I Became an SSS-Grade Time-Transcending Almighty Blacksmith - Chapter 32

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

Episode 32
Episode 32
Equipment for my own use.
Given that, the first skill that came to mind was naturally “Crafting.”
This skill attached to the blacksmith’s hammer.
Or rather, if the “Crafting” skill—more skill than ability—attached to an item, the Crafting Level itself would rise.
Then all future work would become easier.
The problem was.
‘How could I get the Crafting ability to manifest?’
Up until now, I’d used countless monster materials.
But I’d never once managed to realize the Crafting ability from any of them.
I had no idea which materials would produce the Crafting ability.
“Ahahaha! Another Magical Stone! Just wait a moment! Soon we’ll reach a new vein, and you’ll see ores other than Iron Ore!”
It was then.
I saw Toran coming toward me with Iron Ore.
Dwarf Toran.
……Would an item made from dwarf materials grant the Crafting ability?
But I pushed that bad thought aside.
“Toran, do you know what materials I need to attach the Crafting ability? You’re a dwarf, after all.”
“Crafting ability? Kid, like I told you before, I’m a miner, not a blacksmith. I don’t know things like that.”
“Still, you must’ve seen what your friends and acquaintances make.”
“No clue, and I’m not interested. And Crafting…… Hmm, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that.”
“Is that so?”
I’d asked Toran.
Unfortunately, Toran also knew nothing about the Crafting ability.
At this point, it seemed the Crafting ability itself might be realized only as a skill on the Blacksmith’s Hammer, making it impossible for me to create it directly.
So I set aside the Crafting ability, which I had no sense for.
For now, I needed to make items that would help me immediately.
With that in mind, I checked my status window for the first time in a while.
[ Status Window ]
– Name: Jang Gangcheol
– Level: 9
– Occupation: Blacksmith
– Ability: Forge of Time
– Strength: 28
– Agility: 23
– Stamina: 25
– Intelligence: 12
– Wisdom: 11
Looking at my stats, I felt quite proud.
And rightfully so—my current stats were significantly higher than those of other Awakeners at my level.
The reason was practice and results.
Swinging the hammer every day to craft items had been recognized as “training,” gradually raising my Strength, Agility, and Stamina. And every time I created a Masterwork or Excellence piece, my stats would increase further.
Every time I created a Masterwork or Excellence piece, my stats rose even more.
In any case, what was most lacking on that status window was.
“Intelligence and Wisdom.”
These two stats.
Strength, Agility, and Stamina weren’t bad since I’d steadily raised them.
But Intelligence and Wisdom had barely risen at all—only when I made the Flame Emperor’s Brooch and received an Excellence evaluation.
So it seemed good to increase Intelligence and Wisdom.
According to Ember, Intelligence and Wisdom also had a major impact on crafting.
And since I was making items anyway.
“Should I make them as a set?”
Accessories for different equip slots.
A necklace, a ring, and a bracelet.
Making three pieces to activate a set effect seemed like it would be even better.
One piece per slot.
So I’d make one Intelligence item and one Wisdom item, and I’d have one more slot left.
Rather than making another Intelligence or Wisdom item, I decided to put in an item with a different stat.
“All right, let’s begin!”
[ I activate the Special Crafting skill. ]
[ Please provide a blueprint for the special crafted item. ]
I set to work at once.
Drawing up the blueprint wasn’t difficult.
The moment the accessory compendium opened, I’d been crafting nothing but accessories all along.
The number of accessories I’d produced had already crossed a hundred.
Accessory crafting had become second nature.
So the problem was.
[ Please select your materials. ]
Materials.
Which materials should I use?
Which monster materials should go into it?
And here, I made a choice.
[ Magical Stone ]
No monster materials at all.
Only this—a single Magical Stone.
I would draw out the full potential of this Magical Stone alone.
This approach meant no other abilities would manifest, no synergies or multiplier effects would emerge, and I might end up with a disappointing result.
But thinking about the Set Effect, this strategy felt like the right call.
[ Crafting begins. ]
Clang!
I swung the hammer immediately.
The material I was using wasn’t just one Magical Stone.
Two—two Magical Stones.
These were the stones that appeared only once or twice when Toran exhausted an entire ore vein in the Mine.
I’d been saving them, holding them back.
Now I used them.
Clang!
As the purplish stone was struck again and again, its color deepened, impurities fell away, and it compressed smaller with each blow.
The compressed stone stretched long, taking the form of a necklace.
Normally, at this final flourish, I would attach monster materials to complete the piece.
But today, instead.
Clang!
I focused entirely on the stone, swinging the hammer harder.
To push the Magical Stone’s power to its absolute limit.
And the result.
[ Crafting complete. ]
[ Crafting Evaluation: S ]
[ You have obtained ‘Necklace of Magical Power’. ]
A Crafting Evaluation of S.
Not SS, but the message that appeared pleased me greatly.
[ A Masterwork has been born. ]
[ A masterwork forged with total dedication is complete, and through it you gain insight, raising your Stats. ]
[ Intelligence increases by 2. ]
The next message that appeared also delighted me.
A necklace made specifically to raise Intelligence.
Without even equipping it, merely by crafting it, my Intelligence had risen.
Checking the item information.
[ Necklace of Magical Power ]
Form: Necklace
Grade: S
Restriction: Jang Gangcheol
Description: A necklace crafted by blacksmith Jang Gangcheol, who drew the power of the Magical Stone to its absolute limit.
Ability: Intelligence Level 3
Perfect.
Exactly the necklace I’d envisioned had been created.
Moreover, since Intelligence itself wasn’t a rare ability, despite being an S-grade necklace, it came with a full three levels of Intelligence.
The plan had worked—using only Magical Stones and pushing their power to the breaking point.
Emboldened by this success, I immediately began crafting the next item.
Deploying all the stones I’d reserved for my own equipment.
[ Crafting complete. ]
[ Crafting Evaluation: S ]
[ Obtained ‘Bracelet of Spirit’. ]
I crafted the next accessory immediately.
A bracelet made using two Spirit Stones.
And finally.
[ Crafting complete. ]
[ Crafting Evaluation: S ]
[ Obtained ‘Ring of Speed’. ]
Even a ring made using two Speed Stones!
With this, I had completed all three accessories that raised Intelligence, Wisdom, and Agility.
Since the Stones were so precious, I’d nearly been in trouble if even one had come back as an A-grade, leaving me unable to remake it.
Fortunately, all three not only received an S-grade evaluation, but were all recognized as Masterworks.
And the moment I completed these three accessories.
[ You have created the Trinity Set. ]
[ The Trinity Set’s Set Effect is now applied. ]
[ Set Effect ]
1. The Stat Level of all accessories increases by one rank.
Just as I’d hoped.
The accessory set effect had appeared.
But that effect exceeded my expectations.
“All Stat Levels increase by one rank?”
This meant that the Intelligence, Wisdom, and Agility attached to my accessories would now apply at Level 3 values instead of Level 2, didn’t it?
For me, whose pure Stat totals had been lacking, it was truly a honeyed Set Effect.
“Should I check right away?”
Intelligence, Wisdom, Agility.
Since three Stats had risen significantly.
I wanted to feel the difference in these Stats at once.
Besides, thanks to Serin and Toran, I had plenty of materials stockpiled, so I immediately picked up an Iron Ore and a monster material from either side.
[ Using Crafting Skill. ]
The moment I swung the hammer for the first time.
Clang!
I could sense it immediately.
‘I’m faster!’
My hammering speed had increased.
It must have been thanks to my Agility Stat rising.
Not only had my hammering speed increased, but my reaction time had sharpened too, allowing me to strike the Weak Point with far greater precision as it emerged.
And that wasn’t all.
“Right here!”
Crash!
The vulnerable point of the Weak Point, so to speak.
That instinctive weakness I’d sensed before now felt far more distinct.
When I struck that spot, the Weak Point took a much greater impact and shattered far more quickly.
And finally.
“The difficulty itself seems to have dropped?”
The Weak Point’s hardness, its variables, the timing of its emergence—
All of it seemed to have diminished ever so slightly.
It was an extremely subtle difference, but wasn’t I someone who’d been making over a hundred accessories in a row lately?
Subtle though it was, the difference was unmistakably clear to me.
I suspected this was the effect of my Intelligence and Wisdom having risen.
As the work grew easier.
The result was, as expected.
[ Crafting complete. ]
[ Crafting Evaluation: S ]
[ Obtained ‘Long-tail Bracelet’. ]
S-grade.
Continuing to craft items after that.
The ratio of S-grade evaluations noticeably increased from before.
Ember hadn’t spoken carelessly when she said I needed to raise Intelligence and Wisdom too.
Clang, clang, clang!
As my Stats improved, Crafting became easier.
As Crafting grew easier, higher grades appeared more frequently.
With better grades, Crafting felt even more exhilarating.
Once I tasted that pleasure, I couldn’t put the hammer down.
So there I was, gleefully crafting away, when—
[ Your Level has increased. ]
The Level Up notification chimed in my ears.
That made my Level already 10.
I was climbing in Level just by sitting still and swinging a hammer.
It couldn’t be better than this.
After distributing the bonus Stats as usual—one point each to Strength, Agility, and Vitality—
I was back to crafting items when
“Master.”
“Oh, Serin. You’re back?”
Serin’s voice came from beside me.
I’d assumed she’d swept through all the monsters in the hunting ground again.
But something felt different this time.
Usually she’d dump her bag the moment she arrived, scattering materials everywhere.
Today, she hadn’t even touched her bag—her breathing looked slightly ragged.
“What’s wrong?”
I asked, sensing something was off.
“A Boss Monster has appeared.”
“A Boss Monster? Like that two-headed thing from before?”
“Yes.”
Fresh news, indeed.
Since the two-headed beast, no Boss Monster had ever surfaced in the beginner hunting ground.
Yet somehow, one had now emerged.
And the fact that she’d come to find me meant—
‘It’s too strong to take down alone?’
This was clearly no ordinary situation.
If she could’ve handled it solo, she wouldn’t be reporting it; she’d have already laid the Boss Monster low and handed me the spoils.
So I said:
“Give me a moment to prepare. And let me upgrade your gear too.”
“Understood, Master.”
I activated the Modification skill.
Now that I’d just reached Level 10, I wanted to upgrade both our equipment to Level 10 gear.
Once I’d brought all our gear up to speed,
I followed Serin directly to the hunting ground.
The Blacksmith’s Hunting Ground.
I hadn’t entered it in a while thanks to Serin, so coming here in person felt like ages ago.
“Exhale.”
Long absence or not, tension gripped me as I stood before the entrance.
“The entrance area should be fine. Even if something happens, I’ll protect you, so there’s no need to worry.”
“Thank you, Serin.”
Reassured by her words, I took a step into the hunting ground.
That’s when I heard it.
“Groooooooaaaaarrrrr—!!!”
A massive roar filled the hunting ground, resonating all around.
Its form was unmistakable—towering, overwhelming in presence—a Boss Monster.
A Giant Bear.

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