Overgeared

Chapter 1794

“You treasure it very much.”

Sitting on a rock bathed in blue moonlight, the man sharpening his longsword quietly raised his head. A middle-aged man with calf-like big and clear eyes was smiling.

The most powerful Sword Saint of all time—it was Muller, who was exploring an unexplored area that recently appeared due to the changed terrain.

“It seems somewhat inferior for a swordsman of your quality to cherish it like that.”

“It is a sword that a precious person gave to me as a gift. It might not be the strongest sword, but it is the most precious thing to me.”

Twilight—this was the name of the longsword Kraugel was repairing using Grid’s repair kit. It had the same appearance as Grid’s Twilight, but lacked a lot of spirit. It was the difference in material. It didn’t make sense to compare Kraugel’s Twilight, made by smelting the scales of a low-grade dragon, to Grid’s Twilight, made from the fang of an Old Dragon.

Nevertheless, Kraugel felt no regrets. It was because the sword was made for him by the only person he could proudly introduce as a ‘friend’ to his mother.

“It is an item that contains your tastes and ideas. It must be more satisfying than disappointing when using it.”

“Do you think my personal opinion was involved a lot in the form of Twilight?”

“Isn’t it a form that can fully handle your ever-changing swordsmanship? I think it is a perfect sword for a swordsman like you, who uses your brilliant talent as your foundation.”

“You are misinterpreting things. When I was discussing it with Grid and conceiving Twilight, the focus was on the ideal sword. I can confidently say that I only gave extremely objective opinions. I never satisfied my personal desires.”

“You are the one misunderstanding. I have no intention of disparaging your personal opinion as greed.”

“I told you, it isn’t a personal opinion...”

“It was an objective opinion? That is too arrogant.”

“...Arrogant?”

The shadow created by the moonlight further accentuated Kraugel’s facial lines. The white face that contrasted with the black, long robe was beautiful even when it was distorted.

“How can you call your interpretation objective when you aren’t the father of all swordsmanship?”

“Do you want to claim that Twilight is a sword that is far from ideal?”

“It might fit your ideal, but it is far from someone else’s ideal.”

Kraugel had no proper adviser by his side. Unlike Grid, who rose from the bottom step by step, he was the one who stood at the top from the beginning. He was always alone. He longed for someone. It was to the point where he didn’t want to miss the competitor, Grid, who appeared in front of him. It was so much so that he entrusted his years to a hermit who used the spear rather than a sword.

There were no significant results. Before he knew it, he was only chasing Grid’s back. He was still a loner.

Now such a person finally appeared before his eyes.

“I know you are a great swordsman. Didn’t you become a Sword Saint and cut down countless enemies despite a narrow perspective that you weren’t aware of? The path you have walked has never been wrong. But I dare to say that it is a path that is just a way closer to the right answer. It isn’t the right answer.”

A notification window emerged in Kraugel’s shaky vision.

“Learn more swordsmanship. You might think they are swordsmanship with many flaws, but I believe that if you don’t turn away and reach the peak in them, you will be able to see new things that you haven’t seen before.”

There was a word that always followed Kraugel.

Stubborn. It was a stubbornness that was bound to accumulate because he had no adviser. He turned a blind eye to the Matchless Sword even after becoming a Sword Saint, and he naturally regarded swordsmanship other than the Matchless Sword as insignificant. From a certain point on, he relied solely on ‘Swordsmanship Creation.’

Kraugel thought for a long time. Then he stared at his belated adviser’s face and carefully opened his mouth, “...I have a question.”

“Ask me anything. Unlike the great you, this ugly senior has been nourished by failure and regret. I’m ashamed, but there must be some advice that I can give you.”

“Then what is your ideal sword in your opinion?”

Kraugel’s clear voice trembled slightly. He felt sorry for Grid. What was contained in Twilight wasn't the ideal, but his own prejudices and greed. An intense feeling of guilt overwhelmed him when he realized it.

A clear wind blew and caused the silky black hair to wave. Muller’s hand resting on Kraugel’s exposed forehead was as cool as valley water. Thanks to this, Muller’s mouth shape was clearly imprinted in Kraugel’s wide open eyes as he shook off all his miscellaneous thoughts.

“In fact, I don’t think there is an ideal form that satisfies everyone. As I said earlier, Twilight is the ideal sword for you.”

In the first place, Muller had no intention of denying Twilight. Yet he kept talking without hesitation out of the hope that Kraugel would become a swordsman who wasn’t satisfied with just Twilight. Muller’s words continued as Kraugel noticed his meaning and remained silent.

“I can only tell you one thing for certain about what the best sword is.”

The world turned black in a flash. It was the aftermath of the Tomb of the Gods crossing the continent and obscuring the moonlight. Twilight didn’t lose its orange glow even in the darkness and illuminated Muller’s fingers. The fingers full of calluses were clearly pointing toward the sky.

“The sword that Only One God Grid will make.”

“......!”

“You will have to work hard to be able to handle the new sword he will make for you.”

Kraugel nodded silently. It was his answer to Muller, who gave advice despite his shame, and it was also an act of accepting the quest that appeared in front of his eyes. It was to master 100 swordsmanship skills. Muller’s unexpected quest was very grand from the very first stage, but this ignited Kraugel’s motivation.

[You have succeeded in smelting ‘Fire Dragon Trauka’s Scales’ and ‘Fire Dragon Trauka’s Bones’.]

[It is a great achievement with the help of the blacksmith god ‘Hexetia’ and the legendary blacksmith ‘Khan.’]

[The legendary blacksmith ‘Khan’ has accomplished the same feat with the help of you and ‘Hexetia.’] action

[The blacksmith god ‘Hexetia’ values the inspiration he gained from you and ‘Khan.’]

[The bond between blacksmiths has become stronger after sharing this great moment.]

[A special effect is added to the ‘Trinity’ that connects the blacksmiths.]

The basic effect of the Trinity’ was to ‘remove various penalties obtained in an environment where a subject of the Trinity is incomplete.’ The benefits were currently received by Khan. It restored the lost energy and stats that had fallen in the aftermath of leaving Asgard to normal values.

That was enough. Grid was grateful and couldn’t have hoped for more. Yet at this moment, a new effect was added.

[If you form a trinity with Khan and Hexetia in the future, you will get a correction effect during the production of ‘dragon weapons’ and ‘dragon armor.’]

‘As expected... as expected, I need to have Khan by my side.’

For a really long time, the system hadn’t responded to Grid’s item production. The effects of production-related skills were strengthened in the process of becoming an Only One God, but that was all. The system was silent for most of the insights Grid gained separately. Due to this, the growth of ‘Blacksmith Grid’ often ended at the level of accumulating knowledge and experience.

It was different from now, where there was a system calibration. It was the limit of a player.

Satisfy was a world where they lived in together. Grid’s faith as he fought in the hope that everyone in this world was happy was clearly proven to be correct through the existence of Khan.

‘Then in the end, Rebecca...’

Wasn’t she, the world’s highest being, actually also supporting him?

Grid thought up to here and shook his head to shake off his thoughts.

‘I shouldn’t count the chickens before they hatch.’

He couldn’t make premature speculations and now was the moment to focus. Grid saw the fragments of the blade he had made. They resembled arrowheads. Bones harder than scales were used as pillars and scales sharper than bones were erected on the left and right. There were seven in total. It would be woven with leather and Greed into a single sword.

Next, he looked at Khan’s work. Unlike Grid, who set the size of each blade to be half a centimeter in diameter, each of the blades made by Khan were only the size of a knuckle. The form was square except for the very end blade. It was the same as Grid in that it was centered with the bones and used scales as the blade, but it felt more solid overall. In contrast, it was a bit more dull.

‘Once completed, the range of motion is narrow, so I don’t think it will be able to maximize the power of a slash. Still, I think the stability will be excellent.’

Grid caressed Valhalla, which he was wearing under his robe. His heart warmed as he felt Khan’s heart, who was always wishing for Grid’s safety.

“Unfortunately, your work is close to a failure.” Hexetia’s words brought Grid’s mind back to reality. He couldn’t hide his regretful expression as he twisted and extinguished the flames of his nipples, which hadn’t been extinguished the entire time they smelted Trauka’s scales and bones. “It is crude.”

“......!”

It was an unexpected criticism. It was crude? It wasn’t an evaluation expected when seeing the work of a legendary blacksmith, especially Grid, who had a history of producing even dragon weapons.

“Why are you saying it is crude?” Before Grid could say anything, Khan stepped forward. He usually treated Hexetia in a respectful manner, but now he showed a sharp reaction for the first time. He usually smiled gently no matter how hard it was, but now he was slightly frowning.

Hexetia was taken aback, but he didn’t feel it was unpleasant. It was because he could see the pride of a craftsman from Khan’s attitude. It wasn’t self-confidence, it was pride built up through experience and skills. He had to respect it.

“I can’t understand why you are criticizing it so much. Grid’s work is much better than mine, but you are treating it the same way?”

‘...Was he angry because of Grid rather than his pride as a craftsman?’

Hexetia snorted in disbelief before showing off his work. The texture of the work was different. It was different from the work of Grid and Khan, where each blade fragment had a pillar and blade attached to it. Hexetia’s one took the form of one large pillar with multiple blades attached.

Khan was filled with doubt. “What is that...?”

A transforming sword was literally a sword that changed shape. The blades needed to move organically. The work made by Hexetia wasn’t a transforming sword. How could a sword made of Trauka’s bones, one of the hardest materials in the world, move organically? It was just a sword. A sword that was unnecessarily split into several blades and then attached together—the expression ‘crude’ was correct when evaluating Hexetia’s work.

Of course, neither Grid nor Khan would bring this up.

“Just because it is hard doesn’t mean it can’t bend.”

Did all the male celestial gods have such broad shoulders? Hexetia shrugged his broad shoulders that made one had such a thought and pressed his hands firmly against his work.

Then something surprising happened. The sword made with Trauka’s bones as a pillar bent like a bow? Soon, Hexetia pulled it and there was a strange sound. It moved elastically like thick rubber.

“...How did you do that?”

Grid was stunned for a moment by the unbelievable sight. Then he started asking for answers.

“What did you do to make Trauka’s bones move like a live fish?”

“Did you give it a soul?” Khan asked as he recalled ego items.

Hexetia shook his head.

“If giving a soul to a weapon could change the nature of the subject matter, then all the famous swords in the world could be ego swords.”

Hexetia wasn’t a person to enjoy a conversation between experts. To be more precise, it was awkward to have a long conversation because he had little experience of talking with someone on an equal footing. Thus he gave the answer right away.

“It is the use of intent. It isn’t anything new. Isn’t the physical use of intent often shown by gangsters like Zeratul through things like Formless Will?”

“Gangsters...”

The Martial God was turned into a gangster? The perspective of a blacksmith bothered Grid, who had a lot of experience in hitting and fighting with Zeratul.

Hexetia realized his mistake and made up for it.

“Your expression is extreme because you still have some private feelings for Zeratul. I don’t mean to belittle brave fighters like you. I will briefly give another example. Dragon Words is the use of intent in the end. I will say it is only natural that a blacksmith’s intent can influence the material.”

Grid had already learned Formless Will and the mental world. Both were skills closely related to the concept of intent. There was nothing strange about having additional related skills.

“Be enlightened.”

Hexetia laid his hand over Grid’s head and blessed him. It was a blessing that could be bestowed because he was the blacksmith god, and a blessing that could be received because Grid was a great blacksmith.

[Your mental world has become even more powerful!]

[From now on, items can be produced in the ‘Sanctuary of Metal.’ At this time, something special will happen and a powerful correction effect is obtained.]

Techniques such as granting souls to items didn’t match Grid’s tendencies, so they had been left virtually semi-sealed. It was safe to say that there were virtually no ego items made by Grid and many people expressed their regret about this. However, it would be different in the future. It was because an item that was different from ego items, which depended on the soul of another person or a created soul, would be born at Grid’s fingertips. It was an item that contained the intent of Only One God Grid.

“If you use it well, wouldn’t you even be able to replace a dragon’s Dragon Words. Of course, I’m just talking about the possibilities.”

Hexetia’s advice excited Grid.