Chapter 210 — Forging a Sword
The place before them was precisely where the blacksmiths of the Swordsmith Village forged Nichirin Swords.
Under the sunlight, a group of swordsmiths were diligently forging the Nichirin Swords assigned to them.
Most swordsmiths usually completed their Nichirin Swords independently.
However, some were unable to finish the work alone, so several swordsmiths also chose to work together.
The forging area was simple and unadorned, but it was filled with activity, creating a lively and industrious atmosphere.
The village chief turned toward the group.
"Everyone, Kanamori's forge is just ahead."
This was directed at Ren.
It meant that Ren should go to Kanamori's forge to make his Nichirin Sword.
Meanwhile, Shinobu and Kanao were assigned rooms of their own.
The village chief smiled.
"Dragon Hashira can complete his work in Kanamori's forge. If there's anything he doesn't understand during the process, he can ask Kanamori for advice."
Kanamori patted his chest and assured him,
"Don't worry, Chief. With me here, Lord Dragon Hashira will definitely be able to forge a Nichirin Sword today!"
The village chief nodded.
He trusted Kanamori's abilities.
After a brief conversation with Ren, he left.
Once the village chief had departed, Kanamori led Ren to his forge.
Then he began introducing everything to Ren in painstaking detail.
"Dragon Hashira, look. This is our forge. All the materials are kept here. If you need anything, just tell me."
"If you get tired, we have a natural hot spring here. You can soak in it and relax."
"If..."
Before Kanamori could finish, he saw Ren walking toward his forge.
"Wait, Dragon Hashira..."
The words had already left his mouth, but Kanamori immediately stopped himself.
After all, a blacksmith was not supposed to be disturbed while forging a sword.
So Kanamori chose to observe.
He planned to watch Ren's technique first before offering any opinion.
What if he really knows what he's doing?
If Kanamori spoke too soon, he'd only make himself look foolish.
Thus, under Kanamori's watchful gaze, Ren finally took the first step.
The first step:
He gripped the hammer.
It was only a tiny movement.
Yet the instant he saw it, Kanamori's eyes lit up.
Professional!
Absolutely professional!
As the saying went, an expert's very first move could reveal everything.
That single subtle movement was enough for Kanamori to immediately judge Ren's experience.
Clean.
Decisive.
Efficient.
Without the slightest hesitation.
As Ren raised the hammer, he tossed the red ore beside him onto the workbench.
These were ores Kanamori had received several days earlier.
Nichirin Swords were forged from this very type of ore.
The raw materials for Nichirin Swords were iron sand and ore found on Sunlight Mountain, the mountain closest to the sun.
These ores possessed the ability to absorb sunlight.
And since demons feared sunlight above all else, Nichirin Swords could become weapons capable of slaying them.
The primary materials used to forge Nichirin Swords were Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand and Scarlet Crimson Ore.
The color of the blade changed according to its wielder, and some blades could even change color during battle.
This miraculous property made these ores the most sought-after materials in the entire Swordsmith Village!
After receiving the ore, Ren raised his small hand.
Then a series of metallic clangs rang out!
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of metal striking metal continued without pause, growing faster and faster.
Ren also entered a profound, mysterious state.
[Time Domain activated!]
[A transparent world unfolds before your eyes!]
[Your perception of the passage of time around you has increased!]
[Your concentration has increased!]
[Your reaction speed has increased!]
[Your patience has increased!]
[Your learning ability has increased!]
[...]
His creativity was being pushed to its absolute limit.
Combined with Ren's own advanced forging techniques, his speed of creation was simply astonishing!
"So fast!"
Kanamori, standing nearby, nearly bulged his eyes out of their sockets.
Ren was simply too fast!
Kanamori had originally intended to test Ren's abilities.
But all he saw was Ren raising his hammer.
Then he couldn't see anything else...
Ren's movements had become so fast that they looked like afterimages!
Kanamori couldn't see a thing.
In truth, it wasn't Kanamori's fault.
Within the Time Domain, the passage of time around Ren was relatively slower.
Therefore, from an observer's perspective, Ren's movements appeared to accelerate dramatically in relative terms.
This was the result of maximizing his perception and reaction speed.
It gave Ren more time to react.
[You are forging a Nichirin Sword. You continue hammering the Nichirin Sword. Your forging experience has increased!]
Ren's eyes were clear.
His gaze was fixed solely on the Nichirin Sword before him.
The process of forging the blade was gradually etched deeply into his mind.
He remembered that forging mainly consisted of the following steps.
First, removing impurities.
Impurities such as sulfur had to be removed from the forging material to ensure its purity and uniformity.
The method was to control the carbon ratio.
By adjusting the carbon content, the hardness and toughness of the forging material could be brought to an optimal balance.
Too much carbon would make the material brittle, while too little would leave the material lacking in hardness.
Therefore, Ren needed to repeatedly quench and hammer the ore, achieving the delicate balance of carbon content within it.
This step was extremely difficult.
It was a tremendous test of a blacksmith's control.
But none of this posed a problem for Ren.
His observational ability had already reached an extreme level.
He had an almost limitless margin for error.
Because Ren always simulated before he acted.
From the very beginning, he had already refined this piece of ore countless times in his mind.
Now, he was merely reproducing the optimal version in reality.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang—
Clang, clang, clang, clang—
Very soon, Ren stopped hammering.
Kanamori's eyes finally managed to follow some of his movements.
He immediately rushed closer, wanting to observe Ren's work more carefully.
After all, he had promised the village chief that he would make sure Lord Dragon Hashira forged a Nichirin Sword.
If Ren failed to forge one because of some oversight, that would be a serious problem.
While Kanamori watched Ren closely, Ren took the forged piece of iron and immediately began quenching it.
Quenching:
Through the quenching process, the molecular structure of the forging material was altered, thereby increasing its hardness and toughness.
The reason this step was completed so quickly was mainly because Ren had repeated it so many times.
Next:
Multi-layer forging.
A multi-layer forging technique, similar to Damascus forging, was used to obtain better blade performance.
Alloy properties:
By adding other metals, the alloy properties of the forging material could be improved, further optimizing the performance of the blade.
Ren's movements were swift.
He had already begun applying the multi-layer forging technique.