Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Proving the Blacksmith Skills
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"Hmm? You can't reinforce it?"
Hae-jin tilted his head upon hearing the Dwarf Elder say reinforcement was impossible, even after he'd handed over the Equipment Reinforcement Ticket.
It was unheard-of information that an Equipment Reinforcement Ticket wouldn't work on Joo-hyuk's weapon.
The Dwarf Elder answered Hae-jin's question.
"It's because the equipment has already entered the realm of the divine. Even a scroll bestowed by a god couldn't reinforce it further."
Equipment that had already entered the realm of the divine.
Hearing that, Hae-jin understood.
'So the gear Joo-hyuk used was god-tier, which is why it can't be reinforced anymore.'
Come to think of it, from Joo-hyuk's perspective, there was no need to mention it.
In case any variables arose for him, he'd passed most things on to Hae-jin.
But even in that hypothetical scenario, he probably never imagined using an Equipment Reinforcement Ticket on his own final gear.
Joo-hyuk's final equipment could only be obtained far in the future, at the Trials' Arena from the current point.
It was possible to get more Equipment Reinforcement Tickets as rewards from the Trials' Arena in between, but by then, Joo-hyuk would only think of using them on his party members.
So he couldn't have imagined Hae-jin using an Equipment Reinforcement Ticket on his own gear now.
Hae-jin grasped the situation.
'Then if I meet dwarves again next time, I should use it on someone else's equipment.'
Just like he'd given the Equipment Reinforcement Ticket to Joo-hyuk to reinforce his own gear.
Hae-jin took back the Equipment Reinforcement Ticket from the Dwarf Elder.
"Well, nothing to be done. I'll take it back then."
"Here you are, Hero."
The Dwarf Elder returned the twin swords and Equipment Reinforcement Ticket Hae-jin had handed over.
As he did, the Dwarf Elder showed a surprised expression.
"That aside, it's astonishing."
"Hmm? What's that?"
"The revelation I received was to check if you Heroes truly possessed the qualifications of a true Hero, but I never expected one of you to carry an aura rivaling a god's power."
A Hero with an aura rivaling a god's power.
That was the Dwarf Elder's assessment after receiving and examining the twin swords Joo-hyuk had used, just moments ago.
He had recognized the aura of god-tier equipment.
Hae-jin smirked at that.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Thanks to you, I can set aside my worries."
"Worries?"
"With a Hero like you here, it seems we no longer need to fear our clan falling into danger from the lich."
"Well, yeah..."
Hae-jin shrugged.
Just as the Dwarf Elder said, there was no danger from the lich for them.
In his current state, Hae-jin could ignore the undead legion, charge straight ahead, and sever the lich's head right now.
'But it's not time yet.'
If Hae-jin cut off the lich's head right away, the remaining players would all die, and he'd be transferred to another zone, so he absolutely had to avoid that situation.
That said, just sitting around waiting was a waste of time.
There was something Hae-jin had to do here.
"Elder."
"Yes, Hero."
"Could I ask a favor?"
"What is it?"
"I'd like to learn blacksmithing from your dwarf artisans."
Learning the skills of the dwarf artisans.
While the other players dealt with the undead legion, Hae-jin planned to master the dwarves' techniques.
But there was one point that differed from expectations.
'The artisan abilities Joo-hyuk already had were inherited too...'
As originally planned from his talks with Joo-hyuk, Hae-jin was supposed to learn the skills from the dwarf artisans.
However, something neither of them had anticipated occurred.
Hae-jin had inherited everything from Joo-hyuk.
As a result, there was no need to learn from the dwarf artisans anymore.
'Still, I should check if it really works properly.'
Even though it seemed unnecessary, Hae-jin wanted to verify if he'd truly inherited everything from Joo-hyuk correctly.
The reason was simple.
'This is the last chance.'
Originally, he thought he'd obtain the Rune of Regression from Joo-hyuk and gain a new opportunity.
But that was a misconception.
Contrary to both their expectations, Hae-jin had to seize this final chance without Joo-hyuk.
Nothing could be overlooked, no matter how trivial.
In that sense, Hae-jin intended to test if he could properly demonstrate the dwarf artisans' skills.
The Dwarf Elder responded to Hae-jin's proposal.
"Our techniques, you say?"
"Yes."
"If a Hero requests it, it's our duty to comply... but..."
"Is there a problem?"
Hae-jin wondered why the Dwarf Elder trailed off.
The Dwarf Elder answered Hae-jin's question.
"With your current abilities, Hero, wouldn't it be better to gather black mana stones and obtain the superior equipment we craft, rather than learning our techniques?"
"Hmm, that would be more convenient than making it yourself. But you can't make anything better than the gear I just showed you, right?"
"Ah, well... that's true."
The Dwarf Elder thought it better for a human to take their crafted items rather than learn their techniques in a short time.
But after hearing Hae-jin out, he had no choice but to agree.
Even the twin swords Hae-jin had shown earlier—he thought he could craft something similar if he poured his heart into it.
'But without the materials infused with divine energy, it's impossible.'
Equipment like the twin swords Hae-jin showed required materials imbued with a god's energy.
But the dwarf village currently had no such materials.
No matter how many black mana stones were gathered, even if the Elder himself worked on it, crafting gear surpassing Hae-jin's twin swords was impossible.
On top of that, Hae-jin revealed one more fact.
"And I'm not trying to learn it in a short time."
"Hmm? Then what..."
"I want to check if my artisan skills can earn recognition from you dwarves."
"Ah, I see."
"Yes."
"If that's your intent, Hero... I'll take a look."
"Thank you."
Afterward, the Dwarf Elder led Hae-jin to the best-equipped forge in the village.
Hae-jin asked the Dwarf Elder.
"Hmm, for materials, I'll have to melt down equipment from monsters. Could I borrow some blacksmith tools?"
He had materials from items picked up in the previous Trials' Arena that he could melt down.
But the blacksmith tools were different.
Unfortunately, though Hae-jin had inherited everything from Joo-hyuk, it wasn't quite 'everything.'
He'd gained titles, equipment, achievements, stats, and more—but the inventory alone wasn't shared.
So Hae-jin felt a bit regretful.
'I remember Joo-hyuk had some amazing blacksmith tools too.'
Joo-hyuk had possessed all necessary items beyond just combat gear.
It was a shame those weren't inherited, but what he'd received from Joo-hyuk was already tremendous.
In any case, to activate Joo-hyuk's inherited blacksmith skills, blacksmith tools were needed.
Even if Hae-jin supplied the materials himself, he had to borrow the blacksmith tools from the dwarves.
The Dwarf Elder accepted Hae-jin's request.
"Of course. Use any you like. If needed, you can borrow my tools."
"No, that's fine. Your tools as Elder must be exceptional—I want to craft a single sword with ordinary tools and earn the dwarves' recognition."
"I see."
"Yes."
Joo-hyuk had told Hae-jin this.
『In the fourth Trials' Arena, the Dwarf Elder will be friendly and offer his own tools. Don't use them—say you'll use ordinary blacksmith tools instead.』
『Why? Wouldn't the Elder's tools yield better results?』
『They would, but it backfires. Using the Elder's tools raises the bar—you have to produce an even more outstanding sword, and the standards get ridiculously high.』
『The standards rise?』
『Yeah, otherwise, the dwarves won't properly teach you their blacksmithing techniques if the sword isn't up to par.』
So Joo-hyuk had advised Hae-jin to use borrowed ordinary tools to learn the dwarves' blacksmithing in the fourth Trials' Arena.
Of course, now that Hae-jin had inherited everything from Joo-hyuk, it was more important to prove he could craft properly than to receive instruction.
When Hae-jin said ordinary blacksmith tools would do, the Dwarf Elder called over a dwarf.
"Hans, bring some blacksmith tools for the Hero."
"Yes."
The dwarf named Hans moved and handed blacksmith tools to Hae-jin.
As he received them, system windows appeared before Hae-jin's eyes.
[Equipment! Acquired 'Shabby Dwarven Blacksmith Bandana.']
[Equipment! Acquired 'Shabby Dwarven Blacksmith Apron.']
[Equipment! Acquired 'Shabby Dwarven Blacksmith Gloves.']
[Equipment! Acquired 'Shabby Dwarven Blacksmith Shoes.']
'It figures they'd give me shabby ones since I asked casually. Still, being dwarven-made, they're better than completely shabby gear.'
Having obtained the shabby dwarven blacksmith armor set from Hans, Hae-jin equipped it.
As he donned the shabby dwarven blacksmith gear, the inherited skills from Joo-hyuk activated.
[Passive! 'Soul of the Blacksmith' activated.]
[Passive! 'Soul of the Artisan' activated!]
[Passive! 'Benefactor of the Dwarf Clan' activated!]
'Just equipping blacksmith tools activated three skills already...'
Seeing that, Hae-jin spoke to the Dwarf Elder.
"What hammer and anvil should I use?"
In response to Hae-jin's question, the Dwarf Elder pointed to various spots with furnaces, hammers, and anvils gathered.
"Use any of those over there."
"Got it."
In truth, Hae-jin could sense the auras.
He sensed the spot with an unusually powerful furnace, hammer, and anvil set.
What he'd gotten from Hans earlier was commonly called the blacksmith armor set, while the three tools for crafting were called the blacksmith crafting set.
But Hae-jin avoided the blacksmith crafting set with the exceptional aura.
Following Joo-hyuk's advice, he'd even taken shabby tools.
In such a situation, what meaning would there be in using a superior blacksmith crafting set?
Hae-jin deliberately headed to the blacksmith crafting set with the weakest aura.
There, he pulled out a few miscellaneous iron items from his inventory.
Then the Dwarf Elder called to Hae-jin.
"Hero."
"Yes?"
"Since you're showing us crafting a sword anyway, feel free to use our materials."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll just use these iron ingots here."
"As you wish."
Fortunately, Hae-jin avoided the hassle of melting down gear for materials.
Using the materials the Dwarf Elder permitted, he began crafting a very basic single sword.
Standing before the blacksmith crafting kit, he raised the furnace heat, gripped the hammer, and positioned himself at the anvil—new system windows appeared.
[Passive! 'Master of Flames' activated.]
[Passive! 'Dexterous Hands' activated.]
[Passive! 'Ifrit's Blessing' activated.]
[Passive! 'Soul of the Flame Giant' activated.]
[Passive! 'God of the Hammer' activated.]
…….
Gripping the hammer, facing the furnace flames and anvil, more skills activated.
Seeing that, Hae-jin was dumbfounded.
'How many skills activate before even starting the crafting? He really was an insane jack-of-all-trades.'
Then, Hae-jin suddenly recalled what Joo-hyuk had said.
『You're doing jack-of-all-trades because you have real talent to begin with.』