The Non-Human Society

Chapter Ninety Eight - Vim - To Smelt

      Striking the hot steel, I took a deep breath as I watched the sparks fly and the metal bend.

I had struck too hard.

Typical. The sad part was I couldn't even blame the fact I hadn't forged anything in years... it was simply because I was annoyed. Perturbed, maybe was a better name to my current emotional state.

"Yes. Perturbed," I told myself as I struck the steel ingot again.

This time I had struck it perfectly. It morphed at just the right amount, in just the right way. I turned the billet over and struck it again.

Another perfect motion. And then another. And another.

Although glad I had re-found my skill, and wouldn't waste the ingot I had spent two whole days making... I was also a little upset. A part of me always wished to forget how to do this, so I could learn again.

But I never forgot how to do anything.

"Even when I want to," I complained as I continued to strike the steel out into the form I wished. A long and thin tube would soon be forming.

I was the only one in the furnace building, at least for now. Renn and Lellip had helped me earlier; or rather Lellip had watched as to study, as I made the steel ingot. Her grandfather had taught her how before he passed, but had only done so a few times in front of her. She wanted to make sure she remembered it all properly.

Usually I'd never have allowed such a technique to be seen by anyone, but I didn't need to worry over Lellip.

She was made of the same stuff her grandfather had been. She'd die a long, horrid, death before telling or teaching anyone without my permission.

And Renn... well...

Even if she was able to actually remember the process, step by step, I highly doubted the need to doubt her either.

She was going to be right next to me for the foreseeable future after all. Who was she going to tell while next to me? How would she betray me, or the Society, while right within my grasp?

"And it feels good to trust people," I whispered as I performed one last strike onto the steel billet. It was starting to get too cold. I stepped over towards the medium sized furnace, and popped it open as to put the steel into the fire.

I didn't need to actually watch the steel as it heated up. I could feel the heat, and the billet itself, through the rod I held it with. A perk of being who I was, I didn't need to wear thick gloves like most did. And the metal rod I held was the kind that heated evenly, letting me know the exact temperature the steel was at.

It was hot. I could feel my skin sizzle, giving myself slight burns.

Even if I could remember how to do this without fail, my calluses always needed to be re-earned.

Glancing around the forge, I noticed the blast furnace's flames beneath its hearth. It was a strong yellow, but not as strong as it was earlier when I had entered.

I'll need to use the bellows in a bit.

A good ten minutes or so later I pulled the steel out of the fire. It was bright, and just right for me to take it to the anvil and return to forging it.

As I struck it, shaping it into the long pole I had in my mind... I wondered how long it had been since I had made something like this.

The last time had been with Nebl. He had helped me make it, too. Although he had complained the entire time. Something to do with the shape of the point... what had he not liked about it? Had it been too thick? Too wide?