Only Wisdom Awakened - Chapter 220

Chapter 220: Artifact
The woman crumbled to the ground, as the dust raised by the impact obstructed the view of the three people.

But to everyone’s surprise, the voice of the young man was heard again, and it didn’t seem to be troubled in the least.

“Come on old man, if you hit the weapons you’re forging with such weak attacks you might make iron bars instead of swords.”

The dust slowly cleared away, and Hans’s figure stood still, the old man’s hammer had hit something, but that something wasn’t Hans…

It had stopped just a few centimeters from his body, crushing against an invisible wall.

{mana barrier}(tier-8)

‘Sure enough, this thing’s tough as nails… I needed someone to try it out.

“Mph!”

The old man scoffed, taking his hammer back and regaining his composure.

“It seems like your abilities have improved…”

He said.

“And it seems like yours have regressed”

Hans replied chuckling.

The old man was ready to throw hands because of the provocation, but he managed to contain himself thinking about his image in front of someone who knew his true identity.

“I won’t fall for it brat, don’t even try to get me to attack you once again”

He said, embarrassed after realizing he had just been played.

Smiling, Hans replied:

“Alright alright, I guess you found out”

Even though he knew that the old man would surely explode at the next taunt.

In the meantime, two bystanders were watching them with shocked eyes…

Doubting whether they were dreaming or if what they were witnessing was all really happening.

None of the two managed to find an answer until Hans walked towards them, touching the shoulder of both as he said:

“I’m sorry for him alright, how much is this place’s rent? Let me pay it for him, I am the payer he was waiting for anyway.”

Still unable to move, they just watched the young man and understood they were not dreaming because of his touch.

Gulping before replying, the man opened his mouth:

“I-it’s fifteen thousand a month”

Hans’s grip on their shoulders tightened when he heard that, and in his mind, he thought:

‘You fricking thieves’

“Alright then, do you accept cards?”

“W-we do, come on Camilla, give me the card reader”

But even though he asked that the woman was still frozen, staring at the floor incredulously.

Realizing no reply would come back anytime soon, the man helped the woman up and excused himself:

“I’m sorry for this sight, we will return tomorrow to take care of the payment”

Hans and the old man watched the two of them as they limped away with a satisfied expression.

“Hey old man, I think you were being a bit too aggressive there”

Hans said with a devious smile stamped on his face.

And with the same energy, the old man replied:

“I think it’s you who might’ve gotten a little bit overboard kid”

“Kekeke”

When they were done messing around, Hans got to the point:

“So? How’s the earring production proceeding?”

“Brat… I don’t know how to tell you…”

“Huh? Tell me why-”

“Thank you”

Hans’s chin fell to the ground, and his mouth remained open…

‘Did I just hear something wrong?… he just… said thank you…’

“Don’t look at me like that!!”

The old man said, yelling in embarrassment.

“I am grateful to you because of the advice you’ve given me last time”

“Last time… oh, you mean to try and purify a different material?”

“Yes, I did it, and not only did it surpass my expectations, it also raised my level as a blacksmith, thanks to that experience, I can feel that my smithing is about to become SS-rank.”

‘What kind of item did he craft for him to talk about it like that?

Also… I am tripping or is he speaking proper English now?

So all that accent thing was just a show?’

Hans couldn’t help but wonder.

“Brat, I’m tellin’ ya, this is the best masterpiece I’ve ever crafted in mah lifetime.”

‘Aannd… here he goes once again with the strange accent…

Whatever, I might be focusing on the least important stuff…

He said this was his best masterpiece… and I heard he crafted an epic sword for Elijah.

He did that by surpassing his limits, does that mean he did it once again…? Surpassing everyone in the world, and even himself, in order to create a peerless treasure.’

Hans was already daydreaming about its effect, it was the last piece of the puzzle he needed in order to obtain the power to face off against the abyssal snake.

Seeing Hans’s weird face, the old man got on a little footstool and reached for a black box resting on the highest shelf.

“Brat… I don’t know what you’re thinking about…”

The blacksmith said…

“… but whatever it is… what I made is five- no, ten times better than that!”

His voice was proud… almost too proud.

But all that confidence stemmed from the results he had achieved, and Hans soon managed to witness them.

As the black box opened, a bright light flashed, blinding both of them for an instant before subsiding.

As he opened his eyes, Hans remained in disbelief…

His face wasn’t showing any emotions, his eyes were also seemingly dead.

He did not know how to react, he couldn’t even move his facial muscles.

“That is what I was talking about… you can feel it right?! The level of this treasure!!”

Indeed… even without his mystic insight, Hans could feel it immediately.

It was simply… insane.

[Item name: –

Item rank: Epic (medium)

Item description:

The earrings forged out of the scales of a genuine dragon.

They have been purified of all impurities, and have surpassed the level of a normal magic treasure, becoming an artifact.

The mana contained inside them is so pure that the scales’ color has shifted to a pure elegant white, they are connected via magic to the two rings of cold iron, which have also undergone the purification process.

Item effects:

Wisdom +10%

Casting Time -50%

Mana affinity +50%

Mana control +50%

Elemental affinity (all elements) +30%

Mana sensibility +100%

-special effect:

This ring will act as a medium between you and the world’s mana, decreasing mana consumption by 25%

-special ability:

This earring temporarily uses the owner’s wisdom as a medium to absorb mana from the atmosphere and spread it through your body, boosting your physical stats by 1/3 of the used wisdom.

Maximum amount of wisdom used during this process: 10%

…

This special ability will take the name of {mana hyperboost}

And will be available at all times as long as the earrings are in the wielder’s hands, and the wielder’s remaining mana is above five percent of his mana pool.

This skill has a thirty-minute duration and a four-hour cooldown.]

“You fucking crazy old man…

how did you even make something like this?”

‘It increases my mama by ten percent, and on top of all the other incredible boosts, it also decreases mana consumption by 25%…

Not to talk about its special ability… my stats will increase by another 3.3% of my wisdom if I sacrifice a tenth of it, meaning my other stats will be 13.3% of my wisdom…

Now that I have these earrings, my body could probably face off against those of the top SS ranks for thirty minutes every four hours.

Just by wearing these… my overall fighting abilities will increase by about twenty to thirty percent… maybe even more.

This world is the definition of pay to win…

If I compare it to my rare (low) ring ability to increase my mana by 10… it feels like trash.’

“Hahaha, ya’re so stunned ya can’t even speak brat… pfftehehehe, I wanted to see dat look on ya face as soon as I showed theez to ya!!…”

“Old man… how much do you want for these?

Do you remember? You took my commission with a promise that I would give you an appropriate price for the item…

But these…”

“Huh? Was there a condition like that? It don’t matter anymore.

Workin’ with a material like dat allowed me to surpass mah limits, I was stuck on this level for a couple of years.

Ah… but could ya make it so I don’t have to pay any rent for the rest of mah life?”

“Uh… is that all…”

The old man did not reply…

“Alright, that’s the least I could do…”

‘Now that I think about it, even if he doesn’t sell any weapons these days, he made a fortune in his golden days, so how come he doesn’t have enough money to pay his rent… could there be something deeper behind this? Maybe they robbed him of everything he had and forced him to retire because they were envious of his talent…’

Even if it wasn’t polite, Hans decided to ask anyway.

“Old man… I thought you made a fortune when you worked as Hephaestus… how come now you don’t even have enough money to pay a building’s rent?”

“Oh… that…”

The old man faced the ground with a gloomy expression, as his eyes became teary.

‘As I thought… I shouldn’t have asked!

This stupid mouth of mine!’

“I…

Sniff… sniff….

I lost it all gambling…”