The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 215

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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 215
215.
‘His speed was almost identical to mine.’
Jin-woo observed Peran’s broken sword.
The sword bore six options and was USSR+ Grade, identical to the equipment Jin-woo had crafted.
‘There are differences, though.’
Moreover, Peran had employed a special skill.
‘The moment he gripped tightly, I felt the material transform.’
“You seemed to enjoy the crafting process. Would you be willing to demonstrate once more?”
At Jin-woo’s words, Peran grasped the hammer as if entranced.
This time he produced Flower Orihalcum, a UR+ Grade material.
Though it was a difficult material to handle like ordinary Orichalcum, it possessed different properties.
Light absorption and emission.
The Flower Orihalcum possessed the power to absorb and emit light when infused with mana.
Of course, it demanded careful handling, but that became the measure of true skill.
Standing before the material, Peran regained his composure.
Yes. This wasn’t over yet.
As Jin-woo said, it would have been a shame to conclude everything in a single exchange.
This was an exchange.
If that was the case, he had no choice but to reveal everything he could. And through that, he wished to witness Jin-woo’s true capabilities.
“Haaaah.”
Peran drew a deep breath.
“Let’s begin.”
Clang! Clang!
Peran’s hammering resumed.
Jin-woo savored the sight of Peran crafting.
Clang!
His strikes were precise and measured.
‘Interesting.’
As before, there was something extraordinary about Peran’s crafting method.
‘There’s a process where he’s inserting something with his hands.’
It wasn’t merely injecting with his hands—through the hammer as well, he seemed to be employing some skill.
A sharp hiss.
Each time, a brilliant blue aura appeared.
‘It looks like divine power.’
It seemed to be a skill granted by his patron deity.
Clang! Clang!
Just as Jin-woo upgraded materials and reinforced equipment through diverse techniques, Peran too embedded his own signature skills into the material.
‘The crafting of rankers is certainly different.’
Hamilton’s crafting and Oson’s crafting, which Jin-woo had observed at Oson Workshop, were excellent, but not quite at Peran’s level.
‘In terms of skill, Peran holds a slight edge.’
Of course, those who had delved deeper were NPCs.
‘This is fun. This is genuinely fun.’
Clang!
After bringing the hammer down, Peran summoned something.
“Hamus.”
Peran too possessed a spirit.
It was a high-tier flame spirit, and the spirit was infusing power into the material.
‘He was holding back his strength.’
Peran began to reveal everything he possessed.
Clang!
Whoosh!
After another display of masterful crafting, this time a shield took form.
“Phew.”
Peran, breathing heavily, extended the shield to Jin-woo.
Jin-woo examined it closely, and his brow twitched slightly.
‘Nicely crafted.’
Yet Peran felt his shield fell short of perfection.
“I’ll do it again.”
“You still have energy to spare, it seems?”
At those words, Peran’s expression darkened.
So that was it—he was being mocked for crafting the shield carelessly because he had energy left.
“I’ll satisfy you.”
Of course, Jin-woo had simply asked because it seemed he could see more of Peran’s crafting.
“You’ll satisfy me?”
At Jin-woo’s words, Peran shook his head vigorously.
“I look forward to it.”
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Peran produced a piece of equipment—a small, delicate short sword with countless techniques compressed into its blade.
He had used every tool available through Option Transfer.
“Excellent. Could you manage one more?”
Clang!
This time, armor.
Peran’s armor possessed considerable aesthetic beauty in its design.
Particularly in the engraving of patterns, Jin-woo focused intently on Peran’s Engraving Technique.
‘Hmm.’
It was a different style of engraving than the techniques Jin-woo had learned before.
Jin-woo committed it all to memory.
Every detail, without exception.
—Your Concentration Stat has increased!
A depth of focus unlike usual caused his Concentration Stat to rise.
“It’s complete!”
Jin-woo gestured silently. Naturally, it was praise. Yet Peran interpreted it as an order to do it again.
A slight groan.
Not satisfied even with this! But the crafting Jin-woo had displayed stripped Peran of complaint and dissatisfaction.
Jin-woo had earned that right.
Clang!
Once more, Peran crafted a piece of equipment.
This time Jin-woo nodded.
Peran, satisfied, exhaled softly.
“Are you tired?”
Jin-woo asked the clearly exhausted Peran. It was his way of saying they could stop if needed.
Hearing that, Peran found he couldn’t set down the hammer.
“You have impressive stamina.”
Jin-woo gestured briefly for a pause.
“An exchange shouldn’t be one-sided.”
Watching Peran craft had set his own fingers itching.
“Let’s take turns.”
Jin-woo grasped the hammer.
Clang!
“I observed your sword-making process earlier. I wonder—was that your signature technique?”
“…Are you referring to Option Transfer?”
“Is that what it’s called?”
At Jin-woo’s question, Peran explained his skill, Option Transfer.
“I see.”
Storing desired options and embedding them into equipment.
“Are there limitations?”
“There are.”
“Interesting skill.”
Jin-woo examined Peran’s skill with genuine enthusiasm.
“Unless you’ve learned the skill—”
Clang!
Jin-woo spoke as he worked the hammer.
“You wouldn’t be able to use it, would you?”
An obvious statement.
Clang!
Yet for some reason, a chill ran down Peran’s spine.
Without learning the skill, one obviously couldn’t use Option Transfer.
But why did it seem possible if Jin-woo attempted it?
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Jin-woo produced a shield through his hammering.
“…No, surely not.”
Peran observed the shield Jin-woo had made.
It was far denser than before.
Of course it was. When crafting the shield, Jin-woo had employed Maximized Tempering along with Harmonia Tempering, and had also used Perfect Integrity Power.
Beyond that, he had employed Hand Tempering, which he’d just learned from Oson.
“You used Option Transfer…on my technique…?”
“That can’t be right. You said it requires learning the skill to use it.”
Then Peran’s expression became confused.
“Then you added all these options with mere dexterity?”
“I have my own skills.”
“No… even so, with a skill alone to achieve these options… and there are more than before! The options have increased!”
After learning the Option Transfer skill, Peran could embed desired options into equipment.
Combined with the exceptional manual dexterity he already possessed, that’s when he’d become a mad dog that could savage rankers.
With overwhelming options, he could pressurize opponents; with any material, he could secure advantage.
Yet—
Jin-woo simply had many options.
Far too many.
While Peran stood stunned, gazing at Jin-woo’s completed equipment, Jin-woo gestured to him.
“Your turn, Peran.”
Clang!
Peran clenched his teeth.
Thus the exchange continued.
When Peran made one, Jin-woo made one as well.
One became two, two became three, then four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten…
They surpassed ten, approaching twenty pieces.
“J-Jin-woo!”
Peran spoke urgently.
“I want to stop.”
“Why?”
“…What?”
At Jin-woo’s innocent question, Peran was taken aback instead.
They were already on the twentieth piece.
And the time elapsed had surpassed twenty hours.
“We’re just getting into it. Your crafting is excellent, Peran. You’re doing things I hadn’t thought of. I’m thoroughly enjoying myself.”
“That’s…”
Peran clenched his teeth.
“I’m exhausted.”
“…”
Only then did Jin-woo seem to understand, and he nodded.
At that reaction, Peran experienced an emotion he’d never felt before.
He’d never once given up like this.
“I’m tired… I can’t continue.”
A groan.
Clenching his teeth, Peran spoke again.
“I see.”
Jin-woo simply acknowledged it.
Yet Peran felt humiliation.
He had lost in the field he did best.
Approaching the bewildered Peran, Jin-woo drew near.
“That was enjoyable.”
Jin-woo said.
“I’ve lost. My talent amounted to nothing. You possess true natural genius, Jin-woo. That dazzling brilliance…”
“Natural talent? This is the fruit of effort. Of course, I do have talent.”
It wasn’t that Jin-woo lacked talent.
He certainly possessed it—talent as brilliant as anyone’s.
But had he arrived here through talent alone?
Could Jin-woo have accomplished this without effort?
Absolutely not.
“And is there truly victory and defeat?”
Jin-woo looked at Peran.
“Today I simply made things slightly better. No one knows what tomorrow will bring.”
Jin-woo read Peran’s expression.
‘I can’t let his heart break here.’
Jin-woo worried that Peran might lose heart and abandon crafting.
‘From Eternal Sunshine times, there were more than a few like that.’
Users with decent crafting ability, looking forward to clashing again, had lost heart facing Jin-woo and quit crafting altogether.
‘How painful it was when they moved to other fields.’
So he had to care for his heart.
‘That way he won’t quit.’
Jin-woo didn’t want a user with such talent to abandon crafting for other pursuits. There was a saying—if you’re frustrated, then quit—but that meant never competing again.
‘We need to exchange again.’
Peran wasn’t the type to stop here. Jin-woo greatly anticipated his growth.
‘Those who craft well should be protected. Their hearts.’
“That was superb crafting. This is my first exchange with a user, and you were the finest.”
Of course, since this was his first exchange with a user, Peran had to be the best.
But all Peran’s ears caught was the latter part.
The finest among them.
“Is that truly… true?”
“Yes, so—”
Jin-woo said.
“Let’s exchange again.”
“Thank you.”
And he uttered words he’d never spoken aloud.
“I… learned much from you.”
Jin-woo smiled, seeing Peran’s transformed expression.
‘Good. That works.’
He’d preserved one crafting user.
* * *
After Jin-woo departed—
Peran exhaled a long, deep sigh.
“Are you alright?”
At his master Eriton’s words, Peran shook his head.
“I’m not.”
Peran had come to understand something.
“All those things I said about beating the top rankers at any cost—I need to stop saying them.”
It had all been folly.
“They were things I needed to build myself.”
Jin-woo had shown him the way.
How to craft better equipment.
The method was simple.
Judge for yourself, grow, and supplement what you lack through exchange.
“I’m done with competitions and all that nonsense.”
At those words, Eriton nodded.
“That Jin-woo boy is a truer teacher to you than I am.”
Then he burst out laughing.
“But there’s one thing I’m puzzled by. You clearly provoked him first.”
Peran had blatantly picked a fight with Jin-woo.
And he’d suffered a crushing defeat.
“It could have ended as a one-sided exchange. Yet he offered me much teaching. What on earth was he thinking?”
Jin-woo had offered Peran counsel.
Thanks to his advice on crafting technique and mindset, the path ahead was clear—difficult though it would be.
“I wondered about that too, so I asked Oson.”
Eriton spoke.
“Apparently he wanted you to grow stronger.”
“…Ha.”
Peran momentarily bowed his head.
To show such grace to someone like himself.
Jin-woo was truly a magnanimous man.
“I will repay this debt.”
Of course, Jin-woo wanting Peran to grow had simply been to enable more exchanges.
Ideally, he’d hoped to craft a hundred pieces or so in that very session.
That was his only reason.

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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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