The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 133

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Chapter 133
Episode 133.
-Your Level has increased!
-Your Dexterity Stat has increased!
-Your Concentration Stat has increased!
-Your Soul Forging Proficiency has increased!
-The God of Bone and Death praises your new milestone!
-Your Strength Stat has increased by 1,000,000!
-The Master of Soul and Abyss marvels at your mastery of the soul!
Jin-woo examined his hands.
“It’s different, for sure.”
The UR+ Rank he’d reached was unmistakably different. After climbing effortlessly this whole time, Jin-woo had arrived at a moment of completion.
“Makes sense—high difficulty relative to my stats.”
He found that challenge quite satisfying.
“Back with Eternal Sunshine, every single step was an ordeal.”
Those adversities had been so enjoyable they’d only pulled him deeper into the game.
“Soul Forging.”
Jin-woo checked the skill he’d just learned.
* Soul Forging
Grade: SSR
Description: Through the Necromaster’s formidable power, you refine souls.
Effect: Extract and purify souls. Draw out and tame the souls within materials.
It was a remarkably straightforward skill.
“Wait. This feels like Deep Refinement and Soul Sight combined, doesn’t it?”
It wasn’t just a feeling.
“They actually merged?”
Deep Refinement and Soul Sight.
These two skills had fused to become Soul Forging.
“Since their essence felt similar, combining them was definitely the better choice. And the skill grade is quite high to boot.”
By using Soul Forging in place of both skills, he could still access the fundamental abilities they’d each possessed—quite practical.
Shaaaa—.
Jin-woo slowly lifted the Dragon Stone Chain Scythe, radiating considerable aura.
“First time crafting at this grade.”
UR+ Rank.
He grasped the scythe with great anticipation.
Shaaaaaaa—.
As he lifted it, the weapon’s distinctive chill ran through his hands.
And as the Dragon Stone’s inherent power spread throughout his body, he felt almost as though he were becoming a dragon himself.
“Oh.”
The power of the dragon.
And layered over it was the distinct aura of a Necromancer’s weapon—exactly as he’d intended.
“So this is truly a Necromancer’s arm.”
A Necromancer is a kind of Reaper—a death-speaker who leads the departed.
Naturally, the weapon a Reaper carries is a scythe.
But Jin-woo hadn’t crafted a scythe in that traditional sense.
“A simple scythe would be pointless.”
His combat repertoire had grown quite broad. So he’d forged a weapon suited to many fighting styles.
“Close-range combat possible, and long-range attacks too.”
Clang—.
“A chain scythe.”
The chain scythe Jin-woo had created was a hybrid: capable of close combat but also throwable for ranged strikes.
* Special Skill [Dragon Swarm: Radiates the dragon’s power. Nearby monsters fall into Status Abnormality: Fear.]
[Dragon Stone Chain Scythe]
-Attack Power: 14,500
-Grade: UR+
-Durability: 250,000 / 250,000
<>
* Special Attribute [Dragon’s Wrath: Imbued with dragon power. Attack Power increases by 10,000!]
* Special Attribute [Dragon Jade: The dragon’s mana stirs within your body. Maximum Health increases by 10,000!]
* Special Attribute [Ultimate Attack Power: Attack Power increases by 600.]
* Special Attribute [Curse Infusion – Arcshak LV3: Attack Power increases by 700.]
* Special Attribute [Life Drain: Absorb 14% of damage dealt as your Health!]
* Special Attribute [Shadow Slash: Increases Attack Power by 8%.]
* Special Attribute [Soul Forging: Draw forth the power of souls. Attack Speed increases by 15%!]
An attack power of 14,500 far exceeded even the Orichalcon Greatsword’s might.
‘Dragon Stone. The effect is incredible.’
Especially the Dragon Jade embedded at the scythe’s core.
This Dragon Jade was also having a tremendous impact on the equipment’s attributes.
“Dragon Swarm feels something like Fear.”
And he was very pleased with the Soul Forging attribute as well.
“Shadow Slash?”
And there was a new special attribute he hadn’t anticipated.
“A special attribute created by the Necromaster class effect.”
Jin-woo smirked.
Upon learning Soul Forging, the Necromaster level seemed to have risen.
“Obsidian is sharp, they say.”
But not nearly as much as what the Dragon Stone had unleashed.
“Since it’s UR+ grade.”
Jin-woo gave the chain scythe a light swing where he stood.
Whoosh—!
“Mmm.”
A shockwave erupted from the impact.
This time he gripped the chain and spun it.
Thump-thump-thump—!
With a brisk whistle of wind, Jin-woo hurled the scythe with precision.
Boom—!
“That’s serious power.”
The impact far exceeded what he’d dealt with when using Obsidian Arrowheads before.
“Those are one-time use.”
This seemed to deal more damage than even those disposable arrowheads’ concentrated strikes.
“There’s a real difference. Dragon byproducts are something else—all that effort hunting her was worth it.”
Jin-woo gazed at the Dragon Stone Chain Scythe.
Shaaaaaaa—.
The flowing dragon aura mingled with dark energy, creating a striking presence.
“Just holding it feels good.”
Even at rest, even spinning it lazily—both were thoroughly satisfying.
“I’ll know better once I use it more.”
After giving it a few practice swings, Jin-woo could describe the Dragon Stone Chain Scythe simply:
Light yet powerful.
“It’s the perfect weapon for me.”
Jin-woo stored the chain scythe away.
“I’ll use it for the tower.”
To reclaim the temple swallowed by that tower, he would need to conquer it.
“Hmm.”
Jin-woo looked at the hammer, now cracked and unusable.
“This one’s a shame.”
He carefully placed the broken hammer in a corner of his private storage—his rare collection.
“This place is for treasures only. Since you came to me so valuably, rest easy now.”
It had carried him all the way to UR+ Rank on its own.
“Thank you.”
* * *
“Bone.”
Jin-woo rode Bone from the Desolate Land toward Iron Helm.
‘First I need to get back and report.’
And he’d need a new hammer.
‘I should ask Hairun if there’s a new hammer available.’
If not, he’d ask for a backup at least.
Screeeee—!
Bone showed off proudly—his dragon-scale armor and tail scythe on full display. The tail scythe especially shrieked during flight with an intensity that felt almost like a fighter jet.
‘Fighter jet. That’s exactly it.’
Jin-woo organized the Obsidian Nets he carried on Bone’s back.
He currently had three Obsidian Nets.
“I could probably list one for auction.”
Two of the three were worth keeping—better than expected.
“It was useful enough to even work on Shadow Wing, so the crafting came out better than I thought.”
Jin-woo registered an Obsidian Net at the Auction House.
-Item has been registered!
“Standard auction.”
Starting bid: 1 Gold.
This Obsidian Net was, strictly speaking, hunting equipment.
“It appeals to users with the Hunter profession.”
Like the Pickaxe he’d sold before, it could build good relationships with certain job classes.
“Like with Artemus or Yur.”
Jin-woo knew the Hunter profession quite well.
During his time with Eternal Sunshine, he’d had many contract Hunters supplying him with materials.
Hunters focus on hunting Named Monsters.
“Catching monsters is the goal, not gathering materials. Actually, they convert all materials to Gold just to hunt stronger monsters.”
Jin-woo sensed he could establish a mutually beneficial relationship with such Hunters.
‘I receive materials and provide them with high-quality equipment instead of Gold.’
He’d easily gain access to rare materials that were otherwise difficult to obtain.
‘Let me build a connection through this Obsidian Net.’
Jin-woo’s goal was to receive shipments of precious materials from Named Monsters.
‘If I can establish one more solid material pipeline, I won’t have to worry about supplies.’
He was receiving minerals from Yur and Artemus, and now would gain monster byproducts from Hunters.
‘Just thinking about it is exciting.’
Working with new materials he hadn’t handled before was always a joy.
-Auction has been completed!
-Please claim your auction proceeds!
Jin-woo collected the proceeds from his previous equipment sales.
Earnings from selling the SR Grade Orc-ish Axe and proceeds from listing 115 pieces of equipment.
“Over 150 million Gold.”
An enormous sum of 150 million Gold had accumulated.
“At this rate…”
One reason Jin-woo had wanted a Summoned Workshop was the freedom to craft anywhere, but another was that existing workshops were prohibitively expensive.
“I could probably buy a workshop in the Major City with this?”
Establishing a base was quite important.
“The scale of equipment I can produce changes with the workshop size.”
He’d already felt this during Eternal Sunshine.
The workshop’s size directly determined what size equipment could be produced.
“I can make everything here in this Summoned Workshop.”
But certain things could only be made in a city-based workshop.
“Fine.”
If he went to the Major City, he’d aim for the most competitive district.
“Let’s have some fun.”
* * *
Tehent, a Hunter.
Among Hunters, he was an overwhelmingly top-ranked player.
His alias was [Legendary Hunter].
A naturally gifted Hunter who’d brought down countless legendary Named Monsters.
He enjoyed soloing thoroughly, remained in a Guild nominally, but played essentially solo.
Scrape—.
Scrape—.
While he sharpened his hunting daggers and throwing daggers on a whetstone, he received a new notification.
-There has been a change in the Hall of Fame rankings.
“Which one?”
Tehent held positions in many Hall of Fame categories.
“Oh?”
-Great Hunter.
-Dragon Slayer.
Both were highly symbolic achievements.
“A new Hunter has emerged.”
New users entering this field was a good thing.
“New players flowing in expands the entire market eventually.”
Tehent checked the Hall of Fame achievement rankings.
He wanted to know the new user’s name.
“Hm?”
An intriguing name caught his eye.
-4. Jin-woo
“Jin-woo?”
A very familiar name.
Even Tehent, who focused solely on hunting, knew this name.
“The most talked-about name right now.”
Why would a famous blacksmith appear on the Hall of Fame rankings for Hunter achievements?
“That aside…”
Though he had his expectations.
“They say he crafts equipment extremely well.”
Tehent next checked the Dragon Slayer achievement.
“What? This is also Jin-woo?”
Both achievements were Jin-woo.
“So he got both achievements from dragon hunting?”
Earning the Great Hunter achievement through dragon hunting was unprecedented. When Tehent had earned it, he’d only just joined the ranking hunters.