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“Hey, you people. How could you give up your family treasure that easily?” Davey spoke to the dwarves.
“It’s fine! We can’t use it anyways! I think our ancestors would be happy if you used it in the last work of the ‘Thousand-day Blacksmith’, wise teacher!!”
Davey was afraid that the dwarves’ ancestors would really feel that way. The ancestors were also dwarves, after all. “Sigh…” Davey let out a deep sigh and looked at all the materials laid out in front of him.
-You don’t have enough?
‘All these materials are also going to disappear, too.’ Davey thought as he looked at the orichalcum, adamantium, and various aged reagents. Not only that, but there were also the dragon bones that were going to be the finishing material.
‘I think I’m going to have to tweak my design a little.’ Davey was going to use what he was given; he decided to look at the bright side.
* * *
“I will issue my authority as the highest-ranking elder! I cannot give up anymore!” Golgouda shouted.
“You cheap grandpa!”
“Hmph! Tsk tsk!”
At last, the dwarves’ fight about whose workshop Davey was going to use came to an end with Golgouda’s dirty trick. It could be seen as a cheap trick, but it could also be seen as realistic and practical.
“H—How do you like it? Wise teacher! Is it just right?” Golgouda asked.
“Haha… It’s very nice!” Davey was truly in awe when he saw Golgouda’s workshop. The old dwarf wasn’t called the best craftsman in the tribe for nothing; the workshop was neat and tidy, and had a furnace directly connected to the Great Furnace, along with various tools and anvils.
“Ahem! As much as I want to assist you on the final work…” Golgouda’s voice trailed off. He glanced at the two swords on the anvil with a strong yearning in his eyes, but soon shook his head as if he had decided. “I can’t do that, since there are rules I must keep as a craftsman. Like you said, we will think about it while you work.”
Davey watched Golgouda, who walked away after speaking gallantly, and mumbled quietly, “Hm… He could’ve watched if he wanted.”
-What are you going to do if someone steals your techniques?
“They won’t know how to do it even if they watch.” Davey wasn’t exactly wrong to say so. He then added, “Well, then. Let’s get started.”
Davey stared at the furnace that was burning with a bright blue flame, then immediately pushed the two swords in. He spread his hands and closed his eyes. Whoosh!!! Blue energy began escaping from his body, creating a giant magic circle in the air.
‘If you don’t have something, improvise with the next best thing. There’s more than one way to skin a cat.’ Davey wasn’t enlightened enough to be a craftsman as outstanding as Surtr, but he was getting there in his own way. Even though Davey had trained for about a thousand years, he still couldn’t catch up to the accomplishments that one human had achieved in a lifetime; Surtr wasn’t called monstrously talented for nothing.
‘Now that I think about it this way, maybe I wasn’t really that gifted,’ Davey thought, but he soon shook the thought off. He believed that the things he lacked in comparison to Surtr could be improved by doing something else.
He took the shiny swords that were surrounded in a blue flame out of the furnace. Then, he grabbed his hammer and took a deep breath.
* * *
The workshop was quiet aside from the constant sound of hammering. Davey felt like it had been so long since he had used his abilities to make something. Clang!! Clash!! Every time he hit the burning sword, a blue flame rose up and disappeared.
The swords were almost finished, but Davey heated them up in the furnace and hammered them again. If the only available material for the finishing touch was mithril, he was going to just plate a few parts and be done with it. However, his plans all changed because of the family treasures like orichalcum, adamantium, and the dragon bones the dwarves had brought him.
Living things were eventually bound to break and decay over time. However, dragon bones were different; the bones of dragons were the only mana-infused remains of an enormous being. As such, the bones only got stronger with time. It wouldn’t even decay over ten thousand years if there was a sufficient source of mana.
Davey knew that the ancient dragon bones were valuable and rare, but he didn’t expect any to be left in the continent. He squinted at the dragon bones that were placed separately from the other materials. ‘I know how to work with it.’ He smiled as he remembered something from his time at the Hall of Heroes.
[Eh! You puny girl! Give it!]
[Who are you calling a flat-chested puny girl, you jackass?!]
[What’s with you, girl? I didn’t say you are flat-chested!]
[Shut up! I’m going to burn Davey alive!]
[What’s wrong with you, bitch?! Why are you trying to burn a perfectly normal boy?]
Davey didn’t know why he had been punished when Surtr had been the one who teased her…
The Hall of Heroes, the gathering place for the heroes’ souls, was created by the heroes’ minds. It was very similar to paradise in a way; it seemed to be like a reward for the heroes who had worked so hard in their lives. Thanks to that, Surtr had once given Davey dragon bones by borrowing the power of Odin, the God of Mages. Of course, an appropriate amount of effort was needed to create something very high-quality. Since Surtr couldn’t just whip up something like dragon bones, he had pushed and nagged Odin who had experience in materializing a small amount of dragon bones. Davey could still see the image of the little mage sobbing as she handed Surtr the bones.
[That’s it. That’s one of the main materials of the divine sword. It’s difficult to obtain, but you should know how to use it if you ever encountered it, right?]
At that time, Davey was annoyed at how Surtr had been making him use an ancient relic that he didn’t think really existed. But that turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Davey became lost in his blacksmithing as he started to concentrate, and nothing could bother him. Every one of his brain cells was focused on polishing the two swords, and he hammered away and forgot that time even existed.
The swords’ natural color deepened with every hit of Davey’s hammer. As the blue flame scattered away, the blue and red sheen of the swords intensified and brightened.
Clang!! Clang!! The sound was much louder and clearer than the sound of hitting regular metal. It resonated through the workshop, but Davey didn’t plug his ears; he took in the entire sound and sped up the process.
-It’s beautiful…
Even Perserque was infatuated with the shine of the swords. She quietly watched Davey as he worked.
At last, the dark maroon-colored sword absorbed light and transformed into a clear ruby color. The blue sword transformed into a mystical sapphire color that looked like a supernova in the night sky.
And finally, Davey finished building the grip and pommel of the swords, which shone on their own, and began sanding the blades on a sharpening stone. It would have been nice if these swords were the common ones that could be sharpened using a machine, but because of their quality and material, they couldn’t be affected by regular stones.
Thankfully, Davey was able to sharpen and envelop the swords in mana since he had the sharpening stone, another family treasure, that one of the dwarves had given him.
Whoosh… Whoosh!! The two swords vibrated while intensely releasing mana like a newborn baby crying from its birth into the world.
Davey wiped off the sweat from his forehead. The workshop was like a sauna from the heat of the endlessly burning furnace, but he didn’t cast any fire resistance spells and simply endured the heat. This was a risky job that would fail if the temperature was even a little off.
Whoosh… Whoosh!! Running his fingers down the shining red and blue swords, Davey felt that the dull, rough texture had been replaced with smoothness.
“I should give you a name now.” Davey already had names in mind, ever since laying eyes on them for the first time. “You guys are now Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon!”
Whoosh!!!! The swords vibrated like crazy, as if aware of their own existence. It would take time for their ego to awaken, but this was a sign that they had instinctively accepted the name.
-Those are awful names…
Davey could hear Perserque’s tired comment coming from behind him, but he was eager to examine the status of the swords first. ‘[Check Information].’ Since he didn’t have a reason to wait, Davey reached out toward the swords. He didn’t hide his excitement and used Perserque’s authority.
Bleep!!
-Name: Red Ribbon.
-Status: Finishing up.
-Shape: A wide, two-bladed Ring Pommel Sword.
-Length: 88 centimeters.
-Width: 6 centimeters.
-Contractor: Davey O’Rowane.
-Completion Level: 99.9%.
-Details: The first sword of the final work created by the great blacksmith, who had used mana in his crafts, by pouring out all his strength before passing; sword repaired and completed by the student of the great blacksmith to execute his teacher’s final wishes; stats are out of this world; not at 100% completion level because the ego has not woken up; large amounts of elemental and devil mana circulating; has the absolute authority to cut the living; cuts and ignores all physical attacks on the sword; all abilities amplified when held together with twin sword.
Bleep!
-Name: Blue Ribbon.
-Status: Finishing up.
-Shape: A wide, two-bladed Ring Pommel Sword.
-Length: 88 centimeters.
-Width: 6 centimeters.
-Contractor: Davey O’Rowane.
-Completion Level: 99.9%.
-Details: Second sword with stats that are out of this world; second of the twin swords; large amounts of the power of the spirits and holy power circulating; has the authority to cut the dead; cuts everything that does not exist in the physical world; destroys authority of immortality; lethal to demon-type beings; all abilities amplified when held together with the first sword.
“…” Without a word, Davey raised the Red Ribbon and lightly slashed down on a mithril anvil. The swing was light and had no mana on it. However…
‘Slash it.’
This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
Shwing! As soon as Davey wished for it to be cut, the mithril anvil was divided into two without the slightest resistance. The greatest dwarf-made anvil that didn’t even dent when struck multiple times with the Aura Blade had been cut into two by a single swing.
“…”
-…
There was a moment of silence. Then, Davey picked up the Blue Ribbon and slashed the air. Crack! He heard the sound of something being sliced in the air.
“Wow…”
-What kind of sword cuts mana with a swing?!
The Blue Ribbon wasn’t able to cut the anvil as easily as the Red Ribbon, but the mana floating in the path of the Blue Ribbon had stopped flowing and disappeared. It was the sword’s authority to cut things that didn’t exist in the physical world, and since mana was an energy that was part of the law of anti-physics, it had been slashed apart. It seemed like Davey had created something insane.