Genius Blacksmith's Game

Sword King Barad.

Counted among the Ten Legends of the continent, he had felt his skin crawl exactly three times in his life.

At eight years old. The day he drove a blade through the throat of an assassin aiming for him and committed his first kill.

At twenty-nine. The day he defeated the Sword King of that era and claimed the name of Legend.

And just yesterday. The one he had believed to be an outstanding martial man.

When he discovered that man was the maker of the sword he had sought—and that he was only of the level to participate in the Super Rookie Tournament.

“Can such a thing be?”

Even within the Sword King’s common sense, it would not fit.

Not an unofficial ranked blacksmith, as Lord had said?

“I pay respects to Your Majesty.”

Before meeting the blacksmith Hyun, the kingdom’s finest blacksmith, Kurs, entered his office.

Not equal to Deng, the Prime Kingdom’s Tower Master of Swords, but the finest blacksmith in this Kingdom of Goyard.

“He is a martial man and a blacksmith. I could also put it this way: he is neither a martial man nor a blacksmith.”

That was Barad’s thought as well.

“The Outsiders are graded by something they call level. A blacksmith at the level to participate in the Super Rookie Tournament is only a beginner blacksmith. That sword that is said to have cut Your Majesty’s blade—whatever process was used to make it, it must have been temporary.”

“Temporary, you say...?”

“The Outsiders also use mysterious power in a limited way.”

Kurs sounded negative enough to make one wonder if he was jealous of Hyun.

But Barad’s thoughts aligned with his.

“What troubles me most is the probability they speak of.”

“What do you mean by probability?”

“Their products come out different every time. Those who had done nothing but churn out useless artifacts suddenly make an artifact that defies their common sense. It must be due to probability dwelling in that mysterious power.”

“Give me an example.”

“They say, ‘I was making arms of this land, and today of all days I got lucky and crafted a good artifact.’ It is also said that such a force is embedded in their mysterious power.”

Barad nodded.

“A five percent chance for a weapon of Rare grade to be made.”

“......”

“That is their mysterious power.”

At this point, Barad asked:

“Our blacksmiths are different?”

“Entirely different. Unlike their mysterious power, we make by experience, know-how, and knowledge. Of course, like them, we too have days when our luck is good—days we are better than usual and gain a different insight than usual. On those days, we craft {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} artifacts of a higher level and leave behind a masterpiece.”

Barad realized what he was trying to say.

“We build on fundamentals and experience, and they rely on probabilistic power?”

“Yes. In fact, if you talk with them, most of them are people ignorant of the blacksmith’s work.”

He himself sympathized with that.

“The sword Your Majesty desires has defeated countless blacksmiths in the attempt to make it. I am the same. And the materials given to them are precious ones our kingdom obtains in only the smallest of quantities. To entrust such a thing to a beginner blacksmith is...”

Kurs could not finish.

Barad nodded. He had asked the opinion not so much to inquire as to confirm whether his own thought was correct.

A martial man or a blacksmith who won the Super Rookie Tournament.

The material for the weapon Barad needed was running out.

Once that material was exhausted, even if he wished to make more, he would find it hard to do so.

“This is what I think best.”

Kurs offered a small piece of advice.

“Do not give him that material. Give him something a few steps lower and put him to the test.”

Barad nodded.

He could not simply toss such precious material to anyone.

“I will test him in my way.”

Having sought his counsel, Barad left the office.

Barad walked to the audience chamber and took his seat. Before long, the blacksmith Hyun entered.

Even seeing him again, he was one to inspire admiration.

Short-cropped black hair matched with brown eyes. Most striking of all was his build.

Broad shoulders and an indifferent expression.

Watching his gait, one felt as though looking upon an excellent martial man and a noble of high birth.

“Blacksmith Hyun. I pay respects to His Majesty Barad.”

He went down on one knee and observed the formalities.

“You took a while.”

“The road to see you was arduous.”

Lord had entered the Grave of Swords, and as Hyun himself would not meet such a man, Barad understood that the journey could not have been easy.

Barad went straight to the point.

His eyes sharpened like a hawk’s.

“There is a sword I must have.”

“May I know what effect that sword must possess?”

“I need a sword that can protect me before a searing flame that can melt anything.”

“Do you mean a sword imbued with the power of ice?”

“Yes. A sword that also bears the power to cut down an enemy that spews scorching heat. Can you make it?”

Barad’s question was keen.

He doubted Hyun. Not only because of the talk with Kurs.

Because he was an Outsider, he even entertained the thought that Hyun might run off with the ore he gave him.

He also thought it possible Hyun had come merely to lay eyes on a king.

Of course, the seed of every doubt lay in the fact that Hyun was only a beginner blacksmith.

To that question, Hyun handled it cleverly.

“...I will do my utmost.”

Barad gave a wry smile, then signaled with his eyes to a retainer standing to the side.

The retainer set down a large chest before the man.

When the chest was thrown open, a cold chill flowed out.

“Cold-Iron. That is the ore’s name.”

You have obtained the Rare ore Cold-Iron.

Having had audience with Barad, Hyunsoo could see an ore that scattered faint blue light.

Cold-Iron, is it...?

Cold-Iron. A familiar name. Hyunsoo had grown up reading fantasy and martial stories as a child.

And he knew Ares contained a variety of settings.

If this is the Cold-Iron I know, then Ten-Thousand-Year Cold-Iron could also exist here, couldn’t it?

Hyunsoo worked to steady himself. For a blacksmith, a new ore always set the heart racing.

“Inspect it.”

At Barad’s word, Hyun examined it.

(Cold-Iron)

Grade: Rare

Restriction: Artisan Blacksmith Lv.200+.

Difficulty: Medium.

Special Abilities

Fire-attribute Resistance +23%.

Ice-attribute Skills rise up to Rare.

Swords Cutting Power +41%.

Durability 7,000

Description: A special ore that lay buried in a cold bed and held chill for a long time, it elevates cutting power to an unreasonable degree.

It’s real. This is the Cold-Iron I knew.

Of course, settings for Cold-Iron would differ.

In Ares, the setting was Cold-Iron that held chill.

And seeing cutting power this high for a Rare, it took his breath away.

In exchange, while cutting power is high, its special abilities don’t raise stats; moreover, though it holds chill, most of that power is concentrated on cutting.

Hyunsoo quickly finished analyzing the ore. And then another thought came.

Could Ten-Thousand-Year Cold-Iron really exist?

And perhaps a small hope that he might obtain it.

Barad spoke.

“Cold-Iron is a precious iron that can be obtained only in our Kingdom of Goyard. I would see whether you have the right to make the sword.”

Kurs had said to test Hyun’s qualifications after giving the ore.

But now Barad intended to test what degree of skill Hyun possessed by another method.

If Kurs’s words were true, Barad was not idle enough to indulge a beginner blacksmith with great expectations and time.

“When a sword contains chill, that frost is bound to spread around it.”

He pointed his index finger to the floor beneath him.

“Make a sword whose chill can reach this spot. If you do, I will give you the material for the true commission.”

DING!

Linked Quest: The King’s Trial.

Grade: S.

Restriction: One whom the King has proposed.

Reward: You may receive the true commission.

Penalty on Failure: Banishment from the Kingdom of Goyard.

Description: Craft a sword that emits chill and thereby earn the right to receive the true commission.

That was all.

Blacksmith Hyun. Upon meeting him, Barad felt an emotion for the first time in his life.

But the fact that he was neither a martial man nor a blacksmith, and that he was only a beginner blacksmith who relied on probability, cooled his expectations of him.

And then Hyunsoo smiled faintly.

“It won’t take long.”

Barad wore a puzzled expression at those words.

“I will craft it here and now.”

Hyun took the Cold-Iron into his hand.

Barad, who had been about to rise, stopped. Sitting back down, he fixed indifferent eyes on the Outsider called Hyun.

He guessed what Hyun meant to do.

That, then.

Not long ago, Hyun had made a gauntlet and a Damascus Crescent-Moon Blade. That power.

Barad had mistaken that power for that of a Weapon Master.

Hyun asked:

“How far did the other blacksmiths make it reach?”

“Kingdom’s Finest Blacksmith Kurs made the chill reach right here.”

How biting that sword had been.

Merely holding it, the chill had reached even this spot.

Even that had not satisfied Barad.

It was merely the level required to receive precious material.

Barad crossed one leg and propped his chin.

His expression showed interest extinguished.

A beginner blacksmith’s crafting process.

It would be but an instant, yet having to watch a power that relied on probability wearied him.

At last, Hyun began crafting.

The instant the crafting began, Barad lost his wits for a moment at the beauty.

The ore, tinged with a faint blue light, surged into the air and instantly melted into pure iron.

That iron ran molten into a red blade, and that blade cooled into a sword-edge imbued with blue.

All within five seconds.

The Cold-Iron he had given became a sleek sword within five seconds.

And then—

KRRRRRRRAAACK—

The king did not take his eyes off him. No—could not. And the man called Hyunsoo also held Barad’s gaze.

Only when the sound of freezing finished did Barad, who had maintained a poker face, speak.

“...A tremendous power. I truly cannot tell whether you are a martial man or a blacksmith.”

Though he wore a calm expression, he felt the chill wrapping his body.

“A blacksmith.”

“I see.”

At last he turned his head away from Hyun’s eyes.

The entire audience chamber was covered in frost. The water the retainer had set nearby was frozen.

Even the chandelier was rimed with ice. Much—no, the whole audience chamber—was frozen.

But that was not the important part.

It was impressive. But what it was mattered more.

“Is it a matter of probability? Or is it that you can manifest such a strange force once, only as a single use?”

“Neither.”

Neither? Could that be?

Was he not merely a beginner blacksmith?

“Then what?”

Hyun smiled with confidence.

“Skill.”

The king was impressed.