The Returned Genius Blacksmith has Awakened as an all-Master - Chapter 54

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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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Episode 54
054. The Beginning of Transformation
Dushar simply alternated his gaze between Kalis, whose expression had grown grave, and Geumson, where his attention was fixed.
Only then could Dushar himself perceive what had changed about Geumson.
Though it seemed his perspective differed slightly from Kalis’s.
“Oh! The hammer! The hammer’s been forged anew! Could it be…… that you’ve refined Void Iron Ore? Truly, that’s impressive work.”
Dushar’s gaze fell upon the Forgotten Void Hammer strapped across Geumson’s back.
Perhaps because they were both smiths, his eye went first to the hammer.
But Kalis shook his head, as if to say that wasn’t it, and spoke.
“Of course, refining Void Iron Ore in such a brief span of time is remarkable in itself…… but.”
Kalis hesitated for a moment.
Then, with a slight tilt of his chin, he indicated the small bird perched atop Geumson’s shoulder.
Pointing to the snow-white creature, he continued.
“Look at that. Do you not know what that is?”
“Hm? A bird? Well, did you catch one somewhere? It’s pretty enough, but…… Geumson’s tastes are truly unique. A bird so fragile-looking…… ”
To the rough-hewn Dushar, it didn’t seem to hold much appeal.
Dushar cared little for anything beyond smithcraft itself.
His attention was fixed solely on the hammer forged from the melted Void Iron Ore.
To such a Dushar, Kalis spoke quietly.
“Ha! Fragile? That’s a legendary Elementia. The Wujiji, to be precise.”
The moment Kalis finished speaking, Dushar’s jaw dropped open.
Though Geumson had shown him the egg of an Elementia, he’d never expected it would actually hatch.
It had seemed no different than a stone.
He’d written off the possibility entirely, yet here was the Elementia, now settled upon Geumson’s shoulder.
“Is it…… is it really true? Is that truly the legendary Elementia!”
Dushar sprang to his feet and, from a distance, gazed upon Tia perched above Geumson’s shoulder.
Concentrating his attention, he sensed a faint yet multifaceted aura emanating from the creature.
But Kalis’s reaction was subtly guarded.
And Dushar, in turn, grew wary of such caution.
“Surely…… you’re not thinking of taking it for yourself? He may be an outsider, but he’s become a hero of our Krathum. If you attempt to seize it by force, even if you’re who you are…… ”
Dushar issued his warning to Kalis with palpable vigilance.
Though Geumson was an outsider, he had already earned from Dushar a trust akin to a blood oath.
Because Geumson had become like family, Dushar issued this warning to the Collector Kalis.
For Dushar knew better than anyone the hidden, covetous nature lurking beneath the mask of a ‘Collector.’
Yet Kalis let out a soft laugh and shook his head.
“I’m not fool enough to lay hands on that, Dushar.”
“You? That’s…… hard to believe, frankly.”
“When it was merely an egg, it might have held value for collection…… but now that it has hatched, things are different.”
Kalis’s voice trembled slightly.
As a Collector and a prince of Acadia, he had devoted himself to the study of countless rare texts and ancient records.
Within those records, he had glimpsed, albeit dimly, the existence of Elementia and the secret of its birth.
— The Wujiji, a creature that absorbs all the world’s elements, transforms them into its own power, and grows without end.

Yet the true heart of the records lay elsewhere.
What the records spoke of with extreme caution was not the Elementia itself, the Wujiji, but rather the one chosen by it.
The matter of its master.
“The Wujiji chooses as its master only one who bears the destiny to break from the predetermined path and forge a new one. One who possesses the potential to overturn the very flow of the world. And if I, carrying the bloodline of the royal house, were to possess that…… what do you think that would mean?”
At Kalis’s words, Dushar closed his mouth firmly.
Kalis, the third prince of the Kingdom of Acadia.
If he were to become the master of Elementia?
The destiny of a pioneer who breaks from the predetermined path.
How Kalis would be perceived was all too clear.
Treason.
He would be branded as one who harbors such dreams, and there was no escaping it.
“Hrm…… this is rather…… dangerous. Very dangerous.”
Dushar seemed reluctant even to voice the word treason itself.
Kalis gazed at Dushar with a soft laugh, while his mind drifted to another passage from the ancient records.
‘On the day the master of Elementia appears, the world shall be caught in the maelstrom of a great transformation. It shall become the key that closes one age and opens another.’
Kalis’s gaze turned cold and distant.
He could no longer regard Geumson as merely a partner in cooperation or an intriguing foreigner.
‘Elementia choosing a master—does that mean this age is ending and a new one is dawning? I never imagined the one who would lead it would be a foreigner…….’
Kalis’s mind spun with the weight of it all.
This was far larger and more significant than his own succession to the throne.
He turned to Dushar, speaking in a low voice, yet with unmistakable resolve.
“Dushar, never turn that man into an enemy. Whatever happens, you must stand with him. He may be far more than we could ever imagine.”
“What are you talking about? All this for one small bird?”
“The bird isn’t the issue. What matters is that the bird chose him as its master. From now on, I need to make some preparations. You prepare yourself too. The world will grow turbulent soon.”
Kalis withdrew a crystal sphere no larger than his palm from his robes.
As he channeled mana into the sphere, a faint luminescence bloomed, revealing intricate patterns etched into its surface.
He whispered something brief in an ancient language that none could comprehend.
The Eastern Star has risen. Activate the Shadow Hawk. Target: the foreigner, Geumson. Observe, but do not interfere under any circumstances.
Kalis finished transmitting his message.
He fell into deep contemplation.
‘The beginning of transformation……. So at last this tedious age draws to a close.’
The end of a tedious age.
Kalis found himself considering how he should act at that precipice.
All the while turning over in his mind the collection he had amassed.
Perhaps those pieces would become the most useful weapons in an age of transformation.
* * *
“Oh, I’m a little late.”
Geumson pushed through the crowd and found an empty seat.
Fortunately, the auction of Moonlight Viper’s Fang was the last item on the block.
There was still plenty of time.
He sat down and opened a holographic window displaying the auction catalog.
– Flame Lizard’s Heart: 350,000 Gold [Sold] [Complete]
– Ancient Mage’s Diary: 560,000 Gold [Sold] [Complete]
– Shadow Assassin’s Dagger: 880,000 Gold [Sold] [Complete]
.
.
.
– Currently Auctioning: Mahvali’s Iron Wall Shield
– Current Bid: 1,750,000 Gold [In Progress]
[Next Item: Wind Spirit’s Wing]
[Next Item: Shattered Golem Power Circuit Fragment]
.
.
.
‘This is Krathum’s auction house, all right. Plenty of decent items rolling through.’
Geumson clicked his tongue.
Several items that looked worthwhile at a glance were being traded at premium prices.
In fact, he recognized a few of the items on offer.
‘There are materials here I could make good use of if I bought them now……, but it’s a pity.’
Looking at the list, Geumson couldn’t help but sigh.
Geumson had approximately 500,000 Gold to his name.
Money earned solely from completing Dushar’s quests.
He’d initially thought that sum would be enough to win the bid on at least one item.
But the prices ran far higher than he’d anticipated, and his mood dimmed accordingly.
The end of the catalog.
Most of the expensive items had passed by, leaving the tail end of the list filled with miscellaneous materials and low-grade goods.
Items that sold but never made it to the premium listings.
Yet Geumson’s eyes came to an abrupt halt on one item among them.
[Iron Rod from Forgotten Ancient Ruins]
– Description: An iron rod discovered in an ancient ruin of considerable age. Made of steel, but weathered by the passage of centuries, with rust accumulating in numerous places.
– Opening Bid: 50,000 Gold
‘This is……. Could it be?’
Geumson’s pupils trembled as he stared at the item listing.
In that instant, a memory flickered through his mind.
A memory from that day—that hellish day he had tried to forget, now suddenly revived.
Crumbling defenses.
Beneath a gray sky, earth soaked in blood and despair.
At its center stood a single man.
Once called a comrade.
Murderer of his own, Mad Fist Seo Juwon.
He had always been obsessed with pure combat.
In his eyes, everything in this world—every last thing—existed as a tool to test his strength, to advance his training.
Even his fellow soldiers.
“War is about efficiency. There’s no time for sentiment.”
The power that Seo Juwon wielded.
The skill—the Infinite Chain Strike.
It was something he had obtained from a dungeon that could be opened with this very iron rod: the City of Forgotten Giants.
The Infinite Chain Strike was an ability that exponentially amplified the destructive power of each successive attack the more one targeted an opponent’s weak points in rapid succession.
Yet this overwhelming power harbored a fatal flaw.
The moment the continuous chain of attacks was broken even once, every accumulated amplification effect vanished in an instant.
To overcome this fundamental limitation, Seo Juwon had chosen an easy solution.
Murder of his allies.
Whenever battle reached a lull, or whenever he risked losing his chain by the distance to his next target growing too great, he chose the easy path.
Without hesitation, he unleashed his skill on the nearest “helpless target.”
Whether an injured comrade groaning in pain, or a bound enemy unable to move—it made no difference to him.
They were merely essential “links” and “fuel” to preserve his amplified destructive power and carry it forward to the next clash.
And so Seo Juwon, having accumulated such lethal force and destructive intent, had poured it all into a single blow against a massive monster, turning a seemingly hopeless battle around in a heartbeat.
‘That object… the one that gave him the Infinite Chain Strike… if that’s the case—!’
Geumson’s eyes darted rapidly across the surroundings.
Seo Juwon.
Geumson began searching for him.
His gaze found him.
“But we won, didn’t we? What’s the problem? These lives were going to end anyway—you should be grateful I put them to good use.”

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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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