The Insufferable Heat of Flame Magic
Recently, rumors had spread like wildfire through the other magic towers that the Iron Magic Tower and the Fire Magic Tower were working nonstop on something massive.
But honestly, it wasn't that shocking.
What exactly was a magic tower, anyway? An untouched, pristine zone untouched by the continent's politics. Because of their overwhelming power, they had turned into a land of peace where no one dared to touch them. It was a gathering place for human weapons capable of ending lives with just a few finger snaps.
Ironically, that was exactly why it felt so boring.
Like how a bald-headed character in a manga became too overpowered and stopped feeling interesting.
By principle, magic battles between mages were banned here, so the only "legitimate" thing mages could do was research, research, and more research.
"Hah, a large-scale project?"
"Was this the first one since Beldora became tower master?"
"The fire bastards are still at it even after they succeeded in eternalizing. How many more times can they start from scratch?"
It wasn't like it was some huge project or anything. Just another routine research thing the towers always did.
But the Iron Tower had completely rebuilt their entire tower structure, while the Fire Tower kept getting mages who passed out or suffered mana shocks every single day.
The other magic towers were starting to catch on that something weird was going on.
"Hah... hahaha."
Beldora Millennium, the tower master of the Fire Magic Tower, had lost her previous soft, wrinkle-free skin and youthful appearance. Dark circles had settled under her eyes, and she let out a hollow laugh.
"I can't believe I'm actually going to build this!"
She had stopped every project cold and thrown herself into building the massive furnace.
The results that now lay before her eyes were impossible not to feel moved by.
One side of the Iron Magic Tower's outer wall featured a gigantic furnace that looked grand from the outside and was packed with tools inside.
Thanks to the systematic efficiency checks they had done beforehand, they were confident they had achieved extreme efficiency.
"Haa... I'm going to cry here."
"Whoa, it's finally done."
"You two were glued to this for two months, right?"
"They're insane, really."
The Fire Magic Tower mages had stayed up every day, burned through mana, gotten recharged when they collapsed, and endured headaches that felt like their skulls would split open. But looking at the result they had created made them feel an indescribable pride. On top of that, their ability to handle iron had grown several times over.
"I never want to do this again."
"If they ever make us do something like this, I'm seriously submitting a transfer request to another tower."
"The fire tower guys are done, huh? They were screaming their lungs out every day too."
It was an experience they would never want to repeat.
"Sigh."
Beldora let out a sigh of relief and smiled with genuine satisfaction.
The meeting with the Archmage who oversaw all the towers was coming up soon.
If she told the conservative Archmage about the planned furnace, he would probably spend the time arguing that magic shouldn't be wasted on construction.
As someone who had only just become tower master, Beldora's lack of achievements would probably have been noticed already.
But she had built a super-large furnace incredibly fast.
Now she had real things to talk about in the meeting. The changes this would bring were truly revolutionary, and she could feel her heart racing with excitement.
She was bursting with the desire to show off her youthful spirit to those old, grumpy old men in the dorms.
"Crk... crhm."
The mages in red robes were approaching cautiously.
They had clearly come to hear about the furnace.
Their expressions weren't the best.
Tower Master Chiron of the Fire Magic Tower had the darkest face of all.
"Don't do it."
Beldora, who saw this, immediately got scared and spoke up.
"N-no, Beldora."
"I said don't do it."
"I-I had something to say—"
"Don't! Hey! Call Lee Dam! Lee daaaam! Where the hell is she? The absolute worst time to be gone!"
At Beldora's shout, the Iron Magic Tower mages began searching for Lee Dam.
Originally, when it came to troublemakers, having her on your side was the most reliable thing in the world.
"Lee Dam! Lee daam!"
"Where'd our pretty garbage go—!"
"Calling names is fine. Lee Dam is an orc dick-loving pervert!"
The Iron Magic Tower mages were shouting her name while desperately trying to find her.
"Hah... damn it."
Even if they had to endure other people insulting them, they couldn't stand when it was themselves. Their personality was completely shot.
Lee Dam, who was already drenched in soot and dirt from inside the giant furnace, emerged with a scowl on her face.
Her hands waved, and a mana breeze swept the impurities off her body.
Some of the watching mages' eyes widened in shock.
'She grew that much already?'
'She wasn't three months old yet, was she?'
'What the hell? Cleaning is supposed to be a high-difficulty spell...?'
Passing by the stunned mages, Lee Dam glared at them and demanded:
"Who the fuck is it? I told you. It's not an orc dick-lover who loves cucks."
Or something like that.
Everyone had the same thought, but none of them said it out loud.
Six people had already tried to cross Lee Dam over it, and they had all lost.
Most had been beaten by her super-strong punches, then slammed to the ground or counterattacked and beaten.
Even though they didn't know magic, in terms of raw physical stats, this woman had beaten Beldora too.
The body specialized for being female.
Lee Dam herself always mocked her own figure with crude language.
Anyway.
She had become the most reliable supporter for the Iron Magic Tower and the woman who looked like she could punch the hardest in the world.
Beldora, forgetting even her title as tower master, immediately pointed at the Fire Magic Tower mages.
"Lee Dam! These guys said they have something to say! I didn't hear a thing! I haven't heard shit!"
"Huh? Something to say? What is it?"
Lee Dam asked while crossing her arms.
Even though her height was shorter than Chiron's, he felt like he was being looked down on.
"W-well..."
"By the way, the moment they claim they failed at super-high-temperature flame magic, a war unheard of in tower history will break out."
"..."
"We don't talk with words. The Iron Magic Tower mages carry swords and spears, not wands."
"Right on!"
"Exactly! Take our blades!"
"Don't even think about saying the word 'fail'!"
"Where the hell is there to fail as a mage?"
"..."
Could this be some kind of rebellion?
Chiron scanned the mages with confusion. The moment he mentioned failure, he was terrified they would actually charge.
But...
He couldn't hide it.
"..."
"We failed."
"F-fail? Fail? I didn't quite catch that. What did you just say?"
"I don't know."
Even Beldora, playing it cool, answered.
Chiron looked at her with betrayal in his eyes.
"Fail... that word exists in the world?"
*'I really want to punch this guy.*
Lee Dam, who had turned around and glared at the mages with murderous intent, was furious.
In the end, they had failed themselves, so what right did they have to talk?
"Fail? What the hell is that? Is it a new spell or something?"
"Ah! So the name of this super-hot flame magic is 'Failure'!"
"Oh! The vibe is kinda catchy!"
The Iron Magic Tower mages picked up the rhythm and started laughing uproariously.
The Fire Magic Tower mages, already short-tempered, began to get irritated and wanted to charge.
Right at that moment, Lee Dam glared at them fiercely.
"Hey, failure for a mage is basically defeat. Don't you know that?!"
She was talking to a year-old kid like she knew everything.
But even if the logic was flawed, arguing back was hard.
"Before we started, we clearly said this had to succeed. That's why we pushed all the support our way to you!"
After all, the furnace needed fire.
If you just made the shell, what was the point without the fire inside?
"You damn bastards! You don't get to say you can't do it anymore! Stuff your entire furnace with it and use it as your own firewood before I make you cook your own asses!"
Lee Dam was on fire.
Lee Dam was the best!
Our hot-headed gang is fighting!
For the first time, the Iron Magic Tower mages felt grateful for Lee's existence.
Since she was already known as a crazy person from other towers, her wild behavior now seemed completely normal.
People looked strange when they shouted.
Dogs, however, barked for a reason.
Lee Dam was a dog.
A loud barking dog.
"Originally, there was no place suitable for researching super-high heat magic! Just go inside the furnace and research!"
Intending to throw the mages into the furnace, Lee Dam raised her voice with righteous fury.
Chiron answered with a dark expression.
"We didn't even reach one thousand two hundred degrees. We couldn't get close to the target of one thousand five hundred degrees."
Iron melts at exactly one thousand five hundred thirty-eight degrees.
This was the first step required to obtain high-quality iron.
But failing to even approach one thousand five hundred degrees was an extremely bad situation.
Considering that charcoal-fueled forges only reached a maximum of one thousand degrees through rough work, one thousand two hundred degrees should have been plenty.
Yet they still couldn't refine the iron to the level Lee Dam wanted.
"Hah... no point in hitting me. We have to take responsibility somehow—"
"Lee Dam punch!"
**WHAM!**
Lee Dam had immediately punched.
* * *
"Haa."
Inside the furnace.
Normally, a super-high heat flame magic workspace would be here.
But Lee Dam was lying down in the furnace.
Without fire, you couldn't make iron.
They had built an extremely thick, heat-resistant large furnace.
All she could do now was sit there, sucking her thumb, and wait.
*'Maybe I should just learn flame magic?*
No, that would take forever.
Better to just dance and shake her chest beside him and wait for success.
"Hah! This sucks!"
In a completely powerless state.
She was annoyed, wondering whether to build more figures or not, but thinking about building figures made the constant failures flash before her eyes.
After all, this whole thing was nothing but effort to create a real cuck.
"Can't do it, I have to go beat them harder—!"
Just as Lee Dam was about to get up from her spot, a balding man who looked like a long-time apprentice mage entered the furnace to find her.
He was actually Noman, a Seong-un spy disguised as a veteran apprentice mage.
"What's up. Right now I'm feeling gross, so if you touch me, I'll pluck every single strand of hair you're so painstakingly combing."
"I comb my hair how—! Ah, no, this isn't it! Crhm."
Noman coughed awkwardly and secretly offered Lee Dam a proposal.
"I feel bad for you. The giant furnace is an interesting topic from our Seong-un perspective too."
"What kind of—"
Annoyed, Lee Dam remembered their previous conversation.
They had vaguely said the reason for building the furnace was to provide high-quality iron to the Seong-un.
After all, from Lee Dam's point of view, the Seong-un should have summoned the transcendent being that was the counter to cucks.
"Ah, right. Yeah."
Lee Dam nodded.
Then Noman smiled slyly and rubbed his hands together.
"I think I can help you."
"Help?"
"Yeah! Among the people we Seong-un worship, there's someone called the Black Sun."
"..."
"I won't go look for him with you?"
Noman's sly proposal made Lee Dam give him a thumbs-up.
"Lead the way, bastard."