Chapter 82: Forging: Kikuichimonji Norimune
Clang!
Inside a certain room at Jujutsu High, the sound of steel colliding, like a hammer forging an embryo, rang out.
Who would have thought that Jujutsu High would also have a conventional forge room? Its original purpose was to allow students to personally craft weapons suitable for themselves, but unfortunately, no one had used it since its establishment.
It wasn't until the arrival of Emiya that this forge room finally came to life after a long silence.
Considering the raw materials and the environmental constraints that prevent the birth of a Noble Phantasm in the Sorcery World, Emiya didn't initially consider the fantastical idea of forging a Noble Phantasm directly when he first began practicing.
It would be enough to simply forge an ordinary weapon that was tough enough. Or perhaps, to guide the embryo of these weapons toward the direction of Cursed Tools.
Cursed Tools, Cursed Corpses, and Cursed Objects are all inorganic substances tainted by a 'curse,' categorized differently only based on their concept and method of use.
Take Cursed Tools, for example. As the name suggests, they are weapons in which a curse resides.
Weapons used for years by a Sorcerer and infused with Cursed Energy and Cursed Techniques, weapons once used to kill powerful Sorcerers or Cursed Spirits, murder weapons used in a series of killings, and weapons forged through horrifying processes... all these can be collectively called Cursed Tools.
Among them, the simplest method for creating a Cursed Tool is for a Sorcerer to infuse Cursed Energy and a Cursed Technique into a weapon over the course of years.
On the premise of several years, an ordinary weapon will gradually become tainted with a 'curse' and develop special effects, becoming a Cursed Tool.
Based on their power and effect, Cursed Tools are divided into Grades 4 through 1, similar to Sorcerers.
The higher the grade of the Cursed Tool, the greater the intensity of the attached Cursed Technique. Some Cursed Tools can even be used by non-Sorcerers, capable of killing people invisibly and without legal repercussions.
Therefore, in general society, Cursed Tools are often objects of high-value monetary transactions.
In short, a normal forging process can never produce a special Cursed Tool; at least one human life must be associated with it. This is also why, even though the Sorcery World has
similar complete forging technology, it has long been explicitly prohibited by the Higher-Ups. At least, that's the case on the surface.
So, when she was first called here by Satoru Gojo, Maki Zen'in's words were filled with distrust toward Emiya.
As her name suggests, she is a descendant of the Zen'in Clan, one of the Big Three Sorcerer Families.
However, due as she was born with little Cursed Energy and couldn't even detect Cursed Spirits, she was ostracized by her family.
Against her family's objections, she came to Tokyo for school alone, and her current rank is a Grade 4 Sorcerer.
The reason she is only Grade 4 is because the Zen'in Clan applied pressure behind the scenes, making Maki Zen'in's path to promotion extremely difficult.
In terms of actual combat ability, she is completely on par with, or even surpasses, Megumi Fushiguro, who is already a Grade 2 Sorcerer, and can easily exorcise Grade 2 Cursed Spirits.
Because she has neither Cursed Energy nor a Cursed Technique, she needs Cursed Tools, like special glasses, to even see Cursed Spirits.
Her combat style involves using various Cursed Tools. At Jujutsu High, she is the undisputed Cursed Tool expert, even serving as an assistant instructor when other students practice using Cursed Tools.
It was precisely for this reason that Satoru Gojo introduced her here to assist Emiya in his attempt to forge a Cursed Tool.
When Maki Zen'in arrived at the forge room not long ago, Emiya's first forging attempt had already begun. So, despite her many dissatisfactions, she simply stood by and watched silently.
In her view, Emiya's motions during the forging process were quite standard.
However, in other aspects, such as his posture, he seemed completely like an amateur.
The scene gave her the impression of someone who had only read various basic books, possessed some knowledge, but had little practical experience—a mere armchair theorist.
A forging artisan, she knew, is not a profession one can master with just knowledge; it requires a long time and countless trials and errors to accumulate experience.
How much force should be used with each strike, and when is the best time to start and stop—these cannot be measured by book knowledge, nor can anyone teach them.
This is because the condition and effect of every piece of material are different, and the amount of impurities is also uncertain... While industrialized forging methods can mass-produce passable weapons, taking it a step further is nearly impossible.
Only truly experienced artisans can correct their approach based on the situation on the spot while forging the material.
Although Maki Zen'in does not possess that level of ability, she is certainly able to tell if someone is an amateur. An apprentice like this would have been forging for no more than a year, completely incomparable to an artisan who has studied and trained since childhood.
Also, with such a simple forging method... is it truly possible to forge a Cursed Tool? Maki Zen'in was highly skeptical of this.
But even so, she still did not rashly interrupt his work.
Finally, about half an hour later, as the forging process was nearing its end, she witnessed something completely different.
She saw blue patterns inexplicably appear on Emiya's arm.
They shimmered against the light of the furnace fire, and Emiya's movements and expression instantly transformed. If he looked like an amateur before, he now resembled a veteran artisan who had specialized in forging for decades.
Every movement was precise and without hesitation.
It was only then that Maki Zen'in noticed another point: whether before or now, one thing about Emiya had consistently remained unchanged.
That was his absolute focus on swords and forging.
The noise she made when she entered was not small at all, and it's impossible for a person not to notice the presence of another nearby, yet he had not reacted to her for a full hour.
Clang—Clang—Clang—!!!
After another tens of minutes of forging, the 'sword' finally took its complete shape in Emiya's hands. He reheated it with an extremely precise technique and then placed it in the water tank to complete the final quenching.
No unnecessary forging steps were required, because when the blade was removed from the water tank, its surface was already covered with perfectly formed, naturally occurring patterns.
Even the polishing process was superfluous, as it had been forged into its sharpest form... Is this truly possible?
For Maki Zen'in, a Cursed Tool expert, nothing is more captivating than a perfect weapon.
"What's the name of this sword?" she couldn't help but ask.
"Kikuichimonji Norimune... just a replica, of course." Emiya gently wiped the sweat from his brow and subconsciously answered Maki Zen'in's question.
Then, the next second, he slowly turned his head, as if only just realizing, and looked at the girl who had been standing behind him all this time.
"By the way, who are you?"
"...HAH?!"
Important Announcement New Fanfictions
Hello Everyone! I'm VarieTL!
Thank you for all your support!
As an early gift for Christmas for all of you I'm happy to announce:
Not One
Not Two
But 3 New Fanfictions!
Hikigaya returns home from Warhammer...Wait were the Cursed Spirits here before though
Every night, Hachiman Hikigaya dreams of a different wife. Initially, he thought it was just the dreams of an adolescent boy, until he discovered that every single one of them came from the Advanced Nurturing High School... Multi Crossover Snafu, Warhammer, Jujutsu Kaisen, Kaguya-sama: Love is War, BanG Dream!
Hikigaya dreams of his future wives
Every night, Hachiman Hikigaya dreams of a different wife. Initially, he thought it was just the dreams of an adolescent boy, until he discovered that every single one of them came from the Advanced Nurturing High School...
Evolution of Emiya Shirou, Traveler of the Multiverse
Shirou, having traveled through time to the era of the Fourth Holy Grail War, is forced to step into the battle for the Holy Grail. Fortunatly there is the sytem with Dimensional Roulette: blank Class Cards, the Son of the Sun, Unlimited Blade Works... Multi X-Over: Fate zero, Campione, Fate/stay night, FGO, Danmachi and many many others.
Read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting