1.
Whiteheart Iron melted down.
Stir, stir.
The process itself was the same, really.
Once it melted, stir it. That was it.
With normal iron, impurities should rise to the surface as it melted, but the liquid Whiteheart Iron was... simply clean.
And even the state of the liquid visible before my eyes.
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[Whiteheart Iron Molten Liquid][★★★☆☆]
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『Liquid white iron ore whose impurities have been washed away over a long period near a mana vein.』
『It possesses no inherent attribute and therefore does not reject external mana.』
─────────────────
"Now...!"
I quickly went downstairs, opened the warming furnace, picked up the two containers of spirit stone liquid, and climbed back up the stairs.
"Holy shit..."
They were heavy as hell. An ordinary kid could never have done this, but I was a workout guy.
And then.
I slowly poured the two liquids simultaneously, one onto each side of the crucible holding the Whiteheart Iron liquid.
Honestly, it made no sense to mix sunlight and wind first, right? Their properties were different, too.
So rather than mixing the two directly... I first poured them into the far edges of the Whiteheart Iron liquid, letting it receive them, then stirred everything together.
That was the basic principle.
Even in a warming furnace, they were obviously less hot than they had been in the crucible, where the temperature had been raised even higher.
Sssizzle...!
The liquids screamed at the difference in temperature.
Where the sunlight liquid touched, the mixture turned gold, while bubbles burst where the blue liquid touched.
Those didn’t seem like bad bubbles. They were probably an effect of the wind spirit stone.
Stir...
I began stirring all three liquids around the Whiteheart Iron liquid, allowing the two energies to slowly blend together.
So sunlight and wind could each find their place and melt into it.
"...Do a good job mediating between them."
Today’s mediator was Whiteheart Iron.
This was the moment its role became tremendously important.
Fuck, my role was huge too, actually.
The real grunt work started now.
[How long do you think you’ll have to stir it?]
"...At least an hour."
[Really??]
"It could take longer, since there are three liquids."
The fundamental theory of Sun Dwarf metallurgy was that, in order to combine two liquids with differing energies, they had to be mixed at high temperatures for a very long time.
And this was a process of mixing iron with molten spirit stones, substances with properties I had never encountered in my life.
I couldn’t even begin to guess how long I would need to stir it.
"......"
Stir... stir...
I stirred. I had to keep stirring.
I couldn’t let the rhythm break. It couldn’t be too fast, nor could it be too slow.
Sweat streamed down me, and it would be a disaster if any of it got into the liquid, so I had to periodically wipe the sweat away with my arm.
Fortunately, persistence was one thing I never lost to anyone in.
How long had I been stirring like that?
"......"
Stir...
"...Huh."
The resistance that had been catching against my stirring arm disappeared.
"Haa..."
My mouth tasted sweet from exhaustion.
I lowered my head and looked inside.
At first glance, no single color caught my eye in the molten liquid inside the crucible.
Why?
There were too many colors.
Three hues rippled over the surface, wrapping around one another like waves.
A molten liquid in which every color existed at once, like a rainbow.
I immediately knew I had succeeded.
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[Harmonics][★★★★☆]
─────────────────
『Using Whiteheart Iron as a medium, the attributes of sunlight and wind have achieved balance within a single molten liquid.』
『The two different powers coexist around Whiteheart Iron, with neither one lost.』
─────────────────
"...It worked."
Mediation successful.
I had successfully made the two opposing energies interlock perfectly.
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[Achievement][Mad Pioneer][★★★★☆]
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『You have made the origins of two spirits that despise one another coexist within a single substance.』
『You have completed a theory that had never once been established in the history of spirits.』
『You melted wind and sunlight together? Who on earth did that???』
[Title Acquired ─ [Is There Someone That Crazy?]]
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"......?"
Had harmonizing wind and sunlight been that absurd of a thing to do?
Fire and wind got along pretty well, so I figured sunlight and wind would be roughly similar...
I didn’t know any better, so I went about it without any preconceived notions. In my own way.
You need to be free of prejudice to accomplish great things. For the record, I like pouring soy milk over rice.
[Reward]
Oh.
There was even a follow-up reward...
This really made it satisfying, didn’t it?
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[The Spirit Queen’s Admiration]
─────────────────
"What the fuck."
What kind of admiration was that?
The Queen of the Distant Wind Spirits had long since admired my underwear.
"Jeez."
Anyway, the reward wasn’t important right now.
I hooked the completed crucible onto the ring and slowly lifted it out.
Harmonics.
"That’s one hell of a name."
When I tipped the crucible, the rainbow-colored liquid streamed smoothly into the opening.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Thanks to preheating it beforehand, Mr. Harmonics flowed all the way to the bottom of the mold without solidifying.
Before long, hot air began to leak from the vent on the other side.
What might happen if I put my hand there?
"...It’s full."
I set down the crucible and sealed the mold’s opening.
Now it was time to wait.
Until the Harmonics inside lost its heat and solidified into the shape of a rod.
Something long and slender like a rod would take thirty minutes at most.
I was going straight into forging, so I had to open it before it cooled completely.
Twenty-eight minutes later.
Click.
I released the latch holding the mold together and lifted the frame.
Fwoosh...
"......"
The residual heat immediately rose to my face.
At the same time, the casting sand crumbled away and scattered over the rod.
"...Whoa, what is this...?"
Even through the casting sand, I could see the rod’s shape clearly.
The rod was an overall soft white, but orange and sky-blue hues flowed across its surface, gently intertwining like waves.
Despite being a rod that had only just been cast...
[It’s so pretty....]
The blend of colors was beautiful enough to draw an admiring sigh from Yuna.
After confirming it had solidified properly, I swiftly took the rod out with tongs.
I broke off the excess portions that had formed at the vent and opening.
They weren’t edible bits like on a fish-shaped pastry, so it was right to cut them off without hesitation.
Then I placed the rod, still holding heat, atop the anvil.
"...Let’s do this."
The spirit of craftsmanship.
It was time to hammer it from here on out.
Now, why hammer a rod that had turned out so well?
Simply put, it only looked like a rod right now.
Its internal structure was still a little loose, and gaps could inevitably have formed as it cooled.
So when you hammer it while it’s hot, those gaps get compressed away and the structure becomes denser.
"Hoo..."
Thoom...
Lightly.
With the soft sound of the first strike, I carefully rotated the rod little by little and struck it with even force.
Slowly... slowly...
So the energies of the two spirits permeating the Whiteheart Iron could intertwine firmly.
Tung... tung...
Whenever the rod cooled, I put it into the furnace to heat it again.
Then I took it back out and hammered it.
Perfectly... parallel, so there would be no bent section.
How many times had I repeated that process?
The once-rough surface became smooth... and the entire rod looked straight to me, at least.
"Hologram."
I didn’t trust my own eyes.
I trusted Yuna’s hologram.
When I compared the rod against the hologram, it was ever so slightly warped.
"Perfectly parallel."
To correct it, I carefully adjusted the end.
[Match Rate: 100!]
With Yuna’s signal of approval, I picked up an abrasive cloth and gently ran it across the rod’s surface.
If I treated it like I was grinding it down with sandpaper, I might ruin the parallel alignment I had worked so hard to achieve...
Swoosh...
Slowly, like I was handling a baby.
Of course, I wouldn’t actually handle a baby with abrasive cloth. You know what I meant.
Swoosh...
The powder clinging to the rod’s surface was gently wiped away...
And the rod, which had been dull because of the powder, gleamed brightly.
"......"
Finally, still wearing my gloves, I gently stroked the rod.
I closed my eyes, then slowly opened them.
And then.
─────────────────
[Totality: Ascension][★★★★☆]
[Unique Equipment] [Compatibility][ - /100]
─────────────────
[Pioneers Are Always Criticized.]
[For they bear the duty of guiding someone down a path no one has ever traveled.]
『A weapon that can only be wielded by one standing at the boundary between two worlds.』
『Only when different things become one is totality finally complete.』
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【It accepts both spirit power and mana.】
【It can layer the powers of two different systems without any loss.】
【When the rod is turned half a rotation clockwise, the boundary between the mortal realm and the spirit realm is reversed.】
【When the rod is returned counterclockwise, the boundary returns to its original position.】
【It manifests only when imbued with intent.】
─────────────────
『The door has opened.』
- Spirit Emperor Adrian Valter -
『Now, the wind will carry sunlight to a higher place....』
『How could you possibly create a fusion like this... It’s amazing....』
- Queen of the Distant Wind Spirits -
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The words written at the end of the countless lines of text.
And beneath them.
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『I’ll show you who I am.』
- Skilled Blacksmith L -
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"Heh heh."
It was a pretty confidence-filled line.
I liked it.
I picked up the now-cooled rod.
It was quite light... but if I underestimated it, my head would get smashed to pieces.
And then.
‘Clockwise.’
Whoosh.
The moment I imbued the rod with intent and turned it half a rotation.
Hummm...!
My vision flipped.
I was still inside the workshop. I hadn’t moved anywhere else, but...
"...Huh?"
Things that had been invisible before began to appear.
The vague forms I had seen yesterday afternoon—the forms that had offered spirit stones to Ruby.
...This time, those little things had clearer shapes as they played all around the workshop.
Some just looked like blobs of deep color, while others resembled tiny humans.
‘...These are spirits?’
Was this what it meant for the boundary to be reversed?
Several little red-tinged creatures were crouching in front of the crucible furnace, watching the flames.
The blue ones were perched on the workshop vents, chattering among themselves.
And then.
A sky-blue woman—
No, a spirit—floated in the air, intently examining the rod in my hand.
Then our eyes met.
Flinch!
The spirit’s body trembled.
The spirit immediately flew right in front of my eyes and waved both hands from side to side.
What was that about?
Wave, wave.
As I followed her moving hands with my eyes...
"...Uh, uhhhhh...?"
The spirit’s eyes widened.
"C-can-can-can you see me?"
She opened her mouth wide and shouted.
"Hello?"
I casually raised a hand in greeting.
At that moment.
Every spirit in the workshop turned to look at me.
"...Hello?"
This was my workshop, though...?
As I scratched my head under all those stares—
"Wooooowwwww!!"
"Uh, uhh...!"
What the hell?
All the little ones scattered throughout the workshop rushed at me at once.
And I was buried beneath the tiny creatures.
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