I Became an SSS-Grade Time-Transcending Almighty Blacksmith - Chapter 74

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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 74
Episode 74
The Boss Monster of the 2nd Zone.
I’d expected something vicious to appear, given the threatening Boss Monsters we’d faced before—creatures like the Twin-Headed Serpent or the Giant Bear.
‘But this is beyond what I imagined.’
The monster standing before us now looked particularly menacing.
A Saber-tooth Tiger.
A beast known to have gone extinct long ago.
Though not merely a revived extinct creature.
Something far more.
Massive in frame, its elongated fangs were genuinely long and sharp as actual blades.
And that was just the beginning.
Razor-sharp claws and a piercing, intelligent gaze.
Every part of it radiated the raw dominance of a apex predator.
“I’ve attempted to snipe it multiple times with arrows, but its senses are far keener than expected. Attacks from a distance don’t land.”
“What about medium range?”
“At medium range I could strike it, but the creature is faster than it looks. It would close the distance and be on me long before I could loose more than a few arrows.”
A Boss Monster formidable enough to press even Serin.
And indeed, just looking at it made clear how dangerous it was.
For that reason.
“Emergency assembly.”
I summoned my companions at once.
“What a fearsome-looking beast. Why are its teeth so long?”
“Screech! Grom’s fangs are long too!”
“Naume’s never seen anything like this! It looks so scary!”
Each responded in their own way.
I’d worried they might hesitate when faced with such a creature.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
“Of course!”
“Screech! Grom fights!”
“Naume will fight too!”
They were all eager for battle.
Though the Saber-tooth Tiger looked terrifying, none of them wanted to run.
So I loaded rounds into the Volcanic Revolver.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Let’s do this!”
“Screech!”
“Naume!”
Combat with a Boss Monster.
The raid had begun.
Toran and Grom rushed forward first.
But before they could close in, the Saber-tooth Tiger, sensing the killing intent radiating from us,
“Growwwl!”
charged straight at Grom.
Against anyone else, that blistering assault would have landed—those razor fangs driving clean through a throat.
“Screech!”
But Grom was no mere lumberjack.
In his previous life, he’d felled not just trees but countless monsters alongside his kind.
And so, the moment the Saber-tooth Tiger pounced, Grom swung his Axe to meet it.
Clang!
Fang against blade.
Normally, you’d think no tooth, however hard, could withstand a strike from an axe.
“Grrr!”
But the Saber-tooth Tiger was different.
Those fangs truly were like swords.
No—harder and sharper than any blade.
They not only held against Grom’s axe but, using the impact, the creature twisted its body with tremendous force,
“Wha—what the—!”
and brought that rotational power down in a vicious slash aimed at Toran.
Whoosh—!
In a fraction of a second.
If Serin’s arrow hadn’t deflected off the Saber-tooth Tiger Fang and bent its trajectory, even Toran would have been in serious danger.
The situation looked every bit as perilous as it was.
Bang, bang, bang!
I pulled the trigger in rapid succession, doing my best to pin down the beast.
Fortunately, with Toran and Grom holding its ankles and Serin and I providing covering fire, we managed to establish a stalemate of sorts.
Then, when an opening appeared in the creature’s defense.
“Hyah!”
Toran brought the Pickaxe down with all his strength against the beast.
But the creature swung its fang like a blade, blocking Toran’s Pickaxe.
I thought we’d lost a precious chance to attack.
But above the creature.
“Naume?”
Naume was descending.
It seemed he’d sprung upward by using Toran’s back and head as a launching point.
He was so small and nimble that we hadn’t even noticed him jump.
And it appeared the Saber-tooth Tiger hadn’t noticed either.
The Naume falling toward the creature’s head.
“Hyah!”
Let out the exact same battle cry that Toran had.
Now that I thought about it, Naume’s posture looked distinctly familiar.
The one Toran had shown when wielding the Pickaxe.
That exact stance he’d used just moments before to attack the Saber-tooth Tiger.
As Naume descended and swung the wooden hammer like a Pickaxe.
Crack!!!
“Hgh!”
The Saber-tooth Tiger’s head slammed to the ground with a tremendous impact.
Even its sharp fangs drove deep into the earth—a blow of incredible force.
No matter how I thought about it, Naume’s Ability Stats and Naume’s Skills couldn’t produce that much attack power.
Then that means.
“Mimicry?”
Only one answer came to mind.
Naume’s unique ability—Mimicry.
This wasn’t limited to mimicking hammer strikes as a blacksmith.
The Saber-tooth Tiger quickly regained its senses and pulled its fang free from the ground, but this was far from over.
“Tch!”
With the opening, Grom didn’t hesitate to swing his Axe.
This time, the beast couldn’t dodge in time.
Crack!
Grom’s Axe embedded itself in the Saber-tooth Tiger’s flank.
The problem came next.
The moment Naume finished his downward strike on the creature’s head, he repositioned himself to the side, then.
“Hyah!”
He mimicked Grom’s battle cry.
Crack!
“Howl!”
Copying Grom’s axe swing, he swung the wooden hammer horizontally.
Because of that, the Saber-tooth Tiger’s body, which had been knocked leftward by Grom’s Axe, now bounced back in the opposite direction.
And then.
Bang, bang, bang!
My bullets struck the creature’s body and exploded.
Thud-thud-thud!
Serin’s arrows found their vital spots and sank deep.
It continued like this.
Naume moved as if he were the shadow of Toran and Grom both—whenever they attacked, he followed immediately after, landing additional blows on the Saber-tooth Tiger.
It shifted the flow of battle dramatically.
Though his attacks weren’t exact copies of Toran’s and Grom’s strikes.
The simple act of copying their attacks and adding extra hits was enough to confuse and overwhelm the Saber-tooth Tiger.
“Ha-ha-ha-ha! Little one, you fight well indeed!”
“Naume isn’t a dwarf, I’m telling you!”
“Shriek! Well fought!”
“Thanks, Grom! Shreek!”
“It’s not ‘shreek’—it’s ‘shriek!’ The battle cry of a valiant orc warrior!”
“Yes, shriek!”
Thanks to him, the Saber-tooth Tiger found itself overwhelmed by our coordinated assault, far from the terrifying beast it had seemed at first.
It didn’t take long.
Thud!
Serin closed the distance and unleashed her finishing arrow.
The Iron Scorpion pierced straight through its heart.
Thump.
And it fell.
For all the tension beforehand, the victory felt almost hollow.
Everyone fought well, but Naume’s performance stood out most of all.
The moment the Saber-tooth Tiger collapsed,
[ Your Level has increased. ]
A flood of Experience Points surged through us, and our Level rose.
“Everyone, thank you for your hard work!”
“You as well, Master.”
“Ahahaha! This little dwarf fights better than I expected.”
“Shriek! A small warrior!”
“Naume is NOT a dwarf—!!”
No one was injured.
The battle had gone more smoothly than anticipated, and the mood among us was cheerful.
Meanwhile, Serin approached the fallen beast, drew a short blade, and set about butchering it with efficient, practiced motions.
“Master.”
“Oh, Serin. Thank you.”
“It’s only natural.”
She brought me the Monster Materials harvested from the Saber-tooth Tiger.
[ Saber-tooth Tiger Fang ]
There were other materials, but this one caught the eye above all else.
A pair of fangs sharp as blades, pulled straight from the creature’s maw.
A complete pair—no damage, no loss.
Even though we’d swarmed it—or rather, mounted a coordinated group attack—and brought it down almost anticlimactically,
those fangs alone proved just how formidable a Boss Monster it had been.
The moment I saw them, I made a decision.
“Serin, can you wield two short blades at once?”
“I’m capable of it. Since I carry multiple daggers to account for contingencies, dual-wielding short blades is fairly familiar to me.”
“Excellent. Would you mind waiting a moment before we move to the next zone?”
I wanted to craft her new short blades
from these two fangs.
* * *
The short blades Serin had used until now were nothing special.
At first, I’d made her passable ones.
Later, when I’d found decent Monster Materials, I’d crafted her something better.
But even those fell well short of her bow, the Snowy Track Follower, Ikaya.
For her sake,
[ You activate Special Crafting. ]
[ Please provide a blueprint for the Special Craft item. ]
I decided to forge her new short blades—
ones to match the caliber of the Snowy Track Follower, Ikaya.
Or better still.
With that in mind, the blueprint I began sketching was
“The second time since the Volcanic Revolver?”
a design matching one of the Final Gate’s Named Items.
Among the pair of short blades I knew from the Final Gate, there was one that suited Serin perfectly.
Thanks to that, I completed the blueprint smoothly,
and then, combining the pair of fangs with additional materials I’d harvested from the Saber-tooth Tiger,
[ Crafting begins. ]
I raised the hammer and began to work.
Clang!
Perhaps it was because the Saber-tooth Tiger Fang possessed such high-quality material.
The resonance point held firm.
But hadn’t I just strengthened the Blacksmith’s Hammer one more level right before this?
Against the force of my strikes.
Crack!
The point shattered under the blow.
Each time that happened, the fang’s form began shifting gradually.
It had always been a tooth as sharp as a blade, living up to its name of “saber-tooth.”
But now, while preserving the distinctive curve of the saber-tooth, it was taking on the form of an increasingly sharp dagger.
In particular, unlike the other fangs, the Saber-tooth Tiger Fang was being honed to an especially keen edge.
Beneath the blade I had fashioned this way.
Clang!
I fitted a handle made from Saber-tooth Tiger bone.
Clang!
Then wrapped leather around it to prevent slipping.
The work seemed simple, but every single step was meant to maximize the power of the Saber-tooth Tiger.
‘So Serin finds it comfortable to use.’
I had often watched how Serin wielded her dagger.
This blade was being crafted for her.
‘To bring out the Saber-tooth Tiger’s power.’
I had seen the Saber-tooth Tiger in combat clearly enough.
Though it hadn’t fully unleashed its strength, its fangs were undeniably menacing.
That was why I had chosen to use only Saber-tooth Tiger materials, no substitutes.
To maximize the power of the Saber-tooth Tiger that I had witnessed.
The reason was simple.
‘Special Ability.’
I had encountered various Special Abilities so far.
From the Pure Lightning affixed to the SSS-grade arrow I had crafted myself, all the way to the Four-Leaf Clover’s Fortune on the ornament I had recently repaired.
Through exposure to these.
I had developed a sense for Special Abilities.
And today.
Pushing that sense to its limit.
In order to create the Special Ability I desired.
Clang!
I swung the hammer.
As I struck the twin blades I had forged once more, honing the edges to an even sharper finish.
[ Crafting complete. ]
[ Crafting Evaluation: SS ]
[ You have obtained Saber-tooth Tiger’s Fang Breaker. ]
[ A Masterpiece has been born. ]
[ Having completed a Masterpiece worthy of making your name known to the world, you gain inspiration and your Ability Stats increase. ]
[ Dexterity rises by 3. ]
I had managed to complete the item even earning a Masterpiece evaluation.
But that wasn’t the important part.
With the Masterpiece evaluation, whatever ability was attached would surely outperform the dagger Serin currently used.
Yet my true goal was the Special Ability itself.
Hoping my objective had been achieved, I examined the item in that moment.
[ Saber-tooth Tiger’s Fang Breaker ]
Form: Dagger
Grade: SS
Restriction: Level 24 or higher
Description: Twin daggers forged from the pair of fangs of the Saber-tooth Tiger famed for its longest teeth—a Biting Blade and a Crushing Blade, forming a twin-dagger set.
Attack Power: 156
Abilities:
Saber-tooth Tiger’s Twin Fangs
, Lethal Lv 5, Hemorrhage Lv 3, Rampage Lv 2
“Excellent!”
I stared at the Fang Breaker’s Special Ability that blazed vividly in my mind.
‘Saber-tooth Tiger’s Twin Fangs’—and I could not help but cry out in triumph.

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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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