Forged for the Cross Gate
Nam Jinwoo waved his hands in exaggerated protest.
"Master. If you cut off the beginning and the end like that, how is anyone supposed to follow?"
"You already know what I mean."
"Hunter Park isn't me. You have to explain it so he can understand."
I was grateful he'd said everything I'd been thinking.
Nam Jinwoo let out a light sigh and continued.
"Hunter Park. Do you remember the Gigant Armor?"
"How could I forget?"
An item meant to guarantee a blacksmith's safety inside the Cross Gate.
Something Meister Han Yohan had been pouring his soul into crafting.
"With your skill, you're more than ready to try."
Grrr…
I was deeply grateful for the high praise, but still.
Wasn't this far too critical a job to hand a novice who hadn't even held a hammer for a full year?
"You can do it, Hunter Park."
Nam Jinwoo clenched his fist hard and struck a fighting pose.
"You've already learned how to raise conductivity with Mana Folding."
"I have."
"That's it. That's exactly what we needed!"
Ah.
So Nam Jinwoo had been the mastermind behind this whole situation.
I'd been wondering why his recent lessons had leaned so hard into Mana Folding—turns out there was a reason.
Urgh.
A flicker of resentment rose in me, but it didn't last.
These were people teaching me techniques you couldn't buy for any amount of money, free of charge.
And I'd already heard a request to help with Meister Han Yohan's work once before.
Helping itself wasn't the problem.
The only thing weighing on me was whether I could pull my own weight.
"Don't feel pressured—just do it the way you were taught!"
"Hearing you say that only makes me more pressured, Mr. Nam."
Ugh.
My stomach was already twisting.
I was led into the workshop deeper inside Hanil Blacksmith.
A massive suit of armor just shy of three meters tall.
The outer shell of the Gigant Armor he'd shown me before.
"This is the work you'll be doing."
Meister Han Yohan held out a schematic drawn on paper.
The sections shaded black were apparently the parts assigned to me.
"So I just need to raise the frame."
"The Green Drake bones are over here."
Material I'd already gotten a taste of working with last time.
A heap of monster bones with a greenish sheen sat piled on the table.
"Fold it five times. Then put a mana conductivity increase option on it."
The more times you folded, the harder Mana Folding became.
It was the act of colliding the mana driven into the metal against your own personal mana.
Each fold left more residual mana in the piece, demanding finer precision and control of force.
With ordinary bone, my record was four successful folds at most.
And now he wanted five, just like that.
Nam Jinwoo added an explanation.
"Green Drake bone is similar to metal, so the difficulty should be a little lower."
"Even with steel, five folds is hard. Will it really work right away?"
"You can do it. If it's you, Hunter Park."
The way his eyes sparkled only piled more pressure onto me.
Whatever happens, happens.
I'd leave the result to the heavens and simply give it everything I had.
I set a portion of Green Drake bone into the forge and waited.
The moment the deep green bone flushed red-hot, I pulled it out and began hammering.
Five times.
All right. Let's try it.
Mana Folding
CLAAANG!
The first fold went smoothly.
CLAANG!
From the second fold onward, the resistance was considerable.
It's fine. I've done this much plenty of times.
The more folds I stacked, the more the Green Drake bone clung to my mana and refused to let go.
That was also why performance improved the more you folded.
"Fourth! Just one left!"
"As expected of Hunter Park!"
Meister and apprentice were saying something side by side, but I barely heard them.
The only thing in my field of vision was the glowing bone.
Once the heat faded, I wouldn't be able to fold it any further.
I couldn't afford to stall.
I can do this. If it's me!
That premonition hit hard as I folded the bone and swung the hammer once more.
CLAAANG!
Fwoosh!
Blue flames surged up with the hammer blow, burning fiercer than before.
"Hah… hah."
I did it.
The Green Drake bone hadn't cracked, and the distinctive reaction of Mana Folding had come through clean.
Handicraft has increased.
Meister Han Yohan picked up the Green Drake bone I'd just finished hammering.
Hadn't he burned himself doing something similar last time?
"You don't need to worry. He used a skill this time."
"Eh. There's a skill that stops you from getting burned?"
"It's called Blacksmith's Hands—the ability to handle hot metal barehanded."
Invisible Hands, and now Blacksmith's Hands.
I should learn that one too if I got the chance.
Meister Han Yohan turned the Green Drake bone over and over, examining it from every angle.
"Pass."
One word.
Hoooo…
The tension drained out of me all at once.
More than the joy of being recognized by Korea's greatest meister, what filled me was the quiet satisfaction of having paid back the value of everything I'd been taught.
"The finishing's still clumsy, and your force control gets shaky from the fourth fold on—but it's usable."
"……"
Satisfaction canceled.
"Even so, it's good enough for the Gigant Armor's frame. Keep at it."
"I knew Hunter Park could pull it off. This level is perfectly fine."
Chief apprentice Nam Jinwoo tacked on something that might have been meant as comfort.
So this was what people meant when they said the one trying to soothe you could be more annoying than the one who criticized you.
"Do I just finish everything on this schematic?"
"That's right. Twenty-five frames. Not that many."
Ah.
I see.
That was enough work to make an all-nighter mandatory.
I found myself seriously wondering whether Meister Han Yohan's conscience had stepped out for a short break.
Once I'd finished the second frame to the set specifications, an unfamiliar figure was already standing in the workshop.
A middle-aged man in a sharp suit.
"Oh. What an honor to meet the Guui-dong Necromancer."
"Name's Bang Gyeongrok. Third-rate alchemist."
Excuse me?
Bang Gyeongrok?
Korea's foremost alchemist.
And the CEO of Yeonsul Pharmaceutical, the company he'd built on his own specialty.
A man who had fused alchemy with modern medicine to supply highly effective drugs at low prices, and in no time at all had raised a company into the top tier of the pharmaceutical industry.
"It's a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure's mine. I'm honored to meet the CEO of Yeonsul Pharmaceutical."
"Young, talented, and well-mannered on top of it. This friend of mine has remarkable luck with people."
CEO Bang Gyeongrok let out a hearty laugh.
"Cut the useless chatter and get to engraving the mana circuits."
"That's harsh talk for someone who came to help."
"The condition was gathering Immortal Herbs at the Cross Gate, wasn't it?"
"Ahem. Shall I just go home, then?"
"I'll hand every herb I spot over to Yeonsul Pharmaceutical, so get to work."
"What else are friends for? This is exactly when you're supposed to help."
So there'd been some kind of deal.
Still.
I'd already heard that an alchemist's touch would go into the Gigant Armor. I was only surprised that the collaborator was this famous.
"Um, CEO Bang—"
"Call me Alchemist. The Guui-dong Necromancer isn't one of my employees, after all."
"Then please feel free to drop the formalities with me as well."
"If only the hammer-swinger had manners half as good as Mr. Minho's."
"If you're going to talk nonsense, get out of my workshop already."
"I'm seriously leaving?"
"Just engrave the mana circuits and go."
Green Drake bone folded five times to raise its mana conductivity.
And now Korea's greatest alchemist—a talent recognized worldwide—would carve circuits into it. The output was going to be enormous.
I was already looking forward to whatever came out of it.
"You've rested long enough too."
Ugh.
Prodded by Meister Han Yohan, I picked up the hammer again.
Kang! Klaang!
"The shape's off."
CLAAANG!
"Shift the center of gravity a little farther forward."
Klaang!
"You can do it fine when you focus, and then the mistakes start slipping in."
……
Had the praise on my first piece just been the carrot to get me working?
Under Meister Han Yohan's meticulous corrections, I kept swinging the hammer.
Especially when folding and striking the Green Drake bone for the fifth time, I had to concentrate far harder.
Mana Circuit Engraving
Zzzt!
Blue lines etched themselves into the still-hot Green Drake bone I'd just finished working.
Structurally, there wasn't much difference from a Necrosmith's spirit circuits.
The distinction between spirit energy and mana came from the unique nature of necromancy, so for practical purposes they could be treated as the same.
"Ingrid. You said you didn't know much about alchemy, right?"
"Yes. I'm sorry I can't be of more help, Master."
"Come on. No need to apologize for that."
"That man's skill is quite something, though. You might consider learning from him as well?"
That was exactly the answer I'd been hoping to hear.
I was already studying the magic-related fields under Ingrid.
Before I started dipping into a neighboring major, I ought to get permission from my supervising professor first, shouldn't I?
"Got it."
Professorial approval secured.
Once the work was done, I was definitely filing for a double major.
I had no idea how CEO Bang Gyeongrok would take it, but the atmosphere wasn't bad, so it would probably be fine.
The sun that had hung high overhead sank, dusk fell, and only deep into a night so dark the moonlight was hard to see did we finally finish the work.
We seated the Green Drake bones etched with mana circuits throughout the armor and linked them together.
Whooooom!
A majestic wave of mana made my skin prickle lightly.
"Output at ninety-two percent. Within projected parameters, Master!"
"Success."
"You should try it on yourself, Master."
"Should I."
Meister Han Yohan climbed into the Gigant Armor.
It was shaped like plate, but the sheer size made "climbed into" feel more accurate than "put on."
Clack! Clack!
The open sections sealed automatically, and a blue light spilled from the steel helm.
—No problems. Power's overflowing.
"Please don't smash anything while you're testing it."
—Hmph. Who do you take me for, a child?
"Knowing your personality, Master, I absolutely take you for that."
—Damn it. You know me too well.
Master and apprentice bantered without any reserve.
"Sir Isra."
"It should deliver force on the level of an A-rank at the peak, I would say."
"……That's insane."
"Should the meister receive even basic combat training, more than that would be possible."
"You're saying it could push into S-rank?"
"That, it would not."
Even five peak A-ranks charging together supposedly couldn't beat a single S-rank.
Beings who had crossed the wall of enlightenment couldn't be measured by simple numbers, or so she said.
Ugh.
One careless remark, and I'd gotten an earful of nagging.
Hisssss!
The front of the opening armor peeled left and right.
"Hahahaha!"
Wearing a thoroughly satisfied look, Meister Han Yohan stepped out with a booming laugh.
"At this level, I can walk into the Cross Gate without worry."
"Hammer-swinger. Don't you forget the Immortal Herbs."
"Don't worry."
The Cross Gate.
I'd heard of it before.
Points of intersection with other worlds that had appeared across the globe along with the Great Cataclysm.
Nations that held Cross Gate sites managed those gates with extreme thoroughness, I'd been told.
Even so, cases of them being abused for crime still cropped up now and then.
The reason Meister Han Yohan had built the Gigant Armor was the Cross Gate as well.
He needed to harvest rare minerals and materials that existed only in other worlds, and because the place was inherently dangerous, he'd needed a way to protect himself.
"Urgh… Good work, everyone."
I'd confirmed the Gigant Armor worked properly.
Time to go home and rest.
"Hunter Park. One more favor."
"If you're making another set of Gigant Armor, please tell me in advance. I'll clear my schedule."
With chief apprentice Nam Jinwoo around, that seemed likely enough.
Two people going in to mine ore had to be better than one.
"I'll be asking for that too, but this is something else."
Meister Han Yohan pointed at me with his right hand.
"For this Cross Gate run—can you come along as escort?"
Who.
Me?