Genius Blacksmith's Game

The idea of recreating the Dragon Guardian.

It came from the notification Hyunsoo heard after killing the Dragon Guardian.

[The Dragon Guardian is a weapon Balladra created by using dwarves enslaved as labor, modeled after the armored weapon Titan of the past.]

The armored weapon Titan.

Something built in the form of a robot, it required a pilot.

In fact, Ares also had a class called Armored Weapon Pilot, and so long as one could control an armored weapon, it allowed them to exert power they normally could not produce.

However, this thing called Titan was becoming one of the relics of ancient times, making it rare in Ares.

And also—

The Titan’s strength and weakness is that someone absolutely has to ride in it.

But what about this Dragon Guardian?

It was modeled after an armored weapon, but there was one clear difference.

It needed no pilot.

A Dragon Guardian that moves on its own with a will of its own.

He touched various parts of its body.

That was to confirm whether this thing could truly be recreated.

[The Dragon Guardian can be observed starting from Blacksmith Level 600 or Titan Creator Level 550.]

A restriction notice rang out.

That means if your level meets the requirement, even the Dragon Guardian can be examined.

Pureum was clever.

There was no blacksmith at Level 600.

Even Hyunsoo himself would need at least a year and a half more to reach it.

However, the knowledge of a handcrafting blacksmith let him understand.

The Dragon Guardian was made so its movements would be somewhat smoother. And the mineral used here... it’s light while still highly durable. And what is this power? Magic?

When a user’s level rises, a certain kind of intuition is born.

It meant that just by touching something, just by looking at it, one could feel its magic power.

The magic power he felt from the Dragon Guardian’s body was enormous.

Even without having read the Dragon Guardian’s detailed description, Hyunsoo realized it.

“So it used Dragon Mineral.”

Dragon Mineral.

The legendary mineral dropped when the Dragon Guardian died.

(Dragon Mineral)

[Grade: Legendary]

[Restriction: Blacksmith Level 450 or higher]

[Difficulty: Highest]

[Special Abilities]

[·A special mineral capable of containing even high-class magic.]

[·Magic Attack Power increases by up to 250%.]

[·Magic Defense increases by up to 260%.]

[·Depending on what is crafted, the effect of that magic is maximized by up to 300%.]

[Description: A dragon’s mineral that can contain, amplify, and endure magic.]

Monsters generally drop what they are made from, along with what the system designates.

The reason he could recreate the Dragon Guardian was because everything that had composed it was now in his hands.

But—

I’ve never made something like this before, and I’ve never repaired one either.

That was the greatest limitation.

And time was short as well.

Still, there was a way to make up for that lack of time.

The Tower Masters, who now believed Hyunsoo to be a god because of Kkoko and followed him more faithfully than anyone else, arrived at Dragon’s Mine at his call.

*****

Tower Master Daeng and the other blacksmith Tower Masters stood before the Dragon Guardian, its body dented and ruined in every part, its head smashed apart.

“...Are you saying you intend to recreate this?”

“We’ll carry out the repair and recreation within two days.”

The Tower Masters looked troubled.

The Annihilation Sword and the Guardian’s Armor, fine. Those fell under the field of artifacts.

But—

“If, as you said, the Dragon Guardian is a masterpiece of the ages forged by dwarves, and the strongest weapon, then there must have been a separate creator behind it. Can we really do this?”

Daeng, the Sword Blacksmith Tower Master, was undeniably a master craftsman.

Even so, the very thought of making something like the Dragon Guardian filled him with fear.

To begin with, how were they supposed to forge something like this when they did not even know the method of creating a Titan?

Hyunsoo said,

“From here on, divide the parts into four sections. Head, chest, arms, and legs.”

“And what are you planning to do after that?”

“For eight hours, I want you to repeatedly disassemble and reassemble those divided parts dozens of times.”

“...!”

“...!”

“...!”

The Tower Masters were astonished.

Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible.

But the Tower Masters were people who had spent decades studying artifacts and looking at nothing but their blueprints.

“As each of you repeats the disassembly and reassembly of your assigned part, draw its blueprint. Using those blueprints, after looking over what has been drawn, I will make a new blueprint.”

This time, Tower Master Colson voiced a different concern.

“...The damage to the Guardian’s Armor and the Annihilation Sword is too severe. In cases like most legendary items, the artifact usually has a function that lets it regenerate and repair itself. But the sword and the armor seem to lack such a function, perhaps because they are too massive. The mineral itself is damaged, so restoring such a large amount of material will also be difficult.”

Hyunsoo gave a bitter smile.

Strictly speaking, he himself was the one who had caused that massive damage.

Colson added,

“The Annihilation Sword and the armor are already completed pieces, so repairing them and restoring them to their original condition is, of course, possible. But that comes with the premise of investing a great amount of time. There is no way to restore these in just two days.”

“...This Dragon Guardian. I’m not planning to put armor on it.”

“...What?”

Colson could not understand, but Hyunsoo continued.

“If you check the armor, it has high defense, but because of its enormous weight, the Dragon Guardian’s movement speed and attack speed are reduced by 25%.”

Hyunsoo looked at the Dragon Guardian as though he were looking at a monster.

“I fought this thing myself, so I saw firsthand just how fast it was, and how swift its attacks were, even with that 25% speed reduction. If it took off the armor, ‘flying around’ would be the right expression.”

Daeng and the other Tower Masters understood what Hyunsoo meant.

Hyunsoo said it himself.

This was a repair, and it was a recreation.

What he intended to make would have no armor.

And also—

“I’m going to drastically reduce the size of the Annihilation Sword as well, recreate it, and equip it.”

“...You mean to give birth to a Guardian of a whole new class!”

The original Dragon Guardian.

A warrior-type class with high defense and decent speed.

But the Dragon Guardian being forged now—

“It will be an assassin-type Dragon Guardian.”

And also—

“In the end, a magical tool like a Titan was a tool that had to have a rider. I’m going to forge this one into a being that has not been ridden, yet has a rider.”

“A being that is ridden, but not ridden?”

As they listened to Hyunsoo’s plan, the Tower Masters were dumbfounded.

How could he even come up with something like that...

Is something like that really possible?

After finishing the explanation, Hyunsoo assigned them their tasks at breakneck speed.

Watching him divide up the roles so swiftly and neatly, the blacksmith Tower Masters were filled with admiration.

Then—

“God’s Forge.”

RUMBLEEEEE—!

As he walked toward the forge, they grew more and more captivated.

The Tower Masters felt it.

He fills in what we lack.

What we thought impossible, he leads in the direction of recreation and repair through knowledge that is entirely his own.

We...

were serving a true god.

As they watched Hyunsoo step inside the forge, they thought it.

That raising him up as a god and revering him

had been the greatest decision of their lives.

*****

Everyone began carrying out their assigned work.

[Disassembly and repair are repeated.]

[The Sword Blacksmith Tower Master Daeng’s understanding of the Dragon Guardian rises by 32%.]

[The Bow Blacksmith Tower Master Colson’s understanding of the Dragon Guardian rises by 29%.]

As the Tower Masters’ understanding rose sharply, Hyunsoo extracted only the pure material from the greatsword-shaped Annihilation Sword and put it through smelting and refinement.

[Due to the high degree of damage, only 39% of the mineral is extracted.]

There was not enough time to additionally smelt and refine Dragon ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) Mineral, but that was fine.

Using it,

he forged the new Annihilation Sword he had in mind.

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLAAANG!

Time passed quickly, and as the Tower Masters’ understanding rose even more sharply, the blueprints began to take shape.

[The Dragon Guardian’s head blueprint is completed.]

[The Dragon Guardian’s leg blueprint is completed.]

[The Dragon Guardian’s chest blueprint is...]

Hyunsoo analyzed, understood, and judged the blueprints the Tower Masters had gathered.

[You begin drawing a new blueprint.]

SKRRRRRATCH—!

At moments of crisis, human beings display tremendous concentration, and because of the surge of adrenaline, they become faster, more precise, more complete, and at times even surpass their own limits.

In a mere thirty-seven minutes, he finished drawing an entirely new blueprint of his own and handed it to the Tower Masters.

Incredible.

This is insane...!

The Tower Masters who received it admired the newly designed Guardian.

It’s become about 30% smaller than before.

And the color... it’s wrapped in darkness.

It won’t wear armor, and the parts that might risk becoming sluggish have been omitted.

It was the first step in the transformation of the strongest warrior, once forged by dozens of dwarves.

CLAAANG—!

CLAAAANG—!

[The Dragon Guardian’s arms are completed!]

[The Dragon Guardian’s legs are completed.]

[The Dragon Guardian’s face is completed.]

[The Dragon Guardian’s...!]

Before long, every part had been completed.

Together with the blacksmiths additionally summoned by the Tower Masters and Kkoko, they connected and equipped those parts.

CH-KLACK—!

CH-KLAAAACK—!

And then—

Tang, tang, tang—

Hyunsoo’s work on the new form of the Annihilation Sword was also nearing its end.

He engraved the client’s name onto the new Annihilation Sword.

‘Kabel.’

[Legendary grade. You have crafted the Dagger of Annihilation.]

But there was something they could not forget.

It was called a dagger, but because it was something the Dragon Guardian would wield, it was larger than most ordinary swords. Holding it, Hyunsoo placed it into the thing’s hand.

Hyunsoo took a few steps back and looked at the newly born Guardian.

The Tower Masters standing beside him did the same.

Their expressions were tinged with bitterness.

This is supposed to be the appearance of the Dragon Guardian that was once the strongest of them all?

We failed.

Of course, it was not bad.

But that only meant it was decent among ordinary Titans, not that it resembled the Dragon Guardian of the 510 range.

And as expected—

“Level 458. A Dragon Guardian made in two days. And one forged for the first time at that. This is about the limit. It’s Unique.”

At those words, the Tower Masters wore sorrowful expressions.

This is supposed to save Sir Kabel, who is fighting alone?

This thing is supposed to fight drakes, creations? Impossible. Surrounded by fifty or so drakes, the Dragon Guardian would be destroyed far too miserably.

The drakes’ average level was 490.

This Dragon Guardian was 458.

Unless a miracle happens, it’s impossible.

The Tower Masters thought Hyunsoo must have fallen into despair.

So they turned their heads to comfort him, only to freeze.

Because his face was not filled with disappointment or sorrow, but boiling over with tremendous anticipation.

“...We forged this for the first time, and we still managed to make a Level 458 Dragon Guardian. That’s an incredible achievement.”

His fist was clenched tight.

The look in his shining eyes, intoxicated by the fact that they had managed to forge something to this extent in only two days, told them one thing.

That his plan was not over yet.

And that he intended to create the miracle one of them had just imagined.

“Kkoko.”

FWOOOOSH!

As if announcing him, Hyunsoo and the Dragon Guardian both turned into flames and vanished.

Appearing somewhere else, Hyunsoo let out a small laugh.

Every user, and everyone who reads fantasy novels, has something they want to receive at least once.

For the sake of receiving that thing people longed for, he pushed open a huge door engraved all over with holy patterns and entered.

This was the final decoration on the commissioned piece for Asura Kabel.

[Saintess Aria Lv.503]

“What brings you here, Hyunsoo? Regrettably, the White Tiger Sword cannot inflict the power of good on Jebar’s creations. Jebar had already taken all of that into account. I’m sorry, but the Ares Church cannot offer any help.” 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

She was misunderstanding because of the letter that said, I’d like to substitute this for the power-leveling promise from before.

“That’s not it, Lady Aria.”

“...Not that?”

To the puzzled Aria, Hyunsoo said,

“Give it the full-buff.”

The target was the Dragon Guardian.