Chapter 105

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 b.u.mps . 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 . . . . "

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 a.s.sistance .

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 put your mana into it!"

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 make it transform .

I thought I had disposed 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 .