The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 54

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 54
54.
The largest tent in the Gem Mine.
It was the tent of the Great Chieftain Rigardo.
“Great Chieftain.”
The gatekeepers, Int Orcs, entered the chieftain’s tent alongside Jin-woo.
The chieftain sat in his chair.
Even from a distance, the Staff and Robe were visible, and the tattoos revealed where the Robe parted were quite impressive.
“Gatekeeper kinsmen.”
“Yes, Great Chieftain. We have brought a human.”
“A human?”
Great Chieftain Rigardo looked at Jin-woo.
“This is not that human from before. Whom have you captured?”
“We did not capture him.”
“It is actually—”
‘Up close, it’s even more impressive.’
Characters that had not been visible from afar now came into sharp focus.
Just then, the chieftain gestured, silencing the gatekeeper Int Orcs.
“Human, what brings you here?”
In an instant, a tremendous force erupted from Rigardo.
-A powerful rune binds you!
-Your body is paralyzed!
Unlike the gatekeeper Int Orcs, the chieftain emanated considerable hostility.
‘Of course it would.’
Though his body would not move, fortunately his mouth still could.
“G-Great Chieftain!”
“Great Chieftain, we brought him. He is a good human!”
Rigardo looked at the gatekeeper Int Orcs who had brought Jin-woo, then at the rings on their fingers.
The Int Orcs, receiving Rigardo’s gaze, waved their hands frantically.
“A good human, Great Chieftain. We brought him because he so wished to see the Great Chieftain!”
“This human said he has interest in the Great Chieftain’s Rune Inscription!”
……
“He came because he wanted to learn!”
Their words were so disjointed that the chieftain could not make proper sense of them.
“Leave.”
Rigardo gestured to the Int Orcs to withdraw.
The gatekeeper orcs departed, leaving behind two guard Int Orcs, each twice the chieftain’s head in size, at his side.
But Jin-woo paid them no mind.
“Speak for yourself, human.”
“You crafted excellent equipment. Did you make it yourself?”
“You came to meet me just out of curiosity?”
“Just? What are you talking about?”
Jin-woo’s eyes suddenly gleamed.
“I came because I want to learn your Rune Inscription.”
“Learn? What do you mean?”
“Those tattoos on your body—that’s Rune Inscription, isn’t it? I came because I want to learn that incredible skill!”
At Jin-woo’s words, the paralysis that had bound him suddenly released.
‘Now.’
Jin-woo moved swiftly.
……?
“This is not something to call ‘just’!”
Jin-woo bristled with sudden anger and approached one of the giant guard orcs, examining the Great Club they held.
The characters carved into the club were masterwork, but the quality of the club itself was equally exceptional.
He had never seen anything like it.
A stranger human was praising his Rune Inscription so earnestly—this had never happened before.
And they had also called his equipment excellent.
Someone had become angry on his behalf instead of the one who had struck.
Equipment of such quality was hardly something to be dismissed as “just.”
“Such excellent equipment, with such a fine Attribute of Rune Inscription added to it—there’s no way this could be called ‘just.’ This is something remarkable.”
“……Is my equipment remarkable?”
“It is. Both your equipment and your Rune Inscription are remarkable. That’s why I came—because I want to learn.”
Only then.
“You truly came to learn from me? I am an orc.”
“I am human. But are bloodlines really so important when it comes to good technique?”
!
-The favorability of Rigardo, Great Chieftain of the Intelligence Orc Tribe, has increased!
“Tell me more.”
Rigardo’s lips curved upward slightly.
“Can you tell me in detail, human?”
“Of course.”
* * *
-Rigardo’s favorability has increased!
-Rigardo’s favorability has increased!
An hour was all it took.
“Human, I will teach you.”
It was nothing extraordinary. He had simply praised the equipment Rigardo had created.
He had recognized how remarkable Rune Inscription truly was.
‘It is the nature of crafters.’
This was not mere flattery. Only after truly understanding the work—recognizing how difficult it had been, how much care had been taken—did he offer such praise.
‘If I received such praise, I could not help but smile.’
“I will teach you my Rune Inscription! Or rather, allow me to teach you. I never thought I would speak so easily with a human like yourself.”
“It is all thanks to your excellent equipment. Whether orc or human, excellence is excellence.”
Moisture.
The corners of the chieftain’s eyes grew distant.
“I am glad to teach you. But this Rune Inscription is a power allowed only to the chosen. For it is rune work. Without exceptional craftsmanship, one cannot do it.”
Rigardo spoke with grave solemnity.
“This power imparts effects by carving Rune Characters into equipment or the body itself.”
He showed his Staff.
“What is carved here is Rune Inscription, while what is drawn on my body is called Rune Engraving. The foundation of both powers is the ability to draw Rune Characters.”
Then he began drawing complex Rune Characters on the ground.
“You must reproduce these exactly. Though I possessed the finest craftsmanship in the tribe, it took me five years to actually succeed.”
“Do you draw the characters using Mana?”
“Yes. You draw with the powerful force within your body.”
Rigardo replied.
“You must draw exactly as shown. Every intricate line. And you must remember it all.”
Following Rigardo’s words, Jin-woo began to copy the drawing.
‘This is not mere drawing. It is like a spell diagram disguised as art. Quite complex.’
This drawing was a kind of spell diagram, and simultaneously a design schematic.
‘An exceedingly intricate schematic. But—’
For Jin-woo, a schematic was a path itself.
Swoosh. Swoosh.
Rigardo watched Jin-woo.
……Human!
Mere imitation would accomplish nothing. One had to understand this Rune Inscription and unfold it properly for the carving to truly take—
……!
Suddenly Rigardo was startled.
Jin-woo was not merely mimicking.
He had grasped everything in an instant.
Or rather, it was difficult to say he had grasped it with complete accuracy. There were parts that differed slightly here and there.
Yet it was undeniable.
He was extraordinary.
More precisely, his hands were extraordinary.
Rigardo watched Jin-woo with genuine fascination.
“I can tell. Your hands. That sensation. It is remarkable. Far beyond what is ordinary. Not merely beyond human standards—but superior to any human I have encountered.”
Rigardo spoke. His gaze remained fixed on Jin-woo’s hands.
“Different from any foreigner. Utterly different.”
Swoosh. Swoosh.
Jin-woo had reproduced half of the Rune Inscription Rigardo had shown him.
Then he increased his pace.
It was the movement of someone who had grasped the essential idea.
Rigardo fell silent.
He simply watched.
Comprehension. Craftsmanship.
Both far exceeded his own understanding, and he could not tear his eyes away.
Shwoosh.
Jin-woo had completed the entire drawing.
It was an exact replica of the drawing Rigardo had made.
Rigardo fell silent as he gazed upon Jin-woo’s work.
It was not merely identical in appearance.
“Connection. Established.”
This was a spell inscription.
Jin-woo looked at Rigardo with considerable satisfaction.
“I understand.”
Ding—!
-You have learned Rune Inscription!
The basics of Rune Inscription. Now he grasped it.
“Now that I’ve done it myself, I understand how remarkable a crafter you are, Rigardo.”
A crafter.
Jin-woo saw him not as an orc, but as a crafter.
“Good. Human—what is your name?”
“Jin-woo.”
“Jin-woo. I have confirmed your talent.”
Rigardo suddenly felt the stirring of rivalry.
Jin-woo certainly possessed tremendous talent. He had accomplished Rune Inscription from merely seeing it once.
Of course, there were considerable discrepancies, but the mere fact that he could approximate it after a single viewing was remarkable.
He himself had invested years just learning the fundamentals.
Because of this, he wished to test his own talent against Jin-woo’s.
“I will teach you properly now.”
What he had shown before was merely the foundation.
“The essence of Rune Inscription is to imbue it with Intention. The characters carry meaning, and you must channel Intention into that meaning for the effect to take true hold. For example, this character is Arkshak. Arkshak means strength, and through this Rune Inscription, the equipment or kindred who receives it is granted the Intention for tremendous power.”
Rune Inscription required the strength of Intention to be potent.
“So you imagine and pray?”
Rigardo drew Arkshak. Shhhaaaa—. Though he drew it on the ground, a fierce power was palpable.
As Rigardo had explained, this was power itself.
Power incarnate.
“I channeled my Intention just now. For the power to manifest strength.”
This Intention was far too abstract a force.
Rune Inscription was difficult precisely because it united concrete force with abstract force. Each person possessed their own unique abstract force.
What was desperate longing to one might feel utterly ordinary to another.
Jin-woo drew Arkshak while keeping this in mind.
‘Intention. Channeling will. That is what I do best.’
The most crucial element in crafting equipment was imagining who would wield it.
Imagining how they would use it, what they would aspire to achieve.
‘That is Intention. What I channel depends on what equipment I create—’
Into weapons: the power to destroy any opponent.
Into armor: the power to defend against any foe.
So Intention was the easiest thing for Jin-woo.
He did it constantly.
!
The moment Jin-woo infused Arkshak with Intention, Rigardo’s expression shifted to astonishment. Orcs typically have rigid facial muscles, and except when they rage, their faces rarely contort.
This makes their expressions extremely difficult to read, and they can maintain a poker face except when angry.
But now Rigardo’s facial muscles trembled visibly.
His astonishment was laid bare upon his features.
“Can this Intention be applied to all characters? Then this one, and this one too, and——”
Jin-woo drew further characters.
Intention flowed into each character.
Shhhaaaa—.
The Rune Inscription blazed with light.
Having grasped one principle, he was now discerning ten on his own.
“No……”
Rigardo uttered an involuntary groan.
This power of Rune Inscription that he possessed—
This talent was being stolen from him entirely by Jin-woo!
In that instant, alarm seized Rigardo and he moved to stop him. But Jin-woo’s concentration remained unbroken.
If anything, he grew more absorbed.
Jin-woo’s hands moved.
At some point he held a Ring, and he began to carve Arkshak into it.
Rigardo had no chance to intervene.
Carving into the equipment.
Then carving into the body.
And completing it.
-Rune is inscribed upon the equipment.
-Rune Engraving complete!
Rune Inscription.
And the Rune Engraving that would allow one to carry that rune eternally.
“I understand.”
Jin-woo had grasped Rigardo’s Rune Inscription and Engraving perfectly.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————