Chapter 71 - Chapter 64: Finally, Serious Blacksmithing
“Sorry, Lupi.”
“Woof~”
[Lupi] happily devoured two rabbits' worth of meat and [Lexon], then rubbed her head against my knee, indicating she wasn’t upset anymore.
And then there was one more.
“That’s good, Lupi-chan.”
“Woof!”
[Lupi] had forgiven me, so [Mion]’s mood had also improved, a great relief.
“Alright then…”
In the [Ancient Ruins]’ blacksmithing room, there were 19 finished iron ingots.
I’d decided to make a pickaxe head first, but then I changed my mind.
“I’m going to make it a bit smaller than the big one I talked about before.”
“Smaller?”
“Yeah, um… about this size?”
I picked up a hammer, showing it to her.
I had looked up images of 'pickaxes' for reference and found pictures of one-handed ones.
“Since I could dig with just a knife and hammer, I figured I don’t need a proper two-handed pickaxe from the start.”
“I see.”
“Plus, this is probably my first time, so it’ll probably turn out badly.”
I’d tackle large items once my [Blacksmithing Skill] reached level 5. For now, a pickaxe, a hand axe, and maybe three chisels of different sizes.
Oh, I should fill the water tub first.
“Woof?”
“Don’t drink this water, okay? Also, it’s going to get noisy and the room might get hot, so you can go back to your bed, [Lupi].”
I worried about sparks flying and her getting burned, but [Lupi] is smart, so she’d probably be fine.
“Oh, [Mion], the game sounds might get loud, so feel free to turn down the volume.”
“Understood.”
I probably wouldn’t be able to chat much while I was banging away at the forge.
I had a feeling viewers might get bored, but there was no helping it.
After filling the tub with water using [Elemental Magic]’s [Purification], I put on a heat-resistant apron and gloves and channeled [MP] into the [Ancient Magic Hearth]. It probably drained about 30 [MP].
“Whoa, amazing. And hot!”
“Is the ventilation okay?”
“Ah, right. Yeah, it looks like that thing is exhausting the heat.”
The heat was being sucked into a duct I looked up at.
I had left the cave door open for fresh air, so it should be fine.
“Alright, let’s do this…”
…
…
…
[Your Blacksmithing Skill has leveled up!]
“Ugh, it’s tough! It’s hot! Break time!”
I gave up after making the head of the pickaxe, a hand axe, and the blade of a large [Chisel].
I thought I had a fair amount of [VIT], but maybe it was because I wasn’t used to blacksmithing itself. The heat was harder to bear than the arm fatigue…
“Good work. It was really fun to watch.”
“Really? I was worried it might be pretty boring.”
“It was amazing to see how the iron block took shape every time Shou-kun hammered it!”
I thought so too, but that’s probably unique to games. In real life, it would take several hours, or even half a day, wouldn’t it?
“Now I just need to attach handles to complete them.”
“Are the handles from the clubs the goblins dropped?”
“Yeah. I just need to modify them a bit, and they should be fine.”
Oh, I left those in the cave’s main hall. I’d have to go back for them.
Maybe it’s better to do non-blacksmithing tasks here too, to focus?
“Woof.”
“Hm? What’s up?”
As soon as we exited the [Ancient Ruins], [Lupi] started sniffing something… Ah!
“What is it?”
“Oh, yeah, this.”
What I picked up was a [Magic Stone] I had placed for testing. But now it was…
[Magic Crystal Stone (Tiny)]
*“A [Magic Stone] from which a monster’s mana has been removed.
[Elemental Magic]: Can store [MP]. [Spirit Magic]: Becomes a dwelling for spirits.”*
I see.
“Eh? Is that…?”
“Ah, yeah, while [Mion] was doing her research…”
I explained how I thought the [Ancient Ruins] might be involved, so I placed [Magic Stones] near the entrance, far away, and in the middle.
“So that’s what happened.”
When I checked the one placed in the middle, it still seemed to be a [Magic Stone].
“Guess it really is the [Ancient Ruins]’ mysterious power turning them into [Magic Crystal Stones].”
“Shou-kun, the club activity is almost over while you’re researching. Shall we log out?”
“Oh, is it that late already? I’ll ask Bell-san after we log out.”
“Yes. But before that, you have to report about [Spirit Magic], don’t you?”
…
I called [Lupi] and flopped onto the bed.
This bed was still hard; I really needed to put something on it…
*
“So, you acquired [Spirit Magic]?”
“Yes.”
“Sigh…”
Did she really need to sigh that loudly?
“Besides Shou-kun, has anyone else acquired [Spirit Magic] on their own?”
“Well. Since there’s been an increase in new [Elf] players, I’ve seen [Spirit Magic] itself, and since they start with a [Spirit Stone], I’ve seen those too.”
Apparently, [Elf] characters don't get the 'Beginner's Ring' that humans get as initial equipment; instead, they have a 'Spirit Stone Pendant.'
By the way, the reason [Elemental Magic] can be acquired so quickly is because spells like
“But the [Appraisal] result for the [Spirit Stone] said, ‘A [Magic Crystal Stone] inhabited by a spirit,’ right? Is it difficult to obtain [Magic Crystal Stones]?”
“No, you can get them. You just need to cast [Holy Magic]’s
I thought it was a pretty big discovery, but it was already common knowledge.
Well, since I haven't acquired [Holy Magic] myself, it's still useful for me.
“Um, so, you mean you don’t see any spirits around?”
“That’s right. More precisely, ‘I haven’t seen any free spirits that haven’t made a contract with anyone.’”
“Hmm, maybe it’s because it’s easy for them to live on the island with just me?”
There shouldn't be anyone else besides me, and it's definitely a place overflowing with nature.
“But if that were the case, the people currently developing new lands would also have encountered them.”
“Right?” Bell-san sighed, and [Yata-sensei], who was reviewing the archive of the earlier video, pointed something out.
“It’s probably this [Luminous Moss], isn’t it? If there’s something glowing in a dark place, wouldn’t light spirits naturally gravitate towards it?”
“Yes, I believe that’s likely.”
“So, they just settled in a [Magic Crystal Stone] that happened to be nearby?”
“That seems natural, doesn’t it?”
It would be great if we could actually observe a light spirit gravitating toward the [Luminous Moss] and then settling into a nearby [Magic Crystal Stone], but that might be a bit much…
“Can I mention this at today’s meeting?”
“Sure. In fact, I’ve got a lot of other things to do, so I’d rather leave it to you.”
“President, I’ve updated the amazing list.”
Please stop with the amazing list.
It’s incredibly embarrassing…