I Became an SSS-Grade Time-Transcending Almighty Blacksmith - Chapter 33

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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 33
Episode 33
Giant Bear.
Even on all fours, it looked enormous, but standing on its hind legs, it towered taller than most trees.
A Giant Bear, true to its name.
A bear of truly staggering size.
“No other monsters around?”
“No. Once I cleared all the usual monsters, this one appeared.”
“You came to find me because you thought it’d be difficult for you to bring down alone?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, Master. I tried everything I could to defeat it on my own, but…….”
Well, I know Serin well enough by now.
She’s someone who always gives her best to the task at hand.
That’s who Serin is.
There’s no way she’d have come running to me the moment she spotted the Giant Bear in a panic.
Sure enough, even from a distance, watching her carefully——
‘Arrows.’
I could see quite a number of arrows embedded in the bear’s body.
Even across its eyelids.
Though, the eyelids must be remarkably tough and thick—despite having arrows stuck in them, the bear’s eyes seem perfectly fine.
‘Even with an SS-Grade bow, and that’s all she could manage?’
Serin, who’d stormed into a Gate and brought down a wild boar-type Boss Monster in moments, was standing before me.
I found myself wondering just how strong this bear was to withstand her attacks like this.
“Fortunately, its speed posed no problem. I was confident I could outrun it, and indeed, it never caught me.”
“Then…….”
“The issue was firepower. Its hide is too tough—I couldn’t land a Fatal Strike.”
Even with an SS-Grade bow, she couldn’t land a Fatal Strike, meaning she couldn’t hunt it.
The hide must be extraordinarily tough.
Truth be told, if we simply leveled up more, Serin could eventually hunt it alone.
The problem is——
“……no new monsters are spawning.”
“I suspect we need to defeat that creature before new monsters will appear.”
The Hunting Ground wasn’t spawning any more monsters.
In other words, we’d reached a point where we couldn’t level up further here.
Of course, like other Awakeners, we could always venture out and tackle Gates.
But there was no reason to abandon this excellent Hunting Ground of mine.
[ Volcanic Revolver ]
Watching the distant Giant Bear keeping its vigil, my hand moved to the revolver holstered at my waist.
Yet the Volcanic Revolver didn’t seem likely to pierce that hide either.
Serin hadn’t brought me here expecting me to single-handedly bring down this beast.
Given that——
“What would you like me to do?”
When I asked her, her answer was exactly what I’d predicted.
The only method that came to mind was mine alone.
“I’d like you to make arrows for me.”
Her bow was SS-Grade.
There was no way to strengthen it further right now.
But arrows—arrows were different.
The arrows she currently used were just ordinary mass-produced wooden arrows.
Even their tips were nothing more than wood sharpened to a point, and they lacked proper fletching—crude wooden shafts, plain and simple.
Serin herself, apologizing for the trouble, had felled trees in the forest and hand-crafted those arrows while we waited for new monsters to spawn.
Having hunted alone in the Mountain Range in the past, she possessed a low-level Crafting Skill, which allowed her to make arrows herself.
“That should be simple enough.”
Giant Bear.
Crafting arrows to bring down this massive, formidable Boss Monster.
I found myself already anticipating what kind of arrows they should be.
Taking one last look at the Giant Bear’s hide—so tough that Serin’s arrows hadn’t even half-penetrated it—I left the Hunting Ground.
The moment I returned to the Blacksmith Workshop——
[ Using Crafting Skill. ]
I set about making the arrows.
What would be the most crucial element in the arrows I’m about to craft? Let me think.
It had to be attack power.
First, I needed to craft an arrow capable of piercing the Giant Bear’s tough, thick hide.
In that case, the arrowhead was the crucial component.
So I chose.
[ Horn Rabbit Horn ]
The Horn Rabbit Horn, which boasted the most reliable penetration effect.
I would refine it into an arrowhead.
If used well, this material could craft an entire spear in one go, yet here I was fashioning a single arrow from it.
It was terribly inefficient.
But this wasn’t the time to think about such things.
If I brought down the Giant Bear, I could continue obtaining materials like these going forward.
If I failed, all my careful hoarding would be for nothing anyway.
And the materials I used weren’t limited to that alone.
[ Wind Bird Feather ]
Items I’d held in reserve until now—too precious to use for arrow crafting.
Yet I’d collected them without using them for other equipment, just in case.
I pulled out not just Wind Bird Feathers, but every feathered item I had.
The first arrow I created from these was.
[ Horn Rabbit’s Wind Arrow ]
Type : Arrow
Grade : S
Requirement : Level 10 or higher
Description : An arrow crafted by blacksmith Jang Gangcheol to pierce through the Giant Bear’s tough hide.
Attack Power : 71
Abilities : Penetration Lv 2, High-Speed Arrow Lv 1
That was it.
An S-Grade arrow.
One that possessed not only the Penetration effect I most needed right now, but also the High-Speed Arrow ability that increased arrow velocity.
Despite its S-Grade pedigree, I couldn’t view it the same way as other weapons.
‘Arrow attack power is calculated differently, after all.’
Though the stat sheet showed 71 just like other weapons, the actual damage output was far greater.
A dagger and greatsword might show identical attack numbers, yet a greatsword’s single blow lands far more forcefully in practice.
In any case, when I handed over the finished arrow—
“Excellent. With this, we should certainly be able to pierce through its hide.”
Serin’s expression was one of satisfaction.
But I had no intention of stopping at just one.
The Giant Bear.
With a size matching its name, even a critical strike wouldn’t bring it down with a single arrow.
So I planned to prepare as many arrows as possible, to be safe.
Still, the number of Horn Rabbit Horns was limited.
So I decided to use as wide a variety of materials as I could.
[ Goblin Paralysis Arrow ]
Type : Arrow
Grade : S
An arrow crafted using goblin saliva.
If I could inflict Paralysis on the beast with this, it would surely be a tremendous asset in combat.
[ Wolf Fang Arrow ]
Type : Arrow
Grade : S
An arrow equipped with Fatal Strike Lv 2, an ability that pairs perfectly with Serin’s unique Weak Point Identification skill.
[ Wild Boar Molar Arrow ]
Type : Arrow
Grade : S
Fitted with Push Lv 2, an arrow that couldn’t pierce through an enemy but could still, through sheer arrow impact alone, knock back that massive Giant Bear for a brief moment.
[ Thick Spider Web Arrow ]
Type : Arrow
Grade : S
Shot at an enemy’s legs to release webbing, blocking movement or slowing actions.
Using diverse materials, I crafted a wide variety of arrows designed to be as helpful as possible in this coming battle.
After creating all these different arrows.
And finally, the grand finale.
[ Using Special Crafting Skill. ]
[ Please provide a design for the special craft. ]
I activated my Special Crafting Skill.
Longer and sharper than any arrow I’d made before.
I designed an arrow that could pierce not only the Giant Bear’s hide, but burrow through its flesh deep enough to strike a vital point with certainty.
[ Please select your materials. ]
For the materials, I chose the finest components I’d been saving for this final arrow.
[ Black Scorpion Tail ]
The tail of a black scorpion—harder and sharper even than a Horn Rabbit Horn.
It appeared so rarely in the Hunting Ground that I had only one, yet I used it without hesitation.
[ Feather Snake’s Feather Scale ]
For the fletching, I selected the feathers most suited to this arrow among all I possessed.
Like the black scorpion, the Feather Snake material had appeared only rarely in my Hunting Ground, and I used it now.
But most importantly.
[ Low-Grade Iron Ore ]
The shaft.
Unlike the wooden shafts I’d crafted until now, this time I forged the shaft itself from metal.
Yes, the added weight would reduce its range, but that same heaviness and durability would grant it far greater striking power.
The moment I finished crafting with those three materials.
[ Crafting complete. ]
[ Craft Evaluation: SS ]
[ You have obtained the Iron Scorpion. ]
An SS-rank item had materialized—entirely unexpected.
A single-use arrow, and it had been forged into SS-rank quality.
[ A masterpiece has been born. ]
[ A masterpiece worthy of spreading your name across the world has been completed. Through this accomplishment, your abilities are enhanced. ]
[ Agility increased by 3. ]
I felt a twinge of regret—as if I’d burned all my luck on this single moment.
Still, I checked the item description, confident that the performance would more than justify the expenditure.
[ Iron Scorpion ]
Type: Arrow
Grade: SS
Requirement: Level 10 or higher
Description: An arrow of instant death, forged by blacksmith Jang Gangcheol to strike down the Giant Bear.
Attack Power: 88
Abilities: Instant Death Lv 3, Fatal Strike Lv 2, Penetration Lv 2
“Wow…….”
The item information displayed capabilities that seemed impossible for a mere arrow.
Though arrows were said to register lower attack power than their apparent strength, eighty-eight was still formidable.
But that wasn’t all.
The Fatal Strike Lv 2 and Penetration Lv 2 were perfectly suited to Serin’s style, of course.
“Instant Death?”
A true, literal instant death—triggered when the target’s health fell below a certain threshold.
An ability rarer even than the High-Speed Casting I’d crafted for Yeom Je.
Instant Death Lv 3 had materialized.
“With this…… we can finish it for certain.”
Even Serin, who had watched me craft the arrow from beside me, breathed in admiration.
Though the arrow’s weight was far heavier than the others, forcing us to close distance before releasing—a notable drawback.
For the purpose of delivering a finishing blow, it surpassed every arrow I could create.
“This is more than enough, Master.”
Serin took up the arrows I’d made and rose as if ready to face the Giant Bear that very moment.
“Wait a moment.”
My work wasn’t finished yet.
“The arrows are already—”
“No, Master. I need to make mine too.”
Now came my turn—not arrows, but bullets.
Just as with Serin’s arrows, ammunition for my use.
Rounds I could load into my Volcanic Revolver to deal damage to the Giant Bear.
“No, Master. I can handle this alone…….”
“Don’t worry. I’m frightened too. I’ll stay well back and provide support fire from a distance.”
A Giant Bear, no less.
The thought of facing such a Monster filled me with dread.
Yet I couldn’t send Serin out alone.
And more than that…….
‘I want to see it.’
The arrows I’d crafted for Serin.
I wanted to see them in action.
Is it the greed of a blacksmith?
Either way, if I forced myself into the fight and hindered their combat, that would be worse — so I resolved to craft ammunition I could use myself.
Once I’d finished the bullets.
Satisfied with my preparations, I was about to head toward the Hunting Ground.
“Guffaw! Looks like some monster’s shown up!”
A companion I’d nearly forgotten about.
“You’ll need a vanguard, won’t you? Let me lend a hand! For all you see, this body once smashed every last Monster and Undead from the Mine with nothing but this pickaxe!”
Toran Stonebreaker.
He’d joined our ranks.
Though small in stature, seeing him collapse the walls of the Mine with a single swing of that pickaxe made him feel more trustworthy than any assurance could convey.

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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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