Chapter 40: 39. God Is Calling Me
1.
Besides.
"……."
Thump, thump.
My heart gave a small leap.
Now then, what was a bell?
In the end, it was metal.
"My first smelting."
It was time to begin.
I took the raw mineral ores Dolores had brought me some time ago into my hands.
What I needed now was an ingot in excellent condition.
Not something vaguely scavenged for industrial use, but a genuinely high-quality ingot that I had made myself.
I raised one ore before my eyes.
─────────────────
[Red Iron Ore][☆☆☆☆☆]
[Purity][44 / 100]
[Impurities: Silica, Sulfur]
─────────────────
The general purity of the ores Dolores had brought was excellent.
According to the textbook, you normally needed to know a mine’s reputation to judge the original purity of its ore.
That mine produced ore of this purity, while another produced ore of that purity.
Fortunately, I could skip that inconvenient process.
And among them—
─────────────────
[Red Iron Ore][★☆☆☆☆]
[Purity][78 / 100]
[Impurities: Silica, Sulfur]
─────────────────
My hand stopped.
Find the secret key.
I had found the ore.
This was remarkably good—good enough that I could almost believe it had already gone through a round of refining.
Nature had practically done half the work for me.
Holding the ore, I rolled it across the table.
Rrrk.
It was heavy.
Good.
I picked up the tongs.
"Let’s melt it down."
I tossed an ignition stone into the furnace and stoked the fire.
Whoosh!
Flames rose in the furnace.
Red light crawled up the walls.
Without realizing it, I curled my lips into a smile.
My first smelting.
Once the fire had properly settled in, I pushed the ore inside.
And heated it.
When the flames began to weaken a little…
Creeeak. Squeak!
"Argh!"
I pumped the pedal from the middle of the day onward, forcing air into the fire.
Ah, I’d oiled the thing, but it still wasn’t easy.
Squeak! Squeak!
Pshhh! Pshhh!
Since I was short, I couldn’t put enough weight into it, and because I couldn’t put weight into it, I had to press down with my whole body.
Beads of sweat formed on my forehead. One drop ran down my temple and fell from the tip of my chin.
I undid the buttons at my chest and pulled up my shirt.
That was better.
I was dying here.
How long had it been?
The ore in the furnace began to lose its shape slightly.
And now.
Tap.
I grabbed a handful of charcoal and threw it in.
Ore wasn’t metal to begin with. It was something with oxygen clinging to the metal.
The charcoal had to steal away that oxygen for the metal to remain.
Then—
The red turned orange, and the orange turned white.
More precisely… when it began giving off a dazzling radiance.
Something whitish floated atop the glowing ore. Skimming that off was how you removed impurities.
Once I had skimmed every last impurity away, it was time.
Swoosh.
I slid in the tongs and pulled out the blazing mass.
Sizzle!
Surprisingly, the ore heated to its limit sizzled the instant it touched the relatively cool air.
Right away.
If I started thinking after taking it out, it would be too late.
I’d already done all my thinking.
Two cooling vats sat side by side beside the furnace.
One held water, and the other oil.
Last time, I had used water.
But ordinarily, cooling ore with water was reckless.
It cooled too abruptly, causing the mineral to crack in an instant.
But what had I wanted last time?
Thermal shock exfoliation.
Back then, I needed the shock to peel the shell off the flame ore.
Now, there was no need for that.
We needed to cool it relatively slowly… which made oil suitable.
Oil conducted heat more slowly, allowing it to cool gradually.
So the outside and inside could cool at the same speed, without too much mismatch.
I moved the tongs toward the oil.
Then I pushed the white-hot ore into it.
Splash.
Bubble, bubble.
There was no violent sizzling sound like when it went into water.
Instead—
Whoosh!
"Fuck?!"
Flames suddenly spread across the surface of the oil.
The oil couldn’t withstand the heat and began burning on its own.
Black smoke rose toward the workshop ceiling and filled it.
Okay, that startled me—a lot, actually… but this was normal.
Water was obnoxious with its noise, while oil was obnoxious like this.
Fortunately, the workshop had been remodeled, so there were vents in the ceiling and a window right in front of me. I wasn’t about to get buried in smoke.
Bubble.
I kept stirring the ore with the tongs.
If I just left it submerged, a vapor film would form on the surface and prevent the heat from escaping properly.
How did I know? My professor told me. My dwarf professor.
"Sixteen… seventeen…"
My arm trembled slightly.
At some point, the flames had died down. The smoke had thinned considerably, too.
Eighteen… nineteen.
And then.
"Twenty."
Swish!
I pulled up my arm and yanked it out in one motion with the tongs.
Blackened oil clung to the ore at the end of the tongs, dripping down.
I set it on the anvil.
It was still red-hot. Perfect.
I reached for the hammer hanging on the wall.
The Earthborn Hammer.
Sorry, Tozar’s Braincrusher. You still weren’t meant for forging.
You were precious, though.
I gripped the handle.
Clang!
The first strike.
Then another.
Clang, clang, clang!
With every blow, the mass grew a little smaller.
And harder.
The waste was forced out, leaving only the core behind.
Working out lately was clearly paying off.
This was killing me. If I hadn’t even done that, this really would have been hell.
"Haa… haa…"
My shoulders felt like they would come out of their sockets, my hands were numb, and sweat ran into my eyes.
But if I stopped, it would cool. And if it cooled, I’d have to do all this again. Unless I was insane… finishing it in one go was the right choice.
How long did I hammer away like that?
Clang! Clink.
The sound changed.
I looked down at the anvil.
A palm-sized lump of metal sat on it.
This was an ingot.
"Now."
Just how good were you?
And the result was—
─────────────────
[Red Iron Ingot] [Handmade]
[1 kg]
─────────────────
[Composition]
[Iron] [99.39%]
[Carbon] [0.58%]
[Sulfur] [0.00%]
[Phosphorus] [0.03%]
─────────────────
[Quality]
[Uniformity] [A]
[Density] [A]
─────────────────
[Appraisal]
An ingot forged by human hands.
Its sulfur has been completely removed, its structure has no gaps, and its grain is even.
It can be shaped into any form.
─────────────────
I clenched my teeth and murmured carefully in a trembling voice.
"So, um… is this good?"
I already knew, but still. Just because I’d always wanted to say it at least once.
I asked Yuna.
[…….]
Ignoring Yuna’s lack of reaction, I clenched my fist and pumped it through the air.
"I did it!"
I clenched my fist and shook it wildly in the air.
At last, I had produced an ingot that was decent to look at.
It was my first time making an ingot, but I’d done pretty well, hadn’t I?
Normally, the process should have been more complicated… but because the purity was so high, it didn’t need to be.
And now.
"……."
To make a bell, you normally needed a mold.
You melted the ingot into molten metal, poured it in, and made it that way.
But right now, I had nothing to catch molten metal in, nor did I have a mold.
Then how would an Heir of Fire handle a situation where tools were lacking?
"Just do it."
If I didn’t have one, I could simply hammer it into shape.
That was what the textbook actually said.
『Do not blame the materials, nor blame the workshop. A hammer and anvil are enough.』
This was Sparta, I swear.
Of course, that was for apprentices. The ridiculous part was that the formal textbook told you to make full use of tools, saying you shouldn’t wear out your body.
That professor was insane.
I readjusted my grip on the tongs.
"I do want to rest, but."
I tossed charcoal into the furnace and smiled.
"This is something I have to do."
Wiping the sweat from my forehead with my arm, I stoked the fire.
The process afterward was the same.
Heat the ingot until it softened.
Then, this time, without dipping that softened ingot into oil—
Right away!
Thud.
I set it on the anvil and hammered it.
The Earthborn Hammer’s advantage was that its two ends had different shapes.
The front was broad and good for flattening metal solidly, while the back was sharp and good for drawing it into shape.
This was what a forging hammer was supposed to be.
Clang! Clang!
First, flatten it. You couldn’t just blindly try to make a bell shape from the start.
The palm-sized mass spread little by little with every hit.
Clang, clang, clang!
When its color darkened, I put it into the furnace. When it reddened, I took it out and struck it again.
How many times did I repeat that?
Tap.
A broad disk rested on the anvil.
Up to here, it was easy.
The problem started now.
I turned the hammer over, bringing the sharp end forward.
Now, gather it.
I set the edge of the disk lightly over the end of the anvil.
Then used the hammer to gradually push it upward, from the outside inward.
Every time I circled the flattened disk, its rim rose a little higher.
And by rose, I meant it stood straight up.
"Rise!!"
One circuit made it a plate. Another made it a bowl.
And then—
Whoosh!
"Argh!"
When the color died, furnace. When it reddened, anvil.
I stopped even trying to count how many times I went back and forth.
Just when I felt like I might really die, the thing on the anvil finally began taking the shape I wanted.
"It’s working…"
But the real thing started here.
What determined a bell’s sound?
Thickness.
If one side was thick and the other thin, the sound would die on the spot.
No matter how pretty the shape was, it would just be metal—like comb-pattern pottery and all.
So I spread the parts that lacked thickness again and shaved them down.
How many times did I repeat it?
"…Haa."
I caught my breath and looked down at the anvil.
There lay a small, smooth, dark-red bell.
And then.
Despite the fact that I hadn’t done anything in particular this time—
Whoosh!
The Sun Dwarves’ mark was engraved on the front of the bell.
The apprentice’s symbol was supported by an L.
Now that I was formal, even the treatment was different.
Smiling, I looked down at the bell.
─────────────────
[Divine Bell][★★☆☆☆]
[Divine Artifact]
─────────────────
A bell that announces to the gods that an Heir of Fire has opened his forge.
The gods will hear it and request what they desire.
─────────────────
『Receive the contact.』
── To Formal Blacksmith L ──
─────────────────
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
The first thing that came in was an Origin Script telling me to receive a contact.
I didn’t know who had sent it. The bell hadn’t even rung, so what was this?
I left the bell where it was on the anvil.
It was fucking hot right now, anyway. It needed to cool before I could touch it.
In the meantime.
I picked up scraps of iron.
I needed a hanger to suspend the bell from.
This much was a piece of cake.
After a few strikes, I had a hook. A few more, and I even had a stand.
How much time passed after that?
Brush.
I lightly touched the bell with the back of my hand.
Was it hot?
[?! Lionel!]
"Aaaah, hot!"
[Are you insane?! Are you okay? Are you okay, Lionel?! What do I do?!]
"Yeah, it feels nice and cool."
[Oh, seriously, you’re so annoying, so annoying ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
With a smile, I hung the bell from its stand and went outside.
How many hours had it been?
My sweat had cooled enough that my clothes felt cold.
Creeeak.
According to the textbook, receiving a god’s contact was simple.
『Whether moon or sun, set it upon the ground when it hangs at its highest point.』
『For the masters of that hour shall descend.』
In other words, regardless of whether it was day or night, I just had to place it down when it was directly overhead.
Then, a god suited to that time would descend. It didn’t seem to be as simple as the moon god descending when the moon was up.
And right now, a full moon hung directly above me.
The night breeze swept across my face.
In the center of the black sky.
Tap.
I set the bell down on the grass.
The Earthborn Hammer hung from my right hand.
Now, this.
Swoosh.
I readjusted my grip on the hammer and slowly raised it.
I took a breath.
"Let’s go."
Ding…
A clear note cut through the night air.
Hummm…
The sound and its reverberation seeped into my ears.
Thump.
A slight chill ran up my skin.
I had heard bells before, but I had never felt anything like this.
As I waited to see whether I could receive a god’s summons—
"…Is it over now?"
"……."
When I turned my head, Ruby was crouching right beside me.
She held a ciabatta roll and water in her hands.
Things I liked.
How cute. I had no idea how long she had been there.
Had she been waiting to give them to me?
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
I accepted the bread and smiled.
"Shh."
Then—
Swoosh.
I brought a finger to my lips.
"A god is coming."
"……?"
Just as Ruby tilted her head as if she didn’t understand—
Ding—
The bell, which nobody had touched, suddenly rang.
And not long after.
Ding, ding, ding, ding—
I had the hammer in my hand, and there was no wind.
"Thanks for the bread. I’ll enjoy it."
As I watched the bell being struck like crazy by some mysterious force…
I slowly stroked Ruby’s head.
Ruby’s eyes opened wide.
"……."
Ding, ding, ding…
A god.
Was calling me.
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