Chapter 159
Chapter 159
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 159
Chapter Title: Metallurgy (1)
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Yuri brushed off his participation in the 49th Cohort's quest as no big deal.
But contrary to his words, the quest itself—not to mention the aftermath—was anything but trivial.
"Everyone, freeze."
Right after the quest ended, Theresia drew her sword... no, her spear on her fellow cohort members.
"I'm claiming all the points we're owed."
As if to say that anyone with complaints could settle it with fists.
Theresia raised a murderous aura.
Even so, it was inevitable that grumbles arose from the 49th Cohort in response to her threat.
Irritated mutters erupted like, "What gives you the right to say that?" and Theresia fired back with sharp criticism.
"The Demon King was taken down by Yuri Holland, and I'm his ally and proxy. I don't know where you've been or what you've been doing, but don't you think I'm more qualified than you lot trying to hog the quest rewards?"
As Theresia said, most of those voicing complaints had only shown up after the quest was over.
They were the ones Yuri had beaten senseless.
Those who had personally witnessed Yuri taking down the Demon King didn't raise much objection to her claim.
They knew the Demon King's level of power.
They had clearly seen how Yuri defeated him.
And they had at least once considered whether they could have taken him down if they had fought to the end.
That's why they couldn't strongly oppose Yuri and Theresia's claim to the quest rewards.
Yulia put the final nail in that coffin.
"I acknowledge it. By my calculations, our odds of beating the Demon King were less than 1%. So I'm forfeiting my claim to the quest rewards."
Yulia had made significant contributions against the Demon King with her magic-enhanced horsemanship before Yuri and Theresia stepped in.
In truth, the 49th Cohort's stand against the Demon King was entirely thanks to her efforts.
If she had come forward saying, "We wore down the Demon King's health before you fought, so we deserve our share!" that would have been one thing.
But with Yulia forfeiting her rights, the others had no choice but to follow suit.
Even so, the dissatisfaction didn't fully subside.
It was Jerry who stamped out the remaining seeds of discontent.
"Ha? Look at these thugs? Even we who fought the Demon King gave it up, and now these backstabbers who bailed want to claim the rewards? Fuck, you wanna go? Huh?"
Most of those Yuri had knocked out had chosen the "path of shame" at the crossroads.
So even those muttering now shut their mouths upon seeing Jerry's attitude, followed by his cohort mates mirroring it.
In that way, the points issue was resolved smoothly, thanks to a few level-headed members of the 49th Cohort.
But the most critical problem remained.
It was the matter of Yuri swallowing the Crystal of Power during the quest.
An unusual meeting of mid-level Black Sword Corps executives was convened over this.
It was only natural that the culprit, Yuri, was summoned.
And contrary to the somewhat grave atmosphere, the issue with the Crystal of Power was resolved surprisingly easily.
Yuri's prediction had hit the mark, which helped greatly.
As he suspected, the power the Demon King displayed in this quest exceeded the preset limits.
The Demon King's assigned level for this quest was at the peak of certified 5th dan.
Up until the 49th Cohort faced him, he had indeed shown strength matching his specs.
The problem arose when he fought Yuri and awakened.
'This is bullshit. Heroes awaken, not Demon Kings.'
From what he heard, the Black Sword Corps member playing the Demon King had a martial art based on rage and killing intent.
So Yuri's guess that the Demon King's eyes rolling back with overwhelming murderous intent revealed his true form was spot on.
And Yuri's sense that the Demon King's skill might have surpassed certified 5th dan into 6th dan during the fight wasn't wrong either.
It wasn't just Yuri's imagination—the Demon King's realm had genuinely advanced mid-battle.
And when the Demon King got hit by Yuri's Ma-ryu and flew back the first time.
The berserk form that emerged had finally shattered the wall of certified 5th dan and reached 6th dan.
This was clearly a spec error on the Demon King's part.
'Damn it, am I some punching bag for sword practice? Why do all these guys I fight break through their bottlenecks?'
Not just this Demon King, but Greta too.
All of them were stronger than him, yet after gleefully beating on him, they broke through their stuck walls and advanced their realms.
At this point, maybe Yuri could be called a "punching bag that grants enlightenment."
The irony was that Yuri himself struggled desperately to survive while getting pummeled and never gained even a spark of insight.
That fact stung him deeply.
Anyway, thanks to that, Yuri's claim that "The Demon King went berserk, so I had no choice but to swallow the Crystal of Power to survive!" was smoothly accepted, and the incident was closed for now.
Thus, Yuri from the 50th Cohort ended up gaining the most from the 49th Cohort's quest.
After it ended, the points he and Theresia received totaled 51.75 million points.
Half of that, 25.875 million points, went to Yuri.
On top of that, he was the one who swallowed the Crystal of Power—so rare that money alone couldn't buy it, and three times larger than average.
In terms of rewards alone, it was by far the best haul Yuri had gotten from the Cradle so far.
He felt full without eating, and silly grins kept slipping out even when idle.
In fact, he was grinning like an idiot.
Seeing it, Arin muttered under her breath.
"...Creepy smile."
Her mutter was loud enough, and Yuri's eyes narrowed instantly. Arin pretended nothing happened.
"Did you just say something to me?"
"Nope?"
"Sounds like you did."
"...Wha'chu say?"
"You, no more meat."
At Yuri's threat, Arin—who was grilling meat—jumped up.
"No way, why!"
"That meat came from my food stores."
"Bullshit! Even if it was yours originally, Senior Theresa bought and shared it, so it's hers now!"
At her words, Theresa looked up with a benevolent smile.
"Eat up, I bought it. Hehe."
It was a benevolent smile in words, but somehow she looked a bit unhinged.
Yuri clicked his tongue at the sight.
'She's still like that.'
Theresa had ended up this way after over 25 million points hit her account all at once.
She had never earned this much in the Cradle before.
Dazed by the sudden windfall, she was giggling nonstop.
And this meat party was her way of celebrating—buying meat and handing it out to Yuri.
Buoyed by Theresa's urging to eat more, Arin snorted triumphantly.
"See? Senior Theresa bought it!"
Yuri turned to Theresia.
"Tessa."
"Yeah?"
"Who's responsible for Tessa earning those points?"
"Yuri?"
"Then whose meat is this?"
"Yuri's?"
Yuri shot Arin a mocking grin at Theresia's answer.
Full of "Hear that?" vibes.
Flustered, Arin grabbed Theresa's shoulders and shook.
"Se, Senior, snap out of it!"
"I have tons of points, hehe."
"Don't throw away your pride for some points!"
"I love points, hehehehehe."
Arin backed away with a hopeless look at Theresa, flushed and giggling nonstop.
Then, regardless of the surroundings, she spotted Poppi crouched by the furnace, intently grilling meat, and tossed a question.
"Poppi, you tell her! Whose meat is it? Obviously Senior Theresa's, right?"
"Hungry?"
Poppi tilted her head slightly.
Positioned right between Arin and Yuri, she glanced back and forth.
Then she wiggled her butt, inching away from Arin.
She couldn't speak, but she knew which way the wind was blowing.
"You, you...?!'
Arin froze in shock at her trusted friend's betrayal.
Yuri sneered at her.
"If you want even a scrap of meat, shut up and grill as ordered, slave."
"...Yes, Master."
In the end, Arin submitted to absolute power and crouched beside Poppi, flipping the meat skewers.
Having dealt with Arin, Yuri turned to Sekyung, who stood like a propped-up scarecrow.
"All the prep's done... Now let's get to the real bet. What first, old man Kongsul?"
His slightly excited voice drew a snort from Sekyung.
"I don't care whenever... but with your arm like that, you sure?"
"Ah, it's fine. It'll be good as new in a few days."
"Just a sprain?"
"Nope, broken."
"...When?"
"Six days ago?"
"And it's fine?!"
"Seriously, it is."
Yuri wasn't lying.
His arm had indeed broken six days prior, but it was already mostly healed.
The Crystal of Power he'd swallowed hadn't just boosted his strength—it had miraculously enhanced his recovery too.
'The Crystal of Power... good call getting it.'
It was worth the risk.
Meanwhile, oblivious Sekyung just looked dumbfounded.
Finally, he snorted.
"Hmph, fine! If your arm gets wrecked from screwing up, that's on you."
"Yay yay."
"I'll come back in three days."
"Three days?"
"This body needs prep time too. You'll be impressed. Heh heh heh."
With a lecherous chuckle, Sekyung grinned at Yuri and scampered off.
Yuri watched his retreating back for a moment.
No trace of worry on his face.
"Hey, save some meat for me!"
Yuri charged at those shoving meat in their mouths while he chatted with Sekyung.
* * *
Exactly three days after the meat party.
The fateful day of the bet finally arrived.
Sekyung appeared, shouldering a large leather sack.
Yuri waited for him.
"You're here."
Finally, they faced each other about two meters apart.
Arin, Poppi, and Theresia sat munching snacks, watching Yuri and Sekyung's staring contest.
"......"
"......"
The two glared for a long while.
Thud- clunk-.
A heavy sound echoed as Sekyung set down the sack.
With a mocking grin at Yuri, he said,
"Ready?"
"Of course."
Yuri spun his right arm.
The bone had healed cleanly in days, now even tougher.
He lightly flicked his wrist.
"Come on, let's start. What's the first metallurgy technique I need to learn?"
Seeing Yuri's confidence, Sekyung snorted.
"Hmph, we'll see how long that lasts."
"Probably till the end. So what is it, first technique?"
At Yuri's repeated question, Sekyung wiped the smirk and spoke gravely.
"People think the Bone Clan's fame in metallurgy is just innate talent in our blood. Half right, half wrong. That fame comes from our talent, sure—but also from the basics drilled into us from childhood."
Half a year learning and practicing tool uses.
One year focused on swinging the hammer.
Five more years on fire-building and control.
The metallurgy powerhouse, the Walker School of the Bone Clan.
Their renown was born of innate gifts and systematic training from way back.
And in the Walker School, one basic they emphasized above all was...
"Some say hammering is metallurgy's core. Others, fire control. But our Walker School prizes above all... materials!"
"Hoo?"
"No artisan, however skilled, can craft masterpieces from rotten materials! Only when master craft meets prime, valuable stuff do masterpieces emerge!"
Sekyung clenched his fist tight.
"That's why our Walker School drills it endlessly: the bedrock of metallurgy is 'the eye to appraise materials'!"
With that bold declaration, Sekyung untied the sack and dumped its contents.
Clatter- ting-.
A dozen or so iron ingots spilled out.
Pointing at them, Sekyung sneered.
"Come on, line these iron bars from best to worst quality. Nail it, and you win the first bet."
"......?"
No sooner had Sekyung finished than dozens of question marks popped up over Yuri's head.