He had grandly called it contemplation, but in truth, it was nothing more than revisiting his artifact refinement process step by step. It wasn't mere review, though. A little deduction was added.
The speculation began with “what if he had done this” and “what if he had done that,” then shaped plausible hypothetical refinement sequences based on his knowledge and experience.
'Right.
If I do it this way, the flaws in the bone armor would be remedied. But it's still the same. For most Great Spirit Beasts, it's useless.'
The direction had been wrong from the start. He had taken the approach he thought best suited the materials without giving it much thought, but come to think of it, his preferences had been unconsciously reflected. Jaekyung preferred keeping himself safe over crushing enemies with overwhelming force.
His mindset was that he had to be intact first, and only then would he deal with his opponent. Perhaps his excessively sturdy physical body had also been influenced somewhat by that line of thinking. 'Now that I think about it, even those known as human Great Masters of artifact refinement each has their own specialty.'