Pinnacle of the Earth. Â
The reason behind such a name was immediately clear.
First, the spear’s material.
It was named ‘Pinnacle’ because its blade was made from Cheonjeoseok, which formed the base of the Tower, and ‘Earth’ because part of the Spear Statue was used. Â
The spear shaft, constructed from fragments of the Statue, stood tall like a Tower, while the blade, forged from Cheonjeoseok, extended sharply like a Pinnacle.
The name suited it quite well. Â
Nodding to myself, I anxiously checked the item’s information.
[Pinnacle of the Earth]Â Â
Type: Spear
Grade: L (Legendary)
Requirement: Level 90 or above
Description: A spear forged by shaping a blade from Cheonjeoseok that supports the Tower, and erecting the shaft with rocks imbued with dignity and will, truly a spear touching the beginning of the heavens.
Attack Power: 2,000
Abilities:
1. Earthquake Wave – An earthquake wave erupts from the pierced spear blade, dealing additional damage.
2. Seismic Fissure – Every fifth attack causes wounds inflicted on enemies to crack, dealing extra damage and reducing their movement speed.
3. Wrath of the Earth – Attack power increases significantly proportional to defense.
4. Vibration Overlap – Using the ‘Earthquake Wave’ and ‘Seismic Fissure’ vibrations, summons the ‘Last Spire’.
Last Spire: After stabbing the spear into the ground, it erects a spire proportional to the consumed ‘Vibration’ value to attack enemies.
‘…Huh?’Â Â
Calmly reading through the item’s details, I was dumbfounded even before fully absorbing its abilities.
The item’s name.
Its form.
That was expected.
I had naturally assumed it would be an SSS-grade weapon.
“Legendary?”
It was a grade I’d never seen before.
Legendary.
Did such a rank even exist?
No, it didn’t.
As far as I knew, the highest Hunter grade was definitely ‘SSS’.
I’d never heard of an L grade before.
There was an EX grade, but EX was merely an ‘out of standard’ classification, not a higher tier than SSS.
“And the attack power is insanely high?”
Is this because it’s an L grade?
The attack power was absurd.
Even compared to SSS weapons of the same level, it was twice as powerful.
It wasn’t a heavy-hitter like a greatsword or Battle Axe either.
It was shockingly strong to a degree that barely made sense.
And the item’s abilities?
“No way.”
Every ability contributed directly to combat without any waste.
It even had active skills attached.
Many of my other SSS-grade items had such abilities, but as an L-grade item, its efficiency should be even higher.
“It’s definitely impressive. No matter how much Cheonjeoseok was used, I never imagined a human could craft something of this caliber.”
The Spear Statue, which had been observing my crafting process, lowered its head to gaze at my spear.
Even the Spear Statue acknowledged my skill.
So maybe this is why my ability has improved so much.
I felt proud, but…Â Â
‘It can’t be just skill.’
It seemed impossible to freely create L-grade items going forward.
I could tell this from the feeling I had while making this item.
This was only possible because my skill was supported by Cheonjeoseok and the fragments of the Statue.
Since I had already run out of Cheonjeoseok, I doubted I could craft another L-grade item anytime soon.
“Feeling disappointed?”
“Yes, a bit. If I hadn’t known from the start, maybe not, but now that I know I can make this grade, I want to try again.”
“Isn’t there a way?”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
“What way?”
The Spear Statue nodded.
There was a way to obtain materials comparable to Cheonjeoseok.
How?
I wondered if there was some remaining Cheonjeoseok deposit nearby, but the Statue’s gaze shifted toward the Tower entrance that had just opened.
“Climb the Tower. That way, you’ll find materials rivaling Cheonjeoseok.”
“I’m not going in there.”
“Hmm, that’s a shame. Without climbing the Tower, there’s no way to get materials comparable to Cheonjeoseok.”
“It’s not worth risking my life for.”
Climbing the Tower.
Though it was a bit disappointing, I still had no intention of ascending.
I had managed well enough without knowing about L-grade items, so risking my life just to make one didn’t make sense.
Anyway, to use the Soul of the Blacksmith, I needed armor, so I immediately started crafting the next items.
[Using crafting skill.]
Armor, boots, gauntlets, and so on.
I matched the Statue’s preferences and shaped the forms as closely as possible to what it wanted.
Though Cheonjeoseok wasn’t included, both Statues had given me parts of their bodies, so I had enough fragments of the Statues.
Since stone was the main material, it was difficult to process, but that didn’t matter much to me since I craft items by striking specific points.
I used lightweight runes to reduce the heavy nature of the stone.
This way, mobility would be sufficient.
As I hammered away-Â Â
[Crafting complete.]
[Acquired ‘Guardian’s Armor’.]
[Crafting complete.]
[Acquired ‘Guardian’s Gauntlet’.]
Before I knew it, the equipment for my assistant, soon to be the Spear Statue’s disciple, was all finished.
Perhaps because crafting finished earlier than expected but unfortunately, my level hadn’t increased yet. Â
Levels didn’t rise that quickly.
Just as I was about to turn back to my room, I looked over and saw Combat 1 receiving sword training from the Sword Statue.
“Your acquisition ability is incredible. Yes, just like that. Recognize from the fingertip holding the sword, to the wrist, elbow, shoulder, back, waist, pelvis, knee, ankle, and even the tips of your toes.”
Click.
The Sword Statue’s expression was very satisfied. Â
Combat 1, who had only recently learned swordsmanship, was already displaying a remarkably mature stance.
“Swing it.”
“Whoosh!”Â
Combat 1 swung the sword.
A clean diagonal slash.
The slash was so clean that a flash momentarily gleamed along the sword path.
“Swoosh!” Â
Sword energy shot out, cutting down a distant monster.
That sword energy was exactly the same as what the Sword Statue used.
Combat 1 was displaying sword energy for the first time.
“Wow!”
Sword energy was a technique only skilled and experienced sword-wielding Hunters could use.
I knew Combat 1’s learning ability was good, but not this good.
Combat 1’s practical swordsmanship was excellent, but learning swordsmanship properly from the Sword Statue had made him stronger at an incomparably faster rate.
As he swung the sword a few more times to get used to the sword energy,  a monster struck by the sword energy fell far away. Â
[Level up.]
My level rose appropriately.
Now my level was 90.
I had enough to use the Soul of the Blacksmith skill one more time.
“Thinking of heading back? Stay a little longer…”
“Right now!”
“Oh!”
The Spear Statue cheered at my declaration.
Well, with Combat 1 learning sword energy from the Sword Statue and showing off his skills, I could see their competitiveness driving them to become stronger.
I was fully prepared anyway, so I only needed to use the skill.
[Soul of the Blacksmith infuses the Guardian’s Armor.]
[Soul of the Blacksmith infuses the Guardian’s Gauntlet.]
My magic flowed into the pre-made items.
No, it wasn’t just magic.
It was something different from magic.
Something deeper.
I thought I was getting used to it, but every time I used the Soul of the Blacksmith skill, it felt like a part of my soul was being poured in.
The armor was fully infused with the Soul of the Blacksmith.
And finally, the most important—
[Soul of the Blacksmith infuses the Pinnacle of the Earth.]Â Â
The L-grade weapon made with Cheonjeoseok was also infused with the Soul of the Blacksmith.
[The Soul of the Blacksmith rises.]
The skill’s effect began to manifest.
The armor fused into one and rose to its feet, gripping its spear tightly with sturdy gauntlets.
A soldier made of rock.
It looked like a miniaturized version of the Spear Statue.
[Please give a name to the Soul of the Blacksmith.]
A name.
Looking at this figure resembling the Spear Statue, many cool names came to mind, but I didn’t intend to treat this one specially.
“Combat 3.”
[The Soul of the Blacksmith’s name has been set to ‘Combat 3’.]
‘…Did I just give it a name? That kind of name?’
I didn’t know how many more assistants I would have, but naming each one differently would be difficult to remember.
“Even so, that’s no excuse for such a lazy name.”
“Well, isn’t your name any more meaningful?”
“Hah! My name is Chang Chang. It means ‘to sheath the spear,’ a majestic name!” Â
“Then I’ll be Jeon Jeon, meaning ‘to surpass war’.” Â
“Don’t twist it! And what about ‘3’?”
“Uh… third tiger?”
“That’s… actually kind of cool.”
Though the Spear Statue grumbled about the name Combat 3, the look in its eyes when it looked at Combat 3 was impossibly bright.
Anyway, when the Spear Statue took Combat 3 over to the Sword Statue’s side,
“A junior has arrived.”
“Who’s the junior here?!”
“My disciple has the number 1 and has studied for a long time. No matter how you look at it, my disciple is senior to you.”
“I’ll just crush that insignificant seniority with skill.”
“My disciple won’t lose to some young junior.”
“Heh, really? Disciple, show me your spear.”
“Swish.” Â
Following my command, Combat 3 obeyed the Spear Statue’s words and raised the Pinnacle of the Earth. Â
At the spear’s tip, a teal glow shimmered.
The Sword Statue naturally recognized it immediately.
“That’s Cheonjeoseok!”
“Haha, I heard from the Challenger that it’s legendary, a higher grade than your disciple’s weapon.”
“Using Cheonjeoseok is cheating!”
“Hah, where’s the cheating?”
“Hey, Challenger! Even my disciple…”
“There isn’t any competition. If you want, bring more Cheonjeoseok, or shall I take some from your sword?” Â
“Ugh, that’s…”
“Hahaha! Well, there’s no helping it! Soon, I’ll have to give up the name ‘1’.”
“How can you change a name given by fate?”
“No, that name wasn’t fate’s—it was mine.”
“Challenger! Hurry and climb the Tower! The Tower is full of materials as excellent as Cheonjeoseok!”
“I said I have no intention of climbing the Tower.”
“Arghhh!”
For the first time in a while, the Spear Statue seemed to have won an argument against the Sword Statue.