Astral Online: Cursed by the Demon Lord to Become the Strongest Beautiful Girl, I Rapidly Grow and Dominate with Cheat Skills Despite Being the Weakest Profession - Chapter 78
Chapter 78: The Blacksmith’s Flame
The workshop, though simple, was impressive.
Guided by Kirie to the back of the store, Sora entered a spacious area featuring an anvil and a forge built with bricks.
The forge was already lit, and the flames emitted a rainbow-colored glow, possibly a special effect.
The next thing that caught Sora’s eye was the countless swords displayed on the walls of the workshop, filling the space.
Naturally, all of them were crafted by Kirie.
Weapons ranging from Rank ?D+? to Rank ?C+? were lined up in such abundance that it left her speechless. Each weapon was labeled as a “Prototype,” showing just how much trial and error she had undergone.
Since Sora had turned off the temperature settings for her avatar, she couldn’t feel the heat emanating from the forge.
Yet, strangely enough, she could feel the intense passion filling the workshop, almost like a tingling sensation on her skin.
As Sora curiously looked around, taking in her first glimpse of a production workshop in ?Astral Online?, she was overwhelmed by the dedication that filled the space.
This is where Kirie-san has made so many weapons and armor…
While she was lost in admiration, Kirie entered the room, drew the ?Silver Sword? from its sheath, and held it aloft as if offering it to the heavens. She then slowly placed the sword into the forge.
Heated by the rainbow-colored flames, the sword gleamed with a silver light and gradually transformed into a rectangular silver ingot.
She equipped her blacksmith gloves and retrieved the ingot from the forge.
Then, she held it out to Sora, showing it to Sora.
“This is the soul of your partner, the one who fought alongside you in ?Astral Online? over the past week.”
In her hands was the ?Silver Ingot?, a mysterious metal that shimmered with a jade-green hue when tilted. The item was labeled as a “Second Ingot,” and even with Sora’s ?Insight? skill, its rarity remained ?Unknown?.
It didn’t look like iron or steel.
Judging by the color alone, it might resemble “Silver”, but in fantasy games, metals range from real to imaginary. Ordinarily, this “Second Ingot” seemed like a type of metal that didn’t exist.
As Sora gazed at this first-ever ingot, the core of a new weapon, he thought to himself.
*It’s really beautiful.*
“I believe with this ingot, I can create the first ?B-rank? weapon in ?Astral Online?. …Now, as I begin crafting the weapon, is there any additional material you’d like to use?” Kirie asked.
“I do have something,” Sora responded immediately, taking out a piece of metal.
When Kirie received it, her eyes widened in surprise.
“This is… Magic Iron!”
“Shin and Rou helped me obtain it specifically for this.”
“Hah… you guys really always do the most outrageous things,” Kirie sighed, looking exasperated at the two friends who were proudly giving her a thumbs-up. After a moment, she lowered her head as if to cool off, then let out a small laugh.
“But you’re right. With this, I can definitely create my greatest masterpiece… No, I will create it!”
With a determined expression, Kirie took the two highest-grade metals currently available and faced the forge. Carefully, she placed both materials into the furnace.
The materials heated up and, after some time, began to meld together.
Kirie, with a focused gaze, grasped the fused material with her gloved hands and moved it to the anvil. Next, she took out a large pair of tongs to hold the metal in place on the anvil.
Finally, with her right hand, Kirie equipped the ?Smith’s Hammer?, gripping it firmly as if infusing it with her soul, and brought it down for the first strike.
—*Clang!*
A high-pitched sound of metal striking metal echoed through the workshop.
In a steady rhythm, Kirie, the blacksmith, brought down the hammer a second and third time.
Each strike sent beautiful, rainbow-colored sparks flying.
It was a beautiful sight and sound. But despite the splendor, Kirie’s face, so close to the heated metal, showed a slight grimace of discomfort.
Maybe she hadn’t turned off her temperature settings like Sora and the others.
One might think she should turn them off, but Sora quickly dismissed that thought.
Because even as the intense heat seared her, Kirie’s mouth was curled into a smile.
Just as Sora would smile and face a formidable opponent head-on, this “heat” was her stage. Without a pause, she continued to bring the hammer down with her right hand.
Four, five, six, ten, fifteen, twenty…
Even after the number of hammer strikes on the metal exceeded fifty, Kirie continued to pour her soul into each blow without any sign of relaxation.
Sora and the others found themselves mesmerized and fixated on her dedicated figure.
The three of them watched in silence.
They had no idea how the blacksmith’s weapon crafting system worked. But it was clear from watching her that it was no easy task relying on the system.
Holding their breath, Sora watched intently.
Then, as Kirie had been working for nearly an hour…
“Hah!”
With more power and determination than ever before, a blow was struck into the ?Second Ingot?.
The silver ingot began to shine and, as its shape broke down, it slowly started to transform.
The shape was that of a familiar one-handed straight sword.
While emitting a silver light, the ingot gradually reshaped itself into a long, sharp sword.
“Seiya!”
Kirie’s final strike resonated through the space.
Simultaneously, a dazzling light briefly illuminated the entire room, rendering everything invisible for a moment.
As the light gradually subsided, before the blacksmith’s eyes, a beautiful, silver-glowing sword like a work of art was born.
That…
Sora, holding her breath, watched as Kirie, now holding the newly transformed ?Silver Sword?, slowly stood up.
She then chose a dark-colored sheath from her collection and carefully placed the sword into it.
Turning around, her expression showed the satisfaction of a blacksmith who had successfully completed a long battle.
“Ah, it’s done. … It’s really turned into an incredible piece.”
Sora took the offered sword with both hands and drew it from the sheath, inspecting the blade just as before.
At first glance, it seemed to emit the same silver light as before.
But upon changing the angle slightly, she could see a hint of jade green mixed with the silver.
Her ?Insight? skill evaluated the newly transformed ?Silver Sword? as such.
—– —– —– —– —– —– —– —– —–
?Category?: One-Handed Straight Sword
?Weapon Name?: Silver Magic Sword
?Rarity?: B?
?Attack Power?: C+
?Durability?: B+
?Weight?: 150
?Enhancement Limit?: 20
?Required Strength?: 50
?Ability?: Not Selected
?Creator?: Kirie
—– —– —– —– —– —– —– —– —–
The newly reborn companion, like the first and second generations, is focused on durability.
Additionally, the number of times the weapon can be enhanced has been increased to 20.
Given that the previous ?Silver Sword? had an enhancement limit of 10, the new sword is effectively twice as strong.
“This will be my new companion…”
“It seems you can choose the additional abilities later. Since you can only set them once, take your time to think it over.”
“Yes, thank you very much.”
Sora bowed her head in gratitude.
Kirie looked a little troubled, then looked at me while tucking her hair behind her ear.
“The fee is 5 million El due to the special material processing and the one hour of production time.”
“5 million El, huh…”
Hearing the amount, Sora’s voice turned halting.
She had forgotten that including the ?Magic Iron? would cause the cost to skyrocket.
5 million El.
With only about 3.3 million El currently in possession, she was short by 1.7 million El.
That’s roughly equivalent to 20 hours of the most profitable mining quests.
Looks like she’ll be spending some time in underground dungeons to earn back that debt.
Just as I was thinking that, she said, “I’d like to say the full amount… but since we’re friends, I’ll give you a special discount. How about half, 2.5 million El?”
“Boss, I’ll follow you for life!”
Sora immediately performed a textbook-perfect bow and expressed her heartfelt gratitude to Kirie.