31 Courage
[You have entered the B-Rank gate: Machine's Paradise.]
Facing the terribly huge golem once again, Hans unsheathed his weapon, revealing a beautiful, yet deadly longsword.
A sword he had recently christened Frost Fang.
Two days prior…
As Hans neared the end of his training, he decided to visit the smithy to collect his commissioned gear while also giving his strained body some break.
After entering the shop, the old man welcomed him not so heartily before showing Hans his newly crafted work.
Before long, a stunning chest plate was placed on the old wooden table before the young man.
It was really awe-inspiring, the clear azure scales shimmered in the dim light of the workshop.
{Mystic Insight}
[Item's Name: Dragon's Protection
Item's Rank: High-Rare
Description: A chest armor piece crafted by a skilled blacksmith from genuine draconian scales, it can protect the user from strong attacks and intimidate weaker foes.
Effects:
On the covered body sections:
+150 endurance,
+300% defence against sharp attack,
+60% defence against magic spells.
Grants the owner the skill:
{Fearsome (Tier-4)
Description: Emits a potent and violent mana, instilling fear in the nearby entities.
Effect: Inflict {Slight Fear} on enemies of the same level as you, and give the status effect {Fear} to enemies whose level is quite lower than yours.
If the difference of level between you and your adversary is significant, you might inflict the status {Complete Fear}, completely overwhelming them mentally and possibly even forcing them to flee or faint.]
A High-Rare rank piece of equipment like this was an extremely rare and powerful resource, not many of them coould be found normally, and if a normal blacksmith were to manage to create a piece like this, it would probably be deemed their life's work.
But for Hephaestus, something below this level wasn't even worth it for him to look at.
Perhaps out of sympathy for Hans or because of the desire to work with dragon scales, he had accepted the commission for a relatively modest sum and produced this masterpiece.
"Here's yor' commission'd item," declared the old man proudly, his eyes held up by two huge black rings that had formed through the countless sleepless work hours.
Despite all the accumulated tiredness, the old man seemed quite proud of his work.
"Thank you," Hans replied, bowing deeply to express his gratitude.
"And.." added Hans. "Do you perhaps have a sword I could buy, even a normal one will do."
That day, Hans's tone was a little low, and the observant bearded man, who noticed his unease decided to trust the young man with something that was quite important to him.
After a moment's hesitation, he exhaled loudly before offering. He hesitated for a bit, "Well, I don't have anythin' cheap for ya, but I do have a sword that is in need of a little testin'. Would ya mind tryin' it out and tell me how you feel about it?"
He then pulled out a sword, something Hans had previously seen, actually more than just looked. Hans had witnessed this very sword being pulled out of the force before being shaped.
It was the nameless sword the old man had crafted after releasing gallons of sweat a few days earlier.
Hans's eyes lit up momentarily, however, he hesitated, feeling guilty for taking such a valuable weapon without even knowing if it was in his power to live enough to give it back.
Hans wanted to be sure about his choice, so he asked insecurely, "Are you sure about this? I might…not be able to give it back to you."
Even if not stated, the old man understood the unspoken concern within Hans' words and replied, "If this sword isn't even enough to protect you, then it's not worth mourning over."
Just like that, Hans got his hands on an immensely powerful weapon and he now held it firmly in his right hand, facing the monster he was about to attack.
Meanwhile, the old man, acting on impulse, regretted giving away one of the finest swords he had crafted last year.
Alone in his workshop, he couldn't help but almost cry out thinking about it.
The sword itself wasn't flashy, it was a simple yet sturdy longsword with a red gem adorning the hilt.
Returning to the current situation, Hans faced the Titanium Golem without being intimidated. This time, he was prepared as thoroughly as he could, akin to taking a difficult test after doing his best to study.
And now, he could see for himself how strong his enemy truly was.
{Mystic Insight}
[Boss Monster
Race: Titanium Golem
Name: None
Lvl: -
Strength: 326
Dexterity: 126
Endurance: 493
Skills: None
Description: A marvel of machinery, an incredibly high-ranking golem that is powered by a mana core. However, since all the mana is allocated for the machine's movement, the machine does not possess consciousness, therefore, it will never be able to operate either mana or aura.
Evaluation: Its body alone is enough to rival those of mid A-Rank monsters but due to the lack of any intelligence and wisdom, its total evaluation tends to fall into a low Rank-A.
State: This target does not feel any emotions.
Note: The skill {Fearsome} granted to you by your equipment {Dragon's Protection} will not have any effect on this target.]
Facing such a creature was truly scary. A-Rank monsters were as scary as those in the fairytales meant to instil obedience in children. Facing something like that in real life seemed way too absurd for Hans.
However, he had no choice. He needed to clear this gate or die trying.
The towering golem began its advance, resulting in the earth beneath them to tremble.
Just as he had witnessed before, the golem's initial attack was a thunderous stomp. The next moment a colossal gray leg descended from the sky, poised to hit him.
But this time, no matter how huge or fast it was, the pressure it gave off was nowhere near to what he had felt during the first encounter, during which everyone was surprised by the sudden incoming attack.
Being prepared gave Hans the opportunity to avoid the hit, but he still was affected by the shockwave generated due to the impact, sending his hair to stand on the end.
After regaining his footing, Hans leapt onto the inclined leg of the golem, which allowed him to climb up the golem's body and scale it until he reached the part that was analogous to a human's abdomen.
There, beneath the tough metal skin of the machine, a large circle marked a vulnerable point, revealed by Hans's skill {Mystic Insight}.
Recalling the monster's description previously given by the skill, Hans deduced that in this very part resided the golem's core.
Hans unleashed all his strength and attacked with all the power he could muster, but despite all his efforts, with the golem's incredibly high endurance, a clear hit like that didn't even manage to scratch the golem's protective layer, leaving Hans quite hopeless.
The core's central placing and the golem's huge dimensions demonstrated just how confident the creator was in the golem's defensive ability, suggesting that even the strong A-Rank attacks wouldn't manage to leave a dent in it.
Indeed, trying with various different attacks didn't injure it at all.
However, undeterred, Hans switched to a different approach, unleashing as many powerful spells for as long as he could, but even then, the young man only managed to slightly bruise the creature in exchange for draining a large chunk of his mana.
This type of fight wasn't one of the passive type damage where both the participants get slightly injured as the battle goes on, rather, it was a life and death battle, where a single smack from the golem could probably end Hans's life or leave him stunned and vulnerable to another successive attacks.
His body slowly started tiring while time passed and when almost three hours had passed from the start of the battle, Hans's swordsmanship improved by leaps and bounds, making him feel somewhat more confident after leaving a small gash in the middle of the golem's chest.
Then all of a sudden, a light started to radiate from his body as Hans closed his eyes to focus.
The sword in his hand shone, transforming from a silver-colored one to a shade of the blue moon, reminiscing a starry night.
{Aura}
With this, he was now really set to start the fight again.
