The Return of the Transcendent Blacksmith - Chapter 104

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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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Transcendent Blacksmith’s Return Chapter 104
Orum led him to a training ground within the village.
Its location deep within the settlement suggested it was either an important place or one not open to casual visitors.
Orum approached where the hammers were displayed.
“Which hammer will you use? A lucerne type? A sledge type?”
“This one.”
Shin Tae-ho selected from the many hammers one with a large head and spikes protruding from the rear.
A flicker of disappointment crossed Orum’s eyes, which had been silently anticipating his choice.
“Yes, yes. On the surface, that one certainly looks the most formidable. But the difficulty of handling and actual performance are separate matters.”
“Of course. If we’re judging by performance alone, that longer hammer there is the best. But I’m selecting based on what I need to learn right now.”
“What?”
Orum’s eyes, which had shown disappointment moments before, widened considerably.
The hammer Shin Tae-ho had chosen was indeed the finest among those on display.
The difference was so subtle that even Orum himself would need to examine and compare them one by one to notice it.
‘This fellow. His eye for discerning craftsmanship is truly remarkable…!’
“What’s wrong?”
Shin Tae-ho, who had slung his chosen war hammer across his shoulder, regarded him with mild confusion.
Orum, snapping back to himself, shook his head.
“Ah, never mind. Before we begin, have you used a hammer in combat before?”
“I’ve used something similar in battle. Though the head was perhaps half again larger.”
Shin Tae-ho answered while gauging the hammer head’s dimensions with his hands.
Orum nodded and picked up a hammer most similar to the one Shin Tae-ho had selected.
“The hammer you use is specialized for shattering armor and crushing bone in a single strike—a true warhammer. From here on, I’ll teach you the Hammer Combat Technique specialized for that warhammer.”
Finishing his explanation, Orum swung the hammer.
At first glance, it appeared to be merely the ordinary swing of a blunt weapon.
But as Shin Tae-ho continued observing the form of each swing, he realized the sensation changed dramatically depending on the trajectory and angle.
‘What’s this? Something’s different.’
“You’re sensing it, I see. The feeling differs greatly between a vertical swing and a horizontal one, doesn’t it?”
“That’s right. I’m not sure why, but it’s certainly different.”
“That’s the work of Qi. To control a hammer of this weight, using Qi is essential. And depending on how you employ it, the center of gravity shifts.”
Grasping the hammer with both hands, Orum leaped high into the air.
Using his falling momentum, he struck the ground, and vibrations rippled outward, shaking the earth.
The force was so tremendous one might have worried the cave would collapse, but the training ground below had been reinforced to disperse impact, so there was no such danger.
“This is the shockwave technique—striking to release a burst of force. And this is the skill for neutralizing weapons and shields.”
Orum presented the spike on the back of the hammer head and scraped it through the empty air like a pickaxe.
Though there was nothing there, Shin Tae-ho could nearly see an enemy’s shield caught on the spike and torn away.
“And this technique is used against enemies who are too large or too powerful for you to disarm by conventional means.”
Qi flowed once more into Orum’s hammer.
As he brought it down gently on the ground, cracks spread outward, fracturing the earth.
Orum examined the fractured ground carefully, hammer held with restraint.
“This technique could actually collapse the village caves, so I can’t demonstrate it fully here. Well, this concludes the Hammer Combat Technique I’ll teach you.”
“Truly… magnificent.”
It was far more than just technique.
Unlike himself, who simply swung the hammer through sheer force while ignoring its weight,
Orum used his characteristic Footwork to shift the weight to precisely where he wanted it beforehand.
He controlled and commanded the hammer with his entire body.
It was nothing like himself, who used only his arms—here, the hammer and the entirety of his body had become one.
‘So that’s why Bianca called Mystery more of a mage than a warrior.’
Witnessing true Hammer Combat Technique, Shin Tae-ho’s heart raced.
He wanted to learn it quickly and try it himself,
and like the Guardian’s martial arts, refine it and develop it into something even better suited to him.
Orum, about to ask if he found it interesting, saw Shin Tae-ho’s expression and smiled warmly.
‘He’s truly to my liking.’
At the excitement and anticipation radiating from Shin Tae-ho’s face,
Orum felt his own heart beating rapidly in response.
* * *
The Dwarves’ harvesting of Karnikhs continued.
There were occasions when Dwarves returned injured, apparently from battles with traitors,
but Zetaum insisted those were problems they needed to resolve themselves, giving Shin Tae-ho’s group only Trials to protect the village.
Up to the seventh floor, the orcs had attacked in gradually increasing numbers, which at least provided a sense of small accomplishment,
Without proper combat for so long, reduced to one-sided slaughter, even that had stopped.
“Ah… What is this? I came here to mine ore, for gods’ sake.”
Bianca slumped to the ground, gazing up at the ceiling with hollow eyes.
It might have looked atmospheric.
But with her face smeared thick with coal dust, she looked far more pitiful than anything else.
Choi Yu-hwa, who had been swinging her pickaxe until her breath came short, squatted down beside her.
“Still, isn’t there something satisfying about seeing what you’ve mined? Look, I’ve already collected this much!”
Choi Yu-hwa pulled out three pieces of Towerium, each the size of a basketball.
Bianca’s expression shifted from surprise to pure exasperation.
“Good heavens. How hard have you been working? It looks like more than ten times what I’ve got.”
“Hehe. So you keep trying too! We should collect a lot!”
“Forget it. It’s not like I’m desperate for money. I can just buy it outside. Besides, you’re getting a better cut than me anyway.”
Bianca grumbled.
Unlike Choi Yu-hwa, who continued visiting the mine and raising her Favorability until she now took fifteen percent of what she mined,
Bianca’s share was still only eight percent.
Taken aback by Bianca’s disappointed reaction, Choi Yu-hwa changed the subject.
“B-but we’ve already reached the ninth floor! We’d be World Ranker-class if it weren’t for the lack of announcement!”
“True. That’s not bad, I suppose. How does it feel, Yu-hwa? Becoming a World Ranker alongside your sister?”
Bianca pinched both of Choi Yu-hwa’s cheeks lightly, smearing coal dust across her face.
Unaware of the coal dust now covering her, Choi Yu-hwa scratched the back of her head sheepishly at the mention of World Ranker.
“It’s all thanks to you and Shin Tae-ho. Back at the Elf’s Tower, I couldn’t even climb to the middle, let alone become a Ranker.”
“Really? I doubt that. The way you two work—Pipi attacking enemies while you support with arrows—that’s a solid approach.”
“Is it? But it feels like we lack the raw power for it to work well…”
“Pipi’s still young. She’ll grow stronger. Don’t lose heart over something like that.”
“Hehe. You’re right! I won’t give up, and I’ll keep working hard so I can be more helpful going forward!”
“Good! Now that’s what I like to hear.”
As Bianca and Choi Yu-hwa smiled at each other,
a now-familiar notification chimed, and a message window appeared before them.
[You have cleared the Trial of the Ninth Floor.]
[You are awarded points for clearing the Trial.]
[Rewards for clearing have been distributed.]
[Reward Contents: 700 Middle-grade Qi Fragments, 1,500 Lower Essence Fragments,]
[Specific rewards may vary based on Contribution.]
“At least the rewards went up a bit now that we’ve climbed higher.”
Bianca let out a soft laugh after checking the message window.
But this message window was far from finished.
[This is an announcement regarding the Tower.]
[Once you clear the Trial of the Tenth Floor, the party composition for climbing the Tower from the Eleventh Floor onward will be restructured.]
[Furthermore, the Favorability and memories built with resident races will not carry over, so you must rebuild your relationships from scratch.]
[This concludes the announcement.]
“…What?”
“Wait, sister. Did you just read that…?”
Choi Yu-hwa stared at Bianca with a look of shock.
But Bianca, wearing the same expression, couldn’t answer her question.
* * *
After clearing the Trial of the Ninth Floor,
Shin Tae-ho, Bianca, and Choi Yu-hwa gathered in the Dwarf Village without leaving the Tower.
They had cleared the Trial without much difficulty, but the three looked grim.
“What do we do? According to that announcement, we could be torn apart. I don’t want that.”
“M-me neither. We’ve worked so well together so far. Now we’re supposed to climb with other people? This… this is too much.”
Bianca and Choi Yu-hwa flushed with indignation at the Tower’s announcement.
Shin Tae-ho too wore a serious expression in response to the two,
but since he already knew the Tower’s mechanics, he was less shocked.
‘Right. That’s what’s so cruel about this Tower. You climb all the way to the tenth floor, matching your teamwork perfectly, and then it suddenly tears you apart at the next level.’
Of course, the Tower’s rules weren’t something you could refuse just because you didn’t like them.
So instead of joining them in their anger, Shin Tae-ho carefully laid out a method he’d already thought through.
“Then… all we need to do is climb the Tower faster than we are now.”
“What? You want us to split up sooner than we have to?”
Bianca’s face fell.
Caught off guard by her unexpected vehemence, Shin Tae-ho held up his hands to clarify.
“No, it’s quite the opposite. I don’t want us to part ways. You mentioned before that you’d heard information from another Challenger, didn’t you?”
“That’s right.”
Bianca nodded, settling her excitement.
Shin Tae-ho continued his explanation.
“There won’t be many Challengers who’ve made it to the ninth floor yet. And now is when the fewest will be gathered. That’s what I meant when I said we should seize this moment.”
“Ah, I see! It’s much more likely we’ll meet if we form groups of ten from thirty people rather than from a hundred!”
Choi Yu-hwa clapped her hands, grasping Shin Tae-ho’s intent.
Bianca, hearing Choi Yu-hwa’s explanation, stroked her chin with an uncertain expression.
“I suppose that makes sense. But it’s still just probability, isn’t it?”
“For now, I believe betting on this probability is our best option. We can’t change the rules, after all.”
“…Tch. It irritates me, but you’re right about that.”
Bianca scratched her head irritably.
She had been collecting her thoughts with her legs together when she suddenly sprang to her feet.
“Fine. Let’s clear the tenth floor Trial first, then. And we might meet them right away on the eleventh floor, right?”
“Yes! We’ll definitely all meet up!”
“Very well.”
Choi Yu-hwa and Shin Tae-ho agreed.
Bianca and Choi Yu-hwa, hearts steeled with resolve, left the tower immediately to prepare for the next floor—unusual for them.
Since they hadn’t fought any orcs in the meantime, their circuits were already full, and there was no need to replenish their Qi.
But Shin Tae-ho did not leave the tower with them.
It would disappoint them if they knew, but for Shin Tae-ho, this moment after the Trial’s end mattered more than ascending the tower.
“Hello, Orum.”
“You’ve come, Shin Tae-ho.”
As he entered the Training Grounds, now a familiar place, Orum was already waiting for him.
Yong-ryong-i, who had no interest in the Hammer Combat Technique, dashed to the soft nest she’d made and pulled out a chocolate from her bag.
Orum, hammer in hand, took his stance and regarded Shin Tae-ho with burning eyes.
“It’s truly remarkable. You’ve been learning the technique for less than five months, and in that time, not only have you mastered it perfectly, but you’ve also made it difficult for me to defeat you in sparring.”
“You’re too kind. It’s thanks to having a fine teacher.”
“I’ve been teaching and correcting your form for less than a month. That compliment flatters me in turn.”
Orum smiled and settled into his stance, and Shin Tae-ho mirrored him.
Shin Tae-ho’s stance was subtly different from Orum’s, yet Orum found nothing to fault in it.
It was a form Shin Tae-ho had developed himself, optimized to suit his own nature.
And indeed, since he’d altered his form that way, Shin Tae-ho had proved himself with a dramatically increased win rate against him.
“My record so far has been ninety-nine matches: forty-eight wins, three draws, forty-eight losses. This time, don’t pretend you’re exhausted and force a draw like last time.”
“Was it that obvious?”
“Yes. So I’m telling you sincerely—win or lose this time. I want to see the true result.”
A light kindled in Orum’s eyes.
Feeling that sincerity, Shin Tae-ho also drew Qi up through his body and met Orum’s gaze.
“Understood. I’ll give it my all.”
“Kha-ha-ha! Now I’m looking forward to it!”
Orum laughed heartily and rushed at Shin Tae-ho, hammer in hand.
The moment Yong-ryong-i put chocolate in her mouth.
Hammer clashed against hammer, unleashing a heavy, resonant shockwave.
Continued in the next episode ▶
The Return of the Transcendent Master Blacksmith
Author
Seal Release
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Published by
Grae Publishing
Inquiries
[email protected]
Publication Date
May 26, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260227067
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※ Pentagram welcomes your precious manuscripts.

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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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