Blacksmithing Is Child’s Play for a Dark Mage - Chapter 35

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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 35
“Just trust me.”
Tei chuckled at his own words.
Then he sprawled onto the bed that Rant had prepared for him (Rant was already lying down in the next room).
A cold sea breeze drifted in, but dressed as he was, the temperature felt just right.
“Well then. Guess I’ll get some sleep. Good night, Dialogue. And As.”
Tei closed his eyes, hoping sleep would come easily.
Tomorrow the real development would begin.
He needed to recover his strength before then.
Rant seemed to have fallen asleep downstairs under a blanket.
The night was quiet.
Then it happened.
Bang!
A sound of something colliding echoed from a distance.
—A Skeleton Soldier has been destroyed.
A message that one Skeleton Soldier had been destroyed!
It was one of the Skeleton Soldiers he’d posted on lookout by the beach!
“What?”
Tei bolted upright and peered down past the wall of the second floor.
The beach, bathed in moonlight.
Something was swarming up onto it by the dozens!
“So this is what Arachne’s been eating…… these things?”
Crabters.
Crustacean monsters that inhabited the coastal regions.
They had the appearance of a cross between a lobster and a crab, with shells known for considerable thickness and durability.
Their sizes ranged from one to two meters, and there were dozens of them.
‘So these are the Sea Beasts that come out of the ocean. This must be what Roen was talking about.’
Tei issued orders immediately.
“Skeleton Soldiers! Everyone converge on the beach!”
Clatter. Clatter. Clatter.
The Skeleton Soldiers stationed throughout the settlement began moving toward the beach in unison.
Combat was beginning!
* * *
“Kee-kee-kee-kee!”
A Crabter shrieked, raising its claw menacingly.
It charged forward at one of the Skeleton Soldiers, spread its claw wide, then clamped down on the creature’s torso.
Crunch!
It crushed the Skeleton Soldier’s upper body, chain mail and all!
“Wow. Not bad, huh?”
Tei watched from the second floor of the building and let out an appreciative whistle.
A different tier of destructive power than Arachne altogether!
One snap of those claws and a sturdy Skeleton Soldier was reduced to rubble.
The claw’s force, unique to crustacean monsters, was beyond imagination!
“It seems we’ll need to adjust our tactics, Contractor.”
“No kidding. All units, fall back! Reform the line! Protect the building! Rant! Wake up! We’re under attack!”
Following Tei’s command, the Skeleton Soldiers retreated toward the Stone Building.
The Crabters pursued the withdrawing Skeleton Soldiers.
In the meantime, Rant stirred awake and dashed into Tei’s room.
Without asking any questions, he gripped his Bone Staff and focused his concentration.
Rant’s Skeleton Soldiers began moving as well.
Presently.
All the Skeleton Soldiers lined up in formation in front of the Stone Building’s main gate—directly beneath where Tei stood on the second floor.
And the Crabters came swarming in.
“As, use Clinging Flame as much as you can. Rant, you handle the Hellish Mana Arrows.”
“Their shells are so thick they won’t die quickly, sir.”
Once Clinging Flame ignites, it burns continuously for a long time without extinguishing, scorching its target.
But with the Crabters’ thick shells, fire didn’t necessarily deal significant damage.
Eventually the flesh inside would cook and cause pain, but it wouldn’t deal immediate damage.
“Use it anyway. There’s no other Black Magic tier one that’ll do any real damage to them.”
With that, Tei began chanting a magical incantation.
Class 2 magic takes considerable time to incant!
“Clinging Flame.”
“Hellish Mana Arrow!”
As and Rant unleashed their black magic simultaneously.
A crimson flame shot forward, adhering to the carapace of the foremost Crabter that bore down upon them.
Crackle!
The flame ignited across the shell, yet the Crabter pressed on without hesitation.
As expected, the thick armor prevented any immediate damage.
“Screeeee!”
The Crabter, pincers raised high, collided with the Skeleton Soldier formation.
Bang!
The first strike was well-defended by a Skeleton Soldier.
In the same moment, the others brought down their halberds and flails.
Crack!
The carapace fractured, yet the Crabter remained intact.
Thus the Skeleton Soldiers holding their formation began to tangle with an ever-growing number of Crabters in pitched combat.
Shoulder to shoulder, the Skeleton Soldiers thrust their halberds and flails forward, forming a wall.
When a Crabter lunged, one Skeleton Soldier in its pincers shattered, but the ones beside it drove their legs downward, while those behind smashed their flails against its head.
The exchange rate was two to three Skeleton Soldiers destroyed per Crabter slain.
Not terrible, but far from favorable.
With dozens of Crabters advancing, this rate of exchange would leave no Skeleton Soldiers standing.
Meanwhile.
Tei stood upon the second-floor balcony, staff raised high.
He was concentrating.
A Class 2 black magic spell.
A spell of power in an entirely different league from Class 1.
Among the spells Tei had learned since ascending to Class 2, this was the most suited to their current predicament.
“O karma-fire that blazes in the pit of hell, by my command, assume form according to law.”
And then.
The incantation was complete.
“Clinging Flame Radiation.”
At the same instant.
Dialogue too flared with black mana.
“Clinging Flame Radiation.”
From the tip of Tei’s staff and from the metal palm protruding from his shoulder, crimson flames erupted.
Whoooosh!
Two streams of fire fanned outward in a wide arc.
Half of the dozens of Crabters that had swarmed forward were caught in the wave of flame, and the heat was so intense that the skin prickled with its touch.
Devastating power!
‘Wait? Why is my black magic this strong… Oh. It’s the equipment power.’
Tei was taken aback by the sheer force of the black magic he’d unleashed.
The Curse Amplification Necklace. Two Black Mana Amplification Bone Rings. Two Spirit Soul Storage Bone Bracelets. A Ghoul Bone Staff.
All these pieces of equipment were amplifying the power of his black magic.
The might of ten thousand gold worth of gear had just exploded in this moment.
Hellish fire swept across the monsters.
“Screeeee!”
“Screeeeee!”
The cries of the Crabters echoed from all directions.
The flame crept into the seams and gaps of their carapaces, searing the flesh within.
The Crabters began to glow.
Maddened by agony, they thrashed about wildly.
They flailed their pincers indiscriminately, struck their own allies, rolled on the ground trying to extinguish the flames—but Clinging Flame could not be quenched by such means.
True to its name.
Once it adhered, it burned to the end—such was the essence of this black magic.
“Now! Finish them!”
Tei’s command rang out.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The Skeleton Soldiers holding the formation launched a coordinated assault.
Flails and halberds rained down upon the glowing Crabters.
Crash! Crack! Thwack!
The Crabter, ablaze and frenzied, couldn’t mount any real defense.
It lashed its claws in all directions, luminescent with pain, but its movements had ceased to resemble actual combat.
A Skeleton Soldier’s flail crashed down on its carapace, and a Halberd drove deep into the weakened joints.
Spraying fluids, the Crabters fell one by one.
And then.
The remaining Crabters, untouched by the flames.
They watched their kin burn, writhe, and perish in the fire.
And they turned back.
“Keek-keek…….”
Lowering their claws, they began to retreat the way they’d come.
The Crabters scuttled toward the beach and vanished into the sea.
Apparently they possessed some measure of intelligence.
And so the battle ended.
Tei raised his staff and shouted.
“Victoooory!”
“Truly worthy of you, Master! Even in a situation like this, pulling off such a bit! I’ll join in! Victoooory!”
As watched and spoke.
“Contractor. Please, stop with such abnormal behavior.”
“Are you ashamed of your contractor?”
“I am.”
They were performing a poor comedy sketch.
And.
Rant observed his master in quiet contemplation.
* * *
After the battle ended.
Tei and Rant, along with As and Dialogue, descended to the site of the conflict.
“Even for a second-class spell, this level of power is extraordinary. I hadn’t anticipated the amplification effect of the equipment to be this pronounced.”
“Neither did I.”
Tei admitted frankly.
“I didn’t know equipment power could hit this hard.”
Ten thousand gold worth of gear.
Only now was its true value being properly unleashed.
The Black Mana Amplification Bone Ring inflated his dark magic exponentially, the Curse Amplification Necklace drew out the spell’s potency, the Ghoul Bone Staff heightened casting efficiency, and the Spirit Soul Storage Bone Bracelet increased his total mana pool.
Combined, they elevated a second-class spell’s power to third-class level—or rather, nearly to fourth-class magnitude.
“That’s why you earn gold. Gold is combat strength.”
“A truth of human society, then.”
“Exactly.”
Tei chuckled.
Then.
-Through sufficient experience, your level has risen.
-Triple Class confirmed.
-Your second class, Mad Handyman, has increased by one level.
“Ooooh!”
Tei’s eyes widened.
A level up!
The accumulated experience from slaying so many Crabters had pushed him past the threshold.
“Yes! This is it!”
Tei grinned widely.
Establishing territory and gaining a level.
Two birds with one stone.
* * *
Rant observed the man who had become his master.
He was certainly no ordinary human.
Despite suddenly seizing vast wealth, he had not succumbed to excess or idle indulgence, pressing instead toward the future.
A noble title.
And to volunteer for pioneer work in order to acquire a fiefdom—
He had suggested accumulating significant power through the immense revenues being generated, yet Rant had not imagined him moving with such speed and radical intent.
And yet, it impressed him all the more.
A man like that—Rant could entrust his future to him.
There was reason to hope.
The Black Mage is Too Easy for a Blacksmith
Author |
Automaton G
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(주) Samyang C&C
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The contents of this book may not be used in any form or by any means without the written permission of (주) Samyang C&C – Dreambooks.

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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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