The Cursed Blacksmith Who Regressed - Chapter 74

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

Episode 74

It started with checking first.

“Status window.”

[ Choi Hyun ]

– Lv : 48

– Class : Blacksmith

– Traits : ＜Demon’s Eye＞＜Repair＞＜Curse of Memory＞＜Anonymous Craftsman＞＜Heavenly Martial Body＞＜Materials＞＜Noble Spirit＞＜Qualification of Beyond＞＜Invader＞

– Strength : 53

– Stamina : 53

– Mana : 53

– Sense : 53

– Dexterity : 187

– Unallocated Stat Points : 0

Level 48 with 187 Dexterity stat.

Truly an amazing number.

Once the Dexterity stat reaches 200, he would be qualified to challenge the final skill grade, 8-star.

Level doesn’t matter.

The Dexterity stat itself is practically a measure of a blacksmith Player’s effort.

‘That’s why there are many crafting Players with high Dexterity stats compared to their level.’

Of course, level is important too.

At level 50, the third trait manifests, and at level 100, stat combination becomes possible, allowing Dexterity stats to be added to other stats, making it possible for crafting classes to switch to combat classes.

That’s the singularity point for crafting Players.

In that sense, what Choi Hyun was trying to do now was achieve 200 Dexterity stat.

He didn’t think it would be particularly difficult.

Currently, his Disassembly skill was level 5 and Processing skill was level 4. Frankly, just raising the Disassembly skill to level 7 would give him 13 bonus Dexterity stat points, making reaching 200 Dexterity stat a piece of cake.

But the same goes for the Processing skill.

Of course, it would require more effort, but the result would be the same anyway.

So there was one choice that arose here.

What should he raise it with?

‘Let’s start with the easier one.’

The easier one was Processing.

So he planned to work on Processing first.

He opened his skill window.

He could see level 4 Enhanced Processing.

Next would be level 5 Fusion Processing.

The modifiers in front were all the same.

Basic, Quick, Precise, Enhanced, Disassembly, Fusion, Expansion, Versatile.

Choi Hyun pulled out an ugly chunk of metal from among his countless material items, whether it was iron ore or something else.

The item name was Scrap Iron.

It was literally scrap iron mixed with all sorts of miscellaneous metals, true to its name.

Disassembly Processing?

Nothing special about it.

Disassembly Processing is extraction.

So if he could perfectly separate the metals mixed in this scrap iron, that would be Disassembly Processing.

Processing only works on materials after all.

He placed the metal chunk on the Anvil and gripped it with tongs.

Then he started hammering it.

Clang!

[ Enhanced Processing is activated. ]

[ Dexterity is activated. ]

[ Ultra Focus is activated. ]

Starting with Enhanced Processing.

As he continued hammering, the scrap iron began to glow red hot.

All the processing he had done so far involved layering materials and hammering them.

But now there was nothing layered.

So the material itself glowed red hot, and over time it flattened out due to thermal deformation.

Choi Hyun’s mana was injected.

Around that time, lines that weren’t visible before began to appear.

Colors became distinguishable.

Right.

So it’s you guys.

The different metals.

He modified the hammer.

He changed the end to be sharp yet blunt like a pickaxe.

Then, after firmly securing it with the tongs he was holding, he slowly split the metals along the visible lines like breaking apart a dalgona candy picture.

Focus upon focus.

Usually, many people fail at this point.

But who am I?

Choi Hyun.

The god hand from the end of destruction.

This much is a piece of cake.

[ Processing has been completed. ]

[ Processing was successful. ]

[ Delicate craftsmanship. ]

[ Your processing skills have now reached a level where you can perfectly disassemble mixed components rather than simply combining them. ]

[ Conditions have been met. ]

[ You have acquired the skill ‘Disassembly Processing’. ]

[ Your trait has grown further. ]

[ The skill ‘Material Hammer’ has grown and some information has changed. ]

[ You have gained 5 Dexterity stat points. ]

Since his Dexterity stat was so high and his embodied proficiency was so advanced, he succeeded in one go.

With this, his Dexterity stat became 192.

He immediately moved to the next stage.

The next stage was Fusion Processing.

Fusion Processing is the reverse of Disassembly Processing.

While other processing methods involve combining two material pieces harvested from items, Fusion Processing doesn’t simply combine conceptual pieces but actually fuses metals to create new metals.

‘If you fail, it becomes scrap iron; if you succeed, it becomes an alloy.’

Naturally, the difficulty is incomparably harder than the former.

Generally, the most famous method for making alloys is to melt two metals you want to combine, stir them to mix uniformly, remove impurities like oxygen, sulfur, and phosphorus along with bubbles like hydrogen to improve quality, then solidify.

There’s also a method of mixing in solid state.

Making them into powder, mixing, then compressing and heating to shape.

This was a technique used when dealing with materials that are difficult to melt, like tungsten.

There’s also a method of alloying only the surface, but that’s a pass.

Because none of these three methods were what blacksmith Players mainly used.

‘You don’t melt them or turn them into powder. You just beat each metal like crazy to make them soft, then layer them together and keep folding while hammering.’

Until multiple metals become one.

It sounds easy when you put it that way.

But timing is important for this, and you need to control the amounts well too.

You need to supply mana uniformly, and if you mess up controlling the number of strikes, you get completely different results.

‘But I know the recipes for almost all types of alloys.’

Moreover, his Dexterity stat was approaching 200.

Would there be anything difficult?

No.

With that in mind, Choi Hyun decided to make mana steel.

Mana steel was a new material created by combining ordinary iron with magic stones, and due to its excellent mana conductivity, it was mainly used to create special equipment activated through mana.

However, to make mana steel in this current era, one had to go through the Alchemists.

‘The Blacksmiths’ level is still lacking for now.’

When the 3rd Great Cataclysm era arrives, mana steel becomes one of the most versatile and manageable things that both Blacksmith Players and Alchemists can create.

Why the 3rd Great Cataclysm?

Because for a Blacksmith Player to make this, their Processing level needs to be at least 6.

‘Even if everyone raises their skill levels, it’s just Crafting or Repair at most… and even if they go further, it’s just Gathering. It’ll be a long time before Processing comes into play.’

And even if they reach Processing, it took some time before the mana steel recipe was discovered.

That’s why Blacksmiths could easily make it starting from the 3rd Great Cataclysm era.

But Choi Hyun was planning to make it now.

Solely for the sake of leveling his own skills!

‘First, let me put the iron on the Anvil.’

Then he hammered it vigorously.

[ Enhanced Processing is activated. ]

[ Deft Hands is activated. ]

[ Hyper Focus is activated. ]

Clang clang clang!

It heats up.

As time passes, it turns red-hot.

He pushed it to one side with tongs, then brought over a magic stone and hammered it.

The first strike shatters it.

The impurities break apart.

Eventually, only the pure mana core remains, which needs to be hammered carefully to make it malleable.

The size is about 5% of the original magic stone.

If 10% remains, that’s a jackpot.

After hammering for a while, the mana core became malleable.

He overlapped it with the softened iron and hammered them together.

Whiiiiing-

As he hammered, the overlapped materials gradually began to emit light.

And not long after.

[ Processing has been completed. ]

[ Processing was successful. ]

[ Marvelous craftsmanship. ]

[ Your processing skills have now reached the level of combining different metals to create something completely new. ]

[ Conditions have been met. ]

[ You have acquired the skill ‘Fusion Processing’. ]

[ Your trait has grown even further. ]

[ The skill ‘Material Hammer’ has grown and some information has changed. ]

[ You have gained 6 Dexterity stats. ]

As if to show off, he was able to acquire his sixth Processing skill.

Now his Dexterity stat was at 198.

Only two more until 200.

If he had known this would happen, he should have cleared one more Gate before coming back.

‘Then I would have hit 200 right away.’

It’s fine.

Either way, it was a number he would eventually reach, and these were skills he would eventually need to level up anyway.

‘So now…’

His gaze shifts to the skill window.

Level 6 Processing skill.

Just one step until level 7.

The corners of Choi Hyun’s mouth rose.

“Hehe, Expansion Processing. There’s a perfect sacrifice for this too.”

The material that countless Blacksmiths used to reach level 7 Expansion Processing as quickly as possible.

It was magic stones.

Magic stones have two types of grades.

The numerical level assigned based on the purity of mana the magic stone itself possesses.

And the alphabetical grade assigned based on the magic stone’s size or condition.

Naturally, the higher the numerical level or alphabetical grade, the better.

‘Magic stones ultimately go up to level 9, and magic stone conditions range from S-grade, which is almost like raw ore, down to F-grade, which is just fragments.’

So when referring to magic stones, they usually put the numerical level in front and the alphabetical grade behind.

For example, 3A-grade means a level 3, A-grade magic stone.

Choi Hyun pulled out the lowest-grade magic stones from his Material Chest in a row.

Various magic stones from level 1 to level 5.

There were higher ones too, but even level 5 magic stones were expensive enough as it was.

So he only stocked up to level 5 magic stones.

Among them, what Choi Hyun picked up were level 4 magic stones.

So naturally, the task at hand was also to turn level 4 magic stones into level 5 magic stones.

Of course, by current era standards, this was impossible.

But Choi Hyun could do it.

Precisely through Expansion Processing.

‘That’s exactly the power that Expansion Processing possesses.’

Choi Hyun’s eyes lit up as he began to prepare.

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