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Chapter 71 - Granddaughter of the Great Chief (2)

Two people working together to combine enchantment and metallurgy. An artifact created by Mana Craft and blacksmithing.

“There are two ways to enchant: crafting and granting. Granting enchantments to an already finished object or crafting a detail circuit into a work by engraving it as it is being produced. Of course, the latter is more difficult, but also more effective.”

“Engraving the enchantment…does that mean you need a blueprint?”

“If you’re really two people with the right skills, you won’t need one. Or if you’re a person who has both metallurgy and enchanting skills.” Lee Na-hee glared at her grandfather at that comment. Kang Shin-hyuk found it easy enough to guess why. Wasn’t Lee Manwoo the one who made the Dragon’s Mark, after all? That was an object born through Mana Craft, and he completed it alone.

“I thought you created the artifacts through metallurgy alone.”

“Metallurgy can do it alone, however it requires a deep understanding and control of the production process. Even with that, the effect will end up inferior to an enchantment.” Kang Shin-hyuk’s eyes narrowed at the explanation which he heard for the first time, but the old man called the Great Chief smiled and shrugged.

“In fact, I wasn’t sure of your abilities. I didn’t talk about it because I thought you might have an enchanting ability that I didn’t recognize. After seeing Na-hee’s reaction, I realized I was right.”

“Because you’re an old man, it’s hard to tell what you’re thinking, sir.”

“Haha, like I want to hear that from you.” At that, Lee Na-hee lightly struck the table.

“I already know my grandfather is a scammer, so I have nothing more to say. What matters now is our work.”

“Yeah.” When he was working on his own, it was enough to think about what he would make while working. Even with his synchronization incomplete, Anvil’s instinct was still enough to guide his body. But this time, everything had to be decided in advance. It was an experience even Anvil was unfamiliar with.

-As a member in your previous life, you were in the realm of All-Craft, so even if an enchanter tried to intervene, it would only hurt.

‘All-Craft included not only leather work, but also enchanting? So it meant Anvil didn’t need an enchanter.’

-The objects he made were already pushed beyond their limits. One day shortly, you will reach that too.

In fact, he already had proof of that skill because he had created artifacts by himself. Kang Shin-hyuk looked over at the table on which Lee Na-hee was spreading out paper.

“I’ll start with what we will make. Of course, the javelin you made is great, but maybe it has a unique ability because of that…”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“How about we start with a sword? It’s a popular weapon, and it’s easy to enchant.”

“A sword.” The first thing he made was a sword, and he felt it was the same for Anvil. Kang Shin-hyuk nodded at Lee Na-hee’s burning enthusiasm.

“That’ll work.”

“Okay, next is the content. What should we put in the sword, what power do we pour into it.”

“Ah.” He thought of the Dragon’s Mark, an object created for the purpose of taming from the start. It wasn’t crafted by accident; that taming ability was planned from the start.

“It will change a lot depending on the ability you want to give it.”

“Sword artifacts are also divided into two types. The first is a reinforcement type that increases the power of the sword itself or the wielder. The second is something more diverse that can overcome any shortcomings it has. Like a sword that emits sparks or creates a shield.” Kang Shin-hyuk thought about it for a moment. How many artifacts had he made so far? There were ones that had increased penetration or could split apart.

‘But now with this person’s help…’

“I want to try the second type.”

“Good.” Enchantment was the work of engraving what you wanted onto the armament. He felt it while analyzing the saddle, but now, what Kang Shin-hyuk needed was to learn the various possibilities an object could have. He wouldn’t be able to grow by focusing only on simple reinforcement abilities. Lee Na-hee must’ve noticed his change in attitude as she let out a satisfied laugh. She could see the shine in his eyes.

“There are many types, what would you like?”

“Could I hear about the things you’ve crafted so far?”

“Hmm…the easiest of the abilities to craft is the ability to use mana to create a shield or heal wounds. Those have a high probability of success.”

“That doesn’t feel right.” Kang Shin-hyuk responded honestly. His focus was on making the armament itself strong, and it didn’t fit the purpose of a sword. Even Anvil focused on making weapons that didn’t deviate from their fundamental purpose. The Heroic Shield had a destructive beam, of course, but it was born through its defense.

“Well…take a look at it.” Accepting his feelings, Lee Na-hee suddenly pulled a ring off her finger and gave it to him. He tilted his head as he accepted it. It looked like a normal silver ring, although on the inside, it had some script he couldn’t understand.

“Is this an artifact?”

“I made it. With this, you can measure my skills to some extent.” It would be a good opportunity for him to confirm her abilities. He was already confident in her, given she was recommended by Lee Manwoo, but it couldn’t hurt. He set his thoughts aside and examined the outside of it.

“You have excellent metalworking skills.”

“Don’t worry about that, just look at the enchantment.”

“Ah, yes.” With her cold response, he decided to focus on the ring. He raised his spiritual power and injected it into the ring. He felt a bit sorry for the creator but compared to the artifacts he had encountered so far; it was of a low enough level to be easy.

‘B-rank…no, C+?’ He was able to roughly measure the worth of the object-based on the mana it held and it’s will. If it was of a C+ rank, then it was a valuable object that couldn’t be ignored.

‘But that’s not what’s important.’ He expanded his power out a bit more to analyze the ability of it in earnest. Spiritual power extended out to every corner of the ring to read its origin and scan the mana circuits flowing inside it. It didn’t have a firm will of its own like the Godslayer or the Heroic Shield, but that was probably because it was a mana-based artifact. It was similar to the Dragon’s Mark. Looking deeper, he found a corner of the ring that resembled his own regeneration ability. Maybe he could inject his own regeneration and activate his trait to increase his recovery ability permanently. With that thought, his eyes opened.

“I watched you carefully.”

“…” He silently returned her ring. However, as if she couldn’t bear it any longer, she raised her hand to point at his eyes.

“What is that? A characteristic of your production abilities?”

“Yeah? Oh, uh.” Hearing that, he quickly checked. His eyes were dyed golden. Apparently, they had immediately reacted to his momentary thought. That wasn’t a bad thing, however, as it meant his traits were becoming more natural to use.

“I didn’t do anything to the ring.”

“I know, but it sounds like you could. Grandpa, what is he really like?”

“If you work together, you’ll find out.” Lee Manwoo himself didn’t know what this was about, but he bluffed like a pro. It was only recently Shin-hyuk himself had found out he could use his traits in producing artifacts.

“How about it, would you like to try it?”

“Do second-years of the magic department get to wear artifacts like that?”

“No, I’m a special case.” Lee Na-hee said so and pointed at herself. Looking at her, she was wearing a lot of accessories all over her body. She had several earrings, two necklaces, several rings on both hands, and a garter decorated with metal on her leg. Shin-hyuk thought they were accessories to emphasize her beauty, as the idea that they were all artifacts was ridiculous.

“I thought there was a limit to wearing artifacts.”

“Didn’t you know? The limit varies depending on one’s characteristics, and enchanters are particularly famous for being able to wear a lot of them.” Hearing that, he wondered if his own traits changed how many artifacts he could use. He realized his ability to improve his martial arts could strengthen things other than weapons, maybe it extended to this?

“So, what will you do?”

“Well, yes. I would like to see the shield artifacts.”

“Good.” Lee Na-hee responded happily and sat down at the table. She bent forward to take the garter off of her thigh, lifting up her skirt tantalizingly.

“Senior, I can see your panties. Even they are gorgeous.”

“Oh, sorry. But you’re acting very calm, it seems like you have quite a bit of experience with women…”

“Who cares?!”

In the end, they decided to make a sword with a defensive ability. The blue light emanating from Lee Na-hee’s fingertips swept across the blank paper and began to draw a blueprint of magical power. Kang Shin-hyuk focused on it, ignoring the anxiety he felt rising inside of him, which he attributed to challenging a new field and ability.

***

The two immediately started working on creating an artifact using the magic metal Kenyan, which Le Manwoo helpfully prepared. Although they were collaborating, it wasn’t very difficult. Kang Shin-hyuk struck at the iron without hesitation like normal while Lee Na-hee worked on activating her enchantment. However, unlike when he worked on his own, they had to manage their pace. By the end, they had worked until midnight but completed only about 20% of the work.

“…Grandfather.” Kang Shin-hyuk returned to his senses only after midnight, deciding to return back to work tomorrow. Lee Na-hee and Lee Manwoo remained, however, after he left. The fire still burned in the furnace as the two stood there. At the rate they were going, with the sword coming along as it was, perhaps the contest wouldn’t be a problem.

“I hate him.” As the heat left the blade, Lee Na-hee spat out those words. Lee Manwoo listened to the words with a smile.

“My granddaughter is already old enough to love.”

“Didn’t you hear me say I hate him?”

“Sure, sure. Just having a man you hate is a great improvement.”

“Ridiculous. This guy is really annoying. How…at that age…” Lee Na-hee trembled. The appearance of Kang Shin-hyuk as he worked was engraved in her mind. There were still traces of him in the polished blade sitting on the anvil. What she felt at that was an overwhelming sense of defeat.

“I was so surprised I couldn’t focus. I wanted to compete with my skills…”

“It was an honorable loss.”

“I know. I knew right away just by looking at him holding that hammer.”

“What do you think?” She became angry at Lee Manwoo, who slapped her on the shoulder, but it quickly turned to fatigue as she lowered her head.

“I’ll think about it once we’ve made it…”

“About a relationship?”

“No.” She slapped his back in retaliation.

“Should I offer him a partnership?”