Book 1 Chapter 934
934.
Clang-! Clang-!
Late at night.
The sound of a hammer striking at the forge echoed.
Golden flames surged in the furnace.
A beautiful sight, as if gold was burning.
But the surrounding temperature was beyond imagination.
It felt as if the space itself would melt.
Indeed, ordinary furnishings had all melted or burned, leaving the inside of the forge bare.
But the dwarf girl hammering in front of the anvil did not lower the temperature.
Even her sweat evaporated and did not flow.
Her body felt like it would cook in the unimaginably high heat, but she gritted her teeth and endured.
Whoosh-!
Dryana stubbornly clenched her mouth and plunged the sword she had been hammering into the furnace.
CRAAASH-!
The flames burning in the furnace surged even more violently, as if reacting to the sword.
“EEK?!”
The flames pushed the sword out.
Dryana squeezed her eyes shut and forced it back in despite the resistance.
A moment later.
She pulled the sword out of the golden flames and placed it back on the anvil.
The sword seemed to have absorbed the flames, as golden flames shimmered on its blade.
Confirming this, Dryana began hammering again.
Clang-! Whoosh! Clang-! Whoosh!
With each hammer blow, the flames surged fiercely.
It was as if she was striking the flames struggling to escape the sword with her hammer, pushing them back inside the sword.
Clang-! Clang-!
Soon, the hammering stopped.
Along with it, the flames in the furnace instantly died down.
The surrounding temperature quickly began to cool.
Hiss-!
At the same time, steam billowed from Dryana's body.
It seemed as if her sweat evaporated as soon as it appeared, gushing out as steam.
Dryana collapsed onto the floor.
Damian, who had been watching Dryana's work until then, silently approached the anvil.
He picked up the sword Dryana had been forging.
Outwardly, it was an ordinary iron sword.
But in Damian's eyes, the sword's value was clearly visible.
Though it had lost its original power, having left its owner's hands, its craftsmanship alone revealed what an extraordinary item it was.
‘The only weapon Lord Dweno praised as a true masterpiece during his lifetime.’
Damian’s gaze, having thought that far, turned to the hammer Dryana was holding.
Aeternus, the hammer Dweno had used.
‘Proof that Lord Dweno, as a blacksmith, recognized this child as his successor.’
Damian's eyes darkened slightly.
Just then, Dryana, who had been sitting, raised her head and sprang up.
“How is it? Lord Damian? Has the sword regained even a little of its original form?”
“Not at all.”
“Hmm! Why isn’t it working? I followed your instructions, Lord Damian. Did I miss anything?”
Dryana asked with passion.
Damian shook his head.
“You did it correctly. Perhaps your talent is lacking. This isn’t blacksmithing technique.”
What Damian was teaching Dryana was restoration.
Dryana had previously learned blacksmithing techniques and how to handle flames directly from Dweno when they conquered Dweno's world.
After that, she had hoped to be able to restore Dweno's artifacts, but she had not yet reached that level.
Thus, she was learning the technique from Damian, who could briefly manifest and restore Dweno’s artifacts.
But it wasn't going well.
‘I can’t even ask Leo for advice on this part.’
Dryana sighed deeply.
Since learning that Leo was Kyle during the conquest of Dweno's world, Dryana had actively sought Leo's advice on blacksmithing.
Although not a blacksmith, Leo's feedback was a great help as he had experience using countless divine artifacts.
However, restoration was a technical matter, so asking Leo was useless.
Dryana, deep in thought, cautiously asked.
“Um… Lord Damian.”
“Why are you calling me?”
“I want to get some inspiration. Could you show me a weapon you made, Lord Damian?”
Damian smiled bitterly at her question.
“As I said before, my blacksmithing skills are terrible.”
Damian had been known as a renowned blacksmith for thousands of years as Dweno's successor.
Therefore, Dryana couldn't help but be confused by Damian's words.
“As I said back then, the person you know as Damian is my shadow. So, the me you know and the real me are completely different people.”
Dryana fidgeted with her fingers at his words.
“Are you curious why I put my shadow forward in history?”
“Yes…”
Dryana answered honestly.
Looking at Dryana’s eyes, Damian thought.
‘They’re similar.’
Eyes filled with uprightness and self-belief.
An unyielding gaze that believed in her own potential, even if it seemed impossible now.
After briefly meeting Dryana's eyes, Damian spoke.
“I was originally adopted as the shadow of my shadow.”
“The shadow of… a shadow?”
“Yes. He was my liege.”
Damian looked out the window.
Moonlight was visible.
“He was the heir to a blacksmith family that produced weapons for the city of Ajo.”
Dryana was surprised by the fact that Damian was a shadow.
“One day, he told me. That to protect his family in this chaotic era, a great hero was needed.”
“Surely…”
“Yes. He gave me everything. Wealth, honor, power. Even his own name.”
“Then, is your name not Damian, Lord Damian?”
“That’s right, I have a different true name. Rodia, Seirun, and Lumern don't know my true name either.”
“…”
‘Does Lord Azonia know?’
Since they were childhood friends, Azonia must know.
“The real Damian sacrificed everything for me. Even his own life.”
“…”
“Because I exist thanks to his grace, I want him, not me, to be remembered in history.”
“Then what about you, Lord Damian?”
“…”
“Even if you say the original Damian gave everything to you… it was you, Lord Damian, who ended the Age of Cataclysm and achieved great feats.”
Dryana looked at Damian with an upright gaze.
“You, Lord Damian, are also fully qualified to be remembered in history…”
“What qualifications does a half-baked successor have?”
“…”
Damian smiled chillingly.
“You know, don't you? That Lord Dweno is praised not just because he fought well.”
Damian looked at Dryana.
The emotions in his eyes were envy, jealousy, and rivalry.
Dryana flinched, looking flustered by Damian’s intense emotions, which she had never seen before.
“Many of those who wielded the weapons he made returned alive from the battlefield.”
“…”
“The weapons he made defeated countless demons of Tartarus.”
Damian ground his teeth.
“Lord Dweno is truly great because he is a blacksmith who reached the realm of a god.”
“B-but, Lord Damian, as an artist, you followed in Lord Dweno’s footsteps…”
“Art has no value in a fight.”
“…”
“Making weapons is far more valuable than making mere artworks. Artworks? You can just make them haphazardly.”
“…Haphazardly…?”
Dryana looked indignant.
Damian, who failed to read Dryana’s expression, clasped his face.
“Dryana. I envy you. I’m incredibly envious of you, who possess blacksmithing skills comparable to Lord Dweno!”
Damian saw it.
A shining future overflowing with potential.
Even if she couldn't restore things properly now, she would undoubtedly create weapons comparable to divine artifacts in the near future.
“…Please.”
“What?”
“Please show me the artwork you made, Lord Damian.”
“Why suddenly?”
“Why do you disregard art?! Lord Dweno was an artist before he was a blacksmith! What was his reason for trying to spread beauty through art during the Age of Cataclysm?!”
Dryana shouted, choked with emotion.
“It was to inspire many people! In fact, Lord Dweno was great as a blacksmith, but also spread hope to many as an artist!”
Indeed, it was true.
Dweno's reason for praising beauty and dedicating himself to art to convey that beauty even during the Age of Cataclysm was his belief that he wanted to give people hopeful inspiration.
Dweno's actual artworks gave hope to the people of the Age of Cataclysm.
Beautiful landscape paintings and sculptures from a bygone era brought back nostalgia for a peaceful time forgotten by people.
They also instilled longing and yearning for an unknown past.
And those emotions soon became a fervent desire to move towards the future.
Therefore, Dryana could not tolerate Damian's words, no matter what.
In the first place.
‘No! How dare he say it can be done haphazardly, as if he's so great!’
For Dryana, who was treated as an eccentric, let alone a third-rate artist, despite all her efforts, Damian’s words disregarding art were offensive.
“I’ve never left behind paintings or sculptures.”
“Then draw one!”
Dryana pulled a canvas, brushes, and paints from her subspace and forcibly handed them to Damian.
Damian clicked his tongue, glanced at the moonlight streaming through the window, and began to slash at the canvas with the brush.
A moment later.
“…”
Dryana held the hastily painted window with moonlight streaming in, a picture Damian had scribbled, and trembled.
“Why do you want to see this insignificant talent…”
“…It’s missing.”
“What?”
“This painting has no soul! It has no soul! I can't tolerate this! Waaahhhhhh~!”
“Hey, wait!”
Damian looked flustered, seeing Dryana suddenly burst into tears and run out.
As Damian looked dumbfounded, Leo entered the forge.
“Dryana just ran out crying? What happened?”
“I don’t know either.”
Leo sighed, looking at Damian's sullen face.
‘I came because I was a little worried, but it seems this place is a worse fit than Arce and Azonia.’
***
“Uh-huh? So? Are you and that kid dating?”
Azonia rested her chin on her hand, smiling broadly as she asked Duran.
“…We're not anything yet.”
“So, he’s available?”
Azonia, smiling brightly, put her arm around Duran’s shoulder and pulled him closer.
Duran, uncharacteristically, blushed and was very flustered.
But despite that, he didn’t resist.
Seeing that, Nella pulled out her morning star.
“Nella. Calm down. It’s not like Duran likes this either.”
Celia hurriedly held Nella back.
Just then, Abbad poured wine into Azonia's glass.
“I wish you’d feed me by mouth.”
“…Please, my lady.”
“If you carry me like a princess, I’ll let it go.”
Azonia giggled-giggled- and clung to Abbad this time.
Abbad also blushed but couldn't refuse Azonia.
“I’ll just wring that butter-!”
“Calm down. Calm down. Abbad doesn’t want this either.”
Iliana stopped Celia.
Azonia glanced at the trembling Celia and Nella and said.
“Do you want to free your boyfriends?”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“I don’t know such a guy.”
Nella and Celia’s faces hardened.
“Oh-ho? So, I can do whatever I want, right?”
Azonia wrapped her arms around Abbad’s and Duran’s necks and smiled mischievously.
The two, who would usually have shaken her off, were sweating profusely.
‘What on earth is this woman?’
‘I can’t resist.’
Nella and Celia, glaring at Azonia’s seductive smile, gnashed their teeth and sat at the gambling table.
Seeing them, Azonia grinned.
‘Teasing the little ones is fun after all.’
Azonia quickly stripped Celia and Nella clean.
“With this, you two are my toys too, alright?”
Celia and Nella stared blank-faced at Azonia, who was cackling.
Watching them, Runia made a disdainful expression.
“What? The Lumern kids are terrible at gambling too.”
Thinking that, Runia sat down at the gambling table.
And Runia was stripped even faster than Celia and Nella.
“Eiran…”
“Are you alright, Miss Runia?”
“Spot me some money. I’ll pay you back double.”
“…”
“Just once. I can win if I just do it one more time!”
Seeing Runia’s dazed eyes, Eiran said firmly.
“Lord Leo said absolutely not to vouch for you.”
“No, it doesn’t even make sense! The odds are the same, so why is she so strong?!”
“Too bad, but I’m incredibly strong at gambling.”
As Runia shrieked, Azonia gave a subtly dangerous smile.
“Well, now that I have so many pretty slaves, how shall we play?”
At those words, those who had been victimized by Azonia shuddered.
Eiran tilted her head.
“Weren’t you only into men?”
“Oh, didn’t I tell you?”
Azonia let out a sadistic laugh.
“I also like tormenting pretty girls.”
It was then, while Eiran was at a loss for what to do.
“Um… what are you guys doing?”
A familiar voice came from behind.
“Lord Kyle? Weren’t you not coming this time?”
Eiran’s eyes widened.
Kyle scratched his cheek, looking at Eiran.
“Leo called me urgently, but what exactly is going on here?”
The students held hostage by Azonia thought as they looked at the bewildered Kyle.
‘This is the first time Kyle has ever seemed so dependable.’
Kyle Thomas.
Before being Lumern’s best strategist, he was also Lumern’s best gambler.