I Became an SSS-Grade Time-Transcending Almighty Blacksmith - Chapter 91

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

Chapter 91
Chapter 91
A new assistant.
A whaler of the Dead Sea.
The Lizardman, Drake.
Languid as he appeared on the surface, his skill was genuine.
He dove bare-bodied into the sea and returned with Boss Monsters for me to hunt, naturally.
“Any bladed weapon will do, just one…….”
“Will this one work?”
Slice, slice.
He butchered the monsters with the same precision as Serin.
Or was it more accurate to call it filleting?
In any case, after a short while.
“Here…….”
Drake had reduced the Boss Monster to perfect pieces.
Of course, no raw meat emerged from this.
Like Serin’s butchering, the concept was that the Monster drop rate increased.
The materials Drake presented to me were.
[ Red Sawfish’s Upper Jaw ]
[ Red Sawfish’s Bone ]
[ Red Sawfish’s Tail Tendon ]
Three things in total.
It was no accident that only these three appeared.
It seemed Drake had concentrated on butchering the specific parts he wanted, which is why these three materials came out.
The sawfish’s hard scales and elegant fins looked tempting too.
But I could immediately tell why Drake had chosen these three materials.
“You want me to make a harpoon, don’t you?”
All three materials looked perfectly suited for harpoon-crafting.
As expected.
“Yeah…….”
Drake nodded at my words.
He’d dived bare-bodied into the sea to gather materials for his harpoon; there was no reason to delay the work.
The moment I accepted the materials,
“Let’s go. I’ll make it for you right away.”
I took him back to the Smithy.
I sent the other assistants away—they’d been curiously examining the unfamiliar fish materials—
and kept only Drake at my side.
[ Using Special Crafting skill. ]
[ Please draw up a blueprint for the special craft. ]
I began drafting the blueprint.
“Do you hunt monsters only with a harpoon, Drake, not with fishing?”
“No…….”
“What?”
“Fishing is better…….”
“Then why ask for the harpoon first?”
“The fish in that sea are all too small. No sport in it…….”
“Sport?”
“The fishing rod comes later…… When the fish grow bigger and stronger…….”
I’d thought he only used harpoons since he’d asked for one first.
It seemed he used both harpoon and fishing rod.
From what he said, the monsters in Zone 1 were too small and weak to make fishing worthwhile.
Well, I could make him a new fishing rod whenever he wanted one.
“Can you show me the shape of the harpoon you used before? I’ll make it as close as I can.”
“You can just make it roughly…….”
“Still, it’s better if it’s similar to what you’ve used, isn’t it? Just tell me and I’ll craft it perfectly, so come on.”
“Thanks…… The length should be about this…….”
I started designing the harpoon.
I set the basic shape based on a standard harpoon form.
I adjusted the length according to Drake’s directions and determined the blade shape.
The moment I finished the blueprint,
[ Beginning crafting. ]
Clang!
He began swinging the hammer.
First, the most crucial part was, of course, the harpoon’s head.
Naturally, he used the Red Sawfish’s Upper Jaw for this.
People tend to think of this horn-like upper jaw as merely pointed, but that’s not the whole truth.
This upper jaw isn’t just sharp at the tip—it has edges honed along both sides.
In fact, the way a sawfish hunts isn’t by piercing at all, but by ‘slashing’ through its prey.
Given that, he sharpened the tip and the edges on both sides to an even keener point.
Then, just as Drake had instructed, he refined its shape.
After completing the harpoon’s head in this manner.
Clang!
He fashioned the harpoon shaft using the Red Sawfish’s Bone.
He separated out all the rib bones—he’d have use for those later.
Using only the vertebrae to craft the shaft, he drove the hammer blows to maximize the strength and elasticity the shaft required.
Next came.
Clang!
Attaching the cord to the shaft.
The cord itself was also a material obtained from the Red Sawfish this time.
The Red Sawfish’s Tail Tendon.
Normally, this tendon would be attached like a rubber band to launch the harpoon through elastic force—that’s the traditional harpoon’s purpose.
But Drake had something different in mind.
“Just for retrieval…….”
“Not for launching it with elasticity?”
“My throw’s got more force and speed anyway…….”
Drake’s reason for wanting the cord was simply to retrieve the harpoon.
He found it bothersome to go collect the thrown harpoon each time.
So, tailored to that purpose.
Clang!
He processed the Red Sawfish’s Tail Tendon into the longest possible length and attached it to the harpoon.
Since the tendon’s elasticity was quite excellent, he could easily retrieve it even if it flew quite a distance.
And yet.
Clang!
He concentrated even harder on his hammer strikes.
He was working with excellent materials—those from a Boss Monster, after all.
And since he’d already crafted equipment imbued with special abilities for Serin, Toran, and Grom in this same manner.
He wanted to create something worthy of Drake from the start—equipment carrying a special ability that suited Drake perfectly.
With that thought driving each strike.
Clang!
[ Crafting complete. ]
[ Crafting Evaluation: SS ]
[ You have obtained the Red Wave Hunter. ]
[ A Masterpiece has been born. ]
[ A masterwork worthy of spreading your name across the world has been completed, and through it you gain inspiration—your ability stats increase. ]
[ Dexterity increases by 3. ]
And now, having grown more attuned to special abilities.
He could tell even without checking the item description.
That the power of the Red Sawfish was deeply manifest within this harpoon.
That it bore a special ability.
And right on cue.
[ Red Wave Hunter ]
Type: Harpoon
Grade: SS
Requirement: Level 32 or higher
Description: A cruel hunter that stains the sea crimson—crafted from the materials of the Red Sawfish, this scarlet harpoon carries forth its power undiminished.
Attack Power: 201
Abilities:
Red Sea Hunt
, Throwing Lv 5, Penetration Lv 3, Swift Lv 2
The harpoon carried special abilities within it.
That was the effect.
[ Special Ability: Red Sea Hunt ]
Attack power increases when in the sea.
Additionally, as the harpoon’s speed increases, the power of the Red Sawfish is reproduced, further amplifying attack power.
That was it.
An ability that increases attack power in the sea alone would already be quite excellent.
But for attack power to rise further depending on the harpoon’s speed—
It seemed perfectly suited to Drake’s hunting style of hurling harpoons at tremendous speed to catch fish.
That wasn’t all.
‘Throwing.’
The harpoon possessed an ability she’d never seen before.
Throwing.
An ability that, true to its name, heightened both the speed and force of a weapon when thrown.
With Penetration and Swift attached as well,
nothing could be more perfect.
“Drake, how is it?”
She handed over the harpoon, crafted with obvious care, confident in her work.
Drake, who had been staring at the harpoon in a daze for a moment, opened his mouth.
“……Perfect.”
* * *
The Dead Sea, known as the sea of death.
The white whale, said to be the mightiest monster even among those waters.
Drake—the legendary whaler said to have slain the White Whale.
He gazed down at the harpoon gripped in his hand.
‘A new harpoon…….’
The Red Sawfish, the harpoon’s material, was nothing remarkable.
Even the weakest monster in the Dead Sea was incomparably stronger than a Red Sawfish.
In fact, the harpoon he’d been using was made from far stronger materials, obtained from far stronger monsters.
So he’d thought that no harpoon, no matter which one he held, could satisfy him.
None of the harpoons any previous ‘master’ had crafted had ever pleased him.
‘But this one…….’
This one was different.
Despite being made from mere Red Sawfish materials,
the crimson blade, carefully carved from the upper jaw—
the lustrous harpoon shaft fashioned from its bone—
the long, elastic harpoon line woven from its tendons—
every part of it was flawless.
Because of that, the moment Drake received the harpoon, he moved.
Splash!
He plunged immediately into the sea.
‘Good…….’
The cool current enveloped his entire body.
Drake thought.
Perhaps he’d been born a fish and was mistakenly born as a Lizardman instead?
On land, he felt no strength, no drive whatsoever.
But the moment he entered the sea, his entire being surged with vigor.
Diving deeper while thinking this, Drake soon found his first quarry.
And at once,
Whoosh—!
he threw the harpoon.
A harpoon thrown from his hands would boast tremendous destructive power even if it were a random stick he’d picked up.
But this harpoon was, truly, in a different league.
Swiiiiish!
The harpoon pierced through the seawater, streaking forward.
Its form resembled the Red Sawfish gliding to pierce through an enemy.
The monster Drake had targeted couldn’t resist at all.
Thud!
It was impaled on the harpoon and fell.
And Drake could feel it.
The tendon line attached to the thrown harpoon.
That electrifying sensation transmitted through the harpoon line.
Drake, hunting monsters at a steady pace, found himself thinking.
“I want to fish…….”
Harpoon hunting was satisfying enough.
But he wanted to move to the next zone soon and use a fishing rod at leisure.
To do that, he needed to clear this zone quickly.
And besides.
“You’ll make me a good fishing rod……, won’t you?”
He’d need to gather fine materials for crafting a rod as well.
Before that, though, he should ask about a diving suit first.
With these thoughts, Drake ignored the small fish and dove deeper into the second zone of the Blacksmith’s Sea.
There, he spotted the zone’s leader.
The boss monster of the second zone.
Whoosh—!!
He hurled the harpoon.
* * *
The moment I finished making the harpoon.
Drake entered the Blacksmith’s Sea and began hunting in earnest.
I thought that if I waited a little longer, I’d be able to obtain a variety of items from the sea.
But before that.
There was one more advantage Drake would gain by starting to hunt in the sea.
Namely.
[ Your level has increased. ]
His level.
I’d been thinking only about what materials I might obtain from the sea.
But thinking about it, the sea was no different from the Blacksmith’s Hunting Ground.
The only difference was land versus water.
The concept of hunting monsters and gathering materials was identical.
As a result, I gained twice my usual experience when Drake began hunting.
And his leveling speed accelerated dramatically.
My level was already rising much faster than other Awakeners.
Now that speed had only been further amplified.
“Not bad, really.”
The faster my level rose, the higher quality items I could craft.
And that wasn’t all.
As my level increased, I could strengthen my skills more rapidly, and in turn, enhance the Time Smithy even faster.
Thinking with satisfaction about what new materials Drake might bring back.
“Master…….”
“You’re back early?”
Drake’s voice arrived much sooner than I expected.
I wondered if he had less stamina than the other assistants.
But that wasn’t it.
“D-Drake?”
Drake was dragging his catch behind him.
Only then did it strike me.
Drake didn’t have a Blacksmith’s Bag—the spatial pouch that the other assistants carried.
And more than that.
“I brought something…….”
“What is it?”
“A strong one…….”
What Drake had brought back was no ordinary monster.
At first glance, it was visibly different from a regular creature—a formidable beast.
It was undoubtedly a Boss Monster of the second zone.
First time hunting, he’d taken down a first-zone boss with his bare hands.
Then, the moment I handed him a harpoon, he’d hunted down this second zone’s boss.
The speed was almost unbelievable.
But there was one more fact that startled me even further.
“This came from the hunt…….”
What Drake handed me as he spoke wasn’t an ordinary boss monster material.
Its true nature was.
“An Awakening Stone?!”
The only item that could raise the level of the Time Smithy without consuming a Mana Stone.
It was an Awakening Stone.

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