Stay Humble in This Line of Work

Ya-geumsul-sa laid into me hard.

Wait, is this really something to get chewed out over? Shouldn't she be the one getting mad and feeling wronged? Fortunately, once I explained the whole story, her anger started to subside bit by bit.

Once they confirmed I was alive, the tension eased. The artisans started trading jokes. Normally, I'd jump right in, but today I had no time for that.

Some weird dwarf. Anyone else?

Dwarf it is. Hammers are a dwarf thing, after all. Gling jumped right into the lesson at my request.

From what I gathered, end it with the first strike. His explanations leaned toward single, powerful blows: smash down hard, swing hard, block hard. Live life hard. Midway through swinging at empty air, a question hit me.

Mountain King here probably spent his life on battlefields, tough as nails. Swinging a plain hammer could shatter kobold skulls easy. But I'm a fresh awakener. Sure, I got body enhancement passive, but it's not a huge difference yet. Combat experience and instincts? Zero. Half-ass it, and my head pops first.

Mountain King's lecture resumed.

Not an easy lesson. Concepts were alien. Resonance? What even?

Like handling nodes? Same magic principle for crafting and combat? Wild.

And poof, Mountain King vanished. 'Tell me how to practice before assigning self-study!' No helping it. Couldn't waste time grumbling.

I moved deeper to avoid kobolds, sat cross-legged, closed my eyes, focused. Second time around, felt more familiar. Mana flow came quicker than before.

Beyond the dark, blue energy stirred. I opened my eyes. Sure enough, light sources around the hammer. Weirdly, the wooden handle and steel head felt different. Head was colder, maybe.

Extended my third arm, sensed the sources. Different results by resonance method. Resonance means linking nodes. Connect specific points for specific techs?

Split fingers, blindly linked nodes. Trial and error—bound to hit something. After ages of fiddling...

"Different."

Linking fingers to sources yielded different feels. Sometimes a 1-second disconnect from disgust. Others, stable mana flow. No clue on the principles. Just trial, eliminate wrongs. Then, suddenly.

Vrrrrm—

Hammer vibrated. Good node. Shoved mana in explosively—hammer shuddered. Rattling like it'd burst. Gripped handle carefully, kept link. Shaking eased a bit. Power still pulsed inside.

"Doesn't seem broken."

Unstable? Hell no. Felt exhilarating, even.

Gripped shaking hammer, stood before a tree. Experiment to find out.

"Hoo."

Steady breath. Swing at tree.

BOOM──!!!

Intense blast, shockwave erupted. Backlash knocked me on my ass.

"Whoa..."

Exceeded expectations. Tree half-shredded, toppled. Fan-shaped clearing 5 meters wide from tree, like swept clean.

"Heh heh heh heh."

Laugh escaped. Couldn't imagine this power an hour ago.

Incomprehensible strength...

Awakening felt real now. Hated hunters so much, yet here I was awakened. Made artifacts for non-awakeners, now mastering combat in the tower. Good? Hate myself? Dunno yet. Save full belly worries for after survival.

Gripped hammer again. Try different tech. Backlash swept me too—bad if enemies behind. Need safe, destructive.

Recalled, relinked nodes. Vibrating again. Dropped to one knee, slammed ground full force.

RUMBLE──!!!

Heavier blast, earth quaked. Upward shockwave nearly lifted me. Looked up—surroundings totaled.

"......Self-study done, I'd say."

Artisans uninterested in combat, as expected? Lukewarm reactions. Feeling awkward, then combat folks hyped it up.

Eh, black magic's a pass.

* * *

Fueled up on energy bars and water, headed straight to the mine. Wanted rest bad, but no time. Made 8 kobold corpses en route. Hid 'em well, but they'd notice something's up. Who knows what then—pickaxes dual-wield rush or reinforcements.

"Kerek! Grrr!!"

"Grrrng! Grrrng!"

Angry kobold cries from afar. Ducked into nearby trees quick. Kobolds approaching, carts loaded with iron ore. Carts not back, so manual haul? Good for me.

Climbed tree, scouted. Eight kobolds. Two carts. Four per cart.

8v1, but fear? Nah, excitement. Vibed the hammer, waited for carts below. Heavy loads—slow as hell.

Close enough—hoisted hammer, leaped between carts.

RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE──!!!

Jump doubled power—ground shook violently. Shockwave hit me hard. If I could barely stand, kobolds...

Quiet again. Carts smashed, ore scattered. Ground cracked big and small. Distant trees slashed sharp. Kobolds... no need to check.

* * *

Mopping up remnants wasn't tough. Scoped shots before, now one skill and I'm cocky. Slapped cheeks, refocused, headed down mine. Farmed dark iron from three kobolds first.

One kobold left. One short of quota. Not the last in the mine, though.

"Where'd they all go?"

Mine felt empty. Expected swarms after three at entrance. Heightened guard, descended shaft slow.

Heat rose. Borderline unbearable when fork appeared. Kobold grunts left and right.

"Kek!" "Grrng grrrng!" "Keng kerrng! Kerng!"

Three. Four. Five. At least ten.

"Ah. Fucked."

Quake here? Tunnel collapses obvious. Rocks on them or my head first? No thanks.

"Shit!"

Bolted back. Kobold horde yelling behind. Short legs, scary fast. Some chucked helmets, pickaxes, whatever.

"Huff...! What kobolds dig traps...!"

World's full of injustices. Lungs burning, ran anyway. Side stabbed? Sprint haze. Legs buckling—light ahead.

"Exit...!"

Prepped hammer vibe. Linking nodes mid-run? Torture. Mana right? Vibration said something's working.

"Almost..."

At exit—figure-skater spin 180. Gripped hammer two-handed, smashed wall.

CRASHCRASHCRASH──

Mountain screamed.

Crack! Snap!

Supports broke inside. Kobold panic cries, then...

CRUMBLE!

Mine fully collapsed.

"Huff......"

Stay humble. Floor 1 kicks ass hard.