I Became an SSS-Grade Time-Transcending Almighty Blacksmith - Chapter 115

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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 115
Chapter 115
There is a sequence to the conquest of a Gate.
First comes discovery.
Typically, the Gate Response Headquarters locates them through dedicated detection equipment.
Or reports come in from the public.
Once a discovered Gate is added to the Gate roster,
“We’ll take this one.”
“If it’s a cave-type Gate, that’s our specialty.”
“This one’s unclear—anything else available?”
Awakeners claim them in this fashion.
By this method alone, most Gates can be conquered.
“How much longer on this one?”
“Instability has breached eighty percent. If we don’t begin the conquest soon, it will reach dangerous levels.”
But inevitably, some Gates remain unconquered—either because they’re unusually difficult to assault, or located at great distance,
or for any number of other reasons.
In such cases,
“Assign it at once.”
“Understood.”
The Awakener Association would arbitrarily distribute Gates to each Guild in turn.
Difficult or troublesome Gates are assigned to guilds without consultation.
From a guild’s perspective, this could feel unjust.
But when a guild conquers such a Gate, the Association provides compensation funds and grants priority in future Gate selection,
so guilds had little choice but to accept.
And so,
“What sort of Gate are we getting this time?”
The Guardian Guild had been assigned a Gate as well.
Average member level: fifty.
It was a reasonably prestigious guild with many veterans already adapted to the world of Awakeners.
The Guild Master was confident they could handle whatever difficult Gate came their way.
But the moment they entered,
“Damn it!”
The Guardian Guild Master
couldn’t help but curse.
And for good reason.
“Flying-type monsters, of all things!”
The moment they crossed the threshold, creatures were soaring through the air.
Bloody Bats.
Crimson-winged things that bled like living blood.
Monsters that attacked Awakeners not with melee strikes, but with various blood-based spells.
In truth, they weren’t extraordinarily powerful in pure combat ability,
“Why now, of all times!”
but the problem was that these creatures were flying-types—
and the Guardian Guild had recently suffered the defection of its archers and mages.
Most of those who’d come to the Gate today were close-range Awakeners.
With their strength alone, conquering a Gate with flying monsters was impossible.
Upon reporting to the Association,
– Understood.
– I’ll send reinforcements at once.
Word came that support would arrive, but then—
– Actually, we’ll reassign the Gate instead.
– The Guardian Guild may withdraw.
“We cleared our schedule and came all this way, only to withdraw? What is this about!”
– You failed to report that your archers and mages had defected in the first place.
– The Gate was assigned to the Guardian Guild precisely because we assessed that you had sufficient archers and mages among your Awakeners.
“And yet—!”
– I suspect you withheld this report because you knew that admitting it would lower your combat rating and make future Gate assignments harder to obtain.
“That’s not—”
– Is there anything else you wish to say?
“……No, there isn’t.”
The Guardian Guild’s assignment had been cancelled entirely.
This meant no compensation, and an entire day wasted.
But there was nothing to be done about it.
Everything the Association’s staff member had said was true.
In fact, it was fortunate that no talk of punishment had come up at all.
Reluctantly preparing to disband the team when—
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump—!
“A helicopter?”
“Who’s coming in a helicopter?”
With the sound of rotors overhead, someone dropped from the sky.
Despite the impossible height, she landed light as a falling leaf—a woman with a cold, sharp expression.
“Is this the T-98 Gate?”
“It is, but who are you……?”
“I’ve come to clear the gate.”
“A reinforcement unit? But where are your companions?”
“There are none.”
“……Alone? You mean to clear this gate by yourself?”
Yet there was only one of her.
She meant to clear the gate alone.
And a flying-type gate at that—one of the most difficult kinds.
“It’s fine.”
The Guardian Guild Master.
Even as he voiced his concern, the woman strode directly into the gate.
Curiosity seized the Guild Master—who was this person, to attempt such a thing alone?—and without thinking, he followed her inside.
In that moment.
He saw it.
“Hah.”
The newcomer.
She drew forth a bow of such elegant grace it seemed carved from white stag’s antlers.
Calmly, she drew the bowstring taut.
Flap.
The moment she loosed her arrow at the bats that had sensed her presence and were conjuring their blood spears—
Thunk.
Her arrow streaked like lightning through the bat’s skull.
Extraordinary skill.
But there was not just one bat here.
Several more began channelling their magic simultaneously, and he grew concerned.
Rapid-fire thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk—!
“……!”
She fired arrows in a blur, felling every bat around her.
And that was only the beginning.
When even larger bats descended.
When dozens—even scores of them—came diving at once.
Her arrows.
Rapid-fire thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk—!!
Shot with impossible speed and precision, they brought down every last one.
Then came the gate’s heart.
“Gwahahaha! You dare face me alone, little mortal?”
The boss monster.
“I am Valter Ben Nocknos! The Baron of Black Wings! The Vampire Prince of Darkness himself!”
A vampire materialized, his black cloak spread wide like wings.
Thunk.
“W-wait just a—”
Rapid-fire thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk—!
“Aaarrghhhh!”
Rapid-fire thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk—!!
“How—how is this possible! Mere arrows cannot—!”
That boss monster too fell helpless before dozens, hundreds of arrows.
Watching this unfold.
“A—a Divine Archer? No, that can’t be. But an archer of this calibre—I should know her. Who…who are you, exactly……?”
The Guardian Guild Master.
He couldn’t help but be astonished.
* * *
Serin’s Gate conquest.
The preparation was easier than he’d expected.
Just a call to the Association President was all it took.
– Actually, this is something I’d welcome. We’re always short on Awakeners capable of clearing Gates. Especially a skilled archer like you — we’d be delighted to have your help.
So the Association President had found a Gate for her without any fuss.
Everything else went smoothly as well.
The Association President even brought a helicopter to ferry Serin to the Gate.
Not long after arriving on site.
[ C-rank Gate “Baron’s Mansion” has been cleared. ]
[ The Gate entrance is closing. ]
The Gate had been safely conquered.
But that aside.
‘A C-rank Gate, no less.’
Not some trivial dungeon, either.
To think she’d cleared a C-rank Gate entirely on her own.
It really drove home how much stronger Serin had become.
Come to think of it, when the Gate Break incident happened before, the Gate that opened near where I lived was itself a C-rank Gate.
The boss monster that came from there was the Storm Protector.
With the power I had back then, there was no way I could have defeated it.
So I desperately rushed into the blacksmith shop and crafted the Piercing Lightning for the first time — an SSS-Grade item.
The Storm Protector, which I barely managed to bring down, was the boss of a C-rank Gate.
And now, barely an hour had passed before Serin cleared a C-rank Gate with ease.
Alone, at that.
‘So my assistants are at C-rank Gate level then?’
No, that couldn’t be right.
Serin had cleared a C-rank Gate in under an hour by herself.
If we took our time, we could probably work through even stronger Gates methodically.
And if Serin, myself, and all my assistants combined our strength.
We could probably clear B-rank Gates and above without much trouble, couldn’t we?
That kind of confidence welled up in me.
Well, that’s beside the point.
What matters is something else.
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.
The sound of helicopter blades echoed from outside.
On the rooftop of our house.
Or rather, on the rooftop of the Steel Guild’s headquarters.
Not long after, Serin opened the door and stepped inside.
“You did great work out there, Serin.”
“Not at all. Thanks to this battle, I was able to gain objective perspective on my abilities in the field.”
Serin said this, then reached into her Blacksmith’s Bag.
“I’ve brought it for you, Master.”
“Oh!”
She held out a monster material to me.
Its identity was—
“…Cloth?”
It was cloth.
To be precise, it felt like a scrap of black fabric.
I wasn’t sure what it was.
“I apologize. I tried my best to recover it intact, but the moment the leader fell, the wings scattered…” She trailed off.
“This was a wing?”
“Yes. A vampire’s wing.”
A wing, she said.
Though by appearance, it didn’t look like a wing at all.
When I checked the item information—
[ Fragment of Nocknos Baron’s Wing ]
“…It really was.”
It truly had been a wing.
Checking the item information, it turned out to be a fragment of a vampire’s wing.
Moreover.
“I thought they might be helpful, so I brought these additional materials I’d butchered.”
Serin had brought me extra materials.
[ Vampire Bat’s Membrane ]
Not from an ordinary blood bat.
From what I understand, it’s the material of a particularly strong monster that had assisted the vampire from right beside it.
“A vampire, then…….”
The moment I confirmed this.
I immediately grasped what item I could craft from these materials.
“Thank you so much, Serin!”
“I do hope it proves helpful to you, Master.”
“It’s incredibly helpful!”
“Should you need any such assistance again, please feel free to command me at any time.”
The moment I sent Serin off.
[ Using Special Crafting Skill. ]
[ Please prepare a blueprint for the special craft item. ]
I began the work.
Since I’d already decided what to make, drafting the blueprint was straightforward.
The moment I finished the blueprint.
[ Fragment of Nocknos Baron’s Wing ]
[ Vampire Bat’s Membrane ]
I inserted the two materials Serin had brought.
[ Beginning crafting. ]
I started hammering.
The fragment of Nocknos Baron’s wing.
The cloth scrap was torn so ragged that its original form was beyond recognition—it wasn’t something that could be restored simply by roughly stitching it back together.
And so.
Clang!
The fragment of Nocknos Baron’s wing and the Vampire Bat’s Membrane.
I combined the two materials.
In doing so, I revived the wing fragment’s form as much as possible.
Though they were different materials, both were monsters connected to the vampire’s bloodline, so I’d judged their properties would be similar.
Clang!
Concentrating, I swung the hammer.
Before long, the two materials fused completely.
The ragged wing fragment and the bat’s membrane merged into a vast piece of cloth.
No, not cloth.
This was.
‘A cloak.’
Yes, a cloak it was.
From the moment I’d seen these fragments, a cloak had naturally come to mind.
And this wasn’t all.
Now that the cloak’s form was complete, here came the final highlight.
Drip.
The last material Serin had brought.
I let fall a drop of Nocknos Baron’s Blood.
Though it was only a single drop.
When the blood drop fell onto the cloak—already stained a dark red from its connection with the Vampire Bat’s Membrane—
Ssshhh—.
The entire cloak was instantly drenched in crimson.
That wasn’t all.
The already crimson highlights deepened to a vivid scarlet.
And I understood.
That this moment was the most crucial part of the work.
And so.
Clang, clang, clang!
I began swinging the hammer with all my strength.
Let this be the time an item imbued with special abilities was created.
Let this be the time I could succeed.
With that hope burning in my chest, I swung the hammer until my arms screamed.
[ Crafting complete. ]
[ Crafting Evaluation: SS-Grade ]
[ You have obtained Vampire’s Crimson Cloak. ]
The moment the item materialized.
I didn’t need to check its information to understand.
[ A Masterpiece has been born. ]
[ A masterpiece worthy of announcing your name to the world has been completed. Through it, you gain inspiration and your abilities rise. ]
[ Health increases by 3. ]
“Done!”
Success in crafting an item imbued with special properties—that was what mattered.

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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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