The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 207

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 207
207.
Whoosh—!
Jin-woo’s hands were burning.
But no damage was being dealt.
Jin-woo was observing his flaming hands in detail.
‘I see.’
He understood at once. This technique that Oson had honed over a long time was the same flame Hamilton had used when crafting the Glass Dagger.
That technique of wreathing his hand in fire and manipulating materials with precision.
‘Similar to Fire Build, then.’
Jin-woo also possessed a skill that wreathed flames around his crafting tools.
‘But it’s different. Something’s distinct about it.’
Yet this was unmistakably different from Fire Build.
“Impressive—a person who handles fire isn’t surprised in the least.”
His hands had suddenly burst into flame. Yet instead of startling, Jin-woo examined them closely, and Oson nodded approvingly.
Curiosity about new techniques was one of the most important things for a blacksmith.
Oson immediately explained the nature of this flame.
“This technique is called Hand Tempering.”
Hand Tempering.
‘Ah.’
At those words, Jin-woo grasped the skill immediately.
‘Tempering. That’s what this is.’
It was a step in the crafting process—the work of heating materials hardened and weakened by quenching, making them strong again.
‘Tempering done by hand. Or maybe something slightly different? There are many parts that differ from real-world tempering.’
“Your face says you already understand the mechanism.”
Oson gave a light explanation of the tempering technique.
“Each material has its own character.”
For that reason, one couldn’t simply heat the material with a strong flame.
“You heat it at low temperatures, and the power of the flame raises the material’s strength.”
Hand Tempering was the technique of intentionally wreathing one’s hands in low-temperature flames.
‘That’s how you increase the strength.’
Jin-woo’s intuition was correct—this felt different from real-world tempering.
Hamilton released a breath.
“That’s why I was so startled. I raised Crystal Platinum’s durability through Hand Tempering.”
Hamilton had used Hand Tempering to overcome the weakness inherent in Crystal Platinum, which was why it hadn’t shattered easily.
But Jin-woo had handled Crystal Platinum without using Hand Tempering at all.
He had imitated it in a similar fashion, but since it wasn’t true Hand Tempering, there was no way the Crystal Platinum’s durability could have increased.
It meant he had refined the brittle Crystal Platinum using nothing but his manual skill alone.
Oson shook his head in amazement at this.
Handling Crystal Platinum without Hand Tempering was quite difficult even for Oson.
“You overcame it with pure skill alone, but now that you’ve learned Hand Tempering, you’ll be able to put that skill to far better use.”
Flames gathered in both of Oson’s hands.
Whoosh—.
“Fundamentally, Hand Tempering borrows power from the furnace. This too is a skill. I connect Hand Tempering to my personal furnace and use it that way. That’s how I can properly harness the flame’s power even at low temperatures.”
Jin-woo immediately linked Hand Tempering to his own furnace.
“But even after connecting, it won’t come easily. You’ll need to master the sensation——”
Hand Tempering was truly a skill where sensation mattered.
It demanded sensitivity, delicacy, and concentration.
And Jin-woo happened to possess all three.
Whoosh—!
A denser, more intense flame gathered in Jin-woo’s hands than what Oson had shown.
“——It comes easily.”
“It’s a difficult skill, truly.”
Yet Jin-woo, having mastered it so easily, recognized how incredibly nuanced the technique was.
‘It’s a completely different skill from Fire Build. I can’t approach it the same way. That won’t work here.’
This skill enhanced a material’s flexibility while simultaneously raising its durability.
Then he needed to focus on that flexibility.
‘Flexibly.’
Jin-woo immediately seized a piece of material stacked in the Workshop.
Whoosh—.
The material began to melt quietly. But not just melting.
‘Oh.’
Hiss—.
Jin-woo pressed a new piece of material onto the first.
And it adhered with a click.
“!”
The moment Jin-woo grasped the essence of Hand Tempering in an instant, Oson’s expression shifted to one of astonishment.
“But I haven’t explained that yet——”
‘The power to easily join and synthesize materials. So that’s what this is?’
Essentially, it felt like performing Material Synthesis—something Dust, the spirit of crafting, typically did—but with his own hands.
‘Being able to synthesize directly with your hands is both a weakness and a strength.’
You could synthesize any desired material into any desired form.
It wasn’t mere joining but true fusion, which overlapped somewhat with Bone Craft.
But if Bone Craft was the technique of fusing bone to bone, this was a skill that could join materials while simultaneously synthesizing them.
Watching Jin-woo’s eyes, Oson marveled. Right now, Jin-woo was analyzing and understanding this newly learned Hand Tempering on his own.
“Teach one thing and you understand the next right away—there’s real joy in teaching someone like you!”
Oson chuckled.
“Jin-woo, since I’ve seen your crafting, now it’s my turn to show you mine. I’ll demonstrate my own crafting while showing you Hand Tempering in action.”
Oson wrapped flames around both his hands.
‘Ah.’
Hand Tempering wasn’t limited to one hand alone.
Jin-woo focused on Oson’s crafting.
Whoosh—. Whoosh—.
Oson, wreathed in low-temperature flame, lifted the Crystal Platinum and placed it on the work surface.
Then he began shaping it with both hands.
Whoosh—.
The Crystal Platinum began to deform under Oson’s hands as if melting.
‘So that’s why.’
The sensation of glass-work he’d felt from Hamilton.
It was because his master Oson’s technique resembled glass-craft.
With the Crystal Platinum in his grip, Oson began crafting using both hands.
‘It’s being molded like clay.’
The word “sculpting” suited Oson’s crafting perfectly.
‘Is he crafting without tools at all?’
Jin-woo had experience crafting without a Hammer in the Underworld and Tower of Trials, so he found this all the more intriguing.
But soon Oson picked up the Hammer.
‘Seamlessly switching between hands and Hammer.’
The more Jin-woo watched, the more fascinating Oson’s crafting became.
Clang—!
The moment Oson brought the Hammer down.
Oson felt a chill run through him.
A gaze.
That stare from beside him threatened to break his concentration.
“……”
Oson glanced sidelong at Jin-woo.
Jin-woo was focused entirely on him.
Not merely focused.
He was committing every movement to memory.
As Jin-woo watched his crafting, his hands were moving—recreating exactly what Oson had just shown, the very essence of his Hand Tempering technique.
How Oson joined the Crystal Platinum.
How he transformed it.
Exactly how much force he applied to each part.
Jin-woo grasped it all.
Just from watching, it felt as though everything was being absorbed.
Unnerving.
Yet at the same time, Oson felt no desire to stop.
A crafter of such caliber was learning by watching him.
A crafter who wouldn’t absorb just anything.
That meant his Hand Tempering possessed real value.
Then all was good.
“Take it all.”
Whoosh—!
Oson accelerated the pace of his Hand Tempering.

He began joining Crystal and Platinum, elevating the quality higher.
“!”
Hamilton recalled Oson’s teachings as he watched.
Crystal Platinum is a synthesized mineral formed by combining Crystal and Platinum.
But Oson had repeatedly told him to forget that it was a synthesized mineral.
To treat it as if Crystal Platinum were a mineral that existed from the beginning.
He’d taught him to raise the perfection so high that the joining and synthesis themselves became invisible. And that’s exactly what Oson was doing. Just as he’d taught.
He showed precisely the realm Hamilton had been striving to reach.
Hiss—. Hiss—.
And Jin-woo absorbed it all.
Whoosh—!
The Crystal Platinum was completed in Oson’s hands.
“I’ve learned well.”
Jin-woo spoke to Oson.
“How it’s done.”
Then he seized Crystal and Platinum.
-Activating Hand Tempering!
“Like this, yes?”
Jin-woo began to recreate it.
The very essence of Oson-style Hand Tempering.
* * *
Whoosh—.
Crystal and Platinum were joined in Jin-woo’s hands.
Jin-woo continued to recall Bone Craft, focusing on the joining Oson had shown.
‘Flawless perfection.’
What Oson pursued was making Crystal and Platinum feel as though they had always been a single mineral.
‘Seamless Celestial Garment.’
Jin-woo invoked the term in his mind.
‘A celestial maiden’s robe bears not even a stitch mark.’
Sewn yet unsewn.
It was a garment that made one feel as though it had been made that way from the beginning—that was the Seamless Celestial Garment.
‘That’s what Oson pursues.’
And it was the realm Hand Tempering too sought to achieve.
‘I understand.’
With understanding came action. Jin-woo began to manifest it through his hands.
‘Not the synthesis of Crystal and Platinum.’
Crystal Platinum—a single mineral unto itself.
Whoosh—.
Whoosh—.
Jin-woo’s Hand Tempering roughly fused Crystal and Platinum together.
Clang—! Clang—! Clang—!
“Wow……”
Hamilton breathed in wonder.
This was exactly the realm he’d yearned for.
-You have synthesized Crystal Platinum!
-Hand Tempering proficiency has increased!
The joint in the Crystal Platinum flowed naturally.
Not merely combined, but true synthesis.
“Is this correct?”
At Jin-woo’s question, Oson fell silent for a moment before speaking.
“No.”
Oson said flatly.
“It’s not that.”
Oson shook his head at the result Jin-woo had created.
Hamilton’s expression flickered with confusion as he looked at Oson, but he quickly understood what Oson meant.
This was certainly not what Oson had taught.
“I never did it this way. You——”
Oson exhaled slowly.
The Hand Tempering Jin-woo had demonstrated had already——
“You’ve made it better than I did. You’ve already surpassed what I showed you.”
You’ve surpassed me.
The praise was excessive, but there was no exaggeration in it whatsoever.
So Jin-woo felt quite satisfied.
“That was excellent exchange, Oson.”
Jin-woo bowed with a smile.
‘This is fun. Exchange.’
Jin-woo’s eyes turned in another direction.
“Oson, in this Chanran,”
Jin-woo asked.
“How many crafters are there?”
“Crafters? You mean blacksmiths?”
“No.”
On the Workshop street, in Chanran, there were countless “crafters.”
“All of them. Every crafter.”
There was no need to limit it only to blacksmiths.

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