Master Blacksmith in Demon Slayer

But this way, the time for removing impurities had already been greatly shortened due to the Gale Sun Hammer, and using the Heavenly Crafting Hammer shortened it even further.

For sword forging, that might be a good thing.

The problem, however, was that it wasn't beneficial for enhancing the Sunblaze attribute.

He thought for a moment, set the Heavenly Crafting Hammer aside, and picked up an ordinary forging hammer.

After a round of hammering, Tetsu no Sosuke placed the gradually cooling Iron Material back into the furnace.

Then he wrote a... 2 on the paper!

"The Sunblaze attribute growth shrank?"

Tetsu no Sosuke tapped his forehead lightly with the pen: "Hmm, my control is a bit lacking. I've been out of practice lately and need to find my rhythm. But the Heavenly Crafting Hammer can still trigger up to five Sunblaze attribute boosts in this state... If I calculate based on that logic, I can probably understand the Heavenly Crafting Hammer's function."

"It enhances impurity removal efficiency while increasing the critical hit rate of the Sunblaze attribute. Alright, once it reaches the preset temperature, I'll try once with the ordinary hammer to adjust my state, and then try once with the Heavenly Crafting Hammer in the same state. That should confirm the answer."

Chapter 33: Balanced Attributes

The experiment was a success.

In the same state, the ordinary forging hammer could trigger the Sunblaze attribute three times.

But the Heavenly Crafting Hammer could increase it to five.

Once he confirmed this, Tetsu no Sosuke didn't hesitate. He kept using the Heavenly Crafting Hammer and threw himself into the work wholeheartedly.

His mind and will gradually focused to a single point. In his eyes, aside from the furnace temperature, the Iron Material's temperature, and the hammer in his hand, there were only the numerical records.

Hammer blow after hammer blow, impurities were removed, and the Sunblaze critical hits followed.

The critical hit frequency fluctuated up and down.

But as his state stabilized, the lower limit held at 5, and the upper limit reached 10!

He remembered that when he forged that Nichirin Blade for Kanae, the upper limit was only eight times at most. The gap was clear at a glance.

What surprised Tetsu no Sosuke in the end was that, although the impurity removal process was shortened, it only saved about one smelting and three hammering sessions.

The Sunblaze attribute gained through the Heavenly Crafting Hammer during this time fully compensated for the loss.

It couldn't surpass, but it was almost balanced.

"So, in the end, it only saves my time?"

He glanced at the records on the paper beside him, calculated the various numbers, and got a final figure—76!

"76 points of Sunblaze attribute?"

He muttered to himself, then considered the values added during shaping later and nodded silently. Adding them together, the total should fluctuate around a hundred, right?

What he could confirm was that Kanae's Nichirin Blade had a lower attribute, but not by much.

Without hesitation, he put the Iron Material back into the furnace, observed it closely, and directly began the next stage of forging.

After the Gale Sun, he needed to slow down.

He could now easily master this technique. With every fall of the Heavenly Crafting Hammer, the Iron Material underwent a massive transformation.

"The second function of the Heavenly Crafting Hammer is to improve shaping efficiency? And it can also enhance toughness?"

His eyes lit up. Tetsu no Sosuke's hammer fell again and again, maintaining the Breath of the Sun state, which made his face flush and his body temperature rise.

And this process, amplified by the Heavenly Crafting Hammer, shortened the time once more.

These two steps, which should have been extremely time-consuming, were completely finished just after noon.

At the same time, the Sunblaze attribute gained per session increased... So, it was probably still in a balanced state.

Tetsu no Sosuke recorded on the paper all the Sunblaze attributes the blade had accumulated so far.

"91 points in total."

He stared at the data, frowning: "This definitely isn't the limit..."

For one thing, if he could trigger the Sunblaze attribute ten times every time during impurity removal, the accumulated Sunblaze attribute by now would have exceeded the current value.

"So, what needs to improve isn't the tool, but me."

Tetsu no Sosuke sighed and placed the initially completed blade into the furnace.

He stood up to stretch and felt two gazes fixed on him.

Startled, he turned and saw Kochou Kanae and Shinobu Kocho standing outside the Sword Forging Shed, watching him.

Shinobu was holding a tray with food on it.

"...Uh."

Tetsu no Sosuke blinked: "How long have you been here?"

"Finally awake?" Shinobu twisted her face: "We've been standing here watching for a whole morning. How annoying, and my sister even specially prepared lunch for you."

Tetsu no Sosuke slapped his forehead: "Sorry, I didn't notice at all."

"Focusing fully on one thing does make you overlook your surroundings." Kochou Kanae nodded in agreement: "So, you don't need to apologize at all. Now, can we eat?"

"Just a moment," Tetsu no Sosuke said. "Temperature is critical—I need to keep an eye on it. It'll be done soon."

Kochou Kanae nodded and led Shinobu Kocho to sit on the veranda by the entrance.

They had indeed been watching all morning. An entire morning spent standing there, observing Tetsu no Sosuke at work.

That oblivious busyness—a state of complete immersion in his craft, losing all awareness of the outside world.

Such focus that even Shinobu Kocho felt reluctant to interrupt.

Whatever one thought of Tetsu no Sosuke as a person, as a swordsmith, his concentration commanded respect.

After a while, the bare-armed young man walked over.

"Completely lost track of lunch."

Tetsu no Sosuke gave an embarrassed smile. "I'm sorry to trouble you with bringing it to me."

"It's no trouble." Kochou Kanae's gaze softened as she looked at him. "You haven't rested for even a moment all morning. Eat first, then get some proper rest. If you still have energy this afternoon, come find me. If you're too exhausted, tomorrow is fine too. I shouldn't have any missions for the next few days."