set his feet and and focused his resolve and focus on whatever his next assigned Blacksmithing craft was going to be as he nodded to the man he had chosen as his instructor and fast forming friend, at least in his own heart and mind.

@Macradon

[Macradon 0]

Hearing the bell to his shop, Macradon would begin to walk up the stairs “Two sec, gotta check this out quick.” Macradon said to Alec to see who had arrived. After a short conversation, Macradon came back down “Seems like today’s training will be another type of weapon, one of the easier ones in my opinion. Today, we will be looking at warhammers, or maces in this instance, but they for some reason fall under the same category of weapons. It boggles me … like Two Handed Battle Axes and giant Sickles are also classified as the same category … But yeah, blunt weapons!” Macradon said and handed over the request form to Alec “Think you can do it?” Macradon asked. “Thing with blunt weapons like these is that they need a good and solid handle and neck for them to not just bend on impact, its easy in theory, and should be equally as easy in practice. Just take a hunk of metal and form it into the basic shape, then make an indentation for us to forge together the mace head and the hilt.” Macradon said, but still awaited Alec’s answer if he were willing to do it.

post for reference: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/1065-shop-f1the-blazing-typhoon-rank-10-grand-master-blacksmith/?do=findComment&amp;comment=577813

Item to be made:

Spoiler

Name: Jawbreaker
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 10
ID: [Leave Blank]
Roll: [Leave Blank]
Item Type: One Handed Warhammer
Tier: 1
Quality: perfect
Enhancements: 2 ACC, 1 DMG
Description: A heavy Warhammer that looks like a Jawbreaker Candy that is attached to a candycane as it's hilt
Post Link: [Leave Blank]

 

[Alec 0]

When his mentor came back with another order from the front of the shop Alec quickly nodded after listening intently to his mentor's instructions and guidance about the difficulties associated with Warhammers and Maces. As Alec set about working his first piece he ended with a hammer that was nowhere near the quality associated with his Master's shop so he set the weapon aside in the practice weapon pile. The second piece he set to work on yielded a very heavy hammer with massive crushing ability but lacked the agility and finesse the customer had requested so Alec set that weapon aside for a less discerning customer. Alec removed another Material and began again working slowly and methodically having to reheat the Material twice in his crafting attempt before finishing and looking down unhappily at the weapon again it was no better than a practice weapon he placed that too aside. Alec removed his last Material for the day and set to work again this time focusing on the maneuverability and agility the customer had been searching for. The weapon came out very agile but lacked the sheer weight and power the customer had been seeking so Alec set that weapon aside in case another customer was seeking a lesser weapon. "Well, I didn't doubt you in the slightest." The larger man offered with a chuckle. "But weren't joking Warhammers and Maces have their own difficulties and troubles in their crafting. I managed two that were close." The apprentice stated as he presented his two pieces. "This one has added weight but I failed to achieve the agility requested and this one has the agility but I fell short on the added weight and crushing power. Both are adequate but nowhere the quality of your shop." The larger man offered humbly as he waited for his mentor's critique of his work.

@Macradon

[Macradon 0]

Looking at what Alec was capable of, Macradon would try to pin point the faults in his crafts so he would be able to work more on that the next time he would make a warhammer or mace like weapon. "The key to an agile blunt weapon is usually by the weight destribution, as well as its aerodynamics. A round sphere like a jawbreaker should be quite decent for swinging at a constant pace, so just adding the right amount of weight to the jawbreaker compared to the hilt and handle should make it quite nimble even though it might weigh a lot." Macradon said. From what Macradon had seen, there wasn't really a pinpoint time for Macradon to comment on Alec's crafting, since it was beginning to get pretty consistent "You have the concepts down to a tee, but you just have to practice on combining the two, which as you said is a bit tricky." Macradon said and grabbed a single material from the stash and began working. "Sometimes, I use more than one material per equipment based on a few things, like if you're making something that weighs perhaps a lot more than a single material, it will be quite difficult to craft such a thing, but not impossible, I just take the easy route." Macradon said an snickered as he slid the material into the combi furnace. When the material had reached a proper temperature, Macradon would extract it from the hot coals and hold it perpendicular to the anvil and begin forging the ingot into a nice round ball. When the ball was finished, Macradon would elongate a piece he had left on the ball to make the hilt, handle, and shaft, doing a few finishing touches, Macradon had the warhammer done on his first try "Sometimes I'm just lucky and I guess all the variables correct, but it's not always the case." Macradon said with a smirk and would take the hammer up to his shop "I'll place this for pickup, if you begin cleaning I'll come down in an instant. Let's call it a day for now and let's meet tomorrow. I think a good way for you to learn is some armor theory and practice, so that's what we're gonna do tomorrow." Macradon said and threw a message at Hei and placed his request at the shop display. Macradon then returned to Alec to help finish cleaning up the shop.

[Alec 0]

Alec watched attentively as his mentor took out a Material and whipped the Warhammer/Mace weapon together as if by muscle memory. Alec was pretty sure that Grandmaster could have done that with his eyes closed. As Macradon finished crafting Alec let out a long slow whistle of appreciation at the level of skill he had just witnessed. "And that Sir is why you are the top Blacksmith in all of Aincrad." The larger man stated with pure see as his mentor casually walked upstairs to let the custom know their request was done and their item completed. Alec shook his head in awe again as he set about cleaning the forge and straightening up for the day. He had completed another day as a Blacksmith and still worried about his trouble completing the Perfect craft. Do far he had only managed to craft a single perfect piece. As the large man continued cleaning he desperately hoped to one day be able to craft items with something near his mentor's level of skill. As his mentor returned Alec was placing the last tools in their places and finishing the sweeping of the floor. "Well thank you again for another enjoyable and enlightening day of tutelage." Alec stated with all sincerity. "It's my honor and privilege learning from the best."

@Macradon

[Macradon 0]

Macradon chortled “You humble me once again, Alec. If you just practice, you’ll be my rival in business one day.” Macradon replied with a broad smile, finally someone to pick up his torch, maybe even light their own and walk beside him. Macradon would bow his head while putting his working clothes on the clothing rack. “Thanks for today, see you tomorrow, I’ll prepare some practice stuff for us to work on, and have som armor stands for you to slowly get to know how armor is made!” Macradon said and sent off his apprentice to go home again. Macradon would do the same, head back home right after he would have closed the shop, tomorrow will be a long day, not because Alec would have a hard time to learn, but just because there was so much to learn, so much to practice, but probably nothing to perfect yet.

[Alec 0]

Alec arrived the next day bright and early ready for his next day of Blacksmithing apprenticeship with his mentor the Grandmaster Blacksmith of Aincrad Macradon. As Alec arrived and entered the shop of his mentor he called out in cheerfully in his deep baritone rumble. "Good morning, good morning, good morning. How are you this fine day?" Alec asked as he walked through the shop towards the forge at the rear. "All this time and I can't believe I don't even know if you like coffee." Alec stated as he entered the forge and placed a pair of mugs down filled with the dark hot liquid. Never in all my life have I found a cup as delicious as here in Aincrad. The developer must have really been a fan with as much detail as they put into the flavor and the nuances of the drink. I swear that one person on the whole group that made this game is the ONE person I don't want to punch for being stuck here." The large man stated with a chuckle as he offered his mentor the other mug. "So what's on the docket for today my good Sir?" Alec asked with a smile as he took a long slow pull if the hit delicious liquid.

@Macradon

[Macradon 0]

Smiling at his apprentice Macradon would wave and reply back “Good morning, I’m fine thanks. How have you been?”. As the two went down to the smithy, Alec posed a question towards Macradon “I’m indifferent to coffee you could say. I will drink it for sure and will enjoy it, but I don’t actively go out and try to get some, if its present I will drink it, if I have to work for it, I’d rather just take a cup of water.” Macradon said and raised the mug up to his lips and blew on it slightly “But thanks, this will help a lot.” he thanked and sipped off of the dark liquid. With his free hand, Macradon grabbed some paper and his pencil, then began to draw different types of shapes, mostly within squares of others. “Today, we’re tackling armor-” Macradon began “As you can see, there are different methods of creating armor, and a single piece of material can bring out many smaller pieces of armor that can be put together to complete an armor piece.” he said and illustrated it on the paper. “Today we’ll do the easiest way, make our own somewhat consistent sheet metal and then cutting pieces out of it.” Macradon said and brought over some materials. “This is a lengthy process, and that’s why it was so expensive to make armor in the medieval period, there was a lot of intricate work to be done, and metal wasn’t the cheapest either, so the cost of the material as well as the work hours usually piled up to huge sums … in here, we can do a full piece of armor that would take weeks if not months in the real world, which makes Blacksmithing much easier here.” Macradon said and began working on a material. As he heated it up he sketched out how the intricate pieces would be put together for one gauntlet, and how much work was put into just one. As the material had been heated enough, Macradon would bring out one of his flat hammers, big surface area to flatten things, and he flattened the material until it was getting about 1.5 mm thin all across the board with a few lesser consistent areas that wasn't really a bother. Grabbing a scoring tool for metal, Macradon also picked up a ruler and began etching all the pieces that should be cut into the metal "With the Cardinal system, there is a lot you don't have to do in the manual labor, like this." Macradon said as he put back his scoring tool and ruler, and brought back a small jewelers saw and tapped the sheet of metal with etched markings in it. A small HUD popped up and Macradon pressed the blue button, in nearly an instant the sheet of metal had been cut into smaller pieces that Macradon had etched. "Also, if you bring them together like this-" he said and arranged the pieces into the correct order "The Cardinal system can bind them together into a single entity." he said as all the pieces melded together into two separate and sturdy articulated gauntlets. "It's a lot of work for something this small, but it's something we need. Give it a try, it's very difficult, but you should be able to learn it within a few days." Macradon said and made room for Alec.