WeTried Translations

Translator: [IncomeElastic]

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Became a Blacksmith the Rankers Are Obsessed With ◈

Chapter 83

──────

Yep, but the Performance Is F@cking Insane ㅋ

* * *

Well, it'd be nice to just keep living in the workshop with the spirits like this forever, but....

Unfortunately, spirits apparently couldn't stay long outside the Tower, anywhere but the Spirit Realm floor.

"Still... if you've made a contract with a spirit, you can always borrow that friend's power."

That was Millien's explanation.

She'd been going over contract precautions and whatnot, one by one, for a while now.

She sounded like an insurance rep reading out the fine print.

"But you said it's an incomplete spirit contract. Why is that?"

"...Um... honestly, this is a case we've only seen a handful of times ourselves, but...."

Millien stared at the goggles for a moment, then reached out a hand.

"It's probably because you and Whiri didn't make a direct contract, but one through this mysterious piece of equipment instead. It's not entirely without precedent, though."

"Right. Are there any restrictions I should...."

"You'll probably be able to borrow Whiri's power anytime, but... unlike a complete contract, summoning its true form into the material world, or growing together with it, will be difficult."

"I see."

A friend who'd blow me a breeze wherever I called it....

Honestly, even just that much was more than enough to be grateful for.

"So someday, once you've grown stronger, you should probably switch to a contract with a high-rank spirit."

"That... um...?"

Even if I wanted to, that didn't seem like it was going to happen.

Millien folded her hands demurely in front of her chest.

"No! Lionel made a contract with me!"

Whiri, startled, threw its arms around my ear.

"I was only explaining a possibility."

"Your eyes are sparkling!"

"My eyes just sparkle naturally."

"Heh heh."

I laughed and nodded for now.

"I'll go ahead and take the goggles off."

"Okay...."

- Slip.

The moment I took off the goggles, the spirits in front of me vanished.

Even Whiri, who'd been clinging to my ear, disappeared with them....

- Whirr....

But there was a breeze tickling my ear, so even though I couldn't see it, I could roughly tell it was still there thanks to the contract.

"You there?"

- Whirr!

My hair swayed, as if in answer.

Good, it's still here.

I left the workshop with the goggles perched on top of my head.

I figured I'd show off my newly made gear to Dolores, and hear a bit about the next Tower climb while I was at it.

Sort of like gathering equipment feedback, along with a bit of market research on whether she needed any gear.

But the moment I stepped into the mansion, what I saw was....

"Take it slow."

Dolores, carefully supporting someone by draping their arm over her shoulder.

Maman, supporting someone?

And it wasn't me or Ruby....

I'd honestly barely ever seen her make physical contact with anyone at all, so I stared, puzzled.

There, a woman with long, bright red hair dangled limply against her.

"...... Yeomhwa?"

Her sworn sister?

She was famous enough that I'd seen her in community photos before.

She was also the mar-... I mean, the customer, who'd paid good money for the Ether Circle I'd enhanced.

But she looked seriously out of it....

"Lionel?"

My eyes met Dolores's as she supported Yeomhwa, and hearing her voice, Yeomhwa lifted her head with effort and looked at me with unfocused eyes.

And then....

"Oh my, Ruby~ ...."

"?"

"It's really been a while~ You've grown so much~"

"......"

Was she talking to me? Anyway, her voice was completely hoarse.

Yeomhwa cracked her eyes open, gazed down at me for a long moment, and grinned loosely.

"You got so pretty~ ...... and the goggles suit you too......"

"That's not Ruby. Get a grip."

"Eh."

At Dolores's correction, Yeomhwa blinked blankly.

Her eyes were bloodshot to the point of nearly bursting, and she looked bad in every other way, too.

Her focus wouldn't settle either, her gaze drifting around empty air.

Everything except her hair color and eyes was deathly pale.

"Mm...."

As Yeomhwa pressed a hand to her forehead, as if trying to recall something,

- Jingle....

her sleeve slid up, revealing a familiar bracelet.

The Ether Circle.

"Come on, let's go for now."

- Drag....

"Bye-bye, Ruby~"

Dolores dragged Yeomhwa into a room, but....

what I was actually looking at was a different screen entirely.

It was a sort of occupational habit, I just found myself checking.

Whether the gear suited its wearer or not....

Did the Ether Circle actually suit Yeomhwa?

And the screen that opened up in front of my eyes was....

"...... What the fuck."

─────────────────

[Ether Circle][★★★★☆]

[Unique Equipment] [Compatibility Rating][0 / 80]

[Enhancement Level][+16]

─────────────────

[The wearer's mana circulation method and the equipment's circulation method are fundamentally incompatible.]

[Due to this equipment's +5 Potential Ability, 'Deep Current,' the expanded mana circuits are failing to contract normally.]

[Due to this equipment's +15 Potential Ability, 'Backflow,' part of the wearer's mana circuits are being continuously damaged.]

─────────────────

[The wearer's unique constitution, 'Reverence of the Strong (强者尊),' is suppressing the body's warning responses triggered by the equipment.]

[Reverence of the Strong (强者尊)]

[Forcibly ignores pain, fatigue, and rejection responses that would hinder growth.]

[The body cannot properly recognize abnormalities until it reaches its limit.]

─────────────────

[The wearer is currently unable to withstand the Backflow.]

[Continued use of the Ether Circle will trigger permanent collapse of the mana circuits.]

[Immediate removal required. Immediately.]

[Warning]

[Warning!]

[!!Warning!!]

[Mana circuit collapse initiated.]

─────────────────

Cause and effect were laid out in an unbroken stream.

Like a log record of Yeomhwa's physical condition, I could see her body slowly collapsing, laid out in chronological order.

A Compatibility Rating of 0, nearly the same feeling as the first time I'd seen Dolores's Gorgonyu's White Gloves, but....

This was worse than that, even.

When Dolores had first used the Ether Circle, she'd mentioned a side effect where a momentary sense of weakness would hit.

So unless you used it on a strict schedule, it'd probably be hard to use in the middle of combat, she'd said.

A normal person would've grown suspicious after a few uses, or stopped wearing it altogether, but....

Reverence of the Strong.

According to the description, her innate drive to grow stronger had ignored all of it.

The Ether Circle's raw performance was undeniable, after all.

In fact, Yeomhwa had apparently been breaking her personal records and climbing toward the very top ranks.

So she'd kept wearing it without even knowing what was happening to her body, and while she'd genuinely gotten results, the side effects had finally caught up with her....

"Guess she really did need after-sales service...."

And a pretty serious case of it, too.

This was urgent. Very urgent.

The problem was, I couldn't think of a clean way to fix this right now.

"Still."

If there was one thing that couldn't wait,

"I need to take it off her."

It seemed clear that the Ether Circle had to come off, right now.

I followed the stairs Dolores had gone up.

She'd headed toward an empty guest room.

- Oh, Ruby... Auntie's dying....

- ...Just wait a little.

Yeomhwa's and Dolores's voices carried from inside.

- Scrape.

Along with the sound of Dolores's chair scraping back, it seemed she was about to step outside.

- Creak.

"...Lionel?"

The door opened, and my eyes met Dolores's.

- Shh.

I grabbed her by the wrist and led her to the end of the hallway.

Straight to the point.

"You remember Gorgonyu's White Gloves, right?"

"Yes, I remember...."

"And she's the one who bought the Ether Circle I made, isn't she?"

"Yes, that's right."

All Dolores had ever told me was that some High Ranker had bought it.

I chose my words carefully, leaving most of it out.

The fact that her name was Yeomhwa was something I'd only dug up from the community, information I technically shouldn't know, so for now I just called her "she."

"Right now, the Ether Circle is melting down her circuits. Badly."

"...Is that true?"

"Yes, so we need to take that bracelet off her first."

Her Compatibility Rating was even worse than Gorgonyu's had been, so it had to come off immediately.

"...... I thought it was the Meridian Affliction. Guess it wasn't."

"It's definitely not the Meridian Affliction."

I happened to know the Meridian Affliction pretty well, thanks to the woman standing right in front of me now, and this definitely wasn't it.

"I understand."

"And, um."

I caught Dolores's wrist as she turned to go.

"Is she... someone it'd be fine if my identity got out to?"

Whatever the case, she was someone who'd run into trouble from misusing my gear.

Not to mention she was Dolores's old comrade. Of course, I wasn't necessarily responsible for however she'd gotten hurt using gear I'd sold, but......

I hadn't given her any warnings this time either, and it looked like she needed after-sales service either way.

Whether that meant enhancing the gear up to +20, or making an entirely new piece to help her out.

I supposed I'd know more once it was off her... anyway.

Whether or not she caught my meaning, Dolores closed her eyes and thought it over for a moment....

"Well, if it's Yeomhwa, it's fine."

"Understood."

If Dolores said so, then it was so.

"Though she's in no state for conversation right now, so first...."

"Right."

I followed Dolores back into the room.

"Ohh, ow...."

When the door opened, Yeomhwa had something like a strip of seaweed stuck to her forehead.

It gave off a faint green glow, some kind of first aid, it seemed.

That sort of thing was usually magic.

"Yeomhwa."

"Whaat... Elysia...."

- Slide.

Dolores sat at the head of the bed and took Yeomhwa's arm.

"Why......?"

"I'm taking this off for a moment."

The instant Dolores's hand touched the Ether Circle, Yeomhwa yanked her arm back.

"Hey, Dolores... I'm not dead yet... touching someone else's stuff is a crime."

"......"

"That's +16, you know......"

- Tap, tap.

Dolores didn't bother answering, and just unclasped it.

The instant she did,

─────────────────

[The Ether Circle has been unequipped.]

[Further damage to the mana circuits has been halted.]

─────────────────

"Whew......."

The immediate fire, at least, was out.

Though that didn't mean her wrecked circuits were suddenly fine.

"Elysia... I feel awfuuul...."

Yeomhwa said that, and then....

"...Mm... I'm suddenly so drowsy...."

- Trickle....

Water trickled out from the seaweed-like strip on Yeomhwa's forehead.

Its color had deepened a shade, too. It looked like the treatment was only really starting now.

Seems like once the Ether Circle was gone, there was finally room to actually treat her.

"Get some sleep for now."

Dolores brushed lightly over Yeomhwa's eyes.

- Slip....

Yeomhwa's eyes closed, and she was asleep in an instant.

Nice performance on that seaweed thing.

Dolores checked Yeomhwa's breathing for a moment, then handed me the Ether Circle.

"Why don't you hold onto this for now, Lionel?"

"Sure."

I took the still-warm bracelet and held it up.

"...I'll go ahead and try pushing this to +20, for now."

"That sounds right."

I had to try something, at least.

And a few hours later,

just as word came that Yeomhwa had regained consciousness, I....

【Enhancement Success!】

[+19 -> +20]

"That was brutal."

I'd just now managed to reach +20.

I should at least charge a service fee for this.

I felt like I could die from how exhausting it was.

Normally I'd have had a hell of a good time with it, but with my mind so uneasy, it felt less like a rhythm game and more like plain labor.

There's no enjoying a game with a sick person right there, after all.

Praying it'd turn out to be some Potential Ability that could restore Yeomhwa's wrecked circuits, I looked up, and

─────────────────

【Potential Ability】

[+5 - Deep Current]

[The circulation channel deepens. Leftover mana no longer scatters and remains within the ring.]

[+10 - Sediment]

[The lingering mana settles and accumulates. The longer it's worn, the more builds up.]

[+15 - Backflow]

[The moment the wearer's mana runs low, everything accumulated surges back in all at once.]

─────────────────

That was as far as +15 went.

And then.

[The lower-tier Potential Abilities merge into a single cycle.]

[The integrated Potential Ability no longer directly interferes with the wearer's circuits.]

Along with text I'd never seen before.

─────────────────

[+20 - Recursive Incantation][Cooldown][30 seconds]

[Records one spell cast by the wearer into the Ether Circle.]

[Backflowing mana no longer returns to the wearer's circuits and is instead converted into the recorded spell's formula.]

[The recorded spell is re-cast at 50% power.]

[The re-cast spell consumes none of the wearer's mana.]

─────────────────

"...... Huh?"

So... a spell I cast goes off a second time? Like an echo?

And the mana doesn't even backflow into me anymore?

Sure, it's only 50% power, but wait, that's basically a whole free extra skill.

[Whoa, that's absurdly broken.]

"......"

Alright, I got it.

I understood all too well that this was a good piece of gear.

This thing was probably meant to only be complete once it hit +20 in the first place.

Since the backflowing mana had to be kept from reaching the user.

But stopping halfway at +15 meant all downside and no upside.

So now, Yeomhwa should be able to wear the Ether Circle without any problems at all.

But....

"What about the treatment effect...?"

What about the circuits that were already damaged?

There's nothing for that?

[Yep, but the performance is am@zing, isn't it ㅋ]

I'd asked it to save a person's life... and it gave me a bracelet even better at killing them.

Kill More People.

"Mm... ah......."

I put a hand to my forehead, and then

the side effects were gone... and the performance had improved too, so....

...isn't good just good, in the end?

"Mm... yeah, nice!"

I gave a thumbs-up to Whiri, wriggling around beside me.

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried