Tang San took a neatly folded stack of paper from inside his clothes and presented it to Tai Tan with both hands.
Tai Tan casually reached out to take it and unfolded the first drawing.
Yet a single glance was enough to wipe the relaxed expression from his face.
The drawing depicted a complex mechanism filled with multiple springs and miniature slots. Every line was painstakingly detailed, and the dimensions of each mortise-and-tenon joint were marked with extraordinary precision.
Tai Tan's fingers slowed involuntarily as he turned the drawings, and even his booming voice grew quieter.
"This... what sort of device is this mechanism for? I've been forging iron for decades, but I've never seen a design this ingenious!"
Standing beside him, Tai Nuo leaned over for a look and sucked in a breath.
"This thing is far too intricate! Dad, if we used ordinary iron for it, one blow of the hammer would probably ruin it. We'd have to use hundred-forged iron."
Tang San stepped forward and calmly explained,
"These are components for a self-defense device I devised myself. Ordinary blacksmith shops can't achieve this level of precision, which is why I came here specifically to ask for your help."
Tai Tan looked through several pages, his expression growing utterly serious. To a Divine Blacksmith, precision mechanisms like these were what made the craft interesting.
He raised his head and asked Tang San,
"Did you draw all of these yourself?"
Tang San nodded.
"Yes. I drew them all by hand."
After finishing the drawings, Tai Tan laughed.
"The younger generation truly is formidable!"
"These little parts of yours are troublesome, and the catches are terribly fiddly, but as long as they don't require any particularly unusual forging techniques, any few smiths from my Strength Clan could make them for