Chapter 59 - Mana Forging

2 Copper bars, 2 Tin bars, 1 Iron bar, and lastly 1 bronze bar. Liam added all the required ores in the respective ratio and while they melted, he also added a few stalks of stone flower.

Sparks flew as the herb quickly mixed in with the molten ore mixture and the crimson color of the flower and the leaves spread quickly, making the entire mixture blood red.

Liam carefully took this molten mixture and poured it into the mold of a sword. He then doused it in cold water and once again heated it before beginning to rhythmically hammer.

In spite of the fact that it was borrowed and only for forging, he was still excited to be holding a rare-grade hammer weapon in his hands.

He could vividly hear his heart pounding in his chest. Just like his mind, his blood as well was coursing wildly through his veins.

Dang. Dang. Dang.

Crisp sounds echoed inside the private crafting room.

As Liam continued to pummel down the ore into submission, his movements suddenly slowed down and he paused.

In his previous life, when he had first started playing the game, he had selected blacksmithing as his main occupation.

And the recipe he was currently working on was a fairly common one. So he had already crafted this particular sword before.

At that time, he had suffered a lot because of his pathetic starting attributes. Moreover, he only started playing the game later when it was already a huge thing, so he was severely lagging behind.

This was one of the reasons why he fell so quickly when things took a turn for the worse and in the end, even became someone else's slave.

However, in this life, he had something that he previously did not have and that was the ability to use mana!

Liam's gaze flickered over the set up in front of him and the rare grade hammer in his hands. "It doesn't matter if I fail, I will give it a try!"

He took a deep breath and this time, he was more focused than before if that was even possible. His hands once again started to rhythmically pound the raw weapon on the anvil.

But now, each stroke had a little more to it.

Just like how he had tried to incorporate mana into his sword slashes while he was fighting with the bear king, Liam tried incorporating mana into his hammer strikes as well.

This was not something new.

Only white grade, common grade, and uncommon grade weapons could be crafted using normal methods. Anything higher than that required special raw materials and more importantly, special techniques.

Even the rare grade hammer he was currently holding was probably crafted using such special techniques.

And one of those techniques was to infuse mana when forging the weapon!

Liam commanded the few strands of mana swirling in his body to gather around his arms and it enveloped the hammer as well.

Dang. Dang. Dang.

The sounds this time were even louder as heavier strikes landed on the sword on the anvil.

"Oh?" After trying it out a few more times, Liam's eyes widened in surprise. This suddenly felt easier and more plausible than he had previously assumed it to be.

While fighting with the bear king, he had to focus on a million things and predict its attack trajectory so he was only able to practice so much.

But now, he didn't have a knife hanging over his neck. He could focus more concentratedly.

He was able to control and regulate the flow of mana more, at his own pace, hammering it into the weapon so that it becomes a part of the grains of the metal.

He knew that doing this would probably help him push the grade of his forging even to the next level, but that was only secondary to Liam.

Learning how to control and manipulate mana was his main goal.

Even if he used every single shortcut he knew, he would never be able to attain the strength and power that was required to change his fate without this one thing.

But if he could just achieve control over mana, then all his future steps would become a lot easier!

Liam grinned as his muscles pulsed with every move he made. What he was doing was extremely taxing and not to mention mentally exhausting. However, he kept going.

He had yearned for this very exact ability countless times and now it was a reality, so he was not planning on letting something like exhaustion stop him.

This was the first shackle that had imprisoned him in his last life and now that he knew how to, he wanted to shatter it completely! Once and for all!

Dang. Dang. Dang.

The metal trembled but it held on as more and more mana was packed into it, tempering it from inside out.

Slowly but steadily everything was falling into place and almost after an hour, the completion notification popped up.

[Ding. Forging successfully completed]

[Ding. Crimson Sword]

[Ding. Rating: Uncommon]

"Heh." Liam chuckled, picking up the sword and examining it. It had a bright silver appearance with a red sheen on it as if it had just now drawn blood.

He swung it around and the metal had perfect balance. It was like an extension of his hand.

No doubt, this was definitely better than the sword he was currently using. Even if he sold it, it would fetch him at least 20 to 30 silver coins.

"Not bad." He tossed the sword aside casually just like how he had tossed the previous common grade weapons. This was good, but it was still not enough.

If he had been truly successful, then the grade would have increased further and this would have been a piece of rare grade equipment.

It looked like he still had a long way to go, but he did not care about that.. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and continued repeating this same forging process again and again and again.