“And...swing!” I signaled.
“Yes, Boss!”
Our hammers created another symphony of ringing, and I noticed that Rike seemed more certain of her hammer than before. Her motions were growing more confident and powerful. It seemed our earlier round had allowed her to find her bearings. My apprentice is exceptional. The one regret I had was that I couldn’t find the time to praise her on the spot.
Beneath our constant hammering, the magical jewelstone gradually grew smaller and smaller until it faded away completely. And what remained was...
I gasped in awe. “Wow...”
The golden lump of orichalcum now glowed an even more vibrant rainbow of hues, and its shape was slowly growing more and more refined. While it obviously wasn’t complete, it’d been shaped enough to see what it would become in its final form. Perhaps it was a touch too dainty to be called a knife, but I was working with a precious metal, and it was a gift, to boot. I’d rather overdecorate it with intricate designs than leave it plain and simple.
“Boss, do you hammer away with the end shape already fixed in your mind?” Rike asked. She’d taken a break from her hammering, and her shoulders rose and fell as she caught her breath. I was huffing and puffing along with her.
“Nah, not at all,” I said. “I just use my best guess and work with that in mind.”
I’d read that a certain famous sculptor had once said, “The sculpture is already complete within the marble block before I start my work. It is already there—I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.” And honestly, I kinda followed that philosophy. Of course, in my case, my cheats were doing much of the heavy lifting. They told me that I should hit around a certain area, and I just followed those guidelines. These precise thoughts ran unconsciously through my mind, though only because of my cheats. But to be the best smith I can be, I should be able to shape metal without my cheats telling me what to do.
Rike stared hard at the orichalcum. “This looks good so far.”
“Ahh, glad to hear it,” I replied.
She smiled at me, and I smiled back. I then grabbed the orichalcum with my tongs and showed it to the restless Maribel.
“How does it look?” I asked.
“Oooh! I think this’ll end up being so cool!” she exclaimed.
“Excellent. With your seal of approval, I have nothing to worry about.”
I grinned once more—Rike and Maribel followed suit. I’d like to foster a workplace environment where we’re always smiling, but that tends to slip when we’re concentrating.
“Shall we continue?” I asked.
“Yeah!” Rike and Maribel replied energetically.
I couldn’t help but feel my heart grow warm at their energy, and for the third time today, I grabbed my steel box.
⌗⌗⌗
“Whew. We finally finished shaping it.”
For the past two weeks, our work had progressed at a snail’s pace. We did the same thing over and over again, and finally, we’d managed to shape the orichalcum—the knife looked like a lightning bolt, but instead of sharp angles, it was curvier and softer around the edges, sort of like an elongated S. At a glance, one could tell that this knife was not practical. It definitely looked like it was used for ceremonial purposes.
It wasn’t sharp yet, but it still could cut well enough—if I casually swung it at an enemy, I could do decent damage. But that was only thanks to the magical energy inside (I think). The unusual shape didn’t actually help with its sharpness. I guess, in a sense, this is a magical sword.
When I’d finished the shaping, Lidy had confirmed that there was already quite a bit of magical energy in the orichalcum, so imbuing more wouldn’t do much. And so, I’d stopped adding magic.
“Let’s see...”
When the knife cooled down enough, I grabbed a steel knife and knocked the back of it against the orichalcum. Ring! It sounded like a bell, and that clear sound filled the forge. The orichalcum seemed even more resonant than before.
I then placed the steel knife onto the anvil. Gripping the unfinished orichalcum knife like a hammer, I swung down on the steel knife with a little more power than before. I remember doing this with the first knife I ever made. I was hoping for a clear ringing sound and nothing more. It’s probably better to hit something with the orichalcum than the other way around.
I wasn’t doing this just for fun; it was an experiment. Though I was working with a different metal, this scenario was similar to when I forged the mithril sword—by listening to the changes in tone as I struck the metal, I could tell how much magical energy the orichalcum contained, as well as its temperature. Testing with such a precious metal isn’t an opportunity that comes around every day.
Also, my cheats really help me out, but Rike has none, and she still strives to match my abilities. I should learn how to forge with my own skills and rely less on my Watchdog-given abilities. I was in the clear so far, but who knew when my cheats might dull and become less likely to activate. I might even lose the ability altogether. Maybe I can be Rike’s apprentice then. In any case, I wanted to prepare for the worst and gain as much experience as possible.
I bet the orichalcum knife will slice through anything like butter after it’s sharpened. I swung it down and felt the orichalcum knife—still dull and unfinished, mind you—easily cut through the steel knife with a dull thunk.
“Huh?” Rike and I said simultaneously.