Red Dragon Leather?!
Tud hadn't confirmed it outright, so Vulcan couldn't be 100% sure, but if it really was Red Dragon leather, it all made sense.
Dragons stood at the pinnacle of all existence, and among them, the Red clan—masters of flame—would naturally shrug off mere fire like it was nothing.
Rumors had it that their lairs were near volcanoes, and for a while, players had scoured every known volcanic terrain in Gloria Saga, desperately hunting for a glimpse or trace of a Red Dragon to film.
Just slapping this on without any processing screamed fire immunity option, so Vulcan nodded, his face a mix of awe and bewilderment.
He couldn't quite wrap his head around Tud's mindset—using the same dragon leather for a crafting apron of all things—but what mattered was that a Legendary-grade piece of gear was now in his hands.
'Wish I could sell this.'
Greed started bubbling up now.
If it had been any other gear slot, or if materials had been short and he'd only made shoes or gloves, he could've flipped it for a fortune!
His gut twisted with regret, bile rising in his throat.
The apron had no bind-on-equip, so he could sell it, but getting full value? Fat chance.
The Blacksmith class restriction was a killer.
Sure, sky-high defense and fire immunity sounded great, but a Blacksmith without proper tanking skills couldn't pull aggro to save their life. It'd end up a white elephant.
'Better to use it myself than pawn it off cheap.'
A hundred—no, a thousand times better.
These options would boost his growth plenty, so Vulcan decided to equip it himself and scanned the surroundings.
No other Legendaries, probably, but his hawk-like eyes swept for anything else usable.
"Uh... Tud? Nothing else? You said this was all prepped for me, right?"
"Other stuff? Why need more? Got the furnace, anvil, and decent materials stocked, don't ya?"
But he found zilch.
As Tud said, basics for crafting were there: furnace, anvil, and crates of pretty rare ores stacked up.
Even minor gems and herbs, somehow untouched by the lava zone's heat—maybe the crates had some preservation effect.
Not piled to the ceiling like Tud's original treasure warehouse, but enough to craft whatever he wanted in bulk.
"What about weapons or...?"
"Make 'em yourself! Tud found a successor to see the end of item power, not some lazy thief freeloader!"
He'd asked just in case and got an earful of insults.
"Ugh, this is a dead end..."
Vulcan's face darkened.
Everything was great, but no weapon meant no revenge on his ambushers—no counterattack.
Hell, he might need to worry about their retaliation first.
"Where's the exit here connect outside?"
Time to bail.
Pride and payback mattered, but money and survival topped the list.
Dropping this Legendary apron would give him a rage-stroke for a month straight, and even without it, his inventory was loaded with valuables—death now equaled massive losses.
"Where else? Same spot you came in."
He'd hoped otherwise, but no dice. Entrance and exit were one and the same.
"Ugh. They're probably camping it."
Dropping into Hador's boss room was fine, but he'd taunted them hard—they might be lying in wait on the teleporter.
Even if they only grasped a fraction of the Blizzard Staff's true value, they'd drag the whole guild to camp Vulcan's exit.
Charging out blind was suicide.
He needed a plan.
"Stealth skill recipe or...!"
Biting his lip, Vulcan scanned the materials.
He'd haul it all anyway, but to escape safely, he needed countermeasures crafted here.
Even with Hador, level 200s would overwhelm him eventually.
No head-on fight? Fine—stealth, illusions, something to fool their eyes.
Vulcan appraised the workshop materials one by one with Dragon Eye, hunting recipes.
Worst case, grind crafting skill ranks here to kill time till they tired out or logged at dawn, then slip away.
"...Damn. All attack skills."
No luck. Every recipe skewed toward brute force.
Boosted attack power or skill triggers popped up, but no stealth.
"Heh, back when Tud thought raw power was king. Good times."
'Good times my ass.'
Tud dodged his glare of doubt and resentment like it burned.
"Make something anyway? Hmm..."
A monster attack skill could solve everything simply.
But his crafting rank wasn't there yet, and even if it proced perfectly, activation was another issue.
"High chance it's just pie in the sky."
Item Master rank-up let him use one extra line, but all his bonus stats were in Strength.
Mana starvation meant crafting killer skills he'd never fire—or one-shot then fizzle.
"No choice, though."
Nothing else viable.
Might as well go all-in.
"Should've hit level 100 first."
Craftable item level capped at crafter level +100.
Nothing over 200 here.
Could half-assed stats and one-liner options handle them? Minimum Unique or bust.
Still, no try no know. Vulcan sighed deep and eyed the tools.
"Anvil's Rare, furnace Unique? No joke. Can I snag these?"
Tud's workshop lived up to the hype.
Anvil Rare-grade, furnace straight Unique.
Crafting with these should up Legendary odds, right?
He'd love to yoink them, so he poked around.
"What's this?"
[Unique]
A condensed mass of fiery energy amassed over eons.
Holds power to command the leyline-connected flames.
Can ignite or amplify fire directly.
The furnace especially stood out—specifically, the gem embedded in it.
A red gem called Essence of Fire, Unique-grade on its own, seemed to amp the furnace's power for bigger flames.
"Device to crank furnace heat. Normal flames melt average ores, but specials need more oomph. Plenty ways to boost, but Tud grabbed this 'cause lazy. Careful with it..."
"Huh? Pops right out?"
Click.
Touching it, it detached easily into his hand—meant to be removable.
"...Shouldn't yank without prep."
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu—
"Wha?!"
As his worries deepened, the whole workshop shook.
Floor, ceiling—violent tremors everywhere.
Leylines near Hirros Dormant Volcano are twisting.
Core of Hirros Dormant Volcano is stirring.
"What the hell?!"
Hirros Dormant Volcano has received strong stimulation.
In 6 hours, Hirros Dormant Volcano will commence activity.
"Knew it'd happen."
"If you knew, warn a guy earlier!!"
"Then ask before yanking?"
Volcano Eruption
[Regional Quest]
📍 Description: The long-dormant Hirros Dormant Volcano has been jolted into activity by someone. Quell the eruption or evacuate everyone to minimize damage.
🎁 Success Conditions:
1. Quell Hirros Volcano
2. Evacuate NPCs from Schnell Village
*Complete one or more for success.
💰 Rewards: Scaled by performance.
"Even jammed back in... Shit, no dice."
Panicking, Vulcan shoved the Essence back, but too late.
Removing it had already shocked the leylines—irreversible.
What now? If Hirros reactivated, this place wouldn't survive.
Outside? Any way to stop it?
"Way's there. Use the Essence in the crater to calm the boiling leylines."
Tud casually dropped the fix.
Reinserting in the furnace wouldn't cut it, but crater toss could settle the fiery surge.
'Description said it commands fire energy...'
Item tooltip matched.
'Maybe this works out?'
Shared lava and flames meant Hador's nest would suffer too—might even vanish.
Big events sometimes reshaped terrain, wiped or spawned dungeons.
Vulcan tilted his head.
This could be good for him.
Campers outside would flee to survive.
His fire immunity nullified lava damage—he could stroll out post-eruption.
'Not instant spew of lava and ash—just activity starting.'
Climb to the summit, quell it, scatter foes, complete quest. Perfect twofer.
In 6 hours, forced relocation occurs.
Safety afterward not guaranteed. Move to a safe area in advance.
But no free lunch.
6 hours to activity—then forced eject outside.
Caution: Only one item from the Legendary Craftsman's Secret Workshop may be taken.
"What?!"
Worse: one item max from here.
"Choose or die? Insane."
Legendary apron or volcano-stopper Essence? Pick one.
Anvil, furnace, ore crates tempting, but no—singular limit.
Maybe furnace with Essence slotted?
"Crafted items exempt. Limit's 'pre-existing stuff' only."
Legendary it is, then—but gut-wrenching waste.
Tud's chocolate puddle had dried to nothing, his translucent body crusted black like a chocolate statue.
As Tud teased—or magnanimously added—Vulcan jammed the Essence back in.
"Ugh. Why the stupid limit?"
"Fun, innit?"
"...Yeah. Figures."
He swallowed surging irritation at the pure Tud response.
Intended to force crafting, sure—but not with a timer.
'Wait.'
A thought sparked.
"Tud. This one or two?"
Slotted back in, he asked.
One item or two?
"One."
Stacked=one.
Then this?
"This counts as one too, right?"
"That..."
Vulcan flung open the apron's pocket sub-space and dumped crate ores in like mad.