Blacksmithing Is Child’s Play for a Dark Mage - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 1
-You have Awakened.
For some reason, he had Awakened.
‘Why?’
Tay stared at the Awakening notification window before him.
After reincarnating with the memories of his past life.
An orphan with nothing but the clothes on his back, he’d had to claw his way through twenty-one years of grueling survival.
And now, after struggling this whole time, he was supposed to understand why the Awakening came only now?
Of course, living in this world since birth and until now, today had been something of a turning point in his life—something almost worthy of note.
Because today was the day he would learn Black Magic.
But he couldn’t bring himself to believe that mastering Black Magic was more momentous than reincarnating itself.
‘Damn it all. If this was coming, why didn’t I Awaken right after reincarnating, when I was still an infant? Or at least before becoming a Black Mage! God, my life is a mess.’
“Now then. You have all become Black Mages. You have accumulated sufficient magical power from Guchen Hell within your bodies, and by creating a Circle in your hearts, this outcome was inevitable. But understand—this does not make any of you exceptional. As was explained in the previous curriculum, whether Black Mage or regular Mage, without knowledge of actual spells…….”
‘This old man sure loves to talk.’
Behind the practice platform, a middle-aged man named Selton, the Black Magic instructor, stood speaking about Black Magic with a stern expression.
Tay had heard this particular lecture so many times by now that he could recite it word for word by heart.
Selton, a Black Mage, belonged to the Black Trident—a mercenary guild based in Harundel, the second most bustling and commercially prosperous trading city in the Balantma Empire.
The Black Trident was a small-to-mid-sized guild that ranked in the lower-middle tier among more than a hundred guilds existing in Harundel.
What set it apart from other guilds was its active use of the Debt-Slave Mercenary system.
For willing recruits, they taught combat techniques and magic.
In exchange, they bound the recruits with debt, securing a steady labor force.
The repayment amounts were substantial, but for newcomers, it meant a lower chance of death—a fairly well-known arrangement.
The Black Trident had likewise profited considerably from this system and maintained its strength by securing mercenary personnel through it.
Through a chain of circumstances, Tay had learned of the Black Trident and thrown his lot in with them, becoming a Debt-Slave Mercenary.
His first training was in shield and sword combat—back then, he hadn’t known the guild could teach Black Magic—but after learning of that option, he’d resolved to take out another loan.
Even grinding away at his duties, he’d felt certain: if he continued down that path, he would die.
As for why he chose Black Mage specifically, there were several reasons.
First: Black Mages had lower repayment obligations compared to other professions.
Black Magic itself was classified as a shunned profession, yet paradoxically, Black Mages were essential personnel—without them, things didn’t function.
Due to supply and demand dynamics, the repayment was less than half that of other professions. That was the appeal.
For someone like Tay, born an orphan, it was the natural fit.
Second: you could master it without talent.
Normal magic placed great emphasis on personal aptitude.
But Black Magic could be learned and trained even without natural Magical talent.
Black Magic’s very nature lay in acquiring magical power through abnormal training methods.
Since Tay didn’t yet know whether he possessed Magical talent, choosing Black Mage seemed the safer bet.
Third: among long-range combat professions, Black Mage offered the best prospects.
Even in his past life, Tay had been a crafting-class Hunter, never engaging in direct combat.
When he’d first enlisted, he’d learned sword and shield, working as a low-rank mercenary, but found himself brushing with death repeatedly.
Direct combat was simply not his strength.
So he’d aimed for a switch to Black Mage.
Fourth: in this world, Black Mages were not targets for extermination.
A thousand years ago, a being known as a Foreign God—an entity from the Outside World—had nearly driven the world to ruin.
Black Mages had joined in defending the world, and afterward had gained a measure of respect.
They were still looked down upon and remained an unpopular profession, though.
For all these reasons.
Tay had chosen to become a Black Mage for the sake of survival.
‘Awakening at a time like this… The why can wait for now. But this is huge… Let me see the status window.’
Name: Tay
Class: Black Mage Lv 1 / Crazy Craftsman Lv 1 / Warrior Lv 2
Trait: Reincarnator
Skills: →
Spells: →
‘What? I have three Classes now? What the—?’
Tay stared blankly at his status window for a moment.
What threw him off was the Class section—it showed three different Classes!
In his past life, he’d certainly known people with two or even three Classes.
The remarkable thing was that most of those people had grown powerful enough to reach the highest ranks.
‘Did I really just get three Classes after reincarnating?’
Tay felt even more bewildered than before.
Now? Of all times?
After being reincarnated, watching my entire family die, and scraping by like this?
Is this really how it’s supposed to be?
‘No, wait. Think about it. I’m a Reincarnator, so I should be able to get a triple Class or something. Who am I? A Reincarnator! Wow! Reincarnators are so impressive!’
Tay muttered this nonsense to himself alone.
But soon he sighed and gave it up.
His mood had turned decidedly restless.
Still, setting aside such feelings, he studied his Status window and let his thoughts wander.
‘But here’s the thing. It’s nice that I got abilities from my past life, but… this is really not a good fit.’
Listening to Selton drone on at length with half an ear while the other half let it slip away, Tay contemplated his current situation.
A Crazy Craftsman.
Befitting such an odd name, it was a bizarre production-type Class.
It was a Class that possessed the ability to craft unnaturally strange items.
You could say it created objects of considerable power, but always with some flaw or penalty attached.
At higher levels, he’d eventually be able to craft normal items too.
But at this level, everything he could make was severely warped.
Moreover, using this Class’s abilities required several conditions.
But the biggest problem lay elsewhere.
Money.
It cost a fair bit.
‘To use the Crazy Craftsman Class abilities, I need materials, a crafting space… Ugh… setting up all that doesn’t come cheap. And I’ve still got debt to pay off. When am I supposed to earn enough to open a workshop? Damn it. Life is rotten. If I was going to be reincarnated anyway, I should’ve been born a nobleman or at least a rich merchant’s kid.’
Tay frowned deeply.
In his past life, he’d become a production-type Hunter, and apparently that meant organizations would come throwing money at him, trying to recruit him with entire wars fought for his services…
But now he was living hand-to-mouth, day to day—there was no room for such dreams.
‘Ah! How I miss those old days! Or rather, my past life! Anyway… this is really awkward, isn’t it?’
After lamenting to himself, Tay decided to check his Skills.
Skills:
Black Trident Guild One-Hand Sword Technique Lv 2 / Black Trident Guild One-Hand Shield Technique Lv 2 / Throwing Lv 2 / Fire Starting Lv 2 / Campsite Construction Lv 2 / Cooking Lv 2 / Marching Lv 3 / Disease Resistance Lv 2 / Poison Resistance Lv 2 / Peltahark Black Magic Lv 1 / Madness Accumulation Lv Max / Design Drawing by Madness-Tinged Imagination Lv Max / Crafting by Madness-Tinged Hands Lv 1 / Madness Measurement Eye
‘Three Classes and look at this skill mess. It’s like a plague of mediocrity.’
The Warrior Class was only level two.
That’s what happened when you spent all your time trying to scrape together money by using sword and shield.
Normally, dual or triple Classes granted mutually compatible abilities.
That way you gained Synergy and grew stronger, eventually becoming a top-ranked Hunter.
But what was he supposed to do with this hodgepodge?
This was a joke Class! A dead-end build!
And on top of that.
When you add more Classes, the Experience Points needed to level up skyrocket!
Why?
Because it multiplies!
Meaning: he was strong, but growth was painfully slow.
And what bothered him most was how scattered his Skills actually were.
Normally, Hunter System Skills were gained when leveling up.
Or you could obtain them as rewards from Dungeons or Quests.
But this was quite strange.
Why did he have Skills like Fire Starting or Campsite Construction?
‘Could it be… that whenever I perform an action, it registers as a Skill? Is that how it works? Nah… that seems too convenient… Hmm… but if that’s not it, how else do I explain all these random Skills?’
While he was still mulling this over.
There came a sharp crack sound.
At the same instant, a stinging pain flashed across his forehead.
“Ow-ow-ow!”
“Focus. If you fail to learn the magic incantation this time, you’ll rack up more debt and have to sit through more lectures. Understood?”
At Selton’s words, Tay rubbed his forehead and looked forward.
A small flame had grazed his brow—it burned and stung—but the instructor had a point.
This was paid education. If he goofed off, he was only hurting himself!
“Now then. First comes the magic itself. The very first incantation a Black Mage learns is Contract Summoning—through which you forge a pact with the most pathetic, lowest-rank demons from Guchen Hell. They’re weak, utterly insignificant, but be careful. Even the weakest demon can claw at your mind.”
So saying, Selton began dragging along what might be called his pupil or perhaps his slave—though he had an odd air of a graduate student—as he walked.
This pupil was pushing a cart, upon which sat a stone tablet inscribed with a Magic Circle.
‘Is that the demon summoning circle? It looks messily drawn. Well. Right. Awakening or not, I need to learn Black Magic first. I’ve already spent so much money here…’
As he thought this.
A system message suddenly appeared.
—Madness Measurement Eye activates.
—You have acquired [Design Drawing: Low-Rank Demon Summoning Circle].
—[Peltahark Black Magic] Level 1 is activated.
—You have acquired [Magic Spell: Low-Rank Demon Summoning].
‘This… this is how it works?’
Tay’s expression went blank for a moment.
A Black Mage is Far Too Easy for a Blacksmith
Author |
Automaton G
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(주) Samyang C&C
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Editorial Department
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Without the prior written consent of (주) Samyang C&C – Dream Books, the contents of this book may not be used in any form or by any means.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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