The Death Blacksmith Awakens
The activation conditions for the Death Blacksmith were twofold.
A forge that had grown familiar in my hands.
And a subspace with a personal connection to me.
“Simply put, it’s a well-used subspace item.”
The workshop and the subspace carrier.
With those two, the conditions should be met.
“We’ve arrived.”
“If I’m not back by six today, just head home.”
I parked a short distance from the workshop. Just as when I’d left my studio apartment, I activated Shadow Step.
Creeeak.
I slowly opened the workshop door and slipped inside.
“Practicing stealth like this, huh.”
【The young master has a knack for it. You’ll pick it up in no time.】
Wow.
So the day had come when people would actually say I had talent or a gift for something. Even my personal trainer used to throw up his hands at how hopelessly uncoordinated I was.
I was just starting to bask in the feeling when—
“Do try it at once.”
Dame Isra’s indifferent voice snapped my thoughts clean in half.
Haaah.
A summon as oblivious as Dame Isra really was something else…
“Yeah. Enough.”
“Hmm?”
“You’re making Master uncomfortable.”
“I have done nothing of the sort.”
Confirming construction conditions for the Death Blacksmith.
Confirming existence of workshop.
This workshop meets the basic conditions.
Confirming existence of subspace.
This is a subspace connected to the user by fate.
Construct the Death Blacksmith using this workshop / subspace item?
“Proceed.”
The subspace carrier opened on its own. The interior looked blurred, as if under a mosaic filter. A powerful wind gusted out from the subspace I had built inside the bag.
Clatter-crash!
Every furnace and anvil set up inside the workshop shook violently. Then, whoosh—they were swept up by the wind and flew straight toward me.
“My lord!”
“Don’t worry.”
They weren’t coming for me. They were heading for the open maw of the subspace carrier.
Shuuuuk!
Reconstructing the workshop within the subspace.
Capacity limit: 300 kg → 6,000 kg
Changes occurring in the workshop.
Workshop level rising through fusion with the subspace.
Workshop grade: 1 → 3
You may now enter the Death Blacksmith through the medium.
A shimmering rift formed inside the carrier. After swallowing all the workshop materials, it transformed into something resembling a gate entrance.
So I’m supposed to go in this way?
Without hesitation I thrust my right foot through. Flash! My vision flared white, just like entering a gate.
You have entered the Death Blacksmith.
A chamber of black brick. The floor space looked to be about 120 pyeong—roughly the size of a basketball court.
Amazing.
To think a space this large could form inside the subspace carrier I always carried around.
Clack! Clack!
The workshop materials that had been sucked into the carrier were now arranged here and there. My two followers who had come after me looked around.
“Fascinating. A subspace that expands according to Master’s skill.”
“Hmm. Far too dark. Is it not stifling?”
The Death Blacksmith’s interior can be altered according to the user’s will.
Wall colors / positions of registered materials can be adjusted.
No hard labor required. Nice.
“Let’s experiment a little.”
Clap!
First, how about brightening up this gloomy interior? I pictured an ivory color, and the walls brightened noticeably.
“A bit much.”
A pure white room with no windows? That felt dangerous in its own way.
I clapped again and shifted it to brown tones.
“Do the colors have to be uniform?”
“No. Looks like we can set them separately.”
Gray-toned floor. Brown for the four walls. A white-washed ceiling for accent.
…Though even saying that, it was still a pretty plain design. Not like I had any real talent for interior design.
“Mmmmm…”
Ingrid made a dissatisfied noise.
“The workshop interior. Could you leave it to me?”
“Do whatever you want.”
“Not right now. Once I gather some interior materials, I’ll decorate it with all my heart!”
Sure, sure. Knock yourself out. As long as it doesn’t get in the way of swinging a hammer, I’m fine.
Workshop Grade:3
Equipment Level:Low
* Work speed reduced by 18%.
* Concentration Lv 15
* Stamina Recovery Lv 20
* Crafted results receive performance enhancement.
* When processing corpses, very low chance of grade increase or one additional ability being granted.
As the workshop grade has risen, undead research slots increase by one.
Undead may be stationed permanently in the Death Blacksmith.
The Death Blacksmith is strengthened according to the disposition of stationed undead.
Once stationed, an undead cannot be removed from the blacksmith for 168 hours.
While undead are stationed, the workshop is considered active and research functions may be used.
A lot had been added.
“Stationing plus an extra research slot, huh.”
An additional research slot was pure upside. It meant I could run two research projects while working in the forge. And if I used the “stationing” function, I could keep research going around the clock. Thank goodness minimum wage didn’t apply to undead.
As the workshop grade has risen, additional structures may be constructed.
Construction List
— Slaughterhouse
— Cursed Ossuary
— Pit of Malice
Additional structures?
“A rather excessive lineup for a mere workshop.”
“This doesn’t feel like a simple workshop. It’s more like a whole village.”
“Witch. Your exaggeration knows no bounds.”
I agreed. A basketball-court-sized space was already large for a subspace. Expanding it to village scale still felt like a stretch.
Required Area: 160 pyeong
Condition: Possession of Spirit Structure Crafting skill.
Materials
— Large monster bones 5,000 kg
— Monster flesh of C-rank or lower 10,000 kg
— Strong Moss 150 kg
— C-rank magic stones 100
Fully separates corpses through automated processing. Losses during butchering are minimized, and there is a low chance of additional options being granted to the byproducts.
Required Area: 40 pyeong
Condition: Possession of Spirit Structure Crafting skill.
Materials
— C-rank magic stones 100
— Fractured soul stones 50
The curse engraved upon the gravestone rewrites the records of spirits. The unique properties of soul stones can be rearranged according to the user’s will.
Required Area: 40 pyeong
Condition: Possession of Spirit Structure Crafting skill.
Materials
— C-rank magic stones 150
A pit for storing and aging corpses. The environment of the pit can be adjusted by the user and is maintained in optimal condition.
* Storage capacity: 100 bodies
* Number of pits: 1
Hold on.
These were really additional structures for a blacksmith?
Constructing two or more structures will allow the Death Blacksmith to be upgraded.
As the Death Blacksmith’s stage rises, its internal area also expands.
Additional structure construction becomes possible.
Raising the Death Blacksmith’s stage beyond a certain point will allow upgrade to Death Territory.
“Hohoho. How about that, iron-head?”
“Grrrrk. Something is clearly wrong here.”
Tell me about it. I hadn’t expected Ingrid to hit the mark either. Good thing I’d kept my mouth shut. If I’d run my mouth, Dame Isra and I would’ve been roasted as a set.
“I knew Master’s abilities weren’t ordinary, but this surpasses imagination.”
“Subspaces like this aren’t common, I take it.”
“No. Expanding a separate space created in a dimensional rift is difficult even for a great witch.”
“Using you at your peak as the standard?”
“It’s possible. But the results wouldn’t be worth the effort and investment.”
Even a great witch found the work burdensome. Handing something like this to a B-rank hunter felt excessive. Was my class that amazing? Or were the rewards for S-rank promotion just that sweet?
Either way, it didn’t matter. That subspace of immense value was now mine.
Krrr.
Sweet. So sweet it felt like my teeth would rot. I’d just think of it as collecting five years of hardship all at once.
“What shall we construct first?”
“Pass on the Slaughterhouse.”
An automatic corpse-butchering function. Tempting, but the problem was the area. The subspace was only 160 pyeong. Building the Slaughterhouse would leave no room to use the workshop functions or construct anything else.
Well now. It felt like the answer had already been decided.
“We’ll have to pick one of the other two.”
“Ingrid. Which looks better to you?”
“The Pit of Malice, of course.”
An answer without a shred of hesitation. I was thinking the same.
The Cursed Gravestone had functions designed to link with the skill Soul Stone Crafting I’d gained upon promoting to B-rank. From the description it seemed I could even make use of fractured soul stones, but soul stones still required time and money to secure.
Corpses, on the other hand, could be obtained in bulk just by clearing gates. I could also store additional undead, or set corpses and byproducts to age in whatever environment I wanted.
“The only minor issue right now is that I don’t have a hundred magic stones.”
It was the same reward you got for clearing a C-rank gate as SSS-rank. I’d been grinding those gates to death for the past two months, so I’d obtained magic stones in bulk. The minor problem was that I’d entrusted all of them to President Baek.
“While we’re on the subject, I should go get them.”
“We have only just arrived at the workshop. Is it not too soon to turn back?”
“The workshop is right here.”
Dame.
We just put the workshop into the subspace a moment ago. How can you say something else after we’ve already entered the Death Blacksmith?
“Please understand with a heart as broad as the sea. She’s an iron-head, after all. What can you do?”
“Silence! Do not insult chivalry!”
“See? She says something dense and then starts going on about chivalry.”
“Grrrrk!”
“This time Dame is in the wrong.”
Yeah. This time, at least.
And earlier? I don’t know anything about that. Hehe.
I carefully left the now-empty warehouse and returned to the car.
“You’re back early.”
“Please take me to where President Baek is.”
“Understood.”
I went to Seungcheon Agency and explained the situation to President Baek.
“Would five hundred C-rank magic stones be acceptable?”
“Whoa. Our president’s pockets are way too deep.”
“They were items Hunter Park obtained in the first place.”
“Still. Just thinking about melting them into the subspace makes my heart race.”
“Investment must be bold. Hesitate and you won’t even recover your principal.”
President… there’s also the saying that investment is an individual’s responsibility, you know?
Huu.
Let’s think of it comfortably. I’m spending money to strengthen my abilities. And it’s for enhancing an SS-class skill, no less.
I set my hesitation aside and flung the subspace carrier wide open.
“Is that the Death Blacksmith?”
“Yes. President, why don’t you come take a look too?”
“Would it be all right for me to enter?”
“No reason it wouldn’t be.”
Before I knew it, the president had joined us as well. The moment we entered the Death Blacksmith, I activated the construction options.
“Construct the Pit of Malice.”