Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Three Swords (2)
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Four days after Kang Hyun-soo began crafting the first sword, he finished it.
[Effect Application Rate: 71%]
[Epic Grade]
[All stats +2]
[Dexterity +30]
[Fame +40]
[Beginner Sword Mastery Lv. 2 proficiency has increased by 34%]
[Beginner Sword Mastery Lv. 2 has been upgraded to Beginner Sword Mastery Lv. 3]
‘Oh, my Beginner Mastery leveled up.’
Hyun-soo smiled faintly. Each level of Beginner Sword Mastery increased sword attack power by 3% and cutting power by 3%.
And at level 9, it would advance to Intermediate Sword Mastery.
The first sword Hyun-soo completed was, as intended, one focused on maximizing fire resistance.
He immediately began crafting the second sword.
For the second sword, he planned to draw out the maximum power of ice-attribute skills.
Just then, the vice-captain, Bella, approached him with a question.
“If you were to forge a hundred swords, how many Rares could you produce?”
Hyun-soo, who was just about to start on the second sword, looked puzzled.
He had never thought about such a thing.
In fact, it was something he never needed to consider.
“I've never once crafted a Normal-grade artifact.”
“What does that mean?”
Bella was taken aback. His words meant that not a single artifact he had ever created had turned out to be Normal grade.
“……Is that true?”
“You'll see for yourself, won't you?”
Hyun-soo's reply was nonchalant. He quickly turned his attention back to the sword, immersing himself in his work.
After inspecting the sword Hyun-soo had made, Bella stared at him in astonishment.
‘Just what is this man?’
Bella immediately mounted her horse and rode off.
As he worked on the second sword, Hyun-soo considered his options carefully.
‘He'll be even more satisfied if I can produce a higher-grade sword.’
After all, Sword King Barad would be the one using all three of these swords.
Before long, Bella returned, finding Hyun-soo still engrossed in his work.
“Shouldn't you get some rest?”
“I'm fine. And since His Majesty is in the Fire Dragon's Nest, there's no time to rest.”
Time passed, and Bella closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of his work.
Claaang—!
Claaaaang—!
Claaaaang—!
And then, another sword was complete.
“……Another Epic, unfortunately.”
“……?”
Unfortunately?
Was this one worse than the last?
Bella inspected the second custom-made sword.
Her eyes trembled.
‘To produce something like this twice in a row…’
It was, of course, an Epic-grade sword. But even for an Epic, one of its effects defied common sense.
‘Inflicts 146% of ice-attribute attack power as damage to enemies within a 20-meter radius?’
It felt unreal.
Weren't ordinary blacksmiths only able to achieve around 65% ice-attribute attack power?
Of course, only this one effect was maximized.
It was a peculiar and astonishing power.
And so, Bella set off once again to seek an audience with the king.
Meanwhile, Hyun-soo focused on crafting the final sword.
‘An Epic isn't enough.’
Hyun-soo needed it.
Not just a sword that would satisfy Barad, but one that would make him jump for joy, ecstatic.
But it wasn't easy.
Of course, even with just these two swords, he would receive a considerable reward.
But it felt like an inadequate way to repay the monumental favor he had received.
After all, the chance to craft a sword for Barad was an opportunity that would never come again.
As he began the third sword, he felt an inexplicable sense of urgency.
Before he knew it, Bella had returned.
“His Majesty has begun to venture deeper.”
Bella didn't say why Barad had gone to the Fire Dragon's Nest.
And Hyun-soo knew it wasn't his place to ask about the king's reasons.
Just as another day was passing.
“It's a disaster!”
“Move, quickly!”
“Summon the knights!”
Bella heard the sudden commotion and looked up, puzzled.
A knight burst into the smithy in a panic.
Bella's eyes wavered. She could see the anxiety in his eyes.
“V-Vice-Captain… H-His Majesty…”
“……Speak!”
“He's trapped in the Fire Dragon's Nest.”
“What…?”
Another man appeared.
He was the Goryad Kingdom's most capable dungeon explorer.
A man with strange powers, he had been standing by outside the Fire Dragon's Nest in case of an emergency.
He possessed the ability to see inside dungeons even when their gates were sealed.
He spread out a map and reported urgently.
“His Majesty is located here, where Ifrit resides. The moment he entered, all entrances were sealed.”
Bella listened to him calmly.
“Also, the moment the door to Ifrit's chamber opened, we were able to identify its special trait.”
The dungeon explorer could also discern the powers of the monsters within.
He continued.
“Ifrit's power melts any and all equipment. Even if it's Unique grade.”
“……Are you saying His Majesty has lost all his equipment?”
“We don't know if he's lost it yet. But he will.”
“……”
Bella fell into a panic.
He was the Sword King, not the Fist King.
Having lost both his sword and armor, His Majesty would be unable to kill Ifrit, the very foe he so longed to defeat.
In the worst-case scenario, he would perish.
“The knights… Send the entire army.”
But even as she gave the order, Bella knew.
Ifrit's Tomb in the Fire Dragon's Nest was a mystical land that only three people could enter.
Of course, this was a mechanic for user party play, and the NPCs didn't know the specific reason.
Bella closed her eyes, lost in thought.
‘It can even melt Unique-grade equipment…’
The exceptional sword, the one with outstanding fire resistance—none of it mattered.
Is Ifrit stronger than His Majesty?
Not necessarily. But it possesses a special trait and a command over the fire attribute that defies all logic.
“Fortunately, there is a safe space here. It seems His Majesty sensed the danger and took refuge. He should be able to hold out for a few days.”
They had to find a way.
But no solution came to Bella's mind.
‘It's impossible.’
As things stood, saving His Majesty was impossible…
“……There's still one sword left.”
At that, Bella's head snapped toward the source of the voice.
There stood Hyun-soo, clad in worn clothes and holding a hammer.
Bella slowly walked toward him.
“……I will try to imbue it with an effect that prevents it from melting.”
As a subject, it was only natural that he didn't want the king to die.
Bella slowly lowered her head.
“……Please, save His Majesty.”
Tiring!
A new quest appeared before Hyun-soo.
[Sudden Quest: A Sword to Save the King]
Grade: S
Requirement: One who has received Bella's plea.
Reward: ???
Failure Penalty: Death of Barad.
Description: Sword King Barad is isolated in Ifrit's Tomb. Craft a sword capable of rescuing him.
“I'm going to start working at full speed now. Everyone except Vice-Captain Bella, please leave.”
Hyun-soo felt the need to concentrate.
Everyone else in the smithy filed out.
And Hyun-soo quickly began his work.
As time passed, Bella's face grew paler and paler.
As he worked, Hyun-soo asked her a question.
“May I ask why His Majesty went to the Fire Dragon's Nest?”
Normally, Bella would never have spoken of the king's private affairs.
She began to tell the story.
“His Majesty had…”
Listening to her story, Hyun-soo immersed himself in his work.
He had a beloved prince, and the queen had died giving birth to him.
The king was said to have cherished the prince more than anyone in the world.
The year he turned twenty, the son pestered Barad, saying he wanted to visit the Fire Dragon's Nest.
That son was killed by an Ifrit that had appeared, unusually, on the very outskirts of the Nest.
Hyun-soo became absorbed in the story.
‘A story so similar to my own…’
Grip—
His hand tightened around the hammer.
Hyun-soo became absorbed in the story.
That absorption, in turn, pulled him into a state of selflessness.
As he worked, he began to hear nothing at all.
The kingdom, under a state of emergency, was still in an uproar, but his eyes saw only the weapon before him.
All noise faded away as he became one with his work.
He lost all sense of passing time.
And his intuition told him.
A good sword would be born.
Finishing the polishing, he engraved a pattern onto the blade.
Only after the last engraving was complete did his sealed senses finally reopen.
And a notification sounded.
Hearing it, Hyun-soo knew instinctively.
‘It's a good sword. But…’
It was not enough to save the king. This sword, too, would melt in the intense heat.
Just then.
[The Blacksmith's Soul has been activated.]
[While forging this sword, you achieved a level of immersion beyond compare.]
[Your passion, tenacity, and empathy have plunged you into a state of selflessness.]
Empathy.
With what had he empathized?
He had empathized with Barad's story. Because it was so much like his own.
That was why Hyun-soo had become so absorbed, pouring his all into the work.
And the effect of this Blacksmith's Soul.
[The grade of Hyeon's sixth custom-made sword will be elevated by one rank.]
It evolved the grade of an already completed sword by one rank.
The moment an ecstatic Hyun-soo gripped the sword, something incredible happened.
***
Bella gathered her weapons.
Only three people could enter the Fire Dragon's Nest. She had realized it.
‘Saving His Majesty with a single weapon is absurd.’
Realizing her folly, she made a decision.
‘I'll go, even if I have to go alone.’
The captain wouldn't go. It wasn't because he didn't care for His Majesty.
It was simply that he was protecting the kingdom in his own way, knowing what could happen to a kingdom without its king.
And Bella's choice was to die trying to save the king.
Bella had grown up under a drunkard blacksmith, and it was His Majesty Barad who had saved her from that life.
He was a blunt and cold man, but to her, he was the one who had changed her life.
Of course she was afraid. Her knees trembled with fear.
But she had to go.
And before she left, she intended to take the sword, just in case it might help.
As she walked to the smithy and was about to push open the door.
“……?”
Bella wore a puzzled expression.
The smithy's iron door was frozen solid.
The moment she forced the door fully open.
A powerful chill billowed out.
Stepping inside, Bella's eyes widened.
Hyun-soo stood there, holding an unknown sword. With every breath he exhaled, a cloud of white vapor appeared.
Around Hyun-soo, she could see shapes freezing into existence.
They looked like raging waves, frozen in time.
And Bella recalled a conversation with Barad.
‘I myself have only seen a few, but with swords like that, I knew the moment I laid eyes on them.’
Hyun-soo held the sword out to Bella.
And Barad's voice, etched so vividly in her mind, echoed once more.
‘This is a Legendary-grade sword.’
Gripping the sword, Bella understood his words.
She, too, had felt it the moment she saw it.
After examining the sword, she looked at Hyun-soo with a sense of wonder and said,
“What sword in this world could possibly compare to this one!”