The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 321
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 321
321.
What Baxter held in his hand was the Pozitarium itself.
It was a beautiful Magical Core that maintained the framework of the Pozitarium that Baxter himself had created, yet bore Jin-woo’s own interpretation.
“Are you satisfied with the Magical Core?”
“Still imperfect, but I believe it’s vastly improved compared to my first attempt.”
“Vastly?”
Baxter shook his head firmly.
“Vastly is far too weak a word!”
He moved his hands this way and that, wanting to somehow explain this magnificence.
“It’s explosive!”
Then he found the right word.
This was explosive growth.
“Forget that tiny rat mechanical servant I showed you earlier. Just make whatever Mechanical Engineering Equipment you want to create!”
Jin-woo was a skilled craftsman who had produced the Pozitarium.
“Then, as you said earlier.”
Jin-woo spoke with a slight grin.
“I’ll try using all the materials I want to use.”
Jin-woo gathered the materials from the Workshop.
First came Pozitano Steel.
Ruby, and a Magical Core he had crafted himself.
He also needed screws that could bind all of this together.
‘I’ve been curious about this since Skypia.’
He recalled the intruder-elimination artifact that had been there, and the Iron Heart.
Those could arguably be called mechanics as well.
‘It has a similar feel to Mechanical Engineering.’
That’s when his interest had begun.
‘Right now I’m only making Subordinates from bone.’
Did he really need to limit himself to just bone?
‘What if I mixed new materials while keeping bone as the center?’
Jin-woo refused to place limits on the materials of his Subordinates.
‘I could make Mechanical Servants by blending machinery.’
If he could add without disrupting the basic foundation, he could create a much wider variety of Subordinates than before.
‘That’s when things get truly interesting.’
The pool of Subordinates expands, and so does their power.
Clang!
Jin-woo immediately set to work.
The first material he touched was copper.
“Hm? What are you doing right now…?”
When Jin-woo tried to melt the copper, Baxter pointed to the Copper Screw he already had on hand.
“The screw is already here. No need to make it.”
“No. I plan to make the screw first.”
The screw Baxter had given him was naturally one of the materials Baxter himself had crafted.
‘A screw can’t simply be called a material.’
It was already a finished product.
So when making something, of course he’d start with the screw.
Whoosh—!
Jin-woo enveloped himself in Wave.
Then he used Pozitano Steel to create a simple mold.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Next he poured the melted copper into that mold.
Once the melted copper hardened, Jin-woo immediately began carving it.
Watching Jin-woo move without hesitation, Baxter crossed his arms again. He was already fighting back words trying to burst out.
That wasn’t easy to hold back.
There was an easier path.
He could show him. He could have him follow the path Baxter had already refined.
But he couldn’t. He had to let him figure it out on his own.
“……My master must have known.”
How unbearable must he have made it for the master to actually speak up?
Thinking of that, a laugh escaped him.
“Only now do I understand, Master.”
Crack!
Jin-woo gripped the Wave Craft Sword.
“Hmm.”
While molds produced uniform results, they lacked refinement in many ways.
So Jin-woo rapidly carved away the rough copper screws with the Engraving Knife.
Crack. Crack-crack.
The screws began getting shaved away in an instant. Tap. Tap. Tap-tap. Finished screws began stacking on the workbench from Jin-woo’s hands.
“Aah.”
Jin-woo’s Wave was precision incarnate.
With the Wave Craft Sword wrapped in Wave, he madly produced copper screws.
One, two, three.
Soon dozens of copper screws lay spread across the workbench.
Baxter picked up one screw from the workbench and examined it closely.
“Is your hand a machine……?”
Baxter wasn’t someone whose craftsmanship fell short elsewhere either.
All of Pozitano’s technical prowess flowed from Baxter, so that said it all.
Yet the screws Jin-woo made were beyond what Baxter could replicate.
The precise craftsmanship was one thing, but the way he wielded Wave was extraordinary.
“That Wave…… is supporting everything.”
A force that strong could make one dependent, could consume one.
Yet Jin-woo controlled the Wave completely.
Crack!
The screws continued being made, and Jin-woo gazed at them contentedly.
‘Well carved.’
But if he made more, he felt he could raise the quality another level.
Clang!
Jin-woo began seriously carving the Pozitano Steel.
-Rune activates!
The newly acquired Rune of First Sight activated.
The copper screw Jin-woo had just made was the first time he was using this material.
Because of that, the Rune of First Sight’s power seeped directly into the Hammer.
‘If I make equipment only from new materials.’
Did additional sub-options strengthen based on the number of new materials used?
‘I’ll find out when I make it.’
Jin-woo started by making the Frame.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
‘Pozitano Steel.’
Steel from different regions had different feels to work with.
Because of that, there was much enjoyment in handling them.
Clang!
‘Oh.’
A bouncy recoil.
Jin-woo rapidly struck the steel, shaping the Frame.
Scrape.
Jin-woo gripped the Multi-purpose Wrench.
Then he infused Mana, extending its saw.
Buzz-buzz-buzz-buzz!
‘That’s excessive.’
Jin-woo enveloped the Multi-purpose Wrench in Wave.
‘I need to cut more delicately.’
That way he could reduce unnecessary impact.
Jin-woo used the Multi-purpose Wrench to cut and size the Pozitano Steel.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Baxter glossed over the Frame-making process very simply. The reason was straightforward: the Magical Core inside.
‘The Magical Core occupies a very large part of this mechanical golem.’
Since the internal Magical Core was the key, not the external Frame, Baxter didn’t exert himself over the Frame.
‘But for me, making this external Frame is the most enjoyable work.’
The outside was just as important as the inside.
Yet Jin-woo found making this Frame just as enjoyable as engraving bone.
If it’s enjoyable, there’s no need to skip it.
Clang!
When Jin-woo displayed fluid Hammering, Baxter crossed his arms.
Since he’d focused mainly on Mechanical Engineering training, he’d grown lazy with Hammering, but his eye for it hadn’t vanished.
“Mm-hm!”
Jin-woo’s Hammering bore spirit.
Having passed through Hoz, Rodin, Mirae, and even Hairun before reaching him, it was only natural in a sense.
Such finicky predecessors wouldn’t recognize anything mediocre.
“But this…… is.”
Well beyond exceptional.
Next came the Magical Core.
This Magical Core could be seen as the very essence of Mechanical Engineering.
What Mechanical Engineering calls assembly is essentially the process of assembling this Magical Core.
‘Carving.’
He drew on the feeling from when he’d made the Pozitarium.
‘Runestones are a joy to handle.’
Runecraft torments me each time I engrave it.
Joy and agony combined, pulling Jin-woo’s focus to its peak.
‘I wish this didn’t have to end.’
If only he could continue this enjoyable creation forever.
-Magical Core created!
‘Along with the Magical Core I made before.’
Jin-woo believed this Magical Core held tremendous potential.
‘Then why use only one of these incredible Magical Cores?’
If he could fit multiple, couldn’t he combine their power while dispersing the risk?
Jin-woo set his previously created Pozitarium and the newly made Magical Core side by side.
A moment of immersion.
Snapping from that immersion, Jin-woo began assembling all the completed materials.
Gulp.
At that sight, Baxter tensed most.
“This is where it matters…….”
Until now, existing manufacturing methods could substitute.
But assembly is different.
You had to assemble the interior of the Frame with the Magical Core at the center to create the mechanical servant.
This process was quite unfamiliar to ordinary blacksmiths.
Jin-woo gripped the Wrench.
Then he steadily tightened the screws.
He connected the Magical Core and external skeleton.
Click. Click.
Everything was something Jin-woo had made himself.
‘Since I made it myself.’
Understanding came more easily.
Snap! Crack!
The Magical Core and external skeleton connected, and he infused Mana to activate the Magical Core.
The most crucial thing here was the Runecraft.
‘The Runecraft I engraved is the most basic.’
Jin-woo blended two Runes and engraved them onto the Magical Core.
“!”
When Jin-woo connected the two Magical Cores, Baxter’s hands trembled.
This too was something he hadn’t taught.
“Double. Though I never taught you…….”
What Jin-woo had just used was a technique called Double—a method of combining two Magical Cores.
He’d figured it out on his own.
That meant in this very moment, Jin-woo had discovered Double himself.
That method of creating stronger Mechanical Engineering Equipment from two Magical Cores.
Whoosh—!
-Mechanical Engineering Equipment completed!
Click! Click-click.
The Mechanical Engineering Equipment was completed in Jin-woo’s hands.
-Grade M Mechanical Engineering Equipment completed!
Grade M.
The Grade was lower because it differed markedly from existing equipment.
Whoosh—.
The completed Mechanical Engineering Equipment was a robot. Similar to the butler robot Baxter had shown earlier, but with a slightly more sleek form.
The robot’s Magical Core began glowing, venting steam from its entire body.
“Your name is J-001.”
Since it was the very first mechanical equipment Jin-woo had made, he’d given it the simple designation of 001.
‘I can’t yet call this a Mechanical Servant.’
It was different from the mechanism by which Jin-woo made Subordinates.
‘This is still just a heap of machinery.’
It felt incomplete to call it a Subordinate.
“Congratulations on your first…… completion of Mechanical Engineering Equipment!”
Jin-woo moved rapidly forward ahead of the machinery venting steam.
Whoosh!
Moving quickly, the copper screws rode the steam like arrows.
Bang-bang-bang!
“Hmm. Too bad.”
“Ha. Too bad? Did you make it respond to movement using Runecraft?”
That was an application. Definitely an application.
“Surely it discriminates between allies and enemies……?”
“Not yet. It just reacts to movement right now.”
Jin-woo continued moving, checking J-001’s state.
‘It seems to follow basic commands.’
Unfortunately it couldn’t follow advanced commands.
But with this, Jin-woo had grasped the direction in multiple ways.
‘I think I understand how to set the direction.’
Jin-woo moved his fingers this way and that.
Moving like he was playing piano, he continued evoking the sensation.
‘It needs to be more delicate than Spell Enchantment, but it also needs strong power.’
Jin-woo’s current Dexterity Stat had exceeded ten thousand.
Thanks to that, even when power itself was insufficient, the Dexterity [Precision] Stat helped supplement him.
‘I need to raise my Strength Stat itself.’
Powerful force is needed to engrave Runecraft.
‘I need Strength.’
Jin-woo clenched his fist firmly.
‘A Magical Core is a kind of circuit board.’
And engraving Runecraft on it creates complex circuits.
‘Looks complex, but it’s actually simple.’
Runecraft has power.
How one handles that power determines the completion quality of the Mechanical Engineering Equipment.
Jin-woo looked at Baxter’s body.
‘His muscles are no joke.’
Even more densely and well-formed than the dwarf Hairun’s.
‘Runecraft is closer to technique than magic.’
Just from the name, it naturally felt like it belonged to the magic category, but using it directly, Runecraft was clearly closer to crafting technique.
Creating powerful force by engraving characters.
‘If power is lacking, Runecraft just dims even when engraved. It won’t produce proper force.’
If the power had been stronger and carved deeper, the Runecraft would have been properly engraved in the Magical Core, and J-001’s enemy detection ability would have been higher as well.
“Still not yet……?”
At the words “not yet,” Baxter looked flustered.
“That means…….”
“If I make it once more, I think it should work.”
Jin-woo’s eyes gleamed.
“I still don’t know much. Please teach me more.”
External skeleton, Magical Core, and assembly.
What should Baxter teach him first?
Only one thing came to Baxter’s mind.
Runecraft.
Jin-woo now needed more varied Runecraft.
“I’ll teach you Runecraft.”
He needed to transmit it quickly.
A faint steam was rising from Jin-woo’s body.
From extreme concentration, heat was spreading through his body, and steam rose from that heat.
“Thank you for this.”
* * *
-Mechanical Engineering Equipment created!
After creating the mechanical robot, Jin-woo disassembled various Mechanical Engineering Equipment that Baxter had made, grasping how Baxter used Magical Cores and engraved Runecraft.
Through that process, he learned several types of Runecraft.
‘I need to approach this somewhat differently.’
Jin-woo was thinking of making this mechanical robot into a Mechanical Servant.
But this method had its limits.
‘The Magical Core grants life to the mechanical robot.’
But Jin-woo already possessed the power to grant life.
‘Though calling it granting life sounds a bit odd.’
Jin-woo could make and move Subordinates even without a Magical Core.
‘The Necromancer’s power can do what the Magical Core should.’
Then the Magical Core could focus on power more than it currently did.
‘I need to change the mechanism itself somewhat.’
Jin-woo saw possibility there.
‘Mechanical Servant. This could work?’
He could make a new Subordinate from bone and machinery.
‘But before that.’
Jin-woo found considerable enjoyment in this Mechanical Engineering Skill.
He could make not just robots but all manner of Mechanical Engineering Equipment.
“Are there more types of Runecraft?”
Jin-woo had learned ten types of Runecraft from Baxter.
“That’s all of it. At least what I know.”
Baxter looked quite proud.
As Jin-woo learned Mechanical Engineering Skill and Runecraft, he continued to exclaim in admiration.
Thanks to that, Baxter’s shoulders had risen considerably.
“Next is disassembly. Since you’ve assembled, you should try disassembling too!”
Jin-woo first straightened the Lightning Discharge Mechanical Belt that Baxter had made.
“I’ll try it. Disassembly.”
Assembly and disassembly.
The basic Mechanical Engineering Skills he’d learned from Baxter.
Before that, Jin-woo asked the one thing he wanted to know most.
“But Baxter.”
Seeing Jin-woo’s expression, Baxter seemed to already know what question was coming.
“Why are you here?”
…….
Baxter fell silent for a moment.
Then he opened his mouth.
“I am…….”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————