Chapter 105
Chapter 105 Strongest Sage, Goes Through Exhumation of His Dark History
About 30 minutes after we started the grinding .
The dragon claw I ground formed into the shape faster than planned .
"I-It"s really hard . . . "
Ruli is having a tough time .
She"s looking at the ink-spotted board with a difficult expression .
"But it"s gotten quite flat already . "
"It is but you know . . . . I"ve gotten it to this state a bit ago, but it doesn"t feel like it"s getting flatter at all since . . . "
Well, even if one uses barrier as a support, they themselves are ultimately the one who does the grinding .
You have to train for years in order to be accurate with this method .
This is how it should be for one"s first time .
"After getting that far, you only need to apply a bit more treatment afterward . Let me have it for a sec . "
"Yes!"
I grind the mithril board I got from Ruli with a whetstone here and there .
Then I put the board on top of the barrier--the ink on the barrier stuck on the whole surface of the board .
A proof that there"s no unevenness .
"I-In one try!?"
"It"s because Ruli had taken care of the bigger b.u.mps . As for the details like this . . . . Well, it"s a matter of experience . "
"I don"t feel like I can do it even after a decade of training though . . . . "
"I don"t think it"ll take that long just to shape these boards . "
I"ve noticed so far that Ruli has a talent in production type of works .
Both in her magic and handiworks .
There"s probably not a lot of people who can make the board as flat as the one that Ruli worked on earlier in their first try using this method .
Well, the difference in motivation probably also plays a big role .
I like fighting more than producing, so much that I even reincarnated myself .
Either way, things are going well .
"Then let"s get on to the next board . "
I took another mithril board .
We need to process five boards this time .
. . . That said, unlike with a dragon claw, handling mithril is simple .
Since Ruli has already formed the rough shapes, I only need to grind a bit here and there to get the shape I want .
"U-umm . . . . "
While I was grinding the mithril board, Ruli talked to me .
"Hm? Do you need something?"
I turn my sight at Ruli while still grinding the board .
Seeing that, Ruli"s expression turned like she was watching something mystifying .
"It"s been on my mind since awhile ago . . . . How is it that Mathi-kun able to grind the boards flat without using barrier? . . . Did you use some kind of handy magic?"
Ruli shifted her glance from the board I ground, to the barrier that was set up in the beginning .
Ah . That huh .
True enough, I only ground using the barrier once in the beginning to show Ruli how .
But I"m not using any particular magic .
Actually, there exists a more handy method .
That is--
"It"s experience . "
"T-that"s experience too!? You can learn to do such minute details with experience!?"
"Yeah . I think Ruli too will get it before long . "
"How many hundreds years would it take me . . . . "
Right . . . .
I"m sure it took me 30 years from the day I started doing this kind of processing before I could do it without an a.s.sistance .
But Ruli can probably achieve that faster .
I still don"t know how long it"ll actually take though .
"Alright, done . "
I finished shaping five boards while conversing .
There"s no chip or crack on the mithril and dragon claw-made boards .
Only after getting them this polished can these five boards function as a sword .
"It"s the finishing touches next . Put this spell art first . "
"Yes!"
Dragon Claw gets 【Steel Slash】, 【Sharpen】, 【Impact Blade】, and 【Wear Proof】 .
The interior mithril boards get 【Mana Strike】, 【Impact Blade】, 【Hardness Reinforcement】, and 【Heatproof Reinforcement】 .
The outer ones get 【Hardness Reinforcement】, 【Toughness Reinforcement】, 【Heatproof Reinforcement】, and 【Impact Blade】 .
In accordance to my instruction, the magic get augmented one after another .
And after the last augments, 【Binding】 and 【Union】, five boards are united into one sword--the sword is completed .
" . . . Yup . It"s quite well done . "
I lifted and checked the sword out .
The degree of completion is such that you wouldn"t have guessed it was the first time she made this kind of sword .
"So this is a sword augmented with 20 magic . . . . C-could you let me hold it for a bit!?"
"Sure . "
Ruli took the sword and tried to cut a nearby body of dead monsters (which Alma and Iris beat in their free time while the sword was being made) .
The monster gets cut in two in one swing--but Ruli"s expression looks like she doesn"t get something .
" . . . . Huh? It"s really sharp and all but . . . . It"s more ordinary than I thought . . . . "
I guess that"s only natural with the way she cut just now .
You can"t use this sword like an ordinary sword after all .
"Let me have it for a bit . "
"Y-yes . "
I received the sword from Ruli--and put my mana into it .
And then, the five magic stones embedded on the grip all shined together .
Then I shook the sword vertically just like that--and the dungeon wall in front of us got cut in two .
Yup . The performance exceeds my expectation .
"W-what did you do just now!?"
"Putting my mana into the sword . "
" . . . . Mana?"
"Yeah . The magic augmented in this sword can only demonstrate their true strength after the user supplied it with their mana . It won"t have that much power in its bare form with the size of these magic stones . "
I pointed at the magic stones embedded on the grip .
When you make a sword formed by several pieces of boards, you need the same number of magic stones as the boards .
Therefore, you can"t use magic stones that are too big .
"D-don"t tell me, that"s . . . . A sword with the same mechanism as 『Magic Spear Gae Bolg』!?"
" . . . . Gei Bolk?"
Ruli became excited after hearing my explanation about the sword .
But still, Gei Bolk huh, I"ve no clue about that .
Wonder if someone made such a weapon while I wasn"t aware .
"N . . . No way, you don"t know about Gae Bolg!? It"s that Gae Bolg you know?"
"Not sure what "that" even means . . . . "
"It"s the strongest spear that transforms when you put your mana into it!"
That kinda thing exists huh .
I think having the spear transform is inefficient though .
. . . . Hm? Wait a minute .
"By any chance, does that spear look like this?"
I moved sand on the ground turning it into spear shape .
An ineffectual inefficiently shaped spear, it"s hard to even call it a spear .
"Yes, that"s it! So you knew all along after all!"
Ruli pointed at it and sounded like she was relieved .
Aah . I know this spear .
It"s a dud I made when I left myself to the tension of my hazy self after 30 days of sleepless nights .
Even though it"s obvious just by thinking a bit that carrying two normal spears would be much stronger than needlessly augmenting one with spell arts that make it transform .
I thought I had disposed that junk as one of my dark history . . . . Why is it still existing .
No . The fact that it still exists is fine . I really don"t want to admit it, but fine .
But there was a part that I can"t let off in Ruli"s words .
I ask Ruli back in order to ensure that I wasn"t mishearing it .
"Ruli, it almost sounded like you said Gae Bolg was the strongest . . . . "
"You didn"t hear it wrong you know? The tale of great hero Iriast-sama finishing demons off with Gae Bolg . . . . Is famous isn"t it?"
. . . . Dang it .