The Returned Genius Blacksmith has Awakened as an all-Master - Chapter 67

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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 67
067. Open or Destroy
Iron Walker seized Shadow Sprite by the scruff of the neck instead of Geumson.
Shadow Sprite dangled from Iron Walker like a rag doll.
She seemed to be saying something to Geumson in that state, but her words didn’t reach his ears.
Flip—flip—
Geumson turned the pages of the book.
But.
‘Blank pages? There’s nothing written here at all?’
A strange book with nothing inscribed on it.
Just blank pages bound together compactly, nothing more.
Then a message appeared.
[You are not an authorized user.]
[User Permission is required for this item.]
[You cannot read it.]
Geumson’s eyes gleamed as he read the message.
‘User Permission? Then… someone definitely created this.’
There was no way this shadow creature could have made something so Perfect Integrity.
Perfect Integrity items were a realm even Geumson’s own masters had never achieved.
“What are you?”
Geumson held the book in his hand.
His gaze turned to Shadow Sprite.
This creature didn’t make sense either, book or no book.
‘She’s clearly not a monster… so how did she get inside the dungeon?’
He recalled the message’s contents.
It had definitely been the first discovery.
He’d received the reward properly, yet another being was present inside.
That shouldn’t be possible.
‘Did she slip in after me? That doesn’t make sense….’
Geumson didn’t realize that Shadow Sprite was the one who had summoned the Forgotten Ancient Giant King and attempted to interfere.
Simply because she looked far too weak at first glance.
“Ugh! Pathetic human… Ouch! Let go! Let go!”
Shadow Sprite thrashed violently and shrieked.
Her form seemed to grow slightly fainter, and then—
In that instant, a vile aura poured from her body, clawing at Geumson’s mind.
At the same time, a message bloomed before him.
[Sanctity clears your mind.]
[Geumson’s Silver Helmet clears your mind.]
[You resist mental attacks due to your ‘Darkness’ Attribute.]
[You resist the status abnormality ‘Confusion’.]
Shadow Sprite had tried to shake his mind subtly.
It was an attack that would have worked before.
But since Tia shared her ‘Darkness’ Attribute with him, it was almost laughable.
“You think a cheap trick like that will work on me?”
—Chirp, chirrrrp! Click!
Tia, furious, was about to activate her Peck skill on Shadow Sprite when—
The book in Geumson’s hand caught her eye.
—Chirp? Chirr-chirp!
“Huh? You… want to eat this?”
—Chirp! Chirrp—
Tia reacted violently, even drooling.
Geumson tilted his head at her reaction.
‘Wasn’t she the one who wouldn’t even put Unique or below in her mouth? This is special, sure, but no message appeared when I examined it?’
It was a special item, but no Tier was listed separately.
Yet Tia’s reaction was anything but ordinary.
And Shadow Sprite trembled violently as though seizing with convulsions the closer Tia drew to the book.
“Get away! Take that abomination away right now! Ugh… no, wait! You don’t mean to… human? No, please… you’re not planning to give it to her, are you? Tell me you’re not! Please?”
Shadow Sprite’s plea sounded almost like begging.
At that reaction, Geumson’s hand moved swiftly.
Rrrrip—
“No! Oh, no, please don’t!”
Shadow Sprite’s plaintive cry reached his ears, but he ignored it.
Geumson tore a page from the book without hesitation and offered it to Tia.
Without a moment’s thought, she snatched it up and devoured it.
Crunch—crunch—
Crunch—crunch—
Tia chewed carefully, methodically.
And at that same instant, a message bloomed in his mind.
[The Phantasmal Elementalist ‘Tia’ absorbs the Attribute of the Record of Oblivion.]
[A new Attribute, ‘Light’, has blossomed in Tia.]
[The Light Attribute increases by 15%.]
[Current Attributes]
– [Flame: 31%], [Light: 15%], [Darkness: 1.5%]
[Attribute: Light]
– Effect 1: Pierce through Truth and perceive hidden weaknesses or false illusions.
– Effect 2: Release the power of Light to Purify harmful effects afflicting allies, or extinguish enhancement effects bestowed upon enemies.
‘Light? Light, of all things? And…… fifteen percent?’
Geumson’s jaw dropped as he read the message.
Just one page.
He’d torn out only a single page and fed it to her, yet she’d awakened the Light Attribute—and gained a full fifteen percent increase, no less.
‘Unique-grade items raised it by one percent…… and this is fifteen? Plus a Light Attribute? What is this—some kind of scripture?’
Geumson found it utterly unbelievable.
Even a scripture—the sort of relic that priests would kill for—shouldn’t possess a Light Attribute like this.
But before he could finish the thought, Tia’s body began to glow.
—Tia!—
[Under the influence of the Light Attribute, false illusions are perceived.]
A dazzling radiance burst from Tia’s frame, and the Shadow Sprite before him—
The shadow cloaking the sprite began to peel away.
A faintly revealed face: a small child, looking quite young.
But a single, delicate horn protruded from the center of its brow.
“Ugh! No, this is terrible! The Master will punish me! You wicked human! I’ll have my revenge!”
Whether the sprite was upset about the book being torn or angry about its face being exposed, he couldn’t tell.
Yet seeing the tears welling up in those large eyes, Geumson felt a pang of remorse—until the next instant.
Rip—!
Slash—
The creature tore open the back of Iron Walker’s tunic and lunged straight at Geumson.
“Not so fast!”
Geumson moved quickly, but impossibly, the sprite already held the Record of Oblivion in its grasp.
‘When—?’
The Record had slipped from his hand without so much as a sensation, simply vanished.
The Shadow Sprite, clutching it with half its face now visible, spoke.
“Hmph! Greedy human! Eating too much will give you a bellyache, understand? Why don’t you know that!”
Odd words from the Shadow Sprite.
It was unclear who would suffer the bellyache, but the small creature drew from its bosom a tiny stone that glowed with azure light.
“If you’re too greedy and hoard everything, the Hourglass Time will accelerate! Mark my words! You’ll regret this! Hmph!”
Crack—
The Shadow Sprite hurled the small stone from its bosom onto the ground.
Whoosh—
A brilliant flash of light, and the shadowy figure vanished into the void.
Geumson stared blankly at the place where the sprite had been.
He checked the system’s map again, but the gray dot had vanished without a trace.
‘An NPC using a Return Stone? Is it really an NPC? And…… time acceleration?’
The Giant King and the Shadow Sprite.
Two utterly different beings had left him with cryptic words.
Geumson let out a hollow laugh.
“This is insane. Either way, there are things—or beings—in Lepion who know something, aren’t there?”
His previous life.
Then, he’d known nothing and merely accepted the reality that shifted before him.
And when the age of ruin arrived, he’d thought it merely fate and surrendered to it.
Lepion aside, humanity itself in those days had been equally uncontrollable and willful.
So he had thought destruction was only natural.
But he sensed that Lepion might hold some answers.
The vast world of Lepion.
Before, all players had been too preoccupied with raising their levels to explore Lepion’s world properly.
But this time would be different.
‘I should search. There’s definitely something here.’
Geumson set a new objective.
He approached the dungeon core slowly and swung his hammer.
Whoosh—
Crack—
The dungeon core shattered without resistance.
And with its destruction, a message appeared.
[You have conquered the City of Forgotten Giants.]
[Measuring conquest contribution for the City of Forgotten Giants.]
.
.
.
[MVP: Geumson (100%)]
[You have conquered alone a dungeon recommended for 5 players at level 50 or higher.]
[The system pays tribute to you for achieving a feat nearly impossible.]
[Solo Play Privilege has been granted.]
[Hidden Skill ‘Giant’s Strength’ has been acquired!]
[Giant’s Strength Lv. 1][Hidden]
[Active Skill]
– Description: A secret technique that temporarily summons the primal strength of ancient giants into your body.
Upon activation, you gain destructive power that shakes the very earth.
– Effects:
1. Strength and Stamina stats increase by 100%.
2. All attacks gain a Knockback effect, and you become immune to all Knockback effects.
[Title ‘Solitary Conqueror’ has been acquired.]
– Description: You conquered the City of Giants alone. Before your name, any force shall be rendered meaningless.
– Effect 1: When in a solo state (Solo Play), all stats increase by 10%.
– Effect 2: When in a solo state (Solo Play), experience gained and item drop rate increase by an additional 20%.
– Effect 3: Endurance stat has been opened, and you receive a +40 bonus.
.
.
.
At the end of the messages, a choice appeared.
[Will you ‘Open’ the City of Forgotten Giants, or ‘Destroy’ it?]
‘Open or destroy……’
This was new to Geumson too.
Conquering a dungeon alone was something he’d never done before.
It was different from the Gear Dungeon he’d conquered previously.
That had been a sort of artificial dungeon for testing purposes.
But the City of Forgotten Giants was a different beast entirely—a genuine dungeon.
In all of his previous life, Geumson had never experienced anything like this.
‘I knew about opening……but was there a destroy option?’
This he hadn’t known.
Few players had ever conquered dungeons, even in the age of ruin, so he’d never heard of choices like this.
He’d only heard that dungeons could be opened—never anything about destruction.
‘If someone wanted to hide what they’d gained……then there would be players who chose destroy.’
He understood now why this choice had remained hidden.
But Geumson had no need to deliberate.
“I’ll open it.”

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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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