You can reduce the ore directly into a steel ingot and some have done it that way. The Georgian process could be used to process ore as well as bloomery iron, you can read about it here Georgian Method There is a summary of the method on Bladesmithsforum.com.
The main issue with the direct reduction method is that it makes poorer quality steel. The bloomery processing of ore removes lots of unwanted things and leaves a cleaner product. The bloomery iron still has some phosphorous and possibly sulfur as well as silica and other impurities in it which were historically reduced through adding ingredients in the crucible processes. The Charcoal does clean up the charge significantly but to get a really high quality crucible steel you need to either add a bunch of stuff to the crucible such as manganese, calcium, tannic acid containing plant matter etc. or you need to start with a well forged bloomery iron and cast iron mix (or oxidize cast iron). In my opinion you will always get a better product in the end if you use the highest quality ingredients.
There were many different methods of making crucible steel (Bulat, Pulad, Wootz) but only a very few created a good pattern and a high quality sword material. Many of the swords made of crucible steel in the early to mid 1800s were of inferior quality according to Abbott. He had one sword which was of the legendary quality.
Anyway I hope you explore crucible steel however you do it. It does take time but it isn't as hard as many make out, it takes time and educating yourself and a willingness to explore new processes.