by Park Saenal
(Don’t make me laugh! We have secured a safe distance! She can’t have noticed us!)
(Hey hey, she is staring in your direction in the first place…)
(ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ The number one assassin is found by a mere blacksmith.)
(Why did you stick so close…? You have too much pride as the number one assassin…)
Faker and his party members were all part of the Tzedakah Guild.
It was around a month ago.
The Tzedakah Guild received information about the item making game in Winston and quickly gathered in Winston. Then they collected information about the blacksmith who made the epic rated dagger. There were many people watching the game at the time, so it was easy for the Tzedakah Guild to gather information.
The blacksmith’s ID was Erina. The gender was female. Her height was 160cm She was estimated to be between 17-19 years old. She had bright golden hair down to the waist and a beautiful appearance that was unforgettable.
The Tzedakah Guild completed a portrait of Erina based on witness statements, before splitting up to track down Erina. Then two days ago, Faker was able to find Erina at Frontier.
Jishuka heard the report from Faker and commanded.
{I will meet her in person. Keep watching her until I get to Frontier.}
And now.
Faker’s surveillance was on the verge of being noticed by Erina.
Chapter 54
Chapter 54
No, it still wasn’t certain that he’d been discovered. Faker’s Stealth skill was at level 7. Even the top rankers would have trouble detecting him.
“…”
Faker held his breath in order to maintain a more complete stealth state. But he couldn’t escape from Erina, no, Euphemina’s insight.
“Don’t peek at me like a pervert. If you don’t come out, I’ll make you come out.”
This was Euphemina’s final warning. Faker’s party members became agitated at the dangerous atmosphere.
(Hey Faker, don’t you think she really noticed?)
(It might be a mistake to keep hiding. Remove Stealth and reveal your identity.)
Faker replied angrily.
(Blacksmiths don’t have any detection techniques. No, even if such techniques existed, there is no possibility that my stealth would be discovered. Don’t worry about it. That woman is just making guesses…)
Faker’s conversation was interrupted.
Peeeong!
A large explosion occurred in a radius of 3m around Euphemina’s body.
“Kuk!”
Faker was in range so he rushed to escape the aftermath of the explosion. But Euphemina had no intention of letting him go.
“Angel’s Scream.”
Biiiiiik.
“….?!”
Ultrasound waves rattled Faker’s eardrums. Faker made a pained expression as his ears started bleeding. Then Euphemina stared blankly at him and asked, “Who are you? Why are you watching me?”
‘Who are you?’ That was what Faker wanted to ask. How did a blacksmith use top-level magic in succession?
‘Perhaps?’
Faker was confused. He needed confirmation.
Sususuk.
Faker’s body move slightly and left dozens of afterimages. As Euphemina observed the scene, the hat she was wearing was peeled off by Faker. Faker was surprised. The face of the blonde woman, revealed by the hat, was exactly the same as their portrait. But the ID above her head wasn’t Erina, but Euphemina.
‘We were wrong from the beginning. All the information we gathered was false.’
Faker came to this conclusion. There were countless guilds who wanted to obtain the maker of the Special Jaffa Arrows. They were fiercely competing to avoid having the blacksmith stolen by other guilds. They would spread false information to disturb or trap the competing guilds.
Faker gritted his teeth.
‘We fell into a trap.’
In the worst case scenario, the item production game in Winston might be a false drama from the beginning. If so, the Tzedakah Guild was dancing on someone’s palm.
“Give it to me.” Euphemina took back her hat from the shocked Faker. Then she spoke in an angry voice. “Why are you taking away my belonging instead of answering the question? This is annoying.”
Faker stared at her. “What guild do you belong to?”
It was a puzzling question from Euphemina’s standpoint.
“I don’t understand what you are talking about. Rather, shouldn’t you answer? Why did you follow me for two days?”
“You must be joking… If so, I will use force to make you tell the truth.”
To define it simply, the Tzedakah Guild was a group of leaders. All of the guild members had aggressive tendencies. Euphemina also had a formidable temperament.
“…All the men I meet these days are like psychos.”
Grid was a person to be protected, no matter how much she didn’t like it. However, Faker was different. She wanted to get rid of him for the insult.
“First you watched me, now you are threatening me? I’ll have to fix that nasty head of yours. Lightning.”
Pachchik!
Static electricity appeared around Faker. At the same time, a lightning bolt fell from the clear sky.
Kwaang!
Faker avoided the lightning at a fast speed, producing dozens of afterimages. Then he appeared behind Euphemina. At that moment, Euphemina’s hand touched Faker’s abdomen.
“Unfortunately for you, I won’t fall for the same technique twice.”
Peeng!
Faker’s body was surrounded by flames. But Faker didn’t even scream. He didn’t feel any pain. Euphemina attacked the wrong target. In other words, the Faker standing behind Euphemina was a clone, not the real body.
Pakak!
“Ugh!”
Euphemina was struck in the side by a kick and fell down with a groan. Faker looked down at her and explained, “The same technique can be applied differently. It is certainly great that you can use magic without chanting, but you aren’t my opponent.”
To be honest, Euphemina was nervous. It was the first time she had been hit in a battle against a user since becoming a Duplicator.
‘This man, he is strong.’
He used top-level assassin techniques and was good at fighting. He was an opponent to watch. But that was all.
“It is only a moment of elation. Ancient Queen’s Knight.”
An intense light flashed. Faker recovered from his momentary loss of sight and was astonished. A knight in black armor had appeared in the air in front of him.
“Familiar…?!”
It was impossible for a magician to summon a familiar. A summoner class existed in Satisfy. A familiar had to be called using a summoner’s authority.
-Kuaaaaah!
The Ancient Queen’s Knight grabbed a part of the darkness around its body and held it like a sword towards Faker. The momentum was like a great mountain was going to hit him.
“Kuk!”
Originally, assassins used secret weapons. There was no chance of winning a head on fight against a knight.
Kwaang!
Faker narrowly avoided the attack from the knight. Due to this, the outer wall of a building was destroyed and dust scattered all over the place.
Pik!
Faker ignored the sharp piece of stone that scratched his cheek and ignored the knight. Then he threw three daggers towards the worried Euphemina. The dagger flew at a speed that couldn’t be avoided by a magician. It wasn’t useless even if she tried to defend with magic. Faker had tossed a dagger that had a hidden ability to explode in response to magic.
‘That’s it!’
Faker thought he won, but then something unexpected happened.
Sususuk.
Euphemina observed the three flying daggers, then her body moved slightly, creating afterimages and avoiding all the daggers.
‘Unbelievable! After a familiar, is it an assassin’s skill?’
>
Originally, it required extreme concentration to figure out which of the dozens of afterimages was the main body. However, Faker couldn’t concentrate because the Ancient Queen’s Knight was constantly attacking.
Faker’s watching party members were forced to interfere.
“We’re going to help!”
Faker shook his head.
“Are you still insisting on a one-on-one fight? Don’t make me laugh! Don’t ignore us!”
“It can’t be helped. She isn’t an opponent you can win against! Do you think we’ll leave you alone?”
“Hiyah!”
Faker’s party members were part of the Tzedakah Guild and also in the top rankings. But the four of them couldn’t overpower Euphemina.
Over the past month, Euphemina had duplicated the techniques of rankers while searching for an orb production method, so she was currently in her strongest mode.
“Dragon Claws.”
While the Ancient Queen’s Knight tied up Faker’s feet, large and sharp stone pillars rose in succession from the ground. Faker was forced to rush in every direction to defend himself, while a rain of fire poured down from the sky.
“She is using great spells in succession?”
“No way…”
The faces of Faker and the party members filled with despair. They got a glimpse of Euphemina’s true power.
***
Jishuka’s face distorted as she arrived at the collapsed scene in the middle of the city.
“Someone dares touch our guild?”
Before Satisfy was released, the Tzedakah Guild was the strongest armed group in L.T.S. that no one dared meet. Even the giant guilds were wary of the Tzedakah Guild. Jishuka was determined to make Tzedakah the strongest guild in Satisfy. Indeed, they had already become a famous guild among the top rankers.
But being well known was separate from being the strongest. In order to reign as the strongest, they couldn’t show even a hint of weakness.
Jishuka commanded. “Find her right now. We’ll show the dignity of the Tzedakah Guild by shattering her.”
The opponent was someone who defeated four guild members, including Faker. According to the testimony of the witnesses, she could use the skills of all types of classes. Her strength probably wasn’t normal.
‘Maybe she has an hidden class.’
But Jishuka wasn’t afraid. The true power of the Tzedakah Guild hadn’t been shown yet. Thus, this was the beginning of the bad relationship between Euphemina and the Tzedakah Guild.
Chapter 55
Chapter 55
I didn’t leave the smithy for the entirety of last month. From the moment I connected to Satisfy to the time I logged out, I stayed at the smithy the whole time. In the meantime, I was able to establish some facts that I knew dimly or discovered new facts.
First, making the same items repeatedly wasn’t effective in raising the skill experience. Every time I made a different item, the skill experience would rise at a good rate.
Secondly, the better the materials, the higher the possibility that the item would have a higher rating.
For example, when making two iron swords based on the same production method, the iron sword with the poor-quality metal had a close to 100% chance of being a normal rating, whereas the one made with the finest metal had a relatively high probability of receiving a rare rating.
Thirdly, even when I was making items with the same production method and materials, the ones that I spent longer on were the ones that were more likely to have a higher rating.
It was very fortunate that I managed to make a unique dagger in only three hours. I had to invest at least half an hour if I wanted to make an item higher than a rare rating. In other words, the number of items that could be produced in one day was very limited, so increasing my stats wasn’t as easy of a feat as I thought it would be.
Fourthly, if I wanted to be a good blacksmith, I had to invest points in stamina, as well as in strength and in dexterity.
The equipment and minerals used in a smithy were mostly heavy, so I needed high strength to work efficiently. When making an item, I needed to have a lot of stamina if I didn’t want to become exhausted.
So I really liked my high strength and stamina stat.
“Pant pant…aren’t you still young? You can’t be exhausted yet.”
Unlike Khan who took a break every time an item was completed, I was able to produce items constantly without taking a break when I was connected to Satisfy.
In the past month, I created 73 items, meaning I produced an average of two or more items a day. 11 of the 73 items had a rare rating and 3 of the 73 had an epic rating. As a result, all of my stats increased by 34 points.
I currently had 11 types of stats: strength, stamina, agility, intelligence, dexterity, persistence, composure, indomitable, dignity, insight and courage. If 11 stats increased by 34 points each, this meant it was increased by 374 points, which was equivalent to gaining 37 levels.
But I was dissatisfied. Why? I made 73 items. I invested at least six hours every time I made an item. The materials were also as good as possible within my range.
However, I never made one unique rated item, let alone a legendary one. Wasn’t this too much?
‘I only got three epic rated items… Crazy. Is this a legendary blacksmith? Ah, I’m so tired.’
Every time I made an item, I earnestly prayed for a unique rating. However, it was almost always a normal rating. Every time, I felt an incredible sense of disappointment and wanted to curse at the game.
The only comfort was that the level of my production skills increased.
[Legendary Blacksmith’s Craftsmanship Skill]
Lv. 2
Produce equipment items that you know how to make.
You can create the production methods for a new item with the ‘Legendary Blacksmith’s Creation’ skill.
There is a certain probability of producing rare~ epic rated items.
There is a rare probability of creating unique rated items.
There is a very rare probability of creating legendary rated items.
All stats of a production item will increase by 12%.
* When rare rated items are produced, all stats will permanently rise by +2 and reputation throughout the continent will rise by +30.
* When epic rated items are produced, all stats will permanently rise by +4 and reputation throughout the continent will rise by +80.
* When unique rated items are produced, all stats will permanently rise by +12 and reputation throughout the continent will rise by +300.
* When legendary rated items are produced, all stats will permanently rise by +25 and reputation throughout the continent will rise by +1,000.
* Something special will occur with every five legendary items created.
[Legendary Blacksmith’s Creation Skill]
You can create three equipment item production methods every time the skill level of the ‘Legendary Blacksmith’s Craftsmanship Skill’ goes up.
Number of items that can be created at present: 5/6.
* When items are produced using this skill, the name of the creator is automatically placed on the item.
[Legendary Blacksmith’s Breath]
Lv. 2
When you are concentrating on making an item, the will of Pagma’s Descendant will fill the production item.
All stats of a production item will increase by 7%.
There is a rare chance of giving special features to your production items.
In addition to the increase in my skill levels, there was something else that was gratifying. I had created dozens of items in Khan’s smithy over the past month. Khan wanted to pass on as much knowledge to me as possible before he retired, so I was given one new production method every day.
This was an enormous harvest. The original method of acquiring production items was to perform specific quests, and the level of difficulty varied. Thus, it was very difficult to find item production methods. I was
fortunate enough to acquire many production methods without the need for separate quests, thanks to being Khan’s successor.
I pulled out a book from my inventory. The title was ‘List of Items Production Methods.’ The book described the details of the production methods I learned. The table of contents had expanded. Starting from my own ‘Failure’ to the Jaffa Arrows I learned in Bairan, to the dozens of works acquired from Khan…
It was exciting.
‘When I was in Bairan Village, I had only four production methods, including the axe, pickaxe, Jaffa Arrow and Failure…’
When I looked at the production methods, Euphemina entered my mind.
‘Why hasn’t that woman come with the method to create the orb?’
Euphemina wanted me to make an orb for her. That’s why it was highly likely that she would bring the best production method. Then I would be able to get my hands on a production method for free.
I was happy just imagining it. No, wait…
“If…if there is only one chance… what if Euphemina brings me the production method and materials, only for me to make a normal-rated orb?”
Would she take my life? Maybe Euphemina would keep me locked up somewhere until I managed to complete a unique rated orb.
“If it is her…” I recalled the psychotic smile on Euphemina’s face as she burned the lord’s bodyguards. “…What will she do to me?”
I no longer waited for Euphemina. Rather, I wished that she would never show up. I shook with terror. Then the door of the smithy opened.
“Hiik! E-Euphemina?!”
There was an old saying that a tiger would come when mentioned. It felt like Euphemina had been waiting for me to mention her. Fortunately, the people who arrived at the smithy wasn’t Euphemina. At first glance, they looked like two incredibly high-level male users.
“Is this Khan’s smithy?”
“I am Khan… why are you looking for me?”
They started questioning Khan. “You competed in the item production game with a traveller called Erina a month ago right?”
“That’s right…”
“Is she really a blacksmith? Did you witness her making the item with your own eyes?”
“The question is strange. Is she a blacksmith? Of course she is a blacksmith. She was hired by the Mero Company to participate in the game and I have directly experienced her great blacksmith skills. No, who on earth are you? Why are you asking such strange questions?”