by Park Saenal
‘Broken bone’ wasn’t a common condition, so the number of players who could endure their bones breaking was surprisingly small. Given that damaged bones cost 100 gold to restore, the use of Bone Cracking alone could cause serious damage.
‘Well… the heals of a priest can restore it. So, this isn’t a problem to worry about.’
Did Grid need help from Overgeared Skeleton One to deal with ordinary monsters and players? No, Grid alone could handle them. Overgeared Skeleton One was only worthy when going against a more transcendent being. For example…
‘Agnus!’ Grid thought of the mad dog. Agnus, Baal’s Contractor, was a sun-grade player who pretended to be the king of the living and the dead, and had a large number of liches and death knights. Like Grid, Agnus far transcended the category of a player and was one of the few opponents who could cause Grid to tense up. Grid had felt both regret and relief when he hadn’t met Agnus while hunting Immortal in the empire. Now, he would no longer feel any fear as long as he had Overgeared Skeleton One!
‘Agnus, where are you hiding now?’ Grid’s anger toward Agnus, the head of Immortal and the source of Khan’s death, revived again. The eternal war between Grid and Immortal had yet to end.
The Overgeared Skeletons continued hunting the bear-wolves. Of course, the speed of the hunt wasn’t very different from before. Overgeared Skeleton One’s Bone Cracking skill only had a low chance of activating. So, it was very rare for the Overgeared Skeletons to deal a fatal blow to the bear-wolves.
However, Grid wasn’t worried. He had no doubt that the Overgeared Skeletons’ level and skill levels would rise quickly with Mercedes as a bus.
‘I have to give a reward to the bus driver.’
Before he knew it, the portable furnace reached the temperature he wanted. What material should he make Mercedes’ armor out of…? Fortunately, there was no need for Grid to fret about that as he had the items he acquired when he went to support Valhalla!
[Red Knights’ Red Armor]
[Rating: Unique
Durability: 599/599 Defense: 501
* Strength increased by 20%.
* Two of the wearer’s highest stats will increase by 10%. If strength or intelligence increases at this time, there will be 200 additional attack power. Physical defense will increase by 200. An increase in agility will raise accuracy and evasion by 10%.
* Increases magic resistance in proportion to the wearer’s intelligence.
* The effect of the wearer’s highest level skill will increase by 20%.
* The cooldown of the wearer’s two lowest level skills will decrease by 10%.
* Durability and defense will slightly increase when the wearer’s level increases. However, this number is reset when the wearer changes.
* Unlocks a unique characteristic every time the level increases by 100. This characteristic is permanently maintained.
A heavy armor made of black mithril filled with the red energy of the Saharan emperor, ogre bones and rosar tin.
It increases the armor and strength of the wearer, as well as enhancing their unique ability.
As an armor given to the Red Knights ranging from 10-30, it is a treasure worthy of stimulating the Red Knights.
Weight: 1,000
Conditions of Use: A Red Knight.]
[Lorex’s Red Armor]
[Rating: Legendary
Durability: 599/599 Defense: 501
* Strength increased by 20%.
* Two of the wearer’s highest stats will increase by 10%. If strength or intelligence increases at this time, there will be 200 additional attack power. Physical defense will increase by 200. An increase in agility will raise accuracy and evasion by 10%.
* Increases magic resistance in proportion to the wearer’s intelligence.
* The effect of the wearer’s highest level skill will increase by 20%.
* The cooldown of the wearer’s two lowest level skills will decrease by 10%.
* The power of all wide-range skills is increased by 20%.
* When a large weapon is equipped, attack power will increase by 10% and attack speed will increase by 5%.
* Durability and defense will slightly increase when the wearer’s level increases. However, this number is reset when the wearer changes.
* Unlocks a unique characteristic every time the level increases by 100. This characteristic is permanently maintained.
Red armor that has grown with Third Knight Lorex.
After Lorex’s death, the growth figures for the durability and defense were reset. However, the other unique characteristics remain. The new Red Knight who inherits this armor will become stronger over time.
Weight: 1,000
Conditions of Use: A Red Knight.]
[Lorex’s Large Axe]
[Durability: 1,000/1,000
Attack Power: 1,200~1,500
* 20% drop in attack speed.
* When attacking more than 10 enemies at once, weapon damage will increase by 3% for 10 seconds. This effect will accumulate up to 30%, and the duration is reset whenever a damage boost occurs.
* Every time more than 10 enemies are attacked at once, 5,000 health will be recovered.
A special axe made out of rosar tin, produced for Lorex due to his distinguished military service.
The more enemies the wielder faces, the more powerful they become.
Weight: 5,900
Conditions of Use: Lorex]
This was the list of items he had gotten from slaughtering Lorex and the Red Knights back when he became the Basic Attack King.
Grid’s knowledge of these items were 100% due to constantly disassembling, assembling, and repairing them. However, he hadn’t used them directly. He might be able to exert a high level of attack power if he used the armor, but its inherent defense was too low. Grid didn’t regret this since he aimed for greater attack power with his swords. He would prefer the guaranteed high defense of Triple Layers over the red armor.
Mercedes was in a different position. As a legendary knight, she received a correction effect when wearing heavy armor. Rather than make something like Triple Layers which was classified as chain mail, it was better to boost her potential with the red armor.
‘Moreover, Mercedes is familiar with the red armor since she has been using it until now.’
This was truly a big issue. Wouldn’t Mercedes’ red armor clearly be better than Lorex’s red armor? It would’ve been perfect if she hadn’t returned it to the empire…
‘I don’t know if the emperor is generous or stingy. If he is going to give her to me, he should give everything.’ Grid thought too much!
He planned to recreate the red armor and axe all in one order. The higher the content of the ore, the higher the durability and defense of the armor would be. Of course, there was the problem of the increased weight. However, considering Mercedes’ fighting method, it should be okay.
‘Mercedes’ battle style is similar to mine.’
Rather than avoiding the target’s attack, she defended and fought back. Mercedes relied on weight for her sword attacks instead of speed. As such, Grid decided that Mercedes’ armor should be in a form that could protect all of her without any gaps, even if her agility was somewhat limited.
The Overgeared King—a man who had skills that even the gods admired—started concentrating deeply.
The two sets of red armor and the large axe had already melted in the blast furnace.
“Let’s start the production.”
Inside the elven forest that humans hadn’t entered for hundreds of years:
Kyak kyak! Skeletons were laughing as the cries of bear-wolves were continuing unabated…
“Vaintz’ Swordsmanship 1st style!” The legendary knight was fighting…
“Hahaha! The air is clear!!” The legendary farmer was pruning branches…
Ttang! Ttang! Ttang! And the legendary blacksmith was hammering away.
It was an unusual sight that no one would believe.
***
&nbs
p; “Why did the ward disappear?”
A group of people was entering the forest of the world tree. It was Merchant King Kir and his subordinates. The weighed-down donkeys and carriages made them seem like an ordinary merchant group, but that wasn’t the truth. Among these hundreds of people, Kir was the only one classified as a merchant.
Kir spoke to the person who asked about the fully exposed forest, “They probably removed the ward because they knew it was time for me to come back. The stupid naive elves trust me completely.”
Approximately 10 days ago, Kir had managed to infiltrate the elves’ village thanks to his successful act, and he poured the Yatan Essence on the world tree. When the elves witnessed the sudden illness of the world tree, Kir turned the cause of the illness onto the other humans and declared he would retrieve healing medicine for the world tree.
Today was the day he had promised to come back, and it was currently at the three-hour mark before the Yatan Essence would lose its effect. Kir returned to the world tree. He was very excited about being able to exchange the elves’ treasures for the fake medicine.
“What about after you get what you want?”
“The elves specialties are the branches, leaves, and fruit of the world tree. If they don’t give all of it… Then isn’t there only one choice?”
“Huhuhu, that is good news.”
Kir smiled wickedly and disappeared deep into the forest with his procession.
Chapter 822
Chapter 822
The shape of the red armor in the furnace was relatively intact, while the large axe started to melt as the melting point of the rosar tin was reached.
‘Just a little bit more.’ Grid gazed at the furnace, not even blinking because he was afraid he might lose the timing.
‘Now!’ He grasped the moment when the big axe was melted down and the shoulders and waist of the red armor started distorting. His tongs went into the blast furnace as the generated heat withered the grass and flowers around it.
“The precious flowers…” Some elves made a pained expression. Originally, elves hated human technology because most of the human technology that humans boasted about were damaging to nature.
Piaro came down from the 1,753rd tree and spoke some nonsense, “We humans are a weak species, unlike you. We can’t survive naked like you and have to depend on technology. It is also nature’s providence. Try to understand humans rather than hate us unconditionally.”
“Nonsense,” the elves expressed their resistance despite their affinity with Piaro. “Human technology evolved just for humans to survive? No, that isn’t it. Didn’t human technology progress to take away things from others and gain what they desire? We hate humans because they are fundamentally greedy. Their greed isn’t the providence of nature. It opposes providence. You are speaking nonsense.”
“Haha…” Piaro was forced to laugh bitterly as there was nothing wrong with the elves’ words. After all, Piaro had also lived a life of stealing from others and trampling on them. “I see. It was also greedy of me to ask you to understand us.”
“But…”
“Um…?”
“We also know that there are friendly humans. Like our young friend who is coming soon… I think we can trust a small number of humans.”
Beniyaru knew that Grid, Mercedes, and Piaro could hurt all the elves currently present. However, they didn’t hurt the elves. Despite the fact that the elves could have killed them, they forgave the elves. They were quite different from the old humans who had burned the elves’ wild land with their dirty desires, wanting the youth and beauty of the elves.
“Well… there are many types of people in this world. We might meet many people like you in the future. However, I wasn’t expecting much. We don’t have the capacity to deal with all the treachery and suffering we will face until we meet people like you.”
The events were hundreds of years old, but the wounds that humans had dealt to the elves were still prominent. They were still sore and painful. As such, the elves didn’t want to understand humans or to be understood by humans.
Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!
As darkness started to fall on the forest of the world tree, Grid’s hammering was the only thing heard in the awkward silence.
The sounds of Mercedes, Randy, and the Overgeared Skeletons fighting the bear-wolves served as background noise. However, it currently wasn’t as fierce as the first battle because there were only two bear-wolves. Once night approached, no more new bear-wolves appeared.
Beniyaru explained to the puzzled Mercedes, “The bear-wolves are weak at night. They fall asleep as soon as the sun sinks, and new bear-wolves won’t emerge again until dawn.”
“I’m glad.” The legendary knight was relieved. The continuous battle with the bear-wolves was a challenge for Mercedes. On the other hand, the Overgeared Skeletons were disappointed. Their eyes were like ‘⌓ ⌓’ as they looked at the bear-wolves and stabbed. They were eager to continue fighting. After all, they were undead and didn’t have any restrictions on stamina, unlike living creatures.
‘Good!’ Meanwhile, Grid smiled brightly as he placed the two sets of red armor on the anvil and starting hammering. He succeeded in completely separating the black mithril from the ogre bones and the rosar tin, and the black iron plate flashed red. The raw material which made up the inner iron plates of the red armor was black mithril. A skilled craftsman had processed it into a fine form, but it wasn’t perfect.
Grid placed the iron plates on the anvil and started the full-scale tempering and forging.
Ttang! Ttang!
‘I can’t lose the unique characteristics of the red armor by damaging the red energy.’
The iron plates should be further strengthened and shaped to the ideal form. Grid thought this as he hammered repeatedly at constant intervals. Tens of minutes and then hours went by.
[You are extremely focused, and the Legendary Blacksmith’s Patience skill has been activated.]
[The Legendary Blacksmith’s Breath has been activated.]
[You are extremely focused, and the Legendary Blacksmith’s Patience skill has been activated.]
[The Legendary Blacksmith’s Breath has been…]
[The Legendary Blacksmith’s Breath has risen to Lv. 7!]
……
……
Grid received a compensation effect comparable to when he produced the Enlightenment Sword. It wasn’t an effect that could be achieved simply by raising his concentration. He also had to be lucky.
‘Good!’
This was the best start. Grid was filled with joy as his concentration heightened.
[The black mithril is filled with your fighting energy.]
“…!!” Grid’s fighting energy had been kept at the maximum thanks to Mercedes, Piaro, and Beniyaru. Grid injected the solemn red and purple aura fiercely into the black mithril. This was the moment when the true value of the black mithril’s characteristic of having ‘a high affinity with any form of energy’ was revealed. Now, the iron plate made of black mithril was blinking purple as well as red.
‘Maybe?’
Would something beyond his expectations be born?
Ttang! Ttang! Ttang… His hammering became stronger as Grid entered a state of nothingness.
‘Is that a human?’ The elves’ eyes were wide open as they watched Grid work steadily. They were amazed by Grid’s dexterity and focused concentration. In particular, Beniyaru was greatly shocked. ‘How can a human…?’
To think that Grid was able to enter a higher spiritual realm than the elves who had lived for hundreds of years and received the protection of nature and the elementals…? It was an area that couldn’t be seen even by the 12 Te.
‘No, won’t it be difficult even for a high elf?’
What type of life had this human lived? How could he achieve this level in just decades? Beniyaru couldn’t imagine it. Having been trapped in this forest due to old wounds, it was impossible for her to gauge the lives of the heroe
s living in the present.
Kyak kyak!
The last two remaining bear-wolves were hunted. Then suddenly, the Overgeared Skeletons that were sitting like puppies next to Grid came forward. They picked a flat rock and started to hit it with their swords. The Overgeared Skeletons seemed to be copying Grid’s hammering.
“How lovely.”
“Haha, these guys want to learn from their master.”
Mercedes and Piaro watched the Overgeared Skeletons with warm smiles. The skeletons looked cute as they tried to copy their master. However, this was a desperate situation for Grid. If he hadn’t entered this trance state… he would probably be yelling at the Overgeared Skeletons to stop once he realized that they were copying him. He didn’t want to see ‘blacksmith’ appear in the list of second class advancement for the Overgeared Skeletons… But what could he do? The water had already been spilled.
The Overgeared Skeletons copied Grid’s hammering, and their posture soon started to resemble his.
……
The Overgeared Skeletons were silent for once. Now that they became accustomed to the blacksmithing itself, they were learning Grid’s ‘focus.’
[Overgeared Skeleton One has acquired the skill ‘Skeleton’s Patience’.]
[Overgeared Skeleton Two has acquired the skill ‘Skeleton’s Patience’.]
These notification windows passed through Grid’s vision.
Ttang!
Ttang!
‘Okay. A bit more, a bit more…!’ Grid wasn’t aware of them since he was busy hammering the black mithril filled with fighting energy. Meanwhile, an elf approached Beniyaru and whispered, “Kir has arrived at the village.”
“Finally…!”
The world tree’s illness could be cured! The excited Beniyaru told Piaro, “We have to go back to the village for a while. Will you come with me? I will set aside a place for you to take a break.”
“I will stay here.”
“Why? It is late at night. There is a possibility that ancient species more threatening than the bear-wolf will show up. It could be dangerous for you.”
“I can’t interfere with Master’s work. I will stay here with him.”
“…It seems like his work will continue until dawn.”