Regression of the Transcendent Blacksmith - Chapter 15

========== REGRESSION OF THE TRANSCENDENT BLACKSMITH CHAPTER 15 ==========

Chireureureuk!

The giant centipede broke through the tree bark, sucked the sap, and wagged its tail.

The number was five.

The giant centipedes, which had been the 14th-floor bosses, were rapidly destroying the trees.

Ujikkeun!

A large, thick tree was gnawed through in an instant and collapsed.

The giant centipede turned its body to gnaw on the next tree.

But what it saw where it turned wasn’t a tree, but a hammer head swung toward it.

Tukwang!

Keeek!

The giant centipede’s head, struck by the hammer, was crushed.

Without even a moment to counterattack, Shin Tae-ho’s next attack aimed for its head again.

[Using Destructive Strike.]

Kwakwang!

Destructive Strike, which ignores 50% of physical defense, shattered the giant centipede’s hard head into pieces.

Only after their kin died did the surrounding giant centipedes discover Shin Tae-ho and swarm him.

Kieek!

Keek!

Shin Tae-ho used the body of the dead giant centipede as a foothold and leaped high.

His strength, enhanced by Qi, unleashed explosive leaping power.

Kwakwang!

The hammer made a thunderous sound again.

Swinging the hammer without sparing his Qi, he popped the heads of four giant centipedes in an instant.

‘As expected, fighting is easier when I don’t spare my Qi.’

Shin Tae-ho checked his Qi Circuit.

He had consumed more Qi than usual by using Destructive Strike consecutively.

But he couldn’t spare his Qi.

Even now, the forest’s destruction rate was steadily rising.

‘The destruction speed is still too fast. I can’t spare my Qi.’

Shin Tae-ho looked around the forest to find the next enemy.

Just then, Yong-ryong-i, who had been inside his armor, wiggled its way out.

“Ryong!”

“Yong-ryong-i? What’s wrong?”

Yong-ryong-i, who hadn’t even been born for a full day yet.

And Yong-ryong-i, having entered the tower for the first time, looked around as if everything was fascinating.

Thinking it was nothing, when Shin Tae-ho tried to put Yong-ryong-i back inside the armor.

Suddenly, Yong-ryong-i opened its small mouth wide.

Kwaoooo-!

“What the?”

Shin Tae-ho was startled as the surrounding Qi swirled and rushed in.

Even if he could do it with his own Qi, moving the Qi spread throughout the tower quickly and in large quantities required that level of dominance.

But for this amount of Qi to move suddenly?

And the place where the Qi was moving was Yong-ryong-i’s mouth.

“Ryowaaaang-.”

‘Is Yong-ryong-i gathering… no, is it eating the Qi?’

Surprised and flustered, Shin Tae-ho stopped for a moment to watch the situation.

Only when all the surrounding Qi was sucked in instantly did Yong-ryong-i close its mouth.

“Yong-ryong-i. Did you just eat the Qi?”

“Ryong!”

Yong-ryong-i, having answered vigorously, nodded its head and popped out of the armor.

Startled that it might fall to the ground, Shin Tae-ho reached out to catch it, then opened his eyes wide.

Instead of falling to the ground, Yong-ryong-i was swimming in the air as if floating in water.

“You can fly?”

Shin Tae-ho was astonished.

Of course, he had thought that since it was a dragon, it wouldn’t be ordinary.

But absorbing all the tower’s Qi and flying just one day after birth was outside his expectations.

Watching Yong-ryong-i fly in front of him as if showing off, Shin Tae-ho hesitated before opening his mouth.

“Yong-ryong-i. Can you fight?”

“Ryong!”

Yong-ryong-i answered and flew, cutting through the air as if to demonstrate.

Preparing to rush out if a dangerous situation arose, Shin Tae-ho followed behind Yong-ryong-i.

Following Yong-ryong-i, a Forest Goblin appeared, breaking trees and eating something.

Kereureuk?

The Forest Goblin was surprised to see Yong-ryong-i.

Yong-ryong-i, having kept a proper distance from the creature, took a deep breath and opened its mouth just like when it was absorbing Qi.

Kwahwaaaak!

Fire spewed from Yong-ryong-i’s mouth.

It wasn’t just a simple scorching; it was a high-heat fire that could be felt even from a distance.

The Forest Goblins, suddenly hit by the barrage of flames, burned and collapsed without even being able to scream.

Watching this, Shin Tae-ho was startled.

“No! If you use fire in the forest…!”

Shin Tae-ho, who had been about to stop Yong-ryong-i’s actions thinking it would burn the forest down instead of protecting it, stopped abruptly.

‘The trees… aren’t burning?’

Surprisingly, despite the massive high-heat flames being spewed, there was no damage to the surrounding trees.

As if distinguishing between ally and enemy, Yong-ryong-i’s fire burned only the Forest Goblins and then vanished.

Shin Tae-ho soon recalled a skill with a similar principle from his memories.

‘It’s like the clerics’ healing skills.’

The clerics’ healing skills worked on the principle of designating the target to be healed and granting the skill’s effect only to that target.

Otherwise, there could be a problem where even enemies were healed, so this was essential.

‘I don’t know why that applies to Yong-ryong-i’s fire, though.’

“Ryo~ong!”

Yong-ryong-i, having dealt with the Forest Goblins, flew in front of Shin Tae-ho and puffed out its chest.

It was a look of pride for what it had done.

Shin Tae-ho smiled bitterly and stroked Yong-ryong-i’s head.

“You scared me. But well done. You’re strong, Yong-ryong-i.”

“Ryoong!”

Shin Tae-ho stared at Yong-ryong-i, who was enjoying the touch.

Externally, Shin Tae-ho’s class was known as a Tamer.

Since he had to act like a Tamer when operating outside, he needed to know the extent of Yong-ryong-i’s power now.

“Yong-ryong-i. Can you fight more?”

“Ryo~ong!”

“Then let’s fight together nearby. Only take on enemies you can handle. Don’t overdo it.”

“Yong-ryong!”

Hearing Yong-ryong-i’s answer, Shin Tae-ho ran through the forest again.

Going toward where the trees were collapsing, a swarm of giant caterpillars appeared, breaking trees and drinking sap.

Shin Tae-ho instructed Yong-ryong-i.

“Yong-ryong-i. Breathe fire. Don’t burn the trees.”

“Yong-ryong~!”

Yong-ryong-i breathed fire again.

Shin Tae-ho, without slowing his pace, pierced through the fire and dove into the giant caterpillars, who were flustered by the surprise attack.

The giant caterpillars were engulfed in flames and hadn’t even noticed Shin Tae-ho’s presence.

Tukwang! Bbang! Kwajik! Kwang!

Shin Tae-ho’s hammer swung without rest.

With their combined attack, the over 50 giant caterpillars were annihilated in less than 5 minutes.

‘Good teamwork.’

It was their first time working together, but the excellent result made Shin Tae-ho’s expression satisfied.

Moreover, Yong-ryong-i’s fire was more powerful than he thought, so it was more than enough to deal with the giant caterpillars.

‘At this rate, I can achieve meaningful results even while operating as a Tamer.’

Keeping Yong-ryong-i’s abilities in mind, Shin Tae-ho checked the message window floating on one side of his vision.

[Current forest destruction rate: 3.8%]

The giant centipedes and Forest Goblins were among the strongest enemies he had encountered while climbing to the 15th floor.

Eliminating them had noticeably slowed the rate at which the forest was being destroyed.

He could have rested since he had been consuming Qi without a break, but Shin Tae-ho did not let his guard down.

‘That means the remaining ones are just weaklings. If I hurry, I might be able to get an S-rank clear.’

Tukwang!

Shin Tae-ho, with his hammer on his shoulder, looked at Yong-ryong-i.

“Yong-ryong-i. Let’s go.”

“Yong-ryong~!”

As Shin Tae-ho ran, Yong-ryong-i flew, firmly guarding his side.

The forest was vast, and there were many monsters lurking in it.

The difficulty of the trial was proportional to the time limit.

The time limit for the 15th floor was a whopping 24 hours.

The 15th floor, which was that difficult to pass, was so notorious among challengers that it was called the Floor of Lamentation.

A floor with an average clear time of 18 hours.

But that statistic did not apply to Shin Tae-ho.

[All enemies in the forest have been eliminated.]

[Current forest destruction rate: 7.3%]

[Remaining time: 18 hours 3 minutes.]

[15th-floor trial cleared.]

[Clear rank is S.]

“Whew. S, huh.”

Shin Tae-ho, who checked the message window, sat down on the spot.

Yong-ryong-i, exhausted from fighting in the middle, had long since returned to the armor and was coiled around Shin Tae-ho’s neck.

It was so tired that he could even feel the vibration of its snoring inside the armor.

Shin Tae-ho’s body also felt as heavy as water-soaked cotton, but he checked his circuit without resting.

The circuit was empty, without a single drop of Qi left.

‘I collected it so diligently. To think I used it all up like this.’

Of course, he had no regrets since he used it where it was needed.

[Rewards are granted based on clear rank.]

[Reward contents: 25 Intermediate-grade Qi Fragments, 1,000 Low-grade Qi Fragments, Fragment of a Broken Chest Key (2/5), 1 Skill Orb]

“Skill?”

Shin Tae-ho, who was examining the rewards, was surprised to see the Skill Orb.

A Skill Orb, which allows one to obtain a specific skill just by breaking it.

Since the skill wasn’t limited to his class, he could obtain skills from other classes, such as a warrior being able to use a mage’s skill.

Of course, there were also unfortunate cases, like a warrior getting an orb containing an archer’s rapid-fire skill.

In such cases, he could make a huge amount of money just by selling it.

‘I was in need of a skill anyway. Good timing.’

To think he would get such a hard-to-obtain Skill Orb on the 15th floor.

Feeling proud of this unexpected stroke of luck, Shin Tae-ho walked while spreading his Qi sense.

Since he had plenty of remaining time this time, he intended to fill his depleted circuit as much as possible.

However, unlike usual, the Qi caught by his Qi sense was too faint.

‘What? Why is the Qi so faint? Ah. No way, is it because of Yong-ryong-i?’

When Shin Tae-ho fought the giant centipedes, Yong-ryong-i had suddenly absorbed a massive amount of Qi.

And immediately after, it had flown around the sky and breathed fire.

Come to think of it, it was unlikely that Yong-ryong-i could have suddenly created that powerful and large amount of fire on its own.

But what if it used the absorbed Qi to use its abilities?

‘Everything fits perfectly without a hitch.’

Shin Tae-ho was in a difficult spot.

His circuit was almost bottomed out now.

If he went to the 16th floor in this state, it would be hard to respond if a dangerous situation arose.

But walking around the 15th floor, where the Qi had become extremely weak, wouldn’t gather any meaningful amount of Qi either.

As Shin Tae-ho pondered what to do, his eyes suddenly caught the inventory that he hadn’t closed yet.

‘Come to think of it, I had other Qi.’

The core that came with him when he regressed.

Inside it was contained Arimir’s Qi and the Qi of Bedileem, the undead elf knight he had met in the tutorial.

Shin Tae-ho took out the core and focused his Qi sense, and he could feel the two types of Qi.

‘Let’s use Bedileem’s Qi first.’

Since there were no major difficulties in climbing the tower yet, it was premature to use Arimir’s Qi.

Bedileem’s Qi, drawn by Shin Tae-ho’s Qi sense, began to transfer from the core to Shin Tae-ho’s circuit.

The moment Bedileem’s Qi was contained in his circuit.

A sensation he had never felt before came to Shin Tae-ho’s Qi sense.

‘What is this?’

Shin Tae-ho focused on the new sensation.

Things other than the tower’s Qi began to be transmitted through his Qi sense, which had only felt the tower’s Qi until now.

The movement of leaves.

The strength and direction of the wind.

And a Qi that felt trapped somewhere, denser and more intense than the tower’s Qi.

And even a gaze staring at him from hiding on a tree.

“Who’s there.”

Shin Tae-ho, who pulled out his hammer from his inventory, lifted his head toward the tree.

As their eyes suddenly met, the leaves became cluttered as if startled.

When there was no answer, Shin Tae-ho growled lowly.

“If you don’t answer, I’ll assume you’re a monster and attack. If you don’t want to fight, come out now.”

“Wait. I’m not a monster.”

Finally, an answer came back.

As Shin Tae-ho lowered his hammer, the being that had been hiding revealed itself.

Shin Tae-ho’s eyes widened upon seeing the opponent.

That was a being that shouldn’t have appeared on this floor yet.

‘An elf…?’

At the appearance of a young elf who still looked quite childish, Shin Tae-ho’s eyes wavered in confusion.

To be continued in the next chapter ▶