The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 100

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Episode 100
Episode 100.
Since Jin-woo first cleared the tower.
Multiple guilds and high-rankers had also managed to clear it.
“These constraints are insane.”
“Time limits are just the baseline, and what’s with these monsters resurrecting no matter how many times you kill them?”
“There are way too many traps. It’s driving me crazy.”
However, the tower’s constraints proved remarkably challenging.
“No wonder even top-tier guilds struggled to clear it.”
“Hah. So it really is a Main Scenario Quest.”
“They say there are follow-up quests once you clear the tower.”
“Well, you can’t do any follow-up quests or anything else until you actually clear it first, can you?”
Main Scenario Quest. Because of this, some players accepted the high difficulty as natural, while others poured out complaints about how unreasonably hard it was.
“How are we supposed to clear this?”
“The stat penalties are way too severe.”
Even attempting it at full strength was considerably difficult.
“Looks like we’ll need to include a Priest in the party.”
“Or we should go with a small elite group. It seems like the difficulty adjusts based on how many people enter the tower.”
But as a result, neglected job classes came back to life.
Priests.
This class specialized in Debuff Removal.
Until now, Healers had been a sufficient substitute, but the tower’s constraints were beyond what Healers could handle.
As a result, more parties began seeking out Priests.
“Has any guild cleared two or more towers yet?”
“Not that I know of. I heard top guilds have only cleared one tower each. Each tower has different difficulty levels, apparently. Plus, they’re fighting over the towers right now.”
“And I’ve heard some towers are even hidden.”
“Everyone’s in an all-out war to claim the First Clear Title.”
Clearing the tower itself was difficult, but the battle for ownership rights was equally fierce.
In the midst of it all.
One person walked toward their first.
-The power of evil incarnate dwells within you!
-You are a fulfiller of the Evil Incarnates’ Quest!
-The tower’s aura binds you.
-The will of evil spreads throughout the entire tower.
-All Stats decrease!
Mirage Fog Tower.
The moment Jin-woo entered, he grinned at the barrage of notifications.
“Quite a lot, aren’t there.”
Constraints, constraints, and more constraints. There were so many that you could die without even hunting a single monster.
“There seem to be way more constraints than the higher-tier tower.”
Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be a time limit, though that made the time limit somewhat meaningless.
“Shouldn’t be. I’ll be here for 24 hours anyway.”
Jin-woo started recording first.
“I’ll record two separate videos.”
One video of the Mirage Fog Tower clear would go to JBS, and another would be uploaded to his Mytube channel.
“We’ve already settled that matter.”
JBS had said they wouldn’t interfere with Jin-woo running a separate Mytube channel.
“As long as there’s no overlap.”
They said it was fine as long as he didn’t provide the exact same video.
Jin-woo prepared his videos on a dual-track basis.
Whoooosh—.
As he walked through the fog-filled path and ventured deeper, he heard the sound of wind.
Screeeech—!
And the fog was swept away by the wind.
“What in the world—”
Jin-woo was momentarily startled.
Despite having entered the tower, the landscape Jin-woo saw was nothing like what he’d expect from inside a tower.
“This. is. a. cliff.”
They’d entered a plateau region.
Powerful winds blew across terrain that looked as if massive cliffs had been carved away.
Cliffs and fog stretched across the sky in every direction.
High altitude.
And cliffs too. It was hard to believe this was a tower at all.
“It feels like I’ve entered a different world. Each tower really does have its own distinct concept.”
It was as if space itself had been transported.
Shriek—!
Jin-woo looked up at the sky. The fact that there was a sky inside a tower was already startling, but the monsters flying above it were equally shocking.
“Griffins.”
Dozens of griffins—monsters resembling winged lions—were waiting to attack Jin-woo and his familiars.
Griffins were high-level monsters.
Jin-woo narrowed his eyes to observe the griffins.
-Eagle Eye activates!
“They look plenty strong.”
Vast grassland, cliffs, and fog.
And monsters floating in the sky above.
Their eyes gleamed with madness.
The first floor was already quite difficult.
“This is problematic.”
Jin-woo clicked his tongue.
“Should I call Unit 2 back?”
With Unit 2 and the Starlight Longbow, ranged attacks would be possible.
But Jin-woo shook his head and smiled instead.
A good idea had suddenly struck him.
“That won’t be necessary.”
If melee weapons wouldn’t work, he could simply craft ranged weapons instead.
“I can just be self-sufficient.”
Jin-woo gestured to First.
First was currently riding the Skeletal Horse.
“First.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Go hunt exactly ten of them.”
“Yes.”
First didn’t ask how. He’d been given a command to hunt ten, so he would hunt ten.
Bang—.
First drove the Skeletal Horse hard and leaped powerfully from the edge of the cliff.
Dark Knight King.
First, now an advanced class, and the Skeletal Horse had power on an entirely different level from before.
Bang—. Bang—. Bang—!
First, airborne now, unleashed a wave of power.
-First casts ‘Skill: Wave Emission’!
Whoooosh—! Crash—!
The wave radiating from First’s body engulfed the griffins.
“It has a paralysis effect?”
First immediately swung the greatsword.
Screeeech—!
“Kye!”
A griffin tried to spin away to dodge, but the paralysis lasted quite long. One griffin took a massive hit and fell to the ground.
First led the Skeletal Horse up the cliff face once more. The griffins, wary of First, attempted to climb higher.
Scrape—!
But the Skeletal Horse’s climbing ability was considerable.
“The. Master. has. commanded. it.”
Then it was the familiar’s duty to succeed.
Whoooosh—!
-Berserk activates!
The Orichalcon Greatsword’s special skill, Berserk, activated.
With dramatically increased attack speed, another griffin fell.
“Excellent. Excellent.”
Now Jin-woo could finally see the true potential of the Orichalcon Greatsword.
Screeeech—!
A blood-red aura spreading with each swing of the greatsword.
‘That’s the feeling.’
The sensation he’d imagined unfolded exactly as he’d pictured it.
‘The function is…….’
Screeeech—!
Griffins’ primary domain was the sky. Battling there, it was natural that First was being pushed back somewhat.
‘Sharp strikes.’
Screeeech—!
First delivered a sharp blow in response to Jin-woo’s unspoken command. The speed was so incredible it was hard to follow, but Jin-woo’s eyes caught every movement perfectly.
“Hmm.”
SSR+ Grade. The specs were certainly superior to the equipment he’d made before. Attacks that would have been blocked now pierced the griffin cleanly through.
“There might be more potential to draw out.”
Someone might wonder what could possibly be lacking in such flawlessly crafted equipment.
But to Jin-woo, it was crystal clear.
‘A greatsword is a greatsword—the appeal lies in variation. You can’t rely solely on blunt force. Sometimes it should be sharp, sometimes blunt—that’s what brings out the true charm of a greatsword.’
“Bring out more of its character.”
Jin-woo raised his hand.
“First! Put more force into each strike! That’s what a greatsword is!”
Conserving power would actually diminish the greatsword’s character. What was needed was the determination to end everything in a single strike.
Whoooosh—!
“Yes.”
Darkness poured from First’s entire body. Though the Skeletal Horse had no wings, First seemed to hover continuously in midair.
Crack—!
“Good.”
Jin-woo smiled with satisfaction.
“Kyeeeeek!”
First led the Skeletal Horse to seize even more griffins, but they climbed higher. There was nothing more First and the Skeletal Horse could do at that point.
“Good work.”
Jin-woo looked at the griffins that had fallen to the ground.
Then he checked the materials they’d dropped.
-Griffin’s Claw [SR]
-Griffin’s Bone [SR]
-Griffin’s Feather [SR]
Claws, bones, and feathers.
“Sufficient.”
This would be more than enough.
Jin-woo immediately opened his workshop.
“Craft.”
Jin-woo began making equipment using the griffin byproducts.
If monsters were in the sky, he’d craft a weapon that would force them to come down.
“There’s something better than a bow.”
Nothing beat a bow for ranged weapons, but a bow didn’t suit First and Pur.
“There are exactly two weapons that would fit them.”
Whoooosh—!
Ting—! Ting—!
Jin-woo crafted the griffin bones and claws.
Then he pulled out an Everglowing Stone.
The SSR Grade Everglowing Stone radiated intense light the moment it was withdrawn.
“I’ll make a boomerang.”
The weapon he’d craft was a boomerang.
A heavy, massive boomerang could hunt griffins with ease. Even if they fled higher like now, it wouldn’t be an issue.
“Kyeeek!”
As Jin-woo struck with his hammer on the ground, the griffins attempted to attack for revenge. But with First standing ready and Pur staring with fierce intensity, the griffins didn’t dare approach.
The ground was their domain. Especially against First, the griffins were intimidated.
Ting—! Ting—!
“Hmm.”
The Everglowing Stone was SR Grade material.
It was higher tier than the Orichalcon Jin-woo had used before. As a result, the furnace’s heat didn’t melt it easily.
“Moltus.”
Jin-woo summoned Moltus. Then, like before, he ordered him to push the firepower to its limit.
“I will comply.”
Whoooosh—!
‘There are limits.’
With current firepower, handling materials that were practically SSR Grade like Orichalcon, or truly SSR Grade materials, seemed difficult.
‘Of course, it’s not impossible.’
He’d already worked with that difficult Orichalcon.
‘I just can’t fully draw out their potential.’
Jin-woo simply pulled out the Everglowing Stone and struck it with his hammer.
Ting—!
‘But I do need to improve the firepower.’
It was essential to work with better materials.
‘Failing to draw out potential even when you could—that’s disrespectful to the material.’
Ting—! Ting—! Ting—!
But there was no point in complaining.
‘I do my best with what I have now.’
It was only firepower that fell short.
“Without limit.”
He’d show that crafting was possible even with his limbs bound. He needed to be able to make SR Grade equipment without his strongest ally—firepower.
“That’s the foundation.”
Ting—! Ting—! Ting—!
Jin-woo struck the Everglowing Stone with mad intensity.
Uniformly, infinitely uniform.
The hard Everglowing Stone began deforming as it glowed.
Under Jin-woo’s hands, it was carved and shaped into the form of a massive boomerang. Then Jin-woo withdrew the Elven Light.
This Elven Light was a reward from completing a quest given by Katri’s biological father.
The beautiful blue gem was cut by Jin-woo’s polishing blade.
Scrape—. Scrape—.
Flame Crafting.
And then Spell Enchantment.
“Dust, Coco.”
He summoned both spirits.
“Dust, I need your power.”
Jin-woo fed griffin bones to Dust.
“Chirp—!”
-Beginning Material Synthesis!
Jin-woo intended to compress multiple griffin bones into one, creating a higher-quality bone.
‘Compressing bones yields better bones.’
Thanks to the 300% Drop Effect, Jin-woo had many materials on hand.
‘I could make equipment based on quantity.’
But when he wanted higher-quality equipment like now, Material Synthesis was superior.
-Material Synthesis complete!
-Recycle Ability has improved!
Dust spat out the synthesized bone.
-Synthesized Griffin Bone [SR+]
From SR Grade to SR+ Grade.
Dust, who had worked rough crafting alongside Jin-woo, had now become a spirit worthy of him.
“As expected.”
Jin-woo looked at Dust. Dust flew up with a cheerful chirp, unsurprised.
“Right. Isn’t it?”
They were his spirits. This level of growth was only natural.
Jin-woo immediately grabbed the bone and began crafting.
Synthesized griffin bone.
And the Everglowing Stone and Elven Light.
From these three materials, Jin-woo crafted equipment.
Ding—!
-Equipment created!
-SSR Grade equipment created!
The boomerang, a weapon never before crafted by him, was complete.
[Griffin Everglowing Stone Boomerang]
-Attack Power: 8888
-Grade: SSR
-Durability: 25,000 / 25,000
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* Special Option [Shining Everglowing: The Everglowing Stone’s effect increases critical hit chance!]
* Special Option [Elven Light: Blinds the target for 10 seconds with a certain probability.]
* Special Option [Ultimate Attack Power: Attack power increases by 500.]
* Special Option [Spell Enchantment – Archsak LV2: Attack power increases by 500.]
* Special Option [Life Drain: Absorb 12% of damage dealt as health.]
* Special Option [Dark Flame: Adds flame attribute.]
“Oho. Dark Flame?”
Jin-woo checked the newly appeared option.
“Coco, is this your power?”
“Chirp—.”
Coco was also growing steadily, not falling behind Dust.
‘A Legendary Spirit indeed.’
Jin-woo gently stroked the heads of both spirits.
“Excellent.”
Both spirits closed their eyes, pleased by the praise.
Jin-woo handed the completed Griffin Everglowing Stone Boomerang to First.
“First.”
“Yes, Master.”
First received the boomerang.
Jin-woo then ground griffin bones and crafted one more piece of equipment.
-Equipment created!
-SSR Grade equipment created!
This time, he’d made a Throwable Spear.
‘Using the Thunderdust I brought.’
Rather than a simple one-use spear, he’d tied rope to the end of the shaft so it could be retrieved and reused multiple times.
“This is yours, Pur.”
“Thank you!”
Jin-woo handed the handcrafted ranged weapons to both familiars, then pointed at the griffins.
“Arrogantly floating up there, aren’t they?”
“Yes.”
“Yes!”
“Bring them down.”
At Jin-woo’s command, First and Pur threw their weapons simultaneously.
Screeeech—!
The boomerang flew with tremendous force. The griffin tried to dodge, but the speed was too great.
Crash—!
One griffin was hit by the boomerang and fell, while Pur’s Throwable Spear flew upward. The griffin hovering higher than the one First hit was pierced clean through.
Splat—!
Pur used the Thunderdust rope tied to the Throwable Spear to retrieve it. The griffin was pulled down along with it.
Boom—!
Two massive griffins crashed to the ground.
Jin-woo watched the scene with satisfaction.
“Quite useful.”