The Unintended Shield
"..." Phil's face crumpled mercilessly.
The Black Rock Guild was a small but solid, highly skilled guild where the members genuinely cared for one another. That was why, when Gu Sung-wook was searching for the Sword of Weeping for his class quest, the entire guild had banded together and suffered immensely. Since then, a strict rule had been established within the guild:
- Never get involved with Kim Tae-hyun again!!!
In Fantasia Online, there were countless players who would do absolutely anything just to catch a glimpse of Kim Tae-hyun's face. But the Black Rock Guild had had more than enough. It was just... too much damn work!
Of course, objectively speaking, the quest they did with Kim Tae-hyun had left them with plenty of rewards and gains.
Should I tell him? Phil thought.
Every time Gu Sung-wook heard Tae-hyun's name, he flinched. That was how deeply the trauma of that hardship had been engraved!
Ahem... but it's not like I can just keep it from him.
Ultimately, Phil had no choice but to speak to Gu Sung-wook cautiously.
"Your Holiness! To think you have completed the Primeval Fire... This Elder, Bekelf, is in absolute awe of your capabilities! Truly, I am filled with endless admiration!"
Bekelf bowed his head deeply, placing an unusual amount of emphasis on his title of "Elder." He seemed thoroughly satisfied with his position as an elder of the church. And to think he had actually managed to complete the Primeval Fire!
Does this guy not realize he's basically imprisoned here? Tae-hyun wondered.
He's in a good mood, so let's not ruin it by teasing him.
Since Bekelf's "wonderful" personality had been notorious since his days in the Dwarf Kingdom, Tae-hyun was keeping him under strict surveillance. The heroes of the church residing in the Sky Castle, along with the spirits of the Sky Castle, were all keeping a close eye on Bekelf.
With nothing better to do, the bored heroes of the church huddled around Bekelf, watching him work and chiming in.
"Whoa there. That's not how you do it."
"Back in my day, we didn't do it like that... Ahem. Not that I'm telling you what to do, of course. I mean, you are a dwarf, and a far superior blacksmith... but it's just a tiny bit, a tiny bit lacking, you know? I just wanted to point that out!"
"..."
Even the good-natured Bekelf was being driven to the brink of madness by the nagging of these old heroes! Bekelf pleaded with Tae-hyun.
"Your Holiness. Would it be possible for me to work alone?"
If they were fellow blacksmiths, it might be one thing, but having paladins who knew absolutely nothing about blacksmithing give him unsolicited advice made his blood boil. Tae-hyun subtly pretended not to hear.
"Bekelf. You are the pillar of this church. You are performing a role that no other elder could possibly hope to achieve."
"...!"
A swift subject change! But Bekelf, seemingly oblivious, looked deeply moved. In truth, Bekelf was easily one of the most diligent among the elders of the Archisus Church. At the very least, he worked hard at his blacksmithing! In the Archisus Church, that put him in the top 1% of diligence.
Thanks to him, I think we can finally start running the church's official smithy in earnest.
The churches of the continent usually had their own dedicated smithies. The equipment diligently crafted by the church's blacksmiths would be worn by church NPCs or given as rewards to adventurers who made significant contributions. Truly masterpiece-grade creations would even be stored in the church's treasury!
However, the Archisus Church had barely done anything of the sort until now.
Because it was practically impossible to run one.
Whenever they obtained good materials, Tae-hyun and his companions barely had enough to craft gear for themselves, let alone support the entire church. Although they owned quite a few smithies, the only items regularly produced were (massive quantities of) bombs! The rest were items offered by players, brought back by Tae-hyun from quests, or extorted from others. Of course, even that alone amounted to an astronomical quantity.
It was to the point where players belonging to the church would post things like:
"Tae-hyun, are you not going to beat anyone up lately?"
"Tae-hyun, the Guild Alliance guys seem to have really good gear lately. Can't you go pick a fight with them?"
But for the church to operate stably, it couldn't rely solely on pillaging. It needed the capacity to produce items consistently and steadily! And now, they finally had that capacity.
With the Primeval Fire active, they possessed a powerful forge that didn't pale in comparison to the blessed, giant smithies of other major religions! A stable supply of raw materials, enthusiastically mined and hauled by goblins and dwarves! And a hard-working sla—cough, blacksmith!
Are you sure having just one person will be enough?
"It's fine. Bekelf said he prefers working alone."
No, that's not what I meant...
The smithy located in the Sky Castle has begun producing church equipment!
The equipment crafted by the lonely blacksmith, Bekelf, will be designated as official Archisus Church gear.
Equipment of Rare grade or below may be distributed as rewards for Archisus Church quests.
Equipment of Epic grade will be stored in the treasury and may be awarded for specific high-level quests!
A server-wide message will be broadcast if a Legendary grade item is crafted!
Hmm. The Archisus Church is truly growing stronger.
Honestly, Tae-hyun hadn't expected to see this day before he quit Fantasia Online... But after giving and giving, they really were growing stronger!
The Archisus Church does have a conscience after all...
Tae-hyun was slightly moved. If they hadn't grown stronger after all this investment, it would have been truly tragic. Furthermore, according to Lee Da-bi, the Arkhisus Crusaders led by Galakpad had achieved a massive feat. Though, honestly, he found it hard to believe.
Didn't those idiots just blow themselves up and call it an achievement?
No matter how he looked at it, that had to be it.
Whoosh—
The place that made the most chilling, eerie sound in the entire Sky Castle: the Frost Core!
Due to your high Luck, you are protected from the extreme cold!
Evasion successful...
Resistance successful...
The power of the Cold Curse may increase the closer you get!
Sigh. If I end up having to use a skill here, it's really going to sting, but I have no choice.
Prepared to use every authority from Time Reversal to Resurrection, Tae-hyun dashed toward the Frost Core. The state of his territory was currently disastrous.
- The... the river is boiling?!
- The fish are all dead! Scoop them up! Scoop them up!
- The fields are burning! Why is there a sudden fire?!
If Tae-hyun had built a Frost School Magic Tower, he could have mobilized mages to cool down the territory's temperature. In fact, territories that currently possessed Frost School Mage NPCs were doing exactly that. Territories without them were suffering hell! Since Tae-hyun only had the Flame School Magic Tower...
It's great that we got a buff from the Primeval Fire, but in this situation, it's completely useless...
Ultimately, Tae-hyun had to resolve this himself.
You have made contact with the Frost Core!
State your desire!
Demanding something the Frost Core cannot grant may result in a massive penalty!
If you do not decide quickly, a massive penalty will be applied...
I know, so shut up. Tae-hyun quickly shouted:
"Protect the territory from the Curse of the Volcano!"
The Frost Core has accepted your request!
You have successfully harnessed the Frost Core!
Your Reputation has increased significantly!
Your Holy stat has increased!
Combining the experience points accumulated from the Primeval Fire quest and his previous quests, he leveled up! Tae-hyun let out a sigh of relief. Considering he had prepared for the absolute worst, this was an incredibly successful outcome. And the level up was a nice bonus...
The Frost Core demands a price from you!
Resisted due to your Holy stat...
Resisted due to your high Luck...
Resisted due to...
The price has been determined!
An Advanced magic skill will be deleted!
Advanced Nebuchadnezzar's Blackmagic cannot be deleted. Nebuchadnezzar's Blackmagic resists the deletion.
Huh?!?!
Tae-hyun was horrified. A magic skill was being deleted? That was a catastrophic penalty, on par with losing a swordsmanship skill or a blacksmithing skill! No wonder the system's warnings had been so ominous...!
...Wait a minute. I don't actually lose anything, do I?
Come to think of it, most of the magic skills Tae-hyun had developed were dark magic. Furthermore, after defeating Nebuchadnezzar, they had all been (forcibly) converted into Nebuchadnezzar's Blackmagic. Since this was a curse-like state imbued with divine power, just like how he couldn't abandon his class, it couldn't be deleted either. In fact, the system message explicitly stated that it couldn't be deleted.
Which meant he didn't have any other magic skills to lose! Even his Word of Power wasn't classified as a magic skill, but rather a Speech skill...
What the. This isn't really a loss at all.
Cold Curse (Advanced, Level 1, 1%)
A magic that utilizes the cursed power received from the Frost Core. It can summon devastating cold, but inflicts damage on the user.
Oh...
It seemed the penalty was supposed to delete a magic skill and replace it with the Cold Curse! But since his existing magic skill had already been converted and resisted deletion, he lost nothing and gained the new skill anyway...
Though it is a bit awkward.
Judging by the description, it was a spell that consumed his own HP to cast. Tae-hyun rarely used these types of skills. Even after acquiring Sadiq's Flame in the past, he rarely used it—not just because he wasn't a magic-focused build, but also because his HP pool wasn't particularly massive.
Well, having it is better than not having it. But when would he ever use this?
Well, it's still probably better than Sadiq's Flame!
"True, that's also true."
The god's Apostle and his companion, casually trash-talking Sadiq together! If Sadiq had witnessed this, he would have been absolutely fuming. After how much they had relied on Sadiq's Flame up until now...!
The power of the Frost Core is being cast over the territory!
The Curse of the Volcano has subsided!
"...!"
"Th-they blocked the Curse of the Volcano?!"
The players in the territory were utterly stunned. It hadn't been long since The Valley, an incredibly functional and pristine territory, had been established... And now, it had suddenly blocked a continent-wide curse! Some players even complained:
"Man~ back in my day, this territory was a total dumpster fire! Enduring all that crap while pulling the gacha was the true charm of the Valley! Seriously!"
"The Valley has gotten way too comfortable lately, that's the problem!"
"What? Are they insane?"
Originally, the Valley was known as a unique, eccentric territory rather than a conventionally "good" one. But gradually... it was becoming flawlessly perfect! Moreover, unlike before, the number of players in the territory had multiplied several times over. Because the passage to the Demon Realm had opened in the Valley, a massive number of high-level players had settled down here.
Among them, the blacksmith players were utterly flabbergasted when they saw the Primeval Fire suddenly appear. High-level blacksmith players at least knew what the Primeval Fire was. But why on earth was it installed *here*??
"How the hell did Kim Tae-hyun install the Primeval Fire?!"
"Wasn't the method to ignite that flame lost to history? Who knew how to do it?"
"There's a rumor that Kim Tae-hyun made it into the Dwarf Kingdom... Did he learn it from the dwarves?"
"Should we go there? Ah, but just finding a Dwarf Kingdom is hard enough..."
Dwarf Kingdoms, usually located in deep, remote areas, were incredibly difficult for low-level players to even reach. Even if they did, building rapport with them was a nightmare! With so many external players currently in the territory, the rumors spread several times faster than usual.