Chasing the Orange Glow

First off, Jatan's Divine Mark and the Bracelet of the Earth provided solid boosts to strength and vitality, as befitting a god of earth and stone. They amplified Vulcan's abilities even further, since he'd dumped all his extra stats into strength.

Thanks to them, Vulcan was pretty damn satisfied even without any attack skills attached. His lips stayed curled in a grin that wouldn't quit.

'If we're competing like this... hell yeah, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thank you very much.'

On top of that, the Blessed One title had evolved too. The all-stats boost had gotten bigger. It seemed to go up by 2% for each additional blessing. There were still four major gods left that could qualify as "major," and adding in the minor ones made it over a dozen more. Simple math meant he could look forward to at least +30% all stats at max.

Of course, no guarantee they'd all give 2% or even bless him at all.

- Hmph! What the hell are you grinning about!!

"Ugh!"

"What's your problem?"

"It's nothing."

He ended up catching a smack from Tud while smirking, but he couldn't help being thrilled. Vulcan chatted amiably with them—they were all goodwill with no demands since their wishes were granted. He pried info out of them, loaded up on buffs, then headed for his next stop: Kuzar Mountain.

"Aigoo, my poor back. This ain't even Korea-inspired, so why the fuck are there so many damn mountains...?"

Kuzar Mountain was supposedly a chunk that broke off when Hirros Volcano erupted, so it was crawling with ash-gray monsters. Gray Mountain Trolls and Ashen Orcs were the stars, rated weaker than their normal kin—but not always in every way.

"Eh, as long as debuffs don't stick, it's all good for me."

He had the ability to nullify most debuffs anyway. That was a shared trait among Kuzar monsters, screwing over anyone not built for melee. Mages, for instance, were the "flowers of fantasy" thanks to their nukes, but at low levels, they hung debuffs like burns or slows and poked with small spells.

"And these guys specialize in physical attacks anyway, so they're easy pickings."

That was why users skipped from Schnell Village straight to Kuzar Village. Schnell had elemental attackers needing specific setups, but Kuzar was all about raw physical attack and defense—no fancy attributes.

Half the users in Kuzar Village were miners eyeing the ore veins; the rest came from other secondary cities, not Schnell. Schnell was the outlier—other secondaries had standard physical-focused mobs. Plus, Kuzar branched to eight tertiary cities, so smart players bypassed crowded rivals to level faster here.

"Gray Mountain Troll habitat's that way, huh."

Leveling here was easier than eating cold porridge for Vulcan. These guys had solid physical attack/defense compared to others, but it wasn't enough against his gear. And their regen—insane on normal trolls, where even decapitation just needed reattachment—was barely a thing on Gray Mountain Trolls, making them a cakewalk.

"But why does my gaze keep drifting over there...?"

He'd expected easy farming for Gray Mountain Troll tendons and their blood for regen pots, but once on Kuzar Mountain, his eyes kept pulling elsewhere—not the habitat, but a towering orange pillar rising from the peak.

"Ugh, it's tempting, but that's the problem. Feels like I'm getting too nosy."

Vulcan was straight-shooting by nature: pick a goal, charge ahead, get it done. But since getting Dragon Eye, he'd felt curiously meddlesome. Special lights kept catching his eye—and paying off big. Especially orange ones, signaling Unique items. A money-grubber like him couldn't ignore that.

No wonder he'd been called "Jeon-gwi" (battle ghost) and "Jjeon-gwi" (money ghost).

'Got called Jeon-gwi too... but that's ancient history.'

With a wry smile at old memories, Vulcan turned toward the glow. Bowstring mats weren't super urgent. Sure, early pots could open new playstyles with bows, arrows, and specials—but specials needed time and mats anyway. No auction pre-buys meant village pitstops for crafting.

"The peak boss is the Volcanic Ash Giant, right?"

Self-justified, he headed straight for the orange-shimmering summit. Orange meant Unique. Whatever monster held it had to die.

"Tricky bastard... but I can handle it now."

He already guessed who: the sole known peak dweller, Volcanic Ash Giant. It lurked alone amid ash-fog, assassinating intruders. Huge body made "assassin" a stretch, but it struck from unseen angles with crushing force and weight—assassin's work. No witnesses, since subtle mana in the ash hid it till too late.

Immune to all debuffs like other locals; its ash ignored wind magic. Users challenged once or twice early, then bailed—no special drops, insane difficulty blind, boss-tier strength even spotted.

'Drops aren't confirmed 'cause few survived hunts. Wonder what it's packing?'

Vulcan had planned to skip it, farm levels, move on—but now it had a Unique. No passing that up. He recalled its kit; his own activated too.

"Hm. Still not moving?"

First, Dragon Eye. Ash fog blinded normals, but Vulcan pinpointed it. Not entered the fog yet, so it just watched, no approach.

He pondered a toe-dip but whipped out a counter first, lest he provoke it needlessly.

"Hate to waste it, but gotta for a giant like that."

Out came the Orb of Life—repaired via crafting, fully intact unlike before. Vulcan trusted his strength/defense against it, but experience taught raw power didn't solve fog fights.

'Golems/guardians die to core-smash, easy. But slow-sinking foes? Tank helps.'

Peak drops converted mass to damage; ash stung eyes beyond mere vision block—forcing squints, delaying reactions.

So he infused mana into the repaired orb, dumped ore from inventory. A copper pseudo-golem rose.

'It'll break fast, but other metals cost too much.'

Steel would've been tankier, but disposables were cheap. Intact orb meant recoverable—no loss. He shifted it to the foot, hard to target in giant fights.

"Go!"

Vulcan sent ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Life Guardian into the ash fog first. Plan: scout ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠position/moves, sneak in.

Ssslruk—

Boom!!

Moments later, Volcanic Ash Giant smashed the intruder's head. No weapon—its fists, deadlier than any, cratered skull to neck.

"Regen!"

Vulcan's command hit; mana drained, head regrew. Giant hesitated in surprise, then raged with flailing fists.

Boom! Thud! Thud! Thud!!

Pure sandbag treatment. Outmatched in strength/agility, Guardian stood and ate hits; clumsy counters got arms ripped.

"Regen!"

But its regen was nuts. Ample mana let detached limbs reattach or reform via metal sacrifice. It endured.

'Mana burn's higher than expected. Gotta end quick.'

But mana drained per regen; Vulcan's pool shrank visibly. He couldn't watch longer—timing intervention.

'Nice.'

Into the fog—unexpected set proc. Thick ash blotted sky/light, mimicking night.

"Dark Assimilation."

Now he could hide in ash too. Mid-tier stealth via Dark Assimilation; Guardian's defiance enraged Giant—he snuck close undetected.

'Nape first.'

Blasting in, Vulcan targeted the nape—standard giant weak spot, Achilles too.

"Grraaaahhh!!!"

No different; stealth stab + Despair Serpent agony drew screams.

"Holy shit!"

No instant kill. Pain-fueled thrash forced Vulcan back; full-power ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fist yeeted Guardian airborne—through fog, off the cliff.

"Fuck... ptoo!"

Tank retired in seconds. Wasted ore; Vulcan spat intruding ash, pissed.

Meantime, Giant locked on—smashing fist to crush.

'What? It's slow?'

Kaboom!!!

Earth-shaking blow trembled Vulcan. But his eyes held bafflement, not fear.

Strength/vitality nuts, agility solid too—or so he recalled. Yet attacks telegraphed clearly. Ash stung, but blink-dodgeable.

'...Gear power's insane.'

All item power. Giant Lv 141; Vulcan strength-maxed but agility/movespeed jacked by options/sets—uncatchable gap.

'Can't lose like this!'

Reverse charge. Faster than counter-fist, burrowed in, slid legs to slash Achilles candidate.

Crack!

"...!"

Futile. Despair Serpent severed ankle—dust burst, instant reform.

Troll regen? Nah—body was ash, compacted like guardian/golem.

'Then?'

Late realization; Dragon Eye active. Hunt the core.

'Moving?'

Odd—core-lookalike shifted, not fixed.

'Mobile core? No...!'

Almost bought it, but nope. Orange glow—Unique holder—left the body.

'Decoy.'

Not true golem/magic life. Just ash puppet, puppeteered like necromancer dolls.

Interest soured. Dodged rampage via Dark Assimilation; dashed to exposed true body, position crystal via his eyes.

"Huh?"

Before grab/attack, surprise level-up chimed. Nothing done, but fat EXP jumped him up.