Weapon Break
On my next holiday, I went to the E-rank labyrinth that I’d cleared with Mear-san before. I didn’t go there to clear it again, but to try out my new skills. Namely, the Weapon Break skill I got the other day, which was currently granted to the steel sword I was holding.
So what kind of effect is it, exactly? Is it a skill to destroy the opponent’s weapon? Or is it a skill that can destroy my own weapon? There has to be some effect either way. There’s a possibility that it’s a negative-type skill but… well, let’s just see what happens.
I went down to the third floor of the labyrinth and found a Sahuagin, a humanoid fish-like monster. It has fish-like scales on its body and is quick and clever, so it uses its spear to good effect.
Last time I came here, I didn’t have a hard time fighting them because Mear-san was here to back me up. How would it be this time? I’ve also grown since then, so I figured I’d be fine. The main thing I wanted was to verify the skill in a one-on-one battle, but these Sahuagins were acting in groups of two or more. I couldn’t test as methodically as I would have liked.
Nevermind, let’s just go for it.
As usual, I attacked first, killing one with a poisoned knife. The second one was enraged by the sudden death of its friend and leaped at me. For a fish, its leg strength was amazing, but I dodged its spear thrust easily.
Should I try it now?
I swung my sword down at it and activated the skill. “Weapon Break!”
The instant it activated, my sword shattered, generating a strong impact in all directions, like a blast. The Sahuagin and I were both blown away, and it was injured. Was that the effect of Weapon Break just now?
I immediately got my bearings and threw a knife with a poison attack at the Sahuagin, which was still staggering in place. Just before I threw it, I gave it Weapon Break, which I activated the moment it pierced the creature. It exploded immediately, but the weapon itself shattered and vanished just as quickly.
I see. This is the Weapon Break effect, huh? A skill that creates a powerful explosion at the cost of the weapon? Seems like a useful attack.
One thing I was worried about was the weapons-only aspect. I experimented further.
This time I created a ring and put that skill on it. It was easy to hold, like a small rock. Throwing it at a nearby Sahuagin and activating the skill produced a small explosion. It still activated, but it wasn’t nearly as powerful this time. Is it based on the size of the object?
I tried switching it up with various weapons of different sizes: sword, knife, axe, spear, cane, and so on. My first guess seemed to be correct ― the larger the object given the skill, the more powerful the explosion will be.
I got some distance from the Sahuagin, heading to the nearby forest and touching a few trees randomly as I went before watching that area from a distance. When the Sahuagin came near the trees I’d touched, I activated Weapon Break. The creature was swallowed up by a large explosion from all of the trees.
When the dust cleared, only a burnt field was left. Even the Sahuagin’s materials (it apparently died from the first explosion) were caught up in it and were a bit dusty.
That was dangerous… if I’d had bad luck, I might have ended up like this the first time I tried it. Or rather, it’s that underwear shop that’s more dangerous. Imagine if a woman accidentally wore that pair of underwear and said “Weapon Break” by chance. A terrible thing would happen.
Consider as well if a women used the underwear and happened to be intimate with her partner, and shouted “Weapon Break” carelessly. The underwear might have exploded, and the man and woman might have exploded as well. It really is horrible that other people can’t see their skills at all.
…Come to think of it, there are times in the world when mysterious explosions occur, always mysterious incidents. Maybe the explanation is that some skill like this was activated unintentionally.
“Weapon Break is… unexpectedly crazy.”
Above all, its compatibility with my occupation is outstanding, so this is only a good thing.
Well… my occupation, eh? Who in the world started the idea that being a Blacksmith was a misfortune?
While it’s true that Blacksmiths can only make weapons from scratch, but that’s no different from other craftsmen. Those who are good at making daily necessities can’t make anything else, but the quality compared to a non-specialist is unquestionable.
First, all other craftsmen make their items by hand from scratch, but a Blacksmith can make anything on the spot, just like when God creates Divine Treasures. In addition, anything I break with the Creation Hammer can be recreated as well.
Why is this called a useless occupation? Will I be able to find out if I study it more?
Well, I can’t go to school for this. Rather, if this was anything taught in our schools or universities, the general public wouldn’t be so wrong about it. Everyone is given weapons by God. That’s the only reason the Blacksmith is said to be useless, as they can only make weapons.
Whatever a blacksmith can make ― such as a knife or set of knives for daily use ― can be made by people from other occupations. That’s why you don’t need a Blacksmith.
But the reality is different. It turns out a Blacksmith can actually make anything. Was I the only Blacksmith like this, or was there some big historical discrepancy for some reason? I wanted to check for any clues about this, but I would do that some other time. For now, I proceeded through the labyrinth. I still had to see how much I’d improved.
Thanks to Weapon Break, I was able to make up for my lack of attack power. For example, it was possible to use it on the trees that grew in the area. That said, unless I specifically recreated a tree with my ability, there were many restrictions on the skills I could attach. Wholly natural objects apparently couldn’t exceed D-rank.
Speaking of natural objects, I could apparently attach the skill to soil, trees, rocks, etc. It was clear the trees could be used as weapons by exploding them next to the enemy. Dirt was a splendid weapon if you think of using it to blind the enemy, and rocks were good as thrown weapons.
I didn’t know the standards of whether or not you could equip natural objects, but if they were carefully selected like this, I could use them as weapons.
Just grabbing a fistful of dirt doesn’t show a rank. The same goes for pebbles. A certain amount of mass is necessary. There was the sense that this was worth remembering.
I continued down the floors while humming a tune.
Bound Pleasures 
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