Abe the Wizard - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The blacksmith was not located inside the castle . It was right next to the iron mine, which took Abel and the Knight of Marshall twenty minutes to arrive by chariots .

Even from over a distance, Abel could hear the sound of iron ore being smashed by iron hammers . There was a pile of stone houses, all of which were made by some neatly-chiseled boulders . There were chimneys on top of each of them . Right now, four out of six had dark smoke puffing out .

Just by looking at these stone houses, Abel could tell that the Knight of Marshall paid a lot of attention to his blacksmith business . The boulders they used were the same as the ones they used for castles . Forget about their actual cost, it would’ve already cost so much just to carry them all the way from the mountains .

The Knight of Marshall instructed Abel carefully, “We’re going to pay a visit to Master Bentham today . Remember to be respectful when you see him . I’ve invited him over because he’s the best man I could find in Harvest City .  If he wasn’t trying to let his son take over his shop business, we wouldn’t have a chance to see him today . ”

“Please to see you here, Marshall,” Master Betham greeted the Knight of Marshall with a simple nod . He was a very big man, standing at 2 meters tall . He had a very solid build . Even at fifty-something of age, the big beard on his face gave a no-nonsense aura around the man .

“Hey there,” the Knight of Marshall smiled without getting too much into formality, “I’ve brought a young man to you today . Apparently, he’s interested in becoming your disciple . ”

Master Bentham looked quite perplexed when he laid his eyes on Abel, “Are you talking about this child, Marshall? Please, I know the difference between a “young man” and a “child . ” This boy is not even fourteen yet, and you want him to be one of my disciples?”

Suddenly, a lot of people started coming over to see what was going on .

“Master Bentham, this is Abel, my new adopted son . He is currently a Novice Knight, and he wants you to teach him how to control his powers . ”

“Nice thinking . Sorry though, I’m not taking him in, “Master Bentham said grimly, “My training is not something a young nobleman can bear . Besides, I don’t think a boy as young as he has the stamina to swing a hammer . ”

Abel reached out his arm and flexed for a bit, “Don’t you worry about that, Master Bentham . I can work very hard if I want to, and you aren’t the only muscular one here . ”

“Ha!”

Abel was about 1 . 6 meters . He did have some muscles, yes, but that was nothing compared to Maser Betham, who stood at a bear-like height two meters . The stark contrast alone was enough to make everybody around laugh .

“Two more years, Abel . Once you are a bit taller and stronger, I promise that I will teach you how to forge,” Master Bentham said patiently out of respect for the Knight of Marshall .

“How strong do I need to be to train under you?” Abel pressed on stubbornly .

Master Bentham turned back towards the backyard . “Come with me,” he said, to which Abel did with the company of the Knight of Marshall . The other bystanders, too, came in to see if Abel was ready for the challenge ahead .

“How many do you think he can lift?”

“I’d be impressed with one . ”

“Nah, two . He’s a Novice Knight . I’ll go with two . ”

“I bet one . ”

“I bet two . ”

As rowdy as the crowd was getting, both the Knight of Marshall and Abel paid no attention to it . When they arrived at the backyard, they saw a bunch of iron pieces being lined up on the ground . There was an iron bar in the middle, and varying sizes of iron pieces on each side going from small to large .

They were essentially barbells . It was not very refined compared to the ones that Abel was familiar with, but the design was nevertheless the same . As it turned out, the cultural background had nothing to do with understanding how the human body functioned

“I use these locks to train my disciples’ strength . You see, they come in different sizes . The smallest ones are 50 pounds, the biggest ones 500 . Whenever you go one size bigger, you increase the load by 50 pounds . ”

“Get over here, Gedon,” Master Bentham pointed towards a man in the crowd . While he was pretty strong himself, this particular fellow was not much different in terms of stature .

“Master!” Gedon explained anxiously as sweat streamed down his dark face,” I-I I wasn’t being lazy! I was throwing out the metal waste!”

Everybody started laughing . Gedon was a familiar face here at the blacksmith shop . He was recruited after Master Bentham came to the Harry Castle . Whilst originally an apprentice, he quickly became a disciple because of how hardworking he was .

There were a lot of differences between an apprentice and a disciple . Apprentices had it much worse because most of their work was centered around intense physical labor . Usually, it involved cutting and burning timber for the entire day . Even worse, there was no pay .

Disciples, on the other hand, had the privilege to learn from their master directly . At the end of the month, they would also receive a wage that was equivalent to the quality of their work .

Gedon was a very likable student to Master Bentham . He was honest, hardworking and willing to learn . Once Master Bentham retired, he would be the go-to person to continue serving the Knight of Marshall .

“No, Gedon, I’m telling you to come here so you can show Abel how to use the locks . Go ahead and teach him what it takes to be my disciple . ”

“Yes Sir,” Gedon smiled modestly as he rubbed his hands together . He then walked to the third lock and turned his head towards Abel .

“Watch me closely, Abel . ”

With his hands grasping both ends of the iron bar, Gedon let out a big shout and raised the 150-pound thing from the ground . Because of how easily it went over his head, it almost felt like he was picking up a straw or something .

“Nice one, lad!”

With everyone cheering out for him, Gedon dropped the iron lock onto the ground .

As Gedon turned to his master for some feedbacks, Master Bentham nodded his head in approval, “Keep going, Gedon . ”

Yes Sir . Gedon proceeded to the fourth lock, which was roughly 200 pounds in total weight . It wasn’t that hard for him to lift it, though . He readied himself, grabbed onto the thing and picked it up . No drama . It wasn’t so easy when he tried out the fifth one . Still, he managed to raise it over his head after a bit of hesitation .

Things got tense when he walked over to the sixth lock . It was a 300-pound lock . Most people couldn’t even hold one end for more than three seconds, let alone pick it up from the ground .

Gedon didn’t start right away this time . For a few seconds there, he closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing for a bit . Once he was ready, he let out a roar and veins started bursting out of his neck . His face was red like a tomato, except it looked like it was about to explode from the inside .

Nevertheless, the lock went over his head . Everybody was yelling in celebration for him .

“Very well, Gedon,” Master Bentham gave a proud look, “Even with the strength you have now, you are still making progress every single day . It wouldn’t be long before you can surpass even my limits . ”

“Really?” Gedon scratched his head as he shied away from the compliment, “Aw, you’re being too kind, Sir! There is still a lot I need to do before I can get to where you’re at . ”

“Your turn now, Abel,” Master Betham turned his head towards the boy who dared to challenge him . Contrary to what he had expected, Abel didn’t back down after laying his eyes on Gedon’s performance .  Abel was already walking towards the third lock .

To be clear, Abel did approve Gedon of his strength . That being said, there were absolutely no skills in the way he lifted those weights . For the millionth time, Abel was a former bodybuilding trainer . The barbell was one of his favorite pieces of equipment back on Earth . It was his job to be good at using it .

If Gedon’s maximum was around 300 pounds, he could probably lift to 350 pounds if he knew the right techniques . There were a lot of things that were wrong about his form . If he wasn’t so strong already, he would be severely injured right now . Even if he wasn’t injured, there was bound to be a lot of damage in the long term .

“He’s going for the 150?”

“Good grace . He’s not going to do it . ”

“Is-is he mad?”

The crowd started being noisy again when it was Abel’s turn . Abel frowned a little because of that . He didn’t like being watched like he was some clown in a circus .

“Out, thank you,” Master Bentham shooed the crowd away . He could tell that Abel didn’t like being watched . As for the reason for this, well, he just thought that Abel didn’t want to be a laughing stock .

Realizing that they’ve angered Master Bentham, the crowd started rushing out of the backyard .

“Try your best, but don’t push yourself too much,” Master Bentham said .