A Disciple of Destruction
The slime spoke in a rush, but Tae-hyun didn't buy it. He wasn't such a pushover that he'd fall for that when there was clearly a massive racket coming from outside. Only someone like Cain would fall for that!
"Something's weird. Let me go check."
"No, you mustn't! If an outsider checks without permission, this hall might collapse!"
"Oh. Really?"
"Yes!"
"Cut the crap."
You possess the Highest-grade Eloquence Skill.
You have detected that the target is lying!
'I would've known that even without the skill.'
To Tae-hyun, who was practically a master-class con artist himself, the slime's lie was so absurd it was almost insulting.
Slam!
Tae-hyun flung the door open and stepped out. The entrance to the hall was completely wrecked, and the Elemental Spirit was locked in combat with a golem he had never seen before.
Rumble!
The Elemental Spirit summoned lightning in both hands, swinging it wildly as it pushed the golem back. Lightning, one of the most destructive elements, raged wildly, tearing the surroundings to shreds. But the golem was no pushover either. It shifted its body, launching a brass sphere to the side to safely redirect the lightning.
The Clockwork Golem is delighted to see the Avatar!
"?"
The Elemental Spirit warns you that the golem is a lunatic and tells you to get back inside quickly!
"???"
The Clockwork Golem retorts that the spirit is a friendless, lonely elemental and tells you not to pay it any mind!
"??????"
Karbanog is thoroughly confused, stating they have no idea what on earth is going on right now.
'Me neither.'
It seemed the Clockwork Golem of the Ancient Empire had decided to let its fists do the talking. It bloated its metallic body, spun rapidly, and charged forward with immense force.
The Elemental Spirit of the Ancient Empire hastily cast a spell.
"Barrier of the Deep-Rooted Great Tree!"
Creak, groan!
Massive tree roots erupted and tangled together, wrapping tightly around the golem. But the golem tore through the roots with sheer brute strength.
Tae-hyun was genuinely impressed by the high-level exchange of skills.
'The NPCs at Ancient Empire University really are something else.'
The Clockwork Golem reaches out its hand!
The Clockwork Golem shouts for you to come out quickly!
The Desperate Search for a Disciple
The Ancient Empire University is a repository of all skills and knowledge, but adventurers who enter do not always learn in a balanced manner. In particular, adventurers rarely learn crafting skills, which has caused much resentment.
The brilliant professors who must teach crafting class skills are desperately searching for a new disciple. If you pass their trials, you will be able to learn powerful Arcane skills.
📍 Location: Ancient Empire University
🎁 Reward: ?, ???
'Wait, I haven't even finished learning magic yet...'
Tae-hyun was flustered by the sudden quest window. This wasn't a simple "Do you like Mom or Dad better?" question—whose side was he supposed to take here?
The Clockwork Golem accuses the Elemental Spirit of being shameless! It shouts that the spirit already has plenty of disciples and is just being incredibly greedy!
The Elemental Spirit makes excuses, saying it hasn't taken on a disciple in ages.
The Clockwork Golem presses further, asking if this isn't too much and shouting, "Don't you feel any pity for me?!"
'...Huh? The spirit is losing ground?'
For some reason, the Elemental Spirit seemed to be faltering. Honestly, once they started arguing, the spirit didn't have much of a leg to stand on. While the Elemental Spirit had taught several outstanding mages in the past, the Clockwork Golem had rarely ever had a disciple. It was only natural for the golem to react so desperately.
Having been cooped up here for thousands of years, a newbie... no, a fresh disciple was bound to be an incredibly exciting prospect for these ancient beings.
The Elemental Spirit finally concedes, allowing the Golem to teach you first.
Clank!
The moment the words were spoken, the Clockwork Golem extended its arm and grabbed Tae-hyun.
The Clockwork Golem uses Clockwork Extension to grab you!
Clank-clank-clank!
The Clockwork Golem began to sprint away in sheer excitement. The slime shouted at the retreating Tae-hyun:
"Don't forget to come back and finish your remaining trials!"
After the two of them departed, an ogre finally showed up, albeit a bit late. Standing a full head taller than most giants, the ogre huffed and puffed while clutching a massive kitchen cleaver, then turned its head.
The Ogre Chef searches for Kim Tae-hyun to teach him Cooking skills.
The Ogre Chef sniffs out Kim Tae-hyun's direction using its unique ogre sense of smell!
The Clockwork Golem uses Voice Transmission.
- *Static.* Can you hear me?
"Yeah, loud and clear."
- *Static.* You have been chosen. As the successor to the honorable Engineering skills.
"Oh..."
Tae-hyun was honestly a bit pleased. Of course, it was a bit absurd that his magic training had been interrupted halfway through, but he could always go back and finish it later.
- *Static.* Are you pleased?
"I am."
- *Static.* Good. However, I do not feel pleasure.
The Clockwork Golem was completely expressionless, to the point where not a single shred of emotion could be detected.
'Well, it certainly doesn't look very happy.'
Karbanog remarks, asking how on earth a golem would ever understand joy.
- *Static.* Show me the skills you possess.
The Clockwork Golem uses Skill Inspection!
- *Static.* Decent proficiency.
The golem's shoulders twitched. The skills of this long-awaited disciple were actually magnificent.
Deconstruct was a skill that served as the backbone of Engineering, allowing one to dismantle items for recyclable parts. On top of that, Recipe Modification was a highly creative skill that allowed for the alteration of crafting recipes. And Unstable was an incredibly rare and powerful skill!
"Didn't you just get excited?"
- *Static.* I am not swayed by emotions.
"Didn't you just fight like a maniac with that elemental spirit earlier...?"
- *Static.* Your skills are quite excellent, but there is a flaw.
The golem quickly changed the subject. Tae-hyun asked, puzzled:
"What is it?"
- I have not seen all of your skills yet, but your total count seems rather low. An outstanding mechanical engineering blacksmith should possess far more skills.
"I see."
- *Static.* Furthermore, it is best not to learn demonic engineering skills. There is no telling what kind of wicked whispers you might fall prey to.
Karbanog bursts into laughter, asking who on earth is calling who wicked right now!
'...Karbanog...' I can hear you!
- *Static.* You must possess a wider variety of skills to craft diverse items and adapt to various situations. A creator must always possess creativity.
"For someone who claims to have no emotions, your tone is getting pretty heated, don't you think?"
- *Static.* It is your imagination. I shall inspect the next skill.
- ...
The golem stared at Tae-hyun as if looking at a complete madman. It was truly impressive how a completely expressionless metal face could convey such vivid emotion!
- ... *Static.* Why on earth do you have so many bomb-related skills?
"Well... life just sort of turned out that way."
- *Static.* Bombs are among the simplest of items. If you only craft such things, your skills will never improve.
"That's why I started making them bigger and blowing up more of them at once."
- ...
The golem was left utterly speechless. Because technically, he wasn't wrong!
- *Static.* In any case, you must learn various skills and expand your recipe list.
"Sure. That makes sense."
- *Static.* This skill is magnificent! What did you craft with this?
The golem was highly satisfied upon inspecting the skill. It was an incredibly high-difficulty crafting skill that only someone who had reached the peak of Engineering could showcase! This skill, which allowed one to create equipment embedded with the core principles of engineering, was so unstable and dangerous that ordinary craftsmen wouldn't even dare to attempt it.
"A bomb."
- ...
The golem's eyes slowly transitioned from sheer bewilderment to profound sorrow. It was as if it were saying:
Why on earth is he wasting such talent on bombs?
...or something along those lines.
'If he ever goes to the Valley, he's going to weep tears of blood.'
Karbanog points out that they would probably be tears of oil.
The mechanical engineering blacksmiths in the Valley were all lunatics who staked their lives on bombs. To the golem, a mechanical engineering blacksmith who pursued the absolute pinnacle of technology—crafting delicate, breathing mechanisms—this was nothing short of sacrilege.
- *Static.* Is there... nothing else besides that...?
"Hmm. A clockwork bomb."
- ... *Static!* Stop putting bombs on everything!!
Ultimately, the golem exploded in anger.
You have enraged the Golem!
Your Speech skill has increased significantly!
- *Static.* Here lie the great recipes passed down since the days of the Ancient Empire.
Thud!
The place the golem brought Tae-hyun to was a massive underground facility reminiscent of a factory. Cast-iron pillars were positioned throughout, supporting the ceiling, and steam occasionally hissed out from within them.
🏛 Type: Ancient Empire Facility
⚔ Difficulty: Unknown
Your Reputation has increased!
The blueprint is incredibly massive and complex!
Your current Architecture skill is too low.
Your Engineering skill is extremely high.
...You have failed to comprehend the blueprint.
'Damn.'
Tae-hyun felt a pang of regret. It would have been great to learn the blueprint for a power plant like this. He could have installed one in the underground of the Valley.
'Then again, the Valley's underground is already pretty crowded with Dwarves, Goblins, and Vampires...'
- *Static.* You are to search for other recipes (excluding bombs) inside here.
"Uh... can't I look for bombs?"
Tae-hyun asked, sounding deeply disappointed. A place like this was bound to have several powerful bomb recipes. Like a power plant-destroying bomb...
Karbanog asks if such a bomb even exists.
'Who knows? If I make it, it'll exist, right?'
[......]
- *Static.* You must not search for bomb recipes.
"Why not?"
- *Static...* If you find one... this underground facility will explode.
"..."
Tae-hyun was dumbfounded. Did the NPCs at Ancient Empire University not have a lying function? What kind of absurd lie was that...
"I... I see. I shall... look for other recipes, then."
- *Static.* There are many hidden recipes within this Underground Power Plant! You must find those recipes. Not bombs!
'Isn't this guy way too emotional?'
- *Static.* Understood?
"Understood."
- Not bombs.
"...I said I got it..."
'But how am I supposed to find the recipes?'
You have discovered a Broken Steam Pipe.
There is a hidden recipe behind it. Repairing the pipe will open the path.
'Ah, so that's how it works.'
There were several hidden skills scattered throughout the power plant. To obtain these skills, one had to repair broken machinery and clear the path.
'This is easier than I thought.'
This level of difficulty was far lower than he had anticipated. Tae-hyun immediately raised his hammer and attempted to repair the steam pipe...
Your Engineering skill is too low.
Your Blacksmithing Skill is too low.
You suffer a penalty.
Repair failed!
Your Engineering skill has increased.
Your Blacksmithing Skill has increased.
"...?!?!"
Tae-hyun was shocked. The difficulty of the repair was beyond anything he could have imagined.
'What? Is this crazy?'
The fact that his skills increased even on a failure meant the difficulty was astronomically high. Tae-hyun braced himself, took a serious stance, and began the repairs again.
Repair failed!
Repair failed!
Repair failed!
"..."
Tae-hyun glanced around. No one's watching, right?
Slide—