Chapter 134: The Forge of Legends

As I approached the Stone Gate,  a low hum began to vibrate as if the gate was responding to me.  

And new inscriptions started to emerge.  

[Hephaestus’s Apron]  

“So this time, it’s an apron?”  

[Tough Leather x100]  

[Black Scale Leather x50]  

[Ice-Resistant Leather x20]  

[Heat-Resistant Leather x20]  

Once again, a long list of required items and materials appeared.  

“Production Team, could you go fetch these for me?”  

“Understood.”  

It wasn’t like I hadn’t spent plenty of time gathering leather in the Mines.  

All these materials were already available.  

Just like the rare materials requested in Zone 1, such as Mithril or Adamantium, there were also rare materials listed here.  

[Magical Shedding x10]  

[Ice Scale x5]  

[Fire Scale x5]  

[Film of Chaos x1]  

“Production Team, do we still have Film of Chaos left?”  

“Yes, I’ll bring it right away.”  

Most of the materials were already in stock.  

But there was one ingredient I’d never seen before:  [Enceladus’s Hide x1]  

“Enceladus?”  

It was an item I couldn’t even begin to imagine.  

I thought once the materials were all ready, I could just craft the item and open the gate.  

But I was utterly taken aback.  

As I struggled to understand this new material, Skinning No. 1 approached.  

“What is it?” I asked, and Skinning No. 1 was holding a massive piece of leather in its hands.  

I recognized it immediately.  

This was the hide they had cut off to enter the corpse’s interior.  

Just to be sure, I checked the item info:  [Enceladus’s Hide]  

“Oh!”  

It was the final material listed on the Stone Gate.  

Looking closer, it was an SS-Class Material.  

I hadn’t realized it was such a high-grade material.  

Since this whole place was the corpse of this ‘Enceladus’ creature, maybe I could get more hide.  

“Unfortunately, it seems we can’t get any more than this.”  

“Why? Can’t it be cut with a sword?”  

“No. Except for the entrance area, no blade can penetrate it at all.”  

It seemed this was the only permitted material.  

A shame, but there was nothing to be done.  

Including Enceladus’s Hide, I put all the materials the Production Team brought into the crafting skill.  

[Using Crafting Skill.]  

“Bang!”  

Though I wasn’t sure exactly what it was, it was an item containing Enceladus’s Hide—an SS-Class Material.  

The difficulty would not be low.  

And on top of that—  

“This one needs Rune Scripts too, Blaze?”  

“Yeah!”  

Flare!  

Just like in Zone 3, a rune was inscribed in the center of the apron drawn on the Stone Gate.  

So, I used Blaze’s power to carve Rune Scripts into the apron.  

The familiar hammering sound echoed.  

Fortunately, I had grown quite skilled at refining SS-Class Materials recently, so it wasn’t long before—  

[Crafting Complete.]  

[Obtained ‘Hephaestus’s Apron’.]  

I had safely completed the item.  

Immediately, Hephaestus’s Apron resonated with the Stone Gate, then was sucked inside as if absorbed by the gate.  

“Rumble rumble rumble—”

The Stone Gate opened, and I stepped through naturally.  

***

Hephaestus’s Forge.  

This was the fourth time I had entered here.  

When I first came in, it had been dark and desolate, like a ruin.  

“Oh.”  

But now, it has taken on a proper forge-like appearance.  

Flames roared in the furnace.  

Various tools hung on the workbench.  

The anvil and hammer were spotless, as if someone had been taking care of them.  

This wasn’t a forge left abandoned in darkness but a lively place that looked as if it had just been in use.  

“We could use this forge right now, no problem.”  

But there was something odd.  

Hephaestus’s Mines were divided into five sections, but only four of them were actually for mining materials.  

Although the fifth zone also yielded monster materials, it wasn’t technically a mining area.  

So logically, the fourth zone should have been the last.  

But no.  

Although much improved, the forge wasn’t fully restored yet.  

Maybe four-fifths of the way there.  

The outer areas of the forge were still unlit.  

“Could there be a hidden forge in Zone 5?”  

As far as I knew, there wasn’t a place in Zone 5 suitable for a forge.  

‘Could it be inside the tower?’  

“No way.”  

It was disappointing that not all of the forge was lit, but there was no other way.  

I approached the furnace, thinking maybe I’d find a solution someday.  

“Blaze.”  

“Yeah!”  

Flare!  

The flames in the furnace flickered.  

The fire was soon absorbed into Blaze’s body, who briefly glowed blue and burned even hotter.  

Then, after a moment, as Blaze’s form was filled with flames—  

[Obtained ‘Hephaestus’s Flame (4)’.]  

[‘Hephaestus’s Flame’ ability unlocked.]  

Blaze’s new ability had been unlocked.  

Until now, Blaze’s powers gained at the forge had been the ability to inscribe Rune Scripts that grant special powers to items, and ‘Army of the Volcano’ which strengthened the assistants.  

So what could this fifth, still-empty ability be?  

With great anticipation, I checked Blaze’s info.  

[Hephaestus’s Flame]  

Form: Flame  

Rank: EX  

Restriction: Descendant of 

Hephaestus  

Description: The remnant of the ‘Ifrit’ that once ignited the fires of 

Hephaestus’s Forge. Though the flame has weakened over time, it still holds the latent power of a divine incarnation.  

Abilities:  

1. God of the Blacksmith – Increases the efficiency of all production skills.  

2. God of Fire – Illuminates the surrounding area and protects the descendants of Hephaestus with the power of fire.  

3. Rune Script – Allows inscribing desired Rune Scripts onto crafted items.  

4. Army of the Volcano – Enhances all stats, intelligence, and learning abilities of the ‘Soul of the Blacksmith’.  

5. Mythical Creation – Realizes mythical or legendary items.  

“Mythical Creation?”  

I hadn’t expected that.  

The ability to realize mythic or legendary items?  

How?  

When unsure, the best way was to try it out directly.  

[Using Crafting Skill.]  

Same as before.  

[Please select the form of the item to craft.]  

Could it be here?  

When it came to mythical or legendary items, the first thing that came to mind was—  

“Excalibur?”  

This was it.  

The legendary sword used by King Arthur, the symbol of legendary weapons, the first name that came to mind in the West when thinking of a masterful blade.  

As I said its name—  

[Realizing ‘Excalibur’.]  

[Please select the material for Excalibur.]  

“Oh!”  

A message I’d never seen before appeared.  

Realizing Excalibur.  

Not knowing which materials to use, I simply put in some random materials I had.  

[Satisfaction: 1%]  

[Success Rate: 0.001%]  

[Would you like to start crafting?]  

“Eh? 0.001%? That’s way too low.”  

The success rate was unbelievably low.  

It was fascinating that the game even showed the success rate, but the number itself was minuscule.  

This was clearly telling me it was impossible to make Excalibur with these materials.  

There was no point swinging the hammer on such a low probability, so I canceled the crafting.  

I didn’t know much yet, so I decided to explore this new ability later.  

“Thanks for all your hard work, everyone!”  

To celebrate conquering Hephaestus’s Forge up to Zone 4, I decided to throw a party.  

Production Team, Mining Team, Combat Team—today was a day of rest for all.  

Though my assistants neither felt fatigue nor ate food, so what?  

“I should buy lots of chicken, huh?”  

After a long time, I’d head down to Zone 5 and throw a proper party in front of the two statues.  

***

After conquering the forge in Zone 4 and Blaze gaining a new ability, the next day, after enjoying a proper party with my assistants in front of the two statues and taking a well-deserved rest—  

[Satisfaction: 5%]  

[Success Rate: 1%]  

[Would you like to start crafting?]  

“Hmm.”  

I kept trying the newly unlocked ‘Mythical Creation’ ability through Blaze.  

The problem was the success rate barely increased.  

Even when I used the remaining SS-Class Materials to test, the success rate didn’t rise significantly. 

[Satisfaction: 6%]  

[Success Rate: 1.1%]  

[Would you like to start crafting?]  

In some cases, it even dropped.  

[Satisfaction: 3%]  

[Success Rate: 0.2%]  

[Would you like to start crafting?]  

Despite using SS-Class materials, the success rate sometimes fell.  

Up until now, using better materials naturally meant better items.  

But this wasn’t the case here.  

Putting in better materials but getting a lower success rate?  

What on earth was going on?  

Still, after trying various materials on different items, I began to roughly understand the principle behind Mythical Creation.  

“Is understanding a factor?”  

The reason I thought so was simple.  

When I mentioned the holy sword ‘Ascalon,’ the success rate rose when using light or holy attribute materials, but dropped when using darkness or magic attribute materials.  

Conversely, when I mentioned the cursed sword ‘Tyrfing,’ success increased with darkness or magic materials, but dropped with light or holy materials.  

The same was true for other weapons.  

When crafting ‘Astrapē,’ Zeus’s Lightning, success rose with lightning attribute materials.  

When making ‘Triaine,’ Poseidon’s Trident, success rose with water attribute materials.  

“That part’s clear.”  

The problem was that wasn’t all.  

Even when I tried to craft Triaine with an S-Class water attribute material, the success rate didn’t exceed 5%.  

It seemed various factors, including the level of the item to be crafted, influenced success.  

To even attempt this, it seemed at least S-Class materials were required.  

But wasting such precious materials on low chances was a shame.  

“It’s a troublesome ability.”  

It was a great power but complicated to use.  

I had been imagining wielding Excalibur right away, but that was impossible.  

Well, as I level up and improve, the success rate would naturally increase.  

‘No, maybe I should try making something easier instead of Excalibur.’

That thought came to me.  

If success rates depended on the item’s level, maybe not a grand divine weapon like Zeus’s Lightning or Poseidon’s Trident, but a moderately famous weapon—  

Could I make something like that?  

With that in mind, I turned on the computer.  

“What’s out there?”  

I started searching for data.  

Famous weapons.  

But not too powerful.  

Moderately strong and well-known enough to help increase understanding.  

What could fit that description?  

“Galatine seems too strong, Gram too…”  

It was harder than expected to find one.  

Well, any weapon known enough to be famous would naturally be powerful.  

So I changed my approach.  

“It doesn’t have to be a weapon.”  

Armor would be fine.  

Accessories too.  

Or even tools like cups or pouches.  

With no prejudice, I searched for mythical or legendary items.  

“Huh? This one looks just right.”  

I found a moderately suitable item.