Chapter 178: The Demonic Blacksmith's Hammer
After the conversation at the foot of the volcano, things progressed faster than expected. Totosai agreed to teach him how to forge, but on one strict condition. He had to learn right here, deep within the volcanic cave, using his personal furnace and his specialized fire.
"This old man is not leaving the mountain." The short, elderly demon hoisted his massive iron hammer over his shoulder. His attitude remained entirely resolute. "If you decide to learn, you must stay here. I won't run outside for anyone. After being chased for hundreds of years, I finally found a peaceful place. Even if it is only temporary, I won't be going out."
This was perfectly reasonable. Hikaru did not force him, nor did he refuse the condition. Since he had managed to track down Totosai, he needed to accomplish his goals in a single attempt. If he missed this chance, locating this elusive blacksmith next time would not be easy.
Even setting aside the information he knew before crossing over, the reality of the situation was clear. Just looking at the scene from earlier, he could tell that this old man was a top-tier demon blacksmith in the Western Lands, perhaps even all of Japan. He was constantly sought after by demons and humans alike, forcing him to run and hide everywhere. A nomadic life was his norm. Staying in one place certainly would not last long. He could not miss this opportunity.
But before diving into the forge, he had to escort Yoshimoto and her party back to safety.
A daimyo staying in the wild for three or four days was already pushing the absolute limit. The government affairs of Suruga were piling up like a mountain. The land of Totomi had already been firmly controlled by Yoshimoto, alongside the gradually submitting land of Mikawa. These three regions belonged to the Imagawa Clan both in name and in reality. They were not massive when looking at the entirety of Japan, but they were certainly not small either.
Although Taigen Sessai could handle administrative duties on her behalf, the physical condition of the Black-Robed Prime Minister was deteriorating. With perhaps less than half a year of life left, every extra day of overwork drained her remaining vitality.
That night, Hikaru escorted Yoshimoto's party to the main road in the eastern part of Totomi Province. From this point back to the Imagawa Clan's main castle, the entire route fell under their territory, complete with post stations and guards. Forty ashigaru and six mounted samurai were more than enough to ensure their safety.
At parting, Yoshimoto sat inside her palanquin. The gap in the curtain lifted slightly, revealing half of her face. The collar of her dark blue kosode fluttered gently in the cool night breeze, and the warm light from a nearby lantern reflected against her fair neckline.
"Are you not coming?" she asked.
"Not for now. I am staying a few days to learn something," Hikaru replied.
"Learn what?"
"Blacksmithing."
Yoshimoto's expression stiffened for a fraction of a second. She smoothly closed her folding fan, raising it to cover the lower half of her face. "Is there anything you do not learn?"
"I do not learn how to be human."
"..." The curtain was quietly lowered.
The palanquin, surrounded by the ashigaru, traveled along the dirt road. The long snake of orange torches gradually shrank until it completely disappeared into the endless night. Motoyasu followed closely beside the palanquin. Before leaving, she glanced back at the gray figure standing on the roadside watching them go. She pushed up her round-framed glasses and muttered something under her breath. It could not be heard clearly, but it probably was not anything complimentary.
After sending Yoshimoto off, Hikaru had one more task to complete. He contacted the Tanuki Spirit back in Suruga through his field of fear. He instructed this tanuki, which had already reached its fourth transformation, to carry a letter back to Kaede Village and deliver it to Kikyo.
The content of the letter was brief and to the point. 'Found Totosai. Need to stay a few days to learn blacksmithing. Please take care of things in the rear.'And then,'Miss you.'
He added those last two words after hesitating for a single second. Honesty was an essential quality in a demon's life.
The large Tanuki Spirit took the folded letter in its mouth and dashed off. Its thick tail puffed up, and the speed brought by the accumulated demonic energy from four transformations was incredibly fast in the dark. It could easily reach Kaede Village from Suruga in a single night. The letter also carried Hikaru's fear, meaning they could communicate directly through it later.
With his affairs arranged properly, Hikaru turned his back to the road and headed straight for the volcano.
In the following days, he began to learn the art of blacksmithing. However, Hikaru actually was not sure if he possessed any genuine talent for forging. He had another, much more specific purpose in mind.
Totosai's volcanic cave was vastly larger than it appeared from the outside. After entering through the crater and walking down along the winding lava tunnel for about three hundred steps, a massive natural forge revealed itself. The rock layers on the four walls were baked red and shiny by centuries of intense heat. Orange-red lava flowed sluggishly through deep cracks in the ground, illuminating the cavern.
In the very center sat a stone-built forge furnace. The furnace was huge, but the color of the fire was not the typical red of ordinary flames. It was a plasma-like heat with a blinding blue-white core. That was the fire maintained by Totosai's own demonic energy, not a flame that could be produced in the natural world. This was the core of Totosai's qualitative change as a demon, an extraordinary transformation of fire.
Various heavy forging tools were scattered next to the furnace. Among them rested Totosai's iron hammer.
The hammerhead was larger than Totosai's own head, pitch black all over. The surface was covered with a layer of blue-gray residue left by repeated, endless quenching. The handle was carved from an unknown hardwood, tightly wrapped with rough, sweat-stained hemp rope. The entire hammer exuded a steady, incredibly heavy demonic energy. It was unassuming and deeply contained, like compacted soil. Hundreds of years of accumulated forging experience had settled deep within this single tool.
The interface popped up in Hikaru's field of vision.
[Totosai's Used Hammer]
[Quality: Demonic Tool]
[Description: A forging hammer used by Totosai for hundreds of years. The hammer's body has absorbed tens of thousands of its master's strikes of will and forging heart's blood. It has naturally formed the prototype of an artifact soul. It knows nothing of combat, only forging. Every mark on the hammer's face is a memory of tempering.]
[Current favorability: 0 (Indifferent)]
[Note: It only reacts to the act of forging. Simple infusion of demonic power is meaningless to it.]
As expected. A Demonic Tool.
And it was the kind of object that naturally became a demon through the sheer accumulation of time. Unlike Muramasa, which was forcibly triggered by the favorability system, this hammer's soul was purely, entirely natural. It was like an aged wine, brewed carefully for hundreds of years.
Yes, this was Hikaru's true goal.
He stared at the floating text, a clear plan already forming in his mind. This hammer did not take demonic power, it did not take fear, and it did not take sweet rhetoric. It only took one thing. Forging.
You had to actually strike iron for it to pay attention to you. It was a rare case of being entirely simple and clear. So he had to learn. But learning was actually just the process. Using this hammer during the learning process and letting it see that he was seriously forging, that was the ultimate goal.
Once favorability reached thirty, the first talent would be unlocked. If that talent was related to forging, then holding this hammer, he could directly transform from a complete layman into an expert who inherited hundreds of years of a master smith's experience. He did not need to actually learn it the hard way. He only needed to complete the conquest.
With the system in hand, the world was his.
"Totosai," Hikaru called out. "Lend me this hammer of yours for a few days."
The short old demon raised his wrinkled face, his large, bulging eyes glaring at the Oni Samurai. "You want to use my hammer? Do you even know how? Do not come crying to me if you smash your own foot. Stupid... cough, fine, I will lend it to you. Hold it steady, kid!"
The hammer was tossed through the air. The massive head weighed over a hundred catties, spinning twice before descending. Hikaru caught it effortlessly with one hand. The moment his palm touched the rough hemp handle, that layer of steady demonic energy fluctuated slightly.
It throbbed once. Very briefly. Like a sleeping person turning over in their bed.
But with just that one throb, the interface jumped.
[Hammer of Totosai: favorability +1]
[Current favorability: 1 (Awareness)]
From zero to one. Hikaru gripped the handle tightly and walked straight to the forging furnace. He squatted down, picked up a piece of scrap iron, and began to strike.
The next seven days passed in a flash. There was no distinction between day and night in the sweltering volcanic cave, only the never-extinguishing light of the blue-white furnace fire. In these seven days, Hikaru had barely left that stone forging furnace. What he did was very simple. Striking iron.
Totosai taught him crudely and loudly.
"Do not let the wrist holding the hammer go stiff, keep it moving! You are forging iron, not hacking people apart!"
"Watch the color when quenching! Cherry blossom red is soft, loquat yellow is brittle, orange peel color is correct. Are you colorblind?!"
"The rhythm of the folding strikes is wrong! What are you pounding? Making mochi?!"
The short old demon squatted by the furnace, his large bulging eyes round with intense focus. His wrinkled face rose and fell with the rapid rhythm of his scolding. Although the main hammer was in Hikaru's hands, Totosai held a small spare hammer himself, occasionally tapping the back of Hikaru's hand to forcefully correct his posture.
Hikaru did not talk back. He was learning seriously. Although the primary goal was to conquer the hammer's favorability, the learning itself held deep meaning. Basic forging skills, understanding metal properties, the delicate coordination of heat and physical strength. Even if he gained shortcuts through talents later, having a solid foundation would never go to waste.
However, he did not learn slowly either. After all...
[A piece of iron of outstanding quality tells you that hitting it from here feels comfortable.]
[Totosai's Hammer tells you to use more force, the strength is completely insufficient!]
[The temporary volcanic furnace tells you that this kind of burning can melt the iron on top. It has been annoyed with that guy for a long time!]
Myoga was huddled deeply in a rock crevice in the corner of the furnace platform, showing only two eyes the size of mung beans. He watched the scene from a safe distance. "How rare... Lord Totosai is actually teaching someone to forge iron. The first time in hundreds of years."
"Shut up, Myoga! Any more talk and I will throw you directly into the furnace."
Myoga immediately shrank back into the shadows.
The hammer's favorability climbed slowly over these seven days. It took two days to go from one to five. Another two days to go from five to ten. It took a day and a half to go from ten to twenty. The speed was not fast, but it was accelerating.
Because the hammer's personality was fundamentally different from other objects. It really did not care about demonic power, rhetoric, or emotions at all. It only cared about one thing: the pure act of forging itself. The more seriously you forged, the happier it became. The more decent your forging became, the more excited it got.
Hikaru's forging technique progressed from nearly smashing his own foot on the first day to being able to hammer a piece of scrap iron into a rough, passable blade shape by the seventh day. The rate of improvement was astonishing, and his attitude was undeniably sincere. The hammer could feel it.
The seventh day arrived. The roaring furnace fire illuminated the cavern brightly. Hikaru held the heavy hammer, and the final strike landed squarely on the repeatedly folded iron billet in front of him. The force was neither too great nor too small. The angle was absolutely perfect, and the rhythm connected flawlessly with the previous forty-plus strikes.
The exact moment the hammer face touched the glowing iron surface, a deep tremor came from his palm. It was entirely different from before. This tremor traveled from the wooden handle up his arm, surged into his chest cavity, and finally merged directly into his mind.
The interface jumped.
[Hammer of Totosai: favorability 30]
[First Talent Unlocked: Hammer Sense]
[Effect: By swinging the hammer, one can perceive the internal structure of an object, as if looking directly at the skeleton of the iron with the naked eye.]
As expected. It was related to forging. And the effect was terrifying. Although it did not directly provide raw experience itself, the hardest part of the craft of forging was never physical strength or technique. It was whether one had a clear, intuitive understanding of the material's interior. This part was difficult to achieve easily even if one could communicate directly with the material. It is hard for people to know themselves, and the exact same goes for metals.
This was the so-called 'feel,' something that those without natural talent needed decades or even centuries of grueling accumulation to obtain. And now, Hikaru had that talent too.
Hikaru closed his eyes, gripped the hammer tightly again, and landed another heavy strike on that iron billet.
The moment this specific strike fell, Totosai, squatting nearby, let out a muffled grunt. His bulging eyes stared fixedly at the exact spot where the hammer in Hikaru's hand fell.
"This strike..." The old man's wrinkles tightened. He could see it clearly. This Oni Samurai, who had only been learning forging for a mere seven days, had just delivered a strike that already surpassed the vast majority of human blacksmiths who had been working for decades.
"You brat..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Hikaru had already moved. He knew the timing was perfectly ripe. He decisively pushed the ordinary iron billet aside and reached into his robes, pulling out several jagged fragments.
These were the remains of weapons with maxed-out favorability. The broken tip of a nameless katana, shattered fragments of a rusted naginata, and scrap iron from an abandoned small shrine in Kaede Village. They were of different sizes and completely different materials, but each piece retained a full one hundred favorability.
He put all the fragments directly into the roaring furnace. Demonic fire immediately swallowed the metal.
The hammer was raised high. And it fell.
This strike carried the deep feel brought by the newly acquired talent. And those fragments were actively cooperating. They too longed to be tempered and fused, desperately longing to step onto the battlefield once more. A faint, ethereal light seeped out from within the melting metal. It was not demonic energy, nor was it spiritual power.
It was 'intent'. The very intent that Totosai had spoken of. The cognition and sheer will that were carried on every single fragment, which Hikaru had poured in little by little during those initial days of their bond.
The hammer fell again. The fragments began to rapidly fuse within the intense furnace fire. Metals of completely different materials melted and reorganized under the extreme heat. The intent left behind by the favorability seemed to become a unique, powerful adhesive, smoothly integrating the iron, steel, and rust that were originally incompatible.
Deep purple patterns appeared in Hikaru's eyes, as if cast by crackling thunder. Demonic power surged from his bones, poured along his muscular arm directly into the hammer, and then conducted from the blackened hammer face straight into the molten metal.
The hammer fell like a torrential rain. One hammer strike, two strikes, three strikes. Ten strikes. Thirty strikes.
Each strike carried a completely different force, angle, and rhythm, all guided by the instinctive perception of his new talent. The hammer hummed violently in his hand. That humming was completely different from before. Before, it was a dull, passive vibration. Now, it was an active, wildly excited trembling. It was like a starving hound that had finally caught the scent of fresh meat.
The panel was jumping rapidly.
[Totosai's Hammer: favorability +5]
The numbers were climbing. Climbing rapidly. Because the hammer felt it. A demon blade was being born right beneath its face. Although the base material was mediocre, the sheer concentration of intent carried within far exceeded the vast majority of works it had ever handled. Totosai had always said that the finest vessels never depend on the material, but on the intent. The hammer, which had worked alongside him for hundreds of years, completely agreed.
[Hammer of Totosai: favorability 50]
[Second Talent Unlocked: Intent Reading]
[Effect: The wielder can clearly feel the purity and completeness of the object's intent during forging, and judge the progress and deficiencies of the blade soul's condensation.]
The favorability did not stop. Because Hikaru did not stop either. The fragments completely fused in the furnace fire into a single piece of metal blank that was dark red all over and emitted a faint, pulsing light. He took the glowing blank out of the furnace with tongs, placed it firmly on the anvil, and continued to fold and hammer it.
The hammer fell, and bright sparks splattered across the cavern. Every single strike was compacting and forging the intent solid. The blade soul of Muramasa was awakened by the intense vibration of the folding. Dark red light seeped out from the scabbard resting at Hikaru's waist. It was responding. It felt that the intent within those fragments was being forged into a brand new form. It was waiting. Waiting for those intents to merge into itself.
[Hammer of Totosai: favorability 80]
The trembling of the hammer reached its absolute peak. The entire volcanic cave was shaking slightly, and the glowing lava patterns on the rock walls oozed orange-red liquid light in response to the tremor.
Totosai took two slow steps back. His protruding big eyes widened to their absolute limit. He felt it. He did not need the favorability system that Hikaru possessed, nor did he need a floating panel. As a master yokai blacksmith who had been forging legendary blades for hundreds of years, his understanding of his own hammer was deeper than anyone else's.
That hammer was excited. An excitement like never before. Even more excited than when he had forged Tessaiga.
"This kid..." The old man's voice trembled slightly.
He saw it clearly. On the glowing metal blank where the fragments had fused, a layer of extremely faint, almost invisible patterns was emerging entirely on its own. That was the unmistakable mark of a blade soul condensing. Usually, the blade soul of a demon blade takes years or even decades to naturally form.
And this Oni Samurai before him...
"Is it succeeding?!" Myoga sprang out from a dark rock crevice, his flat little body flipping twice in the hot air. "How long has it been?!"
[Hammer of Totosai: favorability 100]
[Third Talent Unlocked: Furnace Fire Self-Formation]
The panel jumped for the last time. But Hikaru was not in a hurry to integrate anything just yet. He was still hammering. Every mark on the hammer face was burning hot, and the immense weight of hundreds of years of forging memories passed from the handle directly into his palm. Now, it was completely willing to entrust everything to him.
"Lord Totosai!" Myoga hopped frantically onto the old man's shoulder, his six thin legs trembling like a leaf in the wind. "That hammer of yours... it has never been this excited for you, has it?!"
Totosai completely ignored the frantic flea. He stared fixedly at the blank in Hikaru's hand, the dark red light reflecting deeply in his old, weathered eyes. The complex patterns emerging on that blank... he recognized them. Those were the distinct characteristics that only appear when a supreme demon blade's soul is near birth.
And the staggering concentration and purity of the intent carried by this new demon blade...
"It is possible," the old man said in a low, reverent voice. "In terms of sheer potential, this soon-to-be-born demon blade... will not lose to those long-famous demon blades."
Including even Tessaiga.
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