Weapon Forging (2): Prison of the Resentful Souls
No matter how much time I've spent lately laughing and chatting with the gallery folks, there's one fact I've never once forgotten. This world is a post-apocalyptic wasteland where blood and tears dried up long ago.
"...Kill... me..."
"...F...uck..."
"...F...uck... kill... me..."
Withered, twisted screams. Fading clamor. The death rattles of undead who can't even die. That's the kind of voices echoing from this pile of blood vessels.
I freeze in place, and the chat window fills with puzzled reactions.
At that moment, a DM pings from Elf Hater.
> Elf Hater: Is the mental state not good, by any chance?
Just like Elf Hater, who'd reached the realm of the Martial God as a blacksmith, she already seemed to grasp the situation.
I lick my lips for a moment before replying in the private DM.
> *Jung Kkeokma: Too many resentful thoughts tangled up here. Thoughts from people who want to die but can't.
> Elf Hater: Wait, not just one resentful thought?
> *Jung Kkeokma: Yeah. That's right. The resentful thoughts bound to this pile of blood vessels aren't just one. At least dozens, maybe hundreds or more. Countless vengeful spirits trapped in this tiny mass, crushed, mangled, twisted together without release even in death. Like shoving human souls into a narrow prison and crushing them with a press.
I swallow a groan and spit it out raw. Elf Hater replies with a sigh of lament.
> Elf Hater: ...So it's a Resentful Soul Stone. I thought it was just a mineral infused with a vengeful spirit. Sorry. I was short-sighted. I knew what your world was like, but I should've predicted something like this could happen.
Her usual persona shattered, I hesitate on how to respond before deciding. The sharp gallery folks have probably caught on anyway. I stare at the quieted chat and ask,
"What's a Resentful Soul Stone?"
> Elf Hater: A substance formed when vengeful spirits, enduring unspeakable torment, harden and imprison themselves. Looks like metal or ore on the outside. Might not be that different in practice, but the key is the twisted resentful thoughts trapped inside from ages of suffering.
As Elf Hater explains, the gallery martial artists who taught me their arts freak out.
AlphaGo: Warning. Cease Steel Communion Method immediately!
I'd vaguely sensed it already, but yeah, this blood vessel clump was no ordinary material. Even these battle-hardened Martial Gods were losing it.
But seeing it myself chills my heart instead.
"What do I need to do to free the people trapped inside?"
My master cries out in shock.
The other veterans scramble to talk me out of it.
From their reactions, I get how dangerous what I'm about to try is. Honestly, I don't even know why I'm doing this. Have I been some saint all this time? If anything, I've been a selfish volcano of self-interest, scrambling to survive the last five years with my life as top priority.
But.
But still.
"It's dangerous, right? But not impossible."
I stare straight at the gallery beyond the chat window and say it.
"Not trying to make excuses, but running from mutants all this time was unavoidable. Surviving against those monsters and yasha was straight-up impossible. Didn't wanna die like a dog."
Facing mutants was exactly that. Zero percent success rate, probability manipulation bullshit.
But purifying this Resentful Soul Stone? That's different.
"I know full well how insanely dangerous this thing is. Just cracking open my mental locks with the Steel Communion Method for a bit, and my heart's already pounding from the influence. Pushing further terrifies me, hairs standing on end wondering what'll happen. But it's not on the level of facing a mutant before I met you guys."
Success rate looks razor-thin, but no matter how low, it ain't zero.
Screw up and risk my life? Then just don't screw up.
"Right, Elf Hater?"
I grin and ask—
Honorary dwarf? What's that? Mom, I changed races! No clue what honorary dwarf means, but sounds like it's doable.
The chat's still chaos, so I freeze everyone and give Elf Hater sole speaking rights.
Elf Hater—with a deep blue sword mark pinned to her nickname—throws out a warning and encouragement in one.
Got it. Like slapping top-tier gear on a noob to carry—if my skills suck, leverage Mother Earth's grace to the max.
A third-rate hack blacksmith exorcist like me needs to pull every lever for full power.
I close my eyes, clasp my hands in prayer. With reverent poise, I circulate the Ley Line Resonance Art.
At the same time, the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture.
Circulating two different arts simultaneously is madness, but the most harmonious art in the universe, the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture, makes it possible.
And the synergy isn't just running two arts.
Rumble rumble rumble—
'Normally, the Ley Line Resonance Art just draws ley lines to the surface. That's why it only uses acupoints in the palms touching the earth.'
But the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture is different. It turns the whole body into a microcosm. Naturally, the guided Ley Line Resonance Art now encompasses the entire body in its cycle.
Truth be told, this is crazier than just dual-wielding arts.
Why? 'The reason Ley Line Resonance Art limits to the wrists is because it's intervening in the colossal ley lines, pulling just a portion to the surface. But like this, it's hurling your whole body into the ley lines.'
A reckless dive of my tiny self into the vast entity called Mother Earth.
One slip, and I could get swept away by that immense ego, vanishing without a trace.
No, high chance of total disaster.
Still, I attempt it because 'high risk, high return.'
What I'm about to do isn't just fetching a strand of ley line.
Groooowl?—
The moment Ley Line Resonance Art wraps my body, a massive pulsation writhes up from below, overwhelming me. How grand is this existence? Even without malice, my tiny self feels like a sandcastle about to be erased by its vastness.
But the more it presses, the firmer I steel my mind.
'Mother!! Your worthless, troublemaking unfilial son begs you—just this once, help me out!!'
Prayer with irreverent incantation. Not sure if it's right, but when circulating the art, it's sincere.
The result: Kaboooom!!
The great mother who bore this worthless son answers my prayer. 100%? Nah, at least 1000% over!
Something colossal coiled deep below thrashes like a beast, and the small crucible explodes as a massive lava pillar erupts to the ceiling.
"Fuck, did it ten-bagger?!"
It did, so don't hold back!!!
The fire pillars don't erupt from one spot. Like geysers, they burst everywhere, flooding the forge with lava.
In seconds, the earth glows crimson, scorching heat filling the forge air. My clothes burn away, unable to withstand it. Naturally, I'm not immune either.
"Fucking hot!!!"
Crackle crackle.
My ankles blister in real time. This with Crimson Flame Tempering Art trained. Without it, I'd be well-done Jung Kkeokma by now!
"Gaaahhh!!"
I bellow like a berserker and settle into lotus position in the lava.
Instinct screams to bolt, but I grit my teeth and circulate Crimson Flame Tempering Art.
Kuugrrr.
The searing heat invades not just skin but deep inside. Muscles, tendons, meridians roast golden.
Since Crimson Flame Tempering Art absorbs heat into inner energy, the invasion accelerates.
But, 'It's... working!!!'
Despite the agony, my thoughts hold. Intense pain assaults, but I cling on.
Is my Crimson Flame Tempering Art that advanced? No way. I'm just at the entry stage, barely past beginner slopes.
So this means, 'Realm rising in real time!!'
I feel Crimson Flame Tempering Art evolving on the fly. Whether from Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture forcibly balancing the collapse, or the forge-filling lava being Mother Earth's graced ley lines—who knows—but in this near-death hell, my realm climbs steeply.
Of course, that doesn't make everything rosy.
"Gaaaaahhhh!!!"
I said it earlier. Crimson Flame Tempering Art speeds up heat absorption. So higher realm means even faster invasion.
Now the ley line heat boils my lungs to broth, overclocks my heart into a runaway train.
Thump thump.
Pulsing turns berserk. One mistake, and I'm done.
I've flung open all mental locks, so even Heaven's Mechanism Calculation can't protect me.
Only I can save me now. If weak me can't, then evolved stronger me must.
How? No sweat. Did it once already.
Same as boosting Ley Line Resonance Art 1000% via Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture.
Dual-circulate Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture and Crimson Flame Tempering Art—for 1000% ten-bagger Crimson Flame Tempering Art.
The result: Kaboom kaboom!!
Inferno blasts, zero-to-hundred in 0.1 seconds, whole body ignites in flames.
Heat permeates everywhere, even my brain.
My gaping mouth can't scream, just belches heat.
Suicidal madness.
But with purpose—
Crunch—
Something shatters. Like cracked shell sprouting new flesh, tectonic split spewing magma—the condensed heat bursts outward.
This moment, I feel myself burning. Not metaphor—literal physical blaze.
Then, in my vision's corner, amid the lava pond, a floating ladle drifts.
This absurd sight amid chaos—I stride toward it.
The vessel that held me through the turmoil brims with Yoji spring water.
And beyond it, "Human torch?"
My fully aflame self reflects back.