Curse Return: Swordsmith Start

The night breeze swept through the school gate, carrying the dampness unique to June.

Yi Gu gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist, feeling the warmth still lingering on the scabbard from when the Yue people handed it over.

"...I would never condone that kind of person," he said, his voice soft, yet as if making a vow.

The man from Yue didn't answer, but simply patted him on the shoulder.

In the distance, a few lights appeared on the teaching buildings of the vocational college. Today's standoff was over, but everyone knew that this was just the beginning.

The next day, the college held a meeting in response to Xia Youjie's declaration of war.

"Xia Youjie, a top-tier curse master who uses 'Spirit Manipulation Technique,' collects and controls free-roaming wild spirits, and captures spirits through his own religious organization. Including those he possesses, he has over 2000..."

Inside the room, a group of high-ranking combatants sat together, while Ijichi was reporting intelligence to one side.

"Even so, according to the statistics, most of them are just low-level minions below level two, while the sorcerers side has at least fifty people..."

To boost morale, Moth loudly interrupted, but everyone knew that 2000 low-level cursed spirits were not a destructive threat, but if they wanted to eliminate them all in a short time, their lower and middle-level personnel would pay an extremely heavy price.

"That's a bit unusual... I don't think he would deliberately start a war that he can't win."

Spellcasters who graduate from vocational colleges generally have a level 2 strength. Spellcasters are strong enough to easily defeat spirits of the same level, and some can even challenge spirits of higher levels. So even if there are only fifty spellcasters, dealing with two thousand spirits below level 2 is not a problem. Even if there are higher level 1 or special level spirits among them, they also have many mature level 1 spellcasters and Gojo Satoru.

In other words, this is a war that could severely damage vocational colleges, but one with little suspense.

As a former close friend, Gojo Satoru knew Xia Youjie's personality very well. He usually planned things thoroughly before doing anything, so it was hard to imagine that he would do something so reckless. There must be some unknown conspiracy behind it.

"Contact all graduates, and also notify the three starter families, as well as the Ainu Spell Association to help... This is an all-out battle, and this time we must completely exorcise the curse of Xia Youjie."

Principal Moth has issued the final order, determined to eradicate Xia Youjie, this cancer, even though he was once his student.

As she spoke, a figure silently left the room; it was Ieiri Shoko.

"Oh, by the way, if any of you are interested in obtaining magical artifacts, you can go to my student Kawasaki Koshito. He is volunteering to forge suitable magical artifacts for sorcerers below level one who are participating in this war. The service will last for a month starting tomorrow. Of course, it's free, so don't miss it. I hope you can pass this message on to every sorcerer."

"Nanami, Yue Ren wants you to go to his workshop to see him at some time later. Oh, right, this order."

The tension that Moth had just created was instantly shattered by Gojo Satoru's words.

The expressions of everyone present varied after hearing Gojo Satoru's words, especially those mages below level one. No one expected such good fortune to fall into their laps. For a moment, it felt like a dream. But the person who said these words was Gojo Satoru, the strongest mage of the era, so it must be true.

Kawasaki Koshito... I've never heard of that name before. Is he a blacksmith who can forge cursed tools? That student of Gojo Satoru... he's really amazing.

Nanami Kento, who was called out by Gojo Satoru, was also taken aback. He glanced at the meaningful smile on Gojo Satoru's face and seemed to understand why he had been called out.

The image of the boy I had met just yesterday flashed through my mind, and for a moment I didn't know what to think.

I heard that he had been on a mission with Senior Mingming during this period, and the two of them had even exorcised a top-tier cursed spirit with a domain. His progress was unimaginable, and I am genuinely happy for him.

As for what Gojo Satoru just said, Koshito has his phone number, but chose to tell him in this way. Is it because he doesn't want to refuse him...?

This concern felt too intense for me.

That's right. The reason he used Gojo Satoru to pass on the message to Nanami was because he didn't want the other party to refuse. Nanami was a qualified senior, but too qualified. If he offered to help him forge cursed tools over the phone, he would probably be politely refused.

According to his logic, it's one thing for a senior not to protect a junior, but how can he take something from a junior for free, especially such a precious cursed tool?

To prevent this, he specifically explained it to Gojo Satoru, who readily agreed to have Nanami come to him.

"Excuse me, is this Kawasaki Koshito's workshop?"

He put down what he was holding and turned around. Two girls were looking around at the entrance of his workshop.

One of them crossed her arms and looked around smugly. She had the same dark green hair as Maki, short hair, a great figure, and a very defined face. The other one looked a little timid and shy. She had blue hair and a girl-next-door vibe.

The one who spoke was the somewhat timid blue-haired beauty.

Both were dressed in high school uniforms, and from their appearances, Yue Ren could roughly tell who the other was.

The beautiful and spirited girl is Maki's younger sister, Zenin Mai, while the energetic girl beside her is her classmate, Miwa Kasumi.

The first guests were the two of them, which was a good start, so he gave a standard smile.

"That's right, I'm Kawasaki Koshito. Are you students from Kyoto, here to forge magical tools?"

"Eh...yes, that's right. Hello, my name is Miwa Kasumi, and this lady next to me is Zenin Shin'i, my classmate. I heard about her from our teacher; she's said to be Gojo Satoru-sensei..."

"That's right, I will indeed forge magical artifacts for you. Come in, do you both want them? What are your requirements?"

Hearing the boy's directness, the cautious girl was clearly taken aback for a moment, then said somewhat hesitantly:

"Huh? We can still choose...? Yes, we want them both. I want a katana, and Mayi..."

"Can you make firearm-type enchanted tools? Like revolvers!"

"Okay, come on, would you mind if I learned about your spells? That way I can make more suitable magical artifacts. Of course, this is just a suggestion, if you don't want to, then disregard what I said."

After setting out the necessary tools, Yue Ren let the two men in.

"Oh, I didn't..."

"Wait, you just say you're Kawasaki Koshito, what proof do you have? Also, can you really make cursed artifacts? Can you show us some?"

Interrupting her friend's impending revelation, Maya asked cautiously.

Although the guy in front of her was decent-looking, her own upbringing made her wary of strangers, especially when faced with free temptations. So, she was much more cautious than her somewhat naive best friend.

This was also her main purpose in coming along—to prevent her friend from being deceived.

Upon seeing this, the Yue man smiled slightly and gestured with his hand in approval.

"Of course, that's good alertness."

With that, he tossed his student ID to the other person and then turned and walked in another direction.

Zenjima took the student ID card, and the two of them glanced at it and found that it was indeed real, and the appearance in the photo matched.

The return process didn't take much time.

Here, take it.

Another long, thin object was thrown over, and the tricycle driver instinctively caught it, feeling a sense of familiarity the moment he touched it.

Upon closer inspection, it was an exquisitely crafted katana. As a seasoned katana user, she immediately recognized from her experience that this was undoubtedly a masterpiece.

As she drew the blade, the sudden flash of cold light made her squint slightly.

This thing is so much better than the one she's using now. It should be at the level of a first-class magical artifact. This thing... was forged by this young man with the money in his eyes? Amazing.

At this moment, the Yue people's words came again.

"If you're unwilling to explain the technique, then it's at that level. You can take it if you like."

Miwa Kasumi swallowed hard, pondered for a moment, and then asked in a slightly trembling voice, "Kawasaki-kun, is it really free?"

"Um."

"Why? What good will it do you?"

Upon hearing this, Yue Ren smiled slightly, stopped what he was doing, looked directly at the girl in front of him who was Maki's sister, and answered her question.

"Benefits? Of course there are. It will reduce the number of deaths in the upcoming war as much as possible. Isn't that the biggest benefit?"

"But Gojo Satoru's message was addressed to all sorcerers below level one, which means there are at least dozens of them. How could you possibly have made so many magical artifacts?"

"Haha, little girl, don't use your own understanding to challenge someone else's profession. Just because you think it's impossible doesn't mean others can't do it. How do you know that forging dozens of magical tools is a difficult task for me?"

"..."

Sanlun tugged at his friend, signaling her to stop talking. "They're just kindly giving equipment to their own people, and you're still asking all these questions. It's very impolite."

Since this windfall is real, she has to seize this opportunity to upgrade her equipment for free; it could save her a lot of money.

As the eldest sister with two younger brothers, her wish to become a sorcerer was simple: to earn money to support her family and pay for her brothers' schooling.

"Um, Kawasaki-kun, I'm sorry, but my classmate here has a rather awkward personality. Please don't take it personally. I'm willing to cooperate. I hope you can forge a unique cursed weapon for me. I'd like a katana."

"Okay, let's go."

Sanlun gestured to her friend to keep an eye on things for her, while she herself went forward as Yueren had requested.

"Well, I don't have any special techniques. I mainly rely on my weapons, my family's swordsmanship, and a simple domain to fight."

"I see. Please extend your hand. Also, may I use your 'Simplified Domain'?"

Following the instructions of the tricycle, Yueren reached out and shook hands with it without hesitation, releasing it a second later.

With the addition of knowledge about a "simple domain" to his mind, Yue Ren had successfully acquired this power that could, to some extent, counteract domains, which was an unexpected bonus.

The man then asked a few more questions, such as the hand used for the sword, arm length, and weight requirements, all of which were within Mayi's tolerance. She found that he seemed quite professional.

"Alright, let's go. The forging process will require your spell power output. This way, the weapon will be naturally compatible with your spell power, increasing its power while reducing the burden of use. As a spell weapon user, you should have experienced all of this before."

"Yes, that's right."

Leading the two girls to the forging room, Yue Ren began to forge swords, and the two girls also experienced the same fiery journey that the pandas had gone through.

More than an hour later, Zhenyi's eyes were no longer wary, but filled with recognition, amazement and respect.

Meanwhile, Miwa Kasumi was already looking at Yue Ren with eyes full of stars.

There was no way around it; after all, that scene was just too shocking. It was the first time they had truly understood what "steel forging" meant.

The finished product, Sanlun, was absolutely delighted with. It was an exquisitely beautiful snow-white katana, so beautiful that even members of the powerful family like Zhenyi couldn't help but show envy.

The guard is octagonal and nearly rectangular, with flame-shaped patterns on both sides of the long side and magatama-shaped patterns on the short side. There are curved slits above and below the blade, and a series of curved reliefs on both sides.

The blade, guard, and hilt are all pure white. The tsuba (handguard) is oval-shaped with six openwork sections. The front of the hilt is decorated with patterns, and a white ribbon connects to the end.

"Tachi (Sode no Shirayuki)" (Gold)

Materials: "Folding steel", "Refined gold"...

Time: 1 days

Process: Treadle steelmaking method

Usage: Infusing it with cursed power will trigger ice-attribute damage on cursed spirits. The cold air can spread and cause a freezing effect on cursed spirits.

Description: A masterpiece by a master swordsmith, every part is perfect. What it lacks from legendary weapons is only the connection with its master and the sedimentation of history.

That's right, it's modeled after the Shikai form of the Zanpakuto called Sode no Shirayuki, and the effect is similar. It should be a suitable weapon for this character.

Leaving the scorching forge, Yue Ren wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Your attacks lack restraints. This should help. The power of ice, if used properly, should allow you to become a first-level sorcerer. Good luck."

"...Um, are you really going to give me such a nice knife?"

The kind-hearted Sanlun felt inexplicably guilty. Although she had participated in the forging of the knife, she still felt it was too precious. It was already a top-grade cursed weapon. Normally, she wouldn't even dare to look at the price.

The Yue man, however, seemed completely unconcerned, waving his hand and saying:

"If you feel guilty, use it to become stronger, and use it to save more kind and innocent people. This is my small request of you as a blacksmith, how about it?"

Upon hearing this, Miwa gripped the beautiful katana tightly in her hand.

"...Yes, Kawasaki-kun, I will definitely not let you down."

The Yue man nodded slightly.

He didn't feel like he was losing anything. He had gained experience from the mission, and it was just a weapon forged through normal processes. But it could give a young girl the possibility of advancing further, so why not?

Moreover, his goal was achieved the moment the knife was handed over; he wanted all sorcerers to use his knife as much as possible, which was related to another of his objectives.