There can't be a Harvest Moon in the RimWorld.

Where my two hands were, a barrage of attacks rained down, yet my body remained as steady as a mountain, not even a hair swaying.

Gray noticed something was off about my movements.

Each strike is not like a typical blacksmith's quick strike and retreat. That would waste a lot of energy and put a great strain on the wrists, elbows, and shoulders.

I used a holistic approach to the body.

When my left hand strikes down, a force is transmitted into my body. At this moment, my body makes some subtle adjustments so that the force passes directly through each joint and is transmitted directly to my right hand.

At this moment, the right hand's fall made good use of this clever force, creating a cyclical effect like waves, clanging and rattling countless times on the anvil. Even with my effort, this force returned to the left hand.

As I continued this process, my movements became more and more refined, and the iron ingots were shaped into all sorts of unbelievable forms. Sometimes they were so thin that they looked like sheets of iron, and sometimes they were gathered into a flat iron disc and reshaped from another angle.

There should normally be at least ten minutes between the iron ingot being taken out of the furnace and cooling down.

At this point, it had been completely destroyed and entered the cooldown phase.

I took the opportunity to throw it back into the furnace, my face flushed but not out of breath, and stared at the iron ingot melting once more.

After doing this several times, I had a nearly finished iron knife in my hand, but the blade was still red-hot and waiting for me to process it further.

On stage, I suddenly mustered my strength, making a fist with my right hand and a palm with my left, and exerted force with both arms...

A series of fist and palm shadows struck the blade at a speed faster than a hammer!

"This is impossible!"

Gray exclaimed in surprise, "Smelting steel with bare hands? That's beyond the realm of human capability!"

But upon closer inspection, he realized that things weren't so simple.

With my left hand in a palm position, I held a file between my fingers and worked on the short knife, which was as fine as a hair tip.

With his right hand clenched into a fist, he tightly gripped a chisel, cutting away every piece of excess iron as if slicing tofu.

That unformed blade blank was transformed into a perfect blade by cold forging and post-processing, skipping the quenching step!

"call."

I let out a long breath and placed a beautifully crafted iron knife in front of him.

This knife is only about 30 centimeters long, so it can only be considered a short knife. The materials used are not particularly exquisite. It is a straight knife with a teardrop-shaped tip. The tip is located slightly above the center line of the blade, with a relatively large angle. The blade head is rounded, and the curve resembles a teardrop, making it suitable for cutting.

Item Name: Gobert Survival Knife

The knife lay there quietly, and Gray could already sense an aura completely different from the scythes he had forged.

Although the sickle he crafted appeared to be made with high-quality materials and meticulous craftsmanship, its design had completely exposed its shortcomings in concept.

A farmer might choose it to cut grass, but no one would ever choose it to cut off a person's head.

After all, the structure of the inner blade already indicates that this knife is essentially a farm tool.

The short knife I crafted is less than thirty centimeters long; it doesn't even look long enough to stab someone.

However, the meticulously forged details on the blade are already breathtaking.

The curve of the blade slopes downwards to meet the tip, creating a sharp and narrow point. This indicates its suitability as a weapon for close-quarters combat.

The point of descent is not obvious, but it is located at the end of the blade's midline. The blade tip is upturned, but does not extend beyond the back of the blade, resembling a gun-shaped tip. This ensures that it will not deviate from the target when thrown.

The back of the blade also has slits of various sizes, which can be used to cut materials at different angles.

The most crucial element, the blade, is crafted with ingenious techniques to create an almost invisible serrated structure, ensuring that every strike will cruelly tear apart the enemy's flesh.

That knife, just sitting there, was already a rare and deadly weapon in the hands of humankind!

"What's the name of this knife?"

"It will cost you 3000 to kill you."

Having been defeated in what should have been his area of ​​expertise, Gray squatted on the ground, scythe in hand, his eyes lifeless.

I waved my hand in front of him, but he still didn't react, so I had to ask.

"Want to learn? I'll teach you..."

Gray muttered to himself, head down.

"I lost..."

Chapter 40: The First Cloak Competition Concludes

"Gray, have you figured it out yet? Becoming Batman isn't as simple as it seems."

I looked at Gray and said.

"I have finally come to a complete understanding of my shortcomings."

Gray slowly stood up from the ground, looking at me with a determined gaze.

"Good that you understand. You should still study forging diligently with Sebala to improve your posture. This is some life experience I'm giving you as an elder on this journey..."

"No, I've thought it through. I'm not going to be a blacksmith anymore!"

"Huh?!?!"

I was horrified. Had this child been so traumatized that he had lost his mind?

"Grey, you need to think this through! Why did you suddenly say you didn't want to be a blacksmith anymore?!"

Sebala entrusted his grandson to me, hoping that I could correct his wrong views and give him a grandson who is obedient, sensible, and diligently studies blacksmithing.

As a result, I led him astray, and he tried to become a superhero who was active at night. Not only that, I also discouraged him from giving up his dream of becoming a master weapon smith and giving up his blacksmithing career.

I can already imagine the scene where Sebala, upon finding out, transforms into the ultimate killer, the Fire Cloud Evil God, and comes after me to claim my life...

But Gray remained calm and said...

“Marcus, during the competition I discovered that my strength and shooting abilities far surpass my forging skills. I think I should face reality and…”

No!

You can't see it!

Where did your chuunibyou go?!

Shouldn't we say, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; don't underestimate a young man's potential," and then devote ourselves to studying blacksmithing?!

"You're wrong, Gray!"

I looked him straight in the eye, my gaze intense, which put an invisible pressure on him.

"You only see your achievements in these areas, but you don't see your potential!"

Gray pointed at himself in disbelief.

"My potential? Do I have potential in forging?"

Well, the relentless blows from Sebala had a significant impact on him, causing Gray to lack confidence in his forging skills.

That's the real reason he rebelled, isn't it?

“I know you’re determined to follow a completely different path from Grandpa because you don’t want to lose to him. But I’ve discovered your talent in forging!”

"But all I know how to make are farm tools... and the things I make are..."

“Think about it carefully. Are you only good at making farm tools? It’s Sebala who only taught you how to make farm tools. But you are able to innovate and improve upon existing farm tools.”

"But I still can't compare to you..."

"Of course, you still have a lot to learn in terms of design thinking."

"That's exactly what I was saying..."

"But your talent for choosing materials is undeniable!"

Gray's expressionless face finally softened a little. After all, it's one thing for a young person to be calm and composed, but few can resist the joy of being recognized.

"You know how to add mithril to the scythe to reduce the need for forging and improve its performance. Such talent is definitely beyond combat ability."

Is that so?

"Of course, I will focus on teaching you the concepts of weapon design next. You must become a master of weapon design!"

"Even though you said that, I..."

"please!"

"……OK then."

I managed to persuade Gray and guide him onto the path of Gilfred, but I still need to find some life goals for him later.

"Grey, do you have any further development plans?" I asked tentatively.

Gray scratched his head, looking somewhat conflicted, and said, "Right now, I only know how to make farm tools. I might need to spend some time studying weapon manufacturing before I can be competent in this assistant's role."

“Gray, you’re wrong to think that way. Instead of developing weapons from scratch, you should continue to promote your spirit of modification and upgrading, and turn the farm tools you’ve learned into practical weapons.”

After listening, Gray's eyes suddenly lit up. He looked at the mithril scythe he had forged, as if he had a clue, but then something else got stuck on him.

"But if it's just a scythe, no matter how you upgrade it, it can't reach the level of a weapon, right?"

I smiled confidently, picked up a piece of paper and a pen, drew a sketch, and showed it to him.

"Look, if we lengthen the handle of this sickle to over a meter and make the sickle double-edged, this weapon combines the functions of a spear and a hooked sickle. The original inward hook angle can become a deadly weapon, reaping heads like harvesting wheat..."

I sketched out the shape of a death scythe with just a few strokes and explained it to him.

"Wow, that's amazing! This definitely upgrades it into a powerful weapon! What about the axe? How do you think it should be modified?"

Gray picked up a logging axe that was narrow at the front and thick at the back. It looked clumsy, big, and rough, and certainly didn't seem like it had any fighting power.

"The handle of this axe is already long enough; making it any longer wouldn't make a difference. Besides, the blade can only be sharpened on one side at most..."

I ignored his complaints and drew another picture on the paper.

"Look, we can reduce the size of the logging axe to one-fifth of its original size and forge the axe head from pure iron. First, we can cut some serrations on the axe blade to make chopping and cutting easier. On the other hand, we can keep the axe handle within 30 centimeters to ensure portability."

"More importantly, by shaping the end of the axe into a cone, it becomes a multi-functional survival axe. Even when trapped in harsh environments, one can use the axe to create tools to aid in survival!"

Gray's eyes lit up as he snatched the drawing from my hand and carefully put it away.

"Any more, Marcus? I need more ideas like this!"

"Grey, you need to learn to think."