The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 328

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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 328
328.
Pozitano Central Plaza.
“This is unbelievable. Why are there so many people?”
Pozitano had always drawn a considerable crowd.
For various reasons—abundant hunting grounds, its long history as neutral territory, and fortress-class status—people had been coming in steady numbers.
But now the numbers seemed to have doubled.
“There are an awful lot of outsiders from the Avalak Kingdom.”
And never before had it been so heavily skewed toward a single faction.
What was truly surprising was that the favored faction was the Avalak Kingdom. The Avalak Kingdom had less power compared to the other two kingdoms.
“It’s the atmosphere of a festival, isn’t it?”
Baxter looked at Jin-woo.
“How on earth did you manage this? You’re a blacksmith, not a warrior. Did you smash up all those outsiders with equipment you made yourself?”
Jin-woo smiled at Baxter’s question.
Baxter still didn’t fully understand what Jin-woo’s actual profession was.
All he’d witnessed was Jin-woo’s overwhelming craftsmanship. So how a blacksmith could have won in Pozitano’s conflict remained a mystery to him.
“I was fortunate.”
“Is fortune enough to make such a thing possible…?”
Jin-woo headed first toward Pozitano Harbor.
“But do you really think it’s all right for me to come with you to Sakra? With how things stand now, you could just go alone. You’re learning Mechanical Engineering, after all.”
Any engineer could operate in Sakra.
“Magical Core Theory can be hidden easily enough. I can teach you the basics of Ether Core Theory. With that foundation and just the basic skills, you’ll be able to learn whatever else you want in Sakra.”
And of course, you could obtain better materials there too.
“But if I come along, you’ll inevitably face unfavorable scrutiny from the start.”
“It’s fine.”
Jin-woo spoke decisively.
‘I need to go to Sakra anyway to complete the Twin God of Fire and Soul quest.’
Besides, Jin-woo was intensely curious.
What kinds of mechanical engineering equipment might exist in Sakra.
And what the equipment Baxter had deliberately created by studying Magical Core Theory might look like.
‘He said what’s in the Pozitano Workshop now is just a small fraction.’
He’d said he hadn’t brought any of what he’d made.
‘He said he’d discarded almost everything.’
And in that process, Baxter’s own workshop in Sakra had been shut down as well.
But shut down was all it was.
‘Baxter wouldn’t have simply handed everything over meekly.’
Somewhere, Baxter’s materials and equipment likely remained hidden.
Jin-woo was very curious about that.
“I don’t know the road to Sakra well. And I don’t know the paths inside Sakra either. Won’t I be able to go properly only if you’re there?”
Baxter nodded at Jin-woo’s words.
“Right. I’ve been wavering like a coward. I won’t hesitate any longer.”
Baxter clenched his fist.
“So if we do go, what would you like to do first?”
Jin-woo chuckled at Baxter’s question.
“I’d like to try all the materials that can be obtained in Sakra at least once.”
“I’ll make sure you can do exactly that!”
Baxter was ready to do anything for this excellent student of his.
Ding!
-Baxter’s Affinity has reached MAX!
“Let’s head to the harbor right now!”
Pozitano Harbor.
The newly opened Pozitano Harbor had no ships yet.
“Don’t worry. I’ll speak to the fortress lord and ask him to have a ship built!”
The fortress lord of Pozitano was on intimate terms with Baxter.
“I’ve done a lot to help Pozitano. I even stopped an assassination attempt myself—with my mechanical engineering equipment.”
Thanks to that, the fortress lord of Pozitano trusted Baxter and entrusted him with all the technical matters Pozitano needed.
If Baxter asked him to build a single ship, resources and funds would be provided instantly.
“It shouldn’t take long.”
If necessary, Baxter himself intended to lend a hand in the ship’s construction.
“That works out conveniently.”
“Hmm?”
Jin-woo gestured as if to tell him not to worry.
In Elementia, Jin-woo had experience creating the Colossal Statue as an Objet.
‘If I’d had the time, I could have made it all myself.’
He’d had to share that fascinating process with the spirit craftspeople.
For that reason, Jin-woo hadn’t yet properly created a large object by himself.
‘And I’ve always wanted to make at least one anyway.’
Jin-woo wasn’t simply thinking of building a ship.
“I’ll make it myself.”
“You’ll build the ship yourself?”
“Yes. To be precise, it won’t exactly be a ship, though.”
He was thinking of creating something that could serve as a ship’s replacement.
“The engineering city of Sakra is quite far away. So the vessel needs to be a certain size. The journey is quite dangerous.”
There was a sea route, but even taking it meant risking attacks from sea monsters.
So it needed to be sturdy and large enough to build up speed.
And something like that took quite a long time to make alone.
Baxter asked again, somewhat flustered.
“It needs to be at least a mid-sized ship. That’s impossible to make alone. Don’t worry. If you’re concerned about the burden—”
“I understand. It should be about mid-sized, then.”
“Which is why—”
“That’s sufficient.”
Jin-woo held up three fingers.
“You’re saying three weeks?”
“Three days will do.”
Jin-woo had generously allowed three days.
Baxter was quite taken aback. Three weeks was already short, but three days?
“…?”
“It could be faster.”
For a moment, Baxter was bewildered.
What exactly was he planning to make?
* * *
Before beginning work, Jin-woo decided to purchase materials first.
“Welcome! You’ve come to Markpo, the largest merchant guild in Pozitano—we have everything except what we don’t!”
This Markpo guild was the largest merchant house in Pozitano.
“I need large bones.”
“Large bones? Ah! Are you perhaps looking for ogre or large monster bones?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
The merchant smiled and led Jin-woo inward.
“You see, bones are handled specially. For those visiting us for the first time, sales are usually difficult. But—”
The merchant looked at Jin-woo, then immediately lifted the inner curtain.
Ding!
-Achievement Effect triggers!
-Nobility Score shines brilliantly!
“You are Jin-woo, the hero of the Pozitano Conflict, aren’t you?”
Achievement: The Nobility Score shines brilliantly alongside the Conflict’s Hero.
“A great hero such as yourself can purchase whatever you desire from all of Markpo’s wares!”
Normally, a merchant guild doesn’t sell everything from the start.
Of course. Rare items and specially reserved goods are sold only to regular customers.
But Jin-woo now had a free pass to buy anything.
‘Being a hero has its uses.’
Jin-woo began selecting large bones.
-Bone of Ogre Boosh [M]
The bone of a Named Ogre. And beside it lay a bone the size of a house.
“That’s the spine of Beast Yuran, a colossal monster! Yuran is a beast as large as a mountain, and it was hunted by a very famous hunter who sold it to us at Markpo!”
-Spine of Beast Yuran [M]
The merchant stated the price immediately.
“It’s priced quite expensively, but as you are Jin-woo, we can offer maximum discount.”
1.5 million Gold.
It was certainly an expensive price.
‘Even though it’s Grade M, it costs this much.’
Of course, Jin-woo simply didn’t know that the price was precisely right for Grade M.
After purchasing all the materials, Jin-woo returned to the workshop with Baxter.
It was to organize several things before beginning the actual work.
“Jin-woo, what are those materials? They don’t look like shipbuilding materials.”
There was no wood, no cloth.
There wasn’t even rope.
All he’d brought was bones.
“Jin-woo…?”
Baxter had been thinking that Jin-woo would build the ship using his skills combined with the newly learned Mechanical Engineering skill.
Of course, since Jin-woo had confidently said he could make it in three days, Baxter assumed something special must be involved.
But this was… far too bewildering.
“Why only bones…?”
Was he planning to build a ship from bone?
“I’m going to create my familiar.”
“Your familiar?”
“Yes.”
Baxter’s thinking was only half right.
‘I’ll combine Bone Craft with Mechanical Engineering.’
And so Jin-woo was planning to create a semi-mechanical aquatic familiar.
‘There’s no need to make a ship specifically.’
A familiar that could function as a ship would suffice.
A ship has very limited uses in many ways. But a familiar is different.
It could be summoned and deployed anywhere, and it could move on its own.
“What are you even saying…? You’re making a familiar…? From these bones…?”
The bewildered Baxter poured out his questions.
“My profession is Necromancer.”
“…?”
“And simultaneously, a Blacksmith.”
Jin-woo chuckled and drew out the Wave Carving Knife.
“Now that I can also work with the Universal Wrench, things are convenient.”
He then set the Universal Wrench to the side.
“Summon.”
Snap!
Jin-woo took the Wave Carving Knife and began carving the bones he’d just purchased.
“Hmm. This size won’t work here.”
Assessing the scope of the work, Jin-woo immediately stepped outside.
“It can’t be helped.”
The familiar he was about to create was so massive that it required space proportional to its size.
So working in the workshop was impossible.
‘It’s going to be larger than Bone itself.’
The largest familiar Jin-woo currently had was the Bone Dragon Bone. But the familiar he was about to create would be even bigger.
“Phew.”
Roughly speaking, it would be the size of the Colossal Statue from Elementia, laid on its side.
Crack. Crack-crack.
Jin-woo immediately began carving the bone.
‘I need to sketch this out carefully.’
Since he was making such a massive familiar, the process of joining bone to bone was extremely important.
“Bone Craft.”
Jin-woo first carved the massive bone.
“This is the upper part.”
The head, the body, and…
“The tail.”
Jin-woo moved the Wave Carving Knife with rough precision.
Crack. Crack. Crack-crack-crack-crack!
The bones began to chip away with thunderous force.
Baxter, who had stepped outside to watch, was amazed.
“You can handle bone like this?”
Baxter had worked with bone before, so he understood.
Bone was the easiest material to see but not the easiest to work with despite appearances.
By nature, it required strong force, but even slightly too much pressure would shatter it completely.
Yet Jin-woo was carving away at bone without hesitation.
“The necromancers I know don’t work like this.”
A necromancer who was also a blacksmith. A blacksmith who carved bone to create his own familiars.
“Fellow masters.”
Baxter murmured.
“You must have struggled greatly.”
He could only imagine how difficult it must have been for his predecessors to teach Jin-woo, only to have him absorb everything they offered.
“And you must have enjoyed it greatly.”
Just as Baxter himself would, they must have felt the same.
A student like this was unheard of.
“I too shall make the same choice as you. Unfortunately, there are no successors after me.”
Next would be the All Master.
Crack!
The form of the familiar took shape in Jin-woo’s hands in an instant. Because it was so massive, it was impossible to tell what he was making from up close.
Jin-woo slowly stepped backward.
With each step back, its form became clearer.
“… A whale?”
Baxter, who had stepped back alongside him, spoke.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Jin-woo smiled as he spoke.
“I’m going to create a Skeleton Whale.”

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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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