The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 245
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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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Episode 245
245.
-All the gods sponsoring your crafting send their applause!
-All the gods simultaneously extend their sponsorship in response to your overwhelming achievement!
-Strength Stat increases by 30!
-Stamina Stat increases by 50!
-Stamina Stat increases by 30!
-Strength Stat increases by…….
…….
…….
Just moments ago, Jin-woo had reached M-Grade.
Now he’d climbed straight through to M+.
It held special meaning precisely because he hadn’t crafted specifically to raise his Grade.
In this very moment, he’d proven outright that he could create M+-Grade equipment.
Jin-woo immediately summoned Pur.
“Pur!”
The summoned Pur blazed with a deep-blue Aura.
Shaaaaa—.
The cold within him resonated in an instant with the blade Jin-woo had forged.
“!”
Upon seeing the two pieces of equipment Jin-woo had created, Pur immediately dropped to one knee.
“Are these…… equipment for me, Master?”
Shaaaa—.
Not long ago, he’d received the Frost Bone Crescent Blade.
It had been magnificent USSR+ Grade equipment.
But the equipment before his eyes looked even more extraordinary.
Shaaaaa—.
He could tell from the chill radiating from it—this was equipment Jin-woo had crafted for him alone.
“That’s right. It’s equipment for you.”
‘The Frost Bone Crescent Blade had been inadequate in size.’
Pur had been created with the fundamental concept of a tank in mind.
Now he served double duty as both tank and dealer, but given his essential nature, Pur needed a weapon befitting his immense frame.
The Frost Bone Crescent Blade was well-crafted equipment, yet when Pur wielded it in actual combat, there were considerable shortcomings.
Of course, only Jin-woo’s eyes could perceive this.
Others would have judged it perfect equipment for Pur, but Jin-woo did not.
Shaaaaa—!
As the Cold Breath Greatsword released its Aura, cold wind suddenly swirled around it.
And everything touched by that wind froze solid.
“To freeze the surroundings with Aura alone…… such power.”
In essence, this was no different than wielding ice itself.
-You have equipped your Familiar with gear.
The M-Grade Cold Breath Greatsword and M+ Grade Infernal Steel Horn Armor now adorned Pur.
Shaaaa—.
“!”
“Now there’s nowhere you won’t be equipped.”
Jin-woo spoke, gazing at First and Pur.
“For matters that would wound your pride.”
* * *
Malen Duchy.
The grand conference hall of the Leap Guild building.
Gathered there were the Leap Guild’s sub-guild master and his executives.
Bang—!
“The Tower of Seven Swords was taken from us?”
Sub-guild master Uslris asked in disbelief.
Currently, Leap was simultaneously assaulting numerous towers like the tentacles of an octopus.
This was possible because Leap possessed two Tower Tier combat specialists: Slayer and Kalantiir.
Beyond that, Leap held equipment from countless Legendary Blacksmiths.
Consequently, they engaged multiple theaters of war simultaneously without defeat.
Slayer and Kalantiir moved fluidly, reinforcing every battlefield.
So there was no reason to lose.
Bang—!
Which made this the first time such a thing had happened.
“And it was to that Realizae? This doesn’t make sense.”
If they’d lost to the Jiryong Guild or the Start Guild, at least it would be comprehensible.
But Realizae?
The executives nodded in agreement.
This was incomprehensible.
Realizae was a Top 10 Guild, yet the weight class difference with Leap was considerable.
The Rankers within each Guild didn’t distinguish themselves, and the Guild Master wasn’t even famous for combat prowess.
Moreover, Realizae was notorious for lacking equipment from the three great Blacksmiths.
Those three referred to Starlight, Inclassic, and Pendant.
Generally, all Top 10 Guilds possessed equipment from these three masters.
Whether recent or from the past, having equipment from these three Blacksmiths was essentially mandatory for competitive contention.
Of course, the difficulty in obtaining such gear was immense, so one couldn’t mock a Guild lacking it.
Having such equipment was remarkable; lacking it wasn’t a deficiency.
Regardless, for this very reason, no matter how hard Realizae came at them, Leap was confident.
Yet they’d lost to that Realizae.
And devastatingly so.
What’s more shocking still—
“Explain. Why weren’t we just crushed, but why did we also lose the Tower of Seven Swords conquest to them?”
The shock was that the Tower of Seven Swords had been conquered by the Realizae Guild.
Leap had failed the tower multiple times internally, so they were preparing to deploy Slayer in earnest for a serious attempt.
Then everything fell apart.
The executive overseeing the Tower of Seven Swords at the time spoke up.
“That was…….”
He explained the situation.
While Slayer was absent, the Realizae Guild made their move.
Naturally, they were wearing Pendant’s equipment.
“We clashed directly.”
The outcome was brutal.
“And it shattered.”
The explanation had to be simple.
They’d fought trusting their equipment, and that equipment broke.
“How could that be!”
Uslris couldn’t comprehend it.
“What equipment were Realizae using that Pendant’s gear broke!”
Not just broke, either.
“Explain the combat situation in more detail!”
At Uslris’s words, the executive stammered, “Er……”
“It was just as I described…….”
There was barely a combat to describe.
They simply collided and it shattered. That was genuinely the whole of it.
“Ha.”
That only deepened Uslris’s confusion.
“So you’re saying it was completely overwhelming?”
Pendant’s equipment was overwhelmed?
“Are you saying Realizae equipped Starlight or Inclassic gear? Or some cutting-edge Pendant equipment instead?”
“No…….”
“Then what is it? Whose equipment was it, exactly?”
Even the executive couldn’t say.
It was clearly extraordinary equipment.
But it wasn’t from Starlight or Inclassic.
Those two Blacksmiths’ equipment carried distinctive initials and a characteristic Aura.
“Ha.”
Uslris ran a hand through his hair. They’d only lost one tower. Leap was already sweeping through countless towers like an avalanche.
But the problem was they didn’t know why.
They’d lost in battle.
They’d been overwhelmed by equipment.
Yet they couldn’t identify whose equipment it was?
That’s where fractures could form.
Uslris frowned.
An uncontrollable situation—that was the most stressful kind.
“No, wait. Why in the first place——”
Uslris shouted.
“Where the hell did Slayer go?”
They’d wanted to quickly handle the Tower of Seven Swords just in case.
So they’d summoned Slayer, only to have him vanish elsewhere again.
Boom—!
Just then, Slayer kicked through the conference room door and entered.
“The Tower of Seven Swords.”
Slayer’s voice was filled with fury.
“It was Jin-woo.”
“What are you talking about?”
At Uslris’s question, Slayer’s brow darkened sharply as he spoke.
“The equipment Realizae was using. It was made by Jin-woo.”
“!”
“!”
“J-Jin-woo’s equipment, you say?”
Everyone in the conference hall wore expressions of shock.
It was nonsensical.
That Jin-woo hadn’t even entered the Ranker ranks—he was still a rookie!
“Shouldn’t he still be USSR+ Grade?”
“Pendant’s equipment is also USSR+.”
“But……!”
At Slayer’s words, the executive’s face went pale.
Pendant’s equipment was only USSR+ in Grade.
In raw specs, it far exceeded M-Grade standards.
“Think of it simply.”
Slayer ground his teeth.
“That Jin-woo surpassed it. Within the same Grade.”
Jin-woo had crushed Pendant’s same-Grade equipment.
“Now the anger is starting to subside.”
Until now, he’d lost to Jin-woo three times.
Once on Netflix.
Once in the Furnace Tower.
And once in the Tower of Trials.
Slayer had found the root of his anger.
He’d been dismissing it.
He’d been dismissing Jin-woo, thinking him not to be of that caliber—and so he’d raged. Because he’d lost to someone he’d looked down upon endlessly.
But now it was certain.
He was a Tower Tier Blacksmith.
Once acknowledged, clarity came instead.
Simultaneously, his competitive fire blazed. This was different from anger. Anger clouds the eyes, but rivalry sharpens vision.
“Where did you get this information?”
“The Runup Guild saw Realizae’s equipment clearly. They said they’d never seen anything like it before.”
Slayer had leveraged a connection within the Runup Guild.
He’d heard about the situation from that contact and made his deduction.
“If equipment suddenly appeared like that, there’s only one possibility. That it’s Jin-woo’s equipment, based on the rumors.”
“So you’re saying you’re not entirely certain yet?”
Uslris said.
Of course, circumstantially, it seemed Jin-woo had shattered Pendant’s equipment. Everyone already knew Jin-woo’s skill level from Netflix videos and JinTube.
Though they didn’t know if he was skilled enough to match Pendant’s older equipment, now it was confirmed.
Jin-woo simply hadn’t entered the Ranker ranks.
He was more than capable of being Ranker-tier Blacksmith.
“I’ll seek Jin-woo out.”
“And do what? Start a fight?”
Uslris frowned.
Jin-woo was a Blacksmith. True, he was also a Necromancer simultaneously, but fundamentally he wasn’t a combat specialist. If Slayer sought him out to cause trouble——
Victory?
That brought no benefit to Leap whatsoever.
“I plan to commission him.”
Jin-woo was a Blacksmith.
There was nothing to gain from fighting a Blacksmith.
So he was thinking of repaying what he’d suffered in another manner.
“I’ll commission equipment where I can go all out.”
Slayer was the top-ranked user with overwhelming power.
Consequently, he’d used countless pieces of equipment over time.
And among them, the equipment that could withstand Slayer’s strength was extremely rare.
Starlight and Inclassic.
Only those two Blacksmiths’ equipment had endured Slayer’s might—though not perfectly. It didn’t take long before those broke too.
Since then, Starlight and Inclassic had refused to give Slayer equipment.
The reason was simple: when Slayer deliberately tried to break equipment, even the gear of top-tier Crafting Rankers shattered.
Slayer was planning to impose this peculiar matter of pride upon Jin-woo.
“……Slayer.”
Seeing this composed and perfect alternative, Uslris looked at Slayer.
“Your head’s back on straight.”
Now that was the Slayer of old.
Until now, Slayer had seemed like something was loose in him.
The Netflix competition. The Tower of Trials competition.
Having tasted defeat for the first time in those two arenas, one could naturally expect some deterioration, but he’d been severe about it.
Yet somewhere along the way, Slayer had returned to his normal state.
“Was the reason you dropped out of the battlefield this time also because of Jin-woo?”
“…….”
Slayer didn’t answer. That was answer enough.
“Set aside the commission for now. Before that, we need to deliver a proper warning about this incident.”
Of course, Jin-woo had simply accepted a commission from Realizae.
But Uslris couldn’t allow that. This was a challenge to Leap.
“Jin-woo’s a Necromancer and a Blacksmith, right? Then let’s come at him from the Necromancer angle first.”
The idea was to humiliate him endlessly.
“I’ll contact our partner guilds. Slayer, let’s postpone your commission for now.”
The Leap Guild had several partner guilds collaborating with them.
These guilds accepted commissions from Leap, handling various tasks while receiving substantial funding from the Leap Guild in return.
In essence, these were specialist guilds through which Leap managed its public image.
“I’ll issue a major warning through them.”
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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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