Chapter 65 . The Tower (6)
The next morning .
When Yeon-woo arrived at Henova's smithy, he saw people fixing the shop's door .
They were people from Night Watch .
When he entered through the new door, the whole smithy was furnished with brand new furniture and smithing tools .
“So, do you like it?”
Yeon-woo smiled and spoke to Henova while his eyes were still fixed on the players from Night Watch running busily around the shop .
“Do I like what?”
“Your shop . It looks much better than before, doesn't it? By the way, now's your chance to thank me . ”
Henova snorted at Yeon-woo's joke with his short arm crossed .
“Hmph! I know you did this to have me make Gyges' Eye faster . Why would I thank you when you did this for your own sake? Besides, you didn't do any work here . ”
But unlike his harsh words, Henova's nose and ear were slightly red . It seemed he was too bashful to pay someone compliments .
'There was a word that refers to someone like him . '
Yeon-woo recalled a word he had heard back on Earth .
“Tsundere . ”
“Hmm? what did you say?”
Yeon-woo calmly shook his head . But he couldn't stop his mouth from curling up . He thought it was a relief he was wearing a mask at a time like this .
Henova looked at Yeon-woo again with a suspicious look on his face, but Yeon-woo kept pretending as if nothing happened .
The smile on Yeon-woo's mouth didn't go away for a long time .
It was a word that matched Henova too well .
And when the repairs were finished, Yeon-woo and Henova went back to their ordinary routine .
Both of them picked up a hammer again, one to finish the artifact, and the other to practice metallurgy .
*Tang* *Tang*
Just by looking at the surface, everything that happened last night seemed like a lie .
['Draconic Eyes' can now reveal more 'flaws' . ]
['Draconic Eyes' skill proficiency has increased . 22 . 9%]
From some point onwards, Yeon-woo found himself completely fascinated with metallurgy .
He cast Draconic Eyes and gazed at the scorching piece of metal .
A thinly dotted line appeared along the edge of the metal freshly taken out its mold .
The lines only visible to Yeon-woo
'Flaws . '
Draconic Eyes was able to peek through the true nature of things .
This was done by reestablis.h.i.+ng the information the caster originally had, calculating the most efficient route of achieving their goal and providing visible hints of the route .
Those visible hints are the 'flaws' .
And thanks to that, Yeon-woo was able to handle metal quite easily .
*Tang* *Tang*
The knowledge and techniques that Henova imparted to Yeon-woo were something worth over a thousand pieces of gold to any other blacksmith, and he was aware of this fact .
When Yeon-woo watched the way Henova handled the hammer, the bellow, and all the other tools, he could feel how much effort Henova poured into making a single piece of work .
Therefore, Yeon-woo tried to capture every single motion Henova made and memorize every single word Henova said .
And his practice based on such information helped Yeon-woo step up his forging several levels .
Others might have considered it as cheating .
'No wonder why the dragon race is known as the world's wisest race . '
Draconic Eyes, the eyes that seek the truth by observing all creation and acquiring all knowledge .
It was merely a small part of Draconic Eyes' true power that Yeon-woo had access to . But even that was enough to induce a very fast growth .
And now, he was just a few steps away from completing the succession process .
Yeon-woo was curious as to what kind of abilities he would be able to wield once he developed a complete Dragon Body .
*Taang*
Yeon-woo hammered the metal piece he had folded several times for the last time .
There was a distinct wavy pattern drawn on the surface of the metal .
He then picked it up with a tong and submerged it into a container filled with cold water to finish the tempering process .
*Tsss*
A big cloud of white steam shot out from the container when the metal touched the water .
Despite the suffocating hot air, Yeon-woo tried to keep his eyes on the fuming metal .
[Your understanding of metallurgy has increased . The attained knowledge will open up several more possibilities . ]
[Knowledge is a power that will broaden your horizons and enlarge the world around you . Learn and understand more knowledge and become a seeker of truth . The dragon's blessing will always be with you .
['Draconic Eyes' skill proficiency has increased . 25 . 1%]
[Knowledge increase has been confirmed . The vessel has become softer and more flexible . The halted succession process will resume . 93%… 94%… . ]
[Current progress: 94 . 9%]
*Drop* *Drop*
Beads of sweat kept falling onto the floor .
'This is definitely something that cannot be taken easy . '
Yeon-woo lightly ma.s.saged his shoulders .
Learning metallurgy was not an easy task even with the help of Draconic Eyes .
Having to sit in one place hammering the metal in front of a searing forge, he felt stiff and sore all over his body .
But through this experience, Yeon-woo realized the importance of mental training in parallel with physical training .
Though very little, the halted process was able to progress .
Thanks to that, he felt very relieved .
'So, balance is what I need for progress, isn't it? d.a.m.n, I thought I was so close to finis.h.i.+ng it, but it's going to get complicated . '
Yeon-woo was. .h.i.t by a sudden wave of fatigue from the thought .
But as soon as he felt tired, the Magic Circuit circulated mana through his body, melting away the fatigue .
Yeon-woo was able to feel his growth in person .
If there was a barrier that was limiting him from further advancement, he felt like it had just retracted a little .
'Now, let's see . '
Yeon-woo stared at the metal piece he had crafted .
[An Unfinished Good Metal Casting]
Estimated cla.s.sification: Two-handed Weapon
Estimated rating: F
Estimated durability: 5-10
Description: A casting that has not yet been completed . It doesn't look bad for a first attempt .
'It turned out okay for a first try . '
Yeon-woo licked his lips in antic.i.p.ation .
He then turned to Henova to talk about his work .
But when he looked at him, he was stunned for a few seconds .
[Henova the Dwarf]
CP: ??? / Personality: Shy and bashful
It was a window regarding Henova's information .
“What are you looking at? Keep your head down and get to work!”
Henova shouted at him when he saw Yeon-woo standing in place staring at him .
The warm look he had shown Yeon-woo for a very short time yesterday had turned back to his normal cold look today .
Yeon-woo didn't care much because he was aware that his cold att.i.tude was just an act to hide his shy inner character .
“I'm sorry . ”
Yeon-woo s.h.i.+fted his gaze back to the metal piece .
'I can see people's information now?'
It was a feat he didn't expect to accomplish .
He didn't know the 'possibilities' that the system mentioned included access to other people's information .
'The ability to view people's information… I can take this as an advantage in combat . '
There was a big difference between knowing and not knowing the enemy when fighting them, even if it was just trifling information .
Although he couldn't see much about Henova, this was still going to be of great help later on . Because he had a great number of enemies he had to defeat .
A very trivial and yet so influential change .
Yeon-woo was beginning to understand the underlying mechanisms behind the Draconic Eyes .
The more he learned and experienced, the better the Draconic Eyes would become .
'But what was that 'CP' thing on the information window?'
He felt curiosity about the strange concept, but he quickly dismissed the inquiry with a firm shake .
Instead, Yeon-woo quickly took out the pocket watch while Henova was looking the other way, and examined with Draconic Eyes .
However,
[Information inaccessible . ]
Yeon-woo clicked his tongue lightly .
'I guess it's not the time yet . Well, Rome wasn't built in a single day . '
It did not disappoint Yeon-woo .
He would be able to access the information once he gained enough proficiency .
Bearing that in mind, Yeon-woo picked up the hammer again .
*Tang*
The sound rang clearer than usual .
'By the way, shy and bashful… Yeah, that sounds just like him . '
Yeon-woo let out a chuckle as he recalled the words that the system used to describe Henova .
Yeon-woo continued his visits to Henova and kept tormenting him .
“What are the standards for determining directions when welding the metal?”
“What do I do when the heat exceeds the appropriate temperature?”
“The bellow's blowing force is weaker than I thought . ”
“Why did you do that for that part?”
Now that he knew more about forging, he had more questions he wanted to ask .
So whenever he had any question, he immediately went to Henova and asked him . And because of that, Henova couldn't sit down and do his work properly when Yeon-woo was around .
“I'll tell you what . You'll learn when you go practice, idiot!”
“I'm asking these in order to practice . ”
“I'm telling you to learn by yourself!”
“Then teach me how to learn by myself . I'll go learn by myself when you do . ”
“Aaargh! You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
Henova tried to ignore him in order to do his work, but he had to give up as Yeon-woo was so persistent in asking his questions .
He even began to suspect that Yeon-woo was trying to get revenge for all his previous nagging .
And after many quarrels, Yeon-woo made discernible progress .
“Henova, can you take a look at this?”
“How many times a day are you going to call me? Let me do some work too, G.o.dd.a.m.n it! This is your order and if I can't make it in time, it's your loss, not mine!”
“I'm done making my sword . ”
“What?”
Henova lashed out, thinking Yeon-woo had called him to bother him again . But after hearing what Yeon-woo had to say, his eyes became round with shock .
“You made a sword?”
“Yes . ”
Henova gave a loud snort .
It had been only a little over ten days since Yeon-woo started to practice forging .
Although his growth speed was something out of the ordinary, it was impossible for a beginner like him to create something within such a short amount of time .
'Hah! You've been getting on my nerves all this time, haven't you? Now it's my turn . '
Henova was going to point out any slightest fault he could find to get back at him .
But Yeon-woo secretly smiled, knowing what Henova was thinking .
Then he handed over his work to Henova .
Henova received the object with a suspicious look .
It was a weapon with the shape of a sword .
[Sword of a Novice Blacksmith]
Cla.s.sification: One-handed Sword
Rating: E
Description: A sword that turned out much better than the initial expectation . The blade is a little dull for a sword but has a decent durability .
The first word Henova spat out after seeing his sword was,
“What the h.e.l.l… . ”
A curse word .
“This can't be… . '
Henova muttered to himself after realizing the sword Yeon-woo had forged was something that could not have come out of the hands of a novice blacksmith with only ten days of experience .
He knew that his skills were growing at a rapid pace, but this was beyond his imagination .
'How the h.e.l.l did he do that?'
When Hanova noticed that Yeon-woo was looking at him, he cleared his throat belatedly .
“Well, it's decent for something you made for the first time… But I won't call this a sword, this is still trash . ”
“Would it kill you to say some nice words?”
“Shus.h.!.+ It's up to me whether I praise you or not! Anyway, you still have to practice a lot! This is still far from good!”
“Then I'm going to have to keep asking you . ”
“Now, stop bothering me!”
“No . ”
“You little p.r.i.c.k!”
But at that moment, Yeon-woo felt something fiercely flying in from outside the smithy .
Before he could warn Henova, Yeon-woo grabbed him and leaped to the side .
*Kw.a.n.g*
Suddenly the wall exploded, and something broke inside .
Someone with two huge fists, flaring eyes, and a horn to the side of his head .
It was Phante .
“Is this where you ran off to, you cheater? Because of you… Because of you I had to search every corner of The Tower! Do you have any idea… . ”
But before he could finish his words, a fist came flying in from the middle of the dust cloud and,
*Puck*
“Kueeek!”
Phante went flying across the room as he let out a weird scream .
