The next day, Finn delivered the adamantite through Aiz.
"..."
"What are you planning to make?"
"Who knows..."
I'll have to figure that out as I go.
"...Oh, right. Let me see your sword for a second."
It had looked pretty worn the last time I saw it.
"Here."
"...At this rate, it's going to break soon."
The sword Aiz had been using was so degraded that it looked ready to snap at any moment.
"Wasn't this only made five months ago?"
"..."
"Don't look away."
Swords were, by nature, consumables.
No matter how fine the blade, the more it was used, the more it wore down.
"But isn't that too fast?"
Was Aiz's skill so incredible that she could push a rapier—one even Hephaistos had acknowledged—to the brink of breaking in just five months? Or was my own skill lacking, having forged a blade that could fail so quickly?
"Sorry..."
"You don't need to apologize. If the sword ended up like this, it just means my craftsmanship wasn't good enough."
It was my fault for failing to provide Aiz with a weapon that could withstand her power over the long term.
"Aiz."
"What?"
"Would it be alright if I forged your next sword out of adamantite?"
"Wasn't that supposed to be for Bellf?"
"I already have mine."
Between projection and the magic swords I had created through Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, I was already well-equipped.
In contrast, Aiz relied on a single blade. Since the only equipment I needed to forge for myself was a single hammer, it made far more sense to prioritize Aiz's weapon.
"You'll make it for me?"
"...Yeah."
"Good. Then come back tomorrow... no, in two days."
"Got it."
This is my first time working with adamantite... I wonder if it will forge easily.
As it turned out, adamantite was every bit as stubbornly hard as I had expected.
"..."
Furthermore, its resistance to heat was obnoxiously high.
"They say orichalcum is even harder than adamantite... just how indestructible is that stuff, anyway?"
I recalled hearing that equipment made with orichalcum could actually lose some of its potency due to the absolute nature of the Durandal attribute, but still...
"Haa... this is rough."
After splashing blood to feed the flames, I finally completed the forging.
"As for the name... I've got nothing. Aiz can decide that."
It wasn't my sword, so she could name it whatever she liked.
"I should... rest a bit..."
Did I burn through too much blood? I'm getting dizzy...