Master Blacksmith in Demon Slayer

Get close to something like that? Your skin would get burned off, right?

"No! I shouldn't get lost in that feeling! Maybe it was just a random flash of insight? Or some weird sensation from hammering iron ingots all afternoon? Since the prompt appeared, that feeling's already gone. So, if I want to find it again, there's probably only one way!"

He stared at the glowing red iron ingot before him: "Hammer it!"

Hammer it over and over, hammer it with all his might, searching for that thrill through thousands of strikes!

Bang bang bang!

Bang bang bang!

Outside the house, in the forging shed, Tetsu no Sosuke had nearly forgotten everything.

He'd also forgotten about eating later, and about taking a break.

The only thing he remembered was to hammer it!

When the temperature dropped and the impurity removal slowed, he'd send it back into the furnace.

Once the temperature rose again, he'd keep hammering!

The sun set, and he lit a lamp.

When the forge fire dimmed, he worked the bellows.

He didn't know how long passed, but suddenly he found a subtle feeling.

A feeling of forging.

A feeling of crafting something wondrous with his own hands!

He didn't know what this feeling was, but he kept his breathing rhythm steady, kept the rhythm of his Forging Hammer falling.

Impurity -5

Strength +1

Impurity -3

Constitution +1

Impurity -2

Flexibility +1

Impurity -4

Speed +1

The prompts rang in his ears repeatedly, but Tetsu no Sosuke paid them no heed.

He only felt that his strength seemed endless, and this piece of iron seemed to hold endless impurities.

"This won't do. To make it better, I have to work even harder! I have to remove every last impurity to temper you into steel!"

At some point, this resolve and thought surged up in his heart.

The Forging Hammer in his hand seemed to have merged with him, but he didn't notice when his tiger's mouth had split open, blood already dried.

Suddenly, the prompt in his ear changed.

Toughness +1

"Huh?"

Tetsu no Sosuke froze, snapping back from his obsession as intense soreness flooded his entire body.

His stomach burned with hunger, and his head throbbed with ringing.

"Damn... what was I..."

He set down the Forging Hammer, stepped back, but his vision went black and he plopped down onto the ground.

Chapter 3: The Sword's Attributes

"What the hell just happened to me? How did I end up like I'd gone berserk? No madness, no success?"

His head rang with noise. After sitting on the ground and recovering for a while, Tetsu no Sosuke finally got up, feeling weak in the hands and feet, as if his body had been hollowed out.

Yet, looking at the iron on the anvil, an indescribable sense of achievement surfaced in his eyes.

"The impurities are all removed. Tomorrow this sword can take shape. Speaking of which, what was that prompt about?"

He remembered that what had snapped him out of that crazed state was a prompt for Toughness +1.

He vaguely felt that this might be related to the final attributes of the sword after successful forging.

His head ached fiercely. Tetsu no Sosuke shook his head: "Can't keep thinking. I need to eat and rest now. Didn't have dinner, been forging from noon till now—even an iron man couldn't take it."

He turned and stumbled back into the house, found the rice balls he'd made earlier in the cabinet, wolfed them down, and only then felt some strength return to his limbs.

He groped his way to the bed, rolled over without even taking off his clothes, and passed out cold!

Slept straight till dawn!

That night, Tetsu no Sosuke slept like the dead. Just before waking, he had a dream where he was still forging...

He opened his eyes swinging his arm, saw his hand poised as if gripping the Forging Hammer, and twitched his mouth: "Yeah, no wonder I'm a swordsmith."

Waking up, I felt refreshed!

The deep sleep had replenished my depleted stamina and weary spirit. Stepping outside, I took a deep breath of the crisp mountain air, feeling that my mind and body had never been in better shape.

"While in that state yesterday, I vaguely heard prompts about strength +1 and physique +1. So it really was because my physical condition improved?"

There was a stone in the yard, flat and smooth—a natural whetstone for sharpening swords.

It was extremely heavy; hard to estimate exactly how many pounds, but before, Tetsu no Sosuke had used all his strength just to barely lift it.

Now, I walked up to it, wrapped my arms around it, and gave a sudden heave. With a whoosh, the stone lifted off the ground—and Tetsu no Sosuke still had strength to spare!

"So it really did improve!"

With a bit more effort, I raised it above my head and held it there for ten full breaths before finally setting it back down.

"It's improved, but compared to a swordsman, I'm still far behind. Still, I only spent one day forging yesterday and got results like this. If I keep at it—a week, a month, a year—how much stronger could I become?"

A strange excitement stirred within me. Looking at the iron block on the anvil, I felt an urge to try.