Trigo finished sharpening the knives before anyone knew it.
“Already done? I was planning a big talent donation event for the grand opening!”
He licked his lips in disappointment.
As a member of the “Puiego” tribe who only does jobs that suit his taste, even offering millions wouldn’t entice Trigo to participate in such a bold event again.
He had hoped for something more interesting.
“Well, that’s a letdown.”
There’s no denying it’s a letdown.
The event ended sooner than expected.
Just as Trigo was about to get up from his seat,
“Master Trigo. You said to bring any weapons we wanted sharpened.”
Kang Chang-soo pushed through the crowd and walked over. In his hand was “Odin’s Spear.”
“That’s right. But there’s no weapon left to be sharpened, is there?”
The order is determined by the order in which weapons are submitted. However, Kang Chang-soo didn’t submit any weapons, so he wasn’t assigned an order.
“There were circumstances.”
“What circumstances?”
By the way, Trigo was a very punctual dwarf when it came to appointments.
It would take something significant to change his mind.
Then, Kang Chang-soo unwrapped the cloth covering the spear tip. And finally, Odin’s Spear revealed its full form.
“Oh my! What is that?”
“What, what could have happened?”
“It looks like it’s about to explode.”
People started murmuring when they saw it.
Even to the layman’s eye, the state of Odin’s Spear seemed alarming.
On the other hand, Trigo’s eyes lit up. He approached the spear with an intrigued expression. Given this context, it’s easy to understand why.
The enchantment of ‘Lightning’ attribute and the essence of ‘Water’ attribute, which absorbed the energy of Leviathan, are conflicting and stored in the spear tip. As a result, sparks may occur, and it may swell as if it’s about to explode. Its appearance is like…
“It’s in a state akin to a time bomb. That’s why you had it with you.”
Kang Chang-soo nodded.
“If any other hunters submitted weapons enchanted with similar energies…”
“It would explode!”
“Yes, that’s why I kept it. That’s why I didn’t receive a turn.”
“Oh, as long as there’s a clear reason, there shouldn’t be a problem in that regard.”
Trigo was still looking at the spear tip. He furrowed his brows and spoke.
“However, it’s too high to see properly. Lower it a bit, or better yet, hand me the spear somehow.”
Kang Chang-soo blinked his eyes in surprise.
“Hand you the spear?”
Instantly, memories of encounters with numerous blacksmiths flashed through his mind. They trembled with fear when they saw Kang Chang-soo holding the spear in their workshops.
Well, it was understandable.
Bringing a weapon akin to a bomb into their workshops, how could they not be afraid?
On the verge of exploding, disaster was imminent. Many blacksmiths didn’t hesitate to drive him away.
But Trigo wants a closer look. He even asks for the spear to be handed over to him.
“So, you won’t repair it without looking?”
“I-is it possible to repair it?”
“How can you underestimate Trigo? Of course!”
“Ah… but… repairing it won’t be free. It might require quite a bit for the materials. So, let’s get an estimate and discuss it in detail.”
‘Is money the key here?’
‘But the spear can be repaired!’
“If it can be repaired, I’ll pay any amount. Ah, you mentioned that you wanted to take a closer look at the spear, right?”
Nodding eagerly, Kang Chang-soo quickly handed over the spear. The spear tip swelled in its eerie form.
“If it had lasted just a little longer, it wouldn’t have held up. Heh heh. Yes, yes. You, hold on a bit longer. I’ll fix you up soon.”
Trigo murmured to the spear as if it were a person, then without hesitation, he headed towards the workbench, holding the spear.
“Uh, is it okay?”
In an instant, the crowd split like the Red Sea.
They all wore expressions mixed with apprehension. Especially after Trigo’s earlier remark, “It would explode!”, they were all quite frightened.
Yet, none of them left. They were all curious about how such a spear could possibly be repaired.
***
All the materials needed for spear repair are ready. So there’s no need to hesitate.
Trigo immediately got to work.
The start of the work was igniting the fire.
Whoosh-!
The flames that erupted from the furnace flickered like waves. But this level was not enough.
Trigo poured the breath of fire into the blazing furnace. Instantly, the temperature of the flames rose.
‘This should do.’
Seeing the black flames, Trigo nodded in satisfaction. Meanwhile, the onlookers exclaimed worriedly, mouths gaping.
“Hey, Trigo. Is it okay?”
“The flames are black! That means it must be at least how many degrees? When it’s blue, it’s roughly 1,500 degrees… Huh, ack!”
“Shouldn’t we run away now?”
Some people took a few steps back.
Especially the civilians, the ordinary people, were particularly alarmed.
It was a natural reaction. The eruption was beyond what ordinary people could endure.
“Hey, what’s going on? Look, isn’t Mr. Dok over there with the other hunters?”
“Oh, really? Come to think of it, Trigo seems fine too, doesn’t he?”
“Huh. We may be far away, but really, he’s amazing. If I were in front of that, I’d have melted away by now.”
“Uh, uh? Is it starting?”
However, the commotion soon died down. The reason was simple. Watching fires was the most entertaining thing in the world.
Moreover, even though they were novices in the field of blacksmithing, the spectators instinctively knew how rare the scene they were witnessing was.
So they just moved back a little, but had no intention of leaving.
And then it happened.
Trigo, who had been inspecting the spear, suddenly pushed the spearhead into the furnace.
“…!”
‘Pushing a spear akin to a time bomb into the furnace in such an uneasy manner. Was that supposed to be a repair? Wasn’t it more like pouring oil onto a fire?’
In that moment, Kang Chang-soo widened his eyes. There was no time to stop it. Moreover, the spear had already left his hand. He looked anxious.
‘Did he realize it?’
Jong-sik resolved his anxiety.
“The energy that can withstand water is fire.”
Jong-sik calmly explained Trigo’s working process.
“It seems that Trigo is trying to add the ‘fire’ energy to Hunter Kang’s spear.”
“But Odin’s spear already has an enchantment…”
Bestowing options during production.
Bestowing options after production.
Even though it’s just one letter difference, the difficulty level of the work is like heaven and earth.
Adding options itself is not an easy task, but bestowing options after production boasts an extremely difficult level.
“To add additional options, you need to know how to unravel the already imbued options….”
Unless you’re the original creator, how could you possibly know? Unfortunately, the creator of Odin’s spear, Michelangelo, is no longer in this world.
In that case, does that mean this task is impossible?
“From our perspective, it seems impossible. But Trigo isn’t an Earthling, he’s a dimensional being, right?”
“Th-that’s true.”
“Moreover, Trigo is a member of the Fire Manipulator tribe. If he wants to, he can imbue the energy of fire into any weapon. So, just relax and watch. It might be a sight you rarely see.”
Jong-sik nodded towards Trigo. Trigo was pulling out the heated spearhead with his bare hands.
Then, he began pouring various materials onto the spear. His actions reminded onlookers of the god of fire, Hephaestus.
Trigo then began to carve runes onto the heated spear. Onlookers held their breath, captivated by his intense expression.
After some time, Odin’s spear began to absorb the energy of fire. But that wasn’t all. It also absorbed the energy of holiness along with the fire, thanks to Trigo’s ashen runes.
“First, let’s completely expel the energy of ‘water’.”
Thanks to this, the addition of fire energy joined the lightning and water properties, leading to a tripartite battle, no, a quadruplet battle.
Trigo’s imbued fire energy fiercely attacked the water energy. The fire energy, augmented by holiness, was unstoppable.
Furthermore, Trigo hammered to solidify the spear.
Bang, bang, bang!
With each strike of the hammer on the spearhead, fierce flames erupted.
“Wow, am-amazing!”
“The spear is gradually turning red!”
“Now it’s becoming truly a spear.”
The spearhead, which had been swelling as if it would explode at any moment, was now being sharpened sharply.
After some time, it was around the time the sun, which had been in the zenith, was setting.
“Phew, this should be usable now.”
Trigo put down the iron hammer he had been holding. The spear he had been tirelessly hammering had a strange glow to it.
“Is it done? Did you really fix everything?”
Kang Chang-soo approached Trigo as if possessed. Trigo looked up at him, wiping away the sweat, with a smirk on his face.
“Well, you see? Didn’t I say I could fix it?”
“I… I really didn’t expect it to be usable again.”
“Well, check it out. And as I said earlier, you’ll have to cover the cost of the materials.”
“Of course.”
Kang Chang-soo replied with a smile. Soon enough, Odin’s spear was clenched in his hand.
“Well? Isn’t it better than before? Hehe.”
‘Better? That’s an understatement.’
‘One might even dare to call it insane.’
Odin’s spear had completely transformed.
Not only did it retain its lightning properties, but it now also contained the energies of fire and holiness.
“This is insane. Is this really the spear I entrusted to you?”
Kang Chang-soo muttered as he brandished the spear. Trigo chuckled, straightening his shoulders.
“I think we’ve done enough checking. Now, it’s time to settle the bill, right?”
“…!”
At those words, Kang Chang-soo snapped out of his reverie. Until he had the spear in his hand, he hadn’t fully comprehended. It was about the value of this spear.
Kang Chang-soo recalled his current liquid assets. If he sold guild shares, buildings, and broke his savings, he could probably gather around 500 billion won.
‘First, I’ll use 500 billion to put out urgent fires….’
He thought, and in that moment—
Trigo demanded payment for the repairs.
“There were a lot of materials involved. How about 200 billion?”
‘…200 billion?’
‘That’s surprisingly cheap?’
Kang Chang-soo looked at Trigo.
“Two hundred billion? Are you sure it’s two hundred billion?”
“Hmm. Okay, okay. My mistake. I got confused. Then just give me a million won.”
Trigo coughed out a laugh. “…You catch on fast,” he muttered after the cough.
“A million won? Not a billion, or, wait, not even a trillion, just a million won?”
“A trillion? And you think you can pay me with that? Oh my! I didn’t realize Hunter Kang was so loaded. Well, since I said I’d only charge for the materials this time, just give me a million won.”
“Haha….”
Kang Chang-soo burst into laughter as if he were out of his mind. Reality just didn’t seem real at all.
Then something he had forgotten suddenly occurred to him.
‘…The duel!’
He looked at Trigo and asked, “Are you sure about the settlement? Can I use this right away?”
“Why are you asking? Of course you can. What, are you going monster hunting or something?”
“No. I’m going to ask Hunter Dok for some instruction.”
Kang Chang-soo looked at Jong-sik. Jong-sik nodded. A promise was a promise.
Meanwhile, Trigo frowned and shouted, “What do you mean you’re doing something with Jong-sik? Hmph! After I went through all that trouble to fix it, are you planning to break it again in less than a day?”
