02. A visitor from the future (12)

Time has passed and the school vacation has arrived.

I said goodbye to Yoon Seo-hee, who said that I wouldn’t be able to get in touch for a while, and exchanged contact information with Lee Byung-jun.

And today, the first day of vacation.

Beep Beep Beep-

I woke up to the pre-set alarm on my smartphone.

When I checked the time, it was 2:40 in the morning.

I woke up exactly at the time I set before going to bed.

“Ugh!”

Perhaps it’s because I got enough sleep, and after stretching while relaxing my stiff body, my hair is perfectly fine.

The morning air was very cool when I opened the window and let in the fresh air.

‘Shall we start soon?’

I carefully opened the door and came out so that my grandfather would not wake up.

Considering what I’m going to do from now on, I can’t even make noise like this, and I’ve asked for your understanding in advance, but I’m always sorry for my grandfather.

I quietly went down to the studio and closed the door.

Today is the first day of making a three-person sword.

When I checked my watch, it was exactly one minute before 3:00 AM.

In order to make a traditional four-person sword or three-person sword, the time to make it must not be at any time.

All the time from forging to polishing and quenching must be done between 3:00 am and 5:00 am, which is man-hour, and the final completion time must meet the man-hour on August 17th.

That was the reason I left the academy’s smelting workshop and used the one at home.

There’s no way the academy will open its doors early in the morning, even during vacation.

“It’s hard, it’s hard.”

The production process is not smooth every time, like the gold orchid and the three-person sword.

Anyway, I’m glad I got the ingredients easily this time.

I confirmed that the clock was pointing at exactly 3:00 in the morning, and took out the materials I had received from the academy to make a three-person sword.

The shiny black surface looks like sprinkled with sugar and looks like a cluster of stars shining in the night sky.

Star ore.

In other words, this mineral, called stellar nights, is not a material that exists on Earth.

The Elvenheim Tower in the center of Seoul, which the Suseong Guild conquered for the first time in mankind.

The meteorite that rarely falls in the field on the 2nd floor of this tower is a star ore.

The Starlight Stone was named because it fell from the sky and its surface shimmered like starlight.

Befitting its intuitive name, this mineral has excellent performance when crafting items related to the stars.

Of course, this does not mean that it is used when making knives. It means that it is a mineral mainly used by wizards.

Should I use such an expensive material on a knife because I am crazy?

But that madman is me…. hahahaha.

I can still vividly remember Teacher Yu-rim’s gaze, wondering what he was doing when I first asked for Seong Kwang-seok.

Not too much. Although star ore is a mineral, it is actually more like a gem than iron.

I would have wondered what the hell he was trying to do from the point of view of a teacher who would have to give away expensive star ore to say that he would use it for making swords, not for craftsmanship.

“Mmm.”

Actually, it’s not without problems.

I opened the bag containing the holy ore.

The grains are as small as a handful. The size of one grain is smaller than my little fingernail.

To be honest, this isn’t a star ore, it’s a star ore.

Well, I understand. Due to the nature of the material that can only be obtained from the tower, the larger the size, the more the price soars to the ceiling.

No matter how much it is an academy, what a first year student can receive is not meteorites, but meteorite crumbs.

It’s difficult to process these small pieces, but it’s too early to give up.

There is a way to make a sword with just scraps.

I carefully applied correction fluid to a 15×15 metal container with a brush and filled it with star ore pellets from the bottom. After that, the broken signature sword was cut into smaller pieces and piled up layer by layer from the bottom.

Then, pour the 2nd grade magic steel powder into the metal container to fill the empty space between the grains and the iron fragments.

I was very careful not to let even a single piece of powder fall out of the metal container. It was because the magic steel powder was also incredibly expensive.

High-quality magic concentration that dare not even compare with iron sand powder. This wasn’t supported by the academy, but my grandfather bought it, so I couldn’t waste a single drop.

After filling the metal container with all the ingredients, heat a thin metal plate and place it on top of it, then beat it with a small hammer.

There is no welding machine in this studio, so the metal canister was sealed by covering it with a heated iron plate like a roof. If there were any gaps in the box, oxygen could enter through them, so I had to work carefully.

I lit a fire in the furnace and pulled the bellows with all my might.

Push Si-

Oxygen flows into the furnace and the flame gets hotter. As the firepower rose, the heat in the workshop intensified.

Sitting in front of a fireplace in the basement without an air conditioner in midsummer is the perfect environment for dying from heatstroke.

I would have done that if I hadn’t had the Heat Resistance skill.

As if it was worthwhile to be close to fire since I was a child, when I awoke, I acquired the heat resistance skill at the same time as the analysis.

It’s not a unique skill like analysis, but it’s a very useful skill that allows me to survive in front of fire for a long time as a swordsmith.

Of course, it’s not that it’s not hot. It’s just that I can somehow hold on even in this steamer.

I grabbed the metal canister with tongs and put it into the furnace.

Fire-!

Oxygen is injected into the bellows without stopping until the metal melts and becomes soft.

“Whoop, whoop.”

No matter how hot it gets, it won’t melt. Unless you put sandcastle powder into a blast furnace, as it did when cast iron, the workshop’s old-fashioned furnace will not reach the melting point of iron at 1,500 degrees.

I tossed it back and forth in the coals to distribute the heat evenly, and soon the metal canister was heated to a reddish-orange color.

Wait a little longer. Only the surface is heated, but the inside may still be cold.

“… ….”

Looking into the furnace with open eyes, my intuition exclaimed, “Now is the time.”

I took out a metal canister that had been heated to just the right temperature and placed it on top of the anvil. Wait until it cools down naturally.

Place a chisel on the joint of the moderately cooled metal tub and hit it hard with a hammer.

“Suck!”

Twoong-! Tuong-!

With the sound of a hammer hitting soft iron, the metal barrel’s surface slowly peels off.

Then, voila, the star ore grains and the signature sword fragments were firmly attached to the metal barrel, forming a single lump of metal.

“Whoa.”

This is easy to say, but it is by no means simple.

Since the melting points of minerals are different, if the temperature is too low, the metals will not stick properly, and if the temperature is too high, one of them can burn out.

If the metal container is not properly sealed, oxygen may enter the inside and become iron oxide. If the correction fluid that forms a film between the metal container and the metal inside is applied too little or hardened, the metal container cannot be peeled off properly.

Of course, even if this step is completed, it is still only a step where metals of different hardness are attached together. You cannot make a sword with this.

‘Then the next task….’

Beep beep beep!

The alarm sound of my smartphone awakened my immersed mind. It was the alarm for 5:00 in the morning.

It’s been two hours already?

I put the consolidated minerals back on the anvil.

Is this the end of today’s work?

I thought as I wiped my sweat-soaked face.

I haven’t even started forging yet, but today’s work has already been completed.

With only two hours of work a day, about three weeks left until the end of the day.

Can you finish it within the deadline?

I turned off the fire in the furnace and cleaned up the messy workshop.

–

The super high-rise skyscraper located closest to the academy, Shin Seoul Hyperion Tower.

Even if it is difficult to see Shinseoul at a glance, it is a high view from which you can see the whole area of the academy.

The roof of the tower is off-limits to the general public, but unlike usual, today I felt the presence of two people who don’t fit in such a place.

Two girls in academy uniforms.

They were overlooking the splendid night view of the city.

No, only one to be precise.

“Yoon Seo-hee, what are you doing there?”

The girl whose name was called stood as far away from the railing as possible and shouted in a trembling voice.

“You are too tall!”

“You wouldn’t be able to see anything if you were there.”

“Why did you ask to meet on a rooftop like this!”

Hui Ying-Yoon Seo-hee catches her hair and skirt as the wind blows wildly.

Meanwhile, Baek Ji-su, wearing a white cloak that covers her body as if anticipating this situation, still looks at the city center while arranging her hair with an expressionless face.

“Because this place has the best view.”

Baek Ji-soo’s eyes were shining softly with the same white color as her magic color.

Skill 「Clairvoyance」. A skill that allows you to see a faraway place as if you were looking at it right in front of you, no matter how far away you are, as long as you can see it.

It is not something anyone can write, and it is one of the visions passed down only through Baek Ji-soo’s teacher and their clan.

“Only you will be able to see!”

Yoon Seo-hee is also an Awakener, so if she concentrates her eyesight, she will be able to see it to some extent even at this height, but even so, she is not as good as Baek Ji-soo, who uses clairvoyance.

I straightened my trembling breath and stood upright. With her back straight, she can see the night view of the city even better.

“Ah….”

It’s not that she’s afraid of heights. Anyone on a rooftop 300m above the ground, without any safety devices, would feel the fear of being blown by the wind all over their body.

On the contrary, Baek Ji-soo, who still maintains an expressionless expression in this situation, was unusual.

Looking at

, Yoon Seo-hee approached the railing with a calm expression, as if she had gotten used to it a little. Looking back, she is a dizzying height, but she struggles to endure her fear.

When I think of what I’m going to do from now on, this level of fear was nothing.

“Then, shall we begin?”

To Baek Ji-soo’s calm question, Yoon Seo-hee took a deep breath and answered.

“… Okay, let’s go.”