Chapter 15: The Attempt

Chapter 15: The Attempt

Bran stood openly with Danny at the warehouse entrance, looking inside. Most of the items stored here were things that were not worth fixing but too valuable to just discard. For Bran, this place was a huge treasure vault. His current thought was, “When you’re getting something for free, you should have the right attitude and not be too picky.”

Seeing Bran’s eyes light up, Danny poured cold water on his idea: “It’s all junk, completely useless for making swords. The Northlands are not short of blacksmiths. If any of this could be used, someone else would have taken it already.”

“How do you know it’s useless if you don’t try?”

“You should just make models. I’ll keep them safe for you, and we can sell them for a lot of money. With money, we can build a castle,” Danny tempted him.

Bran glanced sideways at her and said scornfully, “Have some ambition, you silly girl.”

“Fine, you try then!” Danny crossed her arms and looked down at Bran from her superior height.

Bran knew, of course, that a sword couldn’t be just a shape. In his previous life, as a man with dreams, he had loved cold weapon s and read a lot of information about them. Although, that knowledge was only theoretical.

Bran casually pointed at the nearest item, a two-handed greatsword with only half a blade left, and asked Danny to bring it over. During this process, Bran couldn’t resist bragging. “You know, Danny. Considering we’ve been through life and death together, I’ll tell you this. In this world, we need to look at things from a microscopic perspective.”

Danny rolled her eyes at him.

Bran continued playing the expert: “I know you’re not very bright, uncultured, and don’t know what ‘microscopic’ means. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure either.”

“Hmph…” Danny snorted coldly.

“I know the Northlands aren’t short of blacksmiths. Many people forge their own weapon before their Coming-of-Age Ceremony. Everyone knows about quenching and tempering, and many blacksmiths keep the finer details of these techniques a secret,” Bran said, putting on a know-it-all expression. “But why do they do it?”

Danny’s curiosity was piqued. She answered, “What else? To make the sword sharper and tougher.”

“But why does that happen?” Bran grinned.

“Why?”

“I don’t know either,” Bran spread his hands.

“…”

“The moment to witness a miracle has arrived,” Bran joked. He placed his hand on the sword blade and tried to sense it. He could feel Mana slowly seeping into the sword. But that wasn’t enough. It needed to be more precise, not this fuzzy control. Bran thought, I know quenching and tempering are done to form specific crystals in the metal. So I at least need to sense that structure.

Bran closed his eyes and tried to immerse his whole body and mind in the feeling. He went along with the Mana, using it to perceive those finer details. Then Bran felt a boom in his head. His whole body felt dizzy and unsteady. The surrounding space seemed to become vast and boundless, and his consciousness felt like a tiny, insignificant point trapped deep within it. Bran suddenly felt a surge of panic. Then, his consciousness, losing control because of the panic, fell into chaos…

Meanwhile, Danny, standing beside him, saw Bran and his ever-present cat suddenly convulse, foam at the mouth, and collapse on the ground.

Bran woke up late at night. He was in his own bedroom. Danny was dozing, leaning against the headboard. Bran sighed and stroked the still-sleeping Huahua. When he thought about the ‘microscopic,’ his ability had responded. It was just that the chaos in his consciousness caused by panic led to a momentary loss of control over his Mana. And Black Cat Huahua, who had been comfortably engaged in Mana Resonance with her master at that moment, was tragically caught up in the accident as well…

Bran raised his hand, carefully sensing. He could feel that invisible hand of Mana slowly extending from within his body. Nothing had changed at all.