Unrecognizable (2)
Onyx had vanished since then. He had thrown himself into the abyss of the garbage warehouse without hesitation, ready to devour the alloy garbage lying within. It might’ve been trash metal, but it was filled with the spiritual power of Anvil. Although it was difficult to expect whether special abilities could be obtained from it, the traces of Anvil’s efforts to create an alloy were enough to draw out Onyx’s overall abilities.
[I know some types of metal-eating monsters, but that’s really strange. What a fun creature.]
“For the time being, it’s fortunate that I don’t need to pay for his meals.”
[It’s a pet that suits you.]
Kang Shin-hyuk was looking forward to seeing how much Onyx would grow, but now wasn’t the time to watch him eat. Kang Shin-hyuk immediately resumed his alloy work. Of course, for the time being, more trash came out to replenish the contents of the warehouse, but after a day, he was beginning to get the hang of the alloying techniques that Anvil was dealing with.
-Synchronization has accelerated- current rate of 34.7%.
In the meantime, his assimilation rate rose a bit more than 2% over the course of the day. At that point, Kang Shin-hyuk had barely finished selecting a material to make an alloy similar to that of the blue cow. Anvil’s intuition, seeping inside of him little by little, was whispering that he could succeed with these materials.
“Spine Rose’s thorny stem, the Lightning Golem’s core, Kenyon, and the Thorn Wolf’s thorns.” He had yet to touch the spoils from his fight with Spine Rose, but now he had nothing holding him back. No, he was confident he could handle them properly. Among those materials, only the core of the lightning golem had to be purchased from the trading board. It was a rare S-rank monster, so it cost him 6 million HP, but he was confident it would match the blue cow’s power. He felt rich when he was making money, but now he watched it disappear like bubbles in the water.
“Then let’s do it.” Kang Shin-hyuk examined the structure of the blue cow once more, engraving it into his mind. Then, he went to work, putting the materials into the furnace.
[It’s bold, but…]
“The experiment is over. Now it’s the real battle.” Kang Shin-hyuk closed his mouth firmly and worked with the furnace. His body already had the power of the S+ rank, so even physically intensive work like this wasn’t enough to make him sweat.
“Wow, it doesn’t melt well at all…” It was only after adding the special firewood he had that it began to melt together. However, if he left it alone, it would mix wildly and harden, turning into garbage. Kang Shin-hyuk poured the contents into the plate he had prepared in advance and began imbuing it with his spiritual power. The meaning of each material was continuously applied through his spiritual power. It should have been a normally laborious process, but he was naturally activating his trait.
[Hoh.]
Halo couldn’t help but exclaim at the sight. He didn’t know much about metals, but he realized that the work was being successfully carried out as the alloy turned blue.
-The idea is that if it is the same material as that cow, it should also be blue, right?
[Is it changing due to his will?]
-It is due to his traits. There is a strangeness hidden in the trait he has acquired in this life that even I cannot understand.
[It’s a trait of a craftsman.]
-That’s not the case.
[…?]
Kang Shin-hyuk was determined not to need to purchase another lightning golem core. With the aid of his preparation, however, the work ended smoothly. He had made an amount of alloy that would be able to complete the cow’s interior and still have some leftover. He smiled as he tapped on the alloy plate that flowed with a strange energy, satisfied by his work.
“I made it so well…”
[The self-praise is quite good.]
“No, it’s not. It’s too hard.” The parts needed to be sturdy, but even taking that into account, the hardness of the finished alloy was too high.
“This… it’ll be difficult to process.”
[Use the whole thing as a shield.]
Ignoring Halo’s joke, he chose the right parts to try and mold it, but neither a hammer nor a grinder could deform or even sharpen it. Once the metal was poured into a mold to harden, it reached an irrecoverable state.
“I can’t.” Perhaps the Anvil of his previous life could have changed the metal by skillfully handling spiritual power. However, Kang Shin-hyuk was still unable to deal with spiritual power in the way his previous life had been capable of. He instead decided to force himself a bit.
-You’ve drunk the Advanced Strength Potion. Your strength has been boosted by three ranks for an hour.
If he couldn’t defeat it with the power of S+, he just needed to challenge it with the power of SS+. A sense of all-consuming strength that he had never felt before in his life filled his body at once. The hour time limit would be a bit tight, though. Even if he had prepared the blueprints in advance, it wouldn’t be possible to complete all the parts within an hour…
“Can I buy advanced agility and stamina potions?!”
-Sorry, member. They will be purchasable upon reaching the 3rd VIP liberation…
“Then, intermediate potions!”
-I will purchase them immediately.
As a result, Kang Shin-hyuk’s agility became SS-rank with the addition of his Venom Princess Soul, and his stamina became SS rank as well. Looking at just his physical stats, he had already reached the level of a high-ranker. The fact that he could gain this ridiculous power by using the power of the Hero Universe told him how much he had been blessed, but nevertheless, he couldn’t help but feel something was lacking.
“Administrator, do you have any sort of duplication scroll?”
-Yes, but it isn’t recommended for advanced work as mental power is also divided.
“Ah, then I have no choice but to do this…” It was a waste of time to complain, so he started working with full power. He couldn’t use a grinder, so he started making parts one by one with his chisel and hammer.
[It’s been a long time coming to see the best blacksmith in the universe doing this kind of work.]
-5,000HP bonus for members who sweat beautifully for their work! An additional 7,000HP bonus!
[…It’s something worth seeing.]
In order to move even stronger and faster, Kang Shin-hyuk raised his skills and traits to the limit. The power of the Golden Dragon enveloped his body, reinforcing it even further.
-Klang! Klang! Klang!
-Klang! Klang! Klang!
-Klang! Klang! Klang!
The administrator began to wonder if he had accidentally bought an item that could duplicate himself, as Kang Shin-hyuk was moving so fast he was leaving behind an afterimage. He brought several hammers and chisels in the process (despite them being reinforced with spiritual power), as well as several parts he had failed to control his force with. New tools were procured immediately by the administrator as soon as they broke, and thankfully there were enough spare parts that breaking a few didn’t matter.
-The effects of all status boosting potions have expired.
At the end, when that message appeared, Kang Shin-hyuk had already finished his work and dropped the hammer and chisel that had been broken by his hand. There wasn’t a part that couldn’t be crafted. He had made the internal structure that would maximize the blue cow’s ability.
“Ha, ha-ah…”
-Metallurgy has increased to the A+ rank. Efficiency in all production operations has further increased by an additional 20%.
“It’s done early.” Kang Shin-hyuk sat down, muttering without energy. He accidentally stepped on his broken chisel and stood up in a flash.
“Oops, I need to be careful.”
-Sorry, member, but the stamina of S+ rank won’t be penetrated that easily.
He had no energy left to respond to the administrator. He wanted to go to sleep right then and there, but he still had important work left to complete. He pulled out the blueprint, checking it carefully before assembling the parts.
“Are you ready?”
-Kooo.
Perhaps it had liked the interior of the bike he had made of alloys, but now the cow seemed less reluctant. Kang Shin-hyuk smiled, stroking the cow’s back before taking out a new hammer.
“Then, let’s make you look a little different. You won’t resist?”
-Kuoo.
“Okay, I’ll be gentle cutting you open.”
-Koo?!
Of course, you wouldn’t have to cut it apart to place the parts on the inside. But certainly, the blueprint had a large hole in the center of the bike’s handle that had a delicate mana line running through it to directly connect to the inside.
“What, did you think it would be complete like this? It needs a power source, power source.”
-Quoo?
Given the materials, it wouldn’t be possible to produce good results unless a significant power source were to be fused with the blue cow.
“But, I already have a good power source.” Kang Shin-hyuk smiled and opened his inventory.
A day later, Kang Shin-hyuk finished his work and returned to Earth.