After breakfast in the cafeteria, Shin and the others headed straight to the facility tour.
Their first stop, guided by Druk, was the blacksmithing sector.
They were taken to a test furnace equipped with the latest tech; different from the one Shin had used before.
“Just checking… are you sure it’s okay for me to see this?”
“Yes. Up ahead is the reproduction model for a magic furnace used before the Dusk of Majesty. You’ve seen the real deal, right? So even if you see it, no harm done. In fact, if anything’s off, I’d appreciate you pointing it out.”
“You’re not trying to exploit me, are you?”
Judging from Druk’s tone, Shin knew it wasn’t serious, so he replied with a matching lighthearted tone.
But strangely, Druk suddenly began to panic.
“Wait, wait! Don’t misunderstand. I was joking! Really. I don’t intend to use you, I swear! Lady Yuki, please stop giving off that murderous aura! I promise, I’m not trying to take advantage!”
The reason for Druk’s panic was the pressure radiating from Schnee.Though she wasn’t actually serious, for someone like Druk—an ordinary person in terms of status—the intimidation was no joke. It was far stronger than what most monsters could dish out.
When Shin made a calming gesture, the tension Schnee was exuding began to fade. It seemed that was her way of warning him.
“Whew… that nearly shaved years off my life. Whether what we’ve built is close or far from what Shin-dono knows, I don’t expect him to say anything. When it comes to blacksmithing, we all know full well there’s little we can offer him. But more than anything, I just want him to see how far we’ve come.”
Druk, wiping away a cold sweat, explained.
The Black Faction was working to revive lost technologies and facilities. The magic furnace ahead was apparently one such prototype.
He’d likely heard about Shin’s master through Kluck, and was convinced that Shin had seen the completed version—not just a prototype.
And he wasn’t wrong.
“One day, we will reclaim the glory of the past. And I want someone like you, who’s seen the farthest reaches, to witness our first step. That wish comes not only from me, but from everyone in the blacksmithing department.”
Druk’s expression was dead serious. The fire in his eyes made his sincerity clear.
“Understood. In that case, I won’t say a word about what I think.”
Following Druk, Shin and the others moved deeper into the facility.
After passing through two corridors connecting different wings, the material of the walls changed.
Stronger than the ones they’d seen before, they were likely built to contain internal explosions.
Shin recognized the structure. The change in wall materials marked the entrance to the experimental zone.
A few minutes farther in, they came upon a massive reinforced door.
“It’s in here.”
Speaking into a voice tube-like device next to the door, Druk triggered the opening mechanism.
The door slowly creaked open, revealing a massive dome-shaped furnace.
The furnace stood around 3 mel tall and 5 mel wide.
The input hatch appeared to be around 40 cemels high and 30 cemels wide.
It was large enough that Shin had to look up at it, making the hatch appear smaller than it was.
The outer wall was completely black, radiating magical energy.
“This is Prototype No. 7 of the Advanced Magic Furnace series. Its outer shell is an alloy of adamantine and various types of magic steel. The power source uses a Compound Magic Circle to extract and amplify magic from multiple magic stones. We created this after many rounds of prototyping.”
As Druk explained, Shin carefully examined Prototype No. 7.
At first glance, it didn’t seem to have any issues.
It was significantly larger than the furnace at the Moon Shrine, Shin’s home, but the concept behind it was remarkably close.
High-purity magical metals and materials from high-level monsters often had environmental effects.
A furnace had to be exceptionally durable—especially on the inside—to handle those materials.
With an adamantine-based alloy shell, the furnace should be able to contain materials that would normally cause explosions in a standard unit.
And the Compound Magic Circle was a smart design choice.
With high-rank magic stones now rare and hard to obtain, using a system that extracted and amplified even minimal magic was a clever workaround.
Many materials consumed a vast amount of magic just to process.
So high magic output and duration were critical, and, from experience or records, they had likely deduced the necessary features for a top-tier magic furnace.
“Now then, we’ll begin activation and durability testing for Prototype No. 7. Everyone, stay sharp!”
Once all eyes were on him, Druk gave the command.
The team preparing inside the room responded all at once.
“What’s the test material?”
“Over here.”
A chunk of orichalcum the size of two fists was brought out on a tray.
It was likely used just as it had been collected. Despite the shiny surface, impurities were mixed in.
“Department Head, here you go.”
“Thanks.”
Another worker brought over a protective suit that was stitched together from the hides of various monsters.
The head was rounded and inflated, with a glass-like visor embedded at the front.
Apparently, Druk himself would be conducting the operation.
(So they haven’t mastered heat regulation yet…)
Shin immediately realized what the prepared outfit was for.
A magic furnace capable of refining and altering high-rank materials could reach temperatures hotter than poorly controlled flame skills.
Because of this, high-performance magic furnaces from the game era were equipped with functions to regulate heat output, preventing damage to both the user and surrounding facilities.
However, it seemed that Prototype No. 7 lacked such functionality.
“Deploying heat-resistant defense membranes. All personnel, retreat to designated positions. Deployment in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… deploy!”
With the call, two pale blue, semi-transparent membranes were deployed.
One surrounded the furnace itself, and another was deployed about two mels further out.
The protective system to shield the workers appeared to have activated successfully.
“Activating the magic furnace.”
Once the membranes were in place, one of the workers placed their hand on a control panel.
A dull voom sounded, and the magic furnace began to fill with magical energy.
High-density magic started swirling inside the furnace.
Shin guessed that the temperature inside the membranes was already quite intense.
Wearing his heat-resistant suit, Druk Yulk approached the now-active furnace while carrying the chunk of Orichalcum.
The membranes appeared to be permeable—Druk passed through them without resistance.
He placed the Orichalcum on the flat end of a lever bar and inserted it into the furnace.
After a few seconds, the magic of the Orichalcum reacted with the magic inside the furnace, and pale blue sparks began to spill out.
Shin, observing closely, could see that each time the sparks hit Druk’s protective suit, the suit’s durability decreased.
If he mistimed his retreat, Druk could be in real danger.
Surely Druk knew that as well. And yet, he didn’t move. He stared intently into the furnace, completely still.
As time passed, the durability of the heat-resistant suit continued to decline—slowly but surely.
“Department Head! It’s getting dangerous! Please fall back!”
When the suit’s durability dropped below half, one of the workers called out.
He had clearly been monitoring the suit’s condition. But Druk didn’t budge.
“Department Head!”
“Not yet! Just a little longer—!”
Even Shin was starting to think this had gone too far.
At that moment, another worker hurriedly began putting on a heat-resistant suit identical to Druk’s.
He was probably preparing to forcibly drag Druk out if needed.
The suit’s durability dropped below 30%.
The suited-up worker entered the membrane zone.
“Department Head, this is really bad!”
The worker grabbed Druk by the arm—just as Druk finally pulled the lever bar out of the furnace.
“Shut the furnace down!”
“Wha—? Department Head!”
Shouting his order, Druk ran out of the membrane zone, careful not to drop the Orichalcum on the lever bar.
The worker who came to retrieve him was momentarily left behind, scrambling to follow him out.
Once they were outside the first membrane, Druk’s suit, the lever bar, and the chunk of Orichalcum all began to emit thick steam.
Apparently, the space between the membranes had a cooling effect as well.
The steam was trapped within the membranes, obscuring Druk’s figure for a moment.
When the steam cleared, Druk emerged slowly through the outer membrane.
Parts of his suit had partially melted.
He placed the Orichalcum—still on the lever bar—onto the worktable and, with the help of the workers, removed the heat suit.
Even with it on, it hadn’t fully blocked the heat. Druk was drenched in sweat.
“Begin analysis of the Orichalcum.”
Upon receiving the command, the workers immediately swarmed around the Orichalcum as if they had been waiting for this moment.
Some peered through tools like magnifying glasses or monocles, some tried filing the metal, while others applied thin strips of paper.
Some of their actions were unclear even to Shin.
(Refinement rate… about 70%, huh?)
Though the Orichalcum had gained transparency, its luster was still dull compared to the kind Shin used for crafting and repairing weapons.
Fully refined Orichalcum, the ideal as a catalyst in weapon or item creation, would shine like a polished gemstone.
From simply watching the experiment, Shin couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was wrong with Prototype No. 7.
But it seemed to him that the magical energy inside the furnace hadn’t reached a sufficient intensity.
However, since he had promised not to offer comments or feedback, he said nothing.
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