by Park Saenal
Lord didn’t hate it either. Now he was 11 years old, and Grid had been worried that puberty would come. The little boy was understanding and felt admiration rather than resenting his father who was always away.
“I tried to listen to Mother’s words. I eat well and study hard.”
“Yes, you did very well. And…”
With black hair, blue eyes, high noise, and slightly raised mouth, Lord had an ideal mixture of his parent’s looks. Grid hugged the pretty Lord and kissed his cheeks. “It was a big achievement to heal Kasim. You saved Kasim.”
“Master is my friend and teacher. Don’t praise me for doing what I had to,” Lord said with a resolute expression.
Grid nodded with a smile. “Yes, you have to cherish your bonds.”
“Aunt Ruby told me to treat everyone with care.”
“That is true. Everyone is precious to someone so they are all precious people. Help if you see someone who is going through difficulties.”
Grid was saying this?
“Cough, cough!”
The early members of the Overgeared Guild, including Zednos and Laella. Those, who had been appointed as new lords after the 10 meritorious retainers left, came to Grid’s office and were surprised. In any case, Grid ignored them and held up Lord to the window. The view of the city unfolded, and countless people could be seen.
“However, don’t be nice to everyone. Then you will be a pushover… No, if you give out too much one-sided help then the other person can become lazy or you might find yourself tired.”
“Yes, Father. I understand.”
He could understand even if Grid talked like a dog. Grid could see why the teachers in every field praised Lord. The thrilled Grid was excited. “I will be in the smithy from now on. Why don’t you come with me?”
He naturally thought that Lord would come along. Yet…
“I want to watch Father work, but unfortunately, I have a previous engagement.”
“Previous engagement? With who?”
“A girlfriend.”
“…”
Was he talking about the group of Rebecca’s Daughters candidates? It must be busy dealing with hundreds of girlfriends with one body. He admired Lord, who received all types of education yet didn’t forget to date his girlfriends. Grid nodded while feeling a bit sad. “Then it can’t be helped. Have fun.”
“Yep. I will cherish my bonds like Father has taught.”
“…Y-Yes. By the way, who are you dating today?”
Grid remembered several names and faces among Lord’s girlfriends. Among them, there were around 10 who were the prettiest, and Grid wondered if it was one of them. While Grid was still trying to figure out who might be his future daughter-in-law, Lord brought out an unexpected name.
“Sister Sua.”
“Crazy!”
In Grid’s mind, all types of imaginary things unfolded. Then it happened the moment he couldn’t endure his anger and opened his mouth again.
“Hurry! Leave now!” Zednos created a wind barrier to separate Grid and Lord before pushing at Lord’s back. Zednos didn’t want the harsh words that would soon pop out of Grid’s mouth to contaminate the young boy’s ears and spirit.
“Yes, I’ll be going,” Lord politely said goodbye and left the office.
The moment Zednos lowered the wind, Grid’s swearing turned the office upside down. “XX!! How could this happen?!!”
Grid grabbed Zednos by the collar and shook him. “I know how beautiful, kind, and wonderful Sua is! However, she is a pervert!”
“Kek… Kekek!”
“I was wondering why the pervert had been silent for a while. It turns out she was reaching out for my son? Eh?”
“Kek…! Kekek!”
“What the hell did she do to such a young and pure child?!”
“O… Oh…”
“What? Dishonor? It is a dishonor!”
“Mis… understanding…” (TL: They both start with the same character in Korean)
He was suffocating. Zednos, who almost experienced the worst death, was barely released. He clicked his tongue at Grid’s strength that he had never seen before and explained, “She cares for Lord like a child, like a nephew. Faker said that when Lord was mentally tired from all his lessons, she took care of him and this brought them closer.”
“…Ah.”
Satisfy had many behind-the-scenes stories. The opening was reminiscent of the contents in morning dramas and ancient myths. Thus, he had been worried. Fortunately, it wasn’t the case. It was too much to tell the story of a perverted adult woman. The relieved Grid got rid of all his dirty imaginations. He asked his colleagues who had been appointed as the new lords of the eight territories to work hard before heading to the smithy.
Finally, the moment to create the mineral was here.
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Chapter 1087
[Adamantium that Lost its Light]
[-Debris from a crashed meteorite.
It has the hardness and strength of adamantium but has lost its divine power.
Weight: 10]
At Reinhardt’s smithy…
“Hrmm…”
Adamantium was a ‘mineral’ that naturally grew in the god realm. Yet the meteorite was called adamantium. Why was this?
Grid held the grey matter in his hand and pondered on it. Then Dwarf Ke approached. “It was said that Goddess Rebecca split the high mountains in the distant heavens and formed the sun, moon, and stars from the fragments,” he explained the connection between adamantium and the meteorite using mythological content. “The fragment of that giant mountain is the first adamantium.”
“I see.”
The endowment of probability. This was the moment when the fundamental role of NPCs and quests was revealed. Grid nodded at the answer.
Ke threw him a new question, “So what do you think blood stone is?”
“…?”
“The background that our blacksmiths use to create new objects on the basis of minerals are the teachings of the goddess of light. We know about the role of minerals in creation because the material that the goddess of light used to make all things was adamantium.”
“…”
Was it due to the aftermath of being trapped in the Abyss for over a hundred years that Dwarf Ke was often distracted? Sometimes he was more of a nuisance than a kid. It was different right now. He was speaking perfectly. The dignity of a craftsman could be felt. It was the ‘dwarf image’ that Grid dreamed of.
“It means there must be no minerals in hell. Don’t the myths only describe Yatan as an evil god who destroys? Of course, he isn’t always active, but he is always thinking about destroying the world. Then what about the existence of a mineral, a tool of creation, in his world known as hell? Fart?”
“…”
The tone truly mattered. The serious looking Ke was asking deep questions. His knowledge of myths was so great that he asked a question which was hard for anyone other than a small number of players to understand. Yet his last word ‘fart’ broke this image.
As Grid listened seriously, his focus was broken in an instant. Did others feel this way when they talked to him? The newly self-aware Grid made a vow.
‘I have to read many real books in the future.’
In retrospect, people who read many books would be conspicuous from an early age. In particular, people who read many webnovels would have an intellectual attractiveness and good interpersonal relationships. There were many cases where they met a wonderful and capable wife or a handsome and good husband and went straight to marriage.
The moment that Grid’s consciousness briefly wandered down a side road…
“I feel there is a huge twist,” Ke said an astonishing remark.
“…!!”
Did he notice there were many distortions to the mythology just based on the concept of minerals? If so, Ke would be special among the dwarves. Grid was feeling admiration when an old memory suddenly rose.
“In the end, don’t the demonkin need a living environment? I have visited hell, and there were fences, a village, houses and castles. Of course, there was a blacksmith. It might not be unusual for them to have minerals in hell because resources are needed in their lives. In the first place, Yatan is a god of periodic destruction. Would he care about what life creates before his time of activity comes?”
“That’s a common sense response. Still, isn’t it strange? Yatan is opposed to the goddess of light, and hell is a world in conflict with the world of the gods. So why did a concept created by the goddess of light permeate hell? I’m not convinced.”
“…”
Grid sensed it. Ke was currently trying to raise questions that were unacceptable in this world. Rebecca and Yatan might not actually be opposed to each other… Well, it was an obvious question.
‘Don’t tell me…?’
“Oof! Oof oof!!”
Grid blocked Ke’s mouth when the dwarf tried to keep the conversation going. He was reminded of the existence of the ‘gods’ who appeared whenever he approached the seven malignant saints. The moment Ke raised this question, Grid felt it might not be forgiven by the gods and blocked him reflexively.
“Dammit!” Ke threw Grid’s hand away and got upset. “You’re the same! Are you telling me to stop talking nonsense and shut up? You are treating me as a foolish old man! Isn’t that right?”
“…”
Ke seemed to have suffered many unjust experiences. Had he left Talima and Lubana for the empire because he had lost his place? Was it the curse of the gods?
‘Then as a result, he was trapped in the Abyss? No, this is too much.’
In any case, these were small gods. Could they be called almighty and generous gods when they always monitored the earth?
Grid had peeked at the truth of the world through the seven malignant saints and peeked at the inferiority of the gods through Hexetia. At this point, he was curious about the ‘expelled gods.’ They were first mentioned by the grandmaster. Did the grandmaster think of them as true gods who were expelled by the gods of today?
‘I wish we could’ve conversed a bit more.’
An incarnation of the seven malignant saints…
The grandmaster was more important than Emperor Juander. A conversation with him would’ve provided Grid with a lot of information. It was just that the situation meant Grid couldn’t focus on the conversation. Grid felt that it was a pity.
‘I’ll get a chance again someday.’
He wasn’t too worried. Grid was convinced that the grandmaster was alive and knew they eventually meet again. He just didn’t know if it would be good for him.
“Did you calm down?” Grid removed the hand that was blocking Ke’s mouth. The agitated Ke soon felt exhausted and calmed down.
Grid tried to appease the dwarf who was acting as a child, “I have no intention of ignoring or denying you. I just restrained you because the words you would’ve spoken could’ve placed you in danger.”
Ke was surprised. His words would endanger him? There was some truth in it.
“That’s right… I received misfortune every time I told this story. Perhaps it is the curse of the gods?”
For the dwarves, the ‘curse of a transcendent existence’ wasn’t a strange concept. It was the dwarves who had been plagued by the dragon Trauka for hundreds of years. Ke shuddered and looked around. A chill went down his spine at the thought that someone was watching him from somewhere.
Grid reassured him, “You don’t have to be so anxious. You are safe as long as you are by my side.”
“…”
Grid’s dignity and charm stats were very high. He also excelled at utilizing stats through his items. Grid, who greatly raised his dignity and charm with the king’s sword and crown, asserted Ke of his safety confidently, and Ke felt a deep sense of trust and relief.
[Affinity with the dwarf ‘Ke’ has increased by 3.]
“…I will leave you now. The castle will be repaired and enlarged like I promised the other day. Rest assured and focus on creating the new mineral,” Ke’s tone became a bit more polite.
It was very encouraging for Grid that he managed to slightly raise his affinity with Ke, who had lived for hundreds of years and witnessed the legends of the past. Grid thought for a while, but he thought it was too early to pull out the imperial palace’s blueprint. In the first place, he had the blueprint in mind for Eat Spicy Jokbal.
Eat Spicy Jokbal still hadn’t joined the Overgeared Guild, but he had unknowingly given a lot of help to the Overgeared Guild. The dungeons he built around Reinhardt attracted monsters and protected small villages while providing hunting grounds to beginner, intermediate, and high level players.
‘I’m not a fool. I will never build a dungeon for the Overgeared Guild’ was something he was still saying despite several years of actions showing otherwise.
He used the excuse of helping his niece Elizabeth, but the members of the Overgeared Guild knew better. Eat Spicy Jokbal had been cooking with Poison Master Edan and provided meals to the Overgeared members, so he was now well-liked. It was just that a shackle was holding back his decision. Eat Spicy Jokbal wanted to join the Overgeared Guild but hesitated for some reason.
Grid didn’t know the exact reason. At first, it seemed to be because he was deprived of the dragon egg, but that didn’t seem to be the case anymore.
‘Every person has their own circumstances…’
Eat Spicy Jokbal was the deep figure who founded and ran the dark organization called Blood Carnival. It would take a lot of time to open his mind and know his story.
Grid suppressed his thoughts and started to use the bellows. The temperature of the furnace quickly reached the level that Grid wanted. The smelting process had to be carried out separately because adamantium, the insane dragon iron, black mithril, and Berith’s Hoof all had different melting points. It was a task that couldn’t be done quickly in a short period of time.
‘Concentrate.’
The metal melted in the flames. All four minerals had different shapes and colors, but they all glowed red after being smelted. The heat rose quickly, causing Grid’s body to be drenched in sweat. If Grid wasn’t a blacksmith or a legend, he might’ve retreated or fallen down in great pain from the heat. It was because of this that Grid could be as calm as someone in a sauna. Of course, he didn’t relax. In order to smelt and mix the five minerals including pavranium, it was necessary to not relax for even 0.1 second.
“Let’s meet again with a new appearance.”
A golden blade…
The pavranium floating around Grid threw itself into the furnace. This was the moment when the Blade Aiming at the Gods—which had the characteristics of summoning the ‘golden clouds’ and the ‘god hands’ with a low probability after being attacked but was unable to play a large role due to Grid’s bad luck—disappeared from the world. The newly reborn pavranium would be more active than the pavranium in the God Hands era.
He vowed again and again. Grid succeeded in smelting the pavranium and finally tried to mix it.
[Pavranium, created with the skills and knowledge of the legends, has been reborn at your fingertips.]
[A very high dexterity has been detected.]
[The legendary blacksmith’s techniques has led to the creation of a new mineral.]
[Potential knowledge has been detected.]
[The characteristics of Duke of Wisdom are helping in the progression of the mineral creation.]
[Several epics have been detected.]
[The stories you are made of are soaking into the new minerals.]
A bright light filled the smithy and extended to the outside. It might be shabby compared to Saharan’s red energy which covered all of the imperial capital, but the golden glow in the centre of Reinhardt was a magnificent sight that caught everyone’s eyes.
[Congratulations! You have succeeded in creating a new mineral!]
[Please name the new mineral!]
A substance that had never existed was born at Grid’s fingertips. It was a ‘Grid-only item’ that went beyond the concept of ‘class-specific items’ held by hidden classes.
“Ah…”
How much adversity and hardships had he overcome to reach this moment? The sentimental Grid opened his mouth, “The name of the new mineral is…”
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Chapter 1088
“The name of the new mineral is…”
Of course, it had to be Overgeared Stone.
‘…I don’t think so.’
Then Overgearanium?
‘Bullshit.’
The growth couldn’t be limited to one thing. If side A developed, the synergy effect of side B developing together was human growth. Grid realized that his naming sense was lousy thanks to his improved intellectual ability, and he hesitated.
‘Both are too bad.’
Now he understood Lauel’s reaction when he named the Overgeared Guild and Overgeared Kingdom. Lauel had adapted, but he surely wouldn’t have fallen asleep too easily when he first heard the names ‘Overgeared Guild’ and ‘Overgeared Kingdom’. Of course, the feeling might be a bit different if Grid were watched from a third party’s perspective.
Grid scratched his cheeks and his chin. Every item he created couldn’t be called Overgeared something. It was too monotonous and not fun. He had even tried to name the White Tiger Sword as the Stone Sword. No, did he try to name the Stone Sword as the White Tiger Sword…? In any case, Grid had become seriously concerned about naming since that time and was troubled.
‘It can’t be Grivurnum.’
Grid had already promised Braham. The name of the new mineral he would create with Braham was Grivurnum. Yes, that was a story for when he made it together with Braham. The origin of this black-gold mineral was pavranium. Even if the Duke of Wisdom contributed to the creation, Braham would be unhappy if it had his name. There was no Braham in the process of creation. Not even his will existed.
“Ok, Grivurnum is a pass. Don’t worry and sleep well,” Grid muttered toward Braham while cleaning up his inventory.