Chapter 105 Strongest Sage, Goes Through Exhumation of His Dark History

 

About 30 minutes after we started the grinding.
The dragon claw I ground formed into the shape faster than planned.

"I-It's really hard..."

Ruli is having a tough time.
She's looking at the ink-spotted board with a difficult expression.

"But it's gotten quite flat already."

"It is but you know.... I've gotten it to this state a bit ago, but it doesn't feel like it's getting flatter at all since..."

Well, even if one uses barrier as a support, they themselves are ultimately the one who does the grinding.
You have to train for years in order to be accurate with this method.
This is how it should be for one's first time.

"After getting that far, you only need to apply a bit more treatment afterward. Let me have it for a sec."

"Yes!"

I grind the mithril board I got from Ruli with a whetstone here and there.
Then I put the board on top of the barrier--the ink on the barrier stuck on the whole surface of the board.
A proof that there's no unevenness.

"I-In one try!?"

"It's because Ruli had taken care of the bigger bumps. As for the details like this.... Well, it's a matter of experience."

"I don't feel like I can do it even after a decade of training though...."

"I don't think it'll take that long just to shape these boards."

I've noticed so far that Ruli has a talent in production type of works.
Both in her magic and handiworks.
There's probably not a lot of people who can make the board as flat as the one that Ruli worked on earlier in their first try using this method.

Well, the difference in motivation probably also plays a big role.
I like fighting more than producing, so much that I even reincarnated myself.
Either way, things are going well.

"Then let's get on to the next board."

I took another mithril board.
We need to process five boards this time.

...That said, unlike with a dragon claw, handling mithril is simple.
Since Ruli has already formed the rough shapes, I only need to grind a bit here and there to get the shape I want.

"U-umm...."
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
While I was grinding the mithril board, Ruli talked to me.

"Hm? Do you need something?"

I turn my sight at Ruli while still grinding the board.
Seeing that, Ruli's expression turned like she was watching something mystifying.

"It's been on my mind since awhile ago.... How is it that Mathi-kun able to grind the boards flat without using barrier? ...Did you use some kind of handy magic?"

Ruli shifted her glance from the board I ground, to the barrier that was set up in the beginning.
Ah. That huh.

True enough, I only ground using the barrier once  in the beginning to show Ruli how.
But I'm not using any particular magic.

Actually, there exists a more handy method.
That is--

"It's experience."

"T-that's experience too!? You can learn to do such minute details with experience!?"

"Yeah. I think Ruli too will get it before long."

"How many hundreds years would it take me...."

Right....
I'm sure it took me 30 years from the day I started doing this kind of processing before I could do it without an assistance.
But Ruli can probably achieve that faster.
I still don't know how long it'll actually take though.

"Alright, done."

I finished shaping five boards while conversing.
There's no chip or crack on the mithril and dragon claw-made boards.
Only after getting them this polished can these five boards function as a sword.

"It's the finishing touches next. Put this spell art first."

"Yes!"

Dragon Claw gets 【Steel Slash】, 【Sharpen】, 【Impact Blade】, and 【Wear Proof】.
The interior mithril boards get 【Mana Strike】, 【Impact Blade】, 【Hardness Reinforcement】, and 【Heatproof Reinforcement】.
The outer ones get 【Hardness Reinforcement】, 【Toughness Reinforcement】, 【Heatproof Reinforcement】, and 【Impact Blade】.

In accordance to my instruction, the magic get augmented one after another.
And after the last augments, 【Binding】 and 【Union】, five boards are united into one sword--the sword is completed.

"...Yup. It's quite well done."

I lifted and checked the sword out.
The degree of completion is such that you wouldn't have guessed it was the first time she made this kind of sword.

"So this is a sword augmented with 20 magic.... C-could you let me hold it for a bit!?"

"Sure."

Ruli took the sword and tried to cut a nearby body of dead monsters (which Alma and Iris beat in their free time while the sword was being made).
The monster gets cut in two in one swing--but Ruli's expression looks like she doesn't get something.

"....Huh? It's really sharp and all but.... It's more ordinary than I thought...."

I guess that's only natural with the way she cut just now.
You can't use this sword like an ordinary sword after all.

"Let me have it for a bit."

"Y-yes."

I received the sword from Ruli--and put my mana into it.
And then, the five magic stones embedded on the grip all shined together.

Then I shook the sword vertically just like that--and the dungeon wall in front of us got cut in two.
Yup. The performance exceeds my expectation.

"W-what did you do just now!?"

"Putting my mana into the sword."

"....Mana?"

"Yeah. The magic augmented in this sword can only demonstrate their true strength after the user supplied it with their mana. It won't have that much power in its bare form with the size of these magic stones."

I pointed at the magic stones embedded on the grip.
When you make a sword formed by several pieces of boards, you need the same number of magic stones as the boards.
Therefore, you can't use magic stones that are too big.

"D-don't tell me, that's.... A sword with the same mechanism as 『Magic Spear Gae Bolg』!?"

"....Gei Bolk?"

Ruli became excited after hearing my explanation about the sword.
But still, Gei Bolk huh, I've no clue about that.
Wonder if someone made such a weapon while I wasn't aware.

"N... No way, you don't know about Gae Bolg!? It's that Gae Bolg you know?"

"Not sure what 'that' even means...."

"It's the strongest spear that transforms when you fill it with mana!"

That kinda thing exists huh.
I think having the spear transform is inefficient though.
....Hm? Wait a minute.

"By any chance, does that spear look like this?"

I moved sand on the ground turning it into spear shape.
An ineffectual inefficiently shaped spear, it's hard to even call it a spear.

"Yes, that's it! So you knew all along after all!"

Ruli pointed at it and sounded like she was relieved.

Aah. I know this spear.
It's a dud I made when I left myself to the tension of my hazy self after 30 days of sleepless nights.
Even though it's obvious just by thinking a bit that carrying two normal spears would be much stronger than needlessly augmenting one with spell arts that enable it to transform.

I thought I had disposed of that junk as one of my dark history.... Why is it still existing.
No. The fact that it still exists is fine. I really don't want to admit it, but fine.

But there was a part that I can't let off in Ruli's words.
I ask Ruli back in order to ensure that I wasn't mishearing it.

"Ruli, it almost sounded like you said Gae Bolg was the strongest...."

"You didn't hear it wrong you know? The tale of great hero Iriast-sama finishing demons off with Gae Bolg.... Is famous isn't it?"

....Dang it.

















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