Breath of the Sun

"So forging a sword ultimately means finding a balance between these four attributes?"

He gazed at the nearly formed sword in his hands, his mind brimming with thoughts. While it was still at just the right temperature, he brought down the last few hammer blows, completing the shaping of the blade.

Tetsu no Sosuke carefully placed the blade in the furnace.

"Heat the blade to the right temperature, then take it out and let it cool naturally. After that comes sharpening the edge."

Tetsu no Sosuke wore an intensely focused expression. Even with the progress bar to help him, he dared not be careless.

How a finished blade performed depended entirely on the care and techniques the swordsmith put into forging it.

Every step he took now determined this blade's future.

"Although you're destined never to become a Nichirin Blade, since you're made from ordinary iron ingots, you're the first sword I've ever forged. That makes you very special to me!"

Chapter 4: Breath of the Sun

Sunlight filled the mountain ravine. Insects chirped and birds sang in the woods along one side, while the gentle burble of the stream soothed the mind.

Tetsu no Sosuke was sharpening the blade.

The entire annealing process had taken a full day.

During that time, apart from waiting, Tetsu no Sosuke had forged the sword's other components.

The guard, the hilt, and so on...

Now, seated before the whetstone, Tetsu no Sosuke was suffering and enjoying himself in equal measure.

Sharpening a blade was a repetitive process that demanded concentration. After annealing, the blade was very soft, and a single careless mistake could undo all his hard work.

The process therefore required intense focus.

Meanwhile, the constant grinding meant repeating the same motions over and over. Together, the two put the swordsmith through an ordeal no less grueling than that of the sword being ground.

That was the painful part... as for the pleasure...

[Sharpness +1]

[Constitution +1]

[Sharpness +1]

[Strength +1]

Unlike the earlier shaping process, almost every pass of the whetstone now added a point of sharpness to the blade.

It also gave him a point in a random attribute.

Simply hearing those sounds felt like listening to heavenly music to Tetsu no Sosuke. By comparison, neither the burbling stream nearby nor the birdsong and fragrant flowers in the woods could take their place.

His only regret was that such focused, meticulous, flawless sharpening could not last very long.

Before long, the blade had been fully sharpened.

The next steps were heating and quenching to increase its hardness. Once everything was ready, he would temper it once or several times.

During this process, Tetsu no Sosuke coated every part except the cutting edge in clay, then placed the blade in the furnace.