Chapter 217

Do-Jin set down the core left behind by the curse manifestation. The moment it touched the surface, a sinister chill burst outward and spread fast, crawling over the table and threatening to swallow the entire house. The air grew heavy, and the temperature dropped enough that it felt like several degrees vanished in an instant.

Maglo shot to his feet the moment he saw it. The reaction had nothing to do with the aura feeling evil, as that part barely registered for him. He was a dwarf, and dwarves lived for creation. They found pride, joy, and meaning in forging things with their own hands.

Maglo recognized it immediately. The thing sitting on that table wasn’t just a dangerous item but a material with indescribable value. He looked ready to leap across the table, his eyes practically glued to the stone, but froze when Do-Jin calmly stored it back into his inventory.

“What the hell is this?” Maglo blurted out. “Hey, wait a minute. Why are you putting it away?”

“It’s not immediately lethal,” Do-Jin said casually, “but it keeps leaking mana that isn’t great to be around for long. You’ve seen enough. That’s plenty.”

“No, but still—”

Yeah, right. A dwarf didn’t need a second reason when someone dangled something like that in front of him.

Maglo’s hands itched. When was the last time he’d actually swung a hammer himself? Not checking off mass-produced tools made by other dwarves, but really striking metal and feeling the shock run through his arms and into his chest.

“What do you think?” Do-Jin asked. “Out of all the places I know, this is the only one that might actually handle something like this.”

There was technically one other option, but Do-Jin didn’t bother saying it out loud. Sion crossed his mind instead. Honestly, if he handed this thing to her, there was a good chance the result would be something nobody but Sion herself could even use.

“I want to say I can do it, no questions asked. But I’ve gotta be honest. I won’t know until I take a closer look and actually size it up. It’ll also depend on what you’re trying to make and who’s going to use it.”

“My teammates and I are the users. I’ve got four of these, all the same. I want to use them one by one and make four pieces of gear.”

Maglo nearly launched himself into the air when he heard that. Then he slammed his knee into the table.

“AHHH!”

Even while he clutched his knee and rolled on the floor, Maglo stared up at Do-Jin like he’d just heard the most insane thing in his life.

“Where the fuck did you even get four of those?!” he shouted. “Did you rob an ancient dragon’s nest or something?”

“The ancient dragon dropped something else,” Do-Jin said, implying he had killed the thing.

If the dead were called the deceased, then Galante, who had already been dead when Do-Jin found him, certainly counted as ancient. He was a very old one at that.

“I’m too fucking shocked to joke around right now, you little shit.”

Of course Maglo didn’t believe him. He pushed himself up off the floor, rubbed his knee with a grimace, and stared at Do-Jin.

“So where’d it come from? It’s not dangerous, right? You didn’t break into the imperial vault or pull some suicidal bullshit like that, did you?”

“It’s definitely clean. Don’t worry.”

“Hmph. If anyone else said that, I’d call bullshit immediately. Show me again. I was too busy losing my damn mind to look properly.”

As Do-Jin pulled it out again, Maglo took a magnifying lens normally used for appraising gemstones and leaned in close. He activated his appraisal skill, turned the stone over several times, and even tapped it lightly with a tiny hammer.

“Hmm...” After a long pause, Maglo finally spoke. “I can do it.”

Do-Jin clenched his fist where Maglo couldn’t see. If Maglo had said no, then he would’ve been sitting on this material for a much longer time. Not being able to turn stones of this caliber into gear meant losing months of momentum he could’ve spent grinding harder.

“But there’s a catch,” Maglo continued.

Of course there was. Nothing ever seemed to go smoothly.

“The value of this material is far too damn high. If I’m gonna make something worthy of it, I’ll need a ridiculous amount of additional materials.”

“I don’t give a shit how much it costs,” Do-Jin quickly replied.

“It’s not just money. Time’s the real pain in the ass. To bring in that level of material, I’d have to run Silvermoon’s old Magic Circle at full blast, and I can’t do that right now. I’ve got contracts stacked sky-high.”

Maglo ran the numbers in his head. “I won’t know for sure until I start hammering, but even one piece will take at least six months.”

Do-Jin had expected it to take time, but six months for a single item still made him click his tongue.

Haa... Relics really are relics for a reason, but that’s a long goddamn wait.

Still, there wasn’t a better option. If this was the only place that could handle it, then waiting wasn’t a choice. It was the price he had to pay.

Do-Jin was mulling it over for a moment when something clicked. “Hey, old man.”

Maglo looked up from the stone, which he was still examining under a mana-blocking sleeve.

“So what you’re really saying is,” Do-Jin continued, “the problem isn’t the work itself. It’s the fact that you need a shitload of materials, and there’s no way to move that volume in here. The teleportation circle you’re using now just can’t handle bulk transport.”

“That’s exactly it,” Maglo said, clicking his tongue. “Back when Rockel was still around, we couldn’t even sell the ingots he left behind. We had so many we ended up using them to build half the damn village.”

“Then if all the materials were already here, how long would it take?”

Maglo rubbed his mustache and thought it over. “A little over a month. That’s assuming every craftsman who can actually handle this kind of work gets pulled in. Me included.”

So that was the bottleneck. If the materials could come in, the rest was simple.

“Then we just reopen the old route,” Do-Jin said. “If we can use that, we can move anything in bulk.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Maglo waved his hands. “You were there. You saw it. The Great Worms have taken over that path for ages. It’s completely unusable.”

He stopped mid-gesture and stared at Do-Jin. “You’re not seriously thinking about dealing with them, are you?”

“It helps the village too.”

“That’s not the point!” Maglo snapped. “That place is off limits. I don’t care if it’s you. That’s still a hard no.”

Do-Jin just grinned. “Relax. If I bring my party in, it’s not impossible. And if things go sideways, we do what we did last time and run like hell.”

“That’s not a plan,” Maglo muttered. “That’s suicide. Jesus Christ...”

He started to argue, then shut his mouth. The look in Do-Jin’s eyes told him it would be pointless. Nobody in their right mind would take that job. It wasn’t about killing a few monsters. This task required wiping those freaks out completely. Anyone who volunteered for that was insane. And yet, Do-Jin was already treating it like a done deal. For some reason, Maglo had a strange feeling that the bastard might actually pull it off.

He’s really changed, Maglo thought. So much more than before.

If Do-Jin really succeeded, then it wouldn’t just be Maglo who owed him. The entire village would be in his debt again.

“Don’t push yourself too hard,” Maglo said quietly. “And... thanks. Just getting a chance to work with material like this is already huge. Going out of your way to help the village on top of that makes it even bigger.”

“I’m just trying to shorten the crafting time.”

“Shut up,” Maglo said. “Learn to accept my thanks.”

He brought out a specially treated box and sealed the stone inside.

“Leave this to me. Whether the crafting time gets shorter or longer, I’ll make damn sure the result is a masterpiece worth every second of waiting.”

Maglo told Do-Jin to rest, then immediately started calling in the most skilled craftsmen in the village.

***

“What the hell is it this time? We’re all slammed with work.”

“So Maglo wasn’t just growing a more punchable mustache? It looks like his attitude’s gone straight to shit too, calling elders around like this.”

“If this turns out to be nothing, how about we flip him upside down into a beer barrel for old times’ sake?”

“Hahaha! Right, right. Wasn’t this at his coming-of-age ceremony? He tried to outdrink me and ended up blackout drunk, drooling all over himself—”

“Then why the hell did he call us here and not show his face?”

Steelpeak was a hidden village. In game terms, “hidden” meant bonuses stacked on bonuses, and that applied just as much to craftsmanship as it did to loot.

Five dwarves stood there, arguing loudly. They were the best Steelpeak had to offer. From tailoring and engraving to blacksmithing and more, each of them had long surpassed the title of master and deserved to be called grandmasters in their respective fields.

Maglo walked in just in time to hear his own black history and immediately scowled. “For fuck’s sake. How long are you planning to keep bringing up my coming-of-age ceremony?”

“How long? Until either my coffin gets nailed shut or yours does. Whichever happens first,” replied one of the five dwarves.

“Bullshit. If I die first, you’ll still be telling that story at my grave.”

“You know what? You’re right. I guess you’ll be hearing it until I die. If you don’t like it, you should’ve been born earlier, or at least not lost that drinking contest.”

Maglo let out a deep sigh. Normally, he would’ve snapped back harder, but not today. Because today, he had something that could make these old bastards eat their words.

“You won’t be able to talk to me like this much longer.”

All five dwarves snorted at the same time, but when Maglo pulled out the box and revealed the stone, all of their expressions contorted. The five of them stood there frozen with wide eyes and open mouths. Even though no one spoke, their expressions screamed the same thing.

What the hell is that? Where did you get it?

“There’s a guy who saved this village once,” Maglo said. “Someone I call a brother. He brought this to me and asked me to make equipment with it. He asked me.” His tone grew smug by the second.

The faces of the dwarves who had been mocking him moments ago tightened with urgency. The first one to crack was the dwarf who’d suggested the beer barrel.

“I’m in! Let me in on this! That’s a stone for swords! We have to make swor—”

Before he could finish, the dwarf who’d sworn to mock Maglo from beyond the grave punched him in the jaw.

“Shut the fuck up, you sword-obsessed idiot. If you draw metal thread from that and weave it into cloth, do you have any idea how insane it’d be—”

Another dwarf shoved a hand over his mouth and shouted, “Give it to me. I’ll make armor so ridiculous it’ll go down in history.”

The five grandmasters erupted into chaos, all shouting and grabbing, each demanding to be included. Everything was exactly as Maglo expected.

Back when Rockel ruled the village, all they did was churn out ingots. Even now, they were stuck making decent gear at a decent pace. That was it. Show craftsmen like these a material they might only see once in their lifetime, and of course they’d lose their minds. If they didn’t hunger for something more, they wouldn’t be dwarves.

“Maglo! Please give us the chance to repay the village’s savior!”

“Maglo? Then I’ll call you Grandpa Maglo! Grandpa!”

As it turned out, they were painfully, perfectly dwarves.

Maglo stood there, savoring the moment. To fulfill Do-Jin’s request, he would need every one of them. But right now, that didn’t matter. These old bastards who’d spent their lives messing with him were now grabbing at his legs and begging. For once, Maglo was genuinely grateful to Do-Jin.

***

The moment Do-Jin placed the crafting request with Maglo, he reached out to Theresa, Soso, and Tanto.

Do-Jin: What are you all doing?

Theresa: Grinding. It’s the EXP event.

Tanto: I am currently streaming while engaging in combat.

Tanto: Ah, no. I meant I’m just streaming while farming. I keep overdoing it.

Tanto: Sorry. It’s a habit when I talk to you.

Theresa: Soso’s with me.

The three of them had trusted Do-Jin enough to hand over relic-grade materials, and now they were out there grinding.

Do-Jin: Since everyone’s already farming, how about we run it together? There’s a dungeon I need to clean up.

Theresa and Tanto replied at the same time.

Theresa: Where do we go?

Tanto: Roger that. En route to the village.

Tanto: No, sorry. I’m heading to the village rn.

A Great Worm was over Level 200, and although Do-Jin’s party members’ levels were still far from that, they’d pushed through more than enough hell together to make it worth trying.

With the EXP event running too, I might as well grind levels while I’m at it. No harm in testing the waters.

At least, that was all Do-Jin had planned to do.