Chapter 109: Refinement
As soon as he understood the situation, Edgar didn’t waste another second.
The moment Andrew finished speaking, he sprinted toward the Smithing House.
The familiar sound of hammering had disappeared.
Edgar rushed through the doorway and immediately found Gordon kneeling beside Sir Steven.
The old blacksmith was lying flat on the floor.
"Steven!" Edgar hurried over before crouching beside him. "What happened?"
Gordon looked up with a strange expression. "He... fainted."
Edgar frowned. "...Why?"
The veteran scratched the side of his head.
"He walked outside after hearing the commotion."
His eyes shifted toward the entrance where the ten carts of ore stood lined up.
"The moment he saw all those ores... he just collapsed."
Edgar stared at him. "...Seriously?"
"I wish I was joking."
At that moment, Andrew came running inside carrying a wooden bottle.
"I brought water!"
Edgar immediately took it.
Without hesitation, he uncorked the bottle before splashing a generous amount directly onto the old blacksmith’s face.
Steven’s eyebrows twitched.
"...Mgh."
When the amount of water wasn’t enough, Edgar poured the whole bottle over his head.
The old man suddenly jerked upright.
"Wha--!"
He blinked repeatedly, still looking confused as his eyes wandered around the room.
"...Young... lord?"
"I’m here."
Steven rubbed his forehead.
"What happened?"
"You fainted."
"...I fainted?"
His expression remained blank for several seconds.
Then, his gaze slowly drifted past Edgar’s shoulder. Toward the ten carts overflowing with ore.
"..."
The old blacksmith froze as though he had gone into a trance, his pupils slowly widening.
"...Ore."
Edgar was just about to explain the situation when--
"Hahahahaha!"
A loud laugh burst from the blacksmith’s mouth.
Before anyone could react, the old man leapt to his feet with the energy of someone half his age.
He shoved past Edgar and rushed outside.
"Steven, you dumb fuck!"
Edgar quickly followed after him.
The old blacksmith ignored everything around him.
He paid no attention to the towering Soul Guardians, nor did he notice the frightened citizens standing nearby.
His entire world consisted of the ten carts before him.
"...Beautiful."
His rough hands trembled as they picked up a chunk of dark grey ore.
He rubbed away the dirt before holding it close to his eyes.
"Iron..."
He immediately tossed it aside before grabbing another.
"This is copper!"
His excitement only continued growing when he looked at the black ore.
"And this is Blacksteel Ore!"
Andrew blinked. The boy had never heard the name of the ore in his entire life.
"...Blacksteel?"
Steven laughed loudly.
"A high-grade alloy ore! It produces metal that’s harder than ordinary steel while remaining flexible."
He carefully set it down before picking up another mineral streaked with silver.
"...Silver Quartz. Though it isn’t suitable for weapons, it’s exceptional for engraving runes and Nightmare Stone-conducting equipment."
Edgar’s ears immediately pricked up like a rabbit’s. His gaze remained fixed on the silver ore.
Although many of the names meant little to him, Steven clearly recognized nearly everything.
The old blacksmith continued moving from cart to cart like a child receiving presents.
"Oh!"
He suddenly grabbed another strange ore carrying faint blue specks.
His breathing stopped, as though it was something sacred.
"...Sky Iron."
Even Gordon looked surprised, walking closer.
"You’ve actually seen Sky Iron before? Is this the one?"
Steven slowly nodded.
"I saw a small piece of it once, and it was worth enough to buy an entire estate."
Andrew’s jaw slowly dropped. "...That expensive?"
Steven carefully placed it back into the cart.
"It isn’t rare because of its strength. It’s rare because it naturally absorbs the strength of whatever Nightmare it cuts down."
He looked toward Edgar with eyes shining brighter than ever.
"My lord, where exactly did you find all this?"
Edgar simply smiled. "I got lucky."
Steven laughed more in disbelief than happiness. "This isn’t luck. This is a blessing from the heavens!"
He suddenly grabbed Edgar’s shoulders.
"My lord! What happened to those four giant swords you asked me to make?"
Edgar blinked. "...Can you make them now?"
He shook his head vigorously.
"I can make something far better. By mixing ordinary iron with Blacksteel and reinforcing it with proper heat treatment, I can create blades several times stronger."
His grin widened like he was visualising his greatest creation.
"...They’ll still survive being swung by a monster."
Edgar’s eyes brightened. "...Really?"
"I’ve already prepared the mould."
Steven pointed toward the back of the Smithing House.
A massive clay mould nearly two metres long rested against the wall.
"I was only waiting for the metal."
He looked back toward the mountain of ore.
"...Now I simply need time to refine every ore separately before mixing them."
Edgar nodded immediately.
"Take all the time you need."
The old blacksmith smiled from ear to ear. "I won’t disappoint you."
Edgar left him to his excitement.
Watching the old man move around with endless energy, Edgar couldn’t help smiling.
’I guess fainting actually helped him.’
He turned away before focusing once more on the Soul Network.
The ten Soul Guardians immediately appeared inside his mind.
’Return to your assigned positions and continue guarding the Fortress.’
One after another, every Guardian acknowledged the command.
The Soul Guardians silently dispersed toward the walls and surrounding forests.
Within only moments, the Fortress returned to its usual rhythm.
Edgar quietly watched everything for a while before letting out a satisfied breath.
Though he quickly turned and asked,
"How do we refine Silver Quartz?"
Sir Steven turned to look at Edgar and became thoughtful.
"They are easy to refine but also expensive," he replied. "All you need to do is put ten grams of ore with ten white Nightmare Stones in a box, and in half an hour it will dissolve the stones and turn into silver ink."
Edgar nodded his head and took a small piece of Silver Quartz, asking Steven to weigh it and cut off ten grams.
The old blacksmith did as asked without question.
Once Edgar got the item, he returned to his house.
Sitting on the sofa, Edgar brought out a tray and ten Nightmare Stones.
’Even though it’s expensive, I can spare this much for an experiment.’
From what he knew, there were more than ten thousand white Nightmare Stones in the warehouse.
He had enough to play around with them for a while.
Edgar did as old man Steven instructed and waited for half an hour until the ink began to form.
The blonde boy collected the ink and put it into a small bottle.
"Alright, time to try it!"
Edgar took in a deep breath, put a small piece of parchment on the table, and dipped his quill into the silver ink.
He then slowly began to draw the rune that he had tried the night before.