“Wow, there are some pretty good items here.”
Ah-rin, probably thinking the quality of the weapons on display for promotion was quite nice, had already started her shopping.
The blacksmith, who was watching Ah-rin with satisfaction, received an item from a staff member holding a long wooden box and handed it directly to me.
“Thank you for waiting! Here’s the great sword you commissioned last time.”
The superficial purpose of today was to receive this great sword I had ordered previously.
The item handed over by the blacksmith was packaged in a much more luxurious box than last time.
‘Last time I had given him a high-grade mana stone from the Giant Skeleton and some Kadinite.’
I took out the great sword I was currently using from my space.
=====
Unnamed Kadinite Great Sword
– A work of a blacksmith who has yet to gain fame. Born from rare materials and budding talent, it boasts superior performance compared to mana stone grade weapons.
– Attack Power: 61
– Durability: 242/1000
– Enhancement Count: 1/2
=====
‘Has the durability, restored with enhancement stones, already dropped this much…’
Well, considering the number of monsters I had killed while soloing in a B-rank dungeon, it made sense.
‘Wait a minute… I killed a lot, yet my level only went up by 1, which is pretty creepy.’
The experience points +20% buff I gained from job changing was still active, but I was dissatisfied with how steep the level-up threshold had become.
“Um?! Hold on a second. Can you show me that great sword?”
The blacksmith was startled when he saw the great sword I took out and asked to see it.
“Il-wol, are you okay?”
Nod-
Without much thought, I handed over the enhanced great sword, and the blacksmith observed it for quite a while before his eyes lit up and he asked.
“Who on earth touched my work? I’ve never seen craftsmanship like this…”
‘Huh? It’s just a low-grade enhancement stone that Wang-wang threw on it.’
Well, given that it’s an item that has never existed before, it made sense for the blacksmith to be surprised.
Yeon-hee and I exchanged glances and shook our heads.
Yeon-hee remained silent at the question while the blacksmith looked at her anxiously, as if unable to stand the curiosity.
‘There’s too much to hide. It’s not like we’re part of a secret organization or anything.’
If we belonged to a reliable faction, things would be different. That was always a regret.
Leaving the enchanted blacksmith to his obsession, I took out the great sword I had commissioned.
=====
Gray Artisan’s Kadinite Great Sword
– A work of a blacksmith who has just begun to gain fame. Born from rare materials and a flourishing talent, it boasts high performance.
– Attack Power: 103
– Durability: 1200/1200
=====
‘Wow, this is impressive!’
Not only had the attack power gone up significantly, but the durability had also increased by 200.
The appearance was the same, but the grip felt infinitely better.
“Hehe, what do you think? Since I saw you swinging your sword last time, I made some minor adjustments.”
‘He adjusted it just from that…?!’
It seems the description about the budding talent in the system was definitely accurate.
“But who in the world refined my work like this, could you tell me—”
Yeon-hee said she couldn’t reveal who enhanced the great sword and that she’d tell him later when there was more trust built.
“Hmm… Trust, huh… I will have to try harder.”
We entrusted the blacksmith with hundreds of mana stones obtained from monsters we recently killed and requested him to produce a shield and armor.
“Aren’t you giving me any Kadinite this time?”
“This time, just manufacture it. The summoned creatures grow fast, and I have to change their equipment often. When I really obtain high-grade mana stones in the future, I’ll use them then.”
“Alright then.”
“Umm, how much is this?”
“Oh wow, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a Rabbit Beastman. As for the price, let me see—”
While shopping, Ah-rin ended up buying a dagger.
“The durability is incredibly high.”
“All the items here are great.”
‘Ah, I need to leave that behind too.’
I took out another great sword from my space.
A great sword made from roughly processed bones.
The first great sword I made was left with just the bones, and I added newly grown bones, made during dawn whenever I had the time.
[Fierce Claws] applies when attacking using the body, so it fits to use the bone sword as a weapon now.
I planned to use the great sword I received from the blacksmith for a while, but ultimately my final weapon would be the sword made from my own bones.
“Uh… what on earth is that?”
“This is a great sword made from my summoned creature’s bones. It’s a bit rough, so it feels more like scraping than cutting… Could you refine this for me?”
“Let me take a look.”
The blacksmith took my bone sword, examined it for a while, even licking it.
“Remarkable… This is bone? I’d believe it was a newly discovered mineral. Hmmm… I can’t think of any information yet, but if I reprocess it, it might gain additional options.”
“Wow, really?”
“But this alone might be a bit lacking—”
Before the blacksmith could finish, I pulled out the ‘Evil-Infused Crystal’ from my space.
“Yikes! What is that hideous thing?!”
The blacksmith jumped back in shock.
“This is an Evil-Infused Crystal… It’s an item we obtained by chance. Can we mix it with the sword?”
Having already briefed Yeon-hee, she smoothly continued the conversation.
“Hmm… This will require [Purification].”
“Purification? Umm…”
It seems the evil has to be stripped away before it can be used.
‘Do I need to ask Rainy for help?’
I returned the Evil-Infused Crystal to my space and took out the ‘Ancient Rare Crystal’ we obtained recently.
=====
Ancient Rare Crystal
– Has the power to strongly attract and store mana from the air.
– When fused with a creation of dwarves, Magic Power +200
=====
“Ohhhh— what is this?!”
The blacksmith hurried over, carefully examining the crystal, then nodded vigorously.
“This is sufficient. In fact, the quality of the crystal seems a bit excessive compared to the bone’s grade. Wouldn’t this easily fetch 1 billion if sold? Can I really melt this into the sword?”
“Yes, please do.”
Though we knew the information, I thought it would be good to attempt everything we could to gauge it further, so I boldly decided.
And I had a few more crystals available.
“I think I might need some additional Kadinite. After all, to make it properly, we need to increase the value of the sword more…”
“Il-wol?”
Nod-
When I handed over a large chunk of Kadinite, the blacksmith began to jump for joy.
“The Skeleton Soldier is nothing to sneeze at! Hahaha!”
The blacksmith grinned widely, embracing the Kadinite with the eyes of a child.
‘I guess I need to go to a higher dungeon and find some more.’
While there’s enough Kadinite for now, the more materials, the better.
With a farewell from the enthusiastic blacksmith, we finally finished our business at the forge and had a light coffee time at a nearby café.
Ah-rin seemed to be very fond of the newly acquired dagger, too busy checking it out to say a word.
‘Hmm… A dagger, huh… Should I gift one later? Information collection might go up to 100%.’
Now that my proficiency in shaping bones has increased considerably, it felt like I could also tailor equipment for my companions.
Of course, it would need the blacksmith’s help to elevate the quality.
“But what are we doing tomorrow? Are we proceeding without Il-wol as planned?”
“Yes, I’m thinking of going without him. This time, we’ll aim for level 78. We’ll rise on our own strength.”
“It’s going to take quite a while. And the guild tournament is coming up in a few days, right?”
“Yes, it seems we’ll need to skip for two days because of that.”
Even so, it seemed like there was no significant worry about my absence since we had done it once before.
‘Starting tomorrow, it’s back to exploring alone… though I can’t go to any other place.’
Two days ago, the day I signed the contract to join.
On our way home, Yeon-hee and I conducted an experiment.
I had entered a dungeon first, and then Yeon-hee tried to create more than 10 km of distance between us.
The result was that the summoning was released against my will, and I was sent back to the Dark Space.
While I was able to enter simultaneously within my sensing range, such as in the Beasel dungeon and the ‘Living Statue of Might’ dungeon, it was difficult to enter other B-rank dungeons.
As someone who needed to collect abilities by defeating new monsters in various dungeons, it was a worrying situation for me.
‘Should I try to attempt that?’
It’s common knowledge that small gates within dungeons have been opening periodically lately.
If I leap into a gate created by a monster’s appearance, could I be transported to a dungeon or another world?
‘It’s risky, but might be worth a try.’
Ding—
“Huh? Oh, it’s Jin-hyuk.”
While I was lost in thought, I received a call from Cha Jin-hyuk.
‘It’s been a while. Cha Jin-hyuk.’
“Yeah, it’s been a while. Jin-hyuk. Oh, is that so? But since your health is all better, such activities… yes.”
Yeon-hee ended the brief five-minute call and informed me about Jin-hyuk’s recent developments.
“He apparently formed a guild!”
“Wow…?!”
Jin-hyuk reportedly reached a significant turning point as he recovered his health following a serious injury he sustained while protecting Yeon-hee.
I had thought he had exceptional talent right from the start, but him saying he had broken out of his shell indicated considerable growth.
He had reached the point where he could solo the lowest B-rank dungeon, ‘Lukrakota,’ and was steadily tackling higher dungeons with his new party members.
And fortunately, the new hunters he had met treated him with the most open-mindedness he had ever experienced among the people he had met.
It just so happened that they proposed to form a guild, and he began to operate as a co-leader.
‘Is it suddenly going that way? That caught me completely off guard.’
A guy who used to call Yeon-hee ‘Angel’ grew steadily without ever showing up and even became the founder of a guild.
‘Hmm… It feels like hearing news about an acquaintance I barely know, but is doing really well.’
“Cha Jin-hyuk, Cha Jin-hyuk… Ah, from my search, it looks like he’s become quite a famous hunter in that area lately. He can control gravity… for a supporter to solo a B-rank dungeon, how strong can he be?”
Joo-ah, who didn’t know much about Jin-hyuk, showed interest while searching since it’s rare for Yeon-hee to talk about someone else.
In any case, if Jin-hyuk grows stronger, Yeon-hee will receive rewards from summoning scrolls, so I was cheering for him from a distance.
Though I briefly wandered off track, Yeon-hee and the party continued their lengthy meeting in preparation for tomorrow.
Since it didn’t seem to carry much meaning for me to be there, I asked Yeon-hee to dismiss my summoning and entered the Dark Space.
*
‘Phew— Every time I come here, I think about how this place feels the most comfortable.’
It’s either due to the time spent here or perhaps the pitch-black space aligns well with my nature, but I couldn’t say for certain.
As soon as I arrived, I went straight to Rainy, my attention caught by a floating chunk emitting a bright light.
(Ugh… What’s that dirty thing again?)
Rainy, who tried to bring me a beautifully purified Fragment of Life Potion for praise, gasped at the sight of the ‘Evil-Infused Crystal’ I was holding.
‘This? It’s a new request.’
Rainy wiggled her branches, refusing the reality that she had to perform purification work again.
‘By the way, you purified quickly this time, didn’t you? As expected of Rainy, the marvelous tree.’
However, as I patted her head and complimented her a few times, Rainy struck a proud pose and flaunted her abilities.
(This is a piece of cake! Just leave it to me!)
‘Okay, I’ll count on you. You can hug me tight and feast on my mana today.’
(Really?! I’ll eat right away then!)
Having grown bigger, Rainy quickly wrapped me up in branches and even lifted me slightly off the ground.
(Nom nom— Ahhh— this taste… it’s heavenly…)
While supplying her mana, I examined the ‘Fragment of Life Potion’ that Rainy had purified.
=====
Fragment of Life Potion 1/10
– Collecting 10 ‘Fragments of Life Potion’ will yield a ‘Life Potion.’
=====
‘Hmm. I need nine more from now on.’
Fragments acquired by defeating evolved creatures.
I hadn’t been able to gather them for a while as they had been scarce, but it’s a key item I could look forward to in the future.
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