The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 294
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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 294
294.
Materials infused with flame had an inherent property of melting away.
Even if Jin-woo extracted them at the precise moment, the liquefaction would continue, risking partial loss of material. That was purely a property of the material itself—something no blacksmith could overcome.
But these tongs covered that uncoverable gap.
“So it fixes the form?”
These tongs, imbued with the power of Wave, Circulation, and Ocean Blue Stone, had the ability to solidify a material’s shape.
Solidified materials suffered no loss.
The Ocean Blue Stone Tongs prevented that.
“Hm!”
Jin-woo smiled and grasped the tongs.
He’d gained a new function, surpassing mere replacement of his old tongs.
“Not bad at all.”
Jin-woo retrieved his original tongs.
They were the tongs that had accompanied him for so long—the very tongs Hephaestus had used, the ones forming the foundation of what Jin-woo was today.
“I’m grateful. For everything.”
Then he registered the Ocean Blue Stone Tongs in his Summoning Workshop in place of the old ones.
-Registering crafting tool.
-Ocean Blue Stone Tongs registered!
Jin-woo then grasped the Circulation Amber Stone.
“I couldn’t use it when I first received it. But now things are different.”
When the God of Elements and Circulation first gave him this Circulation Amber Stone, he couldn’t use it. But now he could.
‘I can use it more creatively, actually.’
He’d already decided what to make with it.
“Time to upgrade the carving knife.”
His Ultra-Vibration Carving Knife, like the tongs, was falling behind the materials he needed to work with.
The Ultra-Vibration Carving Knife held a special technique within it.
That’s why it wasn’t a crafting tool he could simply remake.
‘But I have something else now.’
He already possessed a technique to replace that special one.
Ultra-Vibration Carving itself was a force similar to Wave, but Wave was ultimately the superior power.
‘If I imbue it with Wave power, I can create a carving knife that surpasses the Ultra-Vibration Carving Knife.’
Of course, saying it was easy.
‘Actually doing it is another matter.’
But Jin-woo was confident.
Schlick—
Jin-woo grasped his Ultra-Vibration Carving Knife.
“Pass your strength to me.”
He would make a new carving knife using the power of the Ultra-Vibration Carving Knife.
Jin-woo started work immediately.
Crack—
Snap—. Snap—.
He infused the Ultra-Vibration Carving Knife with an excessive amount of Wave power. This way, the knife would inevitably break.
‘I’m transferring its strength.’
The Ultra-Vibration Carving Knife would draw all its power here to do so.
There was no reason to hesitate.
Snap—!
Embedded in the Circulation Amber Stone were the powers of two attributes.
Flame and Earth—two forces that shouldn’t coexist, yet did.
‘I’ll circulate them.’
Shhhhaaaa—
As Jin-woo circulated them, he simultaneously drew out another Spirit Stone.
‘Since I’ve come this far.’
“Let’s add more attributes, like the Eternal Circulation Sword.”
Jin-woo tossed the Spirit Stones into the furnace.
Whoooosh—
Jin-woo began carving and merging the Spirit Stones together.
“Dust.”
Poof—
Jin-woo immediately fed the summoned Dust the Spirit Stones.
“Synthesis for me, please.”
-Synthesizing materials!
Dust absorbed two Spirit Stones, then three more.
“Chirp—!”
As a peak-tier Spirit, Dust could synthesize up to five materials at once.
Shhhhaaaa—!
The synthesized Spirit Stone dropped from Dust with a soft tap.
“Excellent!”
Jin-woo admired the synthesized Spirit Stone.
-Synthesized Spirit Stone [M+]
‘It’s not just a simple synthesis.’
Just as Jin-woo used Circulation to blend multiple attributes into a primary attribute, Dust had used its own Material Synthesis to unify the attributes into one.
Jin-woo examined the synthesized Spirit Stone closely.
‘Not all of them became the primary attribute.’
Yet it was far more elegant than the method Jin-woo had used in the past.
‘Rather than pulling the primary attribute down to a secondary one, it attached them directly to the primary attribute itself.’
In other words, it had balanced them in a rippling flow that suited synthesis.
This too was a new method of holding multiple attributes in a single primary attribute.
“You’re better at this than I used to be?”
Jin-woo chuckled and stroked Dust’s head.
Dust, not understanding why, rejoiced at the praise.
Bang—!
Jin-woo refined the synthesized Spirit Stone.
Hummmmm—
He continued circulating the materials while saturated with Wave power.
‘I’m maximizing the core material—the Spirit Stone.’
Jin-woo had once imbued the Eternal Circulation Sword with five attributes. But that wasn’t the limit.
It was merely a waypoint.
‘I can hold more.’
Jin-woo was now pushing against his limits.
Finding where his maximum capacity lay.
Determining where his skill could reach.
Snap—. Snap—.
The Ultra-Vibration Carving Knife vibrated violently.
Hummmmmm—
The vibration seemed to convey every moment of the long years it had spent alongside Jin-woo to its successor equipment.
Bang—!
The equipment was complete after the rough carving.
-Wave Carving Knife created!
-M+ Grade equipment created!
After the tongs, now the carving knife.
Shhhhaaaa—
The Wave Carving Knife made from Circulation Amber Stone clung snugly to Jin-woo’s hand the moment he grasped it, making him want to start crafting right away.
Jin-woo held the carving knife slowly, testing its feel.
“Excellent.”
This carving knife, made by merging synthesized Spirit Stones around Circulation Amber Stone as the core, held multiple attributes.
“No matter what material I work with, I won’t be outmatched.”
Moreover, this Wave Carving Knife could even contain attribute resistance.
“Since the material is constantly exposed to elemental forces, I can imbue it with the power to resist each attribute.”
Jin-woo smiled broadly.
“With this, I’m ready.”
Jin-woo gazed at the materials still heaped on his workbench.
“Let’s get to it for real now.”
* * *
In this battle, First and Pur had lost their weapons and armor.
First had received a new Eternal Circulation Sword, resolving his weapon situation, but Pur had lost both weapon and armor.
These two, who’d been at the forefront holding back Aktos, would receive new equipment from Jin-woo.
“Since they lost their gear to Aktos.”
Jin-woo planned to craft new equipment from the byproducts they’d acquired.
“I only need to make armor for First.”
But for Pur, he’d need to make both weapon and armor.
Jin-woo grasped the Spirit Deity’s Spirit Stone.
“I have quite a lot of materials I need to use.”
A smile naturally formed.
Nothing excited him quite like the mountains of materials he’d accumulated.
Shhhhaaaa—
With the luminous Spirit Deity’s Spirit Stone as his centerpiece, he drew out various essences and bones beside it.
“I’ll set the souls aside for now.”
With such abundant materials at present, he didn’t need to convert souls into Spirit Crystals separately.
‘I’ll use them for upgrading First and Pur.’
As Jin-woo continued clearing the tower, his Main Quest progressed rapidly.
‘The more towers I clear, the stronger the enemies become.’
Especially the main bosses—they were formidable. Even Aktos this time was powerful enough that, had Jin-woo not grown, he would have needed to retreat.
Matching equipment was essential, but upgrading his familiars was absolutely necessary.
‘First became a Legion Commander and has definitely grown stronger than before.’
But Pur was different.
‘I’ll give the two souls to Pur.’
The two souls obtained this time would go to Pur.
If First was a Legion Commander, Pur was a Vice Legion Commander.
‘He should be equipped accordingly.’
Shhhhaaaaaaa—
First and Pur flowed forth from the darkness.
“!”
The summoned Pur’s expression showed surprise.
“First. The darkness… it’s…”
“Pro.moted.”
“!”
Pur marveled at how the darkness surrounding First’s summoning had deepened and grown more magnificent than before.
“A promotion, you say?”
“Legion.Commander.”
“First became a Legion Commander this time. And you, Pur—you’re the Vice Legion Commander.”
“You mean I’ve been made Vice Legion Commander?”
At those words, Pur’s joy was evident.
“Master!”
Pur called out happily to Jin-woo.
“Will I also be able to have a summoning effect like that?”
“You will once you become a Legion Commander.”
“…I’ll do my best!”
“Right. You worked hard in this battle. Your great sword broke and your armor was damaged?”
“I apologize. It was my shortcoming.”
“No. The shortcoming is always mine. You two are doing your very best.”
At Jin-woo’s words, Pur bowed his head deeply.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you can try even harder.”
Jin-woo smiled.
‘I need to work harder too.’
The equipment Jin-woo would make from now on would become increasingly difficult to handle.
‘Or rather, to use properly.’
More precisely, it would become harder to draw out one hundred percent of its power.
“You two can manage it.”
Jin-woo couldn’t help but hold his familiars in high regard.
“You’re masterworks I’ve created.”
“Yes, sir—!”
Jin-woo immediately fed Rimmon and Bartos’s souls to Pur.
-Soul settles into Pur.
-Absorbed powerful soul!
-Pur’s Level increases!
Rimmon and Bartos.
As Pur absorbed the souls of the tower masters, a intense and dark blue light suddenly erupted from his entire body.
-Familiar Pur has become LV3!
Hero Grade LV3.
Like First, Pur had reached the final stage of Hero Grade.
An overwhelming, uncontrollable power surged from every inch of Pur’s body.
‘I’m curious.’
What class comes after Hero Grade?
And how much stronger would they become?
‘Once they grow stronger, I can make equipment to match.’
Jin-woo genuinely enjoyed his familiars growing stronger.
Shhhaa—
Pur gradually absorbed all the surging power and opened his eyes with a gleam.
Where his eyes had once been a clear blue, a deep darkness now settled.
Deep blue becoming
Deeper darkness.
“I believe I could now fulfill any command you give me.”
“Good. I’m counting on you.”
Jin-woo then had First absorb Ellia’s soul.
Ellia had been the most powerful of the three Greater Demons.
-Soul settles into First.
Boom—
Boom—boom—boom—!
Powerful force infused into First as well.
-Familiar First’s experience increases!
Surging power.
And First, now a Legion Commander and far more formidable than before, was incomparable to his previous self.
Pur felt it too.
Where their strengths had once been evenly matched, First now clearly surged ahead.
Pur clenched his fists.
He had no intention of settling here either.
‘Good motivation.’
Jin-woo smiled as he watched his two familiars.
“Without you two in this battle, I wouldn’t have won.”
At Jin-woo’s high praise, both familiars slightly bowed their heads, clearly pleased.
“From now on, we’ll probably only face stronger enemies.”
‘The tower’s difficulty is constantly rising.’
As Jin-woo cleared towers, the tower’s difficulty adjusted to match him.
‘The fact that multiple towers are appearing simultaneously is probably because I cleared so many towers right before this.’
Thus, for Jin-woo, who had cleared three towers at once, the tower’s difficulty would rise significantly.
“Your role becomes even more crucial.”
Both familiars dropped to one knee.
“We shall forge the path of glory.”
“For.your.sake.my.lord.”
Jin-woo examined his strengthened familiars carefully.
‘So this is what Hero Grade LV3 feels like.’
Indeed, with each level increase in Hero Grade, the impact of change was substantial.
Both First and Pur had become incomparably more formidable compared to when they first reached Hero Grade.
‘I can push the limits even further.’
The current Grade Jin-woo had reached was MR.
‘With this power.’
MR Grade equipment should be manageable.
‘The Eternal Circulation Sword was my first MR Grade sword. I’m satisfied yet unsatisfied.’
Jin-woo grasped the bones of the three Greater Demons.
‘I think I can make something even better.’
The bones of the three Greater Demons each had their own distinct characteristics.
“Fine bones these are.”
All M+ Grade bones from the masters of their respective towers, they were incredibly solid and distinctive.
‘They contain elemental properties and even attribute immunity.’
Thanks to absorbing Elementia’s power, these were the hardest bones Jin-woo had ever worked with.
“Perfect for testing.”
Jin-woo grasped his new equipment—the Wave Carving Knife.
His previous Ultra-Vibration Carving Knife had been outmatched by the materials.
“These materials are even harder to work with than then.”
Jin-woo applied force to the Wave Carving Knife without hesitation.
Hummmmm—
Snap—
The moment he brought it to the bone, the bone began carving instantly.
“!”
Jin-woo applied greater force to his hand holding the Wave Carving Knife.
“Insane.”
The Wave Carving Knife’s performance was extraordinary.
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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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