[ TWATF ]

Chapter 22: World of 1% (2)

Chapter 22: World of 1% (2)

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Jaehwan shook his memories away. He was disappointed as he wanted to ask the [Nightmare] something.

“Who’s the top artisan here then?”

“Hmm… It’s Vice-Chief Meikal. But…”

The Apprentice looked at Jaehwan from top to bottom. Jaehwan also looked down at himself. He forgot that he looked like a beggar.

“The cost of a request from Meikal is expensive. You need the materials too…”

“I have the materials.”

The materials meant horns from the horned monsters. They used steel and iron, but there was no material more valuable than horns within the Tree of Imagery. None of the metals were as light and durable as horns.

“…You have a horn?” he asked, his voice filled with suspicion. The horns that the <Twilight’s Fall> used were the horns of a bihorn or higher. They had mass-produced weapons that could be used by Non-Adapters or 1st stage Adapters, so it was unnecessary for special requests with unihorns.

“We only take in horns from bihorns or higher. Why don’t you just choose one from the mass-produced scabbards? They are still well-made…”

Jaehwan shook his head. As the Apprentice became red with anger, Jaehwan spoke.

“By bihorn, you mean the monster with two horns?”

“…Yes.”

Jaehwan reached into his backpack and took out the horn. It was the horn he got from killing the monster wolf. After he handed it to the Apprentice, the Apprentice looked at it for a long time and then began to shiver.

‘How many horns did this one have…?!’

He had trained in <Twilight’s Fall> for a long time but he had not seen such a horn. The shine of the black horn and its durability… even its thickness alone was mesmerizing.

“This… this is so beautiful…!”

He realized this wasn’t for him to decide; he needed to fetch the Vice Chief at once! After glancing around for a while, he stopped. There were tens of artisans that had gathered next to the central furnace.

“Oh, there he is!”

Before he could finish, Jaehwan had already begun walking. He was followed by a sighing Mino and the Apprentice with the horn.

Meikal, the Vice-Chief Smith of <Twilight’s Fall>. Everyone in Gorgon Fortress knew his name. He was the only blacksmith with the title [Apprentice] amongst the humans. The title was usually only given to the [Nightmares]. So even if the title represented the lowest rank, it was a great feat for a human to have such a title.

“I’m an old man now.”

Meikal remembered the day he first earned the title, tens of years ago. A [Nightmare] had come and spoken to him.

-Blame your heritage. You will never achieve a higher rank than [Apprentice].

He did not heed those words back then. Young Meikal back then thought he had time and passion. He thought he could get into a higher world if he tried. He practiced while [Nightmares] slept, and studied metallurgy while [Nightmares] played.

But as he was faced with the twilight of his age, he knew.

It was something that could not be achieved no matter how hard he tried.

“I guess I’ve been doing this for too long now…”

Meikal mumbled as he looked at the horn in front of him. It was the horn from one of the Ten-Clan vice leaders from <Chaos>. It was to make a sword and the work was almost complete. The only thing left now was to put in the final touch.