Ch.120120. Mythril

The exchange with the United States presented Bahamut with an excellent opportunity to work with numerous imported ores from America.

From the beginning, both the United States and the Balhut Cult wanted new forms of Bahamut coins rather than the existing ones, and Bahamut himself, realizing the popularity of his coins, had been conducting research.

Above all, once he confirmed that the Balhut Cult’s main enemies were the undead, Bahamut imported large quantities of silver through the United States. What he created by refining that silver and enchanting it was…

“True Silver.”

“Is this… what you’ve been developing until now?”

Bahamut himself called it True Silver.

As if he had just completed the prototype, he invited Special Ambassador Steven and began introducing the True Silver he had developed.

At first, Steven looked quite disappointed to see that Bahamut’s creation was just an ingot similar to silver.

“Yes. To put it in terms you’d understand, it’s Mithril.”

“M-Mithril?!”

Steven’s eyes widened at Bahamut’s explanation.

As a fantasy enthusiast, Steven couldn’t possibly be unfamiliar with the term Mithril.

Mithril—the mysterious metal that appears prominently in countless fantasy works and leaves a strong impression on all readers.

This mythical metal, previously mentioned only in fiction, had now appeared in reality.

“To be precise, it’s closer to… transforming ordinary silver into Mithril through magical means. From an Awakened’s perspective, it would be possible to convert silver to Mithril using Alchemy skills or Magic Craft skills.”

“Oh! Mithril! We certainly know that name! But why did you introduce it as True Silver at first?”

“Well, isn’t there a copyright on the term Mithril?”

“Ah, I see.”

Even Bahamut was wary of copyright issues.

After all, weren’t Bahamut and the Balhut Cult themselves making tremendous amounts of dollars by utilizing copyright?

Conversely, to prepare for the possibility of having to pay money to certain companies due to copyright issues, Bahamut had clearly put thought into naming this new development “True Silver” instead of Mithril.

“There’s no copyright on Korean names.”

“Ah, is that so?”

In fact, there wasn’t really an issue since the name “Mithril” wasn’t trademarked in Korean characters.

So using the term Mithril wouldn’t have been a problem at all, and many fantasy novels already avoided copyright issues by using different spellings.

Moreover, who would demand copyright fees from this enormous dragon deity?

“Besides, in reality, there’s no such metal as Mithril. Even if they tried to claim copyright.”

Steven imagined what would happen if someone tried to demand copyright fees from the dragon deity Bahamut.

It seemed ridiculous to come all the way to the Korean peninsula to demand copyright, and above all, could anyone really make such demands from this enormous dragon deity?

‘Isn’t that impossible?’

Even the notorious copyright monsters would know how to behave themselves and become friends of kind children in front of Bahamut.

Even if they did make demands, it would only be if Mithril was translated as their trademark, and in that case, the issue could be easily resolved by simply changing the spelling.

Anyway, from now on, Mithril would be born as a new substance rather than a brand, so they probably couldn’t demand copyright in the first place.

“So since the Dragon Deity has called this ingot Mithril, it must have excellent properties.”

“First, its advantages are that it never tarnishes. It can be bent easily like copper, and has a glass-like luster. So far, nothing special. But well…”

More important was this Mithril ingot that the dragon deity had developed.

Steven asked to be told about Mithril’s abilities, and Bahamut first explained its characteristics, though the value of precious metals wasn’t particularly important at this point.

What was important was…

“Items made with this have strength that easily surpasses steel. It’s also very light and performs excellently. In particular, it has the effect of Parma, so it has special efficacy against evil beings.”

It was the result of refining it into weapons.

The dragon deity proudly explained its effects one by one, as if confident in the result.

Very lightweight, with strength surpassing steel.

It also had magical effects and could exert special effects on evil beings due to its Parma effect.

“Indeed. One question I have is, do undead fall within the range of evil beings?”

“Yes. According to test results, it’s deadly against the undead. When I tested it on a ghost—a banshee—spotted in the East Sea, it vanished the moment it made contact. I guarantee its effectiveness.”

“I see. Now I understand.”

Steven didn’t quite understand what “evil beings” meant, so he asked if undead were included, and Bahamut nodded in affirmation.

This was certainly something that would interest the United States and the pot-bellied individuals there.

No, they couldn’t help but be interested.

‘In a world where people are already collecting coins quarterly just because they were made by the Dragon Deity, no grand rhetoric is needed. A mysterious magical metal Mithril made by the Dragon Deity! Can anyone claim there are no men whose hearts would swell at this phrase? No, there aren’t! Even I, seeing it with my own eyes, am overwhelmed with romantic notions!’

Even Steven was already gazing at the beautifully shining Mithril, captivated by the mere mention that it was made by the Dragon Deity.

If he felt this way, how would his homeland far away react?

In this situation where Bahamut’s coins had already proven themselves, could anyone really assert that there wouldn’t be pot-bellied individuals interested in this newly created ingot?

No way! How could there be?

Steven could already imagine heroes importing this Mithril to use in weapons or costumes, and it wasn’t hard to think that those damn Wall Street guys would hoard it in warehouses as a safe asset.

Moreover, the efficacy of this mysterious metal didn’t end there.

“When made into armor or accessories, it provides excellent magic resistance. According to test results, armor made of this Mithril even withstood Bahamut Bullets.”

“That’s amazing! How many shots did it withstand?”

It was even said to be a material that could effectively defend against Bahamut Bullets, currently the strongest magical weapon.

Steven, who knew well what role Bahamut Bullets played in the current apocalypse, swallowed hard as he looked at the Mithril in genuine amazement.

How many monsters had fallen to those bullets!

Steven was well aware that many named entities that had appeared and threatened humanity so far couldn’t stand against those bullets and had fallen miserably.

‘It can effectively counter Bahamut Bullets that villains might smuggle when surveillance is lax!’

In fact, he didn’t even need to think that far—it could easily be predicted that it would be effective in dealing with villains, America’s headaches.

Bahamut Bullets were powerful weapons against humanity’s enemies, but at the same time, the Balhut Cult had directly proven they were effective weapons against humans too. Villains knew this fact and secretly smuggled Bahamut Bullets distributed to civilians, which was gradually surfacing as a social problem.

How many heroes had been subdued and injured by Bahamut Bullets smuggled by villains from the market!

“Even after allowing more than 10 shots with the most powerful firepower, there was almost no damage to the Mithril itself. Rather, it was the non-Mithril parts that couldn’t withstand it.”

“That’s truly wonderful news! Then, how about weapons made of Mithril?”

The dragon deity personally guaranteed its performance.

It was truly great news, so Steven cheered and was genuinely happy while also showing great interest in weapons made from this Mithril.

While armor was important, the most crucial thing was powerful weapons to face monsters.

“It’s too light, so weapons made of pure Mithril aren’t suitable as weapons. They need to be mixed with other metals.”

“That’s unfortunate, but it means they can still be used as weapons.”

“Yes, they can be used as weapons.”

Unfortunately, due to its very light characteristic, it needed to be mixed with other metals to adjust the weight.

However, it could certainly still be used as weapons.

Having already proven Mithril’s performance as armor, what kind of performance would Mithril weapons show?

Steven was already beginning to feel excited, but…

“With so many advantages, humanity can take a step forward! So… what are the disadvantages?”

But if there are so many advantages, there must be corresponding disadvantages.

Steven knew this well, and with such overwhelming advantages, there must surely be some disappointing disadvantages.

“…Well. Our craftsmen can’t make anything with it.”

“What?”

“In other words, they can’t create anything using Mithril.”

And the disadvantage the dragon deity mentioned was… that they couldn’t create anything using Mithril.

It was a contradiction.

Then where did the performance test results he had proudly mentioned earlier come from?

“W-wait. Wait a minute. Didn’t you just say you tested Mithril armor?”

“Yes, I did. With armor I made myself.”

It was possible because it was armor made directly by the dragon deity’s hands.

Steven stared at Bahamut with trembling eyes upon hearing that Bahamut himself had made the armor for testing.

“I-I see. So it wasn’t made by Balhut Cult craftsmen, but directly by you, the Dragon Deity. So what I’m looking at wasn’t made by the Balhut Cult. Is that correct?”

“Yes. Simply put, there seems to be a level restriction. After asking someone with the Analyze skill about Mithril’s information… it seems only craftsmen who have reached level 30 or higher can handle it. Otherwise, their level is insufficient to properly appraise it.”

It was an item with a level restriction.

It was already unusual for an item to have a level restriction, and it was absurd that a mere ingot had a level restriction, but the fact that it was level 30—a realm humanity had not yet reached—made Steven sigh in disappointment.

“…Well. It’s useless for now then.”

“Is that so?”

“We don’t have any masters who have reached level 30 in the United States either. The very idea of a craftsman reaching level 30 is problematic. One can level up with crafting skills, but it would probably take a long time to reach level 30.”

There are no Awakened who have reached level 30 worldwide yet.

Those who had surpassed level 20 had already established themselves as representatives of their countries, and even the Balhut Cult had only three people who had reached level 20, or four if including Jin A-yeon at Ulsan Airport.

Considering that Kim Su-ho in Seoul had officially reached level 20, there were only a total of five individuals on the Korean peninsula who had officially reached level 20 or higher.

“In the United States, only 4 in the military. And 10 civilians working as heroes.”

The United States wasn’t much different from Korea, with only 14 Awakened officially surpassing level 20.

In other words, leveling up itself was very difficult, and as the new year approached, only a very small number worldwide had surpassed level 20.

In such a situation, a level 30 restriction…

Wasn’t that looking too far into the future?

“But I heard you made armor just now. Can you show it to us?”

“I don’t see why not.”

However, humanity would surely reach level 30 someday in the future, and it wasn’t a bad thing to anticipate that future in advance.

Steven hid his disappointment and asked Bahamut to show him the armor he had made, and Bahamut showed it to Steven without hesitation.

The armor wasn’t made solely of Mithril but was crafted as light armor using spider silk from mutant zombie spiders and monster leather imported from the United States to make it easier for the wearer to move.

The pauldrons protecting the shoulders, the breastplate protecting the chest, and the parts covering the feet and hands were made of Mithril for safe protection, and the areas protected by Mithril were engraved with the dragon emblem, the symbol of the Balhut Cult.

Under the bright light, the armor emanating a subtle blue glow from the Mithril looked not like something used in actual combat but like a splendid ceremonial armor used in national ceremonies or protocol events.

“…It’s truly beautiful. I was prepared, but to think it would be this beautiful and magnificent! I’m tempted even though I’m not pot-bellied!”

“What do you think?”

But it was already a success in terms of design.

Without even needing to worry about efficiency, from the moment it was said to effectively defend against Bahamut Bullets, this armor was sturdier than any existing protective gear.

Style and efficiency—an armor that could have both…!

“As an Awakened, I absolutely want to wear it! If someone were to give it as a gift, it would truly be a precious one. It could be designated as a national treasure… no, since it was made directly by the Dragon Deity, it’s already no different from a national treasure.”

“Haha. I’m glad you value it so highly.”

Steven expressed his desire to wear that armor right now.

This was unusual for someone who had exercised a certain degree of restraint in his desires as a diplomat, and Bahamut thought it was just the usual diplomatic rhetoric, but…

“I’m not joking. I’m serious.”

‘Really?’

At the statement that he wasn’t just being polite but was serious, Bahamut looked at Steven with a somewhat skeptical expression.

But despite that gaze, Steven didn’t stop expressing his desire as he looked at the Mithril armor with regretful eyes.