The project began.
It started when the Metallurgist uploaded an enormous number of videos.
└Metallurgist: Before we start, you’ll need to do a little training. That’s fine, right? You probably haven’t made artifacts before.
└Python: Of course. That much is fine.
└Metallurgist: First, we need to start over from the basics.
└Metallurgist: You don’t have any basics right now.
No basics? Do you know how many years I’ve spent as a blacksmith?
When I objected like that, the Metallurgist clicked her tongue from beyond the status window.
└Metallurgist: From what I can see, you’re… forging with a squeaky toy hammer.
└Python: That’s harsh.
└Metallurgist: You know how to use magic power, right?
└Python: I’m not super used to it, but I can use it.
└Metallurgist: Then why don’t you?
Why would I use magic power when hammering?
To be honest, I’d never even thought of using magic power in forging. Even if I had known about it, I probably wouldn’t have used it.
It wasn’t like I lacked physical strength, so I’d wondered why I should bother.
└Python: Do you maybe use magic power when brushing your teeth too?
└Python: And when you go somewhere, do you just leisurely fly there with magic power?
└Metallurgist: Cut the bullshit, please.
The Metallurgist ignored that and continued.
└Metallurgist: What grade were the two daggers you sent me?
└Python: Rare.
└Metallurgist: To be honest, by our standards, they’re not even Normal quality. I don’t know why they’re Rare.
Is it that bad?
By my standards, the Damascus dagger had been a pretty well-made blade.
If I’d put it up for sale, its finish would have fetched a fairly high price.
└Metallurgist: Are you hurt?
└Python: No….
└Metallurgist: I’m not saying I disliked them, so don’t be hurt, okay?
└Metallurgist: I’m not talking about things like your hammer skills, your proficiency with heat treatment, or your understanding of materials. You’re good at those. You have talent.
└Metallurgist: But how is a sword made like that any different from stationery-store scissors?
└Metallurgist: Didn’t you become a blade smith to hunt magical beasts?
The Metallurgist told me not to be hurt, then proceeded to grill me without giving me a moment to breathe.
└Metallurgist: What you made is ultimately a lump of metal, and all you did was enhance that lump of metal. There are clear limits to that.
└Metallurgist: From now on, you have to infuse magic power into the material itself.
The Metallurgist said my swords would have limits.
Thinking about it carefully, she had a point.
The first enhancement piece, the Legendary dagger, only had absurdly good options attached to it; the completeness of the blade itself was very low.
The Damascus dagger had a high level of finish, but its options were relatively lacking.
If I were to compare the performance of the two blades, the Legendary dagger would definitely crush it.
In the end, the structure relied more on the enhancement click than on my forging skills.
If that was the case, I might as well buy kitchen knives in bulk from the neighborhood mart and hope for an enhancement lottery win.
That was why the Metallurgist had explained that the sword itself needed to possess magical energy.
└Python: So how do I do that?
└Metallurgist: Watch the videos.
└Python: ???
└Metallurgist: I recorded them by chapter.
└Python: Excuse me?
The Metallurgist didn’t leave any more comments. Did she really just toss them at me and tell me to study on my own…?
I played the video she had uploaded.
[The Basics and Understanding of Magical Metallurgy]
The lecture title was written in a crude font.
The moment I saw it, I felt a lump in my throat, but since it made me feel like a university student, I didn’t entirely hate it.
A small-framed woman stood in front of a large screen.
Her heavily drooping dark circles and orange eyes left a strong impression.
With her roughly tied hair and the researcher’s coat carelessly thrown over her sweater, she gave off an even stronger impression of someone worn down by exhaustion.
“This person is the Metallurgist?”
The Metallurgist on the screen looked too young to be a professor. At most, she seemed about university age.
“I thought she’d be older.”
The Metallurgist tottered as she began the class.
— Ah… yes, nice to meet you…. I’m Eponine Roche, and I’ll be teaching The Basics and Understanding of Magical Metallurgy.
— You all came here knowing what this is about, so there’s no need for an orientation, right? See you next week. Go home.
The first video ended.
This garbage was a professor’s lecture?
It felt like my common sense had been denied. Clutching my trembling body, I played the next lecture.
Only a week had passed since the first video, but her dark circles had drooped even further.
Everything else was the same. The loosely tied hair and the outfit that looked as if she’d just picked up whatever was lying around.
The Metallurgist in the video let out a deep sigh and opened her mouth.
— Yes, then we’ll get straight into the lesson. What is metallurgy? And how does magic power….
Unlike her overworked appearance, the Metallurgist taught with passion.
Unlike in the first lecture, there was even a light in her eyes.
And whenever a student asked a question, she answered sincerely and thoroughly.
However, there was one major problem with this lecture.
The professor wasn’t fun.
Her voice itself was gentle, and her way of speaking was on the slower side, so it made me drowsy.
“Good thing I didn’t go to university.”
My deep-rooted complex about my education was slightly relieved.
The Metallurgist’s lectures… I decided to listen while skipping ahead little by little.
After skipping all the theoretical parts like that, there wasn’t much left.
— The way you use magic also changes depending on the material. Even when making a handle, whether you use wood, plastic, or….
— For example, if we assume you’re using wood, and… hmm… if you’re using red oak, you need to control your magic power more delicately….
Oh, finally, a practical section came up.
I happened to have all the teaching materials in the workshop too.
I took out a block of red oak from one corner of the smithy.
— You can’t just gloss over it because you’ll shape it with a grinder anyway.
— You remember what we’ve learned so far, right? If you concentrate and feel the flow, you’ll see the paths mana passes through. We call them mana nodes. You need to work while steadily injecting magic power into those points.
What I saw was still just an ordinary block of wood.
She said to see the paths mana passed through.
Concentrate.
First, I tried to feel the magic power flowing around my body.
It wasn’t very satisfying. Aside from magic power, the air and various floating particles felt muddled together.
This time, I closed my eyes and cut off my sight.
After quite some time like that.
At some point, I began to sensitively feel the mana circulating inside my body.
Once I sensed the flow within me, I could clearly distinguish the magic power drifting outside as well.
Because, like the moon drawing in seawater, the external things were coming and going in response to my magic power.
I slowly opened my eyes.
I could see things I hadn’t seen before.
Countless points of light appeared on the rectangular block of wood.
I could also feel the blue energy wrapped around it.
‘This must be the path mana travels through. And this must be the mana in the air.’
The mana tried to seep into the wood, but the wood haughtily turned away.
So that was why she said to inject magic power.
I moved the third arm that had sprouted with my awakening.
I scattered the image of the hand like a cloud.
Then I divided the five fingers into five branches each. Then divided those again into five.
Now, with fingertips as thin as needles, I touched the points.
There were still many nodes I hadn’t touched, but I didn’t think I could split my fingers any further.
Blue mist slowly wrapped around the needles.
Before long, using the third arm like a syringe, mana seeped into the wood.
— You need to continue the remaining work while maintaining that state. Understood?
That’s fucking hard.
It felt like I’d been told to juggle with my left hand while washing dishes with my right.
Phew. Still, let’s try it for now.
I carefully moved my feet and reached the grinder.
When I activated the machine, the surface was rapidly shaved away.
At the same time, the mana nodes twisted.
I hurriedly moved my needle fingers and reorganized the nodes.
— Naturally, as you shape it, the nodes on the surface will change, right? The key is not to lose the nodes you’ve grasped and to supply magic power as stably and steadily as possible.
— It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the performance of weapons and artifacts is determined here.
— So until the production is completely finished….
Yeah, yeah, I get it.
In the end, I couldn’t take my hand off the nodes until I finished the final touches.
“Haaah—!”
Holding the completed sword hilt, I threw myself onto the sofa.
I’m exhausted.
It felt like finishing one oak grip had drained more energy than making an entire Damascus sword.
And I’d have to do the same thing when making the blade too.
At this rate, even making a simple dagger might take an incredible amount of time.
‘Still….’
I held the handle up to the light.
It seemed as if a faint warmth was rising from it.
I was certain that if I made a weapon with this, it would definitely become a better sword.
I should show it off to Professor Metallurgy.
When I opened the gallery, I saw the posts.
There were more new posts than usual.
From the looks of it… the Metallurgist had drawn a ton of aggro.
[Announcement. I’ve decided to teach the newbie, so be aware.]
Author: Metallurgist
Yeah.
└Give me my 100% enhancement newbie, fuck
└Intangible Cultural Asset: What, is he that skilled? Can’t I have a go at him too?
└└Metallurgist: No. If you teach him useless weird stuff or make him do pointless things and mess up the curriculum, that’ll be a problem.
└YoiYoi: Mwehehe, as expected, the early bird gets the worm-yoi.
└└DaggerLord: Uheuheu…. Sluuurp…! Haaah…….
└└Metallurgist: What are you saying;; just die;;
└Bowyer: Isn’t he making bows? I’m good at teaching that.
└└Metallurgist: Yeah, he says he isn’t making any?
└Northern Station Exit 3: Um, I’d like to borrow that Legendary sword from back then. Is it still going to take long……. I’m in a hurry….
└└Metallurgist: It’ll take a bit, wait wait.
So she’d officially recognized me as her disciple.
I felt needlessly proud.
How surprised would she be if she saw the handle I made?
Instead of sending it through a private chat, I decided to post the result directly on the board.
[Professor Metallurrrgist, look]
Writer: Python
(photo of sword hilt)
I made this based on your node theory, Professor.
If you want, I can send it through a trade.
└UnderDressed: This guy looks for the Metallurgist every day. Makes me jealous.
└└Python: Haha
└Metallurgist: You finished already?
└└Python: It was quick once I skipped all the boring parts.
└└Metallurgist: You son of a bitch.
└└Metallurgist: No, no, that’s not what I mean. You said you’d never grasped nodes before. But after half-listening to the lecture, you did it right away…?
└└Python: It worked once I tried it. I mean, you cut the orientation in three seconds too.
└└Metallurgist: It’s only polite to end orientation early. Nodes can take months just to get used to…. Well, all right, for now;;
└The Spear Is King of All Weapons: This time, I can clearly see that it was made using magic power. Well done.
└└Python: Haha, thanks thanks.
Unexpectedly, my post drew the interest of other gallery users as well. The gallery people quietly gathered and left comments.
└WatermelonThief: But what’s node theory? First time I’ve heard of it.
└└Python: Find the mana pathways that exist in the material and inject magic power into them… something like that.
└└WatermelonThief: So she calls those nodes. I get what she means.
└└WatermelonThief: By the way, isn’t that hard? If it’s your first time, you could struggle a bit.
└└Python: I tried dividing my magic-power fingers into five branches, then splitting them the same way again and connecting them, but it was a little difficult. I think I need to research it more.
└└WatermelonThief: ????????
└└The Spear Is King of All Weapons: ?
└└Northern Station Exit 3: Wait…. Why fingers;;;;
└└BlackMagicBoohoo: Hahahahaha, I like you so much. Want to learn black magic?
└└Metallurgist: What do you mean, splitting and dividing fingers…. Are you actually insane;;
When I explained how I used the nodes, question marks suddenly started appearing.
Even the Metallurgist was scolding me.
Seeing them all talk about something only I didn’t understand made me puzzled.
└Python: What is it this time?
└└Metallurgist: Who wouldn’t be surprised when you say you just divided your fingers into 125 branches?
└└Python: Isn’t that how you’re supposed to do it?
└└Metallurgist: Uh, no.
According to Professor Metallurgy, everyone has their own mental image of magic power.
Mine had manifested as a third arm.
Apparently, to other people, my mental image seemed bizarre.
It didn’t seem strange at all if you just thought of smoke stretching out in a multi-level pyramid structure.
└Metallurgist: Sigh…. Anyway, good job. Most people at first just clump it together like clay and slam it in, mental image or whatever, but you managed fine control.
└└Python: But with nodes, isn’t it better to connect as many as possible?
└└Metallurgist: Not necessarily, but it is a measure of talent. It means the possibility is open for you to use nodes in various ways.
└└Python: I could see a ton of nodes…. Even touching 100 branches left a lot over. I wanted to split them more, but I couldn’t go any further.
└└Metallurgist: Ah.
A moment of silence.
Then, a short while later, the comment section exploded.
└└What the fuck. I suddenly feel a wall from the newbie.
└└Blade Master: So you’re saying on his first try, he observed a shit-ton of nodes and then opened up over 100 of them too. Fuck…. Dude, you’re already a goddamn ace with that. What more do you want….
└└WatermelonThief: Why! Does the newbie! Get a Legendary!!! Get talent dumped on him!!! Eat up 100 of these node things at a time!!! Why not me!!! O heavens!!!!!!!
Ugh, noisy.
Even reading it as text made my eardrums hurt.
Leaving the noisy post behind, I called the Metallurgist through private chat.
Now it was time to do what had to be done.