Things That Are Not Especially Important
When writing this, I aim for a ratio of 60% realism and 40% fantasy.
All of the protagonist's Skills are FGO Craft Essences.
I will never make anything absurdly overbalanced.
Biological weapons will not appear. Quinques, perhaps, but Kagune will not.
The protagonist's primary weapons are blunt weapons and axes.
He cannot make things that look like they belong to science fiction. To make things that look like magic tools, he would have needed to acquire magic rather than Smithing.
Tenseiga would be useless even if he made it, since the afterlife systems in Inuyasha and DanMachi differ. At most, it might prolong the life of someone on the verge of death—someone with literally one minute left to live?
He does not particularly like Naaza of the Miach Familia. Even if Miach, her patron god, is broke because he spends money too freely, diluting potions with water and deceiving customers who came to buy goods is an entirely separate issue.
The ability of the Greatsword of the Firelinking Rite is definitely not resurrection, for one. In mythology, even Asclepius, the son of a god who saved people with medicine, was struck dead by lightning. And in DanMachi, even Fels, who bragged about immortality after turning himself into a stone with the Philosopher's Stone, was ridiculed before the Philosopher's Stone was destroyed. Just imagine what kind of mess it would become if I added a resurrection function here... shudder
About the Protagonist—1
Regarding crafting.
There will be no occasion where the protagonist uses Projection or anything similar in the story. The protagonist is, above all else, a craftsman—a person who creates things directly with his own hands. In Type-Moon terms, he is Muramasa. Their ideals are similar in a way as well. Muramasa devoted his life to making the one sword he desired; the protagonist will devote his life to creating his own fantasy.
The protagonist is a maker, not a wielder. He will make and use anything he needs himself, but if he has made an item and feels that a worthy owner has appeared, he will sell it to that person. The protagonist fundamentally places importance on the fact that he created that fantasy, not on possessing that fantasy himself.
A Very Important Point—Regarding Magic
This is an exact explanation of the protagonist's magic.
The protagonist's magic does not actually create Noble Phantasms; it is a process of overlaying them. By "overlaying," I literally mean allowing a [fantasy] to permeate the [vessel] the protagonist is forging, making it as similar as possible.
When the materials, process, form, and rank show a high degree of synchronization, the reproduction rate will be high. If something entirely different from the legend, myth, or original work is added, or if the rank of the [vessel] to be overlaid is low, the reproduction rate falls.
The protagonist's magic, Noble Phantasm, begins assimilation during the forging process, approaches the final stage of assimilation in the completed item's rank, and finally permeates and overlays it completely through its form.
If Emiya Shirou is called Faker as a derogatory term, then the protagonist could be called Replica. {Faker: a counterfeit; Replica: a copy}
Emiya can make a weapon completely identical to the genuine article if the circumstances are right—[Unlimited Blade Works]—but the protagonist's maximum is 99%. There is a clear difference between desperately trying to copy something and simply seeking to reproduce it.
Legends and associations are also very important in the crafting process.
For example, if he were making a weapon with a dragon-slaying legend, he would need the blood of a dragon species or a weapon that had killed many dragons.
Conversely, if it were a weapon based on a dragon's tooth, such as Dragon Fang, he would need a magic stone from a dragon species or one of its dropped items.
As I said, the protagonist's magic overlays fantasies he remembers, so the framework of the fantasy serving as its axis must already be established. Imagination alone is not enough. If he made a weapon solely from his own imagination, that would not be magic; it would be something made purely through his own power.
Although the protagonist's magic overlays fantasies, the reason he must follow the original appearance as closely as possible is that if the gap from the fantasy being reproduced becomes too great, the reproduction rate falls and the crafting itself fails. Beyond symbolism, other [frameworks], such as appearance and process, are necessary.
To give a simple example: if you construct a building modeled after another building, you can reduce its size or add a few touches while still making it recognizable as an imitation. But if you take the framework of a five-story building, reduce it to one floor, and stretch it sideways, you cannot really call it similar to the building you intended to imitate. In that case, the shop that intended to move in—the Noble Phantasm—might say, "I came here because I was told this was similar to the @@@ Building, so what is this?!" It might dislike it and demand a penalty fee—a drop in reproduction rate—or, in the worst case, cancel the contract and leave altogether—a reproduction failure.
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If he wishes to create a weapon made by offering a sacrifice, he offers Hephaestus's divine blood in its place. Even a single drop is the blood of a god, so it can substitute for almost any sacrifice.
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Another Very Important Point—Regarding Divine Creations and Divine Armaments
Divine armaments that come directly from mythology will not appear. This is a world overflowing with gods; if divine armaments were released into circulation here, it would cause chaos. However, things that have been suitably adapted in subculture, with only their names and appearances altered, yet are effectively equivalent to divine armaments, may appear.
There will be no occasion to make divine armaments—actual weapons of the gods. Divine creations are merely items made by gods, so because the worlds differ, people may not recognize that they were made by a god. But if he made a divine armament, a weapon of the gods, in DanMachi, where the gods themselves are down in the lower world, it would become a major problem.
To the author, divine creations and divine armaments are different—more precisely, they have an intersecting relationship. An armament whose creation involved a god is a divine creation, while an armament personally wielded by a god can be called a divine armament. Thus, Excalibur, Excalibur Galatine, and Arondight are weapons made with the involvement of gods—more precisely, spirits—but did not appear in mythology as armaments of the gods. They are merely divine creations, so they can be made. However, even if they were not weapons made by gods—Mjolnir was made by dwarves, and Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi was a sword recovered after killing a mutated serpent, so neither is a divine creation—items such as Mjolnir, Gungnir, Laevateinn, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, and Vajra that clearly acted as divine armaments in mythology would be troublesome to make in an Orario overflowing with gods.
Since they were weapons directly wielded by gods, he can make them, but he will be screwed the moment they catch a god's eye. Therefore, he draws his own line and only makes divine creations that are not divine armaments.
There was also a question about why the Greek gods had not said anything about Type-Moon's Durindana Pilum...
Well... Durindana was originally a nameless spear in the source mythology, then gained its name, legend, and abilities in Type-Moon. It is that sort of case... Besides, even strictly speaking, it was a weapon used in an entirely different world, so the gods do not care much about it. But in the case of weapons from the source myths, the lower dimension—DanMachi—inherits the lineage of the higher dimension—the source mythological sphere—directly, so the gods can notice them...
Simply put, there was no connecting structure between the lower dimension of DanMachi and the lower dimension of Type-Moon, so they could not recognize each other. But the lower dimension of DanMachi and the higher dimension of the source myths have a vertical structure, making recognition possible, which means the protagonist would be screwed.
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About the Protagonist—2
Regarding romance.
The protagonist will not have a harem—he is a sunflower—and there will be no romantic developments with the original heroines—the age gap is at least ten years. If he does enter a relationship, it will most likely be with an ordinary person. His ideal type, to begin with, is someone he can protect.
The odds of a no-romance route and a devoted-love route are fifty-fifty.
About the Protagonist—3
Regarding elf hatred.
The protagonist's aversion to elves existed even before he came to the world of DanMachi. Before arriving, he had found the elves' supremacist ideology as portrayed within DanMachi disgusting. After hearing rumors and seeing the behavior of elves in Orario firsthand, that feeling became firmly entrenched.
Elves like Ryu, who left the forest because they disliked that ideology, are at least somewhat acceptable. But until he learns that, he fundamentally loathes them on the level of cockroaches.
No other ideology or work increased Smith's hatred of elves. He developed negative feelings toward elves as a race after reading DanMachi and looking them up on Namu Wiki. We curse a villain worthy of cursing while reading, then curse them again when we see them later, do we not? To Smith, that villain was the elven race itself. He held that kind of prejudice, and when he came to Orario and found it was true, his negative feelings were amplified.
Since the protagonist's elf hatred comes from the author, if an elf who is not an original character appears, or an elf with little importance even in the original work appears, he will kill them, kill them, and kill them.
About the Protagonist—4
His relationship with Limus.
There was a question asking whether he seemed like a childish brat, judging only from how he plays pranks on Limus and treats him casually.
However, he only acts this way toward Limus. He regards Limus as family despite not being related by blood—on the same level as Mama Mia—so that is why he behaves like this. Rather, he can show this side of himself because it is Limus. And Limus tolerates it to some degree. If Limus had truly put on a serious face and said he hated it, Smith would have dropped to his knees and apologized on the spot. Limus was the first person Smith met in this world, his first friend, and the person who showed him the purest goodwill. He was also the person who caught him when he was about to collapse. Bluntly speaking, if Limus killed someone and asked Smith for help, Smith would use every means at his disposal to help him. He would not ask a single question about how he came to kill them or why.
About the Protagonist—5
The protagonist's talent and skill.
The first reason he can keep undertaking extremely difficult crafting is that Smith is absurdly talented. The second is my personal setting that, because magic power is commonplace in DanMachi, people's sixth sense has developed through magic power. The third reason is the synergy produced by combining DanMachi metallurgy—which incorporates magic power, Falna, and the sixth sense as a basic foundation—with Smith's modern metallurgical methods. There are other minor settings, but those are the three biggest reasons.
The author's personal thought on why an indestructible magic sword has not been made.
I think it is a matter of cost. If a weapon could hold a cost of 100, then the indestructible property would take 80 and the magic sword property would take another 80, leaving no more room. Perhaps everyone already knew it could not be done, so no one bothered trying anymore... That is my cautious thought, anyway. But Welf pisses me off because he just keeps shouting that he does not want to do it, does nothing, and runs away with his pants on fire. (?)
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Results of a Q&A on Joara
Final Platoon
Q: Will there be someone who inherits the weapons of Dark Souls heroes?
A: Yes! Of course. There is only one for now, but they are scheduled to appear soon. As for the original owner... I will refrain from saying more. Is it not more fun not knowing?
Palegreen
Q: Can Fantasy Forging create weapons that are like a collective entity of consciousness?
A: Hmm... To be honest, I do not know Library of Ruina or Lobotomy Corporation very well. If something does appear, it will probably just copy the appearances of weapons with relatively normal forms.
dhsjwmsk
Q: What is the protagonist's primary weapon?
A: Uh... There is not one in particular. This guy was not created with combat scenes in mind in the first place, so I have no intention of obsessing over what weapon he uses.
AnOrdinaryPersonCanSeeFantasies
Q1: Do you have any experience working as a blacksmith?
A1: Nope, none at all. I am a pure liberal-arts student, one hundred percent English language and literature. My teachers are Namu Wiki and YouTube crafting videos.
Q2: Can Fantasy Forging create guns, or metaphysical weapons?
A2: ...Guns are impossible, for one. No, what is the point of calling this a sword story and then bringing in artifacts from a futuristic age...? And by metaphysical weapons... You can cram a concept associated with a weapon into a weapon, but things like that are impossible.
Q3: What is your preferred weapon type?
A3: My preferred type is blunt weapons. I like that even beginners can handle them easily and that they aim for a single powerful blow. heh heh
Q4: Do you plan to make ego swords, swords with consciousness?
A4: I am sorry to disappoint you, but there will be no occasion to make ego swords in the future either. How to make one is a problem, as is who to give it to, how it would interact with them, and how that interaction would affect the storyline... Anyway, there will not be any.
Q5: Does the protagonist have a weapon of his own?
A5: Hmm... Come to think of it, I have not considered that. I started writing this specifically to reproduce Noble Phantasms and magical weapons in another world, so I have never thought about a weapon unique to the protagonist. If one appears, perhaps it will lead to a description at the ending such as, "[...I made the fantasies of all others come true, and in the end, I even created my own fantasy.]"—a depiction of him seeing the end of fantasy at the end of his life?
Q6: If Hephaestus in the heavens fought Smith after he exceeded Level 10, became a god, and mastered Fantasy Forging to its utmost limit, who would win?
A6: Hmm... Out of ten matches, Smith would narrowly win four, but lose the other six by a considerable margin—not an overwhelming one, but still a large gap. After all, she has the years and experience of having lived as a god.
Q7: Do you plan to touch Bell's weapons as well?
A7: Hmm... I do not think so? Smith is already making Noble Phantasms that can be seen as substitutes for magic swords. If the protagonist took over Bell's weapons too, Welf would have nothing left to do. lol
Q8: How does he compare in combat power to a first-class adventurer?
A8: He gets completely fucking crushed. If he fought an NPC, he could somehow use all the weapons he had made and reach an even match if he endured the opening three minutes, but he cannot survive those three minutes and just dies.
Smith has no talent for weapon techniques in the first place, and he is not the type to strengthen himself with weapons he has made. You know those people? They put their heart and soul into making a plastic model, but sell it to someone else once it is finished. Smith is that sort of person. To Smith, Noble Phantasms are not things he makes to use himself. Rather, he is the type who gives them to others and checks whether they suit them.
Q9: If a world exists only in the protagonist's memories, can he make something from any setting?
A9: It is possible, but...
First, he cannot make weapons that vaguely look scientific or that can only exist as products of science and technology—the former being Doomguy's Crucible, and the latter being Star Wars lightsabers.
Second, as I said before, he will not make divine armaments directly wielded by gods in the original myths.
Beyond that, if he truly remembers it, then under the assumption that he has sufficient materials and time, there is nothing Smith cannot make.
Q10: Do you regret opening this Q&A?
A10: Hmm... I think I might regret it when it comes to AnOrdinaryPersonCanSeeFantasies.
Q11: Does Smith not want to return home?
A11: Of course he wants to return. Who would not? But he has already partly given up, and he has also formed many bonds in DanMachi, so it does not show on the surface.
However, if Smith had asked for a magical trait rather than flame resistance, and if Limus had not been the first person he met, he would have turned dark, carved a national-scale transmutation circle across all of Orario, made a Black Holy Grail, used even a wish-granting ring for the star, sacrificed every god and adventurer in Orario, and opened an interdimensional gate at the bottom of the Dungeon to cross into his original higher dimension. Though the Absolute God who sent Smith here would stop him with a bitter expression.
Yulmoocha
Q1: What motivated you to write this?
A1: It began with a small question. Countless people live in Orario, so why are only adventurers spotlighted as protagonists? Adventurers, supporters, Guild employees, blacksmiths, even ordinary flower-shop owners—they are all protagonists living in Orario, are they not?
The very first motivation was, "[Then let's write DanMachi with someone in a profession other than adventuring as the protagonist!]"
After this, there is no particular order of importance.
First, I was greatly influenced by two Joara works: [A Magus Pursues Romance] and [Vinhaim Magic Tool Shop]. The idea of using technology and weapons from other worlds, along with techniques unique to oneself or to DanMachi, to "reproduce" them was very impressive. Then I had a thought. What if I wrote a blacksmith who attempts "reproduction" through physical techniques rather than sorcery or magic?
Second, I wanted to write something that considered at least a minimum degree of realism.
In many parodies involving the crafting or reproduction of weapons, they often follow a route of "I want it—poof—hmm, it is made," with not even minimal settings or realism. The most representative example is cases where someone transmigrates, possesses someone, or reincarnates with Emiya Shirou's Projection Magecraft or Unlimited Blade Works.
Projection? It is cool. How cool is it to make something with a poof in your hand? But the problem is seeing people churn them out without even the bare minimum of knowledge. Shirou also analyzed the underlying structure before projecting something, constantly failed before properly awakening his talent, and even an ordinary magus's projection disappears after ten minutes. Just because someone picked up one Skill or spell does not mean they can use it at [Unlimited Blade Works] level like Shirou, does it?
If you truly want Projection, then ask for some of the knowledge Emiya Shirou accumulated in his head in order to perform Projection. Receiving Projection alone with nothing else, then suddenly—oh my, a sword appeared in my hand? If they have the basic knowledge and techniques and reproduce it from that state, I can understand it. But skipping every intermediate step and suddenly making Kanshou and Bakuya with a poof—is that for real?
When I see someone suddenly activate a Reality Marble and unfold [Unlimited Blade Works] despite not having even the minimum foundational preparation to deploy it, it is honestly deflating. Their element is not even swords, they have no talent for Projection Magecraft, and the field of swords is Archer's inner world, not theirs. What, is the setting that they were actually Archer in disguise...?
Hrm... I got a little emotional while talking about it. Anyway, I wanted to write something that considers at least a minimum degree of realism within the bounds of parody. If you have been reading my work, you will know that I have tried... to consider realism in as many areas as possible. Yes, I tried...
Third, it is Emiya Shirou and Muramasa again. Based on Emiya, who copies, and Muramasa, who creates, the aspects that can be called the core foundations of the current Smith—reproduction and blacksmithing—were formed.
Q2: What kind of protagonist are you aiming for?
A2: Although the protagonist is mentally cornered, he is not someone who needs further mental growth. In the first place, there are very few people in this world who would still need that at twenty-nine.
Smith is already a complete person in his own right. He also has the most ordinary way of thinking. He gets angry at things worth getting angry over, apologizes for things he should apologize for, weighs his options when his life is threatened, and helps if he can offer help. I wanted to portray someone like us—someone who could be anywhere.
I will not be writing the protagonist's human growth, nor can I write exhilarating battle scenes. Since this story's focus is squarely on "crafting," even if I cannot portray battle scenes or aspects of human growth, the process of making is everything, so I should portray that everything well.
It is a blacksmith story, after all. Should I not research and ensure accuracy as much as I can?
Q3: What content do you absolutely want to avoid?
A3: First of all, BL will never appear in this story under any circumstances. Next, there will be no easy shortcuts like a protagonist power fantasy, an overpowered protagonist story, or a strongest-character route. There will be no characters other than the protagonist who came from another world and know the original work, nor will another setting's storyline intrude while DanMachi's story is progressing smoothly and merge the two settings. That is about it, I suppose?
coverage
Q: Can the protagonist only make things that have existed?
A: Yes. Whatever weapon he makes, its fundamental framework must first be established. That framework is either a record or a fantasy.
NotTheBestButTheBestPossible
Q: Bring out a five-part combining robot!
A: Uhh... um... Run away!
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About the Protagonist—6
Armament.
His equipment will probably continue to be the Black Knight set. However, at present, he is not using the Black Knight Armor he first made seven years ago, but Black Knight Armor +5. The same goes for his shield. He mainly uses a war axe—a large axe—or a halberd.
Hmm... If I had to choose his main weapons, they would be the Black Knight Greataxe among axes, Reinhardt's Hammer among blunt weapons, and Cocytus's Declavia among halberds.
To introduce each special ability:
Black Knight Greataxe: Consumes magic power to launch a slashing attack.
Reinhardt's Hammer: Consumes magic power to sharply accelerate the hammerhead.
Declavia: Imbues attacks with cold, a trait of Cocytus. The target struck freezes slightly.
That is about it.
But these are merely the weapons he uses somewhat frequently. Smith does not have a weapon he is attached to enough to call his primary weapon...
There was also discussion about the protagonist's armor. The Black Knight Armor +5 the protagonist wears is armor he has continually made from the moment he first created it, repeatedly improving and supplementing it. He deliberately kept refining and improving it using Fantasy Reproduction, and now that it has a reproduction rate of 99%, it is the strongest armor the protagonist can currently wear.
The basic functions of the armor are increased strength and reflection of flame attacks, while its additional abilities include artificial weight increase—Thousand-Kin Fall—and enhanced poise—resistance to knockback.
Likewise, the shield has enhanced poise and added resistance to flame attacks. Because it is what the protagonist likes best, he made armor that loses to no other armor. If Smith wanted to, he could make anti-beam weapons from Knight Run, Ringed Knight armor from Dark Souls, or even samurai armor by imitating the Far East.
However, Smith keeps wearing and strengthening the Black Knight Armor to this extent because it is armor he likes.
There was more discussion concerning defensive equipment as well...
Achilles's shield was originally made by Hephaestus. As a follower of Hephaestus, Smith finds it troublesome in many ways. Moreover, Achilles's shield contains the world he had seen and lived in. It cannot be contained or imitated in DanMachi. It is a world, after all. What meaning would the shield have if he could not copy its most important core?
As for something like Odysseus's armor, it is the divine armament Aegis to begin with... If he made it as a follower of Hephaestus, who belongs to the Olympian gods, things would literally be turned upside down.
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