Forging the Cauldron of Evil

Whoa.

Just for fun, I tossed every single Tigress into the Cauldron of Evil.

Leave them in there for only six hours and their total stats rise by 10%. Insane.

Absolutely insane!

Why are you so shocked?

Aah.

The boss isn’t even here.

I was telling you about the Cauldron of Evil’s performance when suddenly he started choking.

Hey, I should give him some water.

I pulled out the water from the subspace carrier… but this isn’t the carrier area.

What do I do, I thought.

Before I could finish the thought, a water bucket suddenly dropped from the ceiling and landed neatly in my hand.

Here you go.

Kelok, t-thank you.

Fascinating.

It seems the Death Blacksmith itself serves as both a workshop and a subspace.

Subspace capacity and surface area are treated as completely separate.

That’s great news, isn’t it?

After merging with the Death Blacksmith, the subspace carrier’s storage capacity has expanded dramatically.

From 300 kilograms to 6,000 kilograms.

A twenty-fold increase.

Yet.

If the stored items are inside the Death Blacksmith domain, part of the domain can’t be used.

Hmph.

I’m alive thanks to you.

Think nothing of it.

But I still can’t believe it.

President Baek continued with a dry cough.

Without any conditions, stats increase by 10%?

Well, there are conditions.

You can’t take them out for six hours.

Don’t say that in front of others.

……………………

It’s sharp like a knife.

I know.

I know how much hunters struggle to raise their stats.

Various elixirs, special training, or skills.

Even if they reach the limit level, there’s still the promotion review wall.

And for B-class and above, promotion depends on having a skill accompanied by enlightenment.

Hunters without other ways to boost stats are desperate.

The higher the grade, the stronger that tendency becomes.

The experience required for level-ups keeps rising.

Even if you reach the limit, the promotion review remains.

Moreover, B-class and above promotion is decided by whether you have an enlightenment skill.

So they have no choice but to go all-out on other methods.

“That applies to summoning and taming hunters as well.”

……………………

He let out a pained sound and didn’t even get his money’s worth.

If six hours of steaming and permanent 10% stat increase were possible, every hunter would be rolling around in the pit enjoying life.

“This pit only applies to undead.”

Yes. It’s a benefit only I, Park Hunter, can enjoy.

……………………

I see.

It can’t be beaten with words.

I’ll change the subject.

“I will construct a Cursed Tombstone.”

A gray stone suddenly rose from the ground.

An eerie aura swirled around the stone.

A structure that changes the nature of the soul stone.

No immediate use, but I’ll collect more shattered soul stones or use the newly added Soul Stone Crafting when I reach B-class.

It wasn’t something you could build instantly even with resources.

The slaughterhouse couldn’t be built due to space issues.

At the time, it seemed there were no choices, but it didn’t matter.

Teacher, the progress is too fast.

I never used the command structure construction, and now I’ve used it twice in one day.

And I’ve even upgraded to an SS-class skill.

I didn’t know it was meant for chaining skills.

Small problem.

Where do I get the Magic Engine Core?

The C-Class Mana Stones are taken care of by President Baek, so it’ll be fine somehow.

Since we’re raiding gates, we’ve obtained too many mana stones and he’s been selling them slowly instead of all at once.

Yes, two hundred should be enough.

I’ll forget about the fact that two hundred C-Class mana stones are worth about five billion on average.

If I start thinking about money, I won’t even think about building structures.

Already spent 250, that’s roughly six billion, and I can’t stop now.

The Magic Engine Core was the issue.

“Master, it looks like that can be solved too.”

Ingrid smiled softly.

Oh? The witch. You said you didn’t know magic engineering, yet you found a way.

You have it, don’t you, Master?

Who, me?

The core of the magic device you acquired last time.

Aah.

Now that I think about it, I had the [Mobile Magic Weapon Mana Core].

The item from the gate where the self-proclaimed archaeologist’s soul was trapped.

[Explorer’s Tomb].

It was stored in the subspace because I had no use for it, even though it was supposed to be used for golem creation.

Recalling the item from Ingrid’s words, it suddenly dropped from the sky with a soft thud.

No reason to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠delay.

Charge five billion?

It’s yours, Hunter. Use it freely.

Good.

I’ll get a refund from the president’s inheritance.

I pressed the Y button.

A week.

That’s quite a long time.

Have you finished all the work?

Yes.

There’s some business to handle. Can you send me back?

You kept President Baek here too long.

After sending President Baek outside the Death Blacksmith, I decided to slowly explore it with my subordinates.

***

The subordinates I left inside the Death Blacksmith began exploring in their own ways.

Zaug lay flat on the ground, hitting every wall and floor with his fists and pressing his ears to them.

“I hope you refrain from such undignified actions, Commander Isra.”

Isra clicked her tongue and swung her sword.

“Not bad. The mana density is full enough to turn this into a training ground.”

“Training here?”

“Since we can let external personnel in and out, it should be fine.”

Exactly.

There’s no reason it wouldn’t work.

President Baek’s entry already confirmed that external access was possible.

This is better than training in the sun.

No need to worry about outsiders staring.

“Magic training can also be done here.”

Enough!

No place for magic users in the sacred training ground.

“The Death Blacksmith is a space with restoration properties.”

Restoration properties?

It means the space is fixed in its original form.

Ingrid rearranged the mana.

[Fireball]

She casually threw it. The sphere collided with the wall and exploded.

The dented collision area.

Shortly after, as if time reversed, the walls that had been battered by the explosion’s shockwave returned to their original state.

“With this, I can practice magic as much as I want, right?”

Oh.

You’ve already figured that out.

Ho ho ho. It’s nothing to the young lady.

Ingrid flicked her eyes.

Even if you didn’t see who she was mocking, it was obvious.

Krueh.

Ho ho.

It was a moment of mixed emotions.

The Death Blacksmith, after all.

There are endless fields that can be applied.

Personal or group training grounds.

Blacksmithing.

Undead soldier storage.

Other item storage.

After upgrade, what other functions will be added?

Excitement was building.

“I don’t need a separate workshop anymore.”

No need to go back and forth between home and workshop.

That means I can hammer even while moving!

Incredible.

The Death Blacksmith is the best!

It’s worth receiving an S-rank.

Huh huh.

At the next promotion review, I must definitely achieve S-rank.

If I can’t at once, I’ll just try again.

For more than four years I’ve been trying to reach the limit and be satisfied with the result.

But if there’s such a gift, I can’t give up.

Who knows what a powerful skill will be added alongside the Death Blacksmith.

The Spirit Eye and Blacksmith’s Soul are both extremely useful skills.

Uh hehe!

That’s so good.

I was already worrying where I should get a workshop again.

The removal of location restrictions is a huge benefit.

“Being able to do research in two tracks is also good.”

Previously, I could only activate one workshop research function.

When Ingrid researched magic, Isra had to suck her fingers.

……………………

The two of them were being too kind.

They don’t have a specialized field.

Roan struck his chest with a bruised fist.

You called me a saint, didn’t you?

……………………

Roan, who had fallen silent for one minute due to cooldown, let out a sigh.

Well, let’s try.

If the efficiency doesn’t match, I can replace it or assign it to another subordinate.

Oh?

Is this really possible?

“Enhancing undead. I’m curious what kind of research it will be.”

“You’ll find out when Roan speaks.”

Until now, we’ve only done magic and weapon research.

Unlike Isra, who has her own sword style, Ingrid had to go through the research process to learn magic.

That’s why we prioritized magic research.

But now we can research with two people.

If the saint and undead enhancement work well together, it’s definitely an advantage to let them research continuously.

“I have a suggestion for Master.”

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

What?

Place me as the permanent staff.

Placing one of the subordinates in the Death Blacksmith would raise the development level.

Research is possible.

But.

I couldn’t answer immediately.

“Won’t you be able to eat the national tteokbokki you like?”

“Master sometimes brings delivery, right?”

Ingrid twirled in place.

Her apprentice witch outfit fluttered and created a strange atmosphere.

“This space is worth researching.”

“Does that mean you’ll stay as well?”

Yes. I want to help Master.

With her voice trembling from the power, I felt a pang of regret.

But I thought she couldn’t be taken out for a week.

“Alright. Do as you wish.”

Yahoooo!

I have to do what she asks.

My motto is to respect my subordinates’ wishes as much as possible.

“It seems you have a rough idea, so won’t you train?”

“No. I’ll just put training off for about a week.”

While Ingrid stayed in the Death Blacksmith, there were things she had to do.

Before that.

“Let’s go home first.”

The place I opened the subspace carrier was President Baek’s office.

I had to move the location first.