Record of a Thousand Lives

Hermia gave Kang Yoon-Soo her approval to use thesmithy in Kerlin.There, he poured out the minerals in the backpack and sorted them into each type.

23 Gold Ores

14 Enhancement Stone Fragments

6 Mithril Ores

4 Moonstone Fragments

Thesmithy’s production toolswere old, butits facilities, particularly its furnace, were of excellent quality. Kang Yoon-Sooproceeded to fireup the furnace and processed the minerals one by one. The minerals melted into hot molten liquid, andhe refined them perfectly to the highest level of purity.Soon, only pure precious metals remained.

12 Gold Bars

5 Enhancement Stones

2 Mithril Ingots

1 Moonstone

It was an amazing result, considering the amount of materials he had utilized.Moonstones in particular were especiallydifficult to handle.However, Kang Yoon-Soo’s refining skill was so high that the moonstone he obtained shone as brightly as true moonlight.

[You haveproduced a tremendous achievementwith yourownhands. The new skill ‘Mineral Refinement’ has been created.]

[Mineral Refinement]

Skill Level:1 (00.00%)

You mayrefine minerals into their purest forms.

A new skill had been created. It was difficult for one’s actions to turn into a skill; the only way to independently obtain a skill was to either relentlessly do the same thing over and over again orproducea tremendous achievement.

Kang Yoon-Sooplaced the refined minerals into the backpack,thentook out the greatsword.It was dull and its condition was poorafter the battlewith the Spartoi. He placedthe weaponin the furnace, anditstarted to turn bright red from the heat. Afterward, he took it out of the furnace and placed it on the anvil, then started to hammerit patiently for a long time.

Clang! Clang!

When he was done hammering the greatsword, he quenched the blade in cold water.

[The greatsword has become even more durable.]

[You have produced a tremendous achievement with your own hands. The new skill ‘Equipment Refinement’ has been created.]

[Equipment Refinement]

Skill Level:1 (00.00%)

You may increase the quality of equipmentor repairitto full durability.

Kang Yoon-Soo took the newly repaired greatsword and started tosharpen it usinga whetstone. There were no skills helping him, but his craftsmanship was already amazing by itself.

[Thesteel greatsword’s attack powerhas increased due to excellent craftsmanship.]

[The skill level of ‘Equipment Refinement’ has increased. Your working speed when repairing equipment has increased.]

Kang Yoon-Soo placed the greatsword on the table and took outfiveenhancement stones,peculiar stones that gaveoff ablue glow.Without a hint of hesitation, he brought his hammer down on them.

Crack! Crack!

A blue glow shot out of the stones, being absorbed into the hammer’s head.Kang Yoon-Soo then brought the hammer, now glowing with the light from the stones, down onthe greatsword.

Strikingequipment with a hammer that had absorbed the lightfromenhancement stoneswould increase its attributes.Hammering the edges would increase attack power; hammering the handle would improve grip and dexterity; and hammering the tip would improve penetrative power.

However, failing to control one’s strength or tempo would cause the enhancement to fail. After a failure, equipment would suffer a huge drop in attack power or durability. The results of a failed enhancement would usually have to be disposed of.

All equipment could be enhancedup tofifteentimes, and the success rate would decrease for every successful enhancement. TheEnchanter class hadthe skill ‘Equipment Enhancement’, which would allow them to enhance items without enhancement stones; thus, it would be much easier for them to upgrade equipment.

Kang Yoon-Soo hammered away at the greatsword without any hesitation.

Clang Clang! Clang! Cla-clang!

He swung the hammer five times.

[You have successfully enhanced the steel greatsword.]

[You have successfully enhanced the steel greatsword.]

[You have successfully enhanced the steel greatsword.]

[You have successfully enhanced the steel greatsword.]

[You have successfully enhanced the steel greatsword.]

The result was a great success. Kang Yoon-Soo inspected the greatsword.

[Steel Greatsword]

Rating: Normal

Attack Power: 29

Hardness: 4

A greatsword madeofhighquality steel.

Thegreatsword’s attack power more than doubled, going from 14 to 29; on top of that,another stat had been created. Just the fact thatKang Yoon-Soo hadsharpened, hammered, and enhanced his weapon greatly increased its attack power. A normal blacksmith wouldhave been satisfied with the result and withdrawn his hammer. However,Kang Yoon-Soo was different, andto him, this was when the real work would begin.

“Excuse me,”said a voicefrom outside.Kang Yoon-Soo turned aroundtolook in the direction of the voice. It was dark outside, but he could see the silhouette of a long-haired woman.

It wasShaneth, and she was wearing a dress that exposed some parts of her skin. She looked more normal than when shehad gone aroundwearing the helmet.Sheshylylooked awaywhen she noticed that Kang Yoon-Soo just kept staring at her.

“I didn’t wear this because I wanted to… Lady Hermia forced me to wear this…” she said in a meek, shy voice.Shethen passed afreshlybaked apple pie to Kang Yoon-Soo and said, “Lady Hermia asked me to bring this to you.”

Kang Yoon-Soo received the apple pie, took a slice, and started to eat it. The baked pie was moist on the inside, butthe crust was crisp, crackling audibly as he bit into it. However,hecouldnot taste anything.

“Well…”Shanethbegan.Kang Yoon-Soolooked upat her.

Shanethhesitated for a second, then eventuallysaid while blushing, “I actually wanted to thank you.” She was extremely shy and lookeddown atthe ground to avoid eye contact. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldhave still been wearing the helmet, and you’re my savior. The way the other soldierslookedat me also changed after the burn marks disappeared. I’m not used to it, but it also feels good to expose a bit of my skin for a change...Ummm...Also…”

“This is more than enough.” Kang Yoon-Soo cut her off.

“Eh?”Shaneth exclaimed in confusion.

Kang Yoon-Soo took another slice of the pie and said, “Hermia didn’t send you. You made this pie yourself and brought it ofyour own accord.”

“Eh? What?”Shanethwas disoriented and briefly stunned into silence. “H-how did you know…?” she asked, stuttering as her face turned bright red.

Kang Yoon-Soo lookedintentlyat her. Although the burn marks had disappeared, there was still a scar on the left side of her face. He thought,‘That scar wouldn’t disappear no matter what we did.’

That scarhad beenleft behind by Ignus as a mark of the flame. Intheirprevious lives, they had tried to erase that mark, but nothing worked. It was a mark that the chosen one had to bear, and no magic or medicine could erase it.

‘I’m sure it will be the same this time as well.’

Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly got up and grabbedShaneth’sshoulder, saying, “Sit down.”

Shanethwas surprised, but she obediently sat down on a wooden stool. Kang Yoon-Soo took outsomescissors from thesmithy’s tool cabinetand approachedShaneth.Shewas a beautiful woman, but her hairwas so messyit looked like a jungle.

Shanethwas surprisedto seethe scissors andvaguelyshook her hands as if to refuse, saying, “You don’t have to cut my hair. I like it better this way!”

“I’m crazy. I don’t listen to anyone,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied as hestarted to cut away at her hair.Shanethtearfullytriedto resist, but in the end, she obediently received the forced haircut. She was worried that stopping halfway would make it look hideous.

After a while, Kang Yoon-Soo set down the scissorsand said, “It’s done.”

Shanethhesitantly looked at her reflectionin a tubfilled with water. The moment she saw her face, she reacted, “...Huh?”

It looked better than she had expected. No, in fact, she loved it. It was a hairstyle thatone would only see onnoble ladies.Her previously messy, overgrown hair had beenneatly rearranged,perfectly framing her large, clear eyes. Her hair was much shorterthan it had beenbefore, butnevertheless,it was still long.It was unable to perfectly hide the scaron the left side of her face, but it dida finejob of covering it up.

Shaneth claspedher bright red cheeks, overjoyed. However, she asked,“Don’t you think this kind of beautiful hairstyle is a waste on someone like me?”

“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied with his usual demeanor, thentook another slice of the apple pie.By then, the pie on the plate had completely disappeared.

Shaneth asked, surprised,“Shall I bring more?”

“No,” said Kang Yoon-Soo.

The wayKang Yoon-Soospoke wasclippedand rude, but for some reason,Shanethdidnot seem to mind, nor was she offended. Why wasthat?

Kang Yoon-Soogrippedthe sharpened greatsword with both hands and looked at a spear thathad been fastened tothe ground with a metal hinge. It was the spear left behindby the Spartoi.

[Spartoi’s Spear]

Piercing Power: 43

A spear made from the tooth of the Ignus Dragon. It is filled with theinextinguishable breath of a dragon. It is the weapon used by the Spartoi all his life, and he considered it his friend.

The spear had immensepiercingpower, but it was too big and heavy for ahuman likeKang Yoon-Soo to use.Helifted his greatsword highintothe air,then swung it down towardthe shaft of the spear with great force.

Snap!

The spearheadwas instantlyseparated from the shaft. Kang Yoon-Soo threwitinto the hot furnace;surprisingly, the flames in the furnace grew even hotter. Thedragon’s breath contained within started to spread through the furnace.

Helooked atShanethand said, “Help me.”

“You mean me?”Shanethasked with a surprisedexpression. She then continued, “How? I’m not familiar with smithing.”

Kang Yoon-Soo slowly shook his head and said, “I’m not planning to makeequipment.”He started to fiddlearound with the ring on his finger. It was the unique item left behind by theUltimate Necromancer, Nakron—theRing ofLifeSuppression.

The ring had another innate skill aside fromSoulExtraction;itwas theSpiritCreation skill,and could only be used four times.

“I plan to create a spirit,” said Kang Yoon-Soo.

“What…? You’ll ‘create’ a spirit?”Shanethtilted her head in confusion, thinking she hadheard him wrong.However, Kang Yoon-Soo merely nodded as if to confirm what he had said once again.

Create a spirit?

Itwould have beenanother story if he werea summoner who could borrow the powers of the spirits, but a mere human being able to create a spirit had never been heard of before. It was hard to believe, butShanethdecided to comply with Kang Yoon-Soo’s request. He was the onewho haderased the burn marks thathad weighedher down her whole life. She wanted to help him at allcosts.

“How can I help you?” she asked.

Kang Yoon-Soo pointed at thefurnace that burnedwith an untamed wild flame rampaging inside, and said…

“Getin.”