Chương 24: Blueprinting

"So uh, how are we going to heat up the metals?" I ask, "Wait, do we even need to do that? This anvil kinda just formed…" Claire smiles and tosses me a small object, I catch it–to my great shock, superhuman reflexes sure are nice. Inspecting it, I see it has a heating enchantment on it.

"That should be good enough for simple materials. For more powerful stuff, you will need proper tools. But we don't have time to do that." Inspecting the anvil, I can feel it hum with power. Then, a screen appears in front of me in the air.

"Woah! This thing is neat." It has a bunch of information, and some tabs at the top. It asks for a core, base, secondary and then extras. I presume these are the ingredients that are needed to craft stuff.

"You must've found the interface." Claire says, "As you can probably see, you need a few different things for any craft. First off, a core. Usually it is something powerful, like a rare drop or whatever. But you can also just use a random crystal, don't expect anything fancy though." Hmm, I pull out one of the lesser forest mana crystals from my storage.

"Would one of these work? I'm thinking of starting with a hunting knife, I really do need one."

"That would be great to start. As for bases, it's usually the metal part, the blade in this case. For the secondary you'll want something for the hilt, leather perhaps?" Claire says, mostly musing to herself.

"Extra stuff shouldn't be necessary, that's mostly for the imbuements that you add later. The forest crystal should be good enough for something simple." I absorb the information pouring out of Claire as much as I can. Strangely enough, I am understanding far more than what her words are actually saying. Must be some sort of teaching function.

"Well then, how exactly does this thing work? The menu doesn't have any buttons."

"Well, you gotta think really hard about what you want to make." Claire says and pulls out a chair.

"Sit, meditate if you have to. It may be magic, but the system still relies on you to create the blueprint, so to speak." That makes sense I suppose. So most of the skill behind crafting equipment probably comes from combining materials in the right way. Take some water infused metal, but a fire infused core, and you get a mess. But align everything just right, and make a good blueprint, and you could split the heavens. Taking a seat, I do as Claire suggested and focus on myself.

Specifically, I focus on Lesser Forging. It is the skill responsible for most of this after all. [Lesser Forging (Common)] To craft is not just a hobby, but a calling. To those that find themselves truly blessed, let it consume you. Only by total devotion shall the materials bend to your every whim, becoming ever more powerful. Also known as, you can forge shit. This skill allows you to use metallic materials as a base.

Your experience and talent will affect the speed at which you can form the concept of a craft–a blueprint. The fire that burns deep within your heart shall be the catalyst for change. The swing of your hammer the vessel by which this power is delivered. The anvil the setting for this grand ordeal. I nearly burst out laughing at that description. Guess it does get the information across. Kinda strange how much the skill descriptions can vary. It is like something different writes all of them.

In fact, I bet that is exactly what happens. Still, the description confirms what Claire has said, and I can feel the information further settle within my mind. Knowledge of what I have to do surges within me. Ever so slowly, I take a tiny thread of my mana out of my core. I float it around my body, letting it become familiar with that which will use it to change things. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Then, I bend it. My will wraps around the mana, forcing it to conform.

Now, while it is my mana, that does not mean it wants to do what I tell it. All of my concentration goes into that simple act of controlling the mana. For every bit that I press it, it only resists more. Which is exactly what I want. After all, I wouldn't want my new knife to break, now would I? While I don't intend to fight with it, I imagine monsters must be tough even when dead. The blade needs to be strong, and sharp enough to cut even bone. The blade also needs to be long enough to reach the deep bits.

Don't want to have to stick my hand all the way into the guts after all. I settle on about twenty centimeters. Interesting enough, as I do this, an image starts to form within my mind. Not an image, a blueprint. I can see the very core concept of the knife coming into being right before me. Almost brings a tear to my eye, to think I could see something so beautiful so directly. Sure, most craftspeople believe in some sort of spirit in their equipment or whatever.

Even I used to be attached to my most precious creations. You know, the ones that were left in my old world… A loss for sure. But one worth it, I think. If I could create such beautiful things with just mundane techniques. Then imagine what sort of wonders I could create with magic. As I think of all this, I can feel the blueprint changing. It shifts, changes, adapts, and embraces all the concepts I throw at it. The process gives me lots of ideas for further attempts, but for now I just focus on the knife.

The blade is good enough, I think. So I move onto the hilt. Many people underestimate the importance of the hilt. Which often ends up with a stellar weapon becoming basically worthless. If one cannot comfortably and securely hold the blade, it is virtually impossible to wield. Slight differences make a big impact when it comes to intense work. After all, you wouldn't want your hand to slip off the hilt while in the middle of a precise action, now would you? I decide to use a bit of leather for the hilt.

Since it is a tool, comfort is of the utmost importance. Leather is great for that, being soft yet still durable. Plus gloves are often made out of leather, which reduces wear on both. As for the leather I will use, well it just so happens that Vik harvested some for me back on our hunt. It was really embarrassing to ask him to do the work… and by the goddess the amount of questions he asked. Still, the hide isn't anything special, but it should do the trick.

Interestingly enough, when I collected the drop, the system instantly turned it into leather. Of a very bad quality, naturally. Unfortunately, I lack the tools, experience and time to improve the leather at the moment. As my image of the hilt grows stronger, I push it into the blueprint. Hilts are far simpler in base principle than a blade, so it goes far quicker. Once all is said and done, I hold the blueprint in my mind, as strongly as I can.

It is far stabler now, and I can feel the mana has a sense of completeness to it. Which means it is time for the next step. Exiting meditation, Claire smiles at me.

"That was quite quick, for your first time." I shrug.

"Guess my past experience isn't for nothing." I turn to the anvil's interface and see that it has changed. It now displays a bunch of values under each tab. It says I need two units of the base, one for the secondary bit – leather–, and of course, the mana crystal.

"Okay, this part is simple, but can be quite tedious and laborious." Claire says, "First, put the base on the anvil and heat it up with the stone. You should get a good feeling for when it's hot enough to mold, and don't worry about it cooling. The anvil should keep it heated up and in working condition." I take a few steps closer to the anvil and the interface asks me to select materials from my inventory. I do so, and they appear on the anvil. First up, the metal bars.

Using the weird heating stone, I place it on top of both of them. After a few seconds of fumbling around, Claire tells me they need mana. Touching them, I find it quite simple to supply them. Guess that makes sense. The metal starts to heat up at a reasonable pace. Slower than a proper forge, but likely faster than shooting a jet of flame at it. It takes about three minutes before a sense of doneness washes over me. I get the sense that they are warm enough, and carefully take the stone away.

To my shock, it is still cold to the touch. Damn, how I love magic.

"Now with the base ready, it is time for the painful part." Claire says, "How good are you at swinging that hammer of yours?" Oh, I see where this is going. Luckily with my increased strength and endurance, a bit of hammering should be no problem. Right?