The Arts of Blacksmithing

The Dwarfs are a race of Artisans thanks to the blessing of their Fire Gods or Goddesses, and I had the pleasure of manipulating (blackmailing, actually) them into granting me access to their Earthly Library, where the sum of their knowledges and wisdoms are stored for future generations.

Of course, I have made great use of their knowledges and wisdoms for my own benefit, and while I'm not as great as a Crafter or Smither as them, I can still forge some of the best weapons money can buy as long as I have the raw materials and tools to do so.

A Runic Forge can never replace an actual Enchanted Forge, but unlike a physical forge, I do not need to have high Dexterity to forge anything useful. Runic Forge is created through the application of magic and magic alone, thus it can only be utilized by mages.

I am not a mage, but I do not need to be one to make use of it. Of course, it would be incredibly helpful to have high Intelligence, but I cannot waste any attribute points on stats that does not benefit me as a Merchant. Having high Charisma is a must to obtain unfathomable Wealth and Fames, and that is all that really matter to a Merchant in the end.

Before I can craft my weapon, I need raw materials. As such, I take out my butcher-knife on a stick and toss it into the magic circle of the Runic Furnace. I also dump whatever metallic objects into the circle as well. Once there are enough raw materials, I touch the edge of the circle and begin to melt all those items down.

It takes a lot of mana to do so, but I have abundant amount of mana via the Mana Crystals. They cost few hundreds GP each, but I have millions of GPs, so it does not really matter in the long run.

Once all the items within the magic circle turns into molten slags, I activate the Runic Forge and allow it to accept the raw material. Powered by Fire and Water essences via Runes, the slags begin to mould and shape as according to my will.

Having Earth Essence and Wind Essence would be necessary to mould the slags into complex shapes, but the weapon I have in my mind is not complex. It just requires a lot of folding. Like a lot of folding.

With the power of the Runic Forge, I continuously flattening and folding the metallic slags as I maintain an optimal temperature. Soon enough, an edge begins to form and sharpen. This method is not unique to Japan, and it certainly not unique to Earth.

As soon as the katana blade is perfected, I allow it to cool down sufficiently before taking it out of the Runic Forge, letting it cool in air. The next part is the handle, and it is far simpler than the blade itself.

Since this is not the first time that I have created a Japanese Sword via the Runic Forge, the blade and the handle fit each other perfectly. A little cloth wrapping around the handle to give it grips, and the weapon is complete.

While it is not the best weapon for me, it is the best I can do right now. A sword that too heavy would tires me out after a few swings, and I do not really need a lot of weight in a blade when I can enchant it to cut through pretty much anything.

Speaking of which, enchanting is going to be far more difficult than forging a blade. And before I start, I sell the weapon to the Shop System to create a record.

After buying it back, I begin to carve runes into the blade end with fire essence. Death essence is then overlayed before in turn overlayed by fire essence. This is called Layering Runes.