The blacksmith's shop wasn't located in the castle. Instead, it was located close to the iron mine. The Knight Marshall and Abel arrived at their destination in a carriage in about 20 minutes.
The sound of a hammer hitting a piece of iron could be heard from afar. Looking towards the source of the sound, they saw a row of neat stone houses built with huge stones. Each house had a huge chimney on the roof. Out of the 6 chimneys, 4 of them were emitting black smoke.
Looking at these stone houses, Abel could see the importance that the Knight Marshall attached to the blacksmith's shop. The giant stones were the same as the ones used in the castle. They were all transported from the distant mountains. Not to mention the value of the stones themselves, just the transportation cost alone was a huge expense.
"I invited Master Bentham here from Harvest City. When you meet him, you must respect him. His craftsmanship is the best in Harvest City. If his son hadn't grown up, and he didn't want to hand over the shop to his son, I wouldn't have been able to invite Master Bentham back." The Knight Marshall carefully explained to Abel.
"Welcome, Marshall."
Master Bentham was 2 meters tall, with a thick body and a full beard. He was in his fifties. When he saw the Lord's carriage, he came out to greet them. He simply lowered his head as a greeting.
The Knight Marshall didn't mind. He returned the greeting and said to Master Bentham with a smile, "Today, I brought a young man to be your apprentice."
Master Bentham's eyes turned to Abel. He asked hesitantly, "You mean this child? Marshall, don't think that I don't know the difference between a young man and a child. This little guy is just a child. He's at most 14 years old. You should know that I want strong apprentices to study here, not underage children. "
Since Master Bentham came out to greet them, a lot of people nearby gathered around.
"Master Bentham, this is my adopted son Abel. He's an apprentice Knight. He needs to learn forging from you to strengthen his control of power."
"That's a good idea, but no, I won't accept him." Master Bentham said in a serious tone, "For a noble young master, forging is a very difficult task, and I don't believe that such a young apprentice Knight has the strength to swing a hammer."
"Master Bentham, I can endure hardship, and I have great strength." Abel stretched out his arm and made a strong gesture.
"Haha." In front of Bentham, who was 2 metres tall and as strong as a bear, Abel was only 1.6 metres tall. The contrast made the onlookers laugh.
"Abel, in two years, when you're 15 years old, you'll be taller and stronger. If you still want to learn forging, I'll teach you." Since Abel was the adopted son of Knight Marshall, Bentham patiently promised Abel.
"How strong do I have to be to meet your requirements?" Abel asked.
Looking at the stubborn Abel, Master Bentham said, "Come with me."
Knight Marshall took Abel and followed Master Bentham to the courtyard behind the stone house.
The onlookers also rushed to the backyard.
"How many do you think this child can lift?"
"It'll be good if he can lift one."
"He's an apprentice Knight, and I say he can lift two."
"I bet he can lift one."
"I bet he can lift two."
The onlookers chattered noisily.
The Knight of Marshall and Abel did not pay any attention to these discussions. Instead, they followed Master Bentham to the backyard. They saw that on one side of the backyard, there were two large iron objects. In the middle, there was an iron rod that was connected to something.
The more Abel looked at it, the more familiar it was. It looked like a barbell, but much cruder than the one he knew. Even if the cultural background was different, people still had the same understanding of how to exert strength.
"I made these iron locks for my apprentices to train their strength. From small to big, the smallest one is 50 pounds, the largest one is 400 pounds. From left to right, each one is 50 pounds." Master Bentham said, pointing to the iron lock on the ground.
"Gedon, come here." Bentham pointed to a man in the crowd who was almost as strong as the master himself.
"Master, I, I, I didn't slack off. I just poured out the slag." Gedon stuttered as he explained, his tanned face covered in sweat due to his nervousness.
The onlookers laughed. Everyone knew Gedon. He was Master Bentham's new apprentice after he came to the castle. Because of Gedon's hard work, Master Bentham had already accepted him as his apprentice.
There was a big difference between apprentices and apprentices. Apprentices often had to do a lot of hard work, such as burning a lot of wood in the blacksmith's shop every day. Cutting the wood into pieces was the apprentice's job, and there was no salary for this work.
Apprentices, on the other hand, were different. Apprentices had priority to learn from their master, and every month they could receive a salary that matched their skills.
"Gedon, I called you here to show Abel how to use the iron lock, and let him know the strength needed to become a blacksmith." Master Bentham liked this apprentice very much. He was honest, hardworking, eager to learn, and took care of the Knight Marshall. He also wanted someone to replace him in the service of the Knight when he was old and weak.
"Yes, Master." Gedon smiled honestly, rubbed his hands on his body, and walked to the third iron lock. He turned to Abel and said, "Abel, watch my movements."
Gedon grabbed both sides of the iron bar of the iron lock with both hands, and with a shout, the 150-pound iron lock was pulled from the ground and lifted over his head easily. Gedon didn't look like he was lifting a 150-pound iron lock, but a straw.
"Good job." Gedon threw the iron lock on the ground amidst the cheers of the crowd.
Gedon looked up at Master Bentham, who nodded to him and said, "Gedon, continue."
Gedon walked to the fourth iron lock, and this time, the 200-pound iron lock was lifted easily by him. Then came the fifth iron lock. This time, it was obviously not as easy as before, but Gedon still lifted it over his head.
At this time, the crowd held their breath and watched Gedon walk to the sixth iron lock. That was a 300-pound iron lock. It was not easy for an ordinary person to lift it, let alone lift it.
This time, Gedon stood in front of the sixth iron lock. He did not lift it immediately. Instead, he closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing. After a while, Gedon opened his eyes and shouted, and the 300-pound iron lock was lifted off the ground. His face was red from the exertion of force, and the veins on his neck were bulging.
When Gedon finally lifted the iron lock over his head, the crowd cheered loudly. The scene was very lively.
"Gedon, your strength has increased. In a few years, you will surpass me." Master Bentham looked at Gedon with satisfaction.
"Compared to you, I still have a long way to go." Gedon's face was a little red from the master's praise, and he touched his head embarrassedly.
"Abel, it's up to you." Master Bentham looked at Abel, thinking that Abel would back off. Who knew that Abel had already walked to the third iron lock without hesitation.
Abel had just seen Gedon's demonstration. To be honest, he recognized Gedon's strength, but he could not agree with the way he lifted the weights without any technique.
As a fitness coach, the barbell was one of the machines he used to play with the most. Gedon's strength was around 300 pounds. If Gedon knew the weightlifting techniques from Earth, he could lift 350 pounds. Moreover, there were many mistakes in Gedon's posture just now. It was only because his body was too strong that it did not cause any harm. If the wrong method was used for a long time, it would more or less cause harm to the body.
"Is he going to lift the 150-pound iron lock directly?"
"Oh my god, he can't lift it."
"Is he crazy?"
The crowd began to talk again. Abel could not help but frown. He did not like it when people looked at him like he was a circus.
"Get out of here." Master Bentham saw that Abel did not like it when people looked at him. He thought that he did not want to make a fool of himself in front of the crowd, so he came out to drive the crowd away.
Seeing that Master Bentham was angry, the crowd dispersed.
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