Blacksmithing Is Child’s Play for a Dark Mage - Chapter 105

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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 105
Apart from this one, everything else had such severe penalties that it was utterly useless.
The craftsman who made it would go mad, or all life within ten leagues would wither and perish—they were all instruments of pure madness itself.
Even this salvaged one bore a name that reeked of dysfunction: Tower of Abhorrent Flesh. The Crazy Craftsman’s sense of naming was still at a level where he’d abandoned his humanity.
Tay set to work at once.
The material was flesh.
Fortunately, materials were abundant. A Black Mage who’d fought in five wars would hardly lack a corpse inventory in his warehouse.
Tay stood in the middle of the workshop and hefted his hammer.
‘Crafting by Madness-Tinged Hands.’
Activating a skill required no words—thought alone would do. Clear intention was what triggered the ability.
—You activate Crafting by Madness-Tinged Hands.
—Imagine the object you wish to craft, expending Madness.
Tay unfurled the blueprint in his mind and envisioned it.
A tower built from layered flesh, an affront to every human aesthetic sensibility.
At that, the prepared flesh scraps began to writhe of their own accord.
Writhe. Squirm. Splat.
The flesh crawled forward on its own, stacking and binding together—muscle twisting like rope, sinew driving in like nails, fat sealing gaps like mortar.
If you had to compare it, it was like assembling Lego. Except the material was lumps of meat!
Watching it unfold would drive most men mad, but the Madness Accumulation skill swallowed every last shred of that psychological damage without hesitation.
What would rob an ordinary person of their sanity, Tay could observe with the detachment of a factory tour guide.
This was what it meant to be the Crazy Craftsman!
—Crafting of the Tower of Abhorrent Flesh is confirmed.
—Sufficient materials exist in the surrounding area.
—Madness blesses you.
—Crafting: Critical Success!
Flash!
Light erupted, and it rose in the center of the workshop.
A modest tower, roughly three meters tall.
Except for one problem: its material. Instead of brick, it was built from stacked flesh—a sickening, blood-red tower stood complete.
[Tower of Abhorrent Flesh]
Quality: Supreme
Grade: Unique
A loathsome edifice that commands ghouls.
This small tower, built from stacked flesh, dominates nearby ghouls.
Yet merely beholding it stirs rage and hatred in the observer.
Crafted with critical success, it boasts supreme quality, granting additional functions as a result.
Function: Mental Erosion (Major)—Observers fall into a state of rage.
Function: Mental Erosion (Major)—Observers fall into a state of hatred.
Function: Dominion Range increased by 300%.
Function: Unlimited control over ghouls.
Unlimited control over ghouls!
“Master! Congratulations! What a revolting and disgusting masterpiece! Just looking at it fills one with fury! Of course, I lack the mind to be angry, so I’m perfectly fine with it! Ahahaha!”
The dial-shaped familiar on his shoulder chattered excitedly. Whether it was praise or insult was impossible to discern.
“…Contractor. This is certainly an artifact of Secret-class caliber. The Necromancer bloodlines would weep tears of blood if they saw this. You’ve extracted in a handful of Gacha rolls what they’ve hidden for centuries.”
Aes adjusted his spectacles with a push and gave a grave assessment. Even by a demon’s standards, this was the genuine article.
Of course, there were problems.
The Mental Erosion function—causing observers to fall into rage and hatred—was one of them.
But as he’d noted before, objects with the word “observer” attached required an actual observer to matter.
If no one looked, then there was no problem.
So Tay, the moment he’d finished making the flesh tower, wrapped it entirely in thick cloth.
A simple solution: seal it with a curtain. A forbidden secret sealed away with a single drape.
Incidentally, despite being built from flesh, the tower didn’t rot—thanks to Black Magic, it remained preserved.
An imperishable, permanent eyesore. A troublesome object in every way.
But then.
As Tay tested the tower’s functions, he discovered one critical fact.
The farther he moved from the tower, the more his control over the ghouls deteriorated.
Despite the 300% increase in dominion range, it was still a radius centered on the tower. And a tower was a building—fixed in place.
‘How could I take the ghouls on an expedition like this?’
It was like Wi-Fi that only worked inside the house. Exactly that.
So Tay moved forward with one more step—modifications.
The answer was simple.
The tower was fixed in place? Then make the tower mobile!
Tay crafted a sturdy, large wagon and hoisted the Tower of Abhorrent Flesh onto it wholesale.
Presto.
Now he could maintain infinite control over the ghouls while moving them as well!
A mobile dominion relay station. A wheeled tower of flesh. A walking WiFi router had been born!
‘Well, if this thing gets smashed to pieces, the ghouls will all break free from control and chaos will erupt…….’
That was a matter of taking precautions. Assign a thick escort force, avoid driving it straight into the heart of battle, and the problem solved itself.
With the infinite ghoul dominion system now complete, Tay set about reorganizing his military in earnest.
Ghouls were stronger than Medium Skeleton Soldiers.
This was an undeniable fact. With flesh as hard as metal, and the strength, claws, and teeth to match—their specs were simply in a different class.
Moreover, ghouls didn’t rot despite being corpses, so they produced no stench. Hygienic(?) undead. Corpses without the smell. Excellent from every angle.
There was only one drawback.
They looked absolutely hideous.
So Tay decided to outfit the ghouls in Bone Armor.
Not for defense, that is. The armor served purely to cover their bodies.
Censoring through cosmetics rather than function. Armor masquerading as editorial discretion.
“Phew. The work never ends.”
Tay grumbled even as his hands worked ceaselessly.
Thus Tay, alongside the Black Mages under his command, began reducing the proportion of Skeletons and manufacturing ghouls in bulk.
Corpses were in abundance. Five territories stripped bare in war had left the warehouses stacked high with the byproducts of conflict.
The plan progressed smoothly.
A qualitative upgrade of his forces. From masses of Skeleton Soldiers to elite ghouls.
Tay’s army was evolving quietly, but decisively.
* * *
Tay returned to Gehenna Earldom.
The other baronies had already surrendered their documents, after all.
And since he’d expedited troops away to Harundel Marquess like parcels being shipped, they lacked the means to resist.
Managing four empty territories with only skeleton guards posted required no need to camp there permanently.
Besides, this coming year he was obligated to remain idle until Harundel Marquess’s vassals produced results.
Forced vacation!
So.
Upon returning to Gehenna Earldom, Tay completely concealed his baronial status and changed his clothes.
And his destination was the largest tavern in Gehenna Earldom, where mercenaries gathered most frequently.
Of course, he’d left his Dialogue behind on this outing.
That mouth, chattering incessantly on his shoulder, had become practically a trademark of the Bone Baron—carrying it would be like advertising “I’m the Bone Baron” to everyone.
It had clung to him so pitifully when he left it behind. ‘Master! You can’t leave me here! I want to see the tavern too——!’ He’d barely managed to detach it.
From the shadows, Aes whispered softly.
-Quite the unusual hobby.
“Hobby? Call it an incognito inspection.”
-Is such a thing truly necessary?
Here sat a lord commanding five territories, wedged into a corner of a rowdy tavern teeming with disreputable mercenaries. The demon simply couldn’t fathom it.
“Information you wouldn’t expect surfaces in places like this.”
Reports that reach the ears of the high and mighty are filtered and refined beyond recognition. But the tavern floor is where raw rumors and unvarnished intelligence roll freely.
Tay, born from the mercenary ranks himself, knew this all too well.
He’d once wallowed in those streets himself!
Tay ordered some food, sipped his drink, and kept his ears open.
The tavern soon filled with patrons.
Raucous noise. Cheap liquor stench. Smoke from greasy meat sizzling. It was the very epitome of a mercenary tavern.
‘Ah. How I’ve missed this atmosphere.’
That was when.
“Mind if I join?”
Someone approached Tay’s table and asked.
His eyes swept across them.
One of their legs was a wooden prosthetic—a crude thing carved from wood, visible beneath their trouser leg.
But.
The presence they radiated was extraordinary. Despite missing a leg, they stood without a single opening in their stance.
From the shadows, Aes offered a brief assessment.
-They wield an Aura.
‘Interesting.’
An Aura user. In this line of work, a genuine one was rare.
“Do sit.”
Tay offered him a seat with easy courtesy.
The man with the prosthetic leg settled into the chair with a thud, clinking glasses in a toast. Natural conversation followed.
“Gold-rank mercenary Marent, at your service.”
Gold-rank!
The mercenary grades ran from Stone-rank—where one began—through Bronze, Iron, Silver, Gold, and finally Platinum.
In other words, Gold-rank meant second from the top.
Elite personnel, positioned just beneath the peak of the mercenary world. The kind who could hold their own against most knights in a fair fight.
“I’m Kai, a former Black Mage mercenary under contract.”
Tay drew out the alias he’d prepared, smooth as silk.
The part about being a contract mercenary was true enough, so half his introduction was genuine fact. The best lies, after all, are built on truth.
“Former? So you’ve paid off your debt, then?”
“Something like that.”
He’d paid off the debt by buying five domains instead, but saw no reason to mention it.
Marent took a sip of his drink, then studied Tay with quiet intensity.
“Unusually composed for a Black Mage. You seem to have real skill. Is this your first time in Gehenna Earldom?”
A Black Mage Becomes a Blacksmith Too Easily
Author |
Automaton G
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Samyang C&C Inc.
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Editorial Department
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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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