WeTried Translations

Translator: [IncomeElastic]

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Became a Blacksmith the Rankers Are Obsessed With ◈

Chapter 039

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A God Calls Me

* * *

What's more.

"......."

- Thump, thump.

My heart gives a small leap.

Now, what is a bell?

In the end, it's iron.

"First metallurgy."

It was time to begin.

I picked up the raw ore Dolores had brought me a while back.

What I needed right now was a high-quality ingot.

Not some middling industrial-grade scrap, but a genuinely excellent ingot made with my own hands.

I lifted one piece of ore up to eye level.

─────────────────

[Hematite Ore][☆☆☆☆☆]

[Purity][44 / 100]

[Impurities: Silica, Sulfur]

─────────────────

The overall purity of the ore Dolores had brought was excellent.

According to the manual, figuring out the true purity normally required knowing the ore's reputation by mining region.

This much purity from one mine, that much from another.

Fortunately, I could skip that whole tedious process.

And among them.

─────────────────

[Hematite Ore][★☆☆☆☆]

[Purity][78 / 100]

[Impurities: Silica, Sulfur]

─────────────────

My hand stopped.

Find the secret key.

I'd found the ore.

This was pretty good, good enough that I could almost believe it had already been refined once.

Nature had basically done half the work for me.

I picked up the ore and rolled it across the table.

- Roll.

Nice and heavy.

Good.

I picked up the tongs.

"Let's melt this down."

I tossed an Ignition Stone into the forge and stoked the fire.

- Whoosh!

Flames rose up in the forge.

Red light crept up the walls.

Without meaning to, the corner of my mouth curled up.

First metallurgy.

Once the fire caught properly, I pushed the ore inside.

And, let it heat.

Once the flame started to droop a little...

- Creak. Creak!

"Ugh!"

Even though it was broad daylight, I stomped on the pedal, pumping air into the flames.

Ah, I'd oiled the thing, but it still wasn't easy.

- Creak! Creak!

- Whoosh! Whoosh!

Being short meant my weight didn't carry through, and without weight behind it, I had to throw my whole body into pressing down.

Sweat beaded on my forehead. One drop ran down my temple and dripped off the tip of my chin.

I undid the buttons at my chest and pulled my shirt up.

Much better.

I'm gonna die.

How much time had passed?

The ore in the forge had begun to lose its shape a little.

And, now.

- Plop.

I grabbed a handful of charcoal and tossed it back in.

Ore, to begin with, isn't iron, it's iron with oxygen clinging to it.

The charcoal had to steal that oxygen away before pure iron would remain.

And then.

What had been red turned orange, and orange turned white again.

More precisely... when it began throwing off light bright enough to blind.

Something pale and white floated up over the glowing ore. Skimming that off was how you removed the impurities.

Once every last bit of impurity had been skimmed away, it was time.

- Slide.

I pushed the tongs in and pulled out the glowing mass.

- Hiss!

Surprisingly, the ore, heated to its very limit, hissed and crackled the moment it touched the relatively cooler air.

'Right now.'

Thinking it over after pulling it out would be too late.

I'd already done all my thinking.

Next to the forge sat two cooling troughs, side by side.

One water, one oil.

Last time, it had been water.

But under normal circumstances, cooling ore in water is a reckless move.

It cools too fast, and the ore cracks apart in an instant.

But what had I wanted, last time?

Exactly, Thermal Shock Delamination.

Back then, I'd needed the shock to strip the shell off the Ember Ore.

This time, there was no need for that.

I needed it to cool relatively "slowly" this time, and oil was the right fit.

Oil conducts heat sluggishly, so it cools things slowly.

So that the outside and inside would cool at roughly the same rate, without much mismatch.

I moved the tongs toward the oil.

And pushed the glowing white ore down into the oil.

- Splash.

- Bubble, bubble.

There was no hiss like there'd been with the water.

Instead.

- Whoosh!

"Shit?!"

Flames burst across the surface of the oil.

The oil couldn't take the heat and started burning on its own.

Black smoke rose toward the workshop ceiling and filled it.

Uh, I was startled, r-really startled, but... this is just how it goes.

With water, the sound's the awful part. With oil, this fire business is the awful part.

Luckily the workshop had been renovated, there was a vent in the ceiling and a window right in front of me, so at least I didn't end up buried in smoke.

- Bubble.

I kept stirring the ore gripped in the tongs.

If I left it sitting still, a vapor film would form on the surface and the heat wouldn't escape properly.

How did I know that? My professor told me so. My dwarf professor.

"Sixteen... seventeen...."

My arm trembled slightly.

The flames had died down before I noticed. The smoke had thinned out a lot too.

Eighteen... nineteen.

And then.

"Twenty."

- Splash!

I hauled my arm up and pulled it out with the tongs in one motion.

Black, scorched oil dripped from the ore at the tip of the tongs.

I set it down on the anvil.

Still glowing red. Just right.

I reached for the hammer hanging on the wall.

The Earthborn Hammer.

Sorry, Tozar's Thunder Hammer, you're still not a forging hammer.

Precious as you are.

I gripped the handle.

- Clang!

First strike.

Another strike.

- Clang clang clang!

With every blow, the mass shrank a little smaller.

And grew a little harder.

The stuff worth discarding fell away, leaving only the core behind.

No matter how I looked at it, the exercise I'd been doing lately was paying off.

God, this is exhausting. If I hadn't even done that much, this would've been actual hell.

"Haah... haah...."

My shoulder felt like it was about to pop out, my hands were numb, sweat ran into my eyes, but,

if I stopped, it would cool. If it cooled, I'd have to do the whole thing over again. Unless I was insane, finishing it in one go was the only sane choice.

How long had I been hammering like that?

- Clang! Clang.

The sound had changed.

I looked down at the anvil.

A lump of iron about the size of my palm sat on top of it.

This was the ingot.

"Alright."

So, what would you turn out to be?

And the result was.

─────────────────

[Hematite Ingot] [Handmade]

[1kg]

─────────────────

[Composition]

[Iron] [99.39%]

[Carbon] [0.58%]

[Sulfur] [0.00%]

[Phosphorus] [0.03%]

─────────────────

[Quality]

[Homogeneity] [A]

[Density] [A]

─────────────────

[Assessment]

An ingot forged by human hands.

All sulfur has been removed without a trace, the structure is free of gaps, and the grain is even.

It can be shaped into any form.

─────────────────

Clenching my teeth, I murmured cautiously in a trembling voice.

"Um... is this any good?"

I already knew the answer. I just wanted to ask anyway, for no reason.

The thing I'd always wanted to try, just once.

I asked Yuna.

[.......]

Leaving Yuna's non-reaction behind, I clenched my fist and shook it in the air.

"Yes!"

I clenched my fist tight and shook it wildly in the air.

At last, a decent-looking ingot had come out of it.

My first time making an ingot, but... not bad, I'd say.

Honestly, the process should have been more complicated, but the purity was so high to begin with that it didn't need to be.

And.

Now.

"......."

Making a bell normally required a mold.

Melt the ingot into molten metal, pour it, shape it.

But right now, I had nothing to catch molten metal in, and no mold either.

So then, what does an Heir of Flame do when the right tools aren't around?

"Just do it."

If you don't have the tools, you just hammer it into shape. That's all there is to it.

The manual really does say exactly that.

『Do not blame the material, do not blame the workshop. A hammer and an anvil are all you truly need.』

Talk about tough love.

Granted, that's the apprentice-level manual. What's ridiculous is that once you get to the certified-level manual, it tells you to make full use of your tools, because you shouldn't wreck your body.

Crazy professor.

I adjusted my grip on the tongs again.

"I do want to rest."

I tossed more charcoal into the forge, the corner of my mouth curling up.

"But this is exactly the kind of moment you push through."

I wiped the sweat from my forehead with my arm and stoked the fire.

The process from here was the same.

Heat the ingot until it softened.

And this time, instead of dunking the softened ingot in oil!

Straight to it!

- Thud.

I set it on the anvil and started hammering.

The advantage of the Earthborn Hammer is that its front and back are shaped differently.

The front, flat and broad, is good for pressing things solidly flat. The back, sharp and narrow, is good for drawing the shape in.

Now this is a proper forging hammer.

- Clang! Clang!

First, spread it out. You don't just shut up and try to force it into a bell shape right away.

The palm-sized lump spread out a little more with every blow.

- Clang clang clang!

When the color dimmed, I put it back in the forge; when it glowed red, I pulled it out and hammered it again.

How many times had I repeated that?

- Tap.

A wide, flat disc now sat on the anvil.

Easy mode, up to here.

The hard part starts now.

I flipped the hammer around, turning the sharp side forward.

'Now, to draw it in.'

I hooked the edge of the disc lightly over the tip of the anvil.

And gradually pushed it up and inward with the hammer, working from the outside in.

Every time I worked one full pass around the flattened disc, the rim rose up a little more.

"Rise" here means it stood straight up.

"Riiiise!!"

One pass around made a plate. One more pass made a bowl.

And.

- Whoosh!

"Ugh!"

Color dies down, back to the forge. Glows red, back to the anvil.

I stopped even counting how many times I went back and forth.

Right when I genuinely thought I might die,

the thing on the anvil finally started turning into the shape I wanted.

"It's working...."

But the real part starts here.

What determines a bell's sound?

Thickness.

If one side is thick and the other thin, the sound dies right there.

No matter how pretty it looks, it's still just iron, comb-pattern pottery-tier work.

So wherever the thickness fell short, I flattened it out again, then hammered it back down.

How many times had I repeated that?

"...Haah."

I caught my breath and looked down at the anvil.

There sat a small, smooth, dark red bell.

And.

This time, even though I hadn't done anything in particular,

- Whoosh!

the Sun Dwarves' engraving burned itself into the front of the bell.

The apprentice's pattern, propped up by an L underneath.

Guess getting Certified really does mean different treatment.

I felt the corner of my mouth curl up as I looked down at the bell, and.

─────────────────

[Divine Bell][★★☆☆☆]

[Divine Implement (神具)]

─────────────────

A bell that tells the gods an Heir of Flame has opened their own forge.

Upon hearing it, the gods will ask for what they desire.

─────────────────

『Answer the call.』

- To Certified Blacksmith L -

─────────────────

What is this.

The first thing that came through was,

an Origin Script telling me to expect contact.

I had no idea who'd sent it. The bell hadn't even rung yet, what was this about.

I left the bell sitting on the anvil.

It was scorching hot right now anyway. It'd need to cool before I could even touch it.

So, in the meantime.

I picked up some scrap iron.

I needed some kind of hanger to hang the bell from.

This much was a piece of cake.

A few strikes produced a ring, and a few more produced a stand to hold it.

And how much time had passed?

- Slide.

I tapped the bell lightly with the back of my hand.

Is it hot?

[?! Brother!]

"Aaaagh, hot!"

[Are you insane?! Are you okay? Are you okay, brother?!! What do I do!!!]

"Oh, that's refreshing."

[Ugh, seriously, so annoying, so annoying ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

I felt my mouth curl up as I hung the bell on its stand and headed outside.

I had no idea how many hours it had been.

My sweat had cooled enough that my clothes felt cold.

- Creak.

According to the manual, the way to receive a god's contact was simple enough.

『Whether moon or sun, set it down upon the earth when it hangs at its very center.』

『For the masters of that hour shall descend.』

In other words, day or night made no difference, I just had to set it out whenever something hung directly overhead.

Then, roughly speaking, whichever god suited that hour would come down. It didn't seem to be as simple as the moon goddess showing up just because the moon was out.

And.

Right now, as it happened, a full moon hung directly overhead.

The night wind swept across my face.

Dead center of the black sky.

- Plop.

I set the bell down on the grass.

The Earthborn Hammer hung ready in my right hand.

Now, this.

- Slide.

I adjusted my grip on the hammer and slowly raised it.

I steadied my breath, once.

"Here goes."

- Ding....

A clear sound cut through the night air.

- Hmmm....

The sound and its resonance seeped into my ears.

- Thump.

Goosebumps rose faintly on my skin.

I'd heard bells ring before, but I'd never felt anything like this.

Whether I could actually receive a god's call this way,

just as I was waiting to find out,

"...Is it over now?"

"......."

I turned my head and found Ruby crouched right beside me.

In her hands were a ciabatta roll and a bottle of water.

The kind I liked.

Cute. I had no idea how long she'd been sitting there.

Had she been waiting to give it to me?

"What, why are you looking at me like that."

I took the bread, the corner of my mouth curling up.

"Shh."

And.

- Slide.

I brought a finger to my lips.

"A god is coming."

"......?"

Just as Ruby tilted her head, not quite understanding,

- Ding-

The bell, untouched by anyone, suddenly rang.

And, not long after.

- Ding, ding, ding, ding-

The hammer was still in my hand, and there was no wind blowing.

"Thanks for the bread."

I watched the bell ringing wildly, struck again and again by some unknown force,

and slowly reached out to pat Ruby's head.

Ruby's eyes went wide.

"......."

- Ding, ding, ding....

A god.

was calling out to me.

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