Chapter 46

Arriving at the blacksmith shop, Jaeha glanced at the group learning alchemy in the corner before heading to the furnace. He called Salamander over and lit a fire in the furnace.

“What are you making?”

“Yeah.”

Just then, Penny looked at Jaeha and asked.

“I’m going to make a sword for myself.”

“A sword?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought you didn’t do that sort of thing?”

“Turns out I need one after all.”

“I see.”

Before starting the sword-making work, Jaeha went to the room where Sia was teaching the others.

“Sia.”

“Yes? Is something the matter?”

“Give me a little blood.”

“Okay.”

Sia nodded and drew some blood, handing it to Jaeha. Taking it, he returned to the furnace and picked out several iron ingots from the pile.

Then Jaeha mixed Sia’s blood with his own and began drawing a Transmutation Circle. He started the transmutation. Before long, as the light from the circle faded, Jaeha was able to produce the finished product.

“Master~”

“Hm?”

“What did you make?”

“Adamantite.”

As he said this, Jaeha showed off the completed adamantite.

“The divine metal……”

Adamantite is a legendary metal that can only be created through alchemy. There is one other metal called legendary alongside adamantite, and that is orichalcum. Orichalcum is softer than adamantite, but it has one unique trait. That is, the property of absorbing mana on its own. Because of this, orichalcum was better for magical applications, while adamantite suited weapons like swords that wouldn’t be enchanted.

“What are you going to make?”

“A sword for myself.”

“Then why not make some orichalcum too and mix it in?”

“Too lazy to make more.”

“Well, suit yourself.”

“C-Could you show me a little?”

At Jane’s words, Jaeha picked up a lump of adamantite and tossed it to her.

“I made plenty. Take it and do some research.”

Having said that, Jaeha stood before the furnace. Using metallurgy, he created a hammer and began forging the adamantite with it.

“Done.”

Clap, clap, clap.

Once it was complete, Jaeha dusted off his hands and turned around at the sound coming from behind. John’s group was watching him from the back.

“Hurry up and learn alchemy from Sia instead of standing around. You’ve got more than one or two things to learn.”

“Yes. We just took a quick break to watch. But I think it was worth it.”

“That’s right. Where else would you get to see something like this?”

“Haha.”

“But are you done making it?”

Sia looked at Jaeha as she asked, and Jaeha nodded before pulling the sword out from the red blood. The blade had a golden hue with a fair amount of yellow mixed in.

“Wow. That’s cool.”

Jane’s eyes sparkled at that. Jaeha then looked at the sword and checked its effects.

[None]

[Rank: Ancient]

[Attack Power: 1,000]

[Indestructible]

“Oh ho. Well, something this clean could be better. More importantly, I need to give it a name.”

Jaeha said this while swinging the golden blade this way and that.

“Then……”

“Got any decent names?”

“How about Durandal?”

“That’s a name I’ve heard somewhere before. Well, fine. Let’s go with that.”

Nodding, Jaeha set the sword’s name.

[Durandal]

[Rank: Ancient]

[Attack Power: 1,000]

[Indestructible]

“Good.”

Jaeha smiled and sheathed the sword. Then he looked at Sia and the alchemists as he spoke.

“Keep at it. I’m going to go stretch my body a bit.”

“Yes.”

Leaving the blacksmith shop, Jaeha headed to the empty lot behind the building. Arriving there, he smiled as he gripped the sword in his hand. As the feeling of it melding into his grip came through, Jaeha smiled. Then he slowly began to perform a sword dance.

* * *

Coming to his senses, Jaeha noticed that dawn was already breaking and smiled.

“Feels good.”

Jaeha smiled at the sensation of properly moving his body for the first time in a while.

“Honestly, even when I was hunting at my peak, I didn’t move my body all that much.”

He’d only moved a bit when taking up a position at range—he’d never hunted by moving his body, nor had he ever been forced to move urgently in a pinch.

“Might as well go hunting. It’s been a while.”

Saying that, Jaeha checked his status.

[Na Jaeha]

[Traits: Ranged Dealer, Knight]

[LV: 49]

[Total Ability: 276]

[Skills: MuTube, Grant Me Power, Half Recovery, Divine Physician Hua Tuo’s Secret Art, Bow Mastery, Mana Shot, Marksmanship, Breath Control, Shadow Walk, Stealth, Shadow Eye, Metallurgy, Rapid Fire, Triple Shot, High-Speed Rapid Fire, Clone Technique, Indestructible Vajra Body, Five Elements Art, Throwing Arts, Enchant, Mana Conduction, Magic (Circles 1–7), Spirit Arts, Alchemy, Taiji Divine Art, Heavenly Demon Divine Art, Dragon Blood, Taiji Sword]

“I’ll hit at least S-Rank, no problem.”

Just one more level and his Total Ability would change. Among the skills he’d acquired so far, the ones that affected combat were Magic, Spirit Arts, and the martial arts. Those alone were more than enough to secure S-Rank.

“So I’m jumping straight from B to S.”

Muttering to himself, Jaeha smiled and rose from his seat. Then he walked into the blacksmith shop. Watching the three still learning all sorts of things from Sia, Jaeha spoke up.

“Sia.”

“Yes?”

Sia looked at Jaeha.

“You should start learning skills too.”

“Skills?”

“Yeah. It might not be necessary right now, but I think you’ll end up coming into dungeons with me later.”

“Hmm, it does seem like a good idea to learn them in advance.”

“Can you learn a skill if I give you a Skill Book?”

“I believe so.”

Jaeha nodded at that and said,

“Anything besides that?”

“I’m not sure. With your ability, Master, wouldn’t it be possible?”

Jaeha pondered for a moment.

“Hmm, maybe it could work?”

“If it doesn’t, there’s nothing to be done. But it’d be nice if it did.”

“Got it. I’ll look into it. If that doesn’t work, I’ll buy you a suitable Skill Book.”

“Yes.”

“Alright. I think I’ll do a broadcast for the first time in a while.”

“Oh, really?”

“For now, take it easy and rest. It’s already dawn.”

“Hehe. The students are just so full of passion.”

Smiling at Sia’s words, Jaeha said to her,

“Call it a day and rest. Eat something too. I’m going to go run a dungeon and come back.”

“Yes.”

With that, Jaeha left the blacksmith shop.

Episode 18

Leaving the blacksmith shop, Jaeha began looking for a suitable dungeon. He started searching among the A-Rank dungeons that were considered fairly difficult.

He no longer needed wide maps or anything like that, so it didn’t matter much. That widened the range of dungeons he could choose from. Skimming through them, Jaeha was able to pick a suitable one before long.

‘This one it is.’

The dungeon Jaeha chose was the Twin-Headed Serpent’s Meadow. Only twin-headed serpents appeared in this dungeon—snakes with two heads, true to their name. They were also monsters famous for their high difficulty.

The fact that the two heads moved independently was bound to be a nuisance for anyone facing them. Fortunately, since it was a meadow, there was no environmental burden. On top of that, the monster only died when both heads were severed, making it one of the more annoying monsters around.

The one saving grace was that twin-headed serpents appeared in groups of at most four or five. After confirming the dungeon he’d chosen and its location, Jaeha headed straight for it.

Upon arriving at the dungeon, Jaeha spotted people up ahead. They were clearly Hunters at a glance, and this many Hunters waiting at the dungeon entrance could only mean they were preparing to enter. So Jaeha approached them and asked,

“Are you preparing to go into the dungeon?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right.”

‘Hmm, should I do it tomorrow then?’

Jaeha thought for a moment.

“Excuse me, are you Na Jaeha?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Wow, I’m a fan.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“Are you here to hunt, by any chance?”

“Yes. Well, something like that.”

“So are you coming back to streaming?”

“Not quite a comeback yet. I’m planning to hunt today to get my feel back, and then do it within the near future.”

“Ah, I see. So you came here to hunt today?”

“Yes.”

“Then would you like to go in with us?”

Jaeha mulled it over for a moment at their offer. There were plenty of other dungeons he could go to, but personally, he wanted to test himself against those Two-Headed Serpents.

“No, I’m fine. I’ll be turning on my stream, so if you’re curious, feel free to watch.”

“I see. Well, that works out. We’ll be done in no time anyway. We’re just going in as a preview run before our next visit. We’ll clear one wave and head out. It shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes at most.”

“Good to hear. I’ll wait, then.”

About ten minutes later, they entered the dungeon, and Jaeha turned on his stream. He waited quietly for another ten minutes or so. Once the chat had settled down a bit, Jaeha spoke up.

“It’s been a while, everyone. Almost four months, hasn’t it?”

-What were you doing for the past 4 months without even a notice?

-Glad to see you, but give us an update.

Jaeha smiled as he read the messages in the chat.

“A lot happened over these past four months. It’s not like I was off doing anything spectacular, but I was quite busy. And after a lot of back-and-forth with Unknown over the past four months, I’ve started selling Enchanted Arrows as well. I’m sure you’ve all been feeling the difference.”

-But you can use them with a gun too, so why don’t you sell those?

-No gun ammo for sale?

“Well, that’s for that friend to decide. It’s not really my place to say.”

-Anyway, are you coming back now?

“I will be coming back. Just not today. Today, I’m going to clear a single dungeon to get a feel for things again, then call it. And I’ll prepare and come back within the near future.”

-Ooh.

-Come back soon.

-We’ll be waiting.

“Also, I was ready to head into a dungeon today, but someone went in before me, so I’m waiting a bit. They said they’d be out soon, so I plan to go in once they’re done.”

-Which dungeon?

-Where are you going today?

“The dungeon I’m heading to today is the Plains of the Two-Headed Serpents.”

-That place is brutal difficulty-wise.

-But since they’re snakes, they’re slow to charge, so it should be manageable.

“Oh, and for the record, I won’t be using a bow or a gun today.”

-Then what?

-What, a crossbow or something?

“No. Today, I’ll be using this.”

As he said that, Jaeha pulled Durendal out of his Inventory and showed it off.

-Sick.

-That’s freaking awesome;

-I want one. Is that also an Unknown piece?

“Yes. Unknown made it for me.”

And so Jaeha chatted about this and that. About fifteen minutes in, a viewer posted a comment.

-When you come back, are you gonna do some kind of content or something?

-Oh, I’d love to see some content.

-But it’s a solo stream and you’re a Hunter, so is there even anything worth doing?

-Well, if it’s too hard, you could go into a dungeon together and taxi people, or hunt alongside them and point out their mistakes. Even something like that would be nice.

“Content, huh……?”

-You thinking about it?

-To celebrate your comeback.

“Hmm. That sounds doable. Then when I come back, I’ll pick a suitable piece of content and do it. If it’s viewer-participation content, I’ll put up a notice in advance.”

-Aight aight

-Okay. That’s good enough

“They’re out. I’ll head into the dungeon and get started right away.”

With that, Jaeha entered the dungeon.