The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 51

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Chapter 51
Episode 51.
Scrape-. Scrape-. Scrape-.
Jin-woo was shaping bone.
“This engraving technique can be used in so many different ways.”
-You have created a Bone Pickaxe engraved with Ruby!
The Bone Pickaxe imbued with engraving was far sharper and far more durable than the ones he’d made before.
“The Ruby engraving strengthened the power of flame. When I strike, flame damage gets applied and I can mine minerals much more efficiently.”
The Emerald added weight to the pickaxe.
“Depending on how you engrave the gems and embed them into equipment, the attributes change dramatically.”
The ways to use engraving were limitless.
Ideas kept bubbling up in his mind.
-You have created equipment.
-You have created equipment!
His hands wouldn’t stop.
Just as Jin-woo was frantically crafting equipment, he suddenly paused and stilled his hands.
-Your proficiency with the Flame Engraving Technique has increased!
-The level of your Flame Engraving Technique has risen!
-LV1 → LV2
The Flame Engraving Technique had leveled up.
At the same time, Jin-woo was ready to craft new equipment.
“The Auction.”
He had enough gold. He’d sold the Red Stone Armor and kept the money he would have normally spent, leaving it untouched.
Originally this gold was meant to purchase fine materials from a merchant guild, but since the Luers Guild had provided everything, the money remained intact.
“Money’s meant to be spent. There’s no point hoarding it.”
Jin-woo surveyed the Auction.
“!”
And he found a mineral.
“Perfect.”
-Elven Luna Stone [Grade: S]
Description: A rare mineral found only in Forest Run, the city of the elves. It drinks in moonlight and is remarkably beautiful.
Elven Luna Stone.
“It seems to be a special mineral found only in the elves’ city.”
Just as the description said it drank in moonlight, its color was quite mysterious.
It looked blue at one moment, pristine white the next, and when he examined it closely, a greenish gleam shone through.
With so many different hues contained within it, it was beautiful to behold.
But such a precious mineral came with a hefty price.
“Five hundred thousand Gold.”
It was the most expensive thing Jin-woo had ever spent on. In fact, he’d never shelled out serious money for materials before.
“If I’m going to spend that kind of money, I should put it toward quality materials like this.”
Once he thought of it that way, the price didn’t seem steep at all.
Gold could be earned endlessly.
But finding good materials again was far less likely.
-You have purchased the Elven Luna Stone!
Without hesitation, Jin-woo bought the Elven Luna Stone.
“Buying minerals directly from Yur regularly wouldn’t be a bad idea either.”
He’d signed the contract and come straight in, so he hadn’t purchased minerals from Yur yet.
“I’ll have to meet with him as soon as I go out.”
While engraving, Jin-woo had already made several pickaxes.
Of course, these engraved pickaxes were meant to be listed on the Auction, but he planned to craft a custom pickaxe just for Yur separately.
‘He had quite demanding conditions, I remember.’
Most of Yur’s requests had been rather exacting. But demanding conditions were actually a good thing.
‘Because he wants a better, higher-quality pickaxe.’
If that was the case, Jin-woo had no choice but to match that quality, and that process would inevitably contribute greatly to his own growth.
“Once I bring him an engraved pickaxe, he’ll have no choice but to give me a handful of premium minerals.”
Jin-woo smiled to himself.
Then he examined the Elven Luna Stone he’d just purchased.
“Hmm.”
It was remarkably cold to the touch. Far colder than the coldness of ordinary minerals.
‘Quite cool.’
Just as it was described to drink in moonlight, it truly seemed so.
“This should pair well with Sapphire.”
Sapphire possessed cold energy.
“Fundamentally it increases mana capacity.”
Depending on the engraving method, its effects could be enhanced.
Jin-woo immediately retrieved his polishing engraving knife and began to work.
Scrape, scrape-.
Hum-hum-hum-.
The sapphire began to shave away with the vibration. Jin-woo intended to craft armor from the Elven Luna Stone.
‘Fundamentally I don’t participate in combat.’
Even when he fought the Cyclops, this was true—but if First became too powerful, he who controlled First would become the target.
‘So that I’m prepared for when I become a target like that.’
“I’d be wasting potential just standing around, so I’m gathering feedback on armor at the same time.”
-You have engraved the Sapphire.
Next, Jin-woo infused the sapphire with flame.
-You have applied Flame Engraving to the Sapphire!
-The Sapphire is being enhanced!
Whoosh-.
Basic engraving followed by Flame Engraving.
The engraved sapphire resembled a water droplet that had just fallen.
Thanks to the Flame Engraving, its color deepened further, and it looked precious enough to attach anywhere as-is.
“The setting is done.”
Next came the main material.
Elven Luna Stone.
Jin-woo handled it with even greater care. He needed to understand the mineral’s properties.
And he became certain.
“There’s a reason this costs five hundred thousand Gold. It’s far harder than Mithril. The weight is slightly heavier on this side. Hmm. I’d understand better if I put it in the furnace first.”
On top of that, it possessed cold energy.
It meant that ordinary flame alone couldn’t melt it.
When he’d made the Platinum Mithril Armor, Jin-woo hadn’t drawn out its full potential.
He’d simply done what he could.
‘I couldn’t properly melt the Mithril back then.’
But now was different.
Crackle-crackle-.
A raging dark flame existed.
Jin-woo placed the Elven Luna Stone into the dark flame.
Whoosh-.
Fierce flame engulfed the Elven Luna Stone.
In an instant it turned pitch black, then immediately began to fully exhibit its inherent properties.
Tremendous smoke billowed forth.
Yet Jin-woo didn’t flinch.
His eyes remained fixed solely on the Elven Luna Stone in the furnace.
He held his breath and opened his eyes wide.
Whoosh-.
The black flame pressed even more fiercely against the Elven Luna Stone.
The Elven Luna Stone continued to resist, but it was futile.
“Merely an S-grade material.”
Coco was a Legendary Spirit.
An S-grade material couldn’t possibly withstand the flame of a Legendary Spirit.
“It’s melting.”
Jin-woo smiled grimly.
“So that means all Mithril-grade minerals melt too?”
It meant he could melt premium minerals without issue in the furnace.
That meant the ceiling on what he could craft was now higher.
It meant he could add even more of his own touch to his creations.
“Then.”
Jin-woo first melted the Elven Luna Stone to its limit.
Whoosh-.
At the moment it was nearly melted away, he extracted the Elven Luna Stone with tongs.
And from here on was crucial.
‘Now it’s possible.’
Jin-woo gripped his hammer.
“This is something I was planning to do once I developed immunity to flame attacks. Now it’s finally possible.”
Originally it was a crafting technique he’d intended to use after growing further.
But now he could employ this technique.
“I received something good after coming to Rodin’s Flame Residence.”
Upon entering this residence, Jin-woo had received a rune from the Goddess of Fire and Furnaces.
“Thanks to that rune, I can now withstand more flame than before. It’s not immunity, but I can still use flame freely.”
He wrapped dark flame around the hand holding the hammer.
Whoosh-!
Tremendous heat was channeled into the hammer.
-You are taking flame damage!
-You have been burned!
[Status Abnormality: Burn]
The dark flame coursed through the hammer and down his body. He burned and felt sharp pain, but Jin-woo paid no mind and swung the hammer with force.
Clang-!
-Your health is being restored.
As he swung the hammer, his health began recovering thanks to the rune’s effect. Yet even as his health recovered, he continuously took damage from the hammer’s flame.
But that flame on the hammer was the key.
It raised the hammer’s temperature in an instant, gathering that heat as if it were the furnace’s own.
Then he brought that heat down forcefully, allowing it to seep into the mineral.
“Intense heat injected into the Elven Luna Stone all at once.”
Perfect timing.
Clang-!
And perfect force.
The internal structure of the Elven Luna Stone began to transform. All impurities scattered away, and under his hammering it became a mineral fit for armor.
Moreover, the power of darkness and extreme heat entered together, meeting the Elven Luna Stone’s cold power in that instant.
“Fusing the energies.”
Whoosh-!
In that moment the Elven Luna Stone swelled as if about to burst. Jin-woo took a step back. But he didn’t stop hammering. If he stopped here, the Elven Luna Stone would literally shatter.
‘It’s only natural—opposing forces are now in place.’
From this point on, Jin-woo’s task was to find the balance between those powers.
Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!
Jin-woo worked quickly across the Elven Luna Stone. No single part could be stronger than another.
The intense heat.
The cold chill.
They had to be perfectly balanced.
Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!
Coco, the dark flame spirit, watched this display.
Mesmerized by the near-miraculous hammering, Coco began to scatter flame excitedly.
The difficulty was extreme.
It was incredibly hard, and even the slightest mistake was unforgivable.
Yet Jin-woo did not stop.
It was his mindset that sustained him.
‘Even if I fail, it doesn’t matter.’
The thought that he couldn’t fail didn’t exist in Jin-woo’s mind from the start.
Until now, Jin-woo had built a bridge with failures and crossed countless ordeals.
Failure was familiar to him.
So he could afford to fail.
‘If it doesn’t work once, try ten times.’
If ten times don’t work, a hundred.
Jin-woo’s thousand successes existed because of his thousand failures.
So there was no room for hesitation.
He could only move forward boldly.
That was the reason he could face the nearly impossible without fear.
Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!
Jin-woo’s fingertips shone.
“Done.”
-You have created equipment!
-You have created SS+ Grade equipment!
-Your level has increased!
-Your Dexterity stat has increased!
-Your proficiency with Lava Smelting has increased!
-Your proficiency with Hephaestus Smelting has increased!
-Your proficiency with Flame Engraving Technique has increased!
[Elven Luna Stone Sapphire Armor]
-Defense: 1,050
-Grade: SS+
-Durability: 35,000 / 35,000
<>
* Special Option [Ultimate Defense: Defense increases by an additional 500!]
* Special Option [Sapphire Blue: Mana increases by an additional 1,000!]
* Special Option [Sapphire Flow: Mana regeneration rate increases by 10%.]
* Special Option [Power of the Moon: Defense increases by an additional 400.]
* Special Option [Power of Darkness: Dark attribute attack resistance increases by 30%.]
* Special Option [Power of Enfeeblement: Dark mana seeps in, converting damage to health and absorbing it.]
* Special Skill [Luna Break: When fighting on a night when the moon is out, defense increases.]
Elven Luna Stone Sapphire Armor.
The armor that had been created was remarkably beautiful.
A water-drop-shaped sapphire was embedded in the center of the armor, and a soft blue glow flowed from every part of it.
“I’ve reached it.”
-You have reached SS+ Grade!