Volume 5, Chapter 34 – The Purpose of Forging

Forging.

In the underground world where they had always lived, besides loving strong liquor and being passionate about battle, the Dwarves of Fortress were also recognized by all as outstanding craftsmen.

Because of the underground world’s special environment, there was a great amount of natural lava in the region where Fortress was located. Relying on that extremely high temperature lava, as long as resources did not run dry in theory, the Dwarves of Fortress could forge weapons endlessly.

Precisely because the Dwarves of Fortress all loved forging weapons so much, when it came to the craft of weapon forging, the Dwarves of Fortress could be called the very best in the world.

And now.

After Tianyin arrived at Fortress and fought a battle with the Fortress Emperor…

Because of a strange agreement, she began to learn the craft of forging weapons and equipment from the Fortress Dwarves.

『Mm… so about this whole forging weapons thing… wasn’t our original purpose in coming here to obtain a Power of Original Sin, Samael?』

「Mm… of course I know that. But, Xiaoyin, we already agreed to this. And according to what Fortress Emperor said, during this period he will be your sparring partner, and you have to follow him and learn the art of forging.」

“…”

What Samael said was not without reason.

But when she thought about it carefully, Tianyin still felt a bit regretful.

Right now, in front of Tianyin, a Dwarf whose height was not much different from hers, Fortress Emperor, was carefully using a tool to clamp a piece of glowing red iron ingot and take it out from the furnace.

“Little one, watch closely.”

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Placing the glowing iron ingot on a workbench meant specifically for forging, Fortress Emperor showed a very serious and focused expression.

Then, still clamping the ingot, the Fortress Emperor slowly raised the hammer in his hand high.

Clang, clang, clang—

Loud strikes rang out before Tianyin’s eyes, and only when the Fortress Emperor started hammering the red hot iron ingot did Tianyin finally snap out of her conversation with Samael.

“When forging a weapon, the very first thing is that every strike you make has to be made with the same force.”

While hammering the glowing iron, the Fortress Emperor spoke to Tianyin without turning his head.

“Forging an iron ingot is actually not that hard. Almost everyone can do it, but when it comes to the details, not everyone can keep control.”

“Details?”

Tianyin nodded thoughtfully.

“If you want to make sure every strike lands with the same strength, that really is very difficult…”

“That’s right, and not only that. According to the standards of us Dwarves, when we forge, whether at the beginning or at the end of forging a weapon, the strength you maintain has to be the same.”

“Eh… so… that is how it is?”

“That’s right.”

Raising his head and seeing Tianyin’s face full of impressed puzzlement, the Fortress Emperor paused his movements and could not help laughing.

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“Alright, little one, talking about it alone is useless. Next, you should try it yourself.”

“Me?”

Tianyin hesitated a little, but when she remembered that she had already agreed to this, in the end she gritted her teeth and took the hammer and the tongs for clamping the ingot that the Fortress Emperor handed her.

“Mm… if I remember right, I have to heat the iron ingot until it is glowing first…”

After thinking for a moment, Tianyin began recalling Fortress Emperor’s earlier movements and started the steps of forging a weapon.

“Little one, you don’t need to repeat the heating step for the ingot. It is just basic warming. There are still some ingots in the furnace. Just clamp one out directly.”

Hearing Tianyin’s muttering, the Fortress Emperor reminded her very patiently.

“Mm…”

Following the Fortress Emperor’s instructions and clamping out a glowing iron ingot, Tianyin imitated what the Fortress Emperor had done earlier and began trying to forge and hammer the ingot.

However…

Clang, clang, clang—

After Tianyin hammered the ingot for a while, what appeared in front of her was nothing but an irregular piece of scrap iron.

“Eh… how did it end up like this… I clearly, clearly wanted to hammer it into the shape of a sword…”

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Even though she was not particularly interested in forging weapons, since she had already tried it herself, Tianyin was not the kind of person who would casually give up.

But even though she had done what the Fortress Emperor said earlier, Tianyin discovered that what she had forged was just a lump of scrap iron with no clear form at all.

“Mm… as I thought, your control over your own strength is very poor. Little one, it looks like having you learn forging really is necessary.”

Unlike the dejected Tianyin, the Fortress Emperor, when he saw the scrap iron Tianyin had forged, had an expression of this-is-just-what-I-expected.

“Alright, little one, now watch my demonstration. After I show you the entire forging process once, you can try forging one more time.”

Taking back the tools from Tianyin’s hands, the Fortress Emperor clamped another glowing red ingot and started hammering it in front of Tianyin again.

Clang.

Clang.

Clang.

As the Fortress Emperor hammered away, the ingot in front of him slowly began to change shape.

In Tianyin’s field of vision, as time slowly passed, the ingot before her started to show the faint outline of a sword.

However, just as the sword’s basic outline appeared, the glowing red ingot slowly cooled down again.

As the ingot cooled, the Fortress Emperor once more placed it back into the furnace. Only after the ingot became red hot again did the Fortress Emperor take it out and continue hammering.

While hammering, the Fortress Emperor was also explaining the essentials of forging weapons to Tianyin.

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“Forging equipment is not as easy as it looks. The most important thing is having rhythm.”

“The interval between each strike and the force of each strike must be kept as even as possible.”

“And under that premise, you also need patience, because forging a sharp weapon is not something that can be finished in one go, it requires you to keep hammering without giving up.”

“Of course, the most important point in forging a weapon is that you must have the determination to forge a good weapon.”

“…Determination?” Tianyin murmured to herself.

At the same time, as she recalled what the Fortress Emperor had said to her just now, Tianyin also gained some understanding in her heart.

At the very least, after listening to the Fortress Emperor’s words, Tianyin understood why the Fortress Emperor wanted her to learn forging from him.

Because the purpose of forging weapons was actually to help Tianyin become familiar with her own strength, to help Tianyin gradually gain control over her own power.

“So that is how it is…”

Thinking of this, Tianyin felt grateful toward the Fortress Emperor.

Of course, what Tianyin did not know was that the Fortress Emperor had not thought about any of this. He really was just genuinely excited after seeing something interesting and wanted Tianyin to learn how to forge.

After all, there was nothing more fun than teaching a Throne-tier from another Faction how to hammer iron.