The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 45

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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 45
45.
Float-float. Drift.
New materials. And souls.
-You have obtained a Wolf Soul!
Jin-woo gathered the souls and materials with diligent care.
“Wolf bone, wolf claw, wolf hide, and wolf meat too.”
Wolves truly were a generous harvest.
“Wolf blood as well?”
Jin-woo sent First ahead and began hunting with frantic intensity. Of course, he hadn’t forgotten his original purpose—finding Rodin.
“Still, whenever monsters appear, I should clear them methodically. Can’t leave materials behind.”
Click-clack.
First answered with the rattle of bone.
“Right away then.”
-You have crafted a Wolf Bone Pickaxe!
Jin-woo crafted the pickaxe first.
Then he mixed and blended wolf blood with the medicinal herbs blooming nearby.
-You have crafted a Wolf Blood Potion!
Glug-glug.
-Your vision brightens!
The Wolf Blood Potion was a vision-enhancing draught.
“The duration is short, but that’s just a matter of refining the recipe a bit more.”
Jin-woo then attempted to forge a blade using wolf claws.
-You have crafted a Wolf Claw Steel Sword!
“It’s wonderful that I can buy as much steel as I need from the Auction House.”
Jin-woo continued producing equipment steadily.
“The Smithy even has a storage now.”
He could craft without limit now.
“What a shame about the leather.”
Without tailoring skills, it was difficult to utilize the hides.
“There must be a master leatherworker somewhere.”
He could learn from them.
So Jin-woo pressed forward, crafting multiple pieces of equipment with each hunt.
“Hmm.”
Shriek-shriek-shriek!
Crash!
A Hogbear—something like a boar crossed with a bear—blocked the path ahead.
Crash!
The Hogbear was a different size entirely from the wolves. It blocked First’s opening staff strike with its foreleg.
“Kuuuarrgh!”
But its foreleg shattered under the impact, and it could attack no further.
“First!”
Yet First did not follow up. He waited, obeying Jin-woo’s command.
Wolves appeared, drawn by the Hogbear’s cries of pain.
“So they’re hunting rivals, then.”
The wolves assessed the situation and turned their gaze from the Hogbear to First.
First stood motionless and defenseless, so they deemed him easier prey.
“Yelp!”
“It’s fine, First. You can stay still.”
At this moment, First was wearing Jin-woo’s latest creation—Mithril Cupronickel Armor.
Whoosh!
The wolves attacked First directly.
And in that same instant, the wolves began to cry out in agony.
Some attacks bounced off the armor, but it was the armor’s special option that truly worked.
“Weakness Force.”
This Weakness Force was an exceptionally valuable option.
“It’s an offense-and-defense-in-one option—attack and protection simultaneous.”
Any strike that landed was immediately returned in kind.
“Quite suitable for a tank.”
The Mithril also compensated for the clumsiness of the Red Stone Armor he’d made earlier.
“But lightness alone doesn’t make an armor good.”
Light meant less heft, less impact force.
“Armor has to be chosen carefully depending on the role in combat.”
Countless pieces of information crossed and merged in Jin-woo’s mind.
Crash! Crash!
First’s battle was Jin-woo’s battle.
“Okay.”
Screech!
The Hogbear fell.
-You have obtained Hogbear Bone!
Jin-woo crafted armor using the Hogbear bone and steel.
Clang! Clang!
-You have crafted Hogbear Steel Armor!
“There it is.”
Jin-woo committed the sensation to memory. He catalogued information, synthesized it.
“First!”
He immediately fitted First with the newly made Hogbear Steel Armor.
“This one has both Weakness Force and Life Force Absorption.”
The materials weren’t ideal, so the defense fell short, but Jin-woo compensated through the options. Moreover, he elevated the armor’s quality based on the feedback he’d just received from First.
It was real-time refinement.
“Grrrrrrgh!”
The enraged wolves threatened First again, but they hesitated to attack.
“Come at me. I’ll take all of you.”
Jin-woo taunted the wolves.
They pivoted their focus toward him instead.
Currently, Jin-woo wore no proper equipment at all.
Only the Lapis Lazuli Armor he’d made earlier.
The wolves charged forward in a blur.
Survival was about taking down the weak threats first, and fast.
Clang! Clang!
Watching the monsters bear down on him in a frenzy, Jin-woo raised his hand. In a flash, he unequipped the gear First was wearing and grabbed it.
What he grabbed was—
Whoosh.
The pristine silver Dwarf Silver Staff.
“I’m not the greatest at fighting, you know.”
Jin-woo had already observed every pattern of the wolves’ attacks.
“Sharp eyes, that’s all.”
And swinging this staff was much like the motion of swinging a hammer.
Boom!
“Yelp!”
Five wolves charging forward all collapsed at once.
The remaining wolves froze mid-charge.
Jin-woo issued them a warning.
“Now for a choice—either you all die to me, or you attack First.”
A false dilemma.
“Graaaaaagh!”
The watching Hogbear lunged toward First.
“Good.”
First did not so much as flinch from the Hogbear’s assault.
The Hogbear unleashed its claws in rapid succession.
The strikes were powerful enough that the impact thundered, yet First didn’t budge an inch backward.
“Excellent. Excellent.”
Jin-woo quickly handed the Dwarf Silver Staff back to First.
“First, finish them. Intelligence gathering complete.”
Obeying that command, First swung the Dwarf Silver Staff.
The monsters could no longer wound First, and they had no defense against his attacks either. The battle ended in an instant.
“Not bad. I wish we’d faced something stronger. The power still feels insufficient.”
Jin-woo collected the materials and immediately lit the forge.
“Dust!”
Dust was terribly busy.
When Jin-woo crafted, the crafting spirit Dust always had to be present. Dust was versatile and essential—not just essential personnel, but essential spirit-force.
“Poof.”
Dust was quite satisfied with his master, who called upon him so often.
And yet, at the same time, Dust wondered: was this human truly human? Surely humans had a physical limit?
And Dust was not alone in feeling this.
First regarded his master.
He himself, a skeleton, naturally never tired.
But why did this magnificent master, made of flesh and blood, never tire either?
Truly magnificent. Truly magnificent.
-Your bond with First has deepened!
“What?”
-The Skeleton Knight First’s Level has increased!
As First’s level rose, his jaw hung open.
Clatter. Clatter.
“M-m-my g-great m-master.”
First knelt.
Then he lifted his head and spoke once more.
“Your e-equipment is truly w-w-wonderful.”
“!”
He stumbled over his words, but the fact that he could speak at all was extraordinary. And more than that—his words rang with sincerity.
Jin-woo stepped closer to First.
“First.”
He tapped First’s shoulder.
“You pass.”
Who knew speech could come so naturally?
An pleased smile crossed Jin-woo’s face unbidden.
“Your l-loyalty.”
First was a remarkably intelligent entity. Truly.
* * *
And so, with First newly leveled up, Jin-woo continued to comb through Beltrae Forest.
After considerable time had passed,
He reached the heart of Beltrae Forest.
Unlike the outer regions, the forest’s center teemed with high-level monsters.
“Rodin must be quite strong, living in the heart of a forest like this.”
Jin-woo scanned the forest carefully. Rustling sounds came from all around.
It meant monsters were near.
“D-dangerous, master.”
Now that First could speak, he grew not only more intelligent but also more devoted.
“I-I am i-insufficient.”
The forest’s heart held monsters even First would struggle against.
“Then all the better.”
Yet Jin-woo wanted to test his equipment properly against these formidable creatures.
“Until now, they’ve all been too weak. To truly assess, I need high-level monsters.”
The moment he spoke, a powerful monster appeared.
A Cyclops—a one-eyed monstrosity.
Until now, the monsters had been comparable in size to First or smaller, but the Cyclops towered far above him.
It looked roughly twice as tall—perhaps four meters.
“First, what did you say just now?”
“Your e-equipment is w-wonderful.”
“Then trust that.”
Jin-woo regarded the Cyclops with considerable satisfaction.
Each step it took radiated power.
The aura that emanated from it was fiercer than any monster Jin-woo had yet encountered.
“Over 200 levels, easily.”
Then its soul was perfect for a new minion.
“At least a C-grade soul.”
First stepped forward.
The Cyclops wielded an enormous club—similar to First’s weapon in style. But the Cyclops’s club was laughably crude compared to the Dwarf Silver Staff First carried.
The Cyclops raised its club and brought it down with tremendous force.
Crash!
Jin-woo expected First to meet the blow with his staff.
But—
“Huh? Huh?”
The Cyclops made a confused sound.
First had not defended against it.
“Ugh!”
“V-very s-solid! The i-impact is m-minimal!”
-First’s Health: 72% remaining!
Even taking the Cyclops’s all-out strike, First had lost barely twenty-eight percent of his health.
‘Considering First’s level,’
First was a newborn Skeleton Knight, only level four.
Comparing him to the Cyclops was almost embarrassing.
‘A solid defense.’
First swung the Dwarf Silver Staff in return.
“First, destroy it.”
“Yes.”
Shriek!
First swung the Dwarf Silver Staff.
The motion was supremely satisfying.
“That’s the beauty of a staff.”
Jin-woo had swung one himself and understood the feeling perfectly.
“I should make it longer and wider.”
Crash! Crash!
Despite the vast level gap, the Cyclops couldn’t manage a counterattack.
“……Is it really a strong monster?”
The equipment was so powerful that the thought even crossed his mind.
Boom!
-You have defeated the Cyclops!
-You have obtained a Strong Soul!
-The soul’s power dwells within you!
-You can now command an additional minion!
“What?”
Obtaining the strong soul also increased the number of minions he could control.
“Good thing the Cyclops was truly strong.”
Now he could command a total of three minions.
“Then I got its bone as well.”
The strong monster trial was complete.
Jin-woo began crafting skeletal frames using the Cyclops bone.
“Never resting…… my m-magnificent m-master…….”
Skeleton that he is, First does not tire.
Jin-woo does not tire either.
Then what could it be?
“P-perhaps my m-master is also a s-skeleton…….”
There was no other explanation.

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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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