Chapter 97 Making A Wooden Sword Is Fine
"Aaron, those who can use aura think it's fine to do the same as you and Lady Fiona, right? ...But what about us magicians with Jobs? Are you saying we should make wooden swords like you guys too?"
This was Io's line when he came to my house with Lady Eva and the others 2 days after the Nord subjugation.
After getting their agreement to establish the "Wooden Sword Way" clan, I talked to Io and the others about gathering clan members by teaching them a "way to get stronger".
Related to that, I also explained the kind of training Fiona and I usually do.
Of course, I wouldn't tell shielders, spearmen, archers, scouts, and fistfighters to make wooden swords. Normally, it's better for each person to make their own weapon to use.
In other words, shielders make shields, spearmen make spears, archers make bows and arrows, scouts make short swords, and fistfighters make meriken sacks or something. However, shielders and scouts can learn the versatile Swordsman skill, so making wooden swords is fine. Fistfighters fight with punching and kicking, but it's pitiful to only make small weapons like meriken sacks, so I'll teach them how to make wooden swords. Then, it would be pitiful to not teach spearmen and archers how to make wooden swords too. So, I'll teach them as well.
The crucial part is the way to make wooden swords, but there's no need to worry about it at all.
Shielders and scouts will acquire the versatile Swordsman skill [Aura Blade], and fistfighters will acquire the [Hand Knife] skill, which wraps aura around their extended hand to create a blade.
The problem is with spearmen and archers, but they'll acquire skills like [Aura Spear] and [Aura Arrow], which are unique to them. To put it simply, they're skills that increase attack power by wrapping aura around spears and arrows.
So, the story is simple.
I'll make small, suitable spears and arrows for work. If they wrap aura around them and use them for work, that's fine.
So, the problem is solved. At least, if it's a Job that can use aura, we can apply the same training method as Fiona.
However, the problem is the training method for magician Jobs, as Io said.
Magicians can use magic, but they can't generate aura. This means they can't do the basic work of Wooden Swordsmith, which is to carve wood with aura.
"Umm, that's true..."
I thought deeply about Io's words.
What should I do...?
I don't know the training method for magicians, but there's one thing I do know. It's the truth of the world.
So, I said.
"I think it's fine if Io and the others make wooden swords too."
"You think so, huh?"
"""..."""
Fiona let out a deep sigh and muttered, while Io and the others were silent, looking stunned.
A few seconds later, Io looked at me with a puzzled expression and opened his mouth.
"Didn't you listen to what I said? How do you plan for us to make wooden swords, anyway?"
"Well, of course... with magic?"
"...How?"
Io asked, looking like a suspicious swindler, and I replied.
"I think it's fine if you process the wood with fire, water, wind, and so on."
When I thought back to when I made wooden swords, I realized that the necessary elements for training were obvious. What's necessary is to continuously activate and control the technique.
In other words, I proposed that I try deploying attack magic at the tip of a small staff, gathering and maintaining it in the shape of a blade, and making a wooden sword.
After listening to everything, Io let out a deep sigh and pressed his eyebrows together.
"So, can we get stronger with that...?"
He closed his eyes, thinking to himself.
He's probably imagining whether my proposal is really an effective training method.
But, it's pointless to think about it too much.
I told Io.
"There's no point in thinking about it here. It's better to try it out and see for yourselves, isn't it?"
"...What do you mean?"
"Let's actually make a wooden sword at the atelier using the method I mentioned earlier."
"...Who's going to do it?"
"Obviously, it's gotta be Io, right?"
It'd be better to have Io judge whether it's actually effective or not.
So, we all decided to move from the living room to the atelier.
* * *
The location changed to the atelier.
"Alright, Io, show me how it's done using the method I mentioned earlier."
Thud! I placed a piece of Treant material, enough to make one wooden sword, on the workbench in front of Io.
I drew the shape of a wooden sword on the surface of the Treant material as a guide, so even if Io was told to carve it suddenly, it wouldn't be too confusing. It's a task that involves carving away the unnecessary parts first, so it shouldn't be too difficult at the beginning.
I had explained this to Io, but for some reason, Io looked puzzled.
Io held up a small, 20-centimeter-long staff in his right hand and said,
"This staff, the flow of magical energy is really bad."
"That's a Treant staff."
"...Treant, huh?"
A magician's staff is usually made from materials with good magical energy flow, such as magic metals like Mithril, or materials from monsters that use magic.
While ordinary materials like gold, silver, and copper are also known to have good magical energy flow, they're not often used because they're expensive or heavy.
On the other hand, plant-based materials have good magical energy flow and are relatively light, making them easy to carry, which is why they're popular as staff materials.
The 'Holy Tree Staff' that Io always uses is also made from plant-based materials, and the materials from 'Attribute Treant' are famous for their good magical energy flow. However, since the magical energy flowing through it would randomly assign attributes, it's not suitable for a staff unless it matches the user's own attributes.
But ordinary Treant materials don't allow much magical energy to flow, which is why they're not suitable for a magician's staff.
Treant doesn't use magic, but as a monster, they need magical energy to grow. And because they need magical energy to grow, they have a strong tendency to store it, but a weak tendency to release it. This makes them nearly the worst material for a magician's staff.
Even Elder Treant, who can use magic, is a suitable material for a staff, but――
"I think it's just right for training."
I said to Io.
I tend to forget, but this is training, after all. So, wouldn't a staff that's harder to use be better for training, since it would increase the load and double the training effect? That's what I thought.
"Well, maybe that's true..."
Io said, looking displeased, but still raised the staff to eye level and activated the magic.
A transparent blade about 10 centimeters (≈ 3.9 inches) long appeared at the tip of the small staff. It was a wind blade. Although it was transparent, it didn't have any color, but its refractive index was different from air, so one could see it if they focused their eyes.
I don't know all the names of magic, so I can't say for sure, but this is probably an unnamed magic.
――That's because magic, unless it's a famous one with a publicly known technique or a well-known effect, basically doesn't have a name. Magicians might give it a name for their own convenience, but that's about it.
Let me explain a bit about magicians here.
Magicians are different from combat Jobs that manipulate aura, as they don't learn any skills.
Instead, they learn "techniques," which are the components of magic.
There are 2 main types of techniques: "basic techniques" that produce magic phenomena, such as fire, water, or wind, and "extension techniques" that customize magic by changing its power, range, or duration.
Magicians can perform various types of magic by combining these basic and extension techniques in different ways.
So, even without a staff, they can still use magic themselves, but compared to using a staff, their aim is off and their power decreases.
A staff has the role of a magical energy collector and amplifier, and some wands with engraved magic circuits also serve as a device to assist with magic.
However, the staff I gave to Io, Treant's staff, doesn't even fulfill the role of a collector, and instead of amplifying magical energy, it decreases it every time it's used, and if there's a weak part in the magic composition, it breaks the magic bond instantly, making it a defective staff that unnecessarily increases the difficulty of using magic.
Despite that, Io skillfully unfolded a small wind blade at the tip of that staff and began to carve the Treant material on the workbench.
Io stabbed the wind blade into the Treant material, first cutting away the unnecessary parts. Io should be able to easily cut through the Treant material, but with the unaccustomed magic and the defective staff, Io seemed to be struggling extremely hard.
"Oh... gosh...!!"
But Io persevered.
"Ugghhh...!!"
Io persevered even more.
"Are you kidding me... Uuoo...!!"
Io persevered even more than that.
It was already unlike Io's usual calm and collected face, overflowing with composure; this time, Io's expression was one I had never seen before, with bloodshot eyes.
And then, after about 10 minutes had passed,
"Uuoaaaaaaahhh... I'm going crazy!!"
Io shouted while throwing away Treant's staff, and let out a deep sigh with a "heuff heuff" sound.
"""Oh..."""
We, who were watching from the side, couldn't help but voice our agreement and applaud.
"Something's weird, I've never seen this before."
"I was like that too when I first started..."
"I've never seen Io like this before."
"Well~, even Io can become like this, it seems like the training is having an effect, doesn't it?"
"...it's a bit pitiful, isn't it?"
After exchanging glances and comments with Fiona and the others, we finally called out to Io, who had calmed down.
"So, how does it feel? Is the training going well?"
"Haaa... yeah..."
Io gazed down at the Treant material on the workbench, thinking for a bit before responding.
"Well... I suppose it can't be helped, right?"
It was a pretty half-hearted answer, but his expression showed that he was clearly unhappy about it.
He scrunched up his face in distaste, looking like he really didn't want to admit it.
But despite that, he acknowledged the facts as they were, teaching him what I had learned from his current experience.
"First, by using the unwieldy Treant staff to continuously cast magic, I think my control over magical energy will improve... And then, the strength of my spell composition will also increase, even if I don't want it to... So, if I use the same spell as before, I can expect an increase in power and accuracy..."
"I see, so that's how it is at this stage..."
He nodded, murmuring to himself.
So far, all Io had done was roughly chop down the wood. From here, he would shape the wood into a sword, adjusting the balance and grip, and then polish the surface. There was also the task of creating a scabbard and engraving decorations onto the sword.
Once he got used to the overall process, I planned for him to move on to using the Elder Treant, which was a higher-ranked material, and eventually work his way up to the 'Attribute Treant'. Basically, the higher the material's rank, the more difficult it was to work with.
In other words, it seemed like this training would be quite effective.
"Io, it seems this method can teach you how to combine spells efficiently, and this training should help you build your foundation."
"Well, I suppose that's true... It's hard to admit, but it seems like this training method is effective, even for a magician like me."
"That's good to hear."
After getting Io's approval, I picked up the Treant staff that had been thrown aside on the floor and handed it to him.
"Alright, next is water magic."
"―――What?"
Io looked back at me with a surprised expression, as if he had been caught off guard.
"Well, I've confirmed that Wind Magic can do it, but if we can't do it with fire, water, or earth magic, it's a trouble, right? There are hardly any people who can use multiple attributes besides Io."
If we can't work with all 4 basic attributes of earth, water, fire, and wind, we'll end up with people who can't even make a wooden sword. So, we need to make sure we can use all 4 attributes properly.
I handed Io a staff, and with a "go" gesture, I pushed a roughly cut Treant material towards him.
"......"
Io tried his best.
He spent over 10 minutes on each attribute.
After water magic, he did fire magic, and then earth magic, using the Treant staff to work on making a wooden sword.
As a result, we were able to confirm that he could work with all attributes, but some problems also came to light.
"......"
Io was exhausted, not from magical energy depletion, but from mental fatigue, and was lying on the bed. Fiona and I discussed the problems elsewhere.
"I see... the easiest to work with is earth magic, followed by Wind Magic... Water magic is too weak in controlling magic, and the wood absorbs water, causing it to expand and then shrink, leading to cracks and subtle distortions after completion."
"Yes. And when using fire magic, the surface always ends up getting burnt. Even if one focus the heat, there's a limit to it, right?"
"The surface getting a bit burnt is unavoidable. We'll just have to rely on fire magicians to manually fix the surface later."
"That's the only way... And what about the problem with water magic?"
"Well, if they use materials above Elder Treant, they shouldn't absorb too much water. We should get them used to working with Treant materials first, assuming they'll fail, and then switch to Elder Treant early on."
"That means the difficulty level for earth and wind magicians will decrease, right?"
"Yeah, that's right... So, we should make everyone except fire magicians work with Elder Treant early on..."
"We could also try lowering the staff's rank and increasing the load, I think."
"If we say the Treant's rank is too low, it's like saying it's only good for scrap metal..."
Lead is a substance also known as a magical energy insulator, and it's famous for not allowing magical energy to pass through at all.
You'd think that if you made a staff out of lead, you wouldn't be able to use magic... but what if you used lead to disrupt the flow of magical energy?
That's a proposal worth considering. Let's think about it seriously for a bit――I thought, and then...
"Don't use lead, okay... if magic doesn't activate, it's not training..."
Io, who had collapsed on the floor, said with a pale face.
Since Io, who's called a sage, said that, maybe it's better not to use lead. I nodded at Io.
"Got it. I'll take care of it."
* * *
"That's what happened."
And then, the next day, as the first clan to venture into the labyrinth, we gathered a large amount of Treant materials.
On that day, the members of the ≪Wooden Sword Way≫ Clan, including myself, gathered at the workshop, silently... or rather, making occasional groaning noises, making wooden swords and other things.
However, on that day, there were guests who weren't part of the clan.
"I see... so, to improve the technique of making wooden swords, you're boldly using Treant staves to hone your skills... is that right?"
"That's correct."
"And, this is a wooden sword made by magicians... it's really interesting. A new attempt by Master Aaron, I suppose?"
While watching the magicians gathered to make wooden swords, Mr. Arnold Tyler, the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Wooden Sword Way," said with a look of admiration.
Now, he's shining his monocle and peeking at Io's hands with great interest.
"Well, that's right. Right now, we're still struggling to make normal wooden swords, but if we can master this, I think magicians might find it easier to process 'Attribute Treant' materials. In that sense, I feel a lot of potential."
When I replied to Mr. Tyler, the person standing behind him, a young woman in a suit, was quickly jotting down my words in her notebook.
She's an editor from the "Wooden Sword Way" editorial department.
Today, I'm with Mr. Tyler, covering a story on ≪Wooden Sword Way≫ clan. By the way, we'll be featured in the next issue.
"'Possibility,' you say... If you guys can mass-produce the 'Attribute Treant' wooden swords...?"
"Hmm, I wonder? But if we can process the 'Attribute Treant,' I think our production will definitely increase."
"――No, you guys."
As I was talking with Mr. Tyler, Io looked up, seemingly annoyed.
"Can you guys talk somewhere else? And Aaron..."
"What's wrong?"
"We're not Wooden Swordsmiths. We're explorers. We don't plan to make wooden swords for business. Can you please not treat us like craftsmen?"
"Of course, I understand."
I nodded and decided to move to a different location, not wanting to bother Io.
As Mr. Tyler and I walked away,
"Master Aaron, what did the sage old man just say?"
"Ah, that means they're still immature and can't call themselves craftsmen yet. The sage old man is being humble."
"Haha, I see. I'm impressed by the sage old man's sincere approach to wooden swords."
"Hey, I can hear you! Aaron, don't say unnecessary things!"
Anyway, we moved to a different location.
Today, Mr. Tyler didn't just come here for the story.
"So, Mr. Tyler, about that item..."
"Yes, I was able to procure the desired quantity as requested. It's loaded on the horse carriage outside. ...Shall we take it to the workshop now?"
Actually, I had asked Mr. Tyler to use his connections to purchase an item that I couldn't obtain. It's not that I couldn't buy one or 2, but I needed a large quantity, and I didn't have the right connections.
To be specific, it's the 'Earth Elemental Treant's core wood,' a specialty of the distant northern labyrinth, the Holy Tree Labyrinth.
Of course, I had already paid Mr. Tyler in advance.
Anyway, if my imagination is correct, it'll become an essential item for exploring the 47th floor――I'm thinking.
That arrived today.
I grinned and nodded to Mr. Tyler.
"Yeah, please. We've got a lot to do, so let's hurry up and finish making that new wooden sword."
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)