I Became an SSS-Grade Time-Transcending Almighty Blacksmith - Chapter 90

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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 90
Episode 90
Thorn Vine Colony.
I’d heard that a large guild had already attempted to clear this Gate and failed once.
Because of that, powerful Awakeners gathered under the leadership of the Awakener Association to mount a second challenge.
“Wow, that’s pretty vicious.”
The monsters from the strategy video.
The Predatory Vines seemed to operate on an entirely different scale from any monster I’d encountered so far.
Now I understood why that large guild had failed in their attempt.
I found myself genuinely admiring the Awakeners who faced creatures like these.
However.
Up to this point, Shin-gung’s contributions hadn’t stood out.
His archery was excellent, but truthfully, arrow attacks didn’t work well against the Predatory Vines.
The real test came next.
Defeating the Boss Monster.
Whoooosh!
The Gate’s Boss Monster was a colony made of dozens of Predatory Vines fused together.
It was massive, and each of the hundreds of thorned vines it wielded posed a genuine threat.
The vines themselves were as thick as a human torso, and thousands of thorns the size of a human head bristled from them.
The battle that ensued was intense.
And in the midst of it.
“I will end this. Please expose the core for me, by any means necessary.”
“That’s quite the demand. Hell, I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything.”
“Just for a moment.”
“Let’s go!”
Whether this had been arranged beforehand.
The situation began to center around Shin-gung.
The Awakeners participating in the party mobilized their full strength, cutting away and burning the Boss Monster’s vines.
It seemed like a waste of power.
Clearly they were trying to expose the core and finish it in a single strike.
I wondered why they would risk it so recklessly—if they failed even once, there would be no recovering.
Then.
“Now!”
One of the Awakeners swung a greatsword and severed the inner vines.
The core of the Boss Monster, which resembled an enormous seed, was exposed.
But that moment was merely a flash.
The instant the core was revealed, the Boss Monster sensed the threat and moved swiftly to envelop it again.
And in that instant.
Whoosh!
Shin-gung released an arrow.
It flew in a trajectory traced by scorching flames.
I knew exactly what it was.
And for good reason.
Piercing Flame.
I was the one who had sold Shin-gung that arrow.
The arrow flew and struck the core of the Boss Monster, exposed for only that fleeting moment.
It struck the enormous seed with perfect accuracy.
And then.
Whoooosh!!!
A massive inferno erupted.
That was all it took.
The Boss Monster’s core was completely consumed by that roaring fire.
Crash.
With that single attack, the Boss Monster collapsed entirely.
Even accounting for striking the core with its elemental weakness, to topple such a colossal Boss Monster with one shot was extraordinary.
It was impressive by any measure.
And.
“Unbelievable!”
“I can’t believe it.”
“To strike the core with perfect accuracy in that fraction of a second. Truly, that is Shin-gung.”
– But what’s that flame, anyway? It seems even stronger than my fire magic.
– That’s what I’m wondering too.
– How on earth did you manage it? Did you acquire a new skill?
– No way. Even if it were a new skill, does it make sense to learn one that powerful?
I wasn’t the only one shocked by its devastating force.
Every member of the party was taken aback.
We’d all assumed the attack would severely weaken the Boss Monster, but none of us had expected it to fall in a single strike.
So when people started asking what had happened, it was natural.
Shin-gung answered honestly.
– It’s an arrow that Kang Cheol-mangchi made for me.
– …… What?
– That blacksmith, Kang Cheol-mangchi?
– Weren’t the items he can make limited to Level 30 at most? You’re telling me he’s already crafting arrows with this kind of power?
– I can’t believe it…….
My name had been mentioned.
Naturally, word spread quickly.
It didn’t take long for the Awakener Community to buzz with the news.
No, the real problem lay elsewhere.
My message inbox.
[ This is Shin-gung! ]
Kang Cheol-mangchi, would it be possible to purchase more of the arrows I bought before?
If you send me your terms, including price, I’ll do my best to accommodate them!
Starting with Shin-gung’s message asking me to make more arrows.
[ Greetings, Kang Cheol-mangchi! ]
I’m Lee Ha-neul, an archer ranked 121st!
Is there any way I could purchase the arrows you made for Shin-gung?
I’m begging you!
Our guild is trying to clear a Gate…….
My inbox was flooded with requests from people asking me to craft the same type of arrows I’d made for Shin-gung.
With so many requests coming in, I considered mass-producing the Piercing Arrow line.
“……But it’s complicated.”
Every time I craft a Piercing Arrow, it consumes dozens of Attribute Stones.
They sell for a high price because of that, but I don’t want to spend all those rare ore resources so freely.
Unless I were desperately short on money.
Or the item were absolutely essential.
Or Attribute Stones were in abundance.
Only under those circumstances might I consider it.
But that’s a separate matter.
“This really is nice.”
After crafting a few more items.
I found myself quite satisfied with the Hwa-wan-po, now transformed into an apron.
With this, I could swing my Hammer without worry whenever I needed to craft items with strong elemental properties.
And then.
[ Your Level has increased. ]
A level-up notification appeared.
Serin must have been hunting diligently.
Now everything was ready.
Having assembled my Assistants, I said:
“Well then, shall we go summon a new junior member?”
“Noom, the youngest gets bumped up!”
We moved to the Assistant Waiting Room.
I stepped up to the Summoning Platform at its center and placed my hand upon it.
[ Would you like to raise the level of ‘Blacksmith’s Summoning Platform Lv 4’? ]
[ Y / N ]
I’d already purchased all the Mana Stones I needed.
The moment I nodded.
Mana Stones worth approximately 160 billion won vanished from my possession, sinking into the Summoning Platform.
[ Blacksmith’s Summoning Platform has become Lv 5. ]
[ You can now summon an additional Assistant. ]
The Summoning Platform’s level had increased.
That completes the preparations.
Since I’d already finished the groundwork beforehand, I set to it at once.
[ Constructing the summoning circle to call forth the Blacksmith’s Assistant. ]
[ The grade of the summoned assistant is designated according to the crafting evaluation. ]
As I composed the Summoning Platform.
Clang!
I swung the hammer.
Certainly, a difficult difficulty level.
But not beyond what I could manage.
Clang!
Using the power of Mountain King’s Grip, I shattered the major points.
Clang!
Using the power of Seal of Silence, I struck the smaller and more delicate points.
The high difficulty meant it took considerable time.
But it seemed like I could certainly obtain a good result at this rate.
The difference from usual, however, was this:
Clang!
Each time I brought the hammer down.
Splash!
Instead of sparks, spray shot out from the points.
The spray hit me as well, but I could block it all thanks to the Hwa-wan-po’s special property.
The spray carried a strong chill to it; without the Hwa-wan-po’s aid, my body temperature would have dropped with each splash, making my hands numb and stiff.
Watching that spray.
‘Good.’
A smile formed naturally on my face.
The assistant I wanted to summon now was one that could work effectively in the Blacksmith’s Sea.
So if spray shot out every time I struck a point?
Just as lightning arced from the points when I created Piercing Lightning.
Just as flames bloomed from the points when I created Piercing Flame.
This too was surely a sign that a water-aspected assistant was being summoned.
Water-aspected assistant — that does sound a bit strange, come to think of it.
Anyway.
Thanks to that, I could strike the hammer with even greater confidence now.
Boom!
With that confidence, I could pour more power into each swing.
Each time, larger sprays erupted.
Water began to accumulate on the floor of the Assistant Waiting Room.
The magical circle bobbed gently on the surface like a buoy, then churned roughly with waves each time a point shattered.
After a short while more.
The moment I smashed the final point.
Whoooosh!
The magical circle surged upward violently, as if a waterspout had formed in the sea.
[ Summoning is complete. ]
[ Crafting Evaluation: S ]
The summoning was complete.
Its identity was.
“…A Lizardman?”
A Lizardman.
That is to say, a lizard-human.
Its entire body was covered in scales as blue as the sea, crisscrossed with mysterious scars.
Its face, true to its reptilian nature, had a snout protruding prominently.
The problem was.
“Yawn…”
That it was lying down.
A strange fish bone lodged in its snout, no less.
Fortunately, it opened its mouth wide in a yawn, then opened its eyes on its own before I could wake it, rolling its vertically-slit pupils around.
Then it.
“So I’ve been summoned…”
Said that and rose to its feet.
What the system revealed about its identity was.
[ S-Grade Assistant ‘Whale Hunter of the Dead Sea’ is being summoned. ]
Whale Hunter of the Dead Sea.
And the name he’d mentioned himself was.
“You’re the master? I’m Drake. Nice to meet you……”
Drake.
Though his speech came out languid, as if he hadn’t fully shaken off sleep.
Seeing this.
“Noom! That’s no way to greet the master! Drake’s the youngest now, so introduce yourself properly!”
“The youngest……?”
Noom bounced up and down.
“Noom used to be the youngest, but now Drake is!”
“Is that a bother or something……?”
“Noom’s a good senior! I don’t mistreat anyone! The youngest is just the youngest!”
“As long as it’s not a bother, it’s fine……”
Drake didn’t seem concerned in the least.
“This new assistant seems… well, quite gentle, actually.”
“Ahahaha! Another peculiar one shows up!”
“Peculiar? Noom isn’t peculiar! Noom is just Noom!”
“Look at the size of this one. He’s got to be about five Nooms tall, yeah?”
“Don’t use Noom as a unit of measurement!”
“Nah, maybe not five. More like four and a half Nooms, I’d say.”
“Noom is not a unit of measurement!!”
“Ahahaha!”
“By that logic, I could call him two and a half Torans!”
“What?!”
“Two and a half Torans!”
“Why you—!”
“Toran started it!”
The other assistants paid little mind to the squabbling.
They hardly seemed bothered at all.
But Drake, watching the assistants bicker, soon said.
“Yawn. Where’s the sea……?”
He was already looking for the sea.
The other assistants were the same way.
It seemed that all of them sought out their workplace the moment they were summoned.
“Oh, it’s over there. You’re going right away? Then let me craft some weapons for you first—can you wait a moment? I’ll make armor too. What kind of weapons and armor did you usually use?”
I’d tried to equip Drake with gear.
“The sea first……”
Drake immediately headed for the sea.
Though I wondered why, I guided him there anyway.
The Lizardman entered the Blacksmith’s Sea and, still slumped forward with a yawn on his face, walked languidly in.
In that very state.
Slip.
……
He vanished into the depths.
What on earth was this.
He didn’t even have a weapon.
Going into the sea with nothing but his bare body.
And since he’d entered without saying when he’d come back, there was no telling how long I’d have to wait.
Splash.
Suddenly.
I felt the waves of the sea growing fierce.
And this wasn’t my imagination.
“Master.”
“Could it be……”
“Yes, it seems he’s fighting inside.”
Could it be.
That he’d gone into the sea bare-handed and was now fighting aquatic monsters?
Without a weapon?
Even as that thought crossed my mind.
Splash!
Waves surged forward like ripples spreading across water.
Not long after.
Whoooosh!!
Like the water spout that erupted from the summoning circle when Drake was called forth.
A violent waterspout rose from the sea.
And what emerged along with the spout was.
“A sailfish?”
It was a sailfish.
Or rather, given its red coloring, should I call it a red sailfish?
In any case, it had a sharp spike protruding from its snout.
To be precise, its upper jaw had grown into a spear-like point.
The difference was that on both sides of this spear-like snout, there were also saw-like teeth running along its edge.
Looking at it, calling it a sawfish seemed far more fitting.
As for its true nature.
“It appears to be a Boss Monster.”
“That thing?”
“Yes.”
A Boss Monster.
Likely the very creature that had held the position of Zone One Boss Monster in the Blacksmith’s Sea.
The monster that burst upward twisted its body, and along with Drake riding upon it.
Boom!!
It crashed onto the wide sandy beach.
That is, behind us.
Despite the impact, it still clung to life as befitted a Boss Monster.
Thud.
With a gruesome sound, blood sprayed upward.
The Boss Monster’s tail went limp.
The creature had been completely defeated.
And above the fallen Boss Monster.
“Hahhh…….”
Drake, drenched in the Boss Monster’s blood, emerged with a long yawn.

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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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