Flower Arrangement

Flower Arrangement

“Ah, it’s brightened.”

The Primordial Fire disappeared from before my eyes.

Just as when you look at a campfire in the darkness, where only the campfire stands out and the surrounding scenery vanishes, the Primordial Fire had erased all the surrounding scenery. Only after the fire disappeared could I make out the overall appearance of the workshop. It was an unexpected sight.

…What? This is a workshop?

Is that an operating table? And those neatly arranged items beside it, are they scalpels? Forceps…? Surgical tools? Is this a hospital?

And what’s displayed on the wall? Jewels? Sculptures? Paintings? Is this… a museum? Or an art gallery?

The floor and ceiling were black. They reflected my image like dark mirrors. The walls were pure white. In some ways it resembled an Earth operating room, and in others an art gallery.

I’m certain it called itself a mobile “forge,” but…

A few years ago, while passing through a crossroads, I’d seen a nomad who had set up a tent and was operating a blacksmith shop. A hot furnace, an anvil covered in soot, hammers, the smell of hot iron being pounded.

I’d vaguely imagined something like that, but the scene before my eyes was completely different.

Still, befitting a forge, there was a hammer and anvil placed in one corner. But they looked so smooth, without any soot or scratches, that they appeared more like art pieces than actual tools.

I should probably ask… starting with that operating table.

“Cube. What is that used for?”

-Beep. Isolating divine body disassembly equipment for the Administrator’s safety.

“…”

The operating table and its tools disappeared from before my eyes. What, what is this…? Not even an explanation? Though bewildered, I decided to satisfy my other curiosities first. I turned toward the wall.

“Then, Cube. This painting…”

-Beep. Isolating second-dimensional windows for the Administrator’s safety.

The painting also disappeared.

…Ah, this is getting annoying.

“Cube. This is…”

-Beep. Isolating for the Administrator’s safety…

“Cube.”

-Beep. For the Administrator’s…

“Cu…”

-Beep!

Everything vanished.

In the end, all that remained was the smooth hammer and anvil.

“Haah…”

Half giving up, I placed my hand on the hammer… huh?

“You’re not getting rid of this?”

-‘The Anvil Itself’ is precarious… but not enough to harm the Administrator.

“The Anvil Itself? What kind of name is that?”

-Because it is The Anvil Itself.

“…That’s circular reasoning? Haah… anyway. What about the rest? Are they that dangerous?”

-They weren’t originally dangerous. It’s because the Administrator’s current divine body is in such… a terrible state.

Divine body was the cube’s way of referring to magical power. In the end, it meant that my Circle and Ki-blood were such tattered scraps that if I touched even one tool incorrectly, I might be torn to shreds. I understand, but…

“Come on! Then you should have removed everything at once, instead of teasing me…!”

-There was a problem with my memory. I couldn’t immediately recall information about the tools except for the Primordial Fire.

When it keeps saying it can’t remember, there’s nothing more to say.

By the way, it remembered the Primordial Fire…? Well, it did look exceptionally special.

The fire resembling a Star Cluster was enchanting and beautiful. With its presence like an entire universe compressed into one place and the massive magical power concentrated around it, it was clearly no ordinary object.

“What exactly is this Primordial Fire…”

It was half a murmur to myself, but the cube immediately answered.

-The power source that moves the workshop. The source that can strengthen divine bodies. A miracle that can breathe new possibilities into all things… That’s about what comes to mind. I can’t provide detailed explanations due to incomplete memories…

“Divine body? You’re saying it can strengthen magical power?”

-YES. The Primordial Fire is… well… the Primordial Fire is…

Due to memory damage, Lanciel’s Cube stuttered again.

Normally, I would have let the cube rest at this point, but… this time I waited until the end. “It strengthens magical power?” That concept was beyond my imagination.

After a long while, the cube finally retrieved a few fragments of memory.

-The primordial explosion… can open the world… a fragment of creation. Collected from another dimension… Error. Error. Error.

After saying that much, the cube trembled as if having a seizure, then fell to the ground with a thud.

This wasn’t the first time. When I first got it, it had fainted like this. It had been unconscious for a good half day before waking up. Since its mana pattern hadn’t been altered or scattered, it wasn’t dead.

I left it alone and sank into thought for a moment.

Though just a few words, they were significant. The term “primordial explosion” reminded me of what Earth humans called the Big Bang. Big Bang, a name that literally means a massive explosion. Perfectly fitting for something called the Primordial Fire. “Collected from another dimension”… does that mean they collected part of the energy from the moment another dimensional universe was undergoing a Big Bang? If so, it’s literally a “fragment of creation.”

It gave me chills anew.

The Primordial Fire… though called fire, it was essentially a small universe, a small creation in itself. No matter how I thought about it, the difference in scale was too vast. Was I really about to approach such an absurd thing…?

What saved me was the cube’s quick response.

“Hmm…”

Looking down at the floor, I saw the lightless cube rolling on the ground.

I quickly picked it up and tucked it into my chest. It lay as motionless as a dead bird.

‘I’m sorry.’

Although its explanations were always inadequate, it still did its best to protect me.

I should treat it better from now on.

“Phew… anyway, I’ll do what I can until the cube wakes up.”

I’d suddenly heard many unfamiliar names.

Divine body disassembly equipment, second-dimensional windows, Primordial Fire – facilities that sounded extraordinary just by name. But all that remained before me was just ‘The Anvil Itself.’

Though its name was strange from the start, I decided to focus on it for now.

‘How do I use this?’

The cube that should provide explanations had fallen into dormancy, but that wasn’t a problem.

I had consistently grown stronger beyond the realm of 3rd Circle 3-star. I had evolved Iron Blood, created God-Slaying Lightning, and had my name inscribed in the Tower of Covenant.

And… my simulation had greatly developed too. My simulation capacity had increased more than tenfold compared to when I was 2nd Circle 2-star. With each level, it increased tenfold…

‘At this rate, by the time I reach 10th Circle, will I actually be able to simulate the entire world?’

[Simulation]

Condition burden: 1043 Jun-woos – The Anvil Itself (1043 Jun-woos), me (1 Jun-woo)

Simulation capacity: 67,317/67,317 simuls

Time limit: 67 minutes

The world went dark.

In the darkness, only a silver hammer and anvil set called ‘The Anvil Itself’ was sparsely placed.

Basic settings like atmospheric state and gravity didn’t incur condition burdens until I tried to adjust them to specific situations.

In the past, I had only vaguely sensed [Simulation], but now I could understand its specific operating mechanism and calculate exact numbers.

This too was progress if you could call it that.

But the true progress was elsewhere.

I gazed intently at ‘The Anvil Itself.’

<Browse>

When <Browse>, the spell for reading past records, activated, the time limit of [Simulation] decreased instantly as if fast-forwarding.

[Time limit: 60 minutes.]

Suddenly, a being appeared.

A being made of white and blue magical power…

It was a ‘god.’ At a glance, it resembled a human with one head, two arms, and two legs, but… the higher-dimensional structure of intertwined magical power was so complex that just looking at it made me dizzy.

Just by recognizing its form, the time limit of [Simulation] dropped like a deflating balloon.

[Time limit: 7 minutes.]

Throb-!

My head ached from the rapid consumption of magical power.

Grind.

I gritted my teeth and concentrated.

The god didn’t even glance at the anvil. As if busy with something else, it turned its body and focused intently on something, then suddenly extended its left hand, gripped the hammer, and struck down on an iron ore placed on the anvil.

A dazzling light enveloped the hammer, and what remained on the anvil was a pile of impurities and a rose made of 100% pure iron.

‘…Impossible.’

A miraculous ironworking technique. I wanted to see more, but the time limit kept plummeting.

[Time limit: 1 minute.]

Enough.

[Simulation<Browse> End]

“Argh… ugh…”

I opened my eyes and rolled on the floor. It felt like all my magical power had been drained. The Circle that had robustly filled my chest had shrunk pitifully, and my once-sturdy Ki-blood had stretched like melted rubber.

This was the downside of viewing the past. Depending on the records that appeared, an excessive amount of magical power could be drained, which was also difficult to predict in advance.

Still, this was only because it was a record of “a god moving its hand once.” If I had tried to browse “a scene of gods battling,” my brain might have been fried in the blink of an eye…

“Haah… haah…”

I lay down and caught my breath.

After seeing the god handle it, I finally understood the not-so-funny name ‘The Anvil Itself.’

It was truly the embodiment of the ideal (理想) of what an “anvil” should be… hence ‘The Anvil Itself.’

I took out my magic book and left a note.

My hand trembled so much that I made mistakes several times.

————————

<Baek Jun-woo’s Magic Book>

-The Anvil Itself

Rearranges matter at the molecular level.

The hammer breaks down matter at the molecular level, and the anvil reconstructs it.

In other words, it transcends all metallurgical techniques from refining, alloying, heat treatment, to shaping, reassembling metals – no, all substances – into the desired state. In the blink of an eye.

————————

It was truly… a ‘divine tool.’

* * *

“Aaaargh…”

Of course,

The ‘divine tool’ was not to be taken lightly.

“Kuheuuk.”

The pain was so severe that biting my tongue didn’t even hurt.

I couldn’t tell if I had struck with the hammer or if the hammer had crushed my arm.

Not just my arm… it felt like my entire Ki-blood had burst out.

Just once.

I had swung the hammer just once and ended up like this.

On the anvil lay a grotesquely deformed sword.

Originally, I had intended to make a rose with that sword. Just like I had seen in <Browse>.

But what lay on the anvil now was not a rose, but a lump of iron spread like a rice cake… no, like diarrhea.

<What? Don’t tell me… he did that on purpose?>

<Surely… there’s no way he could be that unskilled…>

<I’m telling you, that thing is overrated. We’ve been duped again.>

The magical powers chattered.

Damn them.

Now they make a fuss over the slightest mistake.

Not an ounce of loyalty, huh? Sigh… this is why they say you shouldn’t gather magical power too quickly. I was crazy, absolutely crazy…

“Hnngh…”

I gritted my teeth and stood up.

My gums might be bleeding as my mouth felt sticky.

Still, I picked up the hammer.

If I rested now, I would only arouse the suspicion of the magical powers.

It’s madness, but… I didn’t want to disappoint the magical powers. Just as I had never disappointed them before, I wanted to continue meeting their expectations. Yes, I know it’s madness.

“Hucha!”

Pretending to be fine as I stood up straight, the magical powers turned their attention to me.

I clenched my fist holding the hammer and exclaimed:

“Hmm~ So that’s how it’s done? Then let’s return it to its original form, shall we?”

A desperate show of bravado!

Riding that momentum, I raised the hammer and closed my eyes.

‘Let’s practice first! I can’t afford to fail…!’

[Simulation]

Condition burden: 1043 Jun-woos – The Anvil Itself (1043 Jun-woos), me (1 Jun-woo)

Simulation capacity: 17,933/67,317 simuls

Time limit: 17 minutes

A time limit of just 17 minutes…

Since I needed to save enough energy to swing the hammer once, I really only had 12 minutes of practice time.

The shortage of magical power was my own fault for being too excited and skipping proper rest.

Even so…

I must succeed…

Succeed and dispel the doubts of the magical powers! And make the ‘divine tools’ mine one by one!

‘Please. Please! Let me do this!’

In the pitch-black darkness,

I brought down the silver hammer.

“Aaaaaargh!”

I screamed.

Ah… everything before my eyes went dark.