Crafting Battle (4)
Crafting Battle (4)
I sat alone in the waiting room, then stepped out into the arena at the host's signal.
The moment I passed through the door, an overwhelming number of spectators filled my sight.
Have I ever stood in front of so many people in my life?
No, I haven't.
At most, it was just a few obnoxious customers at the convenience store.
As I felt tens of thousands of gazes fix on me all at once, my heart suddenly began pounding with loud kung-kwang kung-kwang beats.
Cold sweat seeped onto my palms, my breathing grew ragged, and tension clamped down on my whole body.
But that was only until I stepped into the smithy prepared for me.
The moment the familiar heat and scent of iron from the furnace brushed my nose, my heart, which had been racing like mad, calmed down as if by a lie.
As if asking when I'd ever been nervous, my mind grew serene and my gaze fixated solely on the workbench in front of me.
"Phew......."
I exhaled a long deep breath, closing and opening my eyes. Now was the time to cast aside all distracting thoughts.
First, I drew up golden Aura from the energy center below my navel and tightly cloaked my entire body with it.
Then I gripped the tongs laid before me and carefully poured Aura into them.
Even just wrapping my body with it drains my stamina, but loading Aura into a tool was a difficulty of a completely different dimension.
If my concentration wavered even slightly, the Aura would surely cut off.
I gritted my teeth and maintained the golden energy tightly suffused to the very tips of the tongs.
With preparations complete, I recalled in my mind the voice of Guide-nim, which I had drilled into my head hundreds of times while holed up in my workshop.
[We will begin the guide for crafting the Boots of the Free Sky.]
[Cloud Stone has internalized the properties of clouds, making it impossible to shape by ordinary methods.]
[Throughout the entire forging process, you must maintain Aura focused on both hands and the hammer.]
[If the Aura is severed for even a moment, the Cloud Stone will pass through the tongs and workbench, escaping to the floor, and may be destroyed during forging.]
[While maintaining Aura, firmly hold the Cloud Stone with tongs and place it in the furnace to heat.]
I tightly gripped the pure-white Cloud Stone with the tongs enveloped in golden Aura.
The heavy texture of the stone, which would have phased through like a ghost without Aura, was transmitted to my fingertips.
I pushed the Cloud Stone deep into the blazing furnace.
[Unlike ordinary ore, the Cloud Stone does not change color when heated.]
[Temperature is determined by the amount of white steam rising from the surface of the Cloud Stone.]
[When steam rises thinly and consistently, about the thickness of a finger, the optimal forging temperature has been reached.]
Even within the crimson flames, the Cloud Stone maintained its pure white hue.
I glared at the stone's surface, eyes wide open.
Before long, the thin, mist-like steam gradually coalesced and soon began to rise thinly and consistently, just about the thickness of my finger.
Now.
[Remove the Cloud Stone from the furnace, place it on the workbench, and slowly strike it with the Aura-wrapped hammer.]
[If you strike too forcibly, the cloud energy inside will explosively release, filling the entire workshop with dense fog, so exercise caution.]
[Hammering must be performed with constant, gentle force—more like pressing to shape the form than striking.]
I took the Cloud Stone out of the furnace and laid it on the anvil.
I then wrapped the hammer in my other hand perfectly with golden Aura as well.
I raised the hammer, retracing my memories.
I had to completely shed all the brute force I usually used when pounding Orichalcum.
It wasn't a pounding, kwang-kwang blow, but a sensation more like pressing and spreading flour dough.
Each time the hammer touched the Cloud Stone, a clear metallic sound spread out.
Thick beads of sweat formed on my forehead, afraid that I might fail to control the force and the cloud energy would explode.
The drain on my focus was immense.
[There are three parts to craft.]
[First is the sole plate.]
[It is the thickest plate that supports the entire sole.]
[It is crafted into a flat plate shape with a thickness of 5mm.]
[This is the most crucial structural component that evenly disperses the wearer's load on clouds.]
I detached a portion of the Cloud Stone and began spreading it wide and flat.
With the Aura-infused hammer, I applied steady pressure, precisely adjusting the thickness to exactly 5mm.
It was a breathtakingly precise task.
[Second are the toe plates.]
[Craft three thin plates, each resembling scales, to overlap like the toe section.]
[Each plate is 2mm thick.]
[The overlapped plates must interlock and not impede the bending motion of the toes.]
This required much more delicate work.
I layered three thin 2mm plates, shaping them with an arc so they would move naturally when stacked.
I used subtle flicks of my wrist holding the hammer to bring out the scale-like curves.
[Third is the heel plate.]
[It is crafted in a cup shape that wraps around the heel.]
[With a thickness of 4mm, it serves to stably absorb the shock when landing on clouds.]
To achieve the rounded, cupping shape, I used the corner of the anvil to gently press and fold the Cloud Stone.
While maintaining the 4mm thickness, I created a curved surface that would perfectly adhere to the heel.
My wrists ached, but I couldn't stop.
At that moment, a notification rang, but I had no time to check.
[You are in a state of extreme focus.]
[Touch of the Primeval Maker activates.]
[The quality of the crafted item is enhanced.]
Because it was now the final stage.
[Immediately after each plate is completed, submerge it in cold water to quench.]
[During the quenching process, the cloud energy is uniformly fixed throughout the plate.]
I used the tongs to pick up the shaped sole plate, toe plates, and heel plate in order and placed them into the cold water bucket I had prepared beside me.
—Chiiiiik!
A loud hissing sound erupted as pure white steam exploded upward.
The Cloud Stone plates, rapidly cooling in the water, no longer dispersed into the void but perfectly maintained their unique, lustrous, milky white forms as they hardened firmly.
Having safely overcome the first stage, I wiped off the gathered sweat and let out a short breath.
I carefully retrieved the white Cloud Stone plates, now solidified in their perfect forms from the cold water, and caught my ragged breathing.
Though only the first stage was over, my entire body was already soaked in sweat.
But there was no time to rest.
Immediately, for the next process, the second stage, I laid on the workbench the talons of the Blade Hawk I had purchased at a premium from the Exchange.
[The talons of a Blade Hawk possess both the property of riding wind currents and the property of firmly gripping the surface of clouds.]
[Rather than attaching these talons as they are, extract the properties condensed inside the talons in liquid form and use it as a bonding agent.]
[Since the extracted Connecting Fluid will be used in both the subsequent process of crafting the Griffon feather and the final assembly stage, it is crucial to extract it with as little loss as possible.]
As Guide-nim's explanation stated, I had to draw out the liquid intact from within these hard talons.
I delicately and precisely wrapped the tool I was holding with golden Aura, to prevent the talons from being roughly broken and their inner properties scattering into the air.
As I applied steady pressure, with a crackling sound, the surface of the hard talon split open, and a sticky, transparent fluid began to seep out.
I strained every nerve to avoid even a single drop of loss, carefully gathering and collecting the Connecting Fluid into a small glass vial.
Only after confirming the transparent liquid sloshing inside the glass vial did I pick up the third stage material, the Blue Feather of Griffon.
Around the feather, sharp, fine air currents still swirled, grazing the back of my hand as if to slice it.
[A feather of the Griffon contains the energy of wind, so applying direct heat or cutting it will cause the energy to scatter, damaging the material.]
[The only way to process the feather is to induce it to change shape on its own, without physical force.]
[Evenly apply exactly half of the total amount of Connecting Fluid extracted in Stage 2 over the entire surface of the feather.]
No cutting, and no applying heat.
I held my breath and carefully measured out exactly half of the Blade Hawk Connecting Fluid I had just extracted, then meticulously spread it onto the surface of the huge feather.
[As the Connecting Fluid permeates the feather, the air currents around it will subside, and the feather will begin to stretch and become pliable.]
Amazingly, just as Guide-nim said, the moment the liquid seeped into the feather's surface, the fierce wind that had been swirling endlessly quieted down as if by a lie.
The stiff texture of the feather became as soft and supple as the finest silk or supple leather.
[In this state, slowly spread it by hand to craft the desired shape.]
[Make the end parts of each segmented plate overlap slightly, so that they can flex smoothly when interlocked.]
[Once the crafting of the upper is complete, allow it to air-dry in its fixed shape until the Connecting Fluid has thoroughly dried.]
With both hands wrapped in Aura, I carefully tugged and kneaded the now-softened feather.
Using only the sensation of my fingertips, without any knife or scissors, I spread the feather wide and began shaping it into a rounded upper that would cover the instep and segmented plates that would wrap around the ankle.
I delicately pressed the ends of each plate to overlap very slightly, like fish scales.
It was precision work, securing gaps so the joints could bend naturally with every movement.
After shaping it completely, I placed it on a well-ventilated corner of the workbench and waited for the liquid to dry completely.
How much time passed?
Once I confirmed that the upper made from the feather had dried stiff while maintaining its shape, I finally entered the last assembly stage.
[Assemble the Cloud Stone plates from Stage 1 and the feather upper from Stage 3 in the order of assembly.]
[Normally, each plate would be fixed with metal rivets, but in this crafting, metal rivets cannot be used.]
[The moment a rivet is driven in, the energy of the Cloud Stone would escape through the metal, damaging the properties of the sole.]
[All bonding must proceed solely with the Connecting Fluid set aside in Stage 3.]
Normally, I would have driven in metal rivets with a hammer to secure them, but this time I had to rely entirely on the Connecting Fluid, which acted as an adhesive.
I tightly clutched the vial with the remaining half of the Connecting Fluid.
[The assembly order is as follows.]
[First, join the sole plate and the heel plate.]
[Evenly apply Connecting Fluid to the joining surfaces of the back of the sole plate and the heel plate, then affix them together.]
I laid the thickest white Cloud Stone sole plate on the bottom, then carefully placed the cup-shaped heel plate onto its rear section.
I meticulously applied Connecting Fluid to the bonding surfaces and pressed them together. The two pieces of Cloud Stone interlocked firmly, as if they had been one from the start.
[Second, combine the three toe plates in order.]
[Overlap the toe plates onto the front part of the sole plate like scales and secure with Connecting Fluid.]
[Ensure that the plates interlock front and back, maintaining a bending structure.]
I picked up the thinly crafted three toe plates in order.
I layered and affixed them to the toe area of the sole plate.
Before the Connecting Fluid dried, I quickly bent them by hand.
Corresponding to the angle at which the toes fold when taking a step, the three plates slid smoothly and bent flexibly.
[Third, attach the instep plate.]
[Place the feather-made instep plate onto the Cloud Stone sole plate and join with Connecting Fluid.]
I lifted the dried, blue-hued feather instep plate and draped it over the white Cloud Stone sole plate.
I meticulously applied Connecting Fluid along the edges and pressed firmly. The blue feather and white Cloud Stone adhered solidly without any sense of incongruity.
[Finally, join the ankle segment plates.]
[Interlock the three ankle segment plates made of feather to the end of the instep plate in order and secure with Connecting Fluid.]
[Check that the segment plates bend naturally.]
Now it was time to shape the very last form.
I sequentially layered and fixed the three feather segment plates that would softly wrap the ankle, starting from the upper end of the instep plate.
I meticulously confirmed with my own eyes that even when twisting the ankle this way and that, the plates slid smoothly and flexed without catching between each other.
[Once the entire assembly is complete, maintain the boots wrapped in Aura for 10 minutes.]
[The warmth of the Aura accelerates the final curing of the Connecting Fluid, so that the properties of the Cloud Stone and the Griffon feather completely integrate into one through the Blade Hawk Connecting Fluid.]
I carefully placed the completed form of the Boots of the Free Sky onto the workbench.
Then, I took a deep breath and squeezed out every last drop of the Aura remaining at the bottom of my energy center without reserve.
Golden energy flowed down my two hands and enveloped the entirety of the boots in a round, warm embrace.
Loading Aura into tools was already difficult, but enduring the full 10 minutes while emitting such delicate energy demanded immense stamina and concentration.
Thick beads of sweat dripped from my forehead, soaking the workbench, and the muscles in my arms, taut with tension, screamed and trembled.
But I gritted my teeth and glared with eyes wide open.
Upon contact with the Aura's warmth, the transparent Connecting Fluid that had been filling the gaps of the boots gradually hardened and began to emit a faint glow.
The rough energy of wind and the cloud's nature that drifted through the void intertwined, using the remnants of the Blade Hawk as a medium, merging perfectly into a single piece of equipment.