The blacksmith shop was not in the castle, but close to the iron mine. Knight Marshall and Abel took a carriage and got there in twenty minutes.
Far away, I heard the sound of a hammer hitting iron blocks. Looking along the sound, I saw a row of neat stone houses made of huge stones. Each stone house had a huge chimney on the roof. At this time, 6 Four of the chimneys were emitting black smoke.
Seeing these stone houses, Abel also saw the importance Knight Marshall attached to the blacksmith shop. The huge stones were the same as those used in the castle. They were all transported from distant mountains. Not to mention their own value, they were Transportation costs are a huge expense.
"Master Bentham here was invited by me from Harvest City. You must respect him after meeting. His craftsmanship is the best in Harvest City. If his son hadn't grown up, he would have wanted to hand over the shop in the city to His son, I can’t invite Master Bentham back,” Knight Marshall explained to Abel carefully.
"Marshall, welcome."
Master Bentham, who is over 2 meters tall, stout and bearded, in his fifties, had already greeted the Lord's carriage when he saw it. He simply lowered his head as a salute.
Knight Marshall, who didn't care about this, returned the favor, smiled and said to Master Bentham: "I brought a young man to be your apprentice today."
Master Bentham turned his eyes to Abel and asked with some hesitation: "Are you talking about this child? Marshall, don't think that I don't know the difference between young people and children. This little guy is just a child, at most No more than 14 years old. You need to know that you need to be a strong apprentice to study here, not an underage child. "
As Master Bentham came out to welcome him, many people nearby gathered around.
"Master Bentham, this is my adopted son Abel. He is an apprentice knight and needs to learn forging from you to strengthen his mastery of power."
"The idea is very good, but no, I will not accept him." Master Bentham said seriously: "For a noble young master, forging is a very hard job, and I don't want to accept him." I believe that a trainee knight at such a young age can have the strength to swing a hammer."
"Master Bentham, I can endure hardship, and I am very powerful." Abel stretched out his arms and made a strong gesture.
"Haha." In front of Master Bentham, who is 2 meters tall and as strong as a bear, Abel, who is only 1.6 meters tall, made a strong posture. The contrast made the onlookers laugh.
"Abel, in two years, when you are 15 years old, taller and stronger, if you still want to learn blacksmithing, I will teach you." Because Abel is the adopted son of the Marshall Knight, so this Master Seum promised Abel very patiently.
"How much strength does it need to meet your requirements?" Abel asked.
Looking at Abel with a stubborn look on his face, Master Bentham said, "Follow me."
Knight Marshall took Abel and followed Master Bentham to the yard behind the stone house.
The onlookers also flocked to the backyard.
"What number do you think this kid can lift?"
"It would be nice to be able to lift one."
"He is a trainee knight. I said he can lift the second one."
"I bet he can lift one."
"I bet I can lift two."
The crowd's voices were noisy.
Knight Marshall and Abel ignored these comments and followed Master Bentham to the backyard. They saw on one side of the backyard, iron rods with two ends arranged from small to large, with an iron rod running through the middle. Something to hold on to.
The more Abel looked at it, the more familiar it seemed. This thing was the same as a barbell, but much rougher than the barbell he knew. Even if the cultural backgrounds were different, people's understanding of how to better exert strength was still the same.
"These iron locks are made by me for my apprentices to practice strength. From small to large, the smallest one weighs 50 pounds, and the largest one weighs 400 pounds. From left to right, each increases by 50 pounds." Master Bentham pointed to the ground and called The iron-locked instrument said.
"Garden, come here." Master Bentham shouted, pointing to a big man in the crowd who was almost as strong as the master himself.
"Master, I, I, I'm not lazy, I just poured out the slag." Garden explained stutteringly, his dark face covered with sweat from nervousness.
The onlookers all laughed. Everyone knew Garden. This was Master Bentham’s new apprentice after he came to the castle. Because of Garden’s seriousness and hard work, he had been accepted as a disciple by Master Bentham.
There is a big difference between an apprentice and a disciple. Apprentices often have to do a lot of hard work. For example, they have to burn a lot of wood every day in a blacksmith shop. It is the apprentice's job to segment the wood into pieces, and this work is not salary.
It's different for disciples. Disciples can have priority in learning the craftsmanship of their masters, and they can also receive a salary that matches their craftsmanship every month.
"Garden, I asked you to come here and ask you to show Abel how to use iron locks and let him know the strength required to become a blacksmith." Master Bentham liked this disciple very much. He was honest, hard-working and studious, and he was very fond of Marshall. The knight took care of him, and he also wanted someone to replace him and continue to serve the Marshall knight after he became old and frail.
"Okay, master." Garden smiled honestly, rubbed his hands on his body, walked to the third iron lock, turned to Abel and said, "Abel, you can see my movements clearly."
He grabbed both sides of the iron bar in the iron lock with both hands, and with a loud shout, the 150-pound iron lock was pulled up from the ground and easily lifted above his head. Garden did not seem to be lifting a 150-pound iron lock, but It's like a straw.
"Okay." Amidst the cheers of everyone nearby, Garden threw the iron lock on the ground.
Garden raised his head and glanced at Master Bentham. The master nodded to him and said, "Garden, continue."
Garden walked to the fourth iron lock, and this time he lifted the 200-pound iron lock easily. Then came the fifth iron lock. This time Garden was obviously not as relaxed as at the beginning, but he still raised it above his head.
At this time, everyone onlookers held their breath and watched Garden walking towards the sixth iron lock. That one was a 300-pound iron lock. It was not easy for ordinary people to lift it, let alone lift it.
This time, Garden 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, Garden opened his eyes and shouted, and the 300-pound iron lock left. He stood up from the ground, and his face was swollen red from the exertion, and veins popped out on his neck.
As Garden finally raised the iron chain above his head, everyone onlookers cheered loudly, and the scene was very lively.
"Garden, you are getting stronger. In a few years you will surpass me." Master Bentham looked at Garden with relief and said.
"You are far worse than me." Garden blushed a little at the master's praise and touched his head in embarrassment.
"Abel, it's up to you." Master Bentham looked at Abel, thinking that Abel would retreat in spite of the difficulty, but he didn't know that Abel had already walked to the third iron lock without any courtesy.
Abel just watched Garden's demonstration. To be honest, he still recognized Garden's strength, but he really couldn't agree with the unskilled weight lifting method.
As a fitness coach, the barbell was one of the equipment he used to play with the most. Garden's strength was 300 pounds. If Garden knew the weightlifting skills of the earth, he could lift 350 pounds. And there were many mistakes in Garden's posture just now. , but his body is too strong, so it did not cause any harm. If the wrong weight lifting method is used for a long time, it will definitely cause harm to the body to some extent.
"Is he going to lift a 150-pound iron lock directly?"
"Oh my gosh, he can't lift it."
"Is he crazy?"
The buzz around him started again, and Abel couldn't help but frown. He didn't like others looking at him like he was watching a circus.
"Everyone, get out of here." Master Bentham saw that Abel didn't like other people's onlookers, thinking that he was embarrassed to make a fool of himself in front of everyone, so he stepped forward to drive away the onlookers.
Seeing Master Bentham getting angry, the crowd dispersed.
"Don't force yourself, just try your best." Master Bentham advised Abel.