Last Vacation (3)

Eleanor looked like she couldn’t believe it as she watched Kang Shin-hyuk pull out various items from his inventory. There was too much variety among the items for them to be stored in just one artifact.

“The Superhuman Association really supports you…”

“Then, I’ll start working.” Kang Shin-hyuk began throwing firewood (8,000 HP per 1 kg) into the furnace, letting Eleanor believe in her mistaken assumption. The fire was going, but he hadn’t decided what he would make yet. He could try a saddle like the one Lee Manwoo had made, but he wasn’t confident enough in his ability to process leather. Additionally, he didn’t have good material to use for it.

‘Venom Princess Soul was easy to make because the purpose of the material and the finished product were so similar, not to mention the quality of the material itself…’ With that in mind, his best chance at success would be to make a metal product that would be suited for taming.

“Good.” Having made up his mind, he pulled a lump of gray metal out from his inventory. It was called Rowood Turtle’s Armor Fragment; it was one of the materials he had acquired when he was clearing gates with Shin Eunah.

“Can I see it?”

“Keep an eye out for monsters.”

“Ah.” Kang Shin-hyuk started working so naturally that she had forgotten they were still inside of a gate. She urgently raised her lance to prepare for battle, and near her, the flame wyvern continued to stare at Meloy.

“Ah, it’s coming again.” Eleanor murmured. Kang Shin-hyuk raised his head to see a group of wyverns circling around in the sky.

“…I thought they were a rare species.”

“I remember hearing that too.” Eleanor’s voice trembled slightly.

“Originally, this gate isn’t a place where you could hunt wyverns like this.”

“If that were the case, you would’ve told me.” It was essential to do a preliminary investigation before entering a dungeon. Naturally, Kang Shin-hyuk had also clearly memorized the information she had given him about the Rose Garden. It was a dungeon that contained endless wastelands and the occasional stony mountains. You had to be cautious when moving on the ground, as great worms lurked underneath. Generally, people would come in to fight them for loot and experience. Its boss, the Great Rock Worm, had already been long defeated, but it was a great place to polish one’s skills. Eleanor wanted to show off her abilities here, as well as verify Shin-hyuk’s own abilities.

-Kuruuu!

-Kiiii!

“Instead of worms, there are now wyverns…” The view unfolding before their eyes now was completely different from that information. Unforeseen circumstances could occur at any time inside a gate, but the incongruity of wyverns that was never observed before in a gate that was cleared several times before was too severe.

-Quooooo…!

“Wow… there’s already ten of them…” Even at the same rank, ground monsters and aerial monsters had different threat levels. The great worms that roamed the earth were scary, but at least they could be hit. On the other hand, what about wyverns? Those on the ground had an obvious disadvantage against flying foes, and even if you were to take to the air on a wyvern, an inexperienced rider would have trouble with aerial combat.

“Well, let’s keep calm. It will probably be okay.” Kang Shin-hyuk didn’t stop working even after seeing it. It wasn’t because of his bravery, but rather, he trusted in his own trait.

‘None of them appear to be stronger than the flame wyvern here. It won’t make a difference no matter how many there are.’ If his trait wouldn’t work, then he had ranged weapons as a back-up. Eleanor was able to regain her composure as she thought about it.

“If Shin-hyuk says so..” She seemed a bit embarrassed as she was concerned about Shin-hyuk’s safety, whom she felt responsible for. She knew that she couldn’t handle dozens of wyverns alone.

-Quoooooh…!

The flame wyvern, anxious to earn Meloy’s favor, raised its head to let out a loud cry. The wyverns flying around them returned with their own cries.

-Guaaaah!

They didn’t stop with that. They began to descend as one, folding their wings as they fell downward.

-Gururu…

-Gao?!

Meloy carefully watched the scene, evaluating the other wyverns. The descending wyverns flinched and spread their wings out upon discovering Meloy.

-Guooohoh!

-Guooo!

As if it had been planned from the start, the wyverns landed carefully around them to approach Meloy. The flame wyvern stood in front of her and growled at them.

“They’re all males except for Meloy.”

“Ah…” It would’ve been fun to fight a bunch of wyverns, but this situation was clearly going in a different direction than a battle. The flame wyvern was squaring off with the other male wyverns in a duel of their own!

“It’s incredible. I wonder if the reason this happened is because we brought a tamed female wyvern here…” Eleanor’s eyes were flickering as she watched the scene.

“Is this because of my trait… no, I’m sorry, Meloy. It’s my fault.”

-Gururu…

Kang Shin-hyuk sincerely apologized to Meloy, who gently nipped at his hair. As expected, she had lived around people long enough to understand what they were saying.

“What do we do now?”

“I just have to create a taming artifact and put it on the winner. I want the strongest guy.” Maybe the flame wyvern would win. He was wary of them trying to attack, but they seemed fully interested in Meloy now. He could focus all of his attention back on his work now.

-Klang! Klang! Klang!

“It’s quite warm because of the oven…”

“I’m keeping an eye on them, don’t worry.”

“Ah, yeah…” In truth, Eleanor was also paying plenty of attention to Kang Shin-hyuk as he worked because of what she had heard from her friend Lee Na-hee.

‘She said he looked so cool when he was working with metal. It’s the first time I ever heard Na-hee talk about a man like that.’ The fact that she had favorable comments about him was enough for Eleanor to know she had a crush on Shin-hyuk. She had become curious about what he was like when he was practicing metallurgy because of that. Who knew her opportunity would come so soon.

-Klang! -Klang! -Klang!

And the image of Kang Shin-hyuk she witnessed firsthand was indeed wonderful. He possessed a serious sort of charm as he hammered the iron with a cool gaze that was different from his usual expression.

‘It feels like he’s an association member like this.’ Shin-hyuk’s eyes began to sparkle a deep golden color as he immersed himself in crafting. He looked so calm that she almost wanted to keep watching forever.

‘Yes, but it’s nicer when he’s holding a sword.’ Perhaps it was because she wasn’t a craftsman that she thought so. On the contrary, Lee Na-hee wouldn’t be able to understand the beauty of the swordsmanship he wielded properly. Time continued to pass as he worked, and Eleanor watched him instead of being on the lookout. Fortunately, because of the wyverns gathered, there were no signs of a great worm appearing. Unexpectedly, the male wyverns’ competition ended up helping him work in peace. Thanks to that, four hours after entering the gate, Kang Shin-hyuk had finally succeeded in creating an artifact.

[Rockwall Choker]

[A rank]

[Special ability: Training, Protection]

*Training: You can attempt to control monsters when wearing this choker around your neck. Training may be rejected if the wearer doesn’t possess the proper abilities.

*Protection: It hardens the whole body and protects it from impacts.

[A work made by a blacksmith who writes his own history. Only those who prove themselves can use it. To change the user, it is necessary to smear the blood of the new user onto the mana stone in the center of the choker after replacing it.]

It was a solid grayish metal choker. It wasn’t that big, but it was made with a considerable amount of carapace, with a central mana stone for user authentication. It would be essential if it were passed down the generations of Wyvern Knights.

“An A-rank artifact on the spot?!”

“Haha.” Kang Shin-hyuk was also surprised he was able to accomplish it on the first try. It was evidence of his growing understanding of artifacts and how to make them.

“It won’t work at all on S-rank monsters, and it’ll be hard to use on A-rank ones.”

“I’m sure he’ll follow you after you prove your strength.”

“Yeah, it’s almost like a monster ball.”

-2,000HP bonus for your intuitive explanation!

At the same time, the flame wyvern roared a victory cry after defeating the last challenger. Kang Shin-hyuk smiled and motioned at him.

-Quoooh…

The flame wyvern approached with an unpleasant expression as Shin-hyuk put on the choker. It licked his cheek as a sign of obedience.

Only

“Is it done?”

“Yeah.” Shin-hyuk felt a connection between himself and the wyvern, just like when he first connected with Onyx. If you replaced the mana stone in it, it probably wouldn’t be difficult to transfer it to someone else.

“Then…” he stored the flame wyverns head before turning his gaze.

“Let’s try this hidden strategy.”

“Huh? Are we going to kill them?”

“No, that’s kind of scary.” Kang Shin-hyuk had a different idea. He had been considering why this gate was named the Rose Garden, and he suspected it was simple. This gate had yet to be properly cleared.

And he suspected the wyverns were needed for that.