The Forge Awakens – My New Workshop and the First Research Results

"Workshop Creation?"

The status window message had popped up out of nowhere. Startled, I read it aloud without thinking.

"Oh. You've already gotten that skill?"

"You know about it, Jinwoo?"

"Of course. Acquiring the Workshop Creation skill is one of the conditions for becoming an apprentice."

Apparently, once you hit a certain level of proficiency at the forge, the Workshop Creation skill unlocked itself.

"Nobody knows ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the exact requirements, but the consensus is that it means you've become capable of pulling your own weight as a blacksmith."

"Wouldn't that make you a blacksmith, not an apprentice?"

"In our trade, you don't even count as a person until you've learned Workshop Creation."

Until then, you were treated as surplus labor who contributed nothing useful. Fair enough. The master craftsmen of Blacksmiths' Row had always been that way — men who cared about nothing except swinging a hammer. They might fawn over exceptional talent and shower it with free materials, but they were ice-cold to anyone without the gift.

In other words, they acknowledge that your talent is exceptional, Sir.

As expected of this maiden's Master.

Ugh. You two. Lately you seem weirdly in sync about this kind of thing. Is that just my imagination?

"If you have a personal workshop, give the skill a try. You'll receive buff effects related to smithing work."

"Oh. Nice."

"For reference, this forge has the buff running at all times."

Ah-ha. So that was why it had felt a notch better than the rental workshop.

"If Hunter Park joined as a formal apprentice, you'd be able to enjoy the full buff effect."

"Is that so?"

"What a shame, really."

Well, if the buff were being applied directly, it would have shown up on my status window.

"That's also one of the reasons so many blacksmiths want to study under the master."

The higher a workshop's level climbed, the more benefits it conferred on its blacksmiths.

"Hunter Park, why not at least put your name down and—"

"Boy! What kind of stunt do you think you're pulling!"

One of the master craftsmen bellowed at the top of his lungs.

"Elder Han told you, didn't he? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠No recruiting Hunter Park!"

"Tch."

That was definitely a tongue click just now.

Anyway. Workshop Creation. I would have to try it out in my personal workshop.

"Hey, Jeong! Look at this young punk trying to poach him!"

"Wet-behind-the-ears brat dares to covet Hunter Park?"

Yikes. Another fight was brewing.

"I'll be heading out, then."

"W-wait, Hunter Park!"

"Have a cup of snake wine before you go!"

Just how much of that snake wine had they stockpiled, anyway?

I slipped out of Blacksmiths' Row before I could get dragged into a pride match between master craftsmen.

I usually took public transit, but today I called a taxi straight to the workshop.

Come on. I'd just unlocked Workshop Creation — how was I supposed to sit still?

Rattle—

I unlocked the door and stepped inside.

"Workshop Creation."

Once every thirty days? I had no plans to move anytime soon, so that was fine.

"Yes."

A considerable amount of mana flooded outward through every corner of the workshop. It seeped meticulously through the roughly twenty-four-hundred-square-foot space, and then an unprecedented power settled into the entire room.

A permanent Focus buff. And a reduction in work time. A little underwhelming, maybe, but I'd take it. Once I brought in additional metallurgy equipment and my rank climbed, the workshop's buffs would grow on their own. Just knowing I had system correction was satisfying enough.

Undead Research? Jinwoo had never mentioned anything like that.

My eyes spun at the brand-new function. Unfamiliar categories. And why were all the director slots empty?

Master! Magic!

"Huh?"

The director seat is vacant, isn't it? Please leave it to me!

Ingrid's thoughts bounced around excitedly. She was clearly thrilled.

Well. I needed to figure out what Undead Research even did, so I might as well hand Magic over to Ingrid.

Efficiency went up — got it. But I still had no idea what she was actually researching.

Ingrid, summoned into the workshop, studied the system window.

I think I understand, Master.

"You do?"

Undead Research is like a passive ability that applies to every undead you've ever crafted.

Ohh. So in game terms, it was like an attack power or defense upgrade tree. Spend resources once, finish the research, and the enhancement values applied across every unit at once.

"Does magic get enhanced too?"

It's a little different. Magic is more about developing entirely new spells.

I could feel the intensity winding tight in Ingrid's thoughts.

"Can you develop magic you already know, too?"

Yes. With a Magic Research facility, even the knowledge passed down to the Witch of the Solar Eclipse can be converted into skills.

Oh-ho. An unexpected windfall.

Dame Isra had her own sword style — a modified version of the Imperial Sword Style — registered as a skill. Ingrid, on the other hand, only had Flame Bit and Ice Bolt as her main offensive spells. She did possess the signature spell of the Witch of the Solar Eclipse, Solar Eclipse, but that skill worked by combining and adapting multiple magics — the more spells she had, the more its true value shone. So far she'd made do by squeezing everything she could out of two basic spells, but for an SSS-class skill, it had always felt a little thin.

If Magic Research kept adding new skills one by one, Ingrid's combat power would skyrocket.

Sir! Grant me a seat as well, at once!

Oh. So martial techniques can be researched and turned into secret manuals.

After magic, warrior-class techniques could become skills too? Since only undead I crafted could learn them, selling the skill books was off the table.

I had hoped it might help your finances. A pity.

"I don't mind even a little."

If my undead forces got stronger, that was more than enough. Hell yes it was.

But the knight order members pick up skills readily enough. Is there truly a need to craft secret manuals?

You iron-headed fool. Are the knight order the only undead Master commands?

Ingrid's point was dead-on. The death space alone could store ten corpses — or undead. As the skill improved, that number would grow. I could also stash them in a subspace bag and pull them out as needed. I might not pull off a one-man legion, but I could certainly field a platoon-sized force of undead.

Undead who had mastered skill books written by Dame Isra and Ingrid… just imagining it sent a chill down my spine.

Necrosmiths were gods!

No. God was a Necrosmith!

You should take a seat yourself, Sir.

"Should I?"

Undead Enhancement was research ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that raised base stats, plain and simple. Arms & Armor improved the performance of weapons and armor forged through bone metallurgy. Both seats were empty, so I might as well put my own name in both. I was going to be doing the work either way.

Yeah. Nope.

On the off chance it might work, I summoned an Armed Zombie Warrior and assigned it to Undead Enhancement.

Not enough intelligence to research, probably. No efficiency improvement. Assign an undead that didn't fit the role, and the research simply wouldn't progress.

Well, well. Not free after all. R&D was paid content, apparently.

I had some spare D-rank mana stones, so I might as well run a test.

Couldn't run both at once, huh. Magic first, then.

Five hundred thousand won for one hour. Whether that was good value or terrible, I still had no idea.

"How's it going?"

I spoke to Ingrid, but—

Ten seconds.

Thirty seconds.

A full minute passed.

No answer came back.

"Hello? Anybody home?"

I tried a few more times. Still nothing. Waving a hand in front of those blue soul-fires didn't help either.

The research timer kept ticking steadily down. Was she conducting the research inside her inner world?

Hmm. I have no experience of it myself, so I cannot say.

Right. I'd find out once the hour was up.

"Alright then."

I rolled up my sleeves. No point standing around staring into space for the full duration. Time I got some work done myself.

I lit the portable forge, and once it had heated properly I tossed in some spare bones I'd set aside.

Clang! Claaang!

I set the heated bones on the anvil and hammered them the way Jinwoo had taught me.

Oh. Maybe because it was a new kind of work, my Dexterity was climbing fast. After five years of mass-producing zombies and skeletons, the stat gains had slowed to a crawl and then stopped entirely. So I'd needed a fresh stimulus.

"That's more like it."

I could still grow.

Clang! Claaang!

A spear had two uses: thrust, or sweep the shaft in a wide arc. The bone material had capped the Sweep ability low, while Thrust had been rated quite high.

Hmm. Orc bone wasn't going to push the specs any further. Next time I'd try the harder bones I used for Armed Zombie Warriors.

"Nnngh."

I dropped into a chair and stretched hard. I'd kicked up a storm at the Mir Guild that morning, skipped lunch, and hammered through two forging sessions back to back. I'd been thinking about grabbing a snack — but by the time I finished the spear, the research timer was almost done.

A little over a minute left. I'd wait, then eat.

Inscribing experience and knowledge directly into the system… what a fascinating structure.

After an hour of silence, Ingrid snapped back to awareness.

So. Care to tell me the research results?