Chapter 31: Storm of the Serpent’s Pearl

“An Imoogi’s Pearl?”

The Imoogi’s Pearl.

A rare material obtainable only from dragon-type monsters.

Comparable to a Dragon Heart for dragons.

Though it’s the pearl of a corrupted Imoogi that failed to ascend, it’s still an Imoogi’s Pearl.

It holds immense value and is said to be impossible to buy with money.

Even searching the Auction House yielded no results for such an item.

And it wasn’t just the Imoogi’s Pearl.

[Top-Grade Mana Stone]

[Rain Powder]

[Water Golem’s Core]

“Wow, this is insane.”

As expected, these were rare materials you couldn’t buy with money.

As expected of the Mir Guild.

To invest such rare materials and money into an Orb, a mere auxiliary item, rather than a weapon or armor.

Truly, a major guild.

“An Orb, huh. Let’s look it up.”

As usual, I researched game item types.

Orbs.

There are many types, but honestly, there wasn’t much to dig into.

As the name suggests, it’s just a round auxiliary item that aids in mana control.

Normally, I’d worry about materials, but this time, they were provided.

Also—

• Storm Wizard (Level 50)
  
• Water and Wind Magic Specialist, Buffer, and Dealer
  
• Normally boosts guild members’ movement speed, attack speed, and casting speed with Tailwind, then targets weak points with Gale Blade when facing monsters.
  
• Uses water magic to bind enemies or restrict their movement speed, a utility-focused Mage.
  
• Detailed information is available in the attached raid footage.
  

Like with Park Kang-chul and Cheon Seung-heon, they sent the guild master’s class details.

The Mir Guild, having connected me with Cheon-gung, knew my crafting conditions and sent the info without me asking.

Sharing class details isn’t an easy choice, but it’s common for forges to request confidential info to craft exclusive equipment.

“Somehow, I’ve ended up with info on three rankers.”

Information on three rankers.

Some would pay a fortune for it, but it’s useless to me.

In fact, knowing it is risky.

If I leaked it, I’d make enemies of them.

My identity is well-hidden, but I have no desire to antagonize rankers.

“Let’s get to it, Ember!”

Whoosh!

[Using Production Skill.]

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

[Please specify the details of the Orb’s shape.]

There wasn’t much to specify.

An Orb just needs to be round.

Of course, I had to adjust the size.

The Imoogi’s Pearl was larger than expected.

It needed to be small enough to hold comfortably in one hand.

After adjusting the size—

[Please choose the material for the Orb.]

I dumped in all the materials provided by the Mir Guild.

Starting with the Corrupted Imoogi’s Pearl, then the Top-Grade Mana Stone, Rain Powder, and more.

Materials related to mana.

Materials related to wind.

Materials related to water.

All sorts of rare materials went in, and Ember breathed its flame into them.

The materials glowed red-hot.

[Please designate the owner of the Orb.]

[Designating an owner will create a soulbound item usable only by that individual.]

[If you do not wish to designate an owner, crafting will proceed immediately.]

At the next message, I entered Lee Ga-eul, also known as Blue Dragon.

[The owner of the Orb is set to ‘Lee Ga-eul’.]

[Calculating Understanding for Lee Ga-eul.]

[Understanding of Mage: 75%]

[Understanding of Lee Ga-eul: 25%]

[Total Understanding: 50%]

The Understanding barely hit 50%.

Thanks to the raid footage, I had a high Understanding of his combat style, but I still didn’t know much about Lee Ga-eul as a person.

With that—

[Crafting begins.]

Crafting started in earnest.

Wooong—

Points appeared.

But these points felt different from usual.

“This is interesting.”

Was it because of the Imoogi’s Pearl’s properties?

The points floated like dark clouds.

The impact felt different too.

It was a bit awkward, but—

Clang!

No big deal.

I just swing my hammer as always.

[Progress: 16%…]

It felt different.

Normally, hammering refined the item’s shape, but this time, it was about merging and condensing the materials into the Imoogi’s Pearl.

I’m crafting an Orb, after all.

The Pearl itself, slightly resized, already forms the Orb’s shape.

[Progress: 31%…]

Of course, I had to reduce the Pearl’s size and fuse the other materials with it.

Now I understood why they offered 30 billion for crafting.

It was tougher than expected.

I could tell instinctively while hammering.

“This is hard.”

One small mistake, and the Pearl would crack.

A cracked Pearl would be harder to refine and would lose much of its performance.

[Progress: 59%…]

All the provided materials fused with the Pearl.

The properties of mana, rain, and wind were absorbed, amplifying the Imoogi’s power.

Whether due to the Corrupted Imoogi’s Pearl or the Imoogi’s wind and rain powers, the more the Pearl’s power grew, the stickier the cloud-like points became.

For hours, I focused on hammering.

Without the stat buffs from my bed and Ember’s abilities, this intricate refining would’ve been exhausting.

[Crafting is complete.]

[‘Stormy Night’ has been obtained.]

Finally, the Orb for Lee Ga-eul was complete.

The top floor of the Mir Guild.

This was the space of the guild master, Lee Ga-eul.

Looking out through the glass walls of this high place always brought a bit of calm.

Today, as he gazed down—

The door opened, and Lee Sae-bom, his aide, entered.

“The Orb is complete.”

“It hasn’t even been a few hours since we commissioned it.”

“As with Cheon-gung’s quiver, their crafting speed is far superior to other blacksmiths.”

“No failures… right?”

“It’s a success.”

Hoo.

Lee Ga-eul, the Blue Dragon, let out a sigh of relief.

Despite being the hottest blacksmith lately, his low level made him uneasy.

Thankfully, the hard-won Corrupted Imoogi’s Pearl didn’t break.

“The result…”

“See for yourself.”

Lee Sae-bom handed over the cloth-wrapped Orb.

Lee Ga-eul carefully took it and uncovered it on his desk.

Gasp.

A beautiful Orb.

It looked like dark clouds floating in a crystal of light.

At its center, a radiant mana core shone like a full moon amidst clouds.

As a Mage, Lee Ga-eul had seen countless Orbs, but none this beautiful.

“It’s called Stormy Night. Doesn’t the name suit you perfectly, Master?”

“…It’s beautiful.”

The name and appearance were stunning.

But one thing puzzled him.

Based on its look, it seemed like a cloudy sky, so why Stormy Night?

He didn’t understand, but that wasn’t important.

The grade and abilities were what mattered.

Swallowing hard, Lee Ga-eul checked the Orb’s details.

[Stormy Night]

Type: Orb

Grade: SSS

Restriction: Blue Dragon Lee Ga-eul

Description: An Orb crafted solely for Lee Ga-eul. The stormy power of the Corrupted Imoogi rages within.

Abilities:

1. Corruption – Adds a corruption effect to water and wind magic, lowering enemies’ physical/magical defense and worsening wounds.
   
2. Storm – Greatly increases damage, range, and speed of water and wind magic.
   
3. Imoogi’s Pearl – Stores mana up to the user’s total mana capacity.
   
4. Full Moon – Once per full moon, summons Stormy Sky.
   

Stormy Sky: Creates dark clouds above the user, boosting the power of water and wind magic within its range.

“Triple S?”

“I told you.”

It was an SSS-grade item.

A soulbound item made for Lee Ga-eul.

As an Orb, not a staff, it lacked magic attack power, but—

“It adds status effects to magic and boosts its power.”

Based on the description, the Orb would massively enhance his magic’s potency, regardless of attack power.

And—

“Mana storage?”

The mana storage function was a highly sought-after option for Mages.

Even if an item’s attributes didn’t match, Mages would go out of their way to get one with mana storage.

This one could store an amount equal to the user’s total mana capacity.

That meant as his level and mana grew, it could store even more.

In other words, he could use twice as much magic in a Gate.

An option beyond his expectations.

The Corrupted Imoogi’s Pearl played a big role, but the blacksmith’s skill maximized its potential.

“Are you satisfied?”

“Oh…”

Lee Ga-eul was so awestruck he couldn’t answer properly.

Unconsciously, he picked up the Orb and walked to the glass wall.

He raised the Orb and channeled mana into it.

Wooong—

The Orb accepted his mana as if they were one.

Dark clouds within the Orb stirred, and rain began to fall.

The rain grew stronger as he poured in more mana, accompanied by wind that formed a massive dragon’s roar.

Looking up, Lee Ga-eul saw—

“Oh…”

The massive dark clouds from the Orb enveloped the top floor of the guild building.

A range he couldn’t achieve normally.

This alone showed him how much stronger he’d become.

“If recruiting Vulcanus is impossible, maintain the most amicable relationship possible. Provide information, funds, manpower—whatever it takes to keep things friendly.”

“Understood, Master.”

Thereafter, Lee Ga-eul reclaimed his fourth-place rank.

No, he aimed higher, challenging Park Kang-chul and Cheon Seung-heon, sparking a three-way battle for second, third, and fourth place.