Warhammer Mastery and the First Barrier Ring

Having confirmed the ring mine's collapse, he flopped down onto the ground. Or tried to. His plummeting body slowed to a crawl. So this was the skill reward for his Combat rank going up.

'Don't need any of that crap. Just wanna rest.'

Please stop tormenting me already. Ignoring his heartfelt plea, three cards materialized before his eyes.

None of them looked all that tasty. Powerful Strike was straight trash anyway—why pick it when he had a superior AOE?

That left Warhammer Mastery and Hammer Charge. Setting aside the passive for a sec, it boiled down to the charge, huh? Having a dash would definitely be handy. Great for breaking out of chases like just now, or finding an escape route when surrounded.

He was about to select Hammer Charge ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠when another thought struck him.

'Can't I just slap some nodes on it and call it a day?'

He recalled using Seismic Wave. It was way stronger than either Powerful Strike or Hammer Charge. Hell, it might even be several tiers higher. The fact that he'd pulled off Seismic Wave at this stage meant he could handle other skills too—as long as he grinded nodes like a madman.

Warhammer Mastery, on the other hand, was different. A passive unrelated to nodes. No amount of rote grinding would level it up.

'Boosts weapon proficiency and technique efficiency, huh...'

Down the line, once he had ten skills and it bumped their efficiency by even 10% each? Massive payoff. Classic late-bloomer skill. He'd go with Warhammer Mastery. No way it could make things worse, right?

He selected the card. Time resumed its normal flow. His body hit the ground.

Thud-!

"Fuck."

He opened his eyes to find himself in the workshop. He vaguely remembered hurling himself onto the sofa the moment he'd dragged himself back to the forge last night.

"What time is it...? The clock..."

His smartphone was on the far side of the table. He stretched, but it was out of reach.

'What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a pain...'

This time, he summoned a third arm. He thinned it out, stretching it long. The extended limb nearly brushed the phone—like a claw machine grab. Carefully, he lowered it.

Clink-

Would it work? He hadn't expected it to...! So he could apply physical force with the third arm. With practice, this could be—

Thud-

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than the phone slipped free. He'd barely lifted it a centimeter. Nothing was working right.

"Urgh...!"

In the end, he dragged himself up and grabbed the phone. Even that short movement had his muscles and joints screaming. Sure, he had the basics for survival now, but a workplace was a workplace. The fatigue hadn't fully cleared.

'Gotta sell some mana stones and snag a room nearby.'

He had the cash. Just climbing the first floor had netted a hefty haul—probably thanks to difficulty adjustments stacking with achievement rewards. Enough to grab a decent room in town outright.

Tomorrow, he'd go house-hunting. Today, he had work to do. He transferred the kobold scrap from his bag into a large sack. A serious amount at a glance. No screw-ups, and he could churn out hundreds of rings.

He stepped up to the furnace with ambition. Then it hit him: he had no recipe yet. Time to post on the Craftsman Gallery.

A minute after the comment? A new post hit the Craftsman Gallery.

Ya-geumsul-sa had uploaded a roughly 15-minute lecture video. She was at the podium again, teaching solo this time—no other students like last video.

— Eh, whatever. It's me anyway.

Professor Eponine Roshe dove right in with casual speech. She'd been polite last lecture, hadn't she?

— You might've realized it yourself, but the end product changes based on how you connect the nodes.

— If node linking is basics, think of this as advanced.

Different node connections yielded different results. He'd learned that firsthand mastering Seismic Wave.

— Always connect nodes carefully. You might end up with totally unforeseen effects.

— A defense ring could become a suicide ring that explodes five seconds after equipping.

— Or a curse ring that induces mental confusion on the wearer.

Just like with the warhammer skills. Sometimes he'd felt intense unease. Pushing through that might've triggered something seriously ominous.

He shook off the black mage's temptation and refocused on the lesson.

— You'll get a feel for it as you make them. Even new connections can have predictable outputs.

— Eventually, you'll guide options and enhancements freely... but that's far off.

Real artisan territory... With that, the basics wrapped up. Ya-geumsul-sa sketched node connection formulas on the blackboard—concise markings for mana flow at each point.

— Just do it like this.

— For blacksmiths, how many light sources you see gauges your skill too.

— Can't use what you don't see.

— This is simple, so no worries there.

— You know how to make rings, right? Go make one.

The video ended. Time to try it himself. Truth be told, he'd never made a ring proper. He'd planned to craft one for a future girlfriend someday, but life happened. Not important. Point was, rings were supposed to be easy.

He linked nodes on a suitably sized dark iron chunk. Worried the light sources might not show? All of them popped right into view. Now, keep them linked till the job was done.

Clang clang-!

He hammered the glowing red dark iron flat. Its softness let it spread into a thin band quick. Time to roll it round. Lay it on a cylindrical rod, smack with hammer—bent easy.

'So soft, ring-making's a breeze.'

Sprinkled borax to fuse the ends smoothly, reheated. Fuse the separated bits. Heat till it glowed white. Pump more mana into the furnace; temp spiked fast. Smack the near-molten iron to join—90% done. Polish exterior, size it, finished.

"Whoa, easy peasy."

One ring in 15 minutes. This simple? Of course, form didn't matter—mana infusion did. Time to check results.

The familiar three cards, now routine. Colors weren't flashy—good thing for a test piece. Shame if a throwaway got OP options.

No-brainer: Final Minute. Testing durability meant avoiding strength variables.

"Time to test."

Tied string to the ring, draped it over a watermelon. Watermelon in a necklace now.

Assembled the rifle parts he'd tossed aside emptying his bag. If the ring worked, it'd block bullets perfect.

Click! Bang-!!

The watermelon... spotless. Transparent barrier spawned on firing, shielding it. How much more could it take? Set to burst-fire, pulled trigger.

Rat-tat-!! Tat-tat-tat-!!

Shells ricocheted everywhere. Barrage at close range, yet no scratches on the barrier. Without the blue mana sparks, he'd doubt hits landed.

Click, click.

Shooting done. Barrier pristine as ever. Even smashing with warhammer? Same result. Perfect success. Posted test results to the gallery.

They might, they might not. Ya-geumsul-sa tsked in chat, baffled.

Scrolling his contacts on his phone, he replied.