“Holy crap! This is amazing!”
“This is nuts!”
”Ggahng, ggahng!”
The Serpent Bearer’s second holy ground, commonly known as the Serpent Bearer’s forge!
Screams were coming from this workshop in Hawaii. Lee Gun had turned the entire island into a kiln that was on all 365 days of the year. It had changed into a place where even disciples with high fire resistance were unable to wear their clothes.
Amongst humanity, the Zodiac Saint of the sun possessed the highest fire resistance. Yet even Hugo had to wear a sleeveless shirt because of the heat.
And so, all the disciples were wearing swimsuits, and the Archer disciples cheered at this.
The one responsible for all this was Lee Gun.
“Ohhhhhhh! These are items made by Lee Gun-nim?”
“Wow! Awesome!”
The disciples looked like they were about to cry as they gazed at the items laid out on top of the long work table.
Whenever Lee Gun needed a work table, he installed it in no time, and he twisted the neck of Torch to bring out the fire. He used the fire to melt metal, and the “Hammer That Grants Achievement” was used to mold the shape of metal. The kettle made from the Aquarius was used for quenching.
Lee Gun would create the shape of an item instantly, and he looked very cool doing it. This was especially true when the item was in its liquid state. Watching the forging was like watching sugar sculpting where it took shape in an instant.
“Wow! He just spun it once, but something complex came out…!!!”
“He made it in a second, yet there is nothing out of place…!!”
The eyes of the Archer disciples sparkled as they watched Lee Gun, who looked absolutely like an expert.
Moreover, although the process was surprising, even more surprising were the finished products.
“When Lee Gun-nim said he’ll make items for us, I didn’t expect much. This is…”
Some people were surprised by this news.
“What?! Lee Gun-nim will make equipment for the affiliate disciples?”
“Is this true only for the Archer disciples?”
These disciples were the Virgo disciples who had come out on an errand. They seemed to have never expected Lee Gun to be the one to make the equipment. It was to be expected. After all, the Capricorn temple was known as the best manufacturer.
“I thought he would take the Capricorn temple as an affiliate and have them make the items…”
The Virgo Constructs, who had come earlier on an errand, tsk-tsked.
[You might not believe me, but Baby snake-nim’s original occupation was a Maker.]
“What?! He is a Maker with that crazy fighting ability?”
The disciples were shocked.
“W-We thought he was a battle-type Zodiac…”
Of course, it wasn’t as if they looked down on Makers. A lot of the Capricorn temple’s blacksmiths had high fighting capabilities.
In reality, one of the blacksmiths of the Capricorn temple was an SS rank. He had the highest fighting ability, and he was one of the Ten Stars. It was said that he could hold his own against S-rank battle-type disciples.
However, compared to these powerful blacksmiths out there, Lee Gun’s fighting ability was on a different level.
‘He chewed up and spat out a battle-type Zodiac Saint…!!’
[You shouldn’t get it twisted. In terms of ability, the Serpent Bearer isn’t a battle-type Zodiac.]
“What?”
[If the Aquarius is like internal treatment, the Serpent Bearer is like surgical treatment.]
[That’s right. The Serpent Bearer can be considered a healing-type Zodiac.]
What the hell? Healing?
“Oh, my goddesses! That can’t be real!”
The kind of abilities Lee Gun’s disciples had was unknown, but their leader sure could turn monsters into chunks of meat with an ax!
The Virgo Constructs ignored them as their faces turned red.
[Anyway, our baby snake-nim’s body is amazing!]
[Also, he doesn’t wear a lot of clothes in this place!]
This was why the Virgo Constructs were not leaving this place. They were secretly squealing with joy.
On the other hand, the Virgo disciples who were here on errand looked surprised. Even if they put aside the idea of a healing Zodiac, he was also a Maker?
A big commotion took place, especially amongst the very few young male disciples in the Virgo temple. These rare disciples had been brought into the temple at Kevin’s request.
“It makes no sense that he is a Maker. Even Lee Gun-nim can’t win against the Genius Workshop…!”
The Genius Workshop was a place managed by the Capricorn, and they were the greatest group of master craftsmen in charge of supplying gear to humanity.
The Virgo disciples always requested items to be manufactured from them.
“Should we tell Kevin-nim about what we learned?”
“He probably won’t be interested even if we tell him.”
“I guess. I think he’ll give the Capricorn temple the contract, like always.”
Kevin hadn’t heard the news about Lee Gun making equipment for the Sagittarius temple. He probably assumed that Lee Gun would make weapons for only those belonging to the Serpent Bearer’s temple. Therefore, the disciples nodded in an understanding manner.
“Also, he’s making equipment for the last-place Sagittarius temple. It shouldn’t matter much.”
“Even if it’s Lee Gun-nim, there is no way he’s better than the craftsmen of the Genius Workshop…”
Suddenly…
Kwahng!!!
The disciples fell to the ground when they heard an incredibly loud sound. It sounded as if the sky was crashing down around them.
At the same time, they screamed when they saw something.
“What…What the hell is that?”
“The mountain was blown away!”
A small island nearby disappeared as a hole appeared.
“What the hell is that? Was a royal skill used to destroy it?”
“N…No. They were just testing out a bow Lee Gun-nim made… No skill was used…”
“What?! Did Hugo-nim do that?”
“O-Of course?”
Having blown away a small mountain, Goat stood frozen on the spot. He had done as Lee Gun had ordered him and tested out the bow.
It was an incomplete bow, so Lee Gun had told him not to use his skill. He told Goat to just put a bit of his magical energy into the bow before using it. Goat hadn’t expected much to happen.
“W-What kind of power is this? This is nuts…”
Goat had never felt this sensation in his life. As he stood frozen there, the Archer disciples exulted.
“Ohhhhhh! Amazing! That’s so cool!”
Goat looked at the weapon in shock. Of course, it was as if he had never used Lee Gun’s bow before.
The bow Lee Gun had made for Hugo had been given to a pawnshop as collateral. It had been one of Lee Gun’s silver series. When he had shot the black bow, he had thought it was amazing.
However, this was a bow manufactured using the data of his body. It was tailored for him, and it was beyond imagination.
‘Saint-nim did say the weapons will be out of this world if our data value was taken into consideration.’
Hugo had told them they wouldn’t be able to use other weapons once they got a taste of Lee Gun’s weapon.
Lee Gun clicked his tongue when he saw the result. “It’s still crappy. I’ll have to strengthen it more.”
“?!”
It was crappy?! In the end, the Archer disciples were moved as tears fell from their eyes.
“This is nuts! This is much better than the items from the Genius Workshop!”
“Shit! Are you sure about making gear for us?”
“You even gave us so many energy drinks for free!”
The Archer disciples had a full box of energy drinks. No, it was a box of Aquarius’s potions. They cried as they looked at it.
“I’ve never drank something so expensive before!”
“That’s right! Every potion made by the Aquarius temple was too expensive! The only time I was able to have a sip was when we were collaborating with other temples….!!”
“We didn’t have potions, so… we had to do our best. We had to run away as we fought the monsters!”
“That’s right! A small bottle cost 200 thousand won!”
“The ones consumed by the S-rank are a couple of million won each!”
When Lee Gun heard those words, he nonchalantly said, “Is that so? You can have as much as you want. I’m going to make the bedwetter cover all the ingredient fees.”
The Archer disciples cried like there was no tomorrow.
“A-Are we allowed to enjoy such luxuries?”
“This is happiness itself!”
“We can die tomorrow!!!!”
As the Archer disciples cried, something surprising happened.
[Faith toward the Serpent Bearer has increased by a lot.]
[Faith toward the Serpent Bearer has increased by a lot.]
[The absolute loyalty of the Archer disciples has increased by a lot.]
“Lee Gun-nim! We will serve you forever!”
At this point, Hugo became angry. “Hey! Is this really worthy of praise? I also gave you guys potions as a present during the holidays!”
“Weh! Elder Sister Zeina went through so much hardship.”
Lee Gun tilted his head in puzzlement.
“Zeina?”
“Ah! She’s a high-ranking officer of the Sagittarius temple, and she’s the most beautiful person in our temple.”
“When Jaewon hyung was missing, Elder Sister worked very hard to bring in work. She held up the finances of our temple…”
“That’s right! If only Saint-nim had agreed to do a nude shoot, we wouldn’t have had to worry about our finances for five years…! He refused the shoot! Since our temple was so poor, we had to bring in money doing odd jobs!”
Their words made Hugo angry.
“Hey! I worked ten times as hard as you guys! Also, a nude shoot should be out of the question!”
“Why? They said you can keep your pants on, so it really wasn’t a nude shoot!!!”
“No! Only Jiwoo can see my nude body! Jiwoo wouldn’t have liked it!”
“Damn it!”
That seemed to shut the disciples up.
Chun Jiwoo’s eyes turned round. She had been standing off to the side. “Oh my! It’s a great idea. Why not?”
“Honey?!!”
“It’s just the upper body. It would help out with the living expenses of the disciples. What’s wrong with it?”
“?!!” Hugo howled. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
Chun Jiwoo patted her husband as if to say she had been joking.
After witnessing everything, Lee Gun headed toward the kiln. “Anyway, everyone has to test out their weapons before I can finish them. I have to fine-tune the data. Oh yeah! All the weapons I make have a sense of self. The perverted ones will try to attack their owners. Be on your guard.”
As soon as he spoke, a terrifying explosion rang out.
“Ahhhk! The weapons are going crazy!”
“Ahhhhk! They are running away!”
“Their personalities vary a lot. However, I was able to experiment and find five ways that’ll allow you to train them. You can whip them. You can dangle a carrot in front of them. You naturally can have a good connection with them. You can brainwash them. Finally, you can just not touch and ignore them.”
“What? Wait a moment! We won’t be able to use the weapons if we follow the last method!”
“That’s none of my business?”
“What?! Ahhhhhk!”
Screams ran out.
Lee Gun ignored them as he opened the lid to the kiln. Inside it lay a long stone. It was as if cement had been applied to it before it was fired within the kiln.
Lee Gun grinned as he looked at it.
‘It is about time.’
Yes, the thing inside was the kiln was none other than Heaven’s Punishment. In truth, half of the reason he had made equipment for the others was that he had been bored.
When there was a lull while making Heaven’s Punishment anew, he had made his hands busy. Of course, he was a perfectionist when it came to producing weapons, so it wasn’t as if he did sloppy work. On the other hand, he was making Heaven’s Punishment with all the care in the world.
It was a Zodiac weapon that would be able to kill a good, and it was finally done.
When Lee Gun was about to take out Heaven’s Punishment, the disciples screamed.
“Kyahhhk!”
The magical energy that surged forth from the weapon was strong enough to almost destroy the kiln.
The lump of cement blazed as it started to move violently. Of course, this lump wasn’t Heaven’s Punishment since Lee Gun had yet to awaken it.
The only reason it was moving was that the Leo’s magical energy that made up the frame of the weapon was too powerful.
‘As expected of a battle-type divine-rank, its energy is incredible.’
Lee Gun laughed as he turned the slime into a large hammer. “Let’s awaken it”
He brought the hammer down on the lump!
Kwahng!!
It was as if an egg was being broken. Cracks started to appear on the enormous rock. The thing to appear from within the rock was Heaven’s Punishment in its new form!
This surprised everyone. Unlike the simple silver color from the past, the weapon was pitch black now! Moreover, the energy coming from it seemed different.
‘Royal holy item.’
No, it was something beyond that. Lee Gun had used a part of the Leo’s body. Moreover, he had entered the best data he had acquired up until now into the divine weapon. All kinds of ingredients were processed to make the weapon.
Now was the final touch…
“Lee Gun-nim!”
The slime transformed into a carving knife, and Lee Gun used it to cut his finger. His blood fell on top of Heaven’s Punishment.
Lee Gun looked tense as he looked at the weapon. The true challenge would start now. The Core and its body had been fixed, but he had never called forth the consciousness of something dead.
‘Creating a new consciousness is easy. However…’
Unlike in the past, 99.99% of the items that Lee Gun created now possessed a sense of self. It was thanks to the divine power of Life that he possessed.
Anyway, the number of holy items in the past that possessed a sense of self had been low. Moreover, Lee Gun never had one’s sense of self die.
This was why he had never tried this before, and he had no idea what would happen.
“Wake up!”
There was no answer.
‘Is it a failure?’
Lee Gun anxiously placed his hand on the weapon. “Wake up.”
Heaven’s Punishment was the first weapon that he had ever made. He had made it at a time in his life when he didn’t know how to make a weapon. That was why he had used enemy weapons that he had repaired or he tried to handcraft weapons.
In the end, he had stolen a blueprint from the gods and learned the basics of crafting as he looked over the shoulders of others. After he mastered the basics, Heaven’s Punishment had been the first official weapon that he had made.
The weapon’s body had been made using monsters and stolen divine ingredients. The Core contained a component that was human. It was an old relationship that Lee Gun couldn’t forget even now.
Lee Gun shouted, “Your name is Heaven’s Punishment. Wake up from your sleep.”
As those words rang out, the red blood on Heaven’s Punishment started to sink into the ax blade.
Flash!
An incredible light encircled the holy ground.
[Heaven’s Punishment has opened its eyes.]
[A change has occurred in the weapon.]
[EX rank!]
A new rank had appeared.
