"Master," asked the young one, apprentice to the smith,
"Why hit things with your hammer? We could just make stuff with
A simple spell of super-heat, a charm to cool it down,
We'd swiftly turn out armaments, the fastest smiths around!"

The hammer strikes.
Clang.
The reply comes.
Clang.
It's the best way.
Clang.
It's the right way.
Clang.
The only way.
Clang.

"But, master," argues he, "it is so slow and makes one ache.
And if I don't hit stuff just right, it's liable to break!
To make things magically would be a better way, I think;
Instead of hearing hammer blows, we'd hear our sovereigns clink!"

The hammer strikes.
Clang.
The reply comes.
Clang.
No better way.
Clang.
No faster way.
Clang.
No easy way.
Clang.

"I'll show you!" cries the student, a few days after that.
(The student and the blacksmith just had quite an awful spat).
"You do your things the slow way, wasting all your precious time!
I'll start up my own smithy, with armaments sublime!"

No hammer strikes.
No reply comes.
He folds his arms.
The young one leaves.

A moon or two then passes, and all the city's troops
Are constantly a-chatter; they speak of new recruits.
Their blades, they glow with magic! The cutting edge, sublime!
And best of all, it's said, these swords were made in half the time!

Pentagram glows.
Zzzap!
Enchanter chants.
Zzzap!
Metal flows in.
Zzzap!
Another sword.
Zzzap!

Dark days for Delport dawn, for the orcs are on the move.
But luckily the soldiers' arms are magically improved!
At last, a day for field tests; into the town they come.
Defenders of the village, and with magic their blades hum!

Blade upon blade.
Snap!
Sword-tip to helm.
Screech!
Swords parting shields.
Crack!
Axes part skulls.
Scrunch!

The failure of the army is the latest talk 'round town.
"How can this be?!" they wonder, for their smith was so renowned.
Back in his shop, he too asks, "Why did things go so wrong?"
And as he wonders, to his ears comes a familiar song:

The hammer strikes.
Clang.
The answer comes.
Clang.
We hit them first.
Clang.
We make them strong.
Clang.
No easy way.
Clang.
No easy way.