Junichiro grabbed a match out of a provided box near the forge. The matches were those nice long thick ones usually used for lighting fireplaces. With the match held in his left hand, he awkwardly used his wooden hand to weirdly grip the valve to turn on the gas flow. Once he heard the expected hiss, he struck the match and lit the forge. He made certain to keep his flammable wooden hand far away from the flames. While he had provided the hand with fire retardation runes, it was not fire proof. The heat of a gas forge would easily break through the enchantment and light his brand new hand on fire.
While the forge was coming up to the proper temperature, Junichiro collected the tools he would need to do his work as well as one of the Mana Steel ingots. He had a small smile on his face as he thought about what he wanted to make. For now, the final product was less important that the process of making it. He studied the ingot for a bit hoping it would tell him what it wanted to be. Sadly, the ingot remained silent. Regardless, he grabbed a piece of rebar and welded it to one end of the ingot so he had something easy to grip in his wooden hand.
After blocking off one side of the forge with fire bricks, he settled the Mana Steel into the forge and sat down on a stool to keep an eye on the metal. He didn't know what the proper temperature for the Mana Steel was to make it workable, but once it was a nice yellow color it should be perfectly acceptable to work on. So, he kept his eyes on it. While he kept his eyes on the metal in the forge, he absentmindedly hefted a hammer in his left hand. He wanted to get a good feel for it so he could swing it properly when the metal was ready.
Once the Mana Steel was glowing a nice yellow, he retrieved it from the flames and set it on a brand new anvil. He carefully held the rebar in his right hand and the hammer in his left. After taking a deep breath to steady himself and prepare for something new, he lifted the hammer and struck the first blow.
Just that one blow told him a lot about the Mana Steel. First, he had it at the right temperature. He could tell from how the ingot had slightly deformed from the hit. Second, the Mana Steel was definitely harder than steel. The second blow, this time while channeling some mana through the hammer, told him that the Mana Steel responded even better when hit with mana.
The sound of a hammer hitting steel rang out for a few more blows before he returned it to the forge to reheat. It took several more heats for him to flatten out the ingot and coat it with his own mana. Though he didn't fold it right away, rather he used the hot cut tool to cut the ingot in half. One half was set aside for later use. Working the Mana Steel had helped him decide to make either a large knife or short sword. He'd pick which further along in the process. With half the ingot put aside for later use, he reused the hot cut tool to help him fold the metal in half.
Between his own mana, the Mana Steel, and a generous amount of flux powder, the fold was easily forged back together. The same applied to the next nine folds for a total of ten folds making over one thousand layers. After observing the slab of forged Mana Steel, he set it to the side to slowly cool down. It was time to call it a day. The sun had gone down some time ago and he'd been ignoring his protesting stomach for a while now.
He just... didn't want to stop.
Stopping meant thinking. It meant having to further acknowledge his missing arm and the subpar replacement. It meant having to think about the incident. It meant dealing with his feelings. He simply didn't want to have to think about anything. Worse, after eating dinner he would need sleep. He knew that was going to be filled with nightmares. Frankly, anything but letting his mind stop functioning and working with his instincts to make something was going to be painful.
Stepping into the kitchen, he was surprised to find Mittelt already there with a pot sitting on the stove top steaming. The petite blonde fallen angel looked over at Junichiro and jerked her thumb at the pot, "I made some stew for dinner."
Slightly confused at her still being around but not saying anything, Junichiro made his way to the pot and lifted the lid to inhale the scent deeply, "It smells good. Thank you."
Mittelt just shrugged her shoulders, "Azazel-sama has assigned me to stick around for the next month or so to keep an eye on you and help out if you need it." He voice became mock haughty, "You should be thankful!"
Junichiro snorted causing Mittelt to smile. After collecting one of his new bowls and a spoon, he collected his dinner and sat at the table across from Mittelt. After tasting the thick beef stew filled with hearty vegetables, he looked at Mittelt and smiled, "It's delicious."
Mittelt preened under the praise, "Thank you. It's not every day that someone gets to taste this Mittelt's cooking!"
Junichiro smiled a little before digging into the stew. Though he'd been raised purely in Japan in this life, his memories of American life let him really enjoy such a simple and hearty meal. It reminded him of the kind of meals the mother in his first life had made for him growing up. Just thinking about the mother in his first life showed him how lucky he'd been in that life. His first mother was a flawed human but she was infinitely better than whore of a mother in this life.