The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 386

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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 386
386.
Avalon.
“Wow.”
“Now this place really deserves to be called a Major City.”
Avalon, the capital of the Avalak Kingdom, had earned a nickname: the Fake Major City.
Despite being the capital of one of the continent’s three great kingdoms, it had never been particularly crowded.
But that had changed.
“It’s transformed completely.”
“I never thought a single user could do this to Avalon.”
After the Positano Conflict.
Users began migrating to the Avalak Kingdom in waves, shifting their affiliations and bases.
As a result, Avalon swelled with far more people than ever before.
“Give us a quest, please!”
“Just one quest so we can build contribution points!”
“I’ll work for the Avalak Kingdom. Please.”
The Avalak Kingdom had been so starved of users that quests offering substantial contribution points were everywhere.
In effect, the kingdom itself had stagnated in its development.
“The capital was this underdeveloped? I had no idea.”
“From the outside it looked decent enough.”
So the newly recruited users of the Avalak Kingdom were now advancing the capital through quests.
“They say if we accumulate contribution points, we get priority access to the Mansan Workshop.”
“Where does he come up with ideas like this?”
Avalon was now so crowded it had become cramped. Because of that, when users completed quests to develop Avalon, the city’s improvements in turn improved user convenience.
Moreover, as Avalon itself grew in value, so too did the value of the Mansan Workshop.
“He chose mutual prosperity.”
“Most wouldn’t be so generous, would they?”
But this was no simple thing to accomplish.
Users running workshops in cities typically focused only on their own establishments. What happened to the city itself was not the workshop owner’s concern.
Yet Jin-woo had chosen symbiosis and mutual benefit.
“How could anyone dislike someone who does this much for them—not just the craftspeople of nearby workshops, but the longtime citizens of Avalon?”
Who could possibly hate Jin-woo after all he had done?
“That’s probably why there’s no discord.”
“He’s completely different from other crafting-class users. A true gentleman of virtue.”
“His caliber is on another level entirely.”
“This is the leader of Eternal Sunshine, everyone. I’m sure you all know by now.”
The users lined up outside the Mansan Workshop were all beaming.
The wait mattered little. Standing in line itself was content for them.
“So many people.”
“Isn’t Workshop Street being expanded?”
“Unbelievable. That dying workshop district is actually being expanded.”
Workshop Street had grown to the point where there was barely room to walk.
So with the king’s permission, expansion construction was underway.
Interestingly, users were at the center of this expansion effort.
“We have a winner.”
The Mansan Workshop, run by Jin-woo.
It had become a tourist attraction that users visited multiple times daily.
“Argh, I almost got in today.”
“Tomorrow for sure.”
“I’ve lost track of how long I’ve been in Avalon. I think I’ve paid quite a bit in taxes here.”
The Mansan Workshop itself was delightful content.
“The city should probably change its name. Instead of Avalon, just rename it after you or Mansan.”
“That’s not an exaggeration. It actually seems feasible.”
“People come here because of the Mansan Workshop, after all.”
The Mansan Workshop—the main smithy of Workshop Street in Chanran.
Three subordinates were running this smithy admirably, handling the constant stream of visitors.
“I’ve brought materials.”
“And I as well.”
Unit 2 and Attendant brought materials every single day.
Unit 2’s Sewing Technique and Cloth-Making Technique were improving by the day.
Slip. Slip.
The Cloth-Making Technique and Sewing Technique learned from Mirae were quite difficult, with many mistakes at first, but those missteps had become Unit 2’s strengths.
“Truly remarkable.”
Yet even Unit 2 marveled at Attendant’s improved Mining skill.
“I never knew you could mine so cleanly.”
Free, the head craftsperson, was equally impressed.
“There’s zero waste in your mining.”
Thumbs up.
As Free gave the thumbs up, Attendant smiled warmly.
“I merely worked in service of my lord. But Free—how goes it? Did you achieve your goal?”
Free smiled at the question.
“Yes. I have.”
And then showed the equipment just crafted.
“Grade M.”
Free had become an Undead craftsperson capable of creating Grade M equipment on his own.
“Now I can sell better equipment to the customers who visit the Mansan Workshop! I’ve become worthy of the Furnace and Crafting Tools my lord provided.”
Free didn’t know when Jin-woo would return, but when he did, praise was certain to follow.
“While the other subordinates serve my lord from the closest position, we serve from the farthest.”
Free said this.
Unit 2 and Attendant nodded in agreement.
“Bone Boss!”
“Boss Bones, do you have any more of these?”
Users called from the shop floor. Free was known here as Boss Bones.
“Come back tomorrow. We sold out today.”
Attending to customers with bone-rattling sounds, Free prompted nods of approval from Unit 2 and Attendant.
“His numbers have grown.”
“We can’t afford to be complacent either.”
Free had grown and reached Grade M on his own.
“Visit the craftspeople of Workshop Street…… and learn from them.”
At Attendant’s words, Unit 2 looked at him.
“I’ll do the same!”
To expand the variety of available materials, they needed other masters.
Ding!
-Unit 2 and Attendant have developed the Trait: Autonomous Action Born of Flexibility.
For their lord.
A new Trait had been born in the two subordinates.
* * *
“It was corrupted.”
Velasquez spoke.
“But I barely managed to overcome it with the power of the Great Fire.”
“It seems there was a profound reason.”
“Indeed.”
-The Twin God of Fire and Soul apologizes to its great Necromancer!
“The Twin God of Fire and Soul extends their apologies.”
“No. The god departed because of those who corrupted me. There is nothing for them to apologize for.”
“Then why……”
“Forgive me. I’ve been corrupted so long that I’m half my old self and half something else.”
Though when First showed that overwhelming power, he’d certainly been restored to his true state.
If he still weren’t his true self after witnessing that, then it wasn’t corruption—it was insanity.
“The Great Fire barely pulled me free from corruption. The Great Fire itself is a legacy left by the Twin God, so I’ve received their help once more. But……”
Velasquez explained the situation in greater detail to Jin-woo.
“Those who corrupted me—they wanted the Great Fire I possess. So they came for me, corrupted me, and wanted to use the Great Fire as they pleased.”
“Were they powerful?”
Jin-woo looked at Velasquez.
They only seemed weak because Jin-woo was the opposition.
Velasquez was a considerably formidable Necromancer.
‘Normally he wouldn’t lose to anything.’
It was strange that he’d been corrupted at all.
“Strong ones. And numerous. Most importantly, they possess a power that devours darkness.”
“Holy Power?”
Every Necromancer’s weakness, and a difficult one to overcome.
‘A devastating weakness.’
If even a skilled Necromancer like Velasquez couldn’t resist it, Necromancers had essentially no place to stand.
“Holy Power indeed. But mere Holy Power couldn’t stop my darkness, so I held my own for a while.”
‘Impressive.’
That was quite positive news.
“But eventually I lost. They dragged me away. They had something they wanted. I worked there for quite some time. Then I came to my senses. It was thanks to the Great Fire within me.”
‘So that’s how it connects.’
Velasquez spoke of the Great Fire.
This Great Fire was a legacy left by the Twin God of Fire and Soul, and a primary Necromancer skill—the ability to see souls and a power to strengthen souls themselves.
“Not just souls either. It’s an extraordinarily powerful force usable in many ways.”
Velasquez continued.
“A Divine-tier legacy. The Great Fire is. That’s why…… those fiends coveted it.”
He clicked his tongue.
Whoooosh.
Jin-woo sensed the Great Fire within Velasquez.
‘But something feels off.’
As with the souls of the subordinates he’d just raised, he felt powerful strength accompanied by a sense of emptiness.
“That Great Fire—is something wrong with it? Was it damaged when you removed the corruption?”
“……”
Velasquez nodded at the question.
“They took two-thirds of the Great Fire.”
Only one-third remained with him.
‘So that’s why it felt hollow.’
“What do they intend to do with the Great Fire?”
“They said they need to mine the Eternal Ore. The Eternal Ore.”
“The Eternal Ore?”
A mineral came to Jin-woo’s mind.
“Is it connected to the Sacra Eternal Stone?”
“Probably. They said they’d mine the ancestor stone of the special minerals that only appear in Sacra.”
Velasquez’s expression darkened.
“But the thing is……”
Velasquez had escaped corruption but remained tainted.
While his power had returned completely, he couldn’t know what would happen if he faced them again. That’s why he’d wrapped the Tower in a Magical Storm.
It wasn’t simply to eliminate intruders—it was to protect the remaining Great Fire from them.
“That Magical Storm was meant to keep them out……”
“……I destroyed it.”
Boom!
Loud commotion erupted outside.
“They’ve returned. To take the Great Fire. They’ll need the remaining portion badly. They weren’t even close to mining all that ore last time.”
Velasquez’s expression darkened further.
“You said you wanted to learn my Necromancer skills, yes?”
Velasquez had already grasped the limits of Jin-woo’s Necromancer techniques.
“Your skill in crafting Equipment and forming skeletons is beyond my judgment. But there’s quite a lot of Necromancer skill I can teach you.”
“You would teach me?”
“Aren’t we both successors of the same god? Of course I can. In return, though……”
“In return.”
Jin-woo spoke first.
“Now that we’ve become fellow disciples, I shall take your revenge for you.”
The situation was deteriorating for Velasquez. If they’d come seeking the last fragment of the Great Fire, he had no choice but to hand it over.
“Just teach me the skills first.”
Snap.
Jin-woo snapped his fingers and summoned First and Pur.
Crash!
With the noise, the Tower’s door burst open.
And beings with green bodies poured in.
“The door’s finally open! All that knocking paid off. Hahahaha!”
“Goblins?”
“That’s right. Goblins, but not ordinary ones.”
The small-bodied goblins didn’t look normal. Despite their green skin, the power they wielded was considerable.
“High Goblins. They’ve evolved from goblins in Sacra.”
Shaaa!
More and more High Goblins poured into the Tower.
Jin-woo crossed his arms.
First and Pur stood valiantly, but a different subordinate came to mind—one better suited for this.
‘This would be better handled differently.’
Jin-woo dismissed First and Pur.
“It’s fine if the Tower gets a little damaged, yes?”
“……Is there a way?”
“Yes.”
There was a different subordinate most effective for this situation.
Jin-woo stepped forward slowly.
“What are you…… going to do?”
Was he trying to handle them with just Necromancer skills?
That wouldn’t work. It couldn’t work.
“They’re immune to darkness attribute!”
That was precisely why Velasquez had been defeated by the corrupted goblins.
Corrupted power was the defining characteristic of these High Goblins.
“Hand over the Great Fire.”
“What’s your plan?”
As Jin-woo asked, the High Goblins scanned him from top to bottom.
“A Necromancer? But…… you smell of fire?”
The High Goblin laughed with a rasping cackle.
“Doesn’t matter. You’re going to die anyway. No point hiding anything. We’ll mine the Eternal Ore. We’ll shatter Sacra’s walls with it and reclaim our homeland!”
As the High Goblin gestured, its army surged forward as one.
Jin-woo paid no attention.
-Eagle Eye activates.
‘Good Equipment.’
They wore Mechanical Engineering Equipment, distinctly different in style from Sacra’s.
Jin-woo snapped his fingers.
Snap.
A subordinate was summoned.
Not First or Pur, not the usual combat subordinates.
Hummmmmm.
Centered on where he snapped his fingers, a subordinate hovered in the air ahead.
Thud.
Craaaaaaaaaaaash!
Then it fell.
“Golem.”

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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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