Although he couldn't do it as perfectly as he could with the Horadric Malus, he was still able to do it under his insane control with the extra weight of the hammer.
Abel had no time to care about the exclamations around him. He was fully immersed in the forging process. His strong power of will locked onto the rough blank in his left hand as he gently rotated it, searching for the right spot for the next strike.
In fact, all of this happened in an instant. His second strike came crashing down almost immediately after the first strike. Black sparks flew in all directions, but the sandwiched blank didn't bounce back at all from the impact of the huge hammer.
"The second strike!" Even Master Mori couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice.
After breaking the rules and becoming a habit, all the blacksmiths felt numb. All the blacksmiths could only watch as Abel continued to strike the rough blank with all his might. Every time he struck, the rough blank in his left hand would undergo a new change.
After a hundred strikes, Abel stopped and threw the rough blank into the fire again.
There was no other sound in the hall except for the roaring of the fire. The blacksmiths were all holding their breaths. They didn't even want to blink their eyes, as if they would miss out on a miracle if they did.
Abel took the rough blank out of the fire again and started another round of strikes with the huge hammer in his right hand.
The huge hammer in his hand was not Hradik Malus after all. Although Abel had tried his best to control it, he still needed two strikes to improve it by one after a hundred strikes. Although he was not satisfied, the blacksmiths around him were already in awe.
After a hundred and fifty strikes, he could no longer improve it by two strikes. He could only improve it by one after three or four strikes. After taking the rough blank out of the fire for the fifth time, it was only a hair's breadth away from being refined iron. However, he left the huge hammer in his hand behind this time.
"I'm sorry, I failed!" Abel said in a depressed tone.
"Master Abel, why would you say that?" Master Mori asked in confusion as he stared at the rough blank that was almost no different from refined iron.
"I overestimated myself. I thought I could forge fine iron, but unfortunately, my skills are still lacking!" Abel sighed as he looked at the blank in his hand.
Master Mori almost spat out a mouthful of blood. As a veteran dwarven blacksmith, he was already over 500 years old, yet he couldn't even forge a base that was over 120 times refined. Yet, this young master in front of him, who was only in his teens, said that he wasn't skilled enough because he couldn't forge a base into refined iron.
All of the Master Blacksmiths felt a deep sense of helplessness. They looked at Master Abel and then looked at themselves. While they were feeling proud of their achievements, Master Abel was worrying about not being able to improve himself. This was the difference between them.
"Master Abel, do you know that the most accomplished blacksmith master could only forge 150 times? You can be called a blacksmith master just based on this!" Master Mori's voice was filled with fanaticism. Abel was only in his teens. If he was given more time, what would his achievements be?
"I don't dare to call myself a blacksmith master. I'm just a blacksmith who has just stepped into the blacksmith world!" Abel shook his head. He still needed to rely on the formula of Hradik's Cube to obtain the equipment he wanted. He was still far from being able to forge the equipment he wanted.
As he spoke, he put down the giant hammer in his hand and placed the base on the forging table.
"Master Abel, according to your promise, please put the hammer away. This hammer is only a decoration in my hands, but in your hands, it can be reborn!" Master Mori said sincerely as he stopped Abel from returning to his seat.
Abel didn't refuse. These dwarves were very stubborn. If you were too polite, it would only make them angry and think you didn't respect them.
When Abel put away the hammer, Master Mori stepped up and picked up the still hot base with a pair of tongs. He said as he did so, "I'll clean this place up. Everyone, please return to your seats. We're about to move on to the next task!"
"Master Mori, let's talk about the ownership of this base!" Master Hoover, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up.
Master Mori's hand paused. He said with a determined look, "This base belongs to the Blacksmith's Guild. Of course we have to take it back!"
"Master Abel is also a blacksmith master of the Duchy of Carmel. Of course we have to return the base he forged!" Master Hoover said without backing down.
Abel didn't expect two blacksmiths to fight over a failed base. Just as he was about to speak, Master Robin stepped forward.
"Master Abel is a blacksmith master of our line. Don't even think about this base. It belongs to me!" Master Robin said loudly.
Before Master Mori could say anything, more blacksmiths joined in. They wanted the base to belong to all the blacksmiths present.
Abel didn't know the importance of the blank he forged this time. Although it wasn't made into fine iron, it was only a little bit away from being a real fine iron. From this blank, you could see the traces of Abel's forging. It was very rare to see a blank forged by a blacksmith master. This was because these kinds of blanks were usually forged into equipment, and the traces of forging would have disappeared by then.
This base was the perfect medium to learn Abel's One Strike One Forge technique. It might be worthless to other people, but to master blacksmiths, it was a priceless treasure.
Seeing this, Abel immediately bowed his head, turned around and silently returned to his seat. It seemed that the forging process just now had consumed a lot of energy. He began to close his eyes and rest, away from the group of blacksmith masters who were tearing.
Luckily, master blacksmiths were not a fighting profession. Although Master Hoover was a Great Knight, he still didn't dare to snatch the base from him. All of a sudden, the 20 master blacksmiths began to argue with each other.
In the end, it was Master Mori who suggested taking turns to keep the base for a month. The order would be decided by drawing lots. Only then did the master blacksmiths calm down.
After chatting for a long time, the blacksmith masters returned to their seats. However, when they looked at Abel, their faces were filled with gratitude. This was equivalent to opening a door for them, giving them a slight chance to come in contact with more advanced forging techniques.
When Abel returned to his seat, he had already given up on the base. No matter what, he was the owner of the base. If he said he would take it back, the master blacksmiths wouldn't be able to say anything. However, he chose to give it back. He had directly made friends with all the master blacksmiths.
"The next item is to evaluate the master's latest work. Let's follow the order from before!" Master Mori's voice was still loud and clear. He was not affected by the argument just now.
Just like before, Abel was the only one who didn't know the rules. The followers of the other masters all took out their work that they had prepared in advance. Starting from the first piece of equipment, they expressed their opinions on the details of the forging and the performance of the equipment. Then, the two elven master blacksmiths would judge the aesthetics of the equipment.
Armor, weapons, bows, and elven rings. Every piece of equipment was evaluated by the master blacksmiths in turn. At this moment, Abel realized his own shortcomings.
The biggest shortcoming was experience. Almost every Blacksmith Master would be able to accurately describe the properties of a piece of equipment based on the material and the forging process. Moreover, they would be able to know the type of spell attached to the equipment based on the pattern on it. Of course, the effect of the spell could only be measured with the help of some tools.
However, this was exactly what Abel lacked. When he evaluated a piece of equipment, the only way was to throw it into the Hradik cube and let Hradik do the evaluation. Perhaps it was because of this shortcut that he didn't learn how to evaluate a piece of equipment.
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