I Just Awakened My Sharingan, and You're Telling Me This Is DanMachi?

Three days flew by in the blink of an eye.

Ryota spent nearly every waking moment inside the Hephaestus Familia's forge.

From dawn till deep into the night, he didn't even bother going back to Twilight Manor to sleep, instead napping in a corner of the workshop's small storeroom, waking up and diving right back into work.

After half a year in the Trial Space, Ryota had "evolved."

This level of intensity was child's play for him.

At first, Tsubaki was actually a bit pleased to see his sheer drive.

—Young people should have guts, after all!

But as time went on, and she watched Ryota controlling the temperature with one hand while flipping searing hot billets with the other, her feeling shifted from pleased to outright speechless.

Or more precisely, her eye beneath the eyepatch was practically twitching apart.

Her original plan had been to supervise and guide him, but she couldn't even remember when that flipped, leaving her acting more like a sparring partner and examiner.

Every day, Ryota repeated the cycle of hammering, shaping, grinding, and quenching, with techniques improving so fast even the veteran smiths on the sidelines were left gaping.

What shocked Tsubaki the most was that pair of dark red–glowing eyes. All it took was for him to stare at the forge for ten seconds, and he could precisely grasp subtle temperature changes, force distribution, and all sorts of advanced skills.

For a brief moment, Tsubaki felt like her own years of forging experience were being completely made into a joke by this kid.

Ryota himself, however, was completely unfazed.

Head lowered, he was lost in deep thought.

"If I channel chakra through my hands, it feels easier than purely relying on arm strength…"

"Fire Style… maybe that could be used as a heat source?"

"Feels like I've pretty much picked Miss Tsubaki's skills clean already."

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Ryota's hammer came crashing down.

Clang!

Sparks burst from the searing forge. The sharp, bell-like strike rang throughout the entire workshop like a declaration — Ryota's first finished weapon was complete!

He straightened up, took a steady breath, and fixed his eyes on the still-warm short sword before him.

Its lines were crisp and sharp, the design simple yet full of character.

"Hmm… not bad."

"But it feels like… it could be even better."

At that moment, Tsubaki, who had been frozen in place, finally snapped out of it.

She rushed over, eyes sparkling as they roved across Ryota's work.

Once it had completely cooled, she snatched up the short sword, flipped it around a few times in her hands, then looked at him.

"Ha… kid, you really are a monster!"

"With this level of finish and strength, you could sell this at a storefront for at least ten thousand valis!"

"Hm?"

Ryota froze for a second, propped his chin on one hand,

"Only ten thousand?"

The words not satisfied were practically stamped on his face.

Tsubaki saw that look and couldn't help laughing in disbelief.

"Listen, you seriously have no idea what it means to be naturally gifted, do you?"

"I'm telling you — for your first ever forging to fetch that kind of price already puts you at genius level!"

"You know how many smiths hammer away for decades and maybe manage to produce something worth five thousand valis at best?"

"And you've only been at it three days!"

Ryota gave a sheepish grin and was just about to speak when that familiar mechanical voice chimed in by his ear:

[Ding! Main Branch Quest: Master Smithing Skill — Complete!]

[Reward settlement in progress—]

[Reward One: Dōryoku +10%!]

[Reward Two: Chakra cap +1000!]

"???"

Ryota was stunned, giant question marks popping up in his head.

Dōryoku?!

He'd definitely heard the term before, but in his system, he'd never seen a reward listing Dōryoku as a numerical boost.

Even after he'd struggled for half a year in the Trial Space, grinding his Sharingan from one tomoe to three tomoe, he'd never seen a reward like this.

"What is this… a 'hidden reward'?"

He stood there dazed for a few seconds until a flash of realization struck through his mind like lightning. His expression shifted.

"Wait."

"If my Dōryoku just increased… does that mean — I'm getting closer to the next level of the Sharingan?"

The Mangekyō Sharingan!

Those four words exploded in Ryota's head, and his eyes turned serious.

If the tomoe forms were the pass to open the road of the Sharingan, then the Mangekyō was the true forbidden power, capable of rewriting fate and dominating the battlefield!

So Ryota boldly guessed that these branch quest rewards were very likely laying the groundwork for a greater main quest reward down the line!

And because Ryota had just forged his first weapon, the next reward announcement arrived right behind it:

[Ding! Main Branch Quest: Forge a Weapon with Your Own Hands — Complete!]

[Reward settlement in progress—]

[Reward One: Dōryoku +10%!]

[Reward Two: Chakra cap +1000!]

As the mechanical voice finally faded, a subtle, powerful surge began welling up inside Ryota's body.

Within his pupils, the familiar three tomoe began spinning madly, as if drawn by some invisible gravity, unleashing an oppressive presence.

That sensation…

It was like a cultivation novel, at the very moment you were about to break through your realm's bottleneck, the world's energy automatically converged around you, your spirit elevated.

A kind of indescribable dimensional ascension.

"So… this is what a Dōryoku transformation feels like?"

Ryota fully immersed himself in that steadily rising sense of heightened perception, nearly forgetting he was still standing in the Hephaestus Familia's workshop.

Until Tsubaki's slightly exasperated voice pulled him back to reality:

"Hey, hey, don't space out, kid."

"Have you thought of a name for your first sword?"

Ryota came back to himself, glanced down at the short sword still in Tsubaki's hand, and after a moment's thought, answered,

"Let's call it… Short Sword No. 1."

Tsubaki's once-expectant face instantly darkened, the corners of her mouth twitching violently.

"You're forging weapons here, not hawking fried potato balls on the street!!!"

"Your first sword, and you name it 'No. 1'… does that mean you plan to make ninety-nine more after this?"

Ryota nodded, deadly serious.

"If there's time, I don't see why not."

Tsubaki: "…"