kscans

Chapter 54 - How This Iron Was Forged

He had gotten used to casting multiple spells in parallel, something most people could never get used to, but even for Yuri, simultaneously casting five spells was an impossible task. He did try it anyway, but just as he expected, he failed to control his magic power.

"...Well, I'm doing this outdoors anyway, so natural diffusion should be enough for ventilation…"

With that judgment, he decided to omit Wind Magic, but that still left four spells to cast simultaneously. After a great deal of painstaking effort to control his magic, he somehow succeeded in smelting iron.

"...Is it... done?"

It was his first time smelting iron. He couldn't tell if the result was properly "iron." So he immediately used Appraisal on it and the result confirmed that it was indeed iron. However, since there was no process to absorb carbon during smelting, what he had created was a low carbon content iron, so called Wrought Iron.

"Let’s see… lower furnace temperatures produce Wrought Iron with low carbon content… Since iron with lower carbon content has a higher melting point, I get solid state reduced iron like this… It's malleable but has low hardness… so it's not suitable for blades, huh…"

To process this Wrought Iron into what is known as steel, a carbon source like charcoal or coke would be necessary. With Alchemy, he could directly combine it with carbon to make steel, but unfortunately, Yuri did not have Alchemy… Dejectedly, Yuri checked his status, only for his eyes to widen in shock.

"Alchemy has been unlocked…?"

The Alchemy (Basic) skill, which had been grayed out just moments before, was now displayed normally. …No, that wasn't quite right. The characters for "Alchemy" were certainly displayed properly, but what was there was not Alchemy (Basic) but…

"What the heck is Alchemy (Strange) Apprentice?"

It seemed that because he had achieved a creative reduction reaction by recklessly using various magics without following the proper learning process, the skill had been partially unlocked in this form. The word "Apprentice" instead of "Basic" was apparently proof of this. When Yuri checked, being an apprentice, it seemed he could only use oxidation and reduction. The crucial reaction of adding carbon to iron was not possible.

"Still, being able to handle the troublesome reduction process with alchemy makes things easier, but…"

He still had no clear plan for what to do with the Wrought Iron he had made.

"...As it is, I could probably use it for pots and pans… no, wait."

Could he not shape and harden it in the same way he made Magic Stone Tools? He tried it, and while he could shape it, he found that hardening it required a considerable amount of magic power. So much, honestly, that he didn't want to do it.

"In that case… I can’t think of anything other than the orthodox method of forging…"

If he heated it in a furnace burning charcoal, like a blacksmith, he could probably manage the carburizing process. And if he also played at being a blacksmith with a hammer and tongs, he might even unlock the smithing skill. It seemed that in this world, or at least in Yuri's case, he had to make something by hand at least once for a skill to be unlocked, at least in its proper form.

"The thing is… there’s no guarantee that I’ll successfully unlock Smithing (Basic) that way. If I mess up, I could end up wasting the Wrought Iron I worked so hard to make…"

Unfortunately, while the Rural Life Guide had a rough explanation of smithing work, it didn't include detailed procedures. The finer details of smithing seemed to be something that would only be displayed once he unlocked Smithing (Basic). This meant that unless he acquired smithing knowledge through some means other than the skill…

"Yep. I have no choice but to leave it for a while. Earth Magic is good enough for shaping it into pots and pans, and for now, Magic Stone Tools are working fine for blades."

Even so, Yuri decided to secure a stock of Wrought Iron as a raw material, just in case.