Overgeared

The Five Seniors gathered in one place.

Pungsa sat on the left while Usa and Unsa were on the right. Hanul’s absence was covered by his son, Sobyeol, who was also a member of the Five Seniors.

“The red phoenix has been resurrected... well, it can’t be helped. These things had already happened.” Sobyeol’s expression as he raised his chin was a bit sour. It differed from when he said it wasn’t a big deal after hearing the news of the resurrection of the old god, who was the real owner of the land.

Pungsa frowned. “The resurrection of the red phoenix has resulted in the loss of the south’s faith. The children will weaken after a long time of hard work building up their strength. How can you be so casual?”

“You mean the yangbans who died to humans despite building up the divinity of a god? Do you need to keep those useless beings in mind?”

“Sobyeol, be careful of your words. It isn’t right to slander the children Hanul made with a deep meaning.”

“How is it slander when I’m just telling the truth? Pungsa, look at things objectively. In the first place, they were incompetent and killed by humans. Thus, they couldn’t prevent the resurrection of the red phoenix. How can they be called yangbans?”

“Don’t forget that even Hanul and us have experienced failure and were expelled to this land. Everyone will suffer from failure and grow from the scars. We aren’t here to disparage the children but to discuss the punishment of the red phoenix.”

“In this situation, how are we going to handle the red phoenix?”

Just then, Sobyeol’s gaze turned to the entrance of the great hall.

Jingle, jingle...

They saw Chiyou entering with the warm wind from the south. He sat down comfortably in the great hall but the Five Seniors felt the pressure of being ‘trapped’ in the great hall. Pungsa’s expression crumpled but Sobyeol still remained calm. “No matter how long it has been, don’t forget the deal. In return for your help, we promise you death.”

“...”

“Chiyou, you must be looking forward to this situation. You believe the man who killed Garam is qualified to kill a god. You will never tolerate our intervention. Isn't that right, Chiyou?”

Jingle.

Chiyou turned his head. “That's right, I have no intention of sending you down to the human world.”

His tone sounded like the Five Seniors were completely beneath him. It was unpleasant to hear every time. Pungsa’s face reddened while Unsa and Usa closed their eyes and ears. In the end, Pungsa couldn’t bear it and raised his voice.

“Do you mean we should leave the human who harmed the children alone?”

“Yes,” Chiyou replied easily.

Pungsa was speechless because of it. He gritted his teeth for a moment before replying, “...I understand. I’ll leave the human you speak of without retribution. It is just that the red phoenix should be resealed. We’ll go down to the human world and seal the red phoenix.”

“I can’t allow that either.”

“...?”

Pungsa doubted his ears. He never dreamed that Chiyou’s attitude wouldn’t change despite Pungsa already giving in one step. Although he fully understood the intention behind protecting the human with the qualification of a god killer, he couldn’t understand why Chiyou would hinder the sealing of the red phoenix. “Reveal the reason for your rejection. I will refuse if it isn’t a convincing reason.”

“The man who qualifies to be a god killer holds the red phoenix’s 9th heart.”

“What?”

Was this the human they couldn’t touch? It wasn’t only Pungsa who was amazed. It was the same for Usa and Unsa, who had remained silent until now. Even the always expressionless Sobyeol had slightly wide eyes. Chiyou spoke again, “Sealing the red phoenix will weaken the qualified human. I can’t allow the sealing of the red phoenix.”

“...”

Pungsa became speechless. However, the silence only lasted for a moment. He quickly asked Chiyou, who had an expression of triumph, “Surely you don’t mean to stop the yangbans from acting?”

Humans who had the qualifications to be a god killer also meant they were eligible to be ‘real gods.’ It meant the human was one status higher than the yangbans, who were fake gods, so Chiyou had no right to stop the yangbans. The moment he blocked the yangbans, he would show that he questioned the human’s qualifications. Since Chiyou had stopped the Five Seniors in order to protect the uncertain object, he should be held responsible for the corresponding cleanup.

“...I won’t regulate the yangbans,” Chiyou responded with the expected answer.

Pungsa’s lips curved upward. “Then it is okay.”

There was a hierarchy in every society. The same humans didn’t have the same values. Some people were superior to others while some were inferior to others. It was also true for the gods. There were highs and lows among gods and naturally, there were highs and lows among the yangbans.

The dead Garam killed by a human belonged to the high side. He was a particularly talented child and he stood out among the yangbans. Nevertheless, he wasn’t the best. He couldn’t keep calm and hone his skills. Garam had only recently started training in recent years.

On the other hand, the remaining yangbans were different. They had been training steadily for many years even though they had a talent that was comparable to Garam. In particular, Mir stood out. It was natural since Mir was the special person who would fight against archangel Lifael in the future.

‘The reason why Hanul made the yangbans is to raise them to fight against the seven archangels. Out of the seven archangels, Lifael is an enemy that even I can’t deal with.’

Pungsa remembered the adversity of the distant past while feeling hope for the future in Mir. Then he stated, “If the man who is qualified to be a god killer falls down without being able to surpass the yangbans, you can no longer stop us from acting.”

“Okay. If he is going to encounter setbacks here then it means there is no point expecting anything or being obsessed.”

The bells hanging from Chiyou’s neck made a clear sound. It was a lonely sound.

‘I am here. Come and give me the end.’

Chiyou murmured like a song before leaving the great hall.

***

“...?”

Grid, who had been hammering while carefully envisioning the shape of the shoulder guards, suddenly stopped his actions. It was because of a certain voice from a far away place. He couldn’t hear what the voice said but he couldn’t get over it due to the deep emotions it contained.

“Did you hear that?”

Grid was briefly puzzled and turned to Braham for help. Braham had keen senses from controlling the mana in the atmosphere and Grid expected him to have captured the words. Braham responded like he didn’t understand.

“What are you talking about?”

“You didn’t hear that person talking?”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

‘Did he doze off for a second?’

Grid wondered and turned his head to the sacred creatures. However, Blue Tiger, Kyeongja, and Tosun responded in a similar manner.

“We didn’t hear it either.”

“Are you so tired that your hearing isn’t right?”

The sacred creatures were genuinely concerned about Grid. It was natural to be worried when he had been working non-stop for two days now. For two days, Grid kept sweating and often had troubled expressions. Grid shook his head. “No, It’s fine if you didn’t hear it.”

He wasn’t hearing things. Obviously, someone had said something. Nevertheless, now was the time to focus. Grid gave up on his doubts and resumed the paused work.

The passive skills such as Blacksmith’s Patience, Blacksmith’s Breath, and the title effect of Duke of Fire were applied at the same time, dramatically improving Grid’s work efficiency. Lightning fell on the Greed that had absorbed two breaths. It was a hammer wielded by a blacksmith comparable to a god.

Greed was divided into two exact parts. Grid first smelted one piece of Greed by placing it in the furnace. He pulled out the metal and tempered it again and again.

Ttang!Ttang!Ttang!

The number of hammerings increased and Greed’s appearance changed. It turned into a complete octagonal plate. It looked like dragon scales that had been separated entirely.

‘It is the real thing from here on.’

Fold the iron plate to make it look like it wrapped around his shoulders. It felt like something round. It wasn’t paper or a steel plate but Greed, the hardest metal on the planet. Grid’s hammering became cautious. He tapped the edge of the iron plate gently like he was stroking Irene.

The God Hands were also busy. He spread out the piece of Berith’s Leather that remained after making the gaiters on another anvil and started to tan them. 50% of Grid’s dexterity and strength were applied to the God Hands and they had mastered Advanced Blacksmith’s Craftsmanship. Thus, they were just as skilled as a craftsman. Grid had a 20% increase in his dexterity stat thanks to the Blacksmith Skill Comparable to a God so they were even more remarkable.

Bam!Ttang!Bam!Ttang!

Every time the four hammers slammed down, the damaged parts of Berith’s Leather were soon repaired. By the time Grid completely created the shape of one shoulder guard, it had already been restored. Of course, it wasn’t perfect. It was hard for a blacksmith’s craftsmanship to fully restore Berith’s Leather. Still, this alone was enough.

“Okay. Well done.”

Grid retrieved the leather from the God Hands and directly started tanning. He perfectly restored the leather that had almost been completely restored by the God Hands. It took only 10 minutes. This process was 10 times faster than when Grid was working alone. It meant the God Hands helped a lot.

“Greed...” Braham murmured.

As one of the creators of pavranium, which was the originator of Greed, he felt regret every time he saw Greed. He was both glad and disappointed that the pavranium he made together with that Pagma had disappeared from the world. It was good to see the traces of his time with Pagma cleared but it was bitter that his achievement had disappeared.

As Braham was staring at the mineral, Grid’s voice permeated his ears, “I was going to name it Gravurnum.“ [1]

“...?”

“Then I thought about it and figured that it was ill-conceived to name it Gravurnum. Gravurnum, it will be the name of our new mineral, rebuilt with Greed.”

“......”

Braham’s heart was pierced. It was a feeling that felt strange and still unfamiliar. However, it wasn’t unpleasant just because it was strange.

“Is it supposed to be the ‘G’ in Grid and the ‘Ra’ in Braham?”

“Yes.”

‘Our’ mineral...

Braham shrugged as he barely held back his smile.

“Well, name it whatever you want. However, I will have to study it until it has a performance that is acceptable to me. It could be a month or a year. No, it could be 10 or 100 years.”

“10 years? 100 years?”

“Yes... so don’t die until then.”

“No, how can it be 100 years?”

Grid frowned at Braham’s absurd words and hit the metal with the hammer for the last time. The shoulder guards were completed.

[The production of the ‘Shoulder Guards of the White Tiger with the Protection of the Red Phoenix’ is successful.]

[A myth rated item is produced, permanently increasing all stats by 30!]

[The Blacksmith’s Skill Comparable to a God is a temporarily activated skill. The number of times a myth rated item is created won’t accumulate.]

[The energy of the white tiger has surged and blessed Blue Tiger. Blue Tiger, the descendant of the white tiger, is stronger than ever.]

“...Blue Tiger, haven’t you benefited a lot today?”

“A-Aheung. I’ll give you my skin as a token of my gratitude...”

“I was joking. Congratulations, truly.”

“Thank you, heung...”

The subsequent work continued. Unlike Kyeongja, who could equip a weapon, a helmet, and a cloak, Blue Tiger could only wear one equipment and Tosun only two. Grid made a durumagi [2] for Blue Tiger and a traditional bamboo hat and jeogori [3] for Tosun. Then he turned his gaze to the northern horizon.

)()

At the far north was the Xing Kingdom.

The Xing Kingdom was a place where the Black Tortoise Jewel was kept, which meant it was the kingdom where the black tortoise was sealed.

‘I will make the remaining helmet and gloves while moving. I should go slowly.’

It was rare to lose money because of his diligence.

Grid packed up and asked Blue Tiger, “Will you gather those of the Twelve Zodiacs who served the black tortoise? I’d like to ask some questions.”

[1] Making a slight change from Grivurnum to Gravurnum

[2] Durumagi: a type of traditional Korean overcoat. Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durumagi

[3] Jeogori: Basic upper garment for the hanbok, traditional Korean clothing. Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeogori