Chapter 300
Chapter 300
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 300
Chapter Title: Tooth Cost
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To create the masterpiece of a lifetime, what do you need?
The blacksmith's skill goes without saying.
The most important thing is the materials.
Precisely, metal.
It's only natural that weapons made from millennium steel, adamantium, orichalcum, and so on are sturdier and sharper than those made from steel.
“But, Master.”
Demir smiled faintly.
“Yeah.”
“Honestly, even that might not be quite enough, right?”
I'd already used up those three materials pretty sneakily.
They'd gone into the Demir limited edition, and even a small amount had been added to the dragon statue at the Dr-El Workshop.
To create an even greater masterpiece, I needed better metals.
“Of course. These are weapons for my kids, after all.”
I grinned back at him.
Demir's expression turned a bit odd.
“'My kids,' huh...”
Oh.
Calling him a 'kid' right to his face might've been a bit much?
Demir was pretty old, after all.
I scratched my head, about to correct myself.
“Khahaha! How can you say something so touching, Master! Every creature cherishes their offspring the most, after all!”
“See? I knew you got it, Demir.”
“Of course! Haha! I'll repay you with the filial piety of a son serving his mother.”
Huh?
Wait, what?
That felt a little off.
It'd be fine if Arin said something like that.
But a bearded little dwarf treating me like a parent? It was kinda weird.
Plus, Demir was from five hundred years ago!
“But you know, Master.”
Suddenly.
Demir's eyes blazed with light.
It was a greedy glint, uncharacteristic of his usual self.
“They say human parents give their kids anything for their growth.”
“Huh?”
Out of nowhere?
Hmm, why was he beating around the bush like that?
“I'll be honest. I've been thinking lately.”
Thud!
Demir set down his hammer.
“I want something better than this hammer.”
‘Demir’s Hammer’ (S-grade).
A relic of the Rock Clan, his beloved tool that had lasted over five hundred years.
Even with good care, time had worn it down—the edge was dull, and it was damaged.
“I couldn't make one before because of materials, but now you can procure amazing ones. You can't blame me for getting greedy. Haha!”
“...Amazing materials? Procure?”
Me?
“Actually, I heard from Miss Arin. There's something called millennium-forged steel in some world. They say it rivals dragon bone.”
Hmm, millennium-forged steel?
What's that?
Better than millennium steel?
But more importantly, how was I supposed to get it?
“Grr, imagine a hammer made from that metal forging a new city? Ahh, we could make the Magic Tower City even more beautiful!”
“...”
I watched him quietly.
Then.
Pfft.
I let out a chuckle.
‘First time.’
I'd never seen Demir show such pure desire in front of me.
“Hahaha, surely you can get it, Master?”
Hey.
What do you take me for?
“You said millennium-forged steel is like dragon bone?”
“Yes.”
“Then just wait a bit, Demir.”
I nodded and turned away.
Truth be told, while giving him instructions, I'd already had something in mind.
What he'd said was laughably inferior.
“I'll bring you something even more incredible.”
* * *
- Kraaarrgh?
For the first time, the Destruction Dragon gave me a puzzled look.
Like, [Did I hear that wrong?]
No, kid.
You heard right.
“Lend me some teeth. Just two.”
Dragons have teeth.
In the past.
The Greed Dragon, Aranbalon, had made his Dragon Fang Soldiers from his own teeth.
El Drin had mentioned struggling because of a Giant Dragon's tooth before.
“They'll grow back after a while... Come on, now.”
Did it sense my madness?
- Kraa, kraaarrgh!
Vinasa flapped its wings, wrapping them around itself.
A clear 'stay back' gesture.
“Yeah, yeah.”
Fine.
I'm not shameless.
I wouldn't just take them.
“Instead!”
I grinned.
And pulled out a pretty tempting card.
“I'll let you go to space.”
- Kraa?
Vinasa, who'd turned its head, whipped back to face me!
Lightning-fast.
Space.
The vast expanse beyond this paradise.
I knew Vinasa wanted to go there.
“Look at that wide sky. Don't you want to punch through it and soar freely? Don't you want to roam without restraint?”
This place didn't suit it.
It was too cramped.
For Vinasa to grow into a true dragon, I had to send it far away.
Destruction Dragons were meant for that.
A race that wandered the vast cosmos, sowing destruction.
But it stayed.
Because it didn't want to leave me.
And because I hadn't ordered it to go.
For now, it saw me as its mother.
- Kruuurr, krruu...
Whoosh!
It suddenly folded its wings and rubbed its head against me.
As if asking if it was really okay.
“ Yeah, no need to hold back your growth or destructive urges for me.”
A pang of gloom hit me, knowing I had to let Vinasa go.
But my voice carried relief and excitement.
How huge would it get out there?
How strong?
‘Even as a hatchling, it's Constellation-grade.’
Unlikely, but.
If I fought Vinasa right now, I'd probably lose.
If this Destruction Dragon grew more?
Not High Dragon level, but at least True Dragon?
Then came back, claiming me as its parent?
Grr!
It'd be the ultimate backup.
“You can always sense where I am, right? If you miss me, come anytime.”
- Kraaarrgh!
It nodded eagerly.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Then it beat its wings, rising into the air.
‘Kid.’
Why so hasty already?
Seeing its excitement made me happy too.
“But before you go, remember this.”
I gently stroked its hovering claw.
* * *
- Kraa?
Vinasa blinked wide and tilted its head.
Instinct told the Destruction Dragon.
Its mother was setting it free.
To roam countless worlds beyond this one.
To gain experience.
To indulge its urges freely.
But 'remember'?
Remember what?
“Don't destroy everything just to satisfy your destructive urges.”
- Kraaarrgh?
Don't destroy?
A Destruction Dragon that can't destroy?
What did that even mean!
Vinasa's eyes bulged.
“Life is precious. First, if there's something you want to destroy? Think of me and judge. Does that life have value in this universe or not?”
- Kraaarrgh...?
What was this mother saying?
“It's tough, huh?”
- Kraa!
Vinasa nodded shortly.
“Yeah, simply put: just kill the bad kids. The ones bad to me.”
Bad kids.
Bad to mother...
Stronger than mother?
Hmm.
Plenty of those scattered across the cosmos.
But truthfully.
Dragons are highly intelligent.
Vinasa understood its mother's intent.
- Kraaarrgh!
Set your own standards.
Not human morality.
In short, is one race invading and killing another bad?
No way.
To that race, invasion might be survival or instinct.
Creatures fulfilling urges is natural.
However.
Vinasa interpreted 'bad to mother.'
Those harmful to her home.
To humanity.
Or to this paradise.
Potential threats: races or Constellations that might invade someday.
Judge and handle them by its own criteria.
- Kraaarrgh!
That was enough.
Plenty to sate its destruction.
The universe was vast enough.
“Yeah, yeah. And take these too.”
Mother placed hundreds of something on its wing.
Sweet-smelling elixirs.
“Keep them safe and eat one a day. You can do that, right? You're a dragon.”
Of course!
Why else are dragons lords of magic?
Wooong!
Vinasa used dragon tongue magic to store them in sub-space instantly.
- Kraaarrgh!
It roared powerfully.
Whoosh, whoosh!
It lifted into the air with wingbeats.
Then gazed warmly at mother.
I'll miss you.
Thanks for taking care of me.
I'll grow stronger.
Become a true Destruction Dragon and return reliably!
Make you proud!
Emotions surging, Vinasa teared up, about to head to the distant cosmos.
“Vinasa?”
Mother smiled.
“You're forgetting your teeth.”
Tch.
I thought I'd snuck past that.
Tooth cost.
* * *
“Th-this, this...! What in the world is this! How can something so absurd...?!”
Demir's hands trembled as he clutched the two fist-sized teeth.
“No way... Destruction Dragon teeth?”
Demir finally felt like he'd shed his skeleton skin for a new life.
Thump, thump!
His heart felt like it was truly beating.
Not the polymorphed version.
A real heart.
Ahh!
What was a Destruction Dragon!
The dragon among dragons!
Stronger and more beautiful than any other!
‘I heard it from Miss Arin until my ears hurt.’
Even thousands of dragons couldn't match one Destruction Dragon bone or tooth.
His lifelong rival, the Giant Dragon, was just a big baby before a Destruction Dragon.
“Ooooh, heavens. M-Master, Maaaster!”
Demir caressed the two teeth with shaking hands.
Smoother and softer than any metal he'd touched.
Yet undoubtedly harder.
Demir felt surging passion.
To think his master brought such a treasure.
He'd have been thrilled with a scrap of millennium-forged steel and gifted amazing weapons, but this... just as master said.
A chance for the masterpiece of a lifetime.
“Master, Master!”
This wasn't just about making a weapon.
“What.”
“If I can properly forge these... these Destruction Dragon teeth into a weapon...!”
Demir cried out in感動.
“I might achieve the first-ever feat as a smith of the entire universe! If so... ahh, I could shatter the wall of my previous life and leap to the next realm!”
“You mean?”
“Yes.”
Demir nodded with resolute expression.
“A smith at the pinnacle— in Miss Arin's terms, I could become a Constellation.”
Constellation.
Demir's shocking declaration.