The forest wind, carrying the fresh scent of grass and trees, echoed through the sword-forging shed.
The shirtless youth stared intently at the red-hot iron block, his right hand hammering rhythmically. With each strike, the notification [Impurities -1] rang in his ears.
This was the second day after Kanae's departure.
In just one day, Tetsu no Sosuke had completely finalized the design for the Nichirin Sword he would forge for Kanae.
The day before yesterday, the day Kanae left, Kotetsu had delivered the necessary materials.
He also brought the drop of blood Kanae had forgotten to give Sosuke before leaving.
The blood was stored in a small vial, which Sosuke treated with utmost care. To prevent it from drying out and coagulating, he processed it carefully and stored it securely.
Afterward, he began processing the materials, smelting them in the furnace to remove impurities.
He didn't know when Kanae would encounter Doma, so he refused to dwell on his confession—unsure whether it had succeeded or failed.
Nor did he dare wallow in the pain of parting. Suppressing all his emotions, he had been racing against time to forge the Nichirin Blade since the previous night.
Yet now he faced a perplexing problem.
"Why can't I enter that frenzied state anymore?"
Since the previous night, he had repeatedly tried, but he couldn't immerse himself in that peculiar state.
At first, he thought it was because his emotions were too turbulent, preventing him from focusing.
However, as he hammered the iron repeatedly, his mind gradually became like the metal in his hands—its impurities steadily purged.
Yet that subtle state still eluded him.
Though its absence puzzled him, it didn't hinder his actions.
Forging a weapon is forging the heart!
At some point, Sosuke had suddenly grasped this realization.
Simultaneously, another thought kept resurfacing in his mind.
'Should I try using Sun Breathing while hammering the iron?'
As his mind calmed, this idea quietly surfaced.
Although Sun Breathing was meant to enhance sword techniques, Sosuke knew absolutely nothing about sword techniques.
He was utterly clueless about such things.
He had watched Kanae practice for three days and had a basic understanding of the Flower Pillar's sword movements. But... without ever trying them himself, merely observing the motions and the sword's role in them, he couldn't truly grasp the essence.
After all, one can't become a swordsman through observation alone!
But he was a Swordsmith!
He knew how to hammer iron!
Upon further reflection, he realized Sun Breathing would undoubtedly enhance his strength and speed. If he applied these enhancements to his hammering, might it produce miraculous results?
Once this idea took root, he couldn't suppress it.
Finally...
The young man's breathing rhythm shifted, his focus sharpening. For a moment, it seemed as if hot air escaped from the corners of Tetsu no Sosuke's mouth, seeping out from beneath his mask.
In the next instant, his eyes changed.
The forging hammer in his hand danced like a whirlwind!
The original hammering rhythm—ding! ding! ding!—transformed into dingdingdingdingding!
Without pause, the once-calm rhythm erupted into a tempestuous frenzy.
In an instant, Sosuke lost track of how many times he swung the forging hammer.
The red-hot iron flattened in a flash.
[Impurities -1]
[Impurities -1]
[Impurities -10]
[Strength +2]
[Yang Flame +1]
[Impurities -1]
His body felt momentarily drained, and Sosuke's vision swam with darkness. But he took a firm step forward, inhaled deeply, and steadied himself.
Clutching the forging hammer tightly, his expression turned peculiar.
"What was that notification just now...?"
Though countless [ [Impurities -1] ] messages had flooded his mind, a few distinct ones stood out.
"Minus 10... and Yang Flame plus 1? Yang Flame—is that a new attribute?"
He glanced at the forging hammer in his hand, then at the iron ingot lying on the anvil. Suddenly, realization dawned: "Sun Breathing!"
Although he couldn't yet activate sword techniques with his Sun Breathing—simply because he didn't know any—could this method, when applied to forging, actually imbue weapons with new properties?
"Yang Flame... Yang Flame? The materials for Nichirin Blades are Scarlet Crimson Sand Iron and Scarlet Crimson Stone Ore. Both have absorbed ample sunlight! That's what makes them lethal to Demons. Could the Yang Flame attribute be related to this?"
The thought arose spontaneously, without any basis, but Sosuke remained calm. "If this attribute truly exists, it should manifest when the impurities are removed and the blade is shaped. Moreover, through Sun Breathing forging, could I replenish the sword's Yang Flame attribute? Perhaps... could I even imbue an ordinary iron sword with this attribute using this forging method?"
He stood motionless, his mind racing with possibilities.
After regaining his composure, he immediately returned to his focused state.
"My previous state wasn't ideal. In that moment, I simply relied on a sudden burst of speed and power, hammering wildly. Only a few strikes were truly effective, and even those were mostly accidental. Perhaps that's why I saw so many impurities reduced by 1, but only one instance of impurities reduced by 10. If I could control the angle of each hammer strike, could I make every blow effective? If so, a single hammer strike under Sun Breathing would be equivalent to ten strikes in my normal state! Given the speed I can achieve with Sun Breathing, if every strike were effective, a single session of hammering under Sun Breathing could equal half a day's worth of work! No, I must master this technique, for both the present and the future. It's absolutely crucial for me!"
In truth, Sosuke wasn't thinking too deeply about the specifics at that moment.
He simply had an instinctive feeling that if he could achieve precise control, he could undoubtedly create even greater miracles!
He regulated his breathing, adjusted his stance, and felt his blood coursing faster, his heart pounding like a drum.
Through repeated hammering and forging, his body had been tempered to withstand far more than he had ever imagined.
His limits... were far from being reached!
The next moment, a sound like rain drumming on banana leaves filled the air.
With intense focus, he strove to control the precise impact point of the forging hammer in his hand.
[Impurities -1]
[Impurities -1]
[Impurity -10]
[Strength +2]
[Yang Flame +1]
[Impurity -10]
[Strength +2]
[Yang Flame +1]
[Impurity -1]
As everything calmed down, Sosuke, enduring the discomfort in his body, took two steps back and regulated his breathing. Every inch of his body ached.
"But... it increased! Even though it was just one effective hammer strike, at least it proves it's working!!!"