I entered the coin shop and purchased the materials Yulian had mentioned.
“We’ll need a lot of top-grade orbs.”
After buying a few top-grade orbs and a small amount of adamantium—the finest metal—I had already spent 1,200 coins.
The adamantium I bought this time was woefully insufficient. Even if I used the remaining 1,000 coins, it still wouldn’t be nearly enough for Yulian to create a masterpiece.
‘…I wanted to give the blacksmith who’s struggled for so long a chance to make a masterpiece. Is it going to be that difficult?’
I looked at the Celestials with pity.
(Infinite Waiting): Knowing Yulian’s life, I can’t help but support him.
(The Liberated Swordsman): Tch, can’t be helped.
With the Celestials’ sponsorship, I bought one more piece of adamantium for 500 coins. Even so, it was barely 200g—still not enough to make a sword. The total adamantium I had was less than 500g.
(Anonymous 1): Isn’t that enough to make a really good sword?
(God of Rain and Sunlight): He’s the only human with better skills than the Dwarves. With 400g of adamantium, he should be able to make a masterpiece.
(Father of Crops): I guess he wants to make something even more extraordinary than a mere masterpiece. It’s his last work, right? I’ve heard it’s a weapon forged by burning one’s life force. Farming is similar in that regard. If I were about to die, I’d want to cultivate the best crops too.
(Anonymous 1): Ha, Jinwoo. Do you really want that kind of masterpiece?
‘I do want it, but more than that, I want Yulian to make such a masterpiece. He’s a blacksmith who spent his whole life trying to surpass the Dwarves.’
I wanted to help him make something even the Dwarves wouldn’t dare create.
I conveyed my feelings to Anonymous 1.
(Anonymous 1): I was going to sell this to sponsor you… but whatever, it’s your loss. Fine.
[Celestial Anonymous 1 has sponsored an item!]
The A-grade adamantium weighed a full 2 kilograms.
Anonymous had sponsored me with adamantium worth 5,000 coins.
‘Thank you. I won’t forget this kindness.’
(Anonymous 1): You’ll forget again. You’ll care more about Yulian than me.
‘I only remember women.’
After saying that with a grin, I approached Yulian.
“Here’s 2.4kg of adamantium and some top-grade orbs.”
“…How did you get this? I joked about it, but did you really have it all along?”
“I got sponsorship from the Celestials.”
“…Sponsorship?”
In fact, some of the top-grade orbs were sponsored by the Celestials.
The adamantium and everything else were gifts from the Celestials, and the coins I used to buy materials were all from their sponsorship.
“I have the ability to broadcast to the Celestials. I didn’t plan it, but somehow Yulian’s life story reached them.”
“…!”
“This is a gift from the Celestials to Yulian, who has endured so much. They’re watching, so please burn that final ember.”
“You’re not an ordinary man. Yeah, you always looked extraordinary.”
Yulian’s hands trembled as he took the materials.
“Are the Celestials really listening to me?”
“Yes, they are.”
“Thank you, everyone. I believe coming here was the fate the Celestials gave me. I’ll make this masterpiece.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
I truly looked forward to it.
*****
Yulian began layering the iron repeatedly. After being banished from his clan, he had spent a staggering sixty years making weapons.
He had endured an eternity as the gatekeeper of the stage.
If I had to guess, it was about forty years?
Making weapons for over a century had given him a certain level of skill—skills worthy of writing a book about.
He had come to understand the techniques of the Dwarves, who lived over a hundred years each, and with his genius surpassed their skills.
Yes. He had succeeded in manifesting the Blacksmith trait.
The reason blacksmiths in his hometown could never surpass the Dwarves was simple: a lack of skills.
Having awakened the blacksmith trait and acquired skills, Yulian had essentially become a Dwarf in a human body.
“It’s been about twenty years since the trait was bestowed.”
Even before being summoned to the Hidden Stage, he made weapons better than the Dwarves’. Now, even if dozens of Dwarves attacked at once, their weapons would be inferior to those Yulian crafted alone.
Jinwoo thought quietly as he watched Yulian.
‘I have a feeling we’ll meet soon.’
I had the sense that Yulian would become a Celestial once he completed this weapon, much like Ben’s eternal waiting.
Yulian ignored everything around him, focusing solely on forging the steel.
Lost in his own world, he placed the long iron strips into a furnace heated to 1,200 degrees and began forge-welding them.
Even standing nearby caused sweat to pour down, and approaching the furnace was terrifying. Yet he continuously heated the metal and hammered it flat.
Clang! Clang!
Steel is difficult to shape to the desired thickness in a short time.
That’s why he repeatedly heated and hammered it.
Clang! Clang!
Yulian used his skill to thicken his forearms. With his strength buffed, his unusually large right forearm swung the hammer.
Even when striking, he had to evenly distribute force with precision—to make the surface as flat and even as possible.
Clang–! Clang!
Then he put the metal back into the furnace, this time in a hotter one. The flames blazed, scorching his eyes and drying them out. Not even a moment of carelessness was allowed under such intense heat.
Yulian activated his skill again.
It was a skill that allowed him to ignore fire damage for a limited time.
Surprisingly, the Blacksmith trait enabled the use of several elemental skills. That showed just how complex and difficult forging weapons was.
A blacksmith was capable of everything from martial arts to magic, which explained why Dwarves excelled at combat.
(Anonymous 1): Looks like he doesn’t have much mana. Probably one of the reasons he was banished.
(Infinite Waiting): Those with little mana and no talent as heroes tried to change the clan. So they got banished to protect the clan’s honor.
(Anonymous 1): That’s probably right. Using skills recklessly despite low mana means he’s burning his last ember even harder.
(The Liberated Swordsman): If he runs out of mana, he’ll faint. Using skills like that with his body means he’s ready to die.
(Infinite Waiting): He’ll die anyway once his time as gatekeeper ends.
Yulian says he’ll return home, but he knows too that he’ll die.
Kwang–! Kwang!
He fused the iron for a long time. As the smoke rising from his hands grew thicker, the long piece of steel was complete and cut to a size perfect for a swordsman.
He flattened it again, and since he combined many steels with different properties, it needed to be processed to meet the specifications.
He processed it, folded it, hammered it flat, and then cut it in half.
Since the ten layers of steel were cut in half, the total was twenty layers.
Between the layers, adamantium had to be inserted like a hamburger patty.
Adamantium also had to be melted and shaped…
(Anonymous 1): Adamantium contains a large amount of mana. Besides, it’s incredibly hard, so melting or shaping it is tough. Even Dwarves struggle with that. Usually, adamantium is embedded in swords to create mana circuits.
(Infinite Waiting): That’s common knowledge.
Geniuses sometimes achieve what’s beyond common knowledge.
That’s why they’re called geniuses.
Kwang!!!
(Anonymous 1): He’s crazy, completely insane.
(God of Rain and Sunlight): Looks like he’s used up all his mana.
“This is something I kept just in case.”
Yulian emptied a mana potion in one go and activated his skill. His forearm became three times thicker than before, and combined with the hammer’s force, the adamantium began to flatten.
“This hammer is what’s said to surpass Dwarven craftsmanship.”
Since he was the first human to make an S-rank item, Yulian was recognized as a Dwarven-level blacksmith.
With various skills added to the hammer, the adamantium flattened. The furnace’s heat rose, and mana flowed through the furnace thanks to skill enhancements.
(Anonymous 1): Who’d have thought we’d see adamantium melt? You live and learn.
Yulian stretched the 2-kilogram-plus adamantium long and thin and smiled with satisfaction.
“Even when thin, adamantium boasts tremendous destructive power. Now, every blade of this sword will be a mana circuit.”
How could I describe this overwhelming emotion?
Adamantium that costs 5,000 coins in the coin shop was so rare in Yulian’s hometown that even the imperial treasury had none as fine as this 2.4 kilograms.
Such a precious material.
To put that precious metal into a sword—it overwhelmed me.
He inserted the adamantium core between the layers of steel and hammered it again, creating a thin blade surface.
This alone took nearly two hours.
(Anonymous 1): It usually takes even longer. Yulian’s skill is incredible.
Yulian sharpened the blade and, before long, had created a true greatsword. He quickly fashioned the hilt and embedded top-grade orbs into it.
The moment the hilt and blade merged, the sword gleamed with a magnificent golden light.
“…Finally, finally.”
Tears fell from Yulian’s eyes onto the blade.
He had surpassed his limits as a blacksmith.
He had already long since transcended the limits of humanity and succeeded in breaking even the so-called limits of the Dwarves.
A lifetime spent on a single craft, pouring his final ember and life into this sword.
In truth, it was Yulian’s life forged into a blade.
A life spent hammering iron after being banished from his clan.
The teachings of dozens of former blacksmith masters who had become his mentors—all melted into the sword.
“There are leftover materials. Would you like me to make something else as well?”
“…Yes, I can.”
“Since we’ve already surpassed the limit, we must see it through to the end. I’ll make you a pocket dimension bag to store the sword.”
(Anonymous 1): That crazy old man! He can make a pocket dimension bag?
(God of Rain and Sunlight): In my hometown, the crafting method was lost, but he can make it.
(Infinite Waiting): My hometown still had it.
(The Liberated Swordsman): To us, pocket dimension bags were exclusive to nobles.
(Blue River’s Messenger): What’s a pocket dimension bag?
(Father of Crops): Think of it as an inventory.
(Blue River’s Messenger): What’s an inventory?
(Father of Crops): ….
For Jinwoo, who lacked the inventory skill, the pocket dimension bag was an incredible gift.
“Thank you.”
“First, check this sword.”
With trembling hands, Jinwoo received the sword.
[EX-rank item, ‘Sword That Surpassed the Limit’ acquired!]
An EX-rank item unlike anything heard or seen in a lifetime.
‘…Is this really possible?’
As soon as Jinwoo and the Celestials read the sword’s description and effects, their eyes widened.
(Anonymous 1): What the hell is this? Jinwoo, send me that sword as tribute! I’ll sell everything I own to buy it.