The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 280

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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 280
Episode 280.
Clang—
“It stopped…….”
The Spirit smiths could only gaze in awe at this high-level crafting.
It was the typical reaction when one touched a Flow Stone carelessly just moments ago.
Once it reached that point, there was no turning back.
The Flow Stone suffered heavy damage and had to be discarded.
But the Flow Stone was perfectly fine.
More than fine—it was being smelted beautifully.
“Yet he…… suppressed it in a different way.”
“Could it even be done like that?”
In that instant, every smith in the chamber’s eyes widened.
The small walls of their understanding crumbled away, and they themselves grew small while the world expanded infinitely before them.
Jin-woo was a hammer.
A hammer that shattered convention and showed them how vast the world truly was.
Whoosh—. Whooooooosh—!
In the eyes of all the Spirit smiths, Jin-woo loomed impossibly large.
Clang—.
With each hammer strike, Jin-woo grew larger and larger, until he had become a mountain.
A mountain was crafting before them.
A great mountain. A towering mountain.
Unmistakably the work of a master smith.
All eyes fixed on Jin-woo’s crafting.
Clang—! Clang—!
His hammering was particularly striking—the higher the level of the observer, the more profoundly it resonated.
It was not a skill perfected in isolation; rather, one saw as much as one knew.
“!”
Clang—! Clang—!
With each hammer strike, their heads bobbed in unison—nod, nod, nod.
“Just how many techniques are packed into this?”
“Countless.”
Jin-woo unleashed Maximization Smelting upon the Flow Stone.
Soul Forging.
Harmonia Smelting.
‘Glass Crafting gives me mental composure.’
The Flow Stone, too, lost its heat in an instant if not smelted quickly due to the water’s power.
But having learned Glass Crafting—a technique of three-part aesthetics—this time frame felt remarkably leisurely.
Clang—!
The smelting accelerated.
“He’s grasped it…….”
The eldest Spirit smith’s hands trembled.
That confident hammering meant the end was already in sight.
He had grasped completely how the Flow Stone must be struck and smelted.
“He’s already finished assessing it……?”
Witnessing the Flow Stone be grasped so swiftly, the older smiths found themselves grateful—to the younger ones, no less.
Without the younger smiths, they would have missed this magnificent crafting.
Yet the young smiths themselves were overwhelmed, too stunned to utter a word.
The smiths of Skypia were all skilled.
Every one of them could forge equipment of M Grade or higher and handle countless materials with ease.
They still believed their potential had not been fully realized, and they trusted that given more time, they could reach even greater heights.
But in this moment, all those beliefs were shattering.
Was true talent something like… that?
They all projected themselves onto Jin-woo.
If they were Jin-woo right now, could they handle something so delicate—so impossibly delicate—as the Flow Stone like this?
They recalled their own first encounter with a Flow Stone.
They had approached cautiously, never loosening the grip of tension until completion.
They had not analyzed the material—only taken care that it would not break.
Yet Jin-woo was bold.
He swung his hammer with daring purpose, seizing success in his grip.
‘This will work.’
Jin-woo gripped the hammer more tightly.
He had deliberately used Maximization Smelting because he didn’t know what reaction the Flow Stone would show when maximized.
But now his assessment of this Flow Stone was complete.
There was no reason to be satisfied with merely maximization.
‘I’ll draw out more.’
“Ultra-Maximization Smelting Technique.”
Clang—!
Jin-woo drew out every ounce of power the Flow Stone possessed.
‘Flow Stone—true to its name—is the power of flowing things.’
It could accelerate mana circulation and transform mana into specific qualities.
That wave from before was no exception.
‘It excels at transformation.’
Water can become anything.
Jin-woo focused on precisely that point.
Clang—! Clang—! Clang—!
The Flow Stone scattered mana wildly into the surroundings.
“Young smiths, behold. Fear itself is the greatest obstacle to your growth.”
“But that is…….”
Is that not recklessness?
Acting so boldly would mean daily failure.
“It is not recklessness. It is simply fearlessness. Even if materials shatter, even if you must start again—you must fail. You must fail many times.”
In that process, of course, one might become a mockery.
But in Jin-woo’s hammering, no such doubt was visible.
“……Though knowing and doing are not the same, it is true.”
Being a smith was a profession demanding considerable self-awareness.
One needed strong ego to craft excellent equipment—naturally so.
But this brought a weakness. High ego could not tolerate wounded pride.
Failure was pride being wounded.
Ironically, the stronger one became, the greater the fear of failure, until one could no longer craft boldly.
In the end, potential remained merely potential.
The initial rise came to an end, leaving only embers behind.
Lukewarm skill would accompany them until death.
The young Spirit smiths of this place had arrived at precisely that state.
“…….”
The elder smith’s words awakened in the young smiths an understanding of their own lack.
The courage to fail.
Jin-woo possessed it; they did not.
Clang—! Clang—! Clang—!
Jin-woo completed the Flow Stone.
-Equipment created!
-M+ Grade equipment created!
What Jin-woo had forged was boots brimming with the power of water.
M+ Grade. Jin-woo examined the Flow Boots’ information.
-[Special Option: Accelerated Regeneration – Dramatically accelerates mana circulation.]
-[Special Skill: Flow Walk – Walk with flowing steps. Instantaneous speed is enhanced.]
“That is the crux of it.”
The Flow Boots were equipment that allowed one to walk as though flowing.
‘Instant acceleration. But it consumes vast mana.’
This Accelerated Regeneration was what compensated for that.
‘By drawing out all the power within the Flow Stone, this special option was born.’
Jin-woo smiled slightly.
The moment he first touched the Flow Stone, certainty had bloomed.
‘I crafted boots now.’
But this could be applied to any equipment.
Jin-woo put on the boots right there.
Whoosh—.
His feet felt as though wrapped in cool water for an instant, then clung firmly to his legs.
He walked slowly, putting gentle strength into his stride.
-Flow Walk activated.
Flow Walk.
His footsteps made no sound as he moved like flowing water.
“!”
“!”
Seeing Jin-woo confirm the equipment forged from the Flow Stone, the Spirit smiths could not contain themselves and raised their hands.
Clap-clap-clap-clap—.
Applause erupted naturally.
From the technique of handling the Flow Stone to the final result itself.
The entire sequence inspired something akin to reverence.
“Haha.”
The elder Spirit smiths smiled upon the younger ones.
The young Spirit smiths of Skypia currently had many problems.
They were aggressive, provocative, and above all, arrogant.
Because their skill backed them up, these overbearing attitudes were tolerated to some degree, yet their aggression remained troublesome.
This was a world where skill was everything, yet paradoxically, skill was not everything.
When one thought about it, the elder smiths had been much like the young ones in their own youth.
They had wondered if perhaps only time could cure such things.
Yet now those same young smiths gazed with such kind eyes.
It was not simply because Jin-woo’s skill was extraordinary.
The attitude Jin-woo had shown during crafting profoundly influenced them, and that influence kindled gentle eyes.
“The atmosphere changed in an instant.”
“You are truly magnificent…….”
“What if we gave Jin-woo our Spirit Power and brought you into the fold as a complete Spirit?”
Witnessing the arrogant, conceited smiths’ eyes soften so, Nordin and the Spirit King gazed upon Jin-woo with even deeper reverence.
“If that were possible, I would do so first myself.”
Nordin nodded in agreement.
Jin-woo glanced across all the Spirit smiths.
Then he smiled slightly.
“Shall we go?”
* * *
All the Spirit smiths of Skypia gathered their belongings.
They had witnessed with their own eyes.
They had been moved by that tremendous talent.
Transcending species, Jin-woo was the real thing.
With bright, eager eyes, they followed Jin-woo like ducklings trailing their mother.
Behind those young smiths, the elder smiths cleared their throats a few times and prepared to depart as well.
“……I never thought it would resolve so easily.”
“It resolved easily because it was Jin-woo.”
Nordin’s expression grew subtle.
The discord with Skypia’s Spirit smiths that had persisted so long—he had never imagined it could dissolve like this.
“If I had negotiated, we would have done nothing but quarrel until Elementia’s annihilation.”
If the one we met in the tower had not been Jin-woo.
“Elementia would have been doomed.”
Nordin was certain.
“We still haven’t given Jin-woo the Spirit Stone from the Northern Region, have we?”
Each region possessed Spirit Stones with distinct characteristics, all different.
The ones given to Jin-woo so far were the Spirit Stones from the East, South, and West.
“We must give him the finest from those remaining.”
The compensation stipulated for this task was far too little compared to what Jin-woo was now providing.
Ding—!
-Reward modified.
-Additional reward promised!
-Additional reward for additional reward promised!
The quest updated, raising the possible reward from the highest tier to one rank above it.
-Quest reward limit reached.
-MAX reward. No further reward possible.
Thanks to persuading the Skypia smiths, Jin-woo had risen to a point where the system could offer no further rewards.
‘Interesting.’
Jin-woo smiled in amusement at the sudden alarm.
‘This is a first for me.’
He had experienced quest rewards being enhanced multiple times before.
But reaching the limit and becoming MAX like this—that was unprecedented.
‘So I’ve extracted all possible rewards from this quest?’
Jin-woo smiled slightly.
‘Which means I’m progressing the quest flawlessly.’
Behind a satisfied Jin-woo, the two Spirit Kings set their expressions with resolve.
Nordin was right.
After expelling all demons from Elementia,
they had to gather every Spirit Stone they could find and give them to Jin-woo.
“I shall certainly procure them.”
Nordin nodded.
Just as Jin-woo was about to depart, another notification rang.
-Achievement unlocked!
-Achievement [I’ve Given All I Can] unlocked!
‘Achievement unlocked?’
This was no ordinary achievement.
-Congratulations!
-You have unlocked a First-Time Achievement!

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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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