The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 71

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Chapter 71
Episode 71.
– Blood Stone Mithril [SR+]
Blood Stone Mithril.
I’d combined SSS-Grade Shadow Mithril with SR-Grade Blood Stone.
I’d naturally expected it to remain SR-Grade.
“I was only thinking of combining the strengths.”
But the grade had risen.
“It went up one tier.”
The two materials had fused to become SR+.
Jin-woo looked at Purpurpur.
‘They’ve grown. Just like Pur did.’
Purpurpur had also advanced one tier.
“I’m starting to think I can’t keep up with you two.”
Jin-woo stroked both spirits’ heads. But they both shot him looks of disbelief. There was no way their master couldn’t keep up. He was a monstrously talented person—or perhaps a strangely human monster.
“I made you, after all.”
It was time to prove it.
Whoosh—
The Blood Stone Mithril went into the furnace.
Intense heat wrapped around the Blood Stone Mithril completely. Jin-woo waited for the precise moment using tongs.
Swish—
The Blood Stone Mithril was glowing a vivid red.
Jin-woo struck the Blood Stone Mithril.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
‘It’s different. Truly different.’
Composite materials inherit the characteristics of each component material.
Though I’d never struck Shadow Mithril or Hellish Blood Stone before, striking this Blood Stone Mithril let me quickly grasp the properties of both materials.
‘They’ve harmonized.’
The strengths remained intact.
‘But the weaknesses came along too.’
Sure enough, the hammer blows bounced back quickly.
And it didn’t deform well at all.
‘It keeps trying to maintain its original form.’
Then I’d simply have to force it.
Not by mere force.
Clang—
Speed was power. Jin-woo began increasing his tempo.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The Blood Stone Mithril began to shift under hammer blows so rapid they left afterimages.
‘I’ll use the smelting technique aggressively.’
The Hephaestus Smelting Technique I currently possessed was effective at momentarily breaking balance to push one effect to an extreme.
‘Extreme defense is the signature trait of Hephaestus Smelting.’
The first smelting technique I’d learned had its own characteristics, and so did each subsequent one.
‘Each smelting technique has its own character.’
I had to use that character.
Clang!
‘If extreme defense is possible…’
Then the opposite must be too.
‘I can raise attack power infinitely.’
Clang!
-Your Hephaestus Smelting Technique proficiency has increased!
-Your Hephaestus Smelting Technique grade has risen.
-S → SS
The moment I grasped the essence of Hephaestus Smelting, the grade ascended.
Clang!
Jin-woo began smelting the Blood Stone Mithril.
‘Shatter the balance.’
What would be created now was a weapon with infinitely skewed balance.
“A hammer really suited First perfectly with the axe.”
So I’d decided to make a hammer this time.
Of course, I had no intention of giving the hammer to First.
I’d obtained new soul and bones, so I planned to create a new servant.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Jin-woo shaped the hammer head.
Then he took a deep breath.
The hardest part remained.
“Purpurpur’s Essence.”
This essence was far too delicate. The slightest misapplied force would shatter it. An SR-Grade material lost entirely.
“But that’s not happening.”
Losing an SR-Grade material wasn’t what bothered me.
What troubled Jin-woo was not fully appreciating such fine material.
“There’s nothing more enjoyable than working with good materials.”
Jin-woo carved Purpurpur’s Essence.
At first, carefully.
Then, with bold sweeps, he continued the carving.
Scritch—
Crack—!
-Your Dexterity proficiency has increased!
Overwhelming.
And intricately delicate carving.
“If I’m doing this, I can’t do it halfway.”
-Curse Bestow: Arcshak
I’d apply Curse Bestow as Arcshak for attack power enhancement.
Then I crushed a Ruby and carved flame work onto the essence.
-A new divine being takes notice of you!
-Another new divine being takes notice of you!
Multiple divine beings began to take notice of Jin-woo as he demonstrated his overwhelming carving skill.
-A new divine being blesses you.
-Your Dexterity stat increases by 50!
-A divine being says they enjoyed the show!
-Your Strength stat increases by 50!
Jin-woo embedded the carved Purpurpur’s Essence into the dead center of the hammer head.
Sweat dripped from his entire body.
“This is fun.”
A word that came from the very depths of his heart.
-You have created equipment!
-You have created SR+-Grade equipment!
-A remarkable achievement!
-Your level increases.
-Your Hephaestus Smelting Technique proficiency rises.
[Blood Stone Mithril Hammer Infused with Purpurpur’s Essence]
-Attack Power: 6,200
-Grade: SR+
-Durability: 15,000 / 15,000
<>
* Special Option [Curse Bestow – Arcshak: Attack power increases by 300.]
* Special Option [Flame Carving – Divine Descent: On attack, 15% chance to trigger Purpurpur’s Authority, increasing attack power by 500 for 5 seconds and inflicting ‘Terror’ status on the target.]
* Special Option [Blood Stone: Absorbs 10% of damage dealt as your own life force.]
* Special Option [Life Drain: Absorbs 10% of damage dealt as your own life force!]
* Special Option [Extreme Imbalance: Attack power increases by 850. Durability greatly decreases.]
* Special Skill [Shadow Strike: Your target’s shadow rises to attack the main body.]
The hammer that had been created was the finest weapon Jin-woo had ever made.
The composite materials’ traits remained beautifully intact, and the synergy with my Necromaster ability’s special options was excellent.
“The Blood Stone ability and Life Drain overlap in effect.”
This had created duplicate options that should never exist.
“Hmm!”
Moreover, the options that came from carving Purpurpur’s Essence with flame work were substantial.
“Divine Descent… if used right, I could rampage solo with godlike power.”
The impressive thing was that it was a special option, not a special skill. That meant Divine Descent could trigger consecutively.
Ding!
-A new divine being blesses you!
-The divine being reveals their name!
-The Great God of Dwarves greets you!
And the divine being who’d been watching revealed their name.
“The Great God of Dwarves?”
A Dwarven God.
‘The Dwarven God is offering blessing.’
The blessings from other divine beings felt good, but dwarves were different in degree.
Weren’t dwarves masters of craftsmanship?
Having the dwarven god—called the master of masters—bless me was deeply satisfying.
‘It means I’ve made something good.’
I’d certainly poured my very essence into this. It was my best effort while accepting the risk of failure.
-The Great God of Dwarves assigns you a quest!
And it wasn’t merely a blessing.
“A quest?”
Jin-woo immediately checked the quest details.
“Come to the city of dwarves and find the treasure left there.”
A simple, straightforward quest.
“They want me to learn their smelting technique, it seems.”
Jin-woo laughed quietly.
“That works.”
There was nothing bad about it. I’d planned to visit the dwarf city eventually anyway.
Jin-woo immediately examined the finished hammer from all angles.
The distinctive blood-crimson of the Blood Stone Mithril and Purpurpur’s white Essence glowing at the center were quite striking.
“Has that blood-soaked feel to it.”
This was exactly the impression I’d wanted.
“Beyond the look, a hammer this size suits extreme attack power perfectly.”
An axe has powerful single-strike damage.
But if I’m thinking of even greater single strikes, a hammer was ideal.
“So then.”
Jin-woo grasped the hammer.
-Insufficient Strength!
With an embarrassed expression, Jin-woo set the hammer down.
“Can’t even lift it.”
The price of infinitely skewing the balance.
The attack power of the Blood Stone Mithril hammer was utterly bizarre. It exceeded the Orcish Emerald Jade Axe I’d made just before by a full three thousand points.
In exchange, the durability was abysmal, and it required tremendous Strength stat.
“But.”
Jin-woo grinned.
I can’t use it, but ‘we’ can.
Jin-woo retrieved Purpurpur’s Bones.
The old Jin-woo would have sold the equipment at this point. Since I couldn’t use it myself.
“I’d fallen into the pathetic habit of making equipment I couldn’t even use.”
Jin-woo drew out the Whetstone Carving Knife.
“Not anymore.”
Scritch—
Scritch—
Jin-woo rapidly carved and worked the bones with the Whetstone Carving Knife.
Purpurpur’s S-Grade bones began transforming instantly under his hands.
“Like First, they’ll be a one-two punch. But they need their own trait.”
First is a dealer.
Moltus is a sub-dealer.
So what’s needed here is…
“A tank.”
-You have created an S-Grade skeleton!
-Your Bone Making proficiency has increased!
-Your Bone Making level has risen!
Jin-woo grinned. This was my first S-Grade skeleton. True to its rank, the completed skeleton was immaculate.
Jin-woo inserted Purpurpur’s Soul into it.
Whoosh—
The S-Grade servant slowly rose to its feet.
“From now on, your name is Pur.”
The servant bearing Purpurpur’s Soul blazed with eyes of light. Power far greater than any servant I’d made before began radiating outward.
“Yes, Master.”
-You have formed a contract with a new servant!
Jin-woo pointed to the hammer.
“Can you lift it?”
“Yes.”
Pur slowly reached toward the hammer.
Then lifted the heavy hammer with ease.
-You have given Pur the Blood Stone Mithril Hammer Infused with Purpurpur’s Essence!
“It lifts.”
* * *
Suomisa.
GM Kim Na-yoon was conversing with another GM.
“You must be incredibly busy these days? I hear the user Jin-woo is stacking achievements like crazy. And with this tower clear and all, I’m starting to wonder if something big’s happening.”
“Something big has already happened. At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes straight to SR.”
Even as she said this, Kim Na-yoon felt a sense of pride.
“But I’d imagine you’ll have an easy time of it soon.”
“What? Why?”
“The next tier is SR, and SR materials themselves are difficult to handle.”
Making SS-Grade equipment with S-Grade materials.
Or making SSS-Grade equipment with SS-Grade materials was difficult, but possible.
However, beyond SSS-Grade, even SSS-Grade materials rarely produced equipment of the same tier.
“Sometimes SSS-Grade materials yield SS-Grade equipment. As you know, SSS-Grade materials are already hard to work with in the first place. What’s Jin-woo’s level at again?”
“I believe he’s over a hundred.”
“Then it’s definite.”
Even SR-Grade materials are difficult to make into SR-Grade equipment.
The higher the tier, the more true this becomes.
“Crafting Han-woo-mul was like that too.”
I’d monitored Crafting Han-woo-mul. Since he was also a special management user, the memory remained vivid even now.
“At SR tier, he hit a wall and suffered for about two weeks.”
Though he eventually broke through, the fact that even the legendary Crafting Han-woo-mul went through that suggested Jin-woo likely would too.
“And back then, Crafting Han-woo-mul was over level three hundred.”
“Is that so?”
But Kim Na-yoon simply laughed easily.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Just then, alarm sounds began.
“!”
Kim Na-yoon urgently checked the notification. The GM at the next desk also looked at her monitor.
“Huh?”
The other GM stared at the screen in blank confusion.
-[User Jin-woo reaches SR+Grade] Earliest level attainment: 122
He rubbed his eyes.
Was he reading this correctly?
It was absurd.
“That’s unfortunate.”
Kim Na-yoon shook her head slowly.
“There won’t be any peace and quiet for a while, will there?”