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10 th Muriel, 1093.

"... Hello, Hello,

Can't you hear my voice?

Hello, Hello,

Can't you hear my song?

Hello, Hello,

I am standing here, right here,

Why can't you hear me?"

Kashi felt his chest constrict as the familiar song drifted in his subconscious. It took him back to that familiar, hopeless 20 sq.m apartment. A young woman, barely out of her teens, sat in the unfurnished room, blank sunken eyes and disheveled hair robbing her of whatever beauty she once had.

Kashi—no, that's wrong.

Suzuki was huddled in the corner of the room, his school bag on the floor ahead of him. Consciously, or not, the bag seemed to resemble a wall between the vacant-eyed woman and him. From the woman's throaty voice came a song whose lyrics Suzuki had memorized in and out as he had heard it every day for as long as he had lived. But this was not the part that scared him. It was the silence that would follow when she finished singing that song. Or even worse...

The woman suddenly turned to Suzuki, an enraged, mad glint in her eyes. "Why can't he hear me? It's your fau—"

Terror seized Kashi's heart as his eyes snapped open, red with panic. Surprisingly, the song continued, but this time, something about the lyrics soothed his frantic soul. Unfocused eyes cleared, to see a beautiful petite face, adorned by a crown of aqua blue hair. Her eyes were closed, and from gentle lips suffused the song that he never thought he would hear again.

Only after he had finally relaxed did Kashi realize his head was resting on her lap, and her fingers were gently combing through his hair. He gazed at the songstress, reluctant to move an inch in fear of alerting her to his woken status. Unfortunately, movement on his chest forced his gaze downwards. Luckily, his head was elevated, or this would have been annoying.

Scratch that thought.

It wasn't very pleasant, regardless.

Kashi groaned as he weathered Kira's mocking leer. The direwolf—who retained her cub form—smirked, laughing eyes mocking the daeben. She looked up at Lunette, then back down at Kashi. Her smirk widened even larger. What delighted her even more was that she could tell Kashi wanted to throttle her but did not want to risk moving.

Intending on taking full advantage, Kira's placed her right-foreleg on Kashi's nose with a devilish grin. At least for these precious few seconds, she was Kashi's master. Kira recalled how Kashi had tortured her with that sand-like thing as a cub whenever she failed to hunt. Since then, she'd never gotten a chance to gain an overwhelming advantage as he'd had then. Now, she had it, and she fully intended to maximize it.

Kashi's eye lightly twitched as Kira's claws extended from her paws and dug into his nose. He loathed to admit, but it seriously hurt! Kira noticed the daeben's pained expression, and with a triumphant snort, hopped off the daeben. She snickered silently then dashed off for the exit, most likely to inform the others that Kashi was awake.

Realizing this, although Kashi wanted to stay as he was a little longer, he knew the others would soon arrive. The last thing he wanted was for Syèl to walk in on them. He could only imagine the grief that would follow. So, he reluctantly raised his right hand and tapped Lunette on her cheek. He felt Lunette slightly tremble from his touch and struggled to keep his racing breath in check as a pair of aqua-green eyes gazed lovingly down at him.

Lunette, realizing Kashi was awake, turned slightly red in the face, but she made no move to push him off. "... You finally woke up."

"Ah," muttered Kashi as he reluctantly sat up and took in his surroundings. He was still in the glass dome; apparently, they had chosen not to move him while he slept. Well, judging from the injuries he had then, it was no surprise.

Kashi’s gaze traveled to the numerous glistening glass stalactites that had formed on the ceiling from the pieces of rock that were too hard to be blown to smithereens. Someone had erected some burning lamps and magelights along the walls and ceiling, giving the chamber of glass a starry feeling.

Kashi could imagine it might become a popular spot for the dwarven couples in the future. His gaze returned to the fairy by his side, who silently observed him with a small smile. With a weak smile, Kashi asked, "How long was I asleep?"

"Just over three days," Lunette confirmed.

Kashi's eyes widened in surprise. "You waited here for three days!?"

"No way," Lunette chuckled with a small wave. "We took turns to make sure nobody tried to assassinate you. You just happened to wake during my turn."

"Nah, this wasn't happenstance," Kashi softly refuted. He studied Lunette, traces of suspicion in his gaze as he asked, "That song, where'd you learn it?"

Lunette's eyes widened. "You know it? My dad taught me. It's the first song I ever learned."

"Ah, I see," Kashi muttered under his breath. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second. When they opened a few seconds later, the traces of suspicion were gone. He then recalled something and smirked at Lunette. "By any chance, did you sing this song at Kerta when this game first started?"

"Heeh?" Lunette's eyes sparkled, "Were you one of my early fans? I don't remember seeing you, though."

Kashi chuckled. "Only heard in passing. It was good enough to give me a heart attack."

"Is that so? Perhaps I should sing it a lot more often," Lunette teased as she watched Kashi get to his feet and hold out his hand. "So," she said as she accepted the outstretched hand and rose to her feet. "What are you planning on doing next?"

Kashi gazed at the dwarven statue, then at the hammer lying a few feet away from him. It currently looked very ordinary, but the daeben quickly recalled the terrifying power that lay within that hammer. Kashi turned to Lunette and replied with a grin, "Want to see what a god's release looks like?"

Lunette's brow rose in question. "Release?" She followed Kashi's pointing finger to the dwarven statue. "Wait. Y ou don't think?"

Kashi shrugged. "Might be wrong, but the pattern fits." He walked over to where the hammer lay. He squatted next to it, then frowned. "If you're going to watch, then at least do it in the open. This is creepy."

Loud bursts of laughter accompanied Zeing as he appeared some feet away from them. "How long did you know?"

"Been irritating me since the fight," Kashi lamented. "Wasn't sure what it was 'til now, though." He regarded Zeing with an exasperated sigh. "So, did you enjoy the show?"

"Magnificent!" Zeing wholeheartedly praised. "I have not witnessed a fight that grand in ages," he proclaimed, hands spread in excitement. He 'stepped' towards Kashi, who could not dodge in time and wrapped the daeben in a bone-breaking bear hug. "Thanks, kid. That should keep me satisfied another decade or so." Zeing unceremoniously dropped Kashi to the ground as he laid eyes on Lunette.

To Kashi's utter disbelief, Zeing's aura completely changed as he addressed Lunette with a warm smile filled with respect. "... And you must be the famed Ms. Falsetto. Having lived in these lands for over a millennium, I have witnessed thousands of bards and minstrels, but I must admit, none are worthy of holding your script. No wonder little Froy and Rusey went mad over you. Yours is truly the voice of the angels."

Lunette blushed and bowed gracefully. "I thank you for your compliments."

Zeing grinned. "Beauty and humility to boot. Hey Kashi-boy, act fast, or you'll lose her to someone else."

K-Kashi boy!? Kashi nearly stumbled upon hearing that phrase. However, he chose to ignore Zeing. After all, it was not like he could defeat the oaf. Once beaten, twice shy, that kinda thing. Instead, he once again bent over and reached for the hammer.

"You sure you want to do that?" Zeing cautioned. "You saw what it did to Froy."

Kashi smirked as his fingers wrapped around the handle. "I'm not Froy."

Brrzzzt Crrrackle BOOM!

Blue electric arcs raced up Kashi's arm then dug into his heart with a sudden jolt. The arcs ran through his circulatory channels, before, they, as one, coagulated and then stormed right through his brain, depositing tons of information.

The daeben's hair stood on end as the electric arcs bore out his head then flew into the ceiling, where dark thunderclouds had begun to form.

Occasionally, lightning from these thunderclouds would strike down at the daeben. The lightning would flow through his body, healing all the wounds, and then return to the hammer—and so formed an unconventional cycle of lightning and pain.

Kashi gritted his teeth as he forced himself to hold on to the hammer, even as the lightning upgraded to green. The pain intensified, but Kashi refused to let go as he instinctively felt that the torrents of information that were flowing into his brain were uniquely important. After all, he was not like Syèl, who could process all of this as it entered his brain.

Kashi could only hold on to the intuitive possibility that if he held on to the end, the game would reward him with all the information gained in a way it would be easy to remember.

Five minutes later, Kashi could no longer suppress his screams as the lightning upgraded to yellow. It felt like an army of red ants were tearing through his insides, and they only got angrier with each passing second. If it were not for the return lightning healing his body, Kashi would have long ended up dead.

Lunette's eyes widened with worry, but she bit her lower lip to prevent herself from calling out him out to stop. She knew the perverse nature of the man she had unwittingly fallen in love with. Rather than waste her breath to dissuade him from greatness, she was better served praying for his success. “Do your best," a whisper escaped Lunette’s lips as pale hands clasped together in frightened worry.

"Whoa whoa whoa," a familiar voice called from behind as Kashi dropped to a knee when the lightning once again upgraded to red. This time, it visibly looked like living snakes writhed underneath his skin, and blood seeped from several pores on his body. "We leave for a bit, and he's found a new way to torture himself," Syèl exclaimed with a laugh as he walked next to Lunette. He pointed at the kneeling daeben. "Any idea what he's doing?"

Lunette shook her head. At this point, she was far too worried to speak.

"Looks like training to me," Shoko offered as she too stood next to Syèl.

"Is there such a perverted training method?" Jade asked as she stood on the right of Lunette. She patted the songstress' back and reassured in a whisper, "He'll be fine..." Probably.

"Tch," Hektor spat from the entrance. "He keeps getting stronger." His grip tightened around his ax. "I won't be left behind."

"Pretty," a dwarven child murmured as his mother led him into the hall. "Mother, what's that?" The mother just stared ahead, her eyes wide with disbelief. The scene reminded her of an old legend, but she refused to believe it was true. She was not the only one.

Several dwarfs who entered the hall could only stare in disbelief. Be it the glass hall or the daeben undergoing tribulation at the center; they could not wrap their heads around the occurrence.

Suddenly, a bog horn blared, causing the crowd to disperse and form a path. Anton Xafier, the man touted to be the next Dwarven King, led the Council of Six into the chamber. They took up positions next to the Maggots after bowing respectfully to Zeing.

"Your leader is indeed strange," Anton muttered as he watched the daeben refuse to loosen his grip on the hammer even as the pain intensified. "What drives him?"

"Sadism," Syèl chuckled.

"Honor," Shoko countered.

"...My sister."

Syèl and Shoko nearly jumped out of their skins at the voice that offered his opinion.

Basketball sized blue flames formed on Syèl's hand as dark lines spread on his forehead. "Shadow, we talked about this."

Shadow only shrugged and walked over to his sister's side.

A vein popped on Syèl's forehead, and he surely would have flung those fireballs had Shoko not grabbed his wrist and admonished, "Neither the time nor the place."

Syèl turned to the dwarfs who were staring at him. "Tch, as if I care," he grumbled, but reluctantly snuffed the fireballs.

Meanwhile, no one except Hektor paid attention to the direwolf that appeared at the entrance with a young girl on her back. Zuri's eyes lit up with excitement as she stared at the lightning display. "Pretty..."

The red lightning reflected in Kira's eyes, but unlike the others, she did not see the beauty in it. One of the perks of their improving companion link was that she had an idea of the kind of pain Kashi was going through at that moment. She asked herself if she was able to endure the same level of pain, but she could not come up with an entirely positive answer.

Oblivious to the gallery that had formed, Kashi gritted his teeth as he struggled against the mind-numbing pain. His heart, stimulated by the electricity, raced so fast he feared it would burst out of his ribcage. His body arched in pain, but even though he knew it would end once he released the hammer, Kashi stubbornly refused to do so.

With a loud explosion, the lightning suddenly changed to a deep black, darker than night itself. It tore through Kashi, ripping off skin and flesh as the pain intensified a hundredfold.

As usual, Kashi played on full pain sensitivity, so it felt like he was thrown into a pot of boiling water filled with man-eating spiders. His clothes burst into shreds, leaving him with only a pair of tattered trousers.

Just when Kashi felt like he could take no more, the lightning stimulated the dragon in his subconscious. The dragon, which resembled a tiny baby, opened its mouth and let out a powerful roar that rattled all the bones in Kashi's body. Unknown to him, that roar echoed out and pushed the onlookers several steps backward.

Like a sponge, the dragon excitedly absorbed about seventy percent of the black lightning that bore into Kashi's brain, then allowed the rest to fly into the clouds above. The tiny dragon quickly grew in size, its dark scales suffused with arcs of black lightning. The excess soon escaped it and began to fuse with Kashi's cells and body, forcefully transforming it into one worthy of the power of a dragon.

Lost in pain as he was, Kashi was utterly oblivious to these changes. He could only faintly feel that the pain had significantly reduced. Mustering up all the strength he had, he painfully got to his feet, then took step after bloody step towards the dwarven statue.

The ground shook beneath his feet with every step Kashi took. The discharge from the hammer also began to reduce significantly. It looked like he was at the tail end of whatever test he had been forced to take.

As the discharge faltered, Kashi’s gait strengthened, and his back straightened. By the time he reached the statue, the hammer was once again silent like any ordinary hammer you would find in a dwarven forge.

Kashi, caked in blood and scabs of flesh, impatiently swiped away the numerous notifications that popped up. He raised the hammer and identified it.

Aygor's Hammer [Unique Divine Equipment]

Skill Requirement: Blacksmith

Level Requirement: None

All Blacksmith Works Regardless of Level or Materials 100% successful

All Blacksmith Works at least Legendary or Above.

All Blacksmith Works infused with Element of Choice.

Kashi glared at the hammer in his hand with hatred. Why? If this hammer were even slightly less awesome, he would have collected it for himself. But 100% Success? This thing raised more flags than the UN Assembly! Only a greedy fool would keep something like this for himself.

The hammer was an item not meant for the hands of mortals. Only calamity would follow the poor sod who decided to covet this thing.

Kashi glared at the dwarven statue. "Isn't it about time you woke up?" He poured all his mana into the hammer, and then, with a roar, he jumped and struck the statue’s forehead.

Boom!

Torrential winds blasted Kashi away as several elements converged on the spot where the hammer met the statue. Lightning, wind, and waer stormed against the spot with increased vigor and speed, forcing the daeben to back off.

Crack!

The dwarfs dropped to their knees in concert as a light shone from cracks in the statue. The cracks spread from the forehead to the soles of its boots. After a momentary pulse, the statue exploded in a brilliant burst of light.

"Hahahahahaha!" A loud laugh boomed across the dome as a dwarf in resplendent golden chainmail strode out from within the pillar of light, shoulders protected by massive. Thick hands adorned with red leather gloves held the accursed hammer, which had significantly grown in size.

The dwarf, who looked to be over sixty, had splendid white hair braided into a thin ponytail that reached all the way to the ground. Sharp, brown eyes studied the mortals before him as the dwarf stroked his magnificently long beard. "Hmmm," his gaze traveled from the kneeling mortals to the few who remained standing. He snubbed Zeing as he could smell his mother's scent all over him, and then rested his gaze on the sorriest looking mortal. "Are you the one who released me?"

Kashi was a little ticked off. This damned dwarf had the gall to remain floating in the air, which forced the daeben to strain his neck to talk to him. ‘ Damned dwarf probably suffers from an inferiority complex.’ "Yes," Kashi replied with a polite nod. "Fortune led me here. I was lucky enough to undo the seal."

The dwarf snorted. "Luck had nothing to do with it. Luck could not have allowed you to pass my trial." The dwarf raised a brow. "Why did you not take the hammer for yourself? You had passed the trial of ownership?"

Kashi snorted inwardly. ‘ Passed the trial, my ass. If I dared take that thing as my own, who knows what kind of divine punishment this sadistic game would unleash on me?’ "I am well aware of my capabilities. I am not yet worthy of such a divine item. Perhaps my possession would only lead to a disaster. As such, I deemed it much more important to release you."

Aygor chuckled. "From your wording, it sounds like you would have taken this hammer for yourself were you worthy?"

Kashi stood straight, his eyes steady as he replied, "Naturally. If my strength were sufficient, I would still release you, but I would claim the hammer for myself." Kashi ignored the surprised gasps from the dwarfs behind him. This was his character. God or no god, he would be brutally honest. "However, I am weak, so I dare not covet that which I cannot handle."

"HAHAHA! Good Kid!" Aygor guffawed. "Fine then, I cannot just let you go empty-handed after all your efforts." A tome, almost thirty centimeters thick, and a meter long, appeared in his right hand. He tossed the book down at the daeben, who caught it with both hands, slightly shocked by the weightlessness.

Aygor's Notes [Unique Divine Tome]

This tome contains the culmination of Aygor's work in his entire life.

Level unlocked depends on level of trials passed.

Level 1: Forging Methods and Materials for All Common Gear and Equipment

Level 2: Forging Methods and Materials for All Uncommon Gear and Equipment

Level 3: Forging Methods and Materials for All Rare Gear and Equipment

Level 4: Forging Methods and Materials for All Epic Gear and Equipment

Level 5: Forging Methods and Materials for All Legendary Gear and Equipment

Forging Techniques

Thousand-Imprint Hammer (Beginner Lv. 1)

Mana-Drain (Beginner Lv.1)

Engraving Techniques

Ten Thousand Engraving Patterns (Beginner Lv.1)

User-Locked!

Cannot be traded, or stolen!

Kashi raised a brow in disbelief. This was good stuff! The first part alone was enough to engulf the entirety of Destia in a desperate war. Kashi could not hide the smile on his face as he stored the book in his inventory. Heh, even though the game said he could not trade it, what stopped him from copying out parts of the book? If he gave his guild researchers just a tenth of this book, he shuddered to imagine the heights they would reach. Kashi, ever the gentleman, politely nodded, "I thank senior for his generosity."

Aygor grinned, flattered by Kashi's politeness. "This is not nearly enough! Name one wish! As long as it is within my power, I will be sure to grant it. We are not permitted to interfere too much in the mortal realm, but it is different when it is a reward for services rendered. Now, come, make your wish."

Kashi looked to the still kneeling dwarfs, as an idea formed in his head. He gazed at the smith god and said, "I have my wish..."