Forging the +8 Blades
Starting with Armor Knight 1's enhancement.
He examined the longsword soaked in drake's blood that the skeleton had been wielding.
This one's too good to swap out, for sure.
He checked the weapons of the others one by one in turn.
Not bad at all.
Most of the weapons had vitality or all-stats bonuses. Boosting those options further through master crafting would greatly improve their survivability.
But attack power couldn't be ignored either.
A 3-to-7 ratio.
Three red dots.
Seven blue dots. With that, he swung the hammer.
Enhancement level rises.
99.8%
Mu-hyuk wasn't focusing as much as he could have.
The enhancement work reached its final stages in that state.
Soon after.
100%
Enhancement success rate increased.
Failed.
The failure message appeared.
A good start?
The enhancement level had dropped.
But this was exactly what he'd aimed for, so his mood wasn't soured at all.
Alright, again.
With that, he dropped the longsword down to +3.
Even though he'd worked sloppily on purpose, it succeeded from +3 to +4.
This is as far as we go.
Now it was time to ramp up his focus.
For even better options.
Enhancement level rises.
The moment he forged the longsword to +7.
The Enhancement skill leveled up for the first time in ages.
"Whoa."
This was as good as saying make it to +8.
+7 feels too underwhelming, right?
He gripped the hammer a bit tighter and swung harder.
Yeah, let's do this!
He had no idea how much material cost this would rack up, but as long as it boosted his summons' power—and leveled up his Enhancement skill for more stable item upgrades down the line—the gold spent now would come back soon enough.
3.9%
The ratio stayed 3-to-7.
Materials for up to +5 weren't too pricey.
But from +6, they doubled.
Right now, he was challenging +8.
A failure here would burn through a massive amount of materials.
Focus, focus...!
The enhancement level crept up steadily.
No failures yet.
Good, keep it like this.
Finally reaching 99%.
It hit +8.
"Yesss!"
A cheer burst out involuntarily in his excitement.
"Oppa?"
"Oh, you succeeded?"
"Yeah, nailed it!"
"But now it's just one down."
Mu-hyuk's expression hardened at Sung Min-woo's teasing follow-up.
"Ugh...!"
"You've still got over a hundred left. Or two hundred-plus with the shields? When're you gonna finish all that?"
Mu-hyuk was at a loss for words.
"Yeah... point taken?"
"Heh heh heh."
"Tch, guess I'll chip away whenever I get downtime."
Just then, Ye-rin jabbed Sung Min-woo's side.
"You enjoy teasing my oppa that much?"
"Yeah, it's fun?"
Sung Min-woo laughed and bolted away into the distance.
Ye-rin's glare was fierce.
"Tch."
Ignoring the fleeing Sung Min-woo, she kneaded Mu-hyuk's shoulders.
"Oppa, fighting."
"Thanks."
Drawing strength from her gentle touch, he checked the longsword in his hand.
◈ All Stats + (2 + 8)
◈ Additional Attack Power + (25 + 50)
◈ Movement Speed + (5 + 15%)
◈ Attack Speed + (5 + 15%)
◈ Cutting Power Increased
Special: Damage Absorption
Durability: 251/340
Requirements: Strength 75, Agility 55
Absorbs 8,730 damage for 6 seconds.
The attack power was a bit lacking, but the boosts to everything else were more than satisfying.
He handed the sword to Armor Knight 1, then pulled the greatsword used by Armor Knight 2 from his inventory.
Vitality and all stats.
Attack power was standard, but the options were excellent.
Master Enhancement.
Red and blue dots appeared as he activated the skill. Just like before, he deliberately dropped the enhancement level, then started over from +3.
Vitality and all-stats rose with each success. The thrill kept him glued to the task, forgetting the flow of time.
He slipped a few times but didn't stop.
Phew, done.
Only after hitting +8 did he hand over the greatsword.
"Use it well."
Armor Knight 2 clacked its jawbone.
As if saying, you got it.
*
They'd already reclaimed over fourteen villages and small towns.
This small town was the eighth.
Barrier erected.
Allies identified.
Enemies identified.
Barrier persists until one side is annihilated.
Logout impossible.
The knight activated the scroll, and Mu-hyuk moved immediately. To kill hostile players himself.
-3,197 HP
Additional 5,754 damage!
Additional damage!
He needed to rack up stats.
Vitality +0.0218
The moment he downed a priest, a surge of momentum made him twist away urgently.
Whoosh.
An arrow grazed his shoulder.
-1,181 HP
-150 HP per second.
Movement slowed.
He hadn't dodged perfectly.
"Clean Heal!"
Fortunately, Kang Ji-yeon cast a healing spell from behind.
HP restored.
Mu-hyuk gave a faint smile and closed in on the archer who'd loosed the arrow.
"B-block him!"
The archer player shouted, but no one moved to help. Skeletons had already closed in, pressuring the surrounding players.
Swish.
He loosed an arrow first.
Bang!
The archer dodged sideways, but an Armor Knight blocked him.
Forced to pull out his shield against the next arrow.
Clang!
In the brief moment his vision was obscured.
Mu-hyuk lunged.
He slashed with the dagger in his hand.
"Hng!"
The shield rattled from the force. Another downward slash, and it couldn't hold—the shield drooped. The archer player's face was exposed. A red line traced across it.
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted.
"You bastard...!"
"Just die."
Mu-hyuk closed in again and unleashed a skill.
The archer's HP plummeted rapidly.
Unable to endure, the archer faded away.
Strength +0.0218
He pivoted toward another player.
Stats surging upward.
Satisfied, he wrapped up the fight with a grin.
"Good work."
The leading knight called for a break.
"That's it for today."
Mu-hyuk settled in for real.
"Again today?"
"Yeah."
Forging gear to +8 was grueling.
Shortest time: 20 minutes.
Longest: nearly 50.
He'd succeeded on 30 blades so far.
It was 8 PM now.
Four hours of focus could finish at least five more.
Lucky? Maybe eight.
"Ye-rin, sorry."
"It's fine. I gotta enhance my darams too."
"I'm crashing."
"I-I'll step out for a bit too."
"Sure."
Everyone went about their business.
Mu-hyuk tuned out his companions and dove into the work.
Enhancement level rises.
Over 30 minutes, he forged one +8 longsword.
Nice.
Reaching for another sword, he realized he was out of materials. He quickly accessed the auction house and bought a ton. The gold drain stung, but he shook it off.
Alright, back to it.
Mu-hyuk pressed on with enhancements.
Slow but steady growth.
One by one.
These would stack into an unbreakable rampart.
Forged from unyielding strength.
"Hup!"
Before logging out, he ultimately succeeded on seven weapons to +8.
*
The battles grew fiercer by the day.
More mercenaries kept pouring in from the Kaion Continent.
NPC soldiers too.
Things were getting trickier as time passed.
"Huh? Those guys...!"
The hostile players from the Kaion Continent in this reclamation battle were familiar faces.
"That's them, right?"
"Yeah, definitely."
"The weirdos with that skill that cuts damage."
James, the battlefield commander.
They'd crossed paths again.
"Found you."
James spotted Mu-hyuk too.
"Where?"
The man beside him followed James's gaze.
"Oh, that guy? Mu-hyuk?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm, looks pretty average."
"Don't underestimate—bam, you're gone."
"Pfft, you think? I don't wanna die either. Just thinking about that 24-hour penalty chokes me up."
"That's why do it right."
"Got it. You watch yourself too. Don't die like last time."
James scowled at the man's words.
"Tch."
Thinking back still baffled him.
Instant death?
Absurd even now.
Not falling for it this time.
James relaxed his expression and scanned around.
Last time, after dying to Mu-hyuk, he'd reorganized his team.
The best of the best.
16 top players.
Skill levels up too...!
From 15 to 16 members.
Just one more might seem trivial, but to the victim, that one was a wall. The outcome would be different this time.
"Let's go."
Time to meet the incoming foes.
*
Mu-hyuk, recognizing James, nocked an arrow.
Parcheon Divine Bow, Third Form: Parcheonsa.
Infused with Wind Storm.
Bang!
The arrow flew straight at James. But mid-flight, it was blocked by a suddenly appeared player's shield.
-16 HP
Additional 28 damage!
Additional damage!
Blocked by the shield, the damage was drastically reduced.
No—even accounting for that, the damage was way lower than before. Only then did he notice the approaching group's numbers were different.
One more person.
That was the difference.
"Hmm."
Mu-hyuk's brow furrowed.
Tricky.
If it one-shot like last time, great. But luck like that seemed unlikely this battle.
They'd prepared countermeasures.
He hurried to the knight.
"Don't use the scroll."
"Hm? Understood."
The knight, knowing Mu-hyuk was nobility, accepted without pushback.
"May I ask why?"
"Yes. This fight looks tough."
"Ugh...!"
Using the Sacred Battle Scroll and losing meant no escape. Caution was key.
"Let's fight first."
"Got it."
The knight raised his sword.
"Everyone, charge!"
Mu-hyuk watched the approaching mercenaries from behind.
"Let's goooo!"
"Clear 'em out!"
"Easy reclaim this time too!"
Just before the mercenaries clashed with James's group.
Charge.
The cavalry surged forward.