WeTried Translations
Translator: [IncomeElastic]
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became a Blacksmith the Rankers Are Obsessed With ◈
Chapter 97
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The Man Who Stopped a War
* * *
Time flowed by quickly.
A month passed.
Investing a long stretch of time into a single piece of gear, I'd felt this last year too, has clear downsides and upsides.
The downside is that the moment it collides with my personality, one that can't stand boredom, something goes wrong.
The upside is....
"If the work were boring to begin with, I wouldn't have spent this long on it."
It's that I'm having way too much fun.
In the meantime, Ruby whined the whole way but still commuted to and from the Academy, and Yeomhwa spent the month shuttling between the Tower and the mansion, resting hard.
She said she'd rest for at least three more months going forward.
Dolores too was taking a short break from climbing the Tower, though she said it's not like anyone climbs right away the moment they arrive....
"Feels like she's just waiting for me to finish hers."
She's even got the emblem I'd been using with her, too.
I'll have it ready for you soon, Maman.
...And this part is completely off the record, but
if there's a real secret between just the two of us.
These days, every Monday morning when a week passes, Dolores rocket-delivers a paper bag to my door.
What's inside, well, it's obvious.
Neither of us says a single word to the other about this part. We're both just shamelessly acting like it's nothing.
Ah... but if I actually dig deep into this, it's going to get way too deep, so I've just decided to think of it as her sacrificing herself for the sake of my work efficiency.
The time I spent talking to other people shrank too.
Whether they knew I was absorbed in my work or not, they all seemed, gratefully, to be giving me space.
Yeomhwa and Dolores both looked at me with pity every time they passed by, though honestly, I don't know why.
I'm having a great time.
There was a time in the past when I went six months talking to no one but Yuna.
- Scritch....
Today too, the God of Effort.
Before I knew it, I'd carved out 27 petals.
Thankfully, there hadn't been a single disaster so far.
- Scritch....
There'd better not be one going forward, either.
* * *
Time flowed on like that, and another month passed.
If there was one regret, it was that with me buried in work all day, I could only squeeze in the bare minimum of exercise, so my muscle growth seemed like a lost cause.
Mm, well, work matters more.
Ruby, of course, was in the middle of record-breaking growth, upward... and outward too, all of it.
"Lionel, you're doing okay... right?"
Today's special guest was Yeomhwa.
She leaned against the workshop window, watching me.
"I'm doing great, though...?"
Really.
Having an environment where I can throw myself into something I love is its own kind of happiness.
"...Once Dolores's gear is finished, I'll make sure to film her climbing and show it to you."
"Thank you."
It seemed like it bothered Yeomhwa that I never got to see the gear I made actually being used and shining in action.
Dolores fought inside the Tower, and I was stuck here, after all.
Seemed like she meant to record it with some kind of crystal ball and bring it to me....
Actually, this time I was planning to watch it live myself.
Dolores crushing everything in her path, riding entirely on the strength of her gear.
I'd only just found out recently myself, apparently there was a community with video broadcasts of rankers climbing the Tower...?
Like an internet livestream. So this time I was planning to sit in the workshop and watch it with Yuna.
"...... Well, I'll get going now, Lionel...?"
"Take care."
I bowed my head and saw her off.
"...Did she leave?"
- Slip.
I refilled it again.
Doing it in front of Yeomhwa was, well, a bit much.
Just like that, before I knew it, the number of petals I'd carved: 59.
The end was drawing near.
* * *
About another week passed like that.
They say the time of endurance is long, but that's a story for the people waiting....
- Scritch....
Sweat trickling from my forehead beaded on my chin.
Finally, the last petal.
I smoothed the edge and cut a notch down the center of the petal, adding detail all the way to the shape of its veins.
- Scritch....
I stopped my hand and looked up, and before I knew it....
a single red flower had bloomed on the table.
The flame curled up inside the Crystal of Consuming Flame flickered, slowly lighting the petals, then spread little by little until it had lit every last petal, all the way to the edges.
- Bang!
Before long, something rose up in front of my eyes.
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[Muspelheim: Wreath of Consuming Flame][★★★★★]
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『A flower that bloomed within the Consuming Flame.』
『Blossomed at the artisan's fingertips, waiting for the moment it will be offered up.』
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【The more it is suppressed by strong outside power, the more it gathers the strength of fire.】
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Muspelheim.
It refers to the world of fire in Norse mythology.
It's also the world best suited to a gem like the Crystal of Consuming Flame.
"Pangaea."
Now they're finally standing shoulder to shoulder.
It had become a material I wasn't ashamed to use.
Looked like it could hold its own even in a no-holds-barred fight.
A base plate that gathered the earth's power the more a strong energy touched it.
And a flower that condensed flame the more it was pressed down upon.
Perfectly matched, birds of a feather.
I brought out the base plate made of Pangaea, left sitting untouched for over two months.
Now all that was left was to set the flower on top.
Both stubbornly refused to lose, hoarding power with everything they had, so what would happen if I put them together?
I carefully lifted the flower and set it down on the base plate.
The instant the base of the flower touched the plate-
- Ruuuumble....
"Wh- what the...."
The workbench shook like crazy.
Pangaea's veins glowed brown, and the brown energy slowly gathered at the base of the flower.
Before long, a red light spread through the petals too.
- Crack....
"The fuck?"
It sounded like something was cracking, so I quickly snatched up the Wreath of Consuming Flame, but....
"Oh."
The base plate came up with it.
I hurriedly set it back down.
"......."
I bent down, leveling my eyes with the workbench, and glared at the seam between the flower's base and the plate, but....
"There's no gap."
The flower clung to the Pangaea plate as shamelessly as if it had bloomed right there from birth.
I'd agonized so much over how to bond them.
And they'd just gone and stuck themselves together.
"...... Fine."
The single most important thing when making gear is to never panic.
I brought over the bowl I'd covered and set aside on one end of the workbench.
The small fragments I'd set aside when I first split the Crystal of Consuming Flame, ground down into powder bit by bit whenever my eyes got tired from carving the flower.
Time for them to finally get put to work.
I packed the powder into a mold I'd prepared to match the edge of the base plate.
Packed it tight with no gaps, then popped it into the crucible furnace for exactly ten seconds.
- Blazing....
Once the granules fused together on their own, the rim took shape.
Since the flower was already flashy, I kept this part compact. The beauty of empty space.
"Last one...."
I carefully pulled the mold free and fitted it along the edge.
Pressed it down along the circumference... and before long, the Crystal of Consuming Flame rim had wrapped all the way around the Pangaea plate.
- Squeeze....
I pressed down even the parts that had been lifting, until everything fit together completely.
"...... Done."
Before long,
- Hiss....
the familiar pattern of a Skilled Blacksmith etched itself into the left corner of the base plate.
"......?"
What.
Normally, the gear's info should be showing up by now....
Just then.
- Scritch scritch....
A thin line stretched out beside the pattern that had just been etched.
The line crept slowly across to the right side of the base plate and settled into the empty space there.
Then, all at once, the line stretching downward split apart like roots, and the line stretching upward branched out like limbs.
In the shape of a tree, one enormous tree was etched in an instant.
The dwarf's pattern was on the left, and on the right....
"This...."
That's the pattern of the Children of the Forest.
- Bang!
A red light spread out between the two patterns.
Something rose up in front of my eyes.
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[Kargon: Genesis Garden][★★★★✦]
[Unique Equipment] [Compatibility Rating][- /110]
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[Divine Implement (神具)] [Target God: None]
[Blessing][None]
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『A flower of fire, blossomed from the earth. People call it a volcano.』
『When the flower of fire blooms, the earth splits open like its petals.』
『Here, the ancient conflict between earth and flame comes to an end.』
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【Volcano】
Gathers the mana the wearer leaves behind after casting spells into the earth, forming a bud of flame.
The bud grows stronger as mana accumulates. When the wearer causes a flower to bloom, the power gathered beneath it erupts up through the ground.
【Genesis Garden】
Any ground where a flower has bloomed becomes the wearer's garden.
Within the garden, power gathered in one place can be made to erupt from any other.
A natural disaster (天災地變).
Any eruption that occurs within the garden ignores the target's defense.
The target can never defend against it.
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『I can't believe it... how could the power of the earth... fire....』
『Just what kind of world... are you trying to show me...?』
- The Fire Goddess, Ignia -
『Ah... ah....』
『How futile a fight we carried on, for how long....』
- The Earth Goddess, Gaia -
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[Your obsession with the craft and your obsession with the wearer have temporarily surpassed the tier of gear you're capable of making.]
[The achievements of two different crafting lineages have been captured within a single work.]
The familiar four stars.
And beside them, one small star was tacked on.
"4.5 stars."
Even if it was only a temporary feat, I'd surpassed my own best record.
Which probably meant that if someone told me to make it again right now, I couldn't do it even if they beat me to death trying.
I placed a hand on the emblem.
Beneath the red water lily, the brown veins glowed... and the energy carried in those brown veins flowed along both patterns, spreading through the whole emblem.
Kargon, Kargon....
"...... The 89th floor."
The Kargon Mountains.
The place where, legend says, the history of the Sun Dwarves began.
So in the end, I've come back here.
[★★★★★] [One Who Kindles Fire and Plants Trees]
[Title Acquired ─ 『One Who Walks the Boundary』]
[Reward]
[Divine Implement (神具) Promotion Ticket × 1]
【Promotes a designated piece of gear to Divine Implement (神具) status.】
Finally.
A reward that actually looked like a reward had dropped right in front of me.
[Your actions have set the Realm of the Gods (神界) astir.]
along with one notification whose meaning I couldn't quite grasp.
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