“What?”

“Come in quickly before I change my mind.”

“……Elder.”

“If fate has brought you here, there must be a reason. I…… had vowed not to touch a blood-drinking sword again. You young ones have been through much. Follow me in.”

With those final words, the old master blacksmith turned and slipped inside the building.

For someone who had seemed so adamant about refusing the request, it was an easier acceptance than expected.

Small exclamations of surprise rose from the blacksmith who had guided Suji’s group here and the onlookers standing around.

“It’s true the old master has the most experience here…… But I didn’t know she had raised her skill level enough to take on tier 9 work.”

“I know. I thought Lady Daphne was wasting her time too.”

“And she hasn’t taken any new commissions in almost 20 years, except for occasionally putting crafted items up for auction……”

“Did you see Lady Daphne’s skills though? Shak, shak!”

“But did you see that Lady Daphne has three ‘Shackles of the Extinct’? No, how on earth do you get three tier 9 weapons? And of the same type?”

“The ‘Laurel’ rewards weren’t made public. Maybe it duplicates the main weapon or something?”

Suji let such whispers drift past one ear as she thanked their guide and stepped inside.

From the outside it looked truly ramshackle, like it might collapse at any moment, but the interior was impeccably tidy.

The living quarters seemed to be on the second floor, while the fairly spacious first floor was entirely set up as a smithy.

Dull or worn-out equipment was gathered in one corner, while forges, machine hammers, anvils and the like were scattered about.

“Put down what you want to synthesize here.”

At the old master’s words, Suji nodded to her teammates, who all set down their main weapons at once.

‘Shackles of the Extinct’, ‘Silence that Swallows Screams’, ‘Snowflake Mire’, ‘Scorpion of Faith’.

The old woman, who had thought there would only be Suji’s three swords, looked dumbfounded.

After examining the weapons in turn, she slowly straightened up.

“Perhaps it’s because I’ve been out of work for so long. I don’t understand how the world works anymore. I’ve been a blacksmith for quite some time, but I never thought I’d see the day when four such impossible requests came in at once.”

In front of the team members anxiously waiting to see if she would say it was impossible again, the old woman brought over a long hammer she had leaned against one side, looking annoyed.

The smooth hammer was densely engraved with what looked like spells in barely visible intaglio.

It was clearly no ordinary object at first glance.

Just as Suji and her companions received stat corrections through items, the blacksmith must have her own main weapon.

Seeing the old woman’s face as she silently focused on her work as if to say ‘don’t be a nuisance’, Suji set down all the necessary items and retreated to sit on a bench to one side.

The old woman busily moved back and forth, carefully preparing her equipment, then took the three ‘Shackles of the Extinct’ and laid them down in a triangle shape.

Then she placed the items Suji had set down on top of each sword. Time crystals, 8 top-grade gems matching the attributes, beast bones, 30 weapon-specific enhancement stones (high-grade) and 30,000G.

The materials alone would make most hunters’ wallets hurt, but not a single person here begrudged it.

The old woman stood before it all and rolled up her sleeves. Between the neat beige sleeves, muscular forearms that seemed impossible for an elderly person were revealed.

Grasping the forearm-thick hammer in one hand and spinning it around, the old woman took a light breath.

Her face was completely focused, like a different person.

Thud, thud, thud.

As she swung the hammer down on each sword, a red synthesis formation appeared on the floor. Inside the round formation was a large triangle that filled it completely, with a weapon placed at each vertex.

It was a familiar formation shape seen during synthesis, but the energy emanating from it was completely different.

[Synthesizing item ‘Shackles of the Extinct’ (Tier 9).]

As she stared blankly at the system window text she never thought she’d see, a voice came through her ring.

− Luck stat is pretty nice, isn’t it?

Suji laughed at the brazen question.

No one would dislike getting stronger.

Of course it was nice.

But this was basically something they had given first, wasn’t it?

Starting an impossible event out of nowhere that could only end in death if failed. Without even having a proper patch for it. Showing off just for handing over a few items.

It was no different from what Suji had wrested away by being stubborn.

“I’d appreciate it if you could be quiet during this important moment.”

[νόμος protests your action with silence.] [σκιά is amused by your action.] [Τύχη laughs at your action.] [Μουσα roars with laughter at your action.]

She glanced at the logs of the ‘great beings’ with no teamwork and muted them.

There really was no time for such pointless chatter.

Even when she had sent Piece and Saint ahead first, she had only held a vague sense of expectation. Synthesis using 3 of the same equipment didn’t have that high of a failure rate after all.

About 20% or so?

An 80% success rate was undoubtedly excellent compared to other probabilities in the hunter system, but if you failed, your own success rate became 0%. She suddenly felt nervous.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang.

As the old woman struck her hammer in the air, it bounced back as if hitting a solid wall, making a clamorous noise. Red sparks flew.

The action was repeated dozens of times. As if casting a spell.

It was the first time she had watched a synthesis with such a solemn feeling.

[Equipment synthesis in progress…… 4%

Equipment synthesis in progress…… 12%

Judgment successful.

Equipment synthesis in progress…… 23%

Judgment successful.]

Suji read the logs appearing in her status window and unconsciously gaped.

She had switched to visualization mode so others could see it too, so everyone was looking at the status window together.

“Did you see that?”

Saint nodded with a pale face at Suji’s question.

“……I think it’s because it’s tier 9 equipment? Usually there’s only one judgment, but this has a judgment every 20%.”

“Doesn’t that make the success rate much lower?”

“Since you have to succeed 0.8 four times, it’s about 0.4 if you calculate the fourth power.”

While Suji exchanged shocked looks with her teammates, the synthesis continued.

[Equipment synthesis in progress…… 80%

Judgment successful.]

“Just one more.”

As Suji murmured desperately, that annoying voice cut in again.

− Do you agree with me now? Luck stat is pretty nice, isn’t it?

Suji gritted her teeth and forced her lips into a smile.

This was practically demanding praise.

“The luck stat is so great. I don’t know how I would have lived without it.”

[νόμος laughs loudly at your action.]

‘Really just like a child.’

At that moment, along with the old woman’s hammering, the final log appeared.

[Equipment synthesis in progress…… 99%

Judgment successful.

Equipment synthesis 100% complete.

‘(Incandescent) Shackles of the Extinct’ (Tier 10) has been successfully synthesized.

‘(Incandescent) Shackles of the Extinct’ (Tier 10)

Contains the breath of a goddess who resolved to never breathe again.

Possesses light and electric attributes.

Made by the hand of a master smith.

Luck +7 Strength +30 Skill +4 Vitality +21 Attack Power +23,099 Critical Hit +277]

Streams of light poured from each corner of the synthesis formation, converging in the center.

Where the light shimmered and disappeared, instead of the simple silver rapier she had known before, lay an ornate sword with a sun motif.

“……Wow.”

The old woman tossed her hammer in the air and caught it, then wiped the sweat from her brow with a satisfied expression.

“Try holding it.”

Suji bowed politely and grasped the rapier.

The weight was different from the start.

She swung the rapier through the air once.

Being so strong, she didn’t usually care much whether a sword was light or heavy, but when the weight became nearly half as light, she could definitely feel the difference. Plus, she really liked the added light and electric attributes.

Above all else…….

The attack power stat that had more than doubled was unbelievable.

No matter how much you synthesize, putting in 3 pieces of equipment doesn’t triple the stats. At most you expect a 1.2 to 1.5 times increase.

Since you can only equip one two-handed weapon at a time anyway, you make this kind of investment to get the best performance possible for the two-handed slot.

But such an impossible value as this.

Seeing Suji’s expression, the old woman grinned.

“Not bad, right?”

Looking at her satisfied smile, the word ‘master smith’ written in the weapon’s description caught Suji’s eye again.

‘So the result varies depending on the rank of the person doing the synthesis too.’

She knew it would affect the success rate to some degree, but she had no idea it could produce such a different result.