The dregs of winter still lingered, unwilling to loosen their grip on the changing of the seasons, but an impressive crowd still wandered the city streets. Krul pulled our rather slow cart through the streets. While it might have been unusual to see a drake-drawn cart, no one would assume that our humble transport carried a bit of orichalcum. Some people glanced at us, but none seemed overly concerned with my unusual family. Besides, if anyone’s so openly suspicious and bothered by us, I’m sure Helen would notice and tell them off.
The wagon clattered along ever so slightly; the suspension system was unable to fully absorb all the impact, so I had to entrust my body to the bumpy road. I gazed at the people walking about and compared them to blood traveling through the veins—the streets—of the city. When I left, I spotted the same soldier that guarded the gates when I entered. I raised a hand in greeting.
“See you around!” I called out.
“Yeah, be careful out there,” the soldier replied with a casual wave.
My next visit to the city would be in a month, and I hoped that life would be peaceful for the guards until then. Out on the road, we were greeted by the same icy breeze that’d brushed against our cheeks when we’d entered the city, and the roadside grasses fluttered in that chill. The cold didn’t let up even in the Black Forest, and I spotted a few deer huddled together for warmth against the frosty air.
Aside from my daily water runs, the next time I’d trek through this forest would be in a month. If I finished the orichalcum before then, I might be able to tag along with a few hunts, but it was tough to coordinate my schedule around them. After a month, when I’m done with the orichalcum knife, I should probably take a day off.
Once we arrived at our cabin, we all worked together to carry in the month’s worth of supplies we bought from Camilo. Food, small items, and other necessities were put into storage or the forge. With that, our last order for the winter was safely delivered.
During dinner, Rike turned to me, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Boss, do you have any idea on how to work with the orichalcum?”
“Not a clue, I’m afraid,” I replied with a shrug. “I plan on testing every method I can think of, though.”
I’d start by just heating up the metal and hammering it. If that didn’t work, I wanted to try using the meghizium route, where I added a ton of magical energy to make it more malleable. And if that also didn’t work, I could even try extracting all the magical energy from the metal.
The city contained trace amounts of magical energy, though it wasn’t dense enough for races like elves and demons to live on. If orichalcum used those trace amounts and amplified it to gain that toughness and heat resistance, I guessed that I might be able to process it if all the magical energy was drained out. Regardless, testing would begin tomorrow with tons of hammering.
When I explained my thought process to Rike, her glittering smile became rather forced. I just hope it won’t be too difficult for me.
⌗⌗⌗
After I finished my morning water-fetching routine, I completed my breakfast preparations as usual. Since I’d be beginning an important project, I didn’t mind making a more dignified breakfast, but I didn’t want to be too ceremonious about it all.
I placed my hands together as I glanced at the hihiirokane and the adamantite enshrined in front of the kamidana. Sorry, guys. I need you two to sit on the sideline for a short while, but I’ll make you into something soon. I placed my orichalcum on an open space on the kamidana. Was it the trick of the light? I thought I saw it glimmer for just a second. After two bows, two claps, and one bow, I finished my normal morning routine. My prayers for the kamidana had taken a bit longer than usual since I’d hoped my work with the orichalcum would go well. I’m not even sure who I’m praying to since the mysterious goddess statue enshrined here is something I just made...
“All right, let’s get started,” I murmured to the quiet forge.
I lit up the firebed, filling the room with the sound of roaring flames, and prepared to work. Helen and Anne were tasked with creating molds for the blades, Diana and Lidy would pour the melted steel into the molds, and Samya and Rike would remove the cooled blades and hammer them into shape. Since we all had our own roles, we busily got to work.
Clang! The sharp clattering of hammers and steel rang within our forge.
I’d taken the orichalcum down from the kamidana and set it on the anvil. I didn’t want to give it my all lest something...unusual happen, so I just gave it a light tap with my hammer. Normal steel would be dented by the strength of my swing, but the impressive orichalcum remained unscathed and as dignified as ever—it was famous in this world and back on Earth for good reason, and this was proof of it.
“Oof...” I muttered.
I’d meant to give only a light tap, but my steel hammer was actually scratched by the orichalcum just a little. Hrmmm...
“All right.”
I grabbed a different hammer, a smaller one meant for detail work, and used it to imbue my usual hammer with magical energy. With a dull thud, shimmering particles—magical energy—began to fill my larger hammer. When that hammer could take in no more magic, I stopped.
“Should be good enough,” I said.
When I placed my hammer under the gentle sunshine that shone through the window, it glimmered and shone with magical energy. Any normal metal hit with this hammer would bend and morph. Though, well, I did have adamantite, hihiirokane, and appoitakara, the three exceptions to this rule.
“Hup!” I said.
I used the same amount of force as before (thanks to my cheats, I could even be precise with my arm power) and swung down. Another sharp cling rang out from the orichalcum, but it was the same as ever. I checked my hammer and saw that it was unscathed too—the orichalcum was simply far too tough. According to my installed knowledge, orichalcum wasn’t mined from ores mixed with impurities; it instead formed geometric shapes like bismuth or salt crystals. The valuable metal could be mined simply by removing the surrounding rock.
There were times when pathfinders would find orichalcum—and they probably dug it out the same way. The surrounding rock is hammered away to reveal the orichalcum, but even as the rock crumbles away, the orichalcum remains totally unscathed. In other words, it’s tough enough to take a fair bit of abuse.
I swung my hammer down again, harder than before. A loud clang rang out once more—my hands tingled from the impact. But still, the orichalcum and my hammer remained ever the same, both refusing to give way for the other. No, wait, the head of the hammer’s fine, but the part between the handle and head’s getting loose. Must be from that swing. As I fixed my hammer, my mind wandered to the orichalcum. It’s really tough, and that sound earlier wasn’t just metal against metal. It’s...
“Magical energy,” I muttered aloud.
I was familiar with the feeling of magical energy clashing with magical energy—I’d made such items and hit them together. And my earlier swing felt similar to that. Maybe I’ll try draining the orichalcum of its magical energy.
As I pondered that, Rike was busy with her own work. “You look happy, Boss.”
I smiled back in response. My products—though most were made of plain steel—were tough and sturdy thanks to magical energy. Usually, I imbued custom models with magic, adding as much as I could. Entry-level models didn’t have as much magical energy in them. While the physical quality of my blades differed by model, the largest difference was in the amount of magic each one carried.