Chapter 171
Chapter 171
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 171
Chapter Title: Symbiosis (1)
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A shout rang out so thunderously it seemed the entire forest would shatter.
It didn't end with just that one cry.
Soon, another shout followed.
"What are you waiting for—come out already! You scared, you punk? Kuhaha!"
The rough, booming voice brimmed with confidence.
Gunter poked his head beyond the watchtower, following the sound.
'Huh?'
Standing there was a lone old man who had pulled up in a cart.
Gunter blinked in surprise.
'Wait... an old man?'
Judging by his clothes, he was definitely no Black Sword soldier.
Yet here was someone who wasn't one of them, wandering around the cradle?
Gunter stared down in shock for a long while before finally realizing Se-kyung's identity.
'...Bone Clan? Why would a Bone be here?'
It made no sense whatsoever.
To Gunter, who knew nothing of the backstory, Se-kyung's appearance was nothing short of abrupt.
Perhaps sensing Gunter's gaze, Se-kyung looked up, his eyes locking directly with Gunter's on the watchtower.
"Huh? Who's this? Don't recognize you from around here."
"Ah, I..."
Just as Gunter started to reply, Se-kyung cut him off without even listening.
"Pah, come back after all this time and what do I find? Some weird-ass thing plopped right in my way. So where's the damn entrance? What kind of sloppy job is this? Tsk."
Muttering under his breath, Se-kyung kicked lightly at the wooden wall blocking his path.
The massive wooden wall had been built after Gunter joined.
As it was still an unfinished fortress, the gateway was under construction.
For now, they'd just left space for it and blocked it off with logs.
Of course, that was no real inconvenience for those living inside.
Poppi had the strength to move the logs aside.
And everyone else was nimble enough to hop over them.
They hadn't paid it much mind until this unexpected guest threw Gunter into a panic.
'What should I do? Call Poppi to clear the logs?'
Just as Gunter thought that and opened his mouth to ask him to wait a moment.
"Ah, that's..."
Se-kyung cut him off again.
"Pah, whatever. If there isn't one, I'll make my own."
"......"
Gunter felt a twinge of annoyance at the Bone Clan's old man, who had interrupted him twice now and just kept talking over him.
He tilted his head at the old man's baffling words.
In the meantime, Se-kyung rummaged around in the cart he'd brought.
Clank.
Soon, a 110 cm dark green cylinder emerged in his hand.
Thud.
'What the hell is that?'
Gunter watched curiously as Se-kyung slung the dark green cylinder over his shoulder.
With no idea what would happen next.
"Let's see... yeah, that'll do."
Se-kyung sized up where to blast a hole big enough to pull his cart through.
Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger.
Flames spewed from the dark green cylinder.
Boom!
The massive explosion that followed made Gunter, who had been watching idly, tense up instantly.
"......?!'
The moment something shot from the dark green cylinder and slammed into the wooden wall.
KABOOM!
A huge blast erupted, shattering thick log pillars in an instant and punching a massive hole right through.
Rustle.
"......"
As Gunter gaped in shock,
Wooden debris from the explosion rained down like a storm.
Rumble.
The vibration from the wall exploding shook the entire structure, reaching all the way to Gunter's watchtower.
Gunter had witnessed and felt the insane explosion and quake firsthand.
Hiccup.
A hiccup escaped his half-dazed mouth.
His eyes looked oddly sorrowful.
'Two weeks... all my hard work...'
Seeing one section of the wall he'd labored over blow away so pointlessly.
"......"
Watching the culprit leisurely pull his cart inside, Gunter let out a groan-like mutter.
"This place... definitely has bad vibes."
Look at all these lunatics showing up one after another.
It wasn't just a little bad—it was seriously cursed.
His eyes shook like there was an earthquake as he squeezed out a murmur.
"Maybe running away really is the best call..."
Gunter's inner turmoil deepened.
* * *
Yuri's group rushed out at the sound of the explosion.
The first thing to greet them was the gaping hole in the wooden wall.
And it wasn't hard to spot who'd made it.
Creak creak.
Se-kyung Walker, pulling his small cart.
Yuri bellowed at the Explosion Demon striding in so boldly.
"You goddamn geezer...!"
"Hah? What?"
Click.
The dark green cylinder still slung over Se-kyung's shoulder now pointed at Yuri.
Everyone in Yuri's group knew exactly what that was.
Arin, Theresia, and Poppi all scurried behind Yuri in an instant.
Yuri suddenly became a meat shield.
He swallowed dryly and forced an awkward grin.
"Hah, hah... g-good to see you. Yeah, called out 'cause I'm so glad."
...Yuri swallowed his tears and yielded to violence.
If Se-kyung started firing that freakish explosive here, the fruits of their two weeks' labor would vanish in a flash.
Only then did Yuri reflect on his past actions.
'So this is what it felt like...'
When he'd smashed up the workshop, had Se-kyung felt like this every day fixing it?
Yuri rubbed his hands together with a servile smile.
"Haha, s-sir? Let's talk this out, yeah? Put that thing down!"
He subtly prepared himself on the side.
If Se-kyung showed any sign of unleashing those damn bombs, he'd charge and crack the old man over the head.
But fortunately for Yuri—and perhaps Se-kyung too—
Se-kyung tossed the explosive back into the cart.
Clank.
The dark green cylinder settled into the cart with a loud noise.
Only Yuri and his group fretted over whether it might blow.
Se-kyung approached, pulling the cart with utter nonchalance.
He planted himself in front of Yuri and bellowed in a spirited voice.
"Time to start the third round!"
Yuri let out a deep sigh at Se-kyung's beaming, confident grin.
"You drunk old fart, sigh... sun's about to set. People need sleep, you know?"
The sun had nearly dipped below the horizon, darkness settling in.
But Se-kyung replied as if it were nothing.
"The forge's flames burn brightest at night!"
"...Yeah, sure they do."
Yuri sighed again, face saying whatever happens, happens.
Shaking off his unease, he reverted to his usual demeanor and asked.
"Fine, challenge accepted! What's the third task?"
"No big deal."
Se-kyung said it was nothing much, but Yuri sensed from his smug expression that this wouldn't be easy.
And that was the moment.
Se-kyung yanked the cloth off the cart he'd brought.
Flutter.
An array of tools revealed themselves beneath the flapping cloth.
Showing them to Yuri, Se-kyung grinned.
"The third bet... replicate the metallurgy technique I show you."
"Metallurgy? For real?"
Yuri's eyes sparkled.
Finally, a proper challenge.
Seeing that, Se-kyung smirked inwardly.
'Yeah, enjoy it now...'
Wonder if you'll still be grinning later.
Se-kyung swallowed his sneer and said.
"The metallurgy I'll teach you today... is called the Extreme Mineral Polarization Art."
"Oho? Sounds seriously tough just from the name."
"Kekeke, tough? Any Bone Clan member can do it. Any. One. Of. Us!"
"That's how it is, huh?"
"That's right!"
Yuri flashed a toothy grin, meeting Se-kyung's gaze.
At the same time, Yuri snickered inwardly.
'Not even a three-year-old drool monster would buy that bullshit.'
Easy problem when winning this round meant total victory?
From this batshit old man?
Total nonsense.
The smile vanished from Yuri's face as his narrowed eyes scanned Se-kyung.
'What're you cooking up, old timer?'
Se-kyung grinned back happily at Yuri's piercing stare.
"Heh heh heh. Shall we... begin?"
* * *
Theresia, Arin, and Poppi.
Thrilled at the rare spectacle, they scurried to sit and tore open their ration pouches like always.
Meanwhile, Gunter shuffled awkwardly over to the group.
"No. 4's here?"
Arin waved lightly to greet Gunter.
"Hungry?"
Poppi offered a ration pouch to Gunter standing beside him.
"Ah, I'm fine—here, you have it, Poppi..."
Gunter tried to decline, but paused at the armful of pouches in Poppi's embrace.
He hesitantly took what Poppi offered.
"...Thanks."
Gunter gripped the ration pouch, face awkward.
He turned to look at Yuri and Se-kyung, then spoke.
"Ahem... mind explaining what the hell's going on?"
"Oh, that?"
At Gunter's polite request, Arin replied while munching her rations.
"No biggie, so basically..."
Arin roughly explained who Se-kyung was and why he was here—as much as she knew.
Gunter's eyes widened as he shot back.
"A bet? Those two are betting? Over what, exactly?"
"I don't know the details. Way back, that grandpa showed up and blew this place to hell, y'know?"
"...The damage I saw when I arrived—that was from then?"
"Yep. Anyway, the grandpa who was raging like crazy back then started chatting with Yuri and suddenly proposed this bet."
"...You know the situation that well but not what the bet's about?"
"We were too scared and stayed way back, right?"
"Hungry."
Poppi nodded as if agreeing with Arin's story.
Gunter asked curiously.
"Is this the first bet?"
"Nope, third round out of five today."
"So you've already done two rounds before this?"
"Yep."
"Huh? Then what happened in those two? What were they about?"
At Gunter's eager questions, Theresia, Arin, and Poppi—who had been steadily munching away—froze.
"......"
"......"
"......"
After a long silence, the three spoke with utmost seriousness.
"...Licking iron?"
"...Picking iron by taste?"
"...Hungry?"
At their pattering replies.
"...Huh?"
A swarm of question marks popped up over Gunter's head.
* * *
Se-kyung finished unpacking all his gear and eyed Yuri.
"Normally we'd start by lighting the fire, but time's short, so this old body will make an exception. Watch closely—seeing a Bone Clan tame fire ain't something you see every day."
He crammed his prepared dry kindling into the furnace and lit it.
The first spark was a red flame.
It spread instantly to the dry wood.
Whoosh.
Slowly devouring the wood, it quickly grew in size.
As Se-kyung watched, he pumped the bellows he'd brought, sending a strong gust into the furnace.
Fwoosh.
The wind he blew turned the red flames yellow in a flash.
The fire changed color with a single bellow.
Ordinary smiths would have gasped in horror.
But Se-kyung wasn't done.
He tossed something black into the furnace and kept pumping.
Fwoosh—fwoosh—fwoosh.
The rhythmic bellowing felt like breathing life into the flames.
The yellow flames gradually turned transparent.
Yet Se-kyung's pumping didn't stop.
It looked like he was dancing.
No, it was a dance.
Gestures calling forth winds to nurture the blaze.
A dance only a Bone Clan artisan, decades master of fire and wind, could perform.
After a few more dances,
The white-hot flames finally took on a blue hue.
The furnace Yuri's group used only for grilling meat now spewed heat so intense no one could approach.
As Yuri and the others gawked in amazement,
Se-kyung bellowed thunderously.
"Now it gets real! Watch!"
He tossed his prepared iron ingot into the blue flames.
Moments later, as the silvery-gray ingot glowed red-hot, Se-kyung clamped it with tongs and placed it on the anvil.
"Sss!"
Eyes half-closed, he drew a deep breath and gripped the hammer tight.
His forearms flexed powerfully.
"Hup!"
A short shout rang out.
His relaxed shoulders spun, and the hammer—raised high—struck the red-hot metal like lightning.
Clang!
A short ring echoed, followed by a strange pulse washing over the onlookers.
Thump!
'What the—?!'
The moment they sensed the oddity, that's when it truly began.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Hammer strikes came with wave after wave of eerie pulses.
Along with a throbbing in their eardrums.
'What is this?'
'...What's happening?'
Theresia, Arin, Poppi, Gunter.
They instantly knew the hammering before them was no ordinary smithing.
They couldn't not know.
Each strike resonated with their mana cores.
Entranced, they stared silently at Se-kyung's hammering.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sweat poured from Se-kyung's face like rain with each blow.
The red metal gradually turned blue, slick with sweat.
And finally.
CLANG!
A massive final strike hit the metal.
Sizzle!
Se-kyung plunged the relentlessly hammered piece into water and spoke.
"...Just as humans have innate potential, so do metals."
Sizzzzz.
Bubble bubble.
His voice mingled with the cooling metal and boiling water, creating a mystical atmosphere.
"The smith's job is to draw it out. And when you've pulled out 100% of a metal's potential... that's when you call them a true artisan."
Se-kyung slowly lifted the metal from the water.
The piece he'd hammered with all his might.
It looked no different in shape from when he'd first put it in the furnace.
Just a square iron ingot.
But it had changed utterly from the start—visibly so.
A shimmering polish and luster.
Even a faint glow.
It gleamed like a masterfully wrought silver craft, not mere iron.
The silvery light from the ingot illuminated Se-kyung's face.
Basking in it, he continued with a faint smile.
"The Extreme Mineral Polarization Art is metallurgy that draws a metal's innate potential to its absolute limit."
A metallurgy that maximized a metal's potential.
Evidently no ordinary technique from the description alone.
Not even among the Bone Clan.
Extreme Mineral Polarization Art (鑛性極化術).
One of the five secret arts passed down in the Walker School.
A must-master for its Meister.
The only secret art Se-kyung had grasped in decades.
High difficulty to master, and even then, hard to use freely.
Thus, to demonstrate it here, Se-kyung had spent the past few weeks regaining his touch.
After countless failures, he'd finally honed it to its peak.
Performing it flawlessly before everyone, Se-kyung was confident.
No genius could master it.
Not even the next Meister prospect of the Walker School.
Not in a single day.
Bone Clan history proved it.
Se-kyung turned confidently, showing the reborn ingot to Yuri.
"Now your turn! Let's see you...!"
Try making one just like this! If you can, you win the bet! The method? I'll tell you, sure, anything you want! Pfahaha!
...or so he meant to shout.
But he couldn't finish.
"......?!"
Se-kyung froze mid-turn, like a statue.
The tongs slipped from his grip, the ingot dropping with a clunk.
It was inevitable.
Right in front of him, where he'd turned...
Tsss.
Yuri stood, eyes half-lidded, enveloped in a faint glow.
At the unbelievable sight filling his vision, Se-kyung muttered hoarsely.
"Y-you little shit... again?!"
Yuri's abrupt enlightenment.
And the familiar scene repeating itself.
Anxiety surged in Se-kyung's chest: 'No way?!'