Blacksmithing Is Child’s Play for a Dark Mage - Chapter 56

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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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Chapter 56
‘Even a single branch would transform the convenience. And now that we’ve built a port…….’
Tay imagined his domain as it would grow in the years ahead.
Once a bank branch opened, financial transactions among the merchants flowing through his territory would become far simpler.
That would draw more traders, and trade volume would swell. And if the port developed further?
Maritime commerce would open up entirely, and his domain’s growth would accelerate far beyond its current pace.
But.
‘I need to level up more.’
The thought struck him suddenly.
Rant and his administrative team were managing the domain smoothly, and Huey and the other Black Mages were handling skeleton soldier production, so things ran well enough without him for now.
The real problem was his own growth.
He needed to raise the level of his Crazy Craftsman profession.
To expand the domain further, he needed new abilities, and new abilities unlocked only through leveling.
Until now, consumed by domain management, he’d neglected leveling up—but the time had come to make room for active hunting.
* * *
While in Harundel, Tay headed to the Black Spear Guild.
The Silver Shield Guild specialized in escort and security work.
For information on monster hunting, the Black Spear Guild was far superior.
It was only natural, given the guild’s focus on monster hunting and dungeon exploration.
The Black Spear Guild’s Harundel headquarters sat on Steel Street.
As a district where mercenaries primarily operated, the location was fitting.
Tay entered the guild and approached the counter.
“I’m Tay Maker, Lord of the Maker Barony. I’d like to purchase dungeon information.”
The clerk’s eyes widened. It wasn’t common for a baron to walk into a guild and buy dungeon information directly.
Normally, one sent subordinates or submitted requests by letter.
But once his credentials were verified, the clerk’s demeanor shifted entirely.
“I’ll show you to our private room, my lord.”
A private room.
A small space tucked away in the back of the guild, reserved for high-ranking clients.
Tay stepped inside and took a seat. A man entered shortly after.
He appeared to be in his late thirties, sharp-featured and wearing spectacles.
Spectacles—a costly item in this world. The fact that he wore them marked this man’s position as quite elevated.
“I am Toren, Information Manager of the Black Spear Guild. It is an honor to meet you, Baron Maker.”
“Tay Maker. Pleased to work with you.”
After exchanging names and pleasantries, they moved to business.
“What sort of dungeon information are you seeking?”
“Something where weak monsters appear in large numbers.”
Toren’s eyebrows rose slightly.
Most clients sought dungeons rich in treasure or rare materials, so his request for a location with abundant weak monsters was unexpected.
Yet Toren, true to his role, made no show of his surprise.
“In that case, I would recommend an insectoid dungeon. Insectoid monsters individually possess low combat power, but their numbers are overwhelmingly abundant.”
Toren withdrew several parchments from a file and spread them across the table.
“There are currently three insectoid dungeons confirmed in the vicinity of the Harundel Marquessate.”
The three parchments each bore a dungeon’s location and basic information.
First: the Trangel Ant Dungeon.
An underground dungeon inhabited by giant ants, with an extreme abundance of individuals. Soldier ants and queen ants appear as one descends deeper.
Trangel was a geographic location.
Second: the Coldorado Earthworm Dungeon.
A swampy dungeon inhabited by giant earthworms; caution required against toxic attacks. The terrain is intricate, easily causing one to lose their sense of direction.
Similarly, it lay in the Colorado region.
Third: the Katchen Cockroach Dungeon.
A ruined dungeon inhabited by giant cockroaches, notable for swift mobility and high reproduction rates. Weakness to fire.
“I’ll go with the ants.”
Tay chose immediately.
Individual numbers in extreme abundance. That was the key.
To level up, one needed to defeat as many monsters as possible, and a place teeming with weak enemies was most efficient.
Fighting strong monsters also granted substantial experience, but type matchup was unfavorable.
He was a Black Mage—one specializing in Necromancy, no less.
His own numbers were considerable, so a place like the ant dungeon was perfect.
But then, why hadn’t he chosen the earthworms or the cockroaches?
Earthworms were annoying with their poison attacks, and cockroaches… he simply despised them. Even in his past life, cockroaches had made his skin crawl.
“The Trangel Ant Dungeon, then. The information fee is five hundred Goldmanta Gold Coins.”
“Fine.”
Tay paid five hundred gold coins and received the dungeon information.
The location of the dungeon, its internal structure, the types of monsters that appeared there and their approximate combat strength, precautions—everything was written out in meticulous detail.
This was how it should be.
“Good information. I’ll be back.”
“Thank you, my lord. May fortune favor your ventures.”
Tay left the private room and exited the guild.
Toren watched the door close behind him, then pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket and began writing rapidly.
‘Skeleton Baron heading toward Trangel Dungeon.’
A brief sentence.
Toren folded the parchment, slipped it into an envelope, and left the private room. He called over a subordinate waiting in the corridor and handed him the envelope.
“Send this to the Information Guild. Urgent.”
“The Information Guild, sir? What price should I quote? And which branch should I send it to?”
The Information Guild, like the mercenary guilds, had many branches.
“Tell them two thousand Goldmanta Gold Coins. Send copies to all of them. If anyone refuses to pay, bring it back.”
The subordinate’s eyes widened.
Two thousand coins was a substantial sum.
But seeing Toren’s expression, he asked nothing further, simply bowed and hurried away.
Toren gazed down the empty corridor and murmured to himself.
“Movements of the Maker Baron ought to fetch two thousand coins easily.”
A Black Mage baron who commanded thousands of skeleton soldiers and had toppled a count—such a man’s movements were valuable intelligence in their own right.
The Black Spear Guild wasn’t merely a monster-hunting outfit.
They dealt in information too. The guild where Tay had once served was a place that would do anything for profit.
* * *
Tay returned to his domain.
The moment he stepped out of the Skeleton Carriage, he called for Rant.
“Rant. Gather your gear.”
“Gear? Where are we going?”
“To a dungeon.”
Rant’s eyes went wide.
“A dungeon? So suddenly?”
“It’s not sudden. I’ve been planning this all along. We can’t just manage the domain—we need to grow stronger ourselves.”
Tay looked at Rant as he spoke.
“You’re a Black Mage yourself. It’s time you gained real combat experience.”
Rant thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Understood. I’ll get ready, master.”
But going in unprepared wasn’t Tay’s style.
There was work to be done before entering the dungeon.
Refit the skeleton soldiers!!
He had no intention of dragging along the existing Medium Skeleton Soldiers as they were. To clear the dungeon efficiently, he needed to create new skeleton forms optimized for dungeon assault.
Tay began a series of experiments.
First, he commissioned the mercenaries to purchase the corpse of a Dire Wolf.
A Dire Wolf was a beast more than twice the size of an ordinary wolf, ferocious enough that the Orcs often tamed them to ride. This was how the Orc Wolf Rider unit came to exist.
Such creatures made for formidable mounts.
He stripped the bones from the Dire Wolf’s carcass and refined them using Skeleton Processing Black Magic.
Then he grafted the upper body of a humanoid Medium Skeleton Soldier onto the spine at the beast’s center.
The lower half remained that of a Dire Wolf—a skeletal wolf with its tusks and fangs intact.
And above, fused to its spine, the upper body of a humanoid skeleton soldier, its two arms fitted with hands that could wield weapons.
Four legs. Two arms. Two heads.
A grotesque composite skeleton soldier was born.
Wasn’t this something like a chimera of the undead realm?
“Let’s see if it moves properly.”
At Tay’s command, the composite skeleton soldier stirred to life.
The result was a complete success!!
The skeletal wolf’s lower body galloped forward on four legs, charging at enemies to bite and claw, while the human-form upper body wielded its weapons with frenzied abandon.
The movement speed was incomparably faster than an ordinary skeleton soldier, and with two separate means of attack, the firepower was superb.
“Yesss! This thing fights like a beast!”
Tay let out a triumphant shout.
There was, however, one problem.
The wolf skeleton forming the lower body and the humanoid skeleton soldier above it possessed separate consciousnesses.
Since it was originally a synthesis of bones from different creatures, this was inevitable—but it also meant the construct consumed two stacks of Dominion.
For an ordinary Black Mage, that would have been a painful loss, but for Tay, it posed no difficulty.
With the Lord of Death skill, he could command lower-tier Undead infinitely.
Tay decided to give this composite skeleton soldier a name.
Wolf Cavalry Skeleton Soldier.
Honestly, it wasn’t much of a naming sense.
“Rant! Look at this! Not bad, right?”
“…It’s grotesque, I’ll admit, but it’s definitely powerful.”
Rant had no choice but to acknowledge its performance.
Tay created exactly twelve Wolf Cavalry Skeleton Soldiers.
He distributed them so that he could control six and Rant could control six.
Why only twelve?
Because dungeons possessed special rules.
Dungeons were said to be special spaces created when the Demon God attempted to invade this world, though the truth remained unknowable.
In any case, each dungeon maintained its own unique regulations.
And the Ant Dungeon had rather exacting rules regarding personnel.
Maximum of five people permitted to enter.
For Black Mages, up to six Undead servants were allowed. Demon summoning was limited to three entities maximum. Spiritists and summoners faced identical restrictions on their summoned creatures.
These rules were enforced at the dungeon entrance and could not be circumvented.
Any personnel or servants exceeding the limit simply could not enter the dungeon at all.
This meant that if Tay and Rant entered together, they could bring only twelve Undead total—six each.
However, the Wolf Cavalry Skeleton Soldier consumed two stacks of Dominion, which raised the question: did dungeon rules count it as one unit or two?
There was only one way to find out.
Black Mage is Too Easy a Blacksmith
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AutomatonG
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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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