WeTried Translations

Translator: [IncomeElastic]

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Became a Blacksmith the Rankers Are Obsessed With ◈

Chapter 054

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You Know Your Hammer's Crap, Right?

* * *

This was something I hadn't known, but.

Enchant Powder.

That is, the stuff Dwarf Company sourced from the open market.

Not something they made themselves, just bought up in bulk, and as for where it actually came from.

Those small quantities of powder were, without exception, rewards earned from climbing the Tower, clearing dungeons, or solving one problem or another.

Basically, as far as I could tell, nobody besides Dwarf Company currently knew how to actually make this powder.

Which made sense, since every crafting method in this world came only from an Heir of Flame.

The powder that circulated on the market, the same kind Henrik had given me before, the kind Dwarf Company controlled, its color was.

Blue.

As for this blue powder....

"Crap powder."

That's what I've decided to call it.

Something I learned while reading through the Enchant Powder's crafting method.

Blue powder is what you get when you process a mana stone using the single worst method currently in existence.

Smash it carelessly, grind it under high heat, and the mana stone's raw color, blue, comes out untouched....

And this, right here,

[Lowest-Grade Enchant Powder]

was what got called that. Crap powder.

The single most important step was drying it in sunlight.

Skip that, or botch it, and it just stayed that same blue.

"Tsk, tsk."

I had no idea where they'd learned to make powder like this, but.

I'd say, without hesitation, they were doing it completely wrong.

Looked like they just smashed it hard and baked it hard.

This wasn't a job you could brute-force your way through.

It was a very, very finicky process.

I placed a single chunk of mana stone into a crucible and set it in the hearth.

This was where hell began.

My total target was 20kg, but I had to do this one chunk at a time.

『Exactly four minutes.』

The manual only listed a single temperature, and since this world had no way of actually measuring temperature, I'd figured it would be brutal....

"...... Now."

Just like when I'd done Thermal Shock Delamination before,

I could see the timing, the moment the big circle in front of my eyes filled all the way up....

that meant the temperature was just right.

Too low, and the inside wouldn't cook through, but even a little too high and it would burn outright.

And a mana stone that got burned couldn't be used again, ever.

- Snatch.

Right now.

I pulled the mana stone out with a pair of tongs,

and split it apart with a hammer.

You'd think grinding it down with a machine would work just as well, but you couldn't do that.

You had to split along the grain, or the inside would get damaged.

And the final step.

I spread the split pieces out evenly across a laid-out cloth.

Three things mattered here.

The angle of the sunlight, the strength of the wind, and the time.

Exactly from noon until four.

Four hours starting from the sun's highest point.

- Rustle....

Every time the wind passed, the powder trembled,

and every time sunlight settled over it, a little more of the blue tint drained away.

By the time all that time had passed... what was left on the cloth was.

A powder white as snow, fine-grained... something like flour, really....

"Not bad."

[High-Grade Enchant Powder]

It was High-Grade Enchant Powder.

Since I needed 20kg, it took a while, and I rested whenever I got the chance,

and after grinding this out for several days straight, half out of my mind with it,

sacks of it had piled up in one corner of the workshop.

"Though... the look of this is kind of...."

[.......]

Inside the workshop.

Sacks full of white powder stood lined up against the wall.

It looked like something straight out of a crime movie.

For a second, I actually thought about giving it a sniff, just to try,

[Don't!!]

but Yuna stopped me, so I didn't.

And so, the very first use of the High-Grade Enchant Powder I'd made.

Right now.

- Trickle....

I scooped up a handful of powder and turned to what was in front of me, the Ether Circle, that pretty-looking bracelet.

and sprinkled it on top.

- Rustle....

Dolores stood behind me.

"You can just relax."

"The powder... it's white."

"That's because I made it myself."

"O-oh, I see."

Ah, this Maman of mine really was hopeless.

I'd better show her. She seemed a little unconvinced.

The sprinkled powder glowed white and sank into the Ether Circle.

And then.

I picked up the Basic Enchant Hammer.

"Don't be startled."

"Hm?"

"It's about to get a little loud."

- Clang!

- Clang, clang, clang, clang!

I hammered away like a madman,

it was just +1, nothing hard about it....

─────────────────

【Attempting……】

─────────────────

【Enhancement Success】

─────────────────

[Ether Circle][★★★★☆]

[+0 → +1]

─────────────────

"Whew."

That light, easy feeling.

Not bad, huh?

"... You're really enchanting a 4-star Unique Equipment."

Behind me, Dolores let out a breath, kneading my shoulders.

But.

That wasn't what mattered right now.

'What's actually different here?'

I couldn't tell what set the blue "crap powder" apart from this High-Grade Powder in front of me that looked uncomfortably like cocaine.

The feel of the hammer strike was identical.

The polishing went exactly the way it always did, too.

Maybe it made more of a difference at a higher enchant stage.

I tilted my head, puzzled,

and since I couldn't stand not knowing,

"Dolores, probably..."

"Yes?"

"From here on, even if you talk to me...."

"Hm?"

I grinned, still gripping the hammer.

"I might not hear you."

Once I'm focused, my hearing kind of shuts off.

How long had passed by then?

+1, +2, +5.

Honestly, this stretch wasn't much fun.

The odds were high, and my hand didn't even hurt.

- Clang, clang.

+8.

+9.

From here on, the enhancement probability numbers started catching my eye.

Before I knew it, +14.

─────────────────

[Strike Tally]

[Perfect] [96]

[Great] [0]

[Okay] [0]

[Bad] [0]

[Awful] [0]

─────────────────

The moment I hit +14, an All Perfect run, top to bottom.

Feeling good, I checked the enhancement probability.

─────────────────

[Success Rate: 10%]

[Failure Rate: 81%]

─────────────────

"What?"

Hey, this is an All Perfect run, why's the rate so low?

I flinched, startled, and shot up off my seat.

Just then.

─────────────────

[Calculating Destruction Rate……]

─────────────────

[+14 → +15 Base Destruction Rate] [9%]

─────────────────

[Great: 0] [Okay: 0] [Bad: 0] [Awful: 0]

[Perfect Adjustment] [9% → 5%]

─────────────────

[High-Grade Enchant Powder Adjustment]

[5% → 0%]

─────────────────

The number changed twice.

From 9 to 5, then from 5 to 0.

─────────────────

[Final Success Rate: 14%]

[Failure Rate: 86%]

[Destruction Rate: 0%]

─────────────────

So, the final probability.

The destruction rate I'd knocked down myself, through skill, through pulling off an All Perfect, seemed to have rolled over into the success rate.

While the flat boost from the Enchant Powder itself seemed to have rolled over into the failure rate instead.

"...... Wow, what."

So this is what a 4-star Unique Equipment is like?

The enhancement odds were on a completely different level, and it threw me off.

【Attempting……】

─────────────────

[+14->+15][Success!]

─────────────────

【Enhancement Success】

─────────────────

[Ether Circle][★★★★☆]

[+14 → +15]

─────────────────

I was genuinely lucky to clear that 10 percent on the very first try, but.

back with the Apprentice Warming Gloves, even as Unique gear, the odds of reaching +15 had been well over 50 percent.

But compared to that, the odds now had dropped drastically,

and there was an actual destruction rate staring me in the face.

And on top of that, the Enchant Powder's super-save effect.

I'd wondered what the point of this white powder even was,

and now I got it.

If I hadn't landed an All Perfect, there would've been an actual chance of destruction.

Having burned out on gacha games back on Earth, I knew exactly how terrifying a destruction rate could be.

"... This is nerve-wracking, huh?"

But.

[....It's scary when you say that while smiling]

Unfortunately for everyone involved,

I was the type who actually enjoyed this kind of nerve-wracking tension.

What? If I didn't land an All Perfect, the gear might blow up?

I know that, you little shit.

So I'll just sprinkle on good powder and pull off an All Perfect, simple as that.

Without hesitating, I went straight for +16.

And the result was.

─────────────────

[Strike Tally]

[Perfect] [102]

[Great] [0]

[Okay] [0]

[Bad] [0]

[Awful] [0]

─────────────────

"Say my name...."

"Li, Lionel...?"

When I raised both hands to the sky and muttered that, Dolores called my name cautiously from behind me.

Being on edge over the destruction rate actually sharpened my focus, if anything.

The difficulty had gotten a lot steeper, sure.

But yeah, a person really does need a knife pressed to their back sometimes.

That's what brings out the survival instinct.

So, what would the odds from +15 to +16 turn out to be....

─────────────────

[※ Enchant Hammer Below Required Grade]

[This tool cannot handle the grade and enhancement stage of this equipment.]

[The success rate is significantly reduced.]

─────────────────

What?

One percent?

Was I misreading this?

I rubbed my eyes at the unbelievable number.

─────────────────

[Success Rate: 1%]

[Failure Rate: 85%]

─────────────────

[Calculating Destruction Rate……]

─────────────────

[+15 → +16 Base Destruction Rate] [14%]

─────────────────

[Great: 0] [Okay: 0] [Bad: 0] [Awful: 0]

[Perfect Adjustment] [14% → 8%]

─────────────────

[High-Grade Enchant Powder Adjustment]

[8% → 0%]

─────────────────

Thankfully, there was no destruction rate this time either....

─────────────────

[Final Success Rate: 1%]

[Failure Rate: 99%]

[Destruction Rate: 0%]

─────────────────

Facing a success rate that hadn't budged one bit....

─────────────────

【Enhancement Failed】

─────────────────

Of course, the enchant ended in failure.

The moment it ended, the post-mortem started running through my head.

The enhancement rate had come out extremely, extremely, extremely low.

And the system had pointed out the reason clearly enough.

I didn't need to look far.

'You know your hammer's crap, right?'

I slowly lowered my gaze to the thing in my hand.

The Basic Enchant Hammer.

A hammer I'd bought from Henrik's shop.

Star rating: 1-star.

Honestly, I was a little impressed I'd gotten this far with it.

Enchanting ran on your gear too, huh... since an All Perfect always got there eventually, I'd never once felt like I was lacking.

"... Lionel."

"Yes."

"By any chance... how much have you enhanced it so far? What stage is it at?"

Honestly, Dolores had only been watching from the side,

and without an appraisal tool, she wouldn't have known exactly what level it was at.

"It's +15 right now."

"What?!"

She startled, eyes going wide.

But that wasn't the point right now.

"Give me a second, could I get an hour?"

"Y-yes, sure, okay. Um, good luck...."

Kim Yuna.

If I just pushed straight through with an All Perfect run,

what would the rough expected number of attempts be?

[At 1%, assuming no destruction rate.]

[About 100 attempts.]

Honestly, it was too simple a calculation, but I just felt like asking anyway.

This was only an expected value, though.

Even after hammering it 100 times straight, there was still around a 36 percent chance of ending in failure.

And so, I.

[+15->+16 Enhancement Attempts]

[301]

turned out to be an absolutely unlucky kid.

"Ah. God fucking damn it...."

After hammering roughly 201 more times than the expected value,

─────────────────

【Enhancement Success】

─────────────────

[Ether Circle][★★★★☆]

[+15 → +16]

─────────────────

I finally managed to reach +16 on the Ether Circle.

[Wow, that's bottom-5-percent luck, big brother]

"... Should I just get a taste of +17?"

I couldn't let it end on such an unfair note,

so, hoping cautiously for a little regression to the mean, I gave +17 a shot too....

"Wha, why's the Circle acting like this?!"

After forcing my way through a difficulty that had suddenly turned record-breakingly brutal,

─────────────────

[Final Success Rate: 0.1%]

[Failure Rate: 99.9%]

[Destruction Rate: 0%]

─────────────────

Even though I'd landed an All Perfect,

faced with a probability of just 0.1 percent....

"Heh, heh."

That's the universe telling me not to.

I threw up both hands and both feet in surrender,

and decided to sell the Ether Circle as-is.

"Dolores, here, this is +16...."

"You did good, Lionel...."

Surprised, I found myself pulled into a firm hug against Dolores's chest, my face pressed in,

"... Ah."

An enchant hammer.

I need to make one of these right away.

That's the thought that crossed my mind.

Ah, of course.

"Oh wait, hold on."

I should check the Potential Ability first, though.

Since I can see all of it anyway.

If it's mediocre, I'll sell it....

But if it's good....

I was planning to give it to Ruby.

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