Having successfully created a Spiritual Energy Circuit.
I rode that momentum and tried using [Bone Metallurgy].
The result was—
[Conditions are not met.]
[The skill cannot be activated.]
A spectacular failure.
“What?”
[Equipment is required to use Bone Metallurgy.]
[Required Equipment]
—Forge 0/1
—Clamping Mold 0/1
—Anvil 0/1
—Hammer 1/1
—Quenching Mold 0/1
[It is recommended that you use the skill in a location that meets the required conditions.]
Look at those requirements.
Why were the conditions for using this skill so strict?
【This is troublesome. Your workshop does not have any of those things.】
“I can look for another place.”
【Do you know how to use metallurgy as well?】
“No. I have to learn from now on.”
【You show no concern even when challenging a new field.】
“Why would I be concerned? It is exciting.”
A profession that combined Necromancer and Blacksmith.
The moment when its true value could finally be displayed had come after five years.
I had never imagined that I would be swinging a hammer in a workshop.
But after remaining stagnant for so long, I had finally found a direction in which to move forward.
Motivation welled up inside me.
【I believe I have found a good new lord.】
“What did you say?”
【Nothing at all.】
Perhaps I was burning with too much motivation.
I missed Sir Isra’s lingering thought.
Surely it had not insulted me.
“Then let us go immediately.”
Strike while the iron was hot.
I had passed the Rank Advancement Assessment after six years.
Should I not at least get a taste of every new skill?
【What will you do with this workshop?】
“It is time to let it go.”
If I wanted to engrave Spiritual Energy Circuits into bones, muscles, or flesh.
And use metallurgy.
I needed a larger space.
Just imagine installing a forge in the basement of a private residence.
The landlord’s family would not let me get away with it.
“I need to find a proper workshop.”
【You make decisions quite boldly.】
“It is one of my strengths.”
Thanks to the money I received from the Hwarang Guild newcomers, I had plenty of ammunition.
It was fortunate that the money arrived this morning.
I placed additional work tools into my bag and headed outside.
***
[Blacksmith’s Way].
An artisan street located in Sindang-dong.
Before the Great Cataclysm, traditional blacksmithing had supposedly survived there.
Now, it had become a street where Hunter equipment was repaired.
CLANG! CLANG!
As I walked down the street.
The rhythmic sound of metal being hammered echoed from both sides.
【There are many craftsmen here.】
“I heard it used to be quiet.”
When it came to ordinary tools, people could not keep up with machines.
The quality of the work was one thing.
But when comparing labor costs and electricity costs, machines had an overwhelming advantage.
【Nonsense! How could a machine be better than a craftsman?】
“An honorable knight like you would not know, but that is common sense in this world.”
For simple work, humans could not defeat machines.
However, Hunter equipment had to contain Mana, so handcrafting was essential.
That was how artisans found a place in the world again.
【Then why have we come here?】
“To experience a forge.”
Blacksmith’s Way was not composed only of workshops.
Before the Tower appeared, Blacksmiths had been considered a profession on the verge of extinction.
To preserve the tradition and promote it, experience centers and exhibition halls had been built for children to enjoy.
In other words.
It was a kind of tourist district.
After the Tower appeared.
The blacksmithing street had been revitalized.
But traces of the past remained.
【I cannot believe it. A sacred place where a knight’s weapon is forged has been reduced to a spectacle.】
The sound of Sir Isra clicking its tongue echoed in my mind.
It was remarkable that it could reproduce that sound despite being dead and unable to produce saliva.
Thinking that inwardly, I walked through the heat-filled street.
Soon, I found an empty workshop prepared for visitors.
The employee in charge of the workshop experience greeted me with an indifferent expression.
“Welcome.”
“Can I use an empty workshop?”
“Are you here for the experience course or the rental course?”
Although the blacksmithing street had regained its vitality after the Great Cataclysm.
It was difficult to abandon the tourist resources they had already created.
That was why they had established separate experience and rental courses.
*Experience Course
—Fee: 10,000 won
—Experience the forge with the assistance of a blacksmith apprentice.
—Usage Time: 20 minutes
*Rental Course
—Fee: 300,000 won
—All tools available. No apprentice assistance.
—Usage Time: 4 hours
Why was there such a large price difference?
The experience course simply let visitors enjoy the feeling of forging under the supervision of a worker dispatched from a forge.
The rental course let them rent an entire empty forge.
“I will use the rental course.”
“You may use it for four hours. Do you need assistance?”
“I will ask if I need help.”
“Yeees.”
The employee replied in a tone dripping with annoyance, then stepped aside.
[Death Gate]
[Summon — Sir Isra]
The empty space tore apart to the left and right.
Then an Undead suddenly appeared.
“Uh, uh?”
“It is my summoned creature. Please do not be startled.”
I had not intended to frighten the employee.
I felt somewhat sorry about that.
Sir Isra looked around before sending out a thoughtful lingering thought.
【This new workshop is exceptionally clean.】
Do not criticize my old workshop so openly.
In any case, the conditions to use Bone Metallurgy had now been met.
Then, shall I begin?
[Bone Metallurgy is activated.]
[The target is an Orc femur.]
[On your first use, the Skill Guide will assist the user.]
[The crafted item will be a Bone Sword.]
A gentle force moved my arms and legs, as though the wind were pushing me from behind.
It was an external force weak enough that I could shake it off if I resisted.
Knowing it was assistance from a skill, I did not resist and let my body follow the flow.
[Bone Metallurgy proceeds through five to six processes.]
① Bone Heating
Heat a Mana-containing bone.
I ground an E-rank Magic Stone.
Then I coated a long bone with the blue powder and placed it inside the forge.
After waiting for around an hour.
I took out the bone, which had been heated red-hot.
② Sizing
Cut the bone to the required length.
[This material is already the appropriate length for the crafting process.]
[Process 2 has been skipped.]
③ Hammering
Strike the heated bone with a hammer to flatten it or shape it as desired.
CLANG! CLANG!
Holding the hammer provided by the forge, I struck it dozens of times.
With every swing.
The bone’s structure gradually changed.
④ Quenching
Cool heated metal by placing it in water or oil.
The bone was still dyed vermilion.
SHHHHH!
When I placed it in a container of oil, it boiled and flames rose up.
After repeating this several times, the color faded and it returned to its original bone color.
⑤ Edge Tempering
Apply heat to the blade edge, then bend or refine it to make it sharp.
I placed the bone in the forge once again to heat it.
Then I hammered the bone and honed it into a blade.
[Bone Sword crafting has succeeded.]
[Bone Metallurgy Guide has ended.]
The strange sensation controlling my body vanished.
“Phew... Hah.”
An overwhelming fatigue struck my body.
My arms trembled.
Steam rose from my clothes, which were drenched in sweat.
Good grief.
That System was really trying to kill me.
Breathing roughly, I placed a hand on the Bone Sword.
[Processed Bone Sword]
Rank: Common
Category: Blade
Durability: 67/67
A sword made by processing an Orc femur.
Durability was consumed while heating it at high temperatures to create an edge. Durability will be depleted more quickly upon impact.
*Cutting Power +31%
*Piercing Power +22%
*Repair Difficulty +50%
Sir Isra approached, lightly gripped the Bone Sword, and swung it.
“How is it?”
【Trash. The center of gravity is wrong, and the blade is dull.】
Tch.
What an unsparing evaluation.
“What if the sword I made is even more useless?”
【H-Hmm. Looking at it again, it seems somewhat usable.】
Only afterward did Sir Isra vigorously swing the sword, trying to laugh boldly.
Yes, yes.
I understood its true feelings very well.
【Will one experience be enough?】
“I have to make it work somehow.”
【It may be an option to ask that craftsman for assistance.】
Sir Isra pointed at the part-time employee.
I shook my head.
“I think I can manage without help.”
The feeling of my body being moved by the System’s assistance still lingered in my fingers and arms.
Furthermore.
I possessed an advantage that the System did not have.
[Spirit Sight].
If I applied what I had “seen” while hammering to my work.
I had a feeling that I could produce a better result.
My hands itched.
With the urge to begin hammering immediately, I took out another spare bone.
“How much time is left?”
“One hour.”
“Then I will extend the rental once.”
“Yeees.”
Six hundred thousand won vanished, but I did not find it wasteful.
If I could truly make this feeling my own, it would be worthwhile.
Recalling the sensation from the guide, I slowly ground the remaining E-rank Magic Stone.
***
“Yaaawn.”
Nam Jinwoo, the employee in charge of the daily experience workshops, let out a small yawn.
The artisans with workshops on Blacksmith’s Way took turns managing the experience center.
Its original purpose was to assign daily shifts and provide support money to the Blacksmiths.
After the Great Cataclysm, however, it became a nuisance because there was more work than they could handle.
Now, their apprentices took turns working there instead.
‘I thought I would have an easy day today.’
His half-closed eyes swept over Minho.
There were people like this from time to time.
Beginners who had only recently Awakened as Blacksmiths and rushed to an empty workshop.
When such beginners arrived, it became troublesome.
There was no problem when they used the forge according to the guide.
But if they insisted on trying it themselves, accidents occurred with near certainty.
‘It is a little unusual that he is handling monster bones.’
Bones were not good materials.
They could withstand 900-degree temperatures for a long time, so they were more heat-resistant than expected.
However, they were not as hard as metal.
And if impact was applied to heated bone, it simply broke.
The bones of dragonkin such as Wyverns and Drakes had metal-like properties.
However.
‘That bone is from an ordinary monster.’
It appeared that he had a special profession related to bones.
There were Blacksmiths who used unusual materials, so Nam Jinwoo did not find it particularly surprising.
Instead, he felt pity.
‘Special professions on the crafting side have a difficult road ahead. What a shame.’
He had seen crafting-type Hunters like Minho, who handled special materials, several times.
On their first attempt, they succeeded somehow with the help of a guide skill.
But after that, they usually worked in a complete mess.
They often could not finish the process or produced results that could not perform their intended function.
‘It will be fortunate if he does not cause an accident.’
It would be different if Minho asked for help first.
But despite feeling pity, Nam Jinwoo did not want to intervene.
He merely crossed his arms and watched the process.
However.
As time passed.
The drowsiness lingering in Nam Jinwoo’s eyes gradually disappeared.
‘W-What is he doing right now?!’
CLANG!
CLANG!
Whenever the hammer moved, waves of Mana rippled outward.
Nam Jinwoo stared fixedly at Minho’s work, his mouth hanging open.