The Magic-Grade Bone Knife

I sprinkled the finely ground mana stone over the bones.

Everything up to sliding them into the forge was identical to when the Guide had been active.

Does the mana stone do something special?

Normally, monster bone that had been heated white-hot would be extremely fragile. I had never heard of powdered mana stone producing an effect like that. It had to be connected to a beginner’s unique ability.

With a metallic creak I opened the forge door and drew out two bones glowing a deep crimson. I laid them side by side on the anvil, raised the iron hammer, and brought it down.

Clang!

I struck the joined section.

Doesn’t that just weaken the joint?

My unique ability supposedly protected the bone from heat damage, yet it could not rewrite the fundamental nature of the material itself. One look at the bone knife I had made with the Guide’s help was proof enough.

Nam Jinwoo almost spoke up, then thought better of it. It was someone else’s work, after all. Only personal experience would teach a man whether he was wasting his time.

Clang!

But then—

Kang!

The sound was different.

The system voice did not reach Nam Jinwoo. Status windows were visible only to the one concerned. Yet to a man who had spent more than five years as an apprentice on Blacksmith Street, it was as if he could hear the message anyway.

That pure, ringing tone… he put force exactly on the right point.

You did not get a sound like that by swinging the hammer any which way. It rang only when strength, timing, and location were all perfect. An apprentice of one or two years might hear it once, if he was lucky.

Kang!

Clang!

And the clear note kept pealing through the workshop.

Is this even possible?

Once or twice he could dismiss as luck. But five times in a row of perfectly distributed force landing on the exact point? No. Impossible. Nam Jinwoo would stake his entire five-year apprenticeship on that certainty.

He can read the flow of mana.

The guess was correct.

Spirit Eye—an overwhelming ability obtained after an S-rank evaluation on the promotion test. I had entrusted my body to the Guide while watching the mana wavelengths the entire time with Spirit Eye. The itch in my fingers had come from confidence: I could do better than this.

Nam Jinwoo’s curiosity did not stop there.

Even if reading mana flow is talent… how is he controlling the force?

No matter how good one’s feel, too much or too little power in a hammer blow ruined the finished product. From the way he gripped the hammer it was obvious he was a complete beginner. Yet that crystalline ring meant the force going into the hammer was perfect—perfect enough that a five-year apprentice could only admire it. It was the correction effect of an abnormally high Dexterity stat for an E-rank hunter.

Heavenly Martial Body. Dexterity. And Spirit Eye. The three elements locked together and produced skill comparable to a veteran master.

A beginner better than me…

Heh. Nam Jinwoo swallowed a dry laugh. When it came to working bone, he no longer felt confident he could outdo Minho.

“Huuuh.”

I finished joining the bones and let out a long breath.

Clang!

This time I struck harder and began shaping the blade in earnest. The bone gradually took a form similar to the one the skill Guide had shown me. In Nam Jinwoo’s eyes it looked different.

Sharper. More keen.

How could anyone draw out that kind of edge from bone? The special class ability played a part, certainly, but it was not absolute. Blacksmithing was an honest trade. Process and product revealed a craftsman’s true level without mercy.

Hissss!

The still-hot bone knife plunged in and out of the oil trough several times. After a final pass along the edge I straightened my back and exhaled hard.

Nam Jinwoo drifted toward the knife without realizing it.

“Excuse me, customer.”

“Has the time run out?”

“Ah, no. It’s about the piece you just made.”

His face was flushed as he pointed at the bone knife.

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble… could I check its performance?”

“Any particular reason?”

“I’ve never seen anyone make a knife out of bone before. It’s just… really fascinating.”

I stared at him a moment, then held the blade out.

“Go ahead and look.”

“Thank yo—”

“One condition first. Promise me something.”

“Yes?”

“Give me a cold, honest evaluation of the weapon’s quality. How about it?”

It was hardly a request; evaluating the piece was exactly why he wanted to examine it. Under ordinary circumstances he would never have delivered a truly candid judgment to a customer renting the shop. Right now, though, the desire to confirm the bone knife’s performance outweighed everything else.

“Understood.”

He rested a hand on the blade and called up the item information.

Nam Jinwoo let out an involuntary gasp.

This is a beginner’s weapon?

He had watched the man move as though a skill Guide were active, so it had to be true. Even so, seeing it with his own eyes, he could scarcely believe it. Compare it to the first result: Normal versus Magic. A single rank difference was nothing to sneer at. Every smith who lifted a hammer poured every method he knew into raising a weapon’s grade. On top of that, the usual penalty of rapidly dropping durability was gone.

When it comes to working bone, he’s already at apprentice level.

The requirement for official apprentice status on Blacksmith Street was simple: produce a Magic-grade item without anyone’s help. The average time from daily laborer to recognized apprentice was one year.

This man did it on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his first try.

An innate sense for mana wavelengths. Unnaturally superb hand skill. And finally, the unshakable nerve of a man using a workshop for the first time without a flicker of fear. If any one of those pieces had been missing, the Magic-grade judgment would never have appeared.

“Um…?”

“Ah—sorry, I was lost in thought. Even among Magic-grade pieces, this is high quality.”

“How high is high quality?”

“The materials are ordinary, so there are no special options. If even one option had attached, it would have received a Rare judgment.”

Saying it aloud only made him feel more regretful. Had he known the customer possessed this level of talent, he would have recommended extra materials when the bones went into the forge.

What a waste. Such a waste.

He swallowed the rest of the words.

“If you sold it, you could get at least ten million won.”

That was the fire-sale price. At auction, or through a proper dealer, the piece would easily clear twenty million.

I listened to the explanation and broke into a bright grin.

“See? My craftsmanship’s pretty useful, right?”

【It is far superior to the first blade you forged.】

“Ten million won. Ten million!”

【Sir, if you allow yourself to be too swayed by material greed, you will never reach higher realms.】

“Making your body and equipping you costs money, you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠know?”

Nam Jinwoo could neither laugh nor cry at the banter; he simply kept glancing at the bone knife. How great a ripple the appearance of a bone specialist would send through the blacksmithing world… he could not even begin to guess.

The bone knife had performed beyond expectations, and I still had materials left. Riding the momentum, I decided to try armor as well.

“Can I extend the rental?”

“Yeees.”

Whew. Thank goodness. The feeling was hitting hard right now; if an extension had been refused I would have completely lost the spark.

Kang!

Claaang!

My first reaction upon checking the result was pure disappointment.

“It didn’t turn out exactly the way I pictured.”

Sir Isra’s body was a balanced type with both power and agility. I had deliberately left play in the joints so as not to hinder mobility—and ended up making them too loose. The armor preserved her quick movements, but it had sacrificed a good deal of the damage reduction that was a defense piece’s entire reason for existing.

“For someone working without blueprints, that is an extremely fine result.”

The part-timer was putting in real effort too—watching to make sure nothing went wrong, looking after the renter’s mood. Since he was being considerate, I answered politely.

“It’s fine. I’m not disappointed.”

While learning Bone Metallurgy, the structures of a few basic weapons had been etched into my head. Nothing grand—just elementary diagrams on the level of a bone knife. Even the bone armor I had made specifically for Sir Isra was the product of freely modifying those mental blueprints.

Clack—clack—

Sir Isra, now wearing the bone armor, swung her arms left and right.

【It feels as though I am wearing no armor at all.】

“I worked hard designing it so it wouldn’t get in the way of your movement.”

【And it seems you abandoned a matching amount of defense.】

Hey. Who asked for the cold hard facts?

Sir Isra took the bone knife I had finished first and gave it a light swing.

Whoooom!

Perhaps because Heavenly Martial Body had sharpened my senses, the edge felt as if it could slice flesh just from the sound.

【Excellent.】

“Oh. That’s high praise.”

【You took up a hammer for the first time and produced a weapon of this caliber. How could it not be remarkable?】

“Sounds to me like you’re saying I should work harder and make you better gear.”

【I speak only of serving my lord. I harbor no other meaning.】

With bone armaments equipped, Sir Isra’s combat power had jumped sharply. At this level, maybe she could even solo a D-rank gate?

【Then let us go conquer one at once.】

“Not today.”

The sky was already growing dark. I had gotten far too absorbed in hammering. My landlady had promised a meat party, and even if I left right now I would definitely be late. Gate raiding could wait.

【We have new ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠arms, yet it is a pity.】

“There’s always tomorrow, so don’t drain the excitement just yet.”

I tucked Sir Isra into my subspace storage, grabbed a few belongings, and hurried out of the workshop.

At that moment—

“Customer! Wait a moment!”

The part-timer who had appraised the bone knife came rushing to block my path. What now? I had already transferred the rental fee and even shown him the bank record. There should not have been any problem.

“I was wondering whether you already had a workshop in mind.”

“No? Not particularly.”

His mouth formed a perfect O, and he pressed something into my hand.

“My card. Our workshop’s.”

“I-if you ever think about joining a workshop…”

Ah. So he was recruiting me to work at theirs.

The unexpected offer left me momentarily blank. Every craftsman on Blacksmith Street was highly skilled. A chief apprentice from this neighborhood outclassed most guild-affiliated smiths. For someone like that to shove a business card at me… had my skill really been that impressive?

“I’ll think about it.”

Right now the dinner promise came first. I pushed the quiet surge of pleasure deep down and slipped the part-timer—no, the chief apprentice’s—card into my pocket.