Chapter 005
Chapter 005
"Are you intimidated?"
At Kang-hyun's provocation, Han Seung-mok's face turned red as if it were about to burst.
Who did he think he was?
He was Han Seung-mok, the man who had climbed the ladder by burying the talented and trampling the incompetent!
And yet, to be treated like this by an eighteen-year-old brat!
"......You'll regret saying that."
Han Seung-mok spat out the words in a low, clipped tone and threatened him with a huff.
Choi Byeong-jun shook his head with a bitter smile.
"Young blood is good, but... being too excessive is something to think about."
He stood up from his seat and gestured.
"Let's go. Workshop 4 is empty today, so you can use that one."
Workshop 4 was located in the basement of the Production Department.
While walking down the hallway, Han Seung-mok walked two steps ahead of Choi Byeong-jun.
It took him less than 10 seconds to secretly pull out his phone and send a text message without Choi Byeong-jun noticing.
'You made a mistake, you brat.'
Han Seung-mok put his phone away and looked only forward. The corners of his mouth twitched, anticipating victory.
As they got closer to the workshop, the smell of hot iron heated by the furnace rose to meet them.
Kang-hyun unconsciously took a deep breath.
Sseup——
"......Nice."
It was a familiar smell.
Workshop 4 was quite spacious.
The infrastructure that Lumen Academy boasted was evident in the dozens of state-of-the-art mana furnaces and the rows of the latest equipment.
In particular, there should have been various raw stones and ingots stored along the long shelves... but there weren't.
'There's nothing here?'
To be precise, anything remotely usable had all disappeared.
A few lumps of scrap metal were rolling around in the corner. They looked like trash at a glance.
Kang-hyun scanned the shelves for a moment. There were traces of someone having cleared them out in a hurry.
'He rigged it in advance.'
When he turned his head, Han Seung-mok was standing there with his arms crossed. He looked at Kang-hyun with a smug expression, the corners of his mouth twitching in a nasty way.
'A brat like you! This is the price for messing with me.'
Just then, Kim Se-young's eyes scanned the shelves and hardened.
"Vice Department Head-nim. Why are the workshop materials like this? It's all trash."
"Well. I suppose it's inspection day today. Bad timing."
It was a petty, transparent scheme.
Just as Kim Se-young was about to step forward.
"Professor."
It was Kang-hyun who grabbed Kim Se-young's sleeve.
"It's fine."
Kang-hyun was already picking up a lump of scrap metal from the shelf.
"What do you mean it's fine? With scrap metal that doesn't even have a grade like this—"
"If the materials are bad."
Kang-hyun rolled the scrap metal in his hand and grinned.
"Then I just have to make it better."
Kim Se-young stared at Kang-hyun blankly for a moment before bursting into a laugh. She felt foolish for having been so anxious over mere materials.
Choi Byeong-jun, who had been watching quietly from behind, also chuckled softly.
"Your confidence is sky-high."
Only Han Seung-mok did not laugh.
His eyes narrowed as he watched Kang-hyun with his arms crossed.
'...That unlucky brat.'
If he received a grade assessment with that scrap metal, the history of metallurgy would have to be rewritten.
It was the most basic of basics in metallurgy that materials determined the ceiling of the final product.
'Go ahead and do your best with that ungraded scrap metal. You brat who doesn't even know the basics.'
Kang-hyun approached the mana furnace and turned up the heat, preparing to work.
"Student Kang-hyun. What are you going to make?"
"Hmm. I made a dagger last time, so this time I'm going to make a Buckler."
"A Buckler? That's unexpected. Wasn't Student Kang-hyun specializing in blades?"
Kim Se-young asked, as if she found it surprising.
The dagger Kang-hyun had submitted for the first exam was clearly the work of a professional bladesmith.
That was why Kim Se-young had assumed that Kang-hyun was walking the path of a professional bladesmith.
"Not particularly. I can make all sorts of things."
Even in his past life, Kang-hyun didn't specifically limit himself to one type of armament; he handled everything.
Considering that a typical dwarf blacksmith specialized in only one type of armament, and that Kang-hyun was the best among all those dwarves...
'I lived like a real eccentric.'
Sseuk— He examined the mana furnace and got a feel for how to operate it. It was thanks to the clearly visible flow of mana.
Hwareuk—
The heat from the mana furnace, which had reached sufficient temperature, surged.
Kang-hyun cut off his distracting thoughts and focused on the work.
Ting, ting—
The scrap metal he tapped with his hand was terrible.
It had a lot of impurities, and mana didn't flow through it well.
If he used it as is, it would end up worse than a sheet of paper, let alone a buckler.
'What is this. It's doable, isn't it?'
Of course, Kang-hyun had an apprenticeship period in his past life.
A time when he spent all day sweeping the smithy floor and running errands.
They didn't even teach him the techniques, so he had to learn by watching over their shoulders and practice with waste materials that were about to be thrown away.
Kang-hyun grinned.
"It reminds me of the old days, which is nice."
When he was a greenhorn, he had worked with things even worse than this. This much was nothing.
Hwareuk...
First, he lowered the heat slightly. He couldn't do anything in the current state where impurities were mixed in.
"Is there no charcoal here?"
"Charcoal? Why on earth would you need that... Ah, don't tell me?"
He mixed the charcoal Kim Se-young brought with clay and coated the scrap metal with it.
Afterward, he put the scrap metal into the furnace and heated it.
'I'll start by removing the impurities.'
Kang-hyun narrowed his eyes as he watched the furnace, then took out the heated scrap metal.
Kkang—! Kkang—!
And he struck it vigorously to separate the impurities.
'W, what? What on earth is that...!'
Han Seung-mok couldn't believe what he was seeing right in front of him.
All that was prepared for the cheeky brat was scrap metal that shouldn't even be usable.
A greenhorn of that age should have been fumbling around and making mistakes.
'Why is he working so skillfully...!'
A primitive slag refining method using charcoal and clay, the Bloomery Process.
In a society where technology is as advanced as it is now, it is almost never used, and no one uses it.
Han Seung-mok had only encountered it in theory during his apprenticeship.
It was an obsolete technology.
'Why is he so good at it?!'
That cheeky brat was working as familiarly as if he did it every day.
"Ho-ho. The Bloomery Process? Student Kang-hyun has come up with a clever trick. Since the materials are bad, he's going to fix the materials first."
Choi Byeong-jun's eyes sparkled with surprise.
"It's common to be good at manufacturing, but it's rare to find someone who knows how to refine in this day and age."
Choi Byeong-jun turned to Kim Se-young.
"Young people these days don't want to learn things like that because it's hard, so Professor Kim Se-young has truly recognized a student with a solid foundation."
Affection filled Choi Byeong-jun's eyes as he looked at Kang-hyun.
Choi Byeong-jun had been active as a first-generation blacksmith right after the appearance of dungeons and monsters.
Before good-quality ingots poured out of factories like they do now, they used to refine them one by one.
It was a technique hard to see these days, so he couldn't help but look favorably upon Kang-hyun using the Bloomery Process.
"Hah, my. His posture is better than mine when I was young."
Kim Se-young, who had been gaping while watching Kang-hyun refine, hurriedly replied.
"Y, yes! It's certainly a rare technique, but Student Kang-hyun has learned it well."
Watching Kang-hyun diligently hammering, Kim Se-young was silently astonished.
'He knows how to do such an old-fashioned refining method in this day and age?'
There was a reason why the Bloomery Process had become obsolete.
The working time exceeding 10 hours, the efficiency bordering on the worst, the physical fatigue bordering on overwork, etc...
Even Kim Se-young's master hadn't taught it to her, saying there would be no use for it.
Naturally, Kim Se-young didn't know how to do it either...
Kkang—! Kkang—!
Meanwhile, Kang-hyun, who was diligently hammering, instinctively had a hunch.
'I think it would be more usable if I infused mana right now?'
Now, as the slag was coming out from between the sponge-like gaps of the bloomery iron.
What would happen if he infused mana into those gaps?
'Whatever it becomes, it will be in a better state than it is now.'
Perhaps it was the instinct of an ironworker who had held a hammer for hundreds of years.
Even though no one had taught him, Kang-hyun intuitively began to infuse mana.
Uung—
Hot, crimson mana rising from his heart settled into the hammer.
Kang-hyun didn't hesitate to load the mana and strike it into the metal with his hammer.
Ka-ang!
The red mana, visible only to Kang-hyun's eyes, seeped into the bloomery iron.
The slag was squeezed out in abundance.
'It's working!'
The thrill of it being made exactly as he thought.
"Hehe, hehehe...!"
Kang-hyun let out a silly laugh and swung the hammer frantically.
"Hmm?"
"Oh, what's that?"
It was Choi Byeong-jun and Kim Se-young who noticed the anomaly.
Their expressions became quite serious.
"Ah? Why are you doing that? Did he make some kind of mistake?"
Han Seung-mok, who was the only one who didn't know the reason, made a baseless guess, but.
Kim Se-young and Han Seung-mok didn't even respond.
"...Professor Kim. That thing right now, did I see that correctly?"
"Uh... I think so. No, was that even possible?"
"Isn't he eighteen this year? To have that level of skill already..."
Instead, the two of them started whispering seriously.
It was a situation where anyone could see that only Han Seung-mok didn't understand.
Han Seung-mok, whose pride had been scratched, turned his head toward Kang-hyun, huffing.
'Damn it, damn it! What the hell did that dog-like brat do to... make such a fuss...'
Huh?
Han Seung-mok's mouth dropped open.
"The work is already finishing?!"
The Bloomery Process requires at least thousands of hammer strikes.
Naturally, the working time is very long.
But the brat's bloomery iron right now... was on the verge of having almost all the impurities removed.
'No way...! It, it's not a job that ends this quickly!'
Han Seung-mok, eyes wide open, was only then able to figure out the cause.
'Mana! That kid was working while infusing mana!'
Pushing mana in to discharge the slag.
It was a simple method that anyone could think of if they knew the theory.
Of course, it wasn't that no one had tried it.
However—
Everyone failed.
Except for Kang-hyun right in front of him.
"It would require tremendous mana precision and proficiency... Student Kang-hyun's concentration is truly amazing."
"That... it seems to have already exceeded the level of a student?"
A level of mana operation that involves accurately inserting needles into dozens of holes at the same time.
But Kang-hyun was succeeding in inserting dozens of needles in a row.
"His mana operation is terrifyingly precise. Professor Kim Se-young, would you be able to succeed at that method continuously?"
"Sseup... well..."
"Haha. To think that Professor Kim, who created the world's first ego sword, would show such a weak side?"
"......If you give me time to practice, I can do it too."
Conversely, that meant if she didn't have time to practice, she couldn't do it.
'I recognized it in the first exam, but his nerve and confidence are immense.'
Kim Se-young looked at Kang-hyun with eyes full of admiration.
To perform high-difficulty work without hesitation in a place with such high pressure.
It's not something one can do with just any kind of guts.
Kka-ang—!
Meanwhile.
Kang-hyun struck the last hammer blow.
"Hoo."
As he was lightly wiping off his sweat.
Tiring—!
"Hmm?"
Translucent letters appeared before Kang-hyun's eyes.
[Name: Mana Crystal]
[Grade: Rare]
[Quality: Above Average]
[Description: Refined scrap metal that was close to waste with near-perfect skill.
A blacksmith's work that stands out for its surprisingly delicate mana operation.
Fire-attribute mana was included during the refining process, resulting in extremely high mana conductivity and fire-attribute mana affinity.]
"Oh."
Kang-hyun scratched his forehead.
Wasn't the status window supposed to only appear for armaments?
'It's Rare grade just for refining some scrap metal? System, you're finally recognizing my skills a little.'
That aside.
To give a Rare grade just for removing a few impurities.
'The rare weapon I made in the first evaluation must have really been trash.'
...If Kim Se-young or Han Seung-mok had known, they would have been dumbfounded.
Unfortunately, they couldn't read Kang-hyun's thoughts.
"Hmm. Professor?"
Kang-hyun, who had been contemplating for a moment, called out to Professor Kim Se-young.
"This came out as Rare grade, should I keep working on it?"
"... What?!"
Kim Se-young shouted in shock.
"You refined that scrap metal and it even came out as a grade?!"
No, how on earth?!
Han Seung-mok, whose face had turned red as if it were about to burst, came running out as if he were jumping out.
"That can't be! That can't be!"
Han Seung-mok stared intently at the ingot Kang-hyun was working on.
His small eyes widened, and he muttered as if he couldn't believe it.
"...N, no...... How on earth...... is this......"
It made no sense.
How could he have refined scrap metal that was trash and gotten a Rare grade!
This... in Han Seung-mok's common sense, this was impossible.
"T, that's right! You, you used some, some kind of illicit method—!"
"Vice Department Head-nim."
Choi Byeong-jun lowered his voice quietly. Han Seung-mok's neck shrank at the small but heavy voice.
"I think it would be meaningless to discuss Student Kang-hyun's skills any further at this point."
"........."
Han Seung-mok hung his head low and trembled.
He clenched his fists and mumbled very quietly.
"......Student, Kang-hyun......"
"Yes."
Kang-hyun stood with his legs crossed crookedly.
"I will... acknowledge... your passing......"
"Next time."
Kang-hyun, who had tossed and caught his hammer a few times, raised the corners of his mouth.
"Don't be so stingy with the materials. I want to make something proper, too."
Han Seung-mok's face crumpled mercilessly.