Ranker Who Lives Twice
chapter-65

The next morning.

When Yeon-woo arrived at Henova’s smithy, he saw people fixing the shop’s door.

They were people from Night Watch.

When he entered through the new door, the whole smithy was furnished with brand new furniture and smithing tools.

“So, do you like it?”

Yeon-woo smiled and spoke to Henova while his eyes were still fixed on the players from Night Watch running busily around the shop.

“Do I like what?”

“Your shop. It looks much better than before, doesn’t it? By the way, now’s your chance to thank me.”

Henova snorted at Yeon-woo’s joke with his short arm crossed.

“Hmph! I know you did this to have me make Gyges’ Eye faster. Why would I thank you when you did this for your own sake? Besides, you didn’t do any work here.”

But unlike his harsh words, Henova’s nose and ear were slightly red. It seemed he was too bashful to pay someone compliments.

‘There was a word that refers to someone like him.’

Yeon-woo recalled a word he had heard back on Earth.

“Tsundere.”

“Hmm? what did you say?”

Yeon-woo calmly shook his head. But he couldn’t stop his mouth from curling up. He thought it was a relief he was wearing a mask at a time like this.

Henova looked at Yeon-woo again with a suspicious look on his face, but Yeon-woo kept pretending as if nothing happened.

The smile on Yeon-woo’s mouth didn’t go away for a long time.

It was a word that matched Henova too well.

* * *

And when the repairs were finished, Yeon-woo and Henova went back to their ordinary routine.

Both of them picked up a hammer again, one to finish the artifact, and the other to practice metallurgy.

*Tang* *Tang*

Just by looking at the surface, everything that happened last night seemed like a lie.

[‘Draconic Eyes’ can now reveal more ‘flaws’.]

[‘Draconic Eyes’ skill proficiency has increased. 22.9%]

From some point onwards, Yeon-woo found himself completely fascinated with metallurgy.

He cast Draconic Eyes and gazed at the scorching piece of metal.

A thinly dotted line appeared along the edge of the metal freshly taken out its mold.

The lines only visible to Yeon-woo

‘Flaws.’

Draconic Eyes was able to peek through the true nature of things.

This was done by reestablishing the information the caster originally had, calculating the most efficient route of achieving their goal and providing visible hints of the route.

Those visible hints are the ‘flaws’.

And thanks to that, Yeon-woo was able to handle metal quite easily.

*Tang* *Tang*

The knowledge and techniques that Henova imparted to Yeon-woo were something worth over a thousand pieces of gold to any other blacksmith, and he was aware of this fact.

When Yeon-woo watched the way Henova handled the hammer, the bellow, and all the other tools, he could feel how much effort Henova poured into making a single piece of work.

Therefore, Yeon-woo tried to capture every single motion Henova made and memorize every single word Henova said.

And his practice based on such information helped Yeon-woo step up his forging several levels.

Others might have considered it as cheating.

‘No wonder why the dragon race is known as the world’s wisest race.‘

Draconic Eyes, the eyes that seek the truth by observing all creation and acquiring all knowledge.

It was merely a small part of Draconic Eyes’ true power that Yeon-woo had access to. But even that was enough to induce a very fast growth.

And now, he was just a few steps away from completing the succession process.

Yeon-woo was curious as to what kind of abilities he would be able to wield once he developed a complete Dragon Body.

*Taang*

Yeon-woo hammered the metal piece he had folded several times for the last time.

There was a distinct wavy pattern drawn on the surface of the metal.

He then picked it up with a tong and submerged it into a container filled with cold water to finish the tempering process.

*Tsss*

A big cloud of white steam shot out from the container when the metal touched the water.

Despite the suffocating hot air, Yeon-woo tried to keep his eyes on the fuming metal.

[Your understanding of metallurgy has increased. The attained knowledge will open up several more possibilities.]

[Knowledge is a power that will broaden your horizons and enlarge the world around you. Learn and understand more knowledge and become a seeker of truth. The dragon’s blessing will always be with you.

[‘Draconic Eyes’ skill proficiency has increased. 25.1%]

[Knowledge increase has been confirmed. The vessel has become softer and more flexible. The halted succession process will resume. 93%… 94%….]

[Current progress: 94.9%]

*Drop* *Drop*

Beads of sweat kept falling onto the floor.

‘This is definitely something that cannot be taken easy.’

Yeon-woo lightly massaged his shoulders.

Learning metallurgy was not an easy task even with the help of Draconic Eyes.

Having to sit in one place hammering the metal in front of a searing forge, he felt stiff and sore all over his body.

But through this experience, Yeon-woo realized the importance of mental training in parallel with physical training.

Though very little, the halted process was able to progress.

Thanks to that, he felt very relieved.

‘So, balance is what I need for progress, isn’t it? Damn, I thought I was so close to finishing it, but it’s going to get complicated.’

Yeon-woo was hit by a sudden wave of fatigue from the thought.

But as soon as he felt tired, the Magic Circuit circulated mana through his body, melting away the fatigue.

Yeon-woo was able to feel his growth in person.

If there was a barrier that was limiting him from further advancement, he felt like it had just retracted a little.

‘Now, let’s see.’

Yeon-woo stared at the metal piece he had crafted.

[An Unfinished Good Metal Casting]

Estimated classification: Two-handed Weapon

Estimated rating: F

Estimated durability: 5-10

Description: A casting that has not yet been completed. It doesn’t look bad for a first attempt.

‘It turned out okay for a first try.’

Yeon-woo licked his lips in anticipation.

He then turned to Henova to talk about his work.

But when he looked at him, he was stunned for a few seconds.

[Henova the Dwarf]

CP: ??? / Personality: Shy and bashful

It was a window regarding Henova’s information.

“What are you looking at? Keep your head down and get to work!”

Henova shouted at him when he saw Yeon-woo standing in place staring at him.

The warm look he had shown Yeon-woo for a very short time yesterday had turned back to his normal cold look today.

Yeon-woo didn’t care much because he was aware that his cold attitude was just an act to hide his shy inner character.

“I’m sorry.”

Yeon-woo shifted his gaze back to the metal piece.

‘I can see people’s information now?’

It was a feat he didn’t expect to accomplish.

He didn’t know the ‘possibilities’ that the system mentioned included access to other people’s information.

‘The ability to view people’s information… I can take this as an advantage in combat.’

There was a big difference between knowing and not knowing the enemy when fighting them, even if it was just trifling information.

Although he couldn’t see much about Henova, this was still going to be of great help later on. Because he had a great number of enemies he had to defeat.

A very trivial and yet so influential change.

Yeon-woo was beginning to understand the underlying mechanisms behind the Draconic Eyes.

The more he learned and experienced, the better the Draconic Eyes would become.

‘But what was that ‘CP’ thing on the information window?’

He felt curiosity about the strange concept, but he quickly dismissed the inquiry with a firm shake.

Instead, Yeon-woo quickly took out the pocket watch while Henova was looking the other way, and examined with Draconic Eyes.

However,

[Information inaccessible.]

Yeon-woo clicked his tongue lightly.

‘I guess it’s not the time yet. Well, Rome wasn’t built in a single day.’

It did not disappoint Yeon-woo.

He would be able to access the information once he gained enough proficiency.

Bearing that in mind, Yeon-woo picked up the hammer again.

*Tang*

The sound rang clearer than usual.

‘By the way, shy and bashful… Yeah, that sounds just like him.’

Yeon-woo let out a chuckle as he recalled the words that the system used to describe Henova.

* * *

Yeon-woo continued his visits to Henova and kept tormenting him.

“What are the standards for determining directions when welding the metal?”

“What do I do when the heat exceeds the appropriate temperature?”

“The bellow’s blowing force is weaker than I thought.”

“Why did you do that for that part?”

Now that he knew more about forging, he had more questions he wanted to ask.

So whenever he had any question, he immediately went to Henova and asked him. And because of that, Henova couldn’t sit down and do his work properly when Yeon-woo was around.

“I’ll tell you what. You’ll learn when you go practice, idiot!”

“I’m asking these in order to practice.”

“I’m telling you to learn by yourself!”

“Then teach me how to learn by myself. I’ll go learn by myself when you do.”

“Aaargh! You bastard!”

Henova tried to ignore him in order to do his work, but he had to give up as Yeon-woo was so persistent in asking his questions.

He even began to suspect that Yeon-woo was trying to get revenge for all his previous nagging.

And after many quarrels, Yeon-woo made discernible progress.

“Henova, can you take a look at this?”

“How many times a day are you going to call me? Let me do some work too, goddamn it! This is your order and if I can’t make it in time, it’s your loss, not mine!”

“I’m done making my sword.”

“What?”

Henova lashed out, thinking Yeon-woo had called him to bother him again. But after hearing what Yeon-woo had to say, his eyes became round with shock.

“You made a sword?”

“Yes.”

Henova gave a loud snort.

It had been only a little over ten days since Yeon-woo started to practice forging.

Although his growth speed was something out of the ordinary, it was impossible for a beginner like him to create something within such a short amount of time.

‘Hah! You’ve been getting on my nerves all this time, haven’t you? Now it’s my turn.’

Henova was going to point out any slightest fault he could find to get back at him.

But Yeon-woo secretly smiled, knowing what Henova was thinking.

Then he handed over his work to Henova.

Henova received the object with a suspicious look.

It was a weapon with the shape of a sword.

[Sword of a Novice Blacksmith]

Classification: One-handed Sword

Rating: E

Description: A sword that turned out much better than the initial expectation. The blade is a little dull for a sword but has a decent durability.

The first word Henova spat out after seeing his sword was,

“What the hell….”

A curse word.

“This can’t be….’

Henova muttered to himself after realizing the sword Yeon-woo had forged was something that could not have come out of the hands of a novice blacksmith with only ten days of experience.

He knew that his skills were growing at a rapid pace, but this was beyond his imagination.

‘How the hell did he do that?’

When Hanova noticed that Yeon-woo was looking at him, he cleared his throat belatedly.

“Well, it’s decent for something you made for the first time… But I won’t call this a sword, this is still trash.”

“Would it kill you to say some nice words?”

“Shush! It’s up to me whether I praise you or not! Anyway, you still have to practice a lot! This is still far from good!”

“Then I’m going to have to keep asking you.”

“Now, stop bothering me!”

“No.”

“You little prick!”

But at that moment, Yeon-woo felt something fiercely flying in from outside the smithy.

Before he could warn Henova, Yeon-woo grabbed him and leaped to the side.

*Kwang*

Suddenly the wall exploded, and something broke inside.

Someone with two huge fists, flaring eyes, and a horn to the side of his head.

It was Phante.

“Is this where you ran off to, you cheater? Because of you… Because of you I had to search every corner of The Tower! Do you have any idea….”

But before he could finish his words, a fist came flying in from the middle of the dust cloud and,

*Puck*

“Kueeek!”

Phante went flying across the room as he let out a weird scream.