Randidly glanced up at the five with not a little amusement If you just keep watching youÆll be left behind
After a few seconds of blank shock the three jumped to work They rapidly turned on their respective furnaces and began to melt the materials down As they did so RandidlyÆs focus turned back toward his own metals As the different materials liquefied he made sure he held a clear image for all five of the different groupings
It was quite difficult but Randidly gritted his teeth and managed it Once everything was melted Influence of the Molten Core was used to conjure strange bits of gravity and thoroughly mix the materials into a cohesive whole The blending continued for several minutes while Randidly thoroughly monitored the progress
The waiting for his assistantsÆ to finish their own tasks was difficult but Randidly calmly kept himself from getting impatient Time after time he used those waiting moments to stress the importance of image and did his best to make sure he showed how capable images could be
Over time the expression on the assistantÆs faces turned from confusion to simple workman like frowns Likely less about the use of images and more about the fact that RandidlyÆs speed in smelting metal was almost one half of theirs and it was clear that he was waiting around quite frequently so that distance didnÆt grow to something impossible
His casual efficiency completely surpassed their prideful attempts to keep up with him This while he was taking the time to instruct all three of them in the finer points of eachÆs image
Carefully they took the newly mixed metal alloy and dunked it in RandidlyÆs processed red blood in order for it to cool and strengthen Then after a few minutes they removed the gleaming hunks of metal and physically hammered the metal
There wasnÆt really a goal to the hammering but to add pressure to the process The base structure of all metal was based upon uniformity Even Randidly didnÆt have enough Perception and Control to make sure that it was perfectly uniform with just his Influence of the Molten Core By hammering the nascent metal those defects in structure would be revealed and could thereafter be addressed
Then the metals would go back into the weakening solution allowing the flaws to be thoroughly destroyed Afterward the process repeated itself two more times
Finally Randidly calmly watched as his sweating assistants were hammering out their final ingots It had taken almost two hours and that was only because Randidly had streamlined the learning process for these three
It was clear however that they were nearing the end of their physical endurance they had been struggling with too many things for too long Generally Randidly didnÆt use hammering as the way to find the stress points But he was glad that he had for this demonstration
Randidly grinned Good When the body is tired the mind is free to imagine
Finished Randidly asked casually During the last rotation through the process Randidly hadnÆt bothered to wait for these three As such he had finished his five hammered ingots almost a half hour ago and had simply studied the three Very carefully however so as not to interfere with any images that had been lucky enough to force into the metal
Not that Randidly had high expectations for them But this would be the ultimate test
At RandidlyÆs question the three assistants looked at each other Then they nodded Without saying anything else Randidly swept up the twenty ingots that the different groups had produced Despite his extremely low expectations he was surprised to see that the three varieties from the assistants looked rather different from each other And amongst the same type there was a high degree of uniformity
They arenÆt the best just for show Randidly thought
Mark
The man hurried over handing Randidly an ingot prepared beforehand Randidly held it up IÆll be personally testing these for you all It isnÆt the most scientific method but I just want to demonstrate the general strength provided And also the pieces will be left in this room for anyone to inspect In case you doubt my impartiality IÆll start with this Erickson SteelÆs high performance alloy Our best seller
Randidly tossed the ingot lightly up into the air Then Acri blurred into motion
Several bits of metal clanged onto the floor
Five slashes Randidly announced Due to the relatively poor resistance to cutting attacks I could complete five full slashes through the material while it was in the air So who wants to volunteer their ingots to go next
Chapter 968
Vye stared at the screen How can that be considered a testing method If he varies his speed or angle just a tiny bit the efficacy of the cutting test would drop to nothing
After blinking rapidly the rest of her brain caught up with what she just saw Nevermind that did he seriously just slice five times through the high performance alloy I could barely follow his movements
Although the three assistants on screen seemed to have similar doubts to the ones that Vye had they still stepped forward and offered their ingots to be tested in this manner And as they watched the results the blood drained from their faces
Four slashes Even if we just consider the fact that you beat the high performance steel on your first try itÆs pretty good Understand the value of images now As Randidly Ghosthound glanced around at them the three just stared at him Vye gulped
As he stood surrounded by the three shocked forgers Randidly seemed profoundly in his element Now his rather crumpled shirt and ashy vest didnÆt make him seem shabby Instead he seemed to dominate the entire room with his presence The muscles of his forearm stood out clearly as he gripped his spear His emerald gaze calmly looked around then dropped to the sliced bits of metal that covered the floor
Then Randidly shook his head Well I guess we will test mine then
He picked up an average looking grey ingot that he had made and tossed it into the air Again his arm blurred into motion beyond the range that Vye could catch
Ah whoops Randidly winced Trotting over toward the small hole in the wall Randidly beckoned for a camera to follow While everyone watched he removed his ingot from the fist sized hole in the concrete wall The ingot itself was bent and twisted with a savage gash that cut almost all of the way through it
I suppose that will count as one slash Randidly said lightly bringing the ingot back to the table and picking up another one
Sighing Randidly walked again to the wall This time the ingot he had used had been completely split in half so the debris from his strike impacted the wall in two places With a shake of the head Randidly walked back to the table with the severed pieces This one I suppose on and a half would be more accurate If it hadnÆt been knocked away I would have had time to strike again
Then Randidly calmly proceeded with his tests
Aside from one ingot that was full slashed by Randidly twice the others could endure a single slash from Randidly More than that VyeÆs mind was buzzing as she reflected on the earlier tests So basically the difficulty in slashing through our high performance steel is so low that no force is transferred to an airborne item
Randidly considered the broken wreck of one of the automated cameras that had been destroyed by debris from his testing Then he shrugged and brought all the pieces of the ingots he had forged back to the central table His eyes scanned the surrounding people ThatÆs all for today IÆll leave these here for you to test Perhaps In a week IÆd like to do this again I hope your results will improve by then DonÆt let this be all you ever accomplish
Vye shivered as though Randidly Ghosthound had stood behind her and whispered those words directly into her ear DonÆt let this be all you ever accomplish
Then Randidly left the room About two minutes later the three assistants finally found the strength to move heading toward the central table They immediately reached a consensus and split up to test the ingots that Randidly had made Although Randidly had left the broadcast continued The people around Vye began to talk quietly with one another as they discussed what they had just seen