I’m Here to End This Fight

Chapter 160. Metallurgy (2)

Yuri’s brow furrowed severely.

‘What kind of nonsense is this?’

When it came to metallurgy, Yuri had expected processes like heating a furnace, extracting molten metal, and wielding a hammer. He couldn’t help but be flustered by the sudden suggestion to choose an iron ingot.

A voice full of reluctance slipped from his lips.

“Old Man Kongsul, I think you’re mistaken. This bet is about me learning metallurgy from you and proving I’ve mastered it.”

“I’m aware. Isn’t that what I’m teaching you now?”

“What?”

“What did you think I was saying? Didn’t I say that selecting materials is also a basic skill of metallurgy? Of course, I’m teaching you that!”

“Oh, really? Then go ahead and show me the special technique to distinguish high-quality materials.”

“There’s no such thing.”

“……?”

“If there were, I wouldn’t tell you to train for a lifetime.”

As the incomprehensible explanations continued, veins started to pop on Yuri’s temples.

“What kind of trickery is this?”

“Trickery? Not at all.”

Segyung snorted.

“I’ll say it again: the eye for discerning materials is the most fundamental skill of metallurgy in the Walker School. And it’s not something you can learn through theory.”

“Then how do you learn and master it?”

“It’s simple.”

“What is it?”

“Touch them a lot, hammer them a lot, and melt them a lot.”

“…….”

“After years of working with minerals, your eyes naturally open, and you develop the discernment to judge quality at a glance.”

“…Is that really a fundamental skill?”

“It sure is.”

“How long does it usually take for one’s eyes to open?”

“For the Bone Clan, about 10 years?”

“…And to judge quality at a glance?”

“At the very least, you’d need to spend twenty to thirty years practically chewing on chunks of metal.”

“What? How can that be a basic skill? That’s something you’d expect from masters who’ve reached the pinnacle!”

“Ha ha, that’s exactly what Bone Clan children learn as their very first fundamental skill.”

“You must be kidding.”

“Go and confirm it with the Bone Clan later if you don’t believe me.”

“…….”

“Heh heh, annoyed? There’s nothing you can do; it’s all true.”

With his confident face, it seemed like he wasn’t lying.

Exasperated, Yuri glared at Segyung.

“Hah? This old geezer is playing games from the start?”

The eye for discerning materials Segyung spoke of—it was, as he said, a technique of metallurgy, but also, it wasn’t. It wasn’t a skill you could learn theoretically but one internalized through years of accumulated experience. It was basic, yet fundamental, something that had to be continuously developed without a fixed limit.

‘And now he expects me to do that?’

If there were a theory, you could follow it to learn. But how could he demonstrate a skill that only time could resolve? And this was something the Bone Clan took at least ten years to achieve.

Just in case, Yuri asked.

“By when do I need to finish?”

“By today. I’m busy.”

“How many attempts do I get?”

“I’m not completely heartless, so I’ll give you up to three tries.”

“…Damn, that’s so generous, I’m about to cry. Sorting 12 iron ingots by quality in order? And with only three tries? Even 12 tries wouldn’t be enough!”

“If you don’t like it, just quit. Don’t waste a busy man’s time. If it seems impossible, just give up quickly.”

At Segyung’s taunt, Yuri’s lips twisted.

‘Damn old geezer.’

He didn’t know about anything else, but this old geezer and Johan were truly masters at getting under people’s skin. Segyung, whether he would deny it or not, resembled Johan.

With an annoyed look, Yuri picked up a few iron ingots rolling on the ground. Instantly, curses slipped from his lips.

“Goddammit…”

His swearing was completely justified. The two iron ingots in his hands were exactly the same—color, sheen, size, shape, even weight.

Curious to see if the others were the same, he lined up all 12 iron ingots and inspected them, only to find that distinguishing them was nearly impossible.

Yuri glared at Segyung with narrowed eyes.

“Are these all actually different? You didn’t just bring identical ones to mess with me, did you?”

“What do you take me for? I swear on the honor of the Bone Clan, absolutely not!”

“Hmm…”

Seeing Segyung even bring up the honor of his clan, Yuri let out a low groan. Then, he plopped down in front of the 12 iron ingots, folding his arms.

‘How the hell am I supposed to distinguish these?’

Yuri stared intently at the iron ingots with his mouth tightly shut. Meanwhile, Segyung’s lips curled into a faint sneer as he watched Yuri.

‘Heh heh, kid, it took me exactly 42 years to distinguish those. Let’s see if you can do it.’

He was certain that brat would never pass this trial.

Segyung was utterly convinced.

“It won’t work, right?”

Munch munch.

“Probably not.”

Chomp chomp.

“I’m hungry.”

Chomp chomp.

Theresia, Arin, and Poppy sat in a row, munching on rations like they were snacks.

They watched Yuri, who was standing with his arms crossed, glaring at the iron ingots, and made their assessment.

They, too, had ears and heard every word exchanged between Yuri and Segyung.

So, it was natural for them to be skeptical.

“Even for Yuri, there’s probably no way he can do this.”

Chew chew.

If it were a simple skill, Yuri’s talent might have given them hope.

But what Segyung demanded was not a skill that blossomed from talent, but one refined through time.

If Yuri had been given decades, maybe.

As it stood, distinguishing those 12 iron ingots in a single day was an impossible task.

‘If the number of attempts were unlimited, he might’ve been able to guess randomly and get it right…’

But the challenge allowed only three tries.

‘That old geezer from the Bone Clan really pulled out all the stops.’

How much did he want to avoid losing this bet to prepare such a dirty tactic?

Clicking her tongue inwardly, Arin reached into the ration bag, curious about how Yuri would respond.

“Do you think just looking at them will tell you anything? Just hurry and finish up.”

Despite Segyung’s sneering urgings, Yuri didn’t unfold his arms.

‘Is there really no way around this?’

There were a total of five metallurgy skills Yuri was supposed to learn from Segyung.

This was just the first, so he could give up now and aim for the next one if necessary.

However…

‘Who’s to say the next contest won’t be like this too?’

No, knowing that old man, he’d likely have an equally dirty trick ready for the next one.

He couldn’t afford to waste even a single opportunity.

‘I have to try everything I can.’

Resolving himself, Yuri picked up, put down, tapped, and even knocked the 12 iron ingots against each other.

But no matter how much he looked, listened, or even smelled, he couldn’t find any differences.

Then, at that very moment, a thought flashed through Yuri’s mind.

[At the very least, you’d need to spend twenty to thirty years practically chewing on chunks of metal.]

‘That’s it!’

Yuri had picked up on a clue from something Segyung had said earlier.

He flicked his tongue toward the ingot.

Lick—

The three onlookers cringed in surprise at the sight, while Segyung smiled condescendingly.

Meanwhile, Yuri…

Lick, lick—

He proceeded to lick all 12 iron ingots in succession.

Lick, lick—

His face was more serious than ever, and only after licking the twelfth ingot did he fold his arms and close his eyes.

“Hmm…”

Yuri let out a small groan, appearing as if he were savoring a flavor.

But internally, it was different.

‘Uh, um… I have no idea.’

He thought that perhaps, by licking and tasting them, he might find some differences, but it was all for nothing.

His tongue only tingled from the metallic taste.

‘How am I supposed to figure this out? What can I use to distinguish between them?’

Touch, sight, smell, hearing, even taste—he had employed every sense he could, but he couldn’t find a way to distinguish the iron ingots.

Not even a hint.

Yuri continued to keep his eyes closed, sinking deeper into thought.

Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes.

He broadened his range of thinking, analyzing the subject from various angles beyond just what he had seen.

After about thirty minutes had passed in contemplation, a small realization struck Yuri’s mind.

‘The eye that can distinguish materials… perhaps it’s not a common sensory skill but something spiritual?’

Yuri clung to this new idea.

‘If it’s about sensing something beyond normal perception with spiritually attuned senses, could that be what’s called ‘the eye that discerns materials’?’

Then what exactly would that sense detect?

‘What could be the special something that only a spiritual sense can perceive, unknown to others?’

The deliberation was long, but the realization came in an instant.

‘Ah! Mana… it’s mana!’

Just like how siblings born to the same parents may look similar but are still distinct, even minerals of the same type, from the same mine, would each have slightly different inherent mana characteristics.

‘It might be hard to find such differences in all things, but if you’ve been working with a single mineral for decades, you might naturally come to recognize subtle differences in mana.’

Thinking this, Yuri naturally employed the Magic Flow technique.

‘If there are subtle differences in mana, those differences will also manifest as distinct flows.’

Yuri tried to sense the unique mana flow each iron ingot held.

At first, he felt no noticeable differences.

The flow of the iron ingots seemed identical, to the point that he wondered if he had made a mistake.

But the more it felt that way, the more Yuri concentrated.

‘There’s definitely a difference.’

Yuri carefully and meticulously analyzed the flows.

And finally…

‘Found it!’

He succeeded in discovering it—the subtle differences in the flows emanating from each iron ingot.

‘Even if the flow patterns appear the same, the consistency with which they transmit is different!’

One ingot’s flow surged at consistent intervals and speed, while another ingot’s flow varied irregularly in both.

Discovering that slight difference, Yuri tilted his head in delight.

‘Wait, this…?’

Something familiar.

The characteristics of the flow he sensed from the iron ingots were something Yuri had encountered before.

It was none other than…

‘Waves?!’

The wave patterns of a sword, which are essential to perceive when performing techniques like the Strong Sword and Soft Sword.

If you were to visualize the regularity and changes in the flow of mana, it would definitely resemble those wave patterns.

This realization led to yet another insight.

‘Wait, could infusing mana into a weapon be…?!’

To perform techniques like the Strong Sword and Soft Sword, people infuse their mana into their weapons.

That process must be amplifying the unique mana wave of the material used in the weapon’s construction.

‘To make it easier to read the wave patterns!’

But the problem was that the wave patterns get distorted in the process.

It was an inevitable outcome.

‘If you forcefully stretch and amplify a subtle wave, it would be stranger if it remained identical to the original.’

This is why matching the wave patterns of the weapon and the mana core takes so much time.

And it made creating resonance exceedingly difficult.

It wasn’t just about aligning the wave patterns of the weapon and mana core, but also about finding the original wave pattern.

However,

‘I don’t need to do that, do I?’

Yuri had a way to sense the original, unaltered wave pattern without forcibly amplifying the mana waves.

Just like now, he could feel the flow of the iron ingots through the Magic Flow technique.

‘Even though I had a method like this, I was just blindly following what everyone else was doing… I was a complete idiot, wasn’t I?’

What a ridiculous waste of time.

As Yuri wore a self-deprecating smile,

Zzzzz—

A gentle light began to radiate from his entire body.

And then—

Plop, plop, plop—

Three rations fell neatly to the ground from Yuri’s sudden glow.

Theresia, Arin, and Poppy froze in place, still in their snacking positions.

Rub rub—

Arin, blinking repeatedly and rubbing her eyes in disbelief at what had unfolded before her, continued to stare at Yuri, still bathed in light, and murmured as if entranced.

“Enlightenment…?”

Half-closed eyelids and slightly unfocused eyes.

A body emitting a soft glow.

It was unmistakably the state of sudden enlightenment (頓悟), just as Greta had experienced before.

“That’s… enlightenment, right? Isn’t it?”

“I’m hungry.”

Arin, seeking confirmation, asked again, and Poppy, beside her, nodded.

“……”

“……”

“……”

Stunned by Yuri’s sudden enlightenment, they were left speechless.

Until finally, Theresia’s incredulous voice broke the silence.

“…He stays still in life-and-death battles, but achieves enlightenment by licking iron ingots?”

Arin and Poppy nodded slightly in agreement with Theresia’s remark.