Flame Core
◈ The fiercely burning heart of flame.
Jinwoo reached out and laid his hand upon the Flame Core.
Fwoooosh—!
"This thing never stops burning, does it?"
It wasn't simply holding residual heat or flaring for a moment—it kept burning, endlessly. In every respect, it was a rather peculiar material. Jinwoo studied the Flame Core more carefully.
Hmm.
While he examined it, his summons—who had witnessed that overwhelming battle from start to finish—were each lost in their own awe.
It hadn't been a matter of varied skills. It hadn't been exceptional combat sense or footwork, either. With a single weapon—with a single piece of equipment—he had turned the entire tide of battle.
"That was an overwhelming fight," Pur said.
"It was a battle that showed us, quite literally, just how important gear truly is," Mortus added after him.
Who wore the equipment was certainly a critical factor as well. But Jinwoo had just proven, in the plainest terms, that as long as a fighter's level was halfway decent, pure equipment specs could crush an opponent flat.
Pur tightened his grip on World Tree's Judgment, stunned. For all that he had become a Hero-rank undead in name, he still felt impossibly far behind. The power to understand one's gear—that was what he still lacked.
First lifted the Orichalcum Lightblade and swung it this way and that. His master kept showing them the right path. As Jinwoo's summon, First had to become the one who understood every piece of gear Jinwoo forged. That meant he couldn't afford to grow comfortable with only a single weapon. He had to keep growing. He had to keep understanding. And for that, he had to keep watching Jinwoo move—not simply stop at shock and awe.
Jinwoo returned to his summons, idly spinning the Dragonstone Chain Scythe as he approached.
"Not bad?"
"I.will.use.it.well.like.Master. I.will.understand."
"Pin—!"
At that moment Pin shot forward, and in a blink had gathered every byproduct from the monsters Jinwoo had just hunted.
"Ah."
That had been his job. Mortus let out a regretful clack of bone. Bone, too, felt a peculiar competitive spark as he watched Pin. Same flight type—and by rank, Bone was vastly superior. Yet the one who had actually helped Jinwoo in that moment was Pin. That rankled.
"Ahem…"
Next time, then. He would win next time. He was stronger, after all.
"Well done, Pin."
"Pin—!"
Jinwoo checked the byproducts.
A smile came to his face the moment he saw them.
"Wing membrane's a material I've never seen before. And these lizard scales—look how rough they are."
As for the souls, every last one was SR-grade.
I'll just stockpile all the souls for now.
Once he cleared the tower, Jinwoo intended to head straight for the quest granted by the souls and the Lord of the Abyss.
I'm really looking forward to refining souls.
There might be a situation where he needed a great many of them, so he planned to hoard every one.
"The grades of the materials aren't anything to write home about, but the quality is solid."
For the first floor of a tower, they were remarkably good materials.
"There's a reason they can withstand the intense heat pouring off this tower."
Jinwoo inspected the materials more closely.
"Bone."
"Yes, Master."
"Mind firing a breath at these materials for me?"
"Yes!"
Bone unleashed a Bone Breath.
Fwoooooosh—!
"Just as I thought."
The flame resistance was outstanding.
"It holds up against ordinary heat, and it shrugs off aggressive heat like this too."
Jinwoo grinned. He set the materials aside for the moment.
"Still burning, even now."
He had wondered if the flame might die out with time, but the Flame Core was still ablaze.
A fierce heat spreads through your body!
The moment he took it in hand again, the Flame Core's power poured into him. Jinwoo ignored the damage and poured mana into it.
Shaaa—
Fwoooosh—!
The flame's power grew stronger still.
Bone Heart
That intense heat was a kind of debuff—and thanks to Bone Heart's effect, it could be nullified.
"Hold on."
Fwoooooosh—
The Flame Core poured out heat like mad. A burning flame. In that form, it looked almost exactly like a heart.
A heart.
Thump—thump—
An idea struck Jinwoo like lightning.
"First!"
At Jinwoo's call, First rushed over like the wind and dropped to one knee.
"You.called.me."
"I found a heart!"
His summons' bodies were built from skeletons Jinwoo had crafted himself. Naturally, there were no hearts inside them.
Not a real heart—something that can reinforce them like one.
If he socketed this burning Flame Core into the skeleton—
I can grant them an attribute.
Jinwoo thought of the Charcoal Giant. That flame the Charcoal Giant had carried—he could transplant it into a summon.
Fwoooosh—
Jinwoo pulled out a spare hammer and began shaping the Flame Core. With hammer, chisel, and engraving knife, he carved its form.
Clang—! Clang—!
Fwoooooosh—!
It resisted like a thing possessed, but nothing could stop him. The Flame Core's shape transformed in an instant.
Like a droplet.
Under Jinwoo's fingertips the Flame Core was refined. Holding the jewel-cut Flame Core, he called for First at once.
"First."
Then he activated the Bone Making skill.
Shaaaaaa—!
The Flame Core he had refined settled instantly near First's heart.
Bone Making
An attribute has been granted to the summon First!
First has obtained the Underworld Flame attribute!
Fwoooosh—!
Jinwoo checked First's status at once.
The moment he opened the summon window, the word Attribute branded itself in flame.
"Yes. That's it."
Blue fire began to rise from First's hands.
Just as Pur carries the Underworld's chill, undead naturally hold cold within them.
Influenced by that chill, the flame had turned blue.
"Nice."
Fwoooosh—
Dark energy billowed outward while blue flames rolled across him—the visual impact alone was unmistakable.
The appearance alone is perfect.
Functionally it would be excellent too, but the sheer look of it was already formidable. This wasn't the form of some ordinary knight class—it was the form that belonged on a Knight King.
"This won't do."
He had gotten enough use out of the Orichalcum Lightblade.
Time for something new.
"Thank.you."
The other summons watched the blue flames pouring off First with open envy. They were undead by nature—so if even they found First magnificent, that said everything.
A new path is opening.
It wasn't simply about crafting equipment anymore.
I can grant attributes too.
Beyond gear, into attributes. The range of what he could create had just expanded dramatically.
"Let's keep going."
The heart of the first floor.
The heat grows fiercer!
The deeper they went, the stronger the heat became.
Rune: Flame Breath
I've got Flame Breath, at least.
His summons, however, were fully exposed to the fire damage. Of course, First—who had newly gained the Flame attribute—was perfectly fine. More than fine; he was drawing power from it. The closer they came to the center, the more strength seemed to gather in First's stride.
Pur, who possessed the Underworld Chill skill, could endure it to a degree as well.
Mortus, Pin, and Bone are the problem.
"Summon."
Jinwoo opened his workshop at once and laid the materials he had just obtained across the workbench.
"Time to make fire-resistant gear."
His summons needed equipment that could withstand this heat. Jinwoo went straight to cutting the Furnace Lizard hide.
Ssshk—. Sssrk—.
"Quite thick."
It was so heavy and dense the scissors barely cut through.
Making full leather armor would be pointless. The weight would only kill their mobility.
For the massive Bone in particular, strapping him into a leather suit would essentially erase his mobility altogether.
"In that case…"
He would craft gear that played to each summon's strengths. Jinwoo decided to start by enhancing Mortus's advantages. Mortus was a Dark Priest who could soar while radiating dark energy.
Then…
Sssrk—. Sssrrk—.
Jinwoo's Flawless Tailoring unfurled.
Flawless Tailoring proficiency has increased!
Even when he had learned it from Mire, the skill had been nearly complete—but working with ever more varied materials into ever more varied gear, he was carving out new heights. It didn't have to be cloth. So long as thread and needle could enter it, Jinwoo could sew it.
"He flies, so a little extra weight won't matter."
Jinwoo handed the boots to Mortus.
"!"
Mortus, who had been struggling to move in the heat, recovered almost instantly. Next, Jinwoo took out the Flame Giant Bat's wing membrane.
Light.
This was a lightweight fire-resistant material.
"In that case…"
That left the two flying undead.
"There's something simple I can make for them."
A hood—light gear that could simply be worn over the head. Fire-resistant boots and fire-resistant hoods; the moment Jinwoo outfitted his summons with flame-proof gear, their mobility returned.
"The heat has vanished as if it were a lie," Mortus said.
"Pin—!"
The two flying undead seemed thoroughly pleased with the lightweight equipment. Bone, in particular, was outfitted from head to toe in gear Jinwoo had made.
"Keh-heh-heh. I have the most equipment of anyone."
That clearly delighted him; he rattled with laughter.
Clad in their new fire-resistant gear, Jinwoo and his summons pressed forward once more. How long they walked after that—
Fwoooooosh—!
"This is strange. We're only on the first floor, and the firepower's already like this?"
No monsters appeared. Instead, the heat only grew more savage.
"Is it because the distortion is getting worse? Still—this heat is odd."
By heat alone, it was fiercer than when they had faced the Charcoal Giant.
"The Charcoal Giant was a mid-boss. If the heat is more intense than even that mid-boss…"
There could only be one answer.
At the heart of the first floor, Jinwoo discovered an enormous form.
The tower's boss monster was on the first floor.
"Of course."
Fwoooosh—!
Valam, Avatar of Evil. His entire body was made of flame. Breath of fire, and scarlet eyes—an incarnation of malice. Every time he moved, flames spread outward around him. The sight was quite something.
"To climb all the way to the summit of this twisted place…"
Summit?
From that single word, Jinwoo grasped exactly how this situation was unfolding.
So the whole thing is inverted—the first floor became the summit, and the summit became the first floor?
Originally, one would have entered from the summit and descended floor by floor.
But I received the quest from the Great Dwarf God.
That was why he had been able to enter directly at the temple's location.
"So that's what happened."
Jinwoo understood the situation completely.
"Then this is actually better."
It means I can get a much clearer read on my equipment.
And more than anything else—he rather liked the look of that Avatar of Evil.
"Flame itself, huh."
Jinwoo smiled for a moment. It wasn't just the byproducts. He felt he could make use of that fire as well.
"That look in your eyes. I find it most displeasing."
"Mind if I try tossing you into a furnace?"
Jinwoo coveted the Avatar of Evil's flame nearly as much as a dragon's fire.
"Blending it should work out nicely."
Flame blending. Combining fires—he had a feeling it would create serious synergy.
"Put me in a furnace…? You are a human mad beyond all reason. Fine. Try it if you can. Put me in if you can!"
Jinwoo took hold of the chain scythe.
"It's a promise, then?"
Of course, no such promise had ever been made.