The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 61

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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 61
Episode 61.
Jin-woo gathered the remaining 250 or so Int Orcs.
Each of them held equipment that Rigardo had crafted and enchanted with Rune Inscription.
‘Now that the Rune Inscription is complete, the very landscape itself looks different.’
The equipment they gripped appeared transformed through the lens of Rune Inscription.
‘I can bridge that gap.’
Jin-woo was certain of it.
These pieces of equipment could evolve further. Their latent power hadn’t been fully drawn out yet.
‘If I work now, I can do it.’
“Rigardo, your grandfather must be truly remarkable.”
Jin-woo spoke.
“He asked me specifically to teach this Rune Inscription to you. I’ll teach you once this matter is settled.”
“…Thank you, brother.”
Rigardo nodded.
“Then let’s begin.”
‘Now that the Rune Inscription is perfected, I can draw out far more characteristics.’
He began adjusting the inscriptions and refining the equipment for each of the 250 Int Orcs gathered here, tailoring them to their individual traits.
‘This will save vastly more time than creating them from scratch.’
“Haaah.”
Jin-woo deliberately set no time limits.
But.
“I should test just how far I can push myself.”
He intended to challenge the limits of his own capabilities.
“Jin-woo, I was thinking we should establish a temporary outpost.”
“A temporary outpost? There’s no need.”
Jin-woo shook his head.
“It won’t take long.”
* * *
Clang—!
Whisk. Whisk. Whisk.
The sound of hammering.
New Rune Inscriptions descended atop old ones in endless repetition.
At first the pace seemed barely adequate, but as Jin-woo focused, his speed became positively astonishing.
“Not only did he master something so difficult, but he executes it so effortlessly. To a casual eye, one might think it simple.”
Rigallen clicked his tongue in amazement.
“It may look that way to you, but the war chief sees something different, doesn’t he? A different landscape altogether.”
Rigardo nodded.
Rigallen was right.
Having mastered Rune Inscription, Rigardo could feel in his bones just how extraordinary what Jin-woo was demonstrating truly was.
“That’s perfect Rune Inscription. What my grandfather never taught me, Jin-woo has mastered.”
Moreover, Jin-woo had learned Rune Inscription flawlessly from Rigardo’s grandfather. That was why Rigardo couldn’t tear his eyes away.
“But is it wise to push himself so hard?”
By any measure, he seemed to have reached his limits.
Already he had refined the equipment of one hundred warriors in succession.
Even accounting for the fatigue being less than if he were forging anew, refining equipment for a hundred was already pushing beyond the bounds of physical stamina.
And still one hundred and fifty remained.
Then Jin-woo paused in his hammering.
“Whew.”
“You should rest. You’ve already reached your physical limit. The Guardian Force and Red Eye don’t yet know we’ve come to the Northern Mountain Range. We could hide for a moment——”
“No. I’m not stopping.”
Jin-woo pulled something from his pouch.
Gulp—gulp—gulp.
“It’s been a while since I’ve needed this.”
Recently, with his Level rising and his Stamina increased considerably, he’d had little occasion to drink such things.
“I should make a fresh batch.”
Jin-woo retrieved materials he’d been stockpiling.
“I’ll mix in the blood of monsters.”
And blend in medicinal herbs.
-You have created an Enhanced Superior Stamina Potion!
-You have created an A+ Grade Potion!
Jin-woo casually produced an A+ Grade potion and drank it on the spot.
“Quality materials yield quality potions.”
Whoooosh—!
A powerful surge of vitality flooded through his entire body.
“Yes, this is what I needed.”
His body overflowed with stamina.
“Let’s continue.”
“Wh—what——?”
Jin-woo had casually crafted and consumed a potion, and instantly recovered.
“Is that…even possible?”
Rigallen was taken aback.
“There should be mental exhaustion too.”
“It seems the fatigue was purely physical.”
Rigardo committed every action Jin-woo took to memory.
“There’s so much to learn. That’s what a true Rune Scribe looks like.”
A Rune Scribe commands strange powers.
They inevitably must defy convention. To defy convention is to transcend the ordinary. Jin-woo’s actions embodied a great and deliberate transcendence.
Beyond one hundred and fifty. Beyond two hundred. And then.
“Haaah.”
Two hundred and fifty.
Jin-woo succeeded in refining the equipment of every Int Orc.
All three hundred of the Int Orcs had passed through his hands.
It was a complete transformation.
-The Green-Skinned God applauds your Great Achievement.
-Your highest Stat increases by 500.
-Your Dexterity Stat has increased by 500.
It was truly a Great Achievement.
The Green-Skinned God blessed Jin-woo once more. Moreover, the reward for this Achievement was more than generous.
Seeing the reward, Jin-woo couldn’t help but smile.
“It was worth the effort.”
Jin-woo grinned.
Thanks to this, his Dexterity Stat had surpassed three thousand.
“Now let’s go.”
The refinement was complete.
The 50 Int Orcs who had received Jin-woo’s equipment and the some 250 refined warriors stood at attention, their eyes sharp with purpose.
“Let’s take back what’s ours.”
* * *
Various monsters inhabited the Northern Mountain Range.
Because the Level Restriction of the Northern Mountain Range itself exceeded Level 200, the monsters here were fundamentally well over Level 200.
Massive boars.
One-eyed Cyclopes.
Red Goblins.
And alongside them, there were considerable numbers of Named Monsters.
The massive wolf known as Jacklin of the North was one such Named Monster of this place.
“Screeeee—Screeeee.”
That Named Monster was pierced through by the Guardian’s hand.
“Sir.”
In the hands of the Guardian Force commander, known as Red Eye, the Named Monster fell with ease.
By nature, the Guardians were enormous. They towered well over two meters. Red Eye stood at least three head-heights taller still.
Nearly three meters tall, his entire frame was corded with muscle.
His weapon was a massive Great Sword, yet he had felled Jacklin of the North with nothing but his bare fist.
Jacklin collapsed utterly.
“Filthy monsters, how dare you. This place shall be where our Incarnation descends.”
He spat contemptuously.
“We need faster cleanup.”
Red Eye gestured.
A Guardian approached swiftly and knelt.
“What monster is next?”
“A Red Goblin warrior, sir. A goblin called Hakarin, said to be the master of the Eastern Mountain.”
“Is this the last?”
“Yes, sir. All Named Monsters of the Northern Mountain Range have now been eliminated. From this point forward, the Northern Mountain Range shall be a clean place for our Incarnation to descend!”
“Good. Let’s clean up quickly.”
Eastern Mountain.
The Guardian Force commander arrived at the Eastern Mountain alongside his Guardians.
“Damn it, damn it! What in blazes are these things? Not human, not any other race I’ve ever heard of. I’ve never seen anything like them before. What are their bodies even made of that our attacks don’t land at all!”
The Red Goblins cried out in alarm.
“We should have fought together from the start.”
But no one had known they would be so formidable.
From the beginning, there had never been a real option to fight united.
“It’s not over yet!”
At the center of the Red Goblins stood Hakarin.
The commander leading these Red Goblins, the strongest among them, with horns sprouting from his head.
Hakarin, a King Goblin—the highest tier of goblinkind—wielded a sword of special make.
Japsstone.
The blade he wielded was forged from mineral imbued with the unique power of goblin-kind.
“I will face him. I’ll hold off that Red Eye myself while the rest of you flee.”
The Red Goblins resisted Hakarin’s words.
“We cannot abandon our King Goblin!”
“Without our King Goblin, where will we find honor!”
There was a vast difference between a tribe with a King Goblin and one without.
“We fight to the end.”
Though not quite at the level of Int Orcs, the Red Goblins were a species of considerable combat strength.
“Then so be it.”
The King Goblin, Hakarin, gestured.
“Come, my brethren.”
Boom—boom—boom—!
The moment the King Goblin raised his hand, a Guardian fell from the sky.
The King Goblin who had just been rallying his forces was killed in a single blow.
“Weak. You call yourself master of the Eastern Mountain, yet is this truly so?”
The air around froze.
Not a single goblin dared move.
A King Goblin—dead from one strike.
The mightiest of all their kind, slain by a single attack.
Red Eye, who had killed the King Goblin, rolled his crimson eyes.
“Clean it up.”
Then, as if utterly uninterested, he brushed his hands clean.
Guardians emerged after that.
“We will dispose of them swiftly.”
The moment all Named Monsters of the Northern Mountain Range were eliminated by the Guardians.
* * *
“I thought they would never dare return for fear of us.”
Northern Mountain Range. Where the Int Orcs once dwelled.
The Int Orcs had returned to that place.
“How surprising!”
…….
But the place was already occupied by the Guardians.
The Int Orcs’ home in the Northern Mountain Range had been the largest settlement, and it lay nearest to the Tower.
Seeing their dwellings reduced to rubble, with only ruins remaining, the Int Orcs trembled. They had not known it would be destroyed to this degree.
The homes of their ancestors, and their ancestors before them—now like this.
Yet among them, Rigallen remained calm.
He was counting the number of Guardians.
“Their numbers have increased.”
Rigallen spoke to Rigardo.
The number of Guardians had swelled beyond what it had been.
Stranger still, the Guardians appeared wrong somehow. They looked far larger than before.
“Red Eye is not visible.”
And for some reason, Red Eye was nowhere to be seen.
“So you dare return, you green refuse.”
A Guardian laughed with amusement and gestured.
“Look here, the stupid fools have returned!”
“They’ll make a fine gift for our commander!”
Guardians from other positions began converging toward the center.
“Does everyone see them?”
Rigardo did not even glance at the gathering Guardians. Instead, he turned a look of fierce indignation toward his own people.
“Vengeance. That alone is what we need.”
“Gahahahahaha—!”
The Guardians burst into crazed laughter.
“Foolish orc dogs, without a shred of sense. Have you forgotten how you abandoned your homes and fled from what we were before?”
“Now we…we have been granted even greater power by our Incarnation.”
The Guardians jeered.
“This time we’ll kill every last one of you.”
Then they stamped the ground with force.
They targeted Rigardo, who stood at the fore.
“I’ll kill the strongest first!”
Screeeee—!
Knuckles adorned the Guardian’s hands.
Crash—!
“Ugh!”
“Granted greater power, you say?”
Rigardo smirked. Behind him, an Int Orc burst forward like an arrow and swung a War Hammer.
Crack—crack—crack—!
The weapon—forged solely to shatter Guardian flesh—fulfilled its purpose.
“We received far greater equipment than that.”

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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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