The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 329
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 329
Episode 329.
The new familiar Jin-woo was creating was a whale.
“It can serve as a ship for transport, and if need be, it can dive underwater as well.”
Moreover, a whale is the tyrant of the seas. Combat was possible too.
“It should be able to fight for us.”
In the water, few creatures would have the advantage over this whale.
‘The problem is the soul.’
The skeleton wasn’t easy, but he could complete it.
However, Jin-woo currently didn’t have a powerful soul.
This massive skeletal whale needed a soul befitting its size.
‘I’ve already used all the high-grade souls.’
But Jin-woo had countless other souls at his disposal.
‘Just because they’re not high-grade doesn’t mean they’re useless.’
Whoosh—
Jin-woo suspended the souls in the air.
“I have the Soul Furnace, after all.”
He could refine and polish these souls as much as needed.
Roooooaaaar—!
The furnace activated.
“Enhance.”
Jin-woo enhanced all the souls.
-Refine souls?
-Souls enhanced!
And then he synthesized the enhanced souls directly.
-Synthesizing souls!
Shiiiiiii—!
The enhanced souls merged, creating a massive soul.
Whoosh—!
The massive soul compressed instantly.
-Enhanced synthesis soul created!
-The grade of the synthesized soul rises!
The soul’s aura rose brilliantly.
Jin-woo slowly grasped the soul.
‘I’ve used every soul I had.’
He had no more souls left.
“Dust, Coco.”
Jin-woo summoned his two spirits and made them settle once more upon the soul.
-Spirit power infuses the enhanced synthesis soul!
“Normally, this would be the end of it.”
Until now, he would have finished here.
But now Jin-woo had a new technique.
Bang—!
Jin-woo began carving the Rune Stone.
And he had one more material.
It was material from his recent collaboration partner, October, who had given it to him.
-Pure Sky Stone [M+]
It was a Pure Sky Stone, a Grade M+ material.
The Pure Sky Stone was a material that reinforced the original power of Skystone, and October had spent quite a sum of money to create it.
‘The grade is M+, but.’
The mineral’s value far exceeded M+ grade.
Jin-woo planned to mix this Pure Sky Stone with a Magical Core.
‘I’ll apply my Mechanical Engineering skill here.’
The Pure Sky Stone contained the power of wind.
Crack—! Crack—! Smash—!
‘To further strengthen the Sky Stone infused with wind power.’
He needed to wrap the Magical Core’s power in wind.
Jin-woo carved the Wind Runeword.
Click—.
He carved one.
Click—.
Then carved a second one and overlapped them.
Click-click—!
He carved the final runeword and detonated it.
Shrieeeeeeeeek—!
From the completed Magical Core erupted an enormous gale.
His skill at carving Wind Runewords had skyrocketed thanks to the wind glider he’d made before.
“Phew—”
Jin-woo took a deep breath and then refined the Sky Stone.
Whoosh—!
Bang—! Bang—! Bang—!
He melted the Sky Stone and merged it directly with the Magical Core.
Sizzle—.
Bang—!
The melted Sky Stone enveloped the Magical Core.
Crack—! Crack—!
For a moment, the Magical Core erupted with fierce reactivity.
But the Magical Core’s current attribute was wind, and the Sky Stone’s attribute was also wind.
Because of that, the two powers mixed easily.
Of course, it wasn’t a simple mixture.
Roooaaaar—!
Shrieeek—!
An enormous wind swept around, nearly demolishing Baxter’s Workshop.
“Is it all right if the Workshop gets destroyed!?”
“Of course it’s not all right!”
“But we’re leaving anyway! Leave your regrets behind!”
“No, wait—!”
Yet the Workshop was already beginning to collapse from the wind.
“Damn it!”
Crackle-crash—!
Jin-woo struck the Sky Wind Magical Core frantically. Bang—! Bang! Bang—! Suppressing the chaotic power inside was the priority.
Bang—!
How many times did he strike it?
With one final powerful blow, the wind finally began to settle.
Whoosh—.
-Sky Wind Magical Core completed!
“Whew—”
Jin-woo caught his breath.
“Done.”
The Sky Wind Magical Core Jin-woo created was a kind of motor.
‘It’ll provide the propulsion force to support the new familiar.’
Shiiiii—.
Now it could move swiftly even without wind.
“…Your applied techniques are quite impressive!”
Baxter clapped his hands as he observed the completed Sky Wind Magical Core.
Jin-woo’s growth was terrifyingly fast.
At this rate, it wouldn’t take long before he surpassed him entirely.
Baxter found that more exhilarating than frightening.
What kind of power would Jin-woo display?
How far could he possibly go?
“At this rate, you won’t even need a mage.”
These days, mages were essential crew on ships.
In this vast sea, there were regions without wind, and entering such areas made escape extremely difficult.
That’s why wind-wielding mages were always required aboard.
But with this, mages wouldn’t be necessary anymore.
“You shouldn’t be surprised just yet.”
The familiar wasn’t complete.
Jin-woo immediately turned to the familiar’s skeleton.
“Bone Craft.”
Then he refined the bones.
Crack—! Crack—!
‘A whale swimming through the depths.’
And this whale would have a special space.
Jin-woo leaped onto the whale’s upper body.
This familiar was fundamentally a mount.
‘If I complete it as is, there’ll be no place to ride.’
He’d just have to stand on the whale’s back.
‘Then we’d slip off.’
And diving underwater would be impossible.
So Jin-woo began carving out the junction between the whale’s back and head.
Crack—! Crack—! Smash—!
He hollowed out the interior, creating a vast cavity.
And he fashioned a hatch.
‘When this hatch opens and closes, it creates a protected space.’
In ship’s terms, this was like a captain’s cabin.
‘This small hatch, from a design perspective, could even pass for the whale’s original blowhole.’
The design was quite elegant.
“Phew—”
Jin-woo wiped his sweat.
Creating the Sky Wind Magical Core and this massive skeleton had left him drenched.
-Stamina is decreasing.
But he was deeply satisfied.
He felt all the joy he’d been denied when the Colossal Statue was taken from him.
Each time he raised his arms, they grew heavy, but with that weight came heightened focus.
-Concentration stat increases!
-Strength stat increases!
Crack—.
He carved precisely, again and again.
“Phew—”
Jin-woo set down the Wave Carving Knife.
-Skeleton completed!
-Grade MR construct created!
-Fine Craftsmanship [Precision] stat increases!
-Synchronization Rate increases by 0.1%!
Jin-woo had created an MR-grade skeleton from Grade M bones.
That was two tiers above the Grade M he’d achieved when creating Speed.
‘It’s thanks to Mechanical Engineering.’
Pouring all his power into this skeleton meant an MR-grade result was inevitable.
The colossal whale skeleton stood majestically before the Workshop.
“Now for the final work.”
Jin-woo placed the Sky Wind Magical Core at the whale’s center.
Crack—. Smash—!
As the powerful Sky Wind Magical Core settled into the skeleton, wind suddenly roared.
Shrieeek—. Shrieeeeeek—!
“Done.”
Amid the raging wind, Jin-woo smiled. The finishing work was complete. All that remained was inserting the soul.
Jin-woo slowly grasped the soul and placed it into the skeleton.
-Powerful soul infuses the skeleton!
-Familiar contract completed!
Shiiiii—.
The colossal skeletal whale began to writhe.
-Please name your new familiar!
‘A whale made of bone.’
“Bone Whale will do.”
-Familiar name set!
-Eleventh familiar, Bone Whale, contract established!
Roooaaaaar—!
Bone Whale slammed its tail from above to below with tremendous force.
Crash—!
“The eleventh familiar.”
Jin-woo grinned and checked Bone Whale’s information.
“Familiar check.”
11.
Name: Bone Whale
—–
Grade: Hero-grade Level 2
Type: Undead, Water, Semi-Mechanical Familiar
Traits: High-Speed Swimming, Command Understanding [High]
Skills: Water Jet, Mechanical Engineering Wind Magic
Hero-grade Level 2.
Moreover, it was an aquatic familiar he’d never had before, with types including Undead and Water, plus the Semi-Mechanical Familiar type.
“Since it’s made purely of bone except for the Sky Wind Magical Core.”
Calling it a Mechanical Familiar would be inaccurate.
“Semi-Mechanical Familiar fits perfectly.”
‘High-Speed Swimming. And Command Understanding [High].’
Unfortunately, Command Understanding wasn’t at the highest level.
‘That probably means I can’t give it complex commands in battle.’
Instead, it had the High-Speed Swimming trait to move freely underwater.
‘That’s exactly what I was thinking.’
And given this massive size, if Command Understanding were at the highest level, balance would be broken. This stat distribution was perfect.
“However.”
Bone Whale possessed the power to transcend these basic limitations.
Mechanical Engineering Wind Magic.
This was Bone Whale’s strength, born from the Sky Wind Magical Core.
“The effect of High-Speed Swimming will be greatly amplified by the Sky Wind Magical Core.”
The weakness of lower Command Understanding wouldn’t actually be a drawback.
‘It can unleash devastating strikes with just simple attacks.’
With the Sky Wind Magical Core, even a plain charge could become a high-speed dash.
“Splendid.”
Jin-woo affectionately patted Bone Whale.
“But moving on land must be frustrating for you.”
Unlike his existing familiars, this one could only move in water, not on land.
‘I need to relocate it.’
To properly test Bone Whale’s power, he needed to take it to the water.
“Kuuuooooo—!”
The newly contracted Bone Whale emitted an ultrasonic cry, so deep that the surroundings trembled with vibrations.
And the wind magic from the Sky Wind Magical Core infused the area, filling it with intense winds.
“Yes, yes. I understand. Just wait a moment.”
Baxter blinked as he observed the completed familiar.
“I had no idea you possessed such techniques.”
The familiar Jin-woo created was a synthesis of Mechanical Engineering, Necromancer techniques, and Blacksmith craft—a pinnacle of complex mastery.
The more one knew, the more one could appreciate the grandeur of this familiar.
“Since meeting you, my heart has been acting strange.”
Astonishing things kept happening without pause.
Jin-woo, whom he’d thought was merely a Blacksmith, turned out to be a Necromancer—and not just a Necromancer, but a Blacksmith-Necromancer.
“I’ve never seen a Necromancer who crafts familiars directly.”
“If I’m a Blacksmith, shouldn’t I craft and use my own familiars?”
Baxter nodded at Jin-woo’s words.
“You’re right.”
If one’s nature is that of a Blacksmith, then even as a Necromancer, one must act accordingly.
“So then.”
Jin-woo looked at the completed familiar, then at Baxter.
“Shall we take it for a spin?”
“…Do I have to ride it?”
Roooaaaa—.
Jin-woo’s new familiar, Bone Whale, emitted an ultrasonic pulse.
“Yes.”
“…I’m getting on in years, you know. My back isn’t in the best shape.”
“Just hang in there a little.”
Jin-woo said.
“Just a little bit.”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————