I Became an SSS-Grade Time-Transcending Almighty Blacksmith - Chapter 34
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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 34
Chapter 34
Toran, Serin, and I entered the hunting ground, each wearing a different expression.
The three of us stepped into the hunting ground, each bearing their own countenance.
“Hahahaha! Now there’s a beast worth fighting!”
Toran laughed heartily even as he gazed upon the colossal frame of the Giant Bear.
“This time, I’ll settle it.”
Serin gripped the arrows I had crafted for her, her eyes burning with the fire of vengeance.
“……Deep breath.”
I drew the Volcanic Revolver, exhaling slowly against the weight of tension.
Standing before that towering boss monster, my nerves drew taut despite all my resolve.
Thank goodness Toran had come along.
I’d had just enough time to outfit him in full plate armor.
With a front-line fighter in place, the boss monster shouldn’t be able to reach me — barring catastrophe.
“I’ll draw its attention.”
“Understood.”
Serin nocked an arrow.
We could have hunted it down where it stood, but our strategy was to lure the creature toward the entrance.
The truth was, this was a precaution for my sake.
This way, if crisis struck, I could flee immediately through the entrance—
or rather, the exit of the hunting ground.
And then.
Thwip!
Serin’s arrow flew.
Since the goal was merely to provoke, I’d assumed it would be a feint attack.
“A Horned Rabbit arrow?”
But I was wrong.
The arrow she’d loosed was the very first I’d ever crafted for her — the Horned Rabbit Wind Arrow.
With its arrowhead fashioned from horned rabbit horn, it cut through the distance cleanly enough that even the Giant Bear seemed diminished by the range.
But the Giant Bear was turned away, its back to us.
No matter how skillfully I’d crafted the arrow, striking anywhere haphazardly would serve little purpose.
So I wondered at her intent—
until I saw where it struck.
Thud!
The back of the Giant Bear’s knee.
The hollow of the leg.
At this distance, to precisely target the hollow of the leg—one of the scant vital points on a creature’s back—was breathtaking marksmanship.
Her archery was formidable indeed.
The instant the arrow sank deep.
“ROOOAAAARRRR!”
The creature spun around on its hind legs and charged straight toward us.
The arrow must have driven deep into that tender joint.
With Piercing Lv 2 affixed to it, the arrow had surely bitten through sinew and bone alike.
Yet the beast’s charge didn’t slow in the least.
If anything, fury only made it faster.
And yet, even in that moment—
Thwip!
She never ceased her fire.
When the creature’s back was turned, few vital points lay exposed, so she’d targeted the hollow of the leg.
But now it was different.
As it charged toward us, the Giant Bear’s entire head lay defenseless before her.
“ROAAAR!”
And yet—perhaps haunted by past memory?
The creature barely heeded Serin’s arrows.
Rather than dodge or deflect, it seemed convinced that its eyelids were too thick for her arrows to pierce, so it charged heedlessly toward us, intent on closing the gap.
But.
The Wolf Fang Arrow that she’d loosed with skill activated—
Whoosh!
—refused to be satisfied merely lodging in its eyelid.
Like the killing fang of a wolf piercing a prey beast’s throat—
The arrow pierced deep through her eyelid and lodged itself in the pupil hidden within.
“Roooooaaaaarrr!”
How immense must be the pain and sense of loss when an eye is torn open like that?
The Giant Bear, unable to match her speed, tumbled across the ground.
Yet her assault never ceased.
Thud-thud-thud!
She fired thick Spider Web Arrows, spreading the webbing across the creature’s fallen form to bind it, slow its movements.
Then came the Horned Rabbit Wind Arrows, opening fresh wounds.
Over those wounds she unleashed Goblin Paralysis Arrows and Bat Wing Arrows, inflicting paralysis, poison, curses—every manner of status affliction imaginable.
And each time the creature’s weak point was exposed, she fired Wolf Fang Arrows enhanced with Critical Lv 2, piercing both vulnerability and vital point with ruthless precision.
Watching this alone,
‘Did I really need to come at all…?’
was all one could think.
Serin’s combat was utterly overwhelming.
And yet.
“Roooooaaaaarrr!”
Still.
The creature would not yield.
With its one remaining left eye wide with fury, it lurched toward us.
[ Wild Boar Molar Arrow ]
Crash!
Serin tried striking it with an arrow enhanced by Jungle Lv 2, but the creature’s charge was so ferocious that even this only made it stagger momentarily.
At this moment, at last.
“Bwahahaha! Now it’s my turn!”
Toran charged forward.
Toran showed no fear of the Giant Bear barreling down like a madman, stepping boldly to the front.
“Hah!”
He swung the pickaxe with all his strength.
The Mountain-Crushing Ferocious Fang that I had crafted for him.
Though a mining tool rather than a weapon of war, its status as an SS-rank item meant it possessed considerable striking power.
Moreover, that pickaxe bore not only Mining Lv 4, but also combat-enabling abilities like Piercing Lv 3 and Onslaught Lv 3.
With such advantages,
Clang!!
“Roooaa!”
Even a Giant Bear could not drive Toran backward.
And Serin’s arrows continued to fly without pause.
In that moment, I too remained active.
Bang!
As I pulled the trigger of the Volcanic Revolver, a small explosion erupted and the bullet fired from the chamber.
With the Revolver’s Aiming Lv 2, combined with the agility I’d steadily raised and further boosted by accessory effects,
and having accumulated firearms experience from my military days,
despite being no ranged specialist and possessing not a single ranged skill,
Thunk!
at this distance, I could strike the Giant Bear with ease.
And then,
Kaboom!
the bullet embedded in the creature’s body burst into flames.
Just as I had crafted a variety of arrows for Serin,
my bullets too were forged with Imp’s Tiny Ember, greatly enhancing their fire attribute.
“Roooooaaaaarrrrr!”
Perhaps because it was a beast,
or perhaps it had always been weak to fire,
the creature was taking considerable damage from my attack.
Well, it was an S-rank weapon after all—hardly a blow to ignore.
“Bwahahaha! A proper battle at last! This is quite entertaining!”
“Are you alright, Toran?”
“Fine as can be! The deep mine is crawling with far worse monsters than this! Bwahahaha!”
While Toran held the line and I provided support,
Thud-thud-thud-thud!!
Serin drew her bowstring without pause, relentless.
Incredible speed. Barrage after barrage.
Each arrow loosed in rapid succession aimed at nothing but the beast’s vital points.
If it guarded its throat, she targeted the left chest near the heart. If it blocked that, the face.
If it blocked that too, the armpit.
Then the back of the skull, abdomen, groin, heels and Achilles tendons.
The back of the skull, the belly, the groin, the heels and Achilles tendon.
It was thanks to her unique ability, Weak Point Analysis, and the experience she’d accumulated in the Icaya Mountain Range.
Naturally, she couldn’t defend against every single vital point at once.
“Roooaaargh!”
Critical hits began landing on the beast’s vital points one after another.
Its Achilles tendon severed, its hamstrings torn, its pelvis shattered.
Arrows embedded in its joints, dulling the movement of its arms and causing its strength to plummet.
Seizing that opening—
“Wahahahah! Your strength’s all gone! Come on, spread your arms! Victory!”
Crack!
Toran swung the pickaxe with all his might.
The beast’s arm, which had been barely protecting its head, snapped away.
As if she’d been waiting for exactly this moment—
Flash.
Serin leaped.
Not drawing her dagger, still holding her bow, she fearlessly landed atop the Giant Bear’s head.
Truly extraordinary jumping power.
And with that, she drew the “masterpiece” I’d crafted for her—
The Iron Scorpion, nocked and ready, the bowstring drawn taut as never before.
Then, as if she had nothing to say to a beast, she spoke not a word.
Silently, she released the string.
Whoosh!
The Iron Scorpion.
An SS-rank arrow that burrowed straight through the Giant Bear’s crown.
The Iron Scorpion’s abilities were Instant Death Lv 3, Critical Lv 2, and Piercing Lv 2.
The moment it pierced through the Giant Bear’s crown, dealing a critical blow—
Thud.
The Giant Bear didn’t even manage a single proper struggle before it fell to instant death.
[ You have defeated the boss monster of the Blacksmith’s Hunting Ground, the Giant Bear. ]
[ The Blacksmith’s Hunting Ground is expanding. ]
[ Your level has increased. ]
I’d taken care to craft arrows specifically for Serin.
But even knowing that an enemy her arrows couldn’t pierce would be a difficult fight—
Difficult didn’t begin to cover it. The battle had been utterly overwhelming.
Not only did she escape unscathed, even Toran’s armor, which had faced the Giant Bear on the front line, remained untouched.
“Thank you for your help, Master.”
“No, I’m the grateful one.”
The Giant Bear had fallen far too easily.
Seeing this, I could truly appreciate the power of my arrows.
And I realized how skillfully Serin had been hunting all this time with nothing but plain wooden arrows, never having proper ones.
In any case, now that the battle was over—
“I’ll handle the cleanup.”
Serin approached the fallen Giant Bear.
First, she retrieved every single arrow.
The Giant Bear had thrashed so violently while struck with arrows that their condition wasn’t particularly good.
And yet—
“How could I discard arrows made by you, Master? I’ll recover what can be salvaged and reuse them later.”
She collected every arrow I’d made for her.
She could have asked me to make new ones, but instead she was gathering them one by one.
A sense of gratitude welled up, and I remembered a skill I hadn’t had much use for until now.
“One moment, please.”
After a trip back to my smithy—
“Would you set all the recovered arrows here?”
“Of course, Master.”
She dumped out the pile of arrows before me.
[ I activate the Repair Skill. ]
One of the skills housed in the Blacksmith’s Hammer.
A skill I hadn’t used until now, since I’d never had occasion to repair items.
I activated Repair.
The moment I did, points appeared above the pile of arrows.
Clang!
I brought the hammer down as I always did.
Given the sheer volume of arrows, there were indeed many points to strike, but truthfully, the difficulty wasn’t high.
Well, it made sense—I wasn’t crafting new items, only repairing them. Restoration shouldn’t be harder than creation.
That’s what I was thinking when—
[ Repair complete. ]
The arrows were finished.
Even the ones that had been completely shattered were fully restored.
The Repair Skill’s performance exceeded my expectations.
“Serin, come here.”
“……Thank you so much!”
“Use them freely, and if they break, just let me know. Repairs don’t take long. You know, while I’m at it, I should make a good stock of arrows specifically for you.”
“No, I couldn’t trouble you like that…….”
“It’s no trouble at all. And if you have better arrows, your hunts will move faster anyway, won’t they?”
The Repair Skill.
I’d need to make good use of it going forward.
“Thank you so much, Master!!”
Serin, her voice noticeably louder than usual, drew her short blade.
Then—
Slice, slice—
she began butchering the Giant Bear.
Given its enormous size, it took considerable time to strip the hide.
Of course, even with a direct butchering, I couldn’t recover all of the massive creature’s hide.
Though I’d certainly obtain far more materials using the Butchering skill than without it.
When successful, the hide would materialize as an item, compressed to a much smaller size.
Still, what I received was more than enough to craft with.
Next—
[ Giant Bear Claw ]
[ Giant Bear Gallbladder ]
Two items dropped.
The claw would be used for crafting, I assumed.
But when I checked what the gallbladder was for—
[ Giant Bear Gallbladder ]
Type: Material
Grade: A
Description: The gallbladder of the Giant Bear. As it is known to contain the concentrated essence of the Giant Bear’s power, it can be used as a material for high-quality Elixirs.
“……Elixirs?”
An explanation I hadn’t anticipated.
Material for an Elixir, no less.
But how was I supposed to craft an Elixir from this?
In a world where materials only dropped in my hunting grounds, nowhere else existed.
Since I was called the first Production-class Awakener, blacksmiths existed—but alchemists did not.
I was thinking it pointless to receive something I couldn’t use when—
“I’m not quite as skilled as the Empire’s alchemists, but I have worked with Elixir-crafting before. If you’ll entrust it to me, I can attempt it.”
“Truly?”
Ah, my S-rank assistant.
Trustworthy words came from Serin.
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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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