Chapter 63

The change happened in an instant.

The furnace, once filled with red flames, began to mix with my mana and soon started to turn into a brilliant blue flame.

The temperature hadn't changed. It felt as if something fundamental had been reversed.

"Hmm... This temperature should be fine."

Regardless of the confusion and shock on the dwarves' faces, I waited silently until the furnace's temperature rose to the right level.

And when the temperature reached a satisfactory level,

I unhesitantly picked up the prepared metal, heated it to a glowing red, and then pulled it out.

Then, I placed it on the anvil and secured it with several clamps.

If it were smaller, I would have held it directly, but the basic plate was quite large.

"What are you doing! Mixing cardium steel and mithril is forbidden! It's common sense!"

"Damn, we shouldn't have let a human in!!"

For a moment, they had foolishly hoped for something.

The dwarves thought this as they expressed their unbridled displeasure towards me.

But their intense anger soon calmed down as if doused with cold water.

"Who said we can't use methods beyond common sense?"

Clang!

A clear sound, like striking an empty object, echoed in their ears.

"The ancestors of the dwarves? Or the Thousand Nights?"

Clang!!

A strange sound, unlike the usual rough sound of a hammer striking heated metal, resonated clearly within the workshop.

"You've just imposed your own rules based on what you think, haven't you?"

With each strike of the hammer, the changes continued.

Like a massive ripple spreading out.

With each strike of the hammer, a blue wave enveloped the metal thinly and then shattered and scattered.

There is no such thing as common sense. Everything can change depending on how it is handled.

But it can be mixed in any way according to the process. By applying the method the dwarves call sacred.

First, I applied reagents that should never be used in alloys.

Then, I quickly infused them with mana-infused flames at a certain temperature and twisted the grain.

There are new methods like this between the things that are supposedly forbidden during the process. It's a matter of perspective.

By the way, mithril is quite an expensive metal.

This is a completely bourgeois workshop.

Clang! Clang!!

With each strike, the blue wave spread like tree rings and began to change slightly.

If they noticed that I was striking the changing grain instantly with each strike, they would be quite surprised.

Usually, even finding the grain in ordinary iron is difficult for a master craftsman.

Perhaps it was because the metal was changing shape so quickly, or because it had been a long time since I held a hammer.

I seemed to have become quite engrossed without realizing it.

When I came to my senses, the giant sword in front of me had taken a rough form.

It was still far from a complete shape, but the mana waves emanating from it were similar to the objects the dwarves had desperately clung to.

No, they felt more powerful.

That's right, who's the disciple of whom?

'Hmm, did I get too engrossed?'

I realized quite some time had passed, but no one tried to stop me.

It seemed unnecessary to deny that I had become even more engrossed because of that.

When I tapped the metal, which was half-formed on the anvil, a faint light began to spread like ripples.

The mana I had arranged and laid out began to interact and react gradually.

Turning my head beyond the gentle waves that seemed to calm the mind, I lifted a part of the object I was making and smiled.

"How about it, quite easy, right?"

Even I thought this sounded like a dog's bark.

* * *

A typical magic sword is created by drawing and engraving a manifested magic array on a sword and then either embedding a mana stone or getting help from a mage.

But the will cannot be infused through such a process.

"This... How...?"

As the object that shattered all their common sense began to be created right before their eyes, the dwarves' faces were filled with shock.

No one had expected him to show them something like this.

He was a boy who suddenly appeared in the Round Kingdom one day.

By human standards, he was an adult, but by dwarf standards, he was still a child.

He had entered the village with the authority of the Round Kingdom's king, but initially, he had shown no specific purpose.

The dwarves naturally ignored him.

Although they had a pact with humans, he was an uninvited guest, and they were busy.

Elder Golda, the 8th Elder, had paid attention to him because he was a polite and respectful human boy, but to the other dwarves, he was just an uninteresting person.

However,

"How... How can a sword... without a mana stone..."

Elder Ferdom, the 6th Elder, lost his words and his eyes trembled in disbelief.

Most of them must have had the same thought.

What is a magic sword? It's an object that, through a precise process, is linked to a mana stone to generate a few types of mana.

The problem is that magic swords using mana stones have a limited number of uses and cannot continuously generate mana like the Dawn Flash or divine swords.

That's why, even with most of their ancient techniques lost, the dwarves were at a loss.

Even if they could draw the same power, the difference between regenerating power on their own and having a limited number of uses was significant.

It's like the difference between a mana stone and a mana crystal, which is far superior.

To the dwarves, the Dawn Flash was the ultimate symbol created by the skills of a master craftsman.

Yet, right before their eyes, a magic artifact without a mana stone, something they thought they could no longer create, was being made.

Using only the hammer and anvil of a master craftsman.

The dwarves, watching the human boy named David hammering as if forgetting everything else, opened their mouths wide when he casually showed them a part of the giant sword.

"How about it, do you understand now?"

How could they understand when they couldn't even believe what they were seeing?

* * *

- I saw the mana spread thinly with each hammer strike...

'Mana can be spread using the power of a mana stone. What I wanted you to see was the grain.'

-Grain?

'The sword absorbs mana... or, to put it simply, it's a technique to circulate mana on its own.'

"Elder Golda."

"Wh... What?!"

Startled by my words, Golda widened his eyes and stumbled over to me.

"Do you know what I did?"

"T... That... It..."

Seeing him struggle to explain, I lifted the hammer and lightly tapped the formed surface of the sword.

Clang! Clang!

A clear, resonant sound. Despite seeming hollow, it was incredibly sturdy.

"A weapon that can regenerate its own power without a mana stone, like a divine sword, is extremely rare."

"T... That's true."

"Most magic artifacts have a limited lifespan because the mana stored in the mana stone runs out. To endure countless times and emit strong power like the Dawn Flash, the object must be able to circulate its own mana."

Using basic mana arrangements and magic arrays, it is possible to circulate mana on its own.

But they are master craftsmen, not mages who create magic-infused items.

"Do you see the grain?"

"Grain?"

"Yes, whether it's the Dawn Flash or a divine sword, they all draw mana, or command mana, or divine power. The subject may differ, but the key is that the object itself must become a magic array through hammering."

"H... But if you do that, the weapon won't be able to withstand it! The shape of a magic array is... "

I smiled at his flustered outburst.

"That's why you change the grain inside the metal. You create dozens or hundreds of layers of grain very finely to change the shape like a magic array."

To my knowledge, there is only one thing that has lost its lifespan and continuously accumulates and releases power, not just a mana stone, but a mana crystal or higher.

The princess of the Palan Empire, Illina de Palan, owns the divine sword Calduras.

When I first saw Calduras, it was such an absurd combination of technologies that I didn't even have the courage to analyze it.

"But... If you change the grain inside at will, the sword won't be able to withstand it. It will break with a small impact."

If it's hollow, the durability will naturally be weak.

"That's why the master craftsman creates a buffer zone by thinly spreading mana, whether it's an artifact or their own power. That's the core of mana processing."

"Buffer zone?"

-When you first saw the princess and Calduras, you had no expression at all.

'Guys who gawk at pretty women are less popular than those who manage their expressions.'

-As long as it suits her taste, the princess likes both gawking and expressionless guys.

'Then what about me?'

-You're too scrawny. How about building more muscle?

I have a pretty sturdy build.

I haven't been idle, so I've eaten and exercised a lot, and I'm no longer scrawny.

Perseus chuckled at my grumbling.

"Most techniques have been lost over time. As the fate of the race shifted from wars of survival to wars among humans, the technology naturally regressed."

Comparing it to the era when all humans had to unite is practically rude.

"I have a question. Are the current dwarves less skilled than in the past?"

"That... Sigh, no, compared to our ancestors, our skills are inferior."

"Is it inherently impossible?"

"Absolutely not!!"

At his intense exclamation, I turned to look at the other dwarves.

The hostility from earlier was gone. Their eyes were full of vitality, as if they had discovered something new.

It was as if they had found hope.