Chapter 14

Translator: True Detective

Chapter 14. Legendary

After returning home, I stared blankly at the armor for a long time before reaching out.

I lifted the armor placed on the workbench.

The silver metal sparkled under the workshop ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lighting, but it didn't look pretty at all to my eyes.

"What is the problem?"

Muttering, I examined the armor here and there.

On the surface, it looked fine.

But the grade doesn't lie.

There must be a problem somewhere.

"...Let's disassemble it in reverse."

I placed the armor on the anvil and picked up the tongs.

I decided to disassemble it one by one, tracing back from the final stage of production.

"First, the rivets."

Holding a small chisel and hammer, I carefully started to remove the rivets embedded in the joints.

The rivets came out one by one.

The shoulder rivets connecting the chest plate and back plate, the side rivets.

I lined up the removed rivets on the workbench and examined them closely.

"...What is this?"

Looking around the rivet holes, I saw minute cracks.

The metal was slightly dented.

When drilling the holes, too much force was applied, stressing the metal.

"Was the angle the problem?"

Nodding, I moved on to the next step.

Now I have to separate the plates.

I detached the chest plate, back plate, and shoulder guards one by one.

I checked the surface by touching each part with my hand.

"Here... and here too."

I swept my finger down the lower left part of the chest plate.

It looks smooth, but looking closely, there were minute irregularities on the surface.

The force control wasn't consistent when hammering.

"I should have polished it more."

The back plate was the same.

The center part was quite smooth, but the surface became rougher towards the edges.

It showed signs of being finished hastily at the end.

"Next is the curvature."

I lifted the chest plate to eye level and looked at it from the side.

Watching the light flow along the surface, the curve wasn't consistent.

Some parts were excessively convex, and some parts were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠flat.

"The striking points were uneven during dishing."

I thought I hit the points the Guide told me exactly, but disassembling it revealed otherwise.

Because the striking intensity wasn't consistent, some places went deep and some places went shallow.

So the overall curvature wasn't smooth.

"No wonder impact dispersion doesn't work properly like this."

Nodding, I moved on to the next analysis.

This time, it was time to examine the metal itself.

I put the chest plate back into the furnace.

I slowly raised the temperature and heated it to about 200 degrees.

Then I took it out and observed the surface closely.

"...As expected."

As the temperature rose, minute color changes appeared on the metal surface.

Some parts were slightly bluish, and some parts were yellowish.

It was evidence that the heat treatment wasn't uniform.

"Was the angle of putting it into the oil during quenching the problem?"

Thinking back to that time, when putting the armor into the oil tank, I think I put it in slightly obliquely instead of horizontally.

So some parts cooled quickly and some parts cooled slowly, making the metal structure uneven.

"And..."

I lifted the hammer and tapped the chest plate lightly.

—Clang-ish

The sound wasn't clear.

It meant minute bubbles or impurities remained inside the metal.

"I didn't remove impurities properly during forging."

It was a problem from the start when making the alloy.

When mixing materials, I might not have stirred enough, or because the temperature was uneven, some materials might not have melted properly.

And in the forging process, I should have removed impurities by hammering, but the number of times seemed insufficient.

I sighed deeply.

To think there were this many problems.

Each one seems trivial, but all of this piled up resulting in only a Normal grade coming out.

After finishing the organization, my head cleared up.

Now I know for sure what to fix.

"Guide, starting again."

I nodded and lit the furnace fire.

Red flames began to burn.

I started melting the Mithril again.

The silver metal turned reddish and changed into liquid.

"1650 degrees."

Muttering, I matched the temperature exactly at the same timing as the Guide.

Before the Guide could speak, I was already moving.

I picked up the ceramic bottle and scooped a spoonful of Fang Powder.

—Hiss

Blue flames sparked up.

The Guide seemed to want to say something, but I didn't hear.

Second.

Third.

Evenly, slowly, at regular intervals.

Blue light filled the furnace.

I picked up an iron spatula.

I put the spatula into the furnace.

Slowly applying force, I stirred in circles as if pulling up from the bottom.

1 minute.

2 minutes.

3 minutes.

I saw the color change from silver to silver permeated with blue energy.

Before the Guide's words ended, I picked up the Flame Moss Ash and sprinkled it.

—Crackle!

Sparks flew up, and red waves spread out.

I was already lowering the temperature.

Matched exactly to 1350 degrees.

I took out the Silver Spider Web and cut it quickly with scissors.

Gathering it in my palm consistently at 0.5cm intervals, I sprinkle it over the furnace.

—Sizzle—!

Silver luster spread out.

I was already holding the furnace handle.

Tilted slowly.

Liquid metal flowed into the mold.

Wait for 30 minutes.

I sat on the chair silently.

But my eyes didn't leave the mold.

I watched the metal cooling.

I observed the speed at which the color changed from bright orange to red and then to dark gray.

Holding tongs, I stood in front of the mold.

Grabbed the edge and lifted.

—Thud

The metal plate came out.

Blue energy, red waves, silver luster.

But I wasn't satisfied.

Because I haven't even started yet.

I placed it on the anvil and lifted the heavy hammer.

Started forging.

—Clang!—Clang!—Clang!

Points indicated by the Guide appeared in my vision, but I already knew.

Where to hit.

How hard to hit.

My body remembered.

Breathing matched the hammering.

Put it back in the furnace.

The Guide seemed to say something, but it didn't enter my ears.

Took it out of the furnace and forged again.

50 times.

100 times.

200 times.

Sweat got into my eyes, but I didn't care.

My arm was numb, but I didn't stop.

Before I knew it, I had forged 300 times.

No.

Instinct was telling me.

I have to hit more here.

—Clang!—Clang!—Clang!

320 times.

330 times.

340 times.

350 times!

Last one blow.

I put down the hammer.

I lifted the metal plate and tapped it.

—Clang~

The sound was different.

Much clearer, higher, and harder sound.

The feeling was good.

I proceeded with precision forging, dishing, quenching, tempering in order, and it was the turn for the last polishing.

I took out the armor and placed it on the workbench.

Holding a whetstone, I carefully started grinding the surface.

30 minutes with rough whetstone, 30 minutes with medium whetstone, 30 minutes with fine whetstone.

Total 1 hour and a half, grinding and grinding again.

Finally, I wiped the surface with a cloth soaked in oil.

"...It's finished."

Beautiful armor where blue energy and silver luster harmonized was placed before me.

The surface was smooth, and tapping it, I felt hardness yet appropriate elasticity.

I slowly came out of the world of concentration.

Surrounding sounds began to be heard.

And.

—Ding~!

"Ha..."

I just slumped down right there.

Because the tension was released.

Even though a Legendary grade popped up, I didn't even have the energy to be surprised.

"I wasn't wrong..."

It felt like getting compensated for all the hardship at once.

It felt like tears would come out.

I'm not an F (Feeler type in MBTI) to get moved by something like this though.

Shall we check the options of our pretty armor made with difficulty?

"Wow... Sh*t..."

My voice trembled.

"F*ck!!! Who said I didn't have the energy to be surprised!!!"

I shouted while lifting the armor.

My voice echoed in the workshop.

I was lifting the armor very carefully as if lifting a baby and rocking it.

While doing so, a window popped up in my eyes.

It gives more here?