The Cursed Blacksmith Who Regressed - Chapter 75

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 75

The concept of expansion processing is simple.

Mix low-grade materials with high-grade materials to increase the quantity of high-grade materials.

It was simple when thinking about expansion repairs.

Isn’t it the act of mixing high-level equipment to upgrade low-level equipment and raise the equipment’s level itself?

This can be seen as the opposite case.

In that sense, for magic stones, the alphabetical grade of the material to be sacrificed must be S-grade.

That way, the minimum purity needed to use as sacrifice is secured and the expected grade value of the superior magic stone to be upgraded is maximized.

‘Well, I don’t necessarily have to follow this rule.’

Because it has to match the cost-effectiveness.

Then this thought comes to mind.

Couldn’t magic stones of the same grade be combined to raise the alphabetical grade?

One might ask if this isn’t also expansion processing.

No.

If you only combine magic stones of the same level, the numerical level doesn’t increase and only the alphabetical grade increases.

For example, if you combine and process 4F-grade magic stones, you get results like 4E-grade, 4D-grade, 4C-grade, which is closer to the concept of combination rather than expansion.

So it’s done through combination processing.

‘Raising the grade of the material itself, that’s the power of expansion processing.’

No matter how much steel you combine, it becomes bigger steel, not diamond.

But expansion processing makes that possible conditionally.

That’s why it’s expansion processing.

Naturally, the lower the grade, the higher the success rate.

But Choi Hyun deliberately chose level 4 magic stones.

Currently in the market, level 6 is very rare and hard to obtain, and the most expensive among what can be obtained is level 5.

So he chose level 4 magic stones to symbolically show the creation of the popularly expensive level 5 magic stones.

‘I can’t embarrassingly choose level 1 magic stones.’

Choi Hyun took out 100 relatively cheap 4B-grade magic stones.

It would be nice to use 4S-grade magic stones from the start, but at this point, magic stones of A-grade or higher were harder to obtain than expected.

‘The maximum expected value that can be commonly obtained from monster drops is B-grade.’

So rather than pouring money into it, he decided to make them directly.

The ratio is 10:1.

Meaning 10 B-grade magic stones can make one A-grade.

This had mostly the same ratio formula based on magic stones.

[ Enhancement processing is activated. ]

[ Dexterity is activated. ]

[ Ultra Focus is activated. ]

Clang clang clang-

Impurities fall away leaving a pure core.

This is called a magic stone core.

He repeated this process 10 times.

Then 10 pure level 4 magic stone cores gathered and he began hammering them together.

Finally, the moment the 10th level 4 magic stone core was combined.

[ Combination processing is activated. ]

[ Processing is complete. ]

[ Processing successful. ]

As if to show off, he was able to obtain a 4A-grade magic stone core.

Choi Hyun continued repeating this process.

Soon 4A-grade magic stone cores were prepared and he began combining them together again.

[ Combination processing is activated. ]

[ Processing is complete. ]

[ Processing successful. ]

Success in one go.

A sparkling 4S-grade magic stone core was born.

“Phew.”

Perhaps because it was a crystal obtained through grinding work, it seemed particularly more sparkling.

Now what to do next?

Combine the 5F-grade magic stone with the 4S-grade magic stone.

The work process was the same as ordinary processing skills.

Place the main material below and the additional material above to combine them.

He executed it immediately.

[ Enhancement processing is activated. ]

[ Dexterity is activated. ]

[ Ultra Focus is activated. ]

Clang clang clang!

No technique is needed.

What’s important now is pouring in magic power.

In fact, no matter how good lower-grade materials are, they can’t become higher-grade.

But if you pour the craftsman’s magic power generously during this overlapping hammering process, a miracle happens.

This is the ultimate principle of expansion processing.

That’s why the craftsman’s magic power and dexterity stats are very important.

But Choi Hyun had high magic power stats and even higher dexterity stats.

Clang clang clang!

Repeated hammering.

Finally, the two magic stones began glowing and combining into one, and for a moment strength drained out to the point of dizziness.

That’s when it happened.

[ Processing is complete. ]

[ Processing successful. ]

[ Expanded domain. ]

[ Your processing skill has now reached a level that goes beyond combining other metals to evolving the essence by one stage. ]

[ Conditions have been met. ]

[ You acquire the skill ‘Expansion Processing’. ]

[ Your trait grows even further. ]

[ The skill ‘Material’s Hammer’ grows and some information changes. ]

[ You acquire 7 dexterity stats. ]

[ New record achieved! ]

[ You are the first in Player history to possess two seventh-tier traits. ]

[ For achieving a great Achievement, the System gifts you 4 bonus stats. ]

Notifications pouring down.

He had finally done it.

The acquisition of the seventh processing skill.

But the moment he succeeded in processing, so much magic power drained out that his legs gave way and he sat down on the spot.

After barely regaining his senses, he first checked his status window while sitting.

[ Choi Hyun ]

– Lv : 48

– Class : Blacksmith

– Traits : ＜Devil’s Eye＞＜Repair＞＜Curse of Memory＞＜Anonymous Craftsman＞＜Heavenly Ignorant Body＞＜Material＞＜Supreme Spirit＞＜Qualification of Beyond＞＜Invader＞

– Strength : 53

– Stamina : 53

– Magic Power : 53

– Sense : 53

– Dexterity: 205

– Unallocated Stat Points: 4

“Hehehe.”

205 dexterity stats.

Plus 4 bonus stats on top of that.

I had finally achieved my goal.

It was thrilling.

How long had it been since I regressed, and I already had 200 dexterity stats?

What was even more surprising was that I was still level 48, without even my 3rd trait manifested yet.

‘Those guys should have seen my Achievement.’

Are you watching, you bastards?

Can you see how insanely hard I’m running to meet your expectations?

I naturally invested the bonus stats I gained into dexterity.

With this, I now had the qualifications to challenge the 8th skills, the final stage of trait skills.

‘But before that, I need to get the rest to level 7 first.’

Processing had reached level 7, but Gathering was still only level 5.

Since I was already at it, I planned to get everything to level 7 while I was on a roll.

‘But before that.’

There was one more thing I needed to check.

I needed to confirm the results of the magic stone that had brought my Processing skill to level 7.

What had happened to the 5F-grade magic stone core?

I examined the Anvil.

But then.

“Huh?”

It was big.

Bigger than I expected.

Could this be?

With a hopeful heart, I took out a measuring tape to check the length.

Alphabet grades were determined purely by the size of the core.

But then.

“…Huh?”

It was bigger than I thought.

When I measured it just to be sure, it was over 12cm.

It was close, but it definitely exceeded it.

“Crazy.”

The sizes of magic stone cores were as follows:

2cm or less was F-grade.

2cm ~ 3.9cm was E-grade.

4cm ~ 5.9cm was D-grade.

6cm ~ 7.9cm was C-grade.

8cm ~ 9.9cm was B-grade.

10cm ~ 11.9cm was A-grade.

12cm and above was S-grade.

But the magic stone size exceeded 12cm.

Though it was close, it surpassed 12cm.

My eyes widened.

I had sacrificed a 4S-grade magic stone to create a whopping 5S-grade magic stone.

“Wow…”

I was amazed at what I had accomplished.

Of course, before my regression, this was something I did as easily as eating, but now that I had regressed and this was my first attempt at Expansion Processing, I never expected to get the best result right away.

No wonder my mana had drained away in chunks, making my legs feel weak.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

Geez.

How many times my investment had this multiplied my profit?

I could only laugh.

This felt good.

Riding this momentum, I decided to start leveling my Gathering skill right away.

There were two mountains to overcome.

Level 6 Combination Gathering and Level 7 Expansion Gathering.

I called them mountains, but they weren’t really that difficult.

At least not by my standards.

Why?

Because I had done them all before.

In that sense, the material needed for level 6 Combination Gathering was none other than an Ego item.

‘It’s the go-to item that all Blacksmiths use to obtain Combination Gathering.’

Ego items.

Simply put, items with souls dwelling in them.

It wasn’t like a curse or anything.

The criterion for Ego items was whether the item itself had a ‘self’ or not.

Of course, just because it had a self didn’t mean they all spoke and could hold conversations.

Ego items that could actually converse were truly top-grade, and usually the most common cases were items that moved on their own with willpower, or refused to be used altogether.

Naturally, just because it had the will to refuse didn’t mean it couldn’t be used.

If the options were lacking, it would just show displeasure.

For example, trembling slightly.

But if it had curse options or other special options, the moment you tried to force its use, the item could use its will to curse the Player or cause all sorts of rejection reactions like flames, electricity, freezing, etc.

Soon, Choi Hyun took out a related item.

But what he pulled out wasn’t an Ego item, but some kind of ore.

Specifically, a soul stone.

It was the ‘Sword Ghosts’ Soul Stone’ he had obtained not long ago.

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