What the beneficiaries gained far exceeded what Tetsu no Sosuke himself had lost.
That was enough.
The next day, Tetsu no Sosuke's life returned to its usual routine.
The sorting of stones continued. Demon Hunters always came across all sorts of strange stones, and their sources were just as varied. Some were found in dried-up wells, some were picked up in the mountains, and others were being used as tools until a Demon Hunter sneaked in under cover of darkness and stole them...
They came from all sorts of places, but useful ones were hard to come by.
Tetsu no Sosuke had not found a single truly useful stone over the past few days. Clearly, these things could only be found by chance, not sought out at will.
Then there was the matter of the "gold stone."
This kind of stone was very easy to inlay.
The initial preparation was simple, and the actual inlaying was even simpler. But after succeeding, Tetsu no Sosuke discovered that the stone had fairly limited uses.
It seemed to have two uses. The first had been verified: it could make weapons sturdier.
The second had yet to be verified. Tetsu no Sosuke merely had a vague sense that this gold stone seemed to have some effect on the wielder as well.
But he had not yet thought of a suitable way to test exactly what that effect was.
In addition, this stone did not conflict with the other stones.
Both flame stones and water stones could blend very harmoniously with gold stones.
Flame stones and water stones, however, could not. Once combined, they produced all sorts of mishaps.
They either exploded or began releasing enormous clouds of mist. In short, there was simply no way for the two to coexist peacefully.
Tetsu no Sosuke