Agnes

Agnes.

That radiant hammer settled into Jinwoo's hand.

His newly acquired hammer, Agnes, was a silver-gray thing of beauty. Patterns were etched into the head, and along those lines a sacred power bled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gently into the air around it.

So Brokk is the true name of the Great Dwarf God.

Jinwoo slowly tightened his grip on Agnes. The sensation that flooded him the moment he took hold of it was harmony itself.

Yeah. This is different.

The mute-colored crafting hammer he had used before had been excellent—but Agnes stood in a class of its own.

"I guess that's what you get when a god makes it himself."

The way it settled into his palm felt so natural, so right, that he could almost believe he had already been swinging it for years.

"This is good."

Deep within the restored temple, the Great Dwarf God had left something more.

"Good work, everyone. Stand by."

"Yes."

Jinwoo dismissed his summons, then flashed a thumbs-up at First.

Further inside the temple, guided by an unseen hand, he found a treasure chest. The original reward had been the hammer itself.

So this is the extra prize piled on top of that hammer.

Creeeak—

When Jinwoo opened the chest, a massive core lay within.

"A core of the earth?"

It didn't look like ordinary material.

Jinwoo summoned his workshop at once.

"Add item."

He moved to place it.

"It actually shows up as an option?"

The Great Core of the Earth appeared among the items he could install.

Behind the workbench, where it wouldn't get in the way, the Core of the Earth settled into place.

Shaaaaa—

"Oh!"

The Core's effect was a boost to stamina recovery. It might have looked minor on paper—but to Jinwoo, it was anything but.

"Anyone who knows how much stamina matters in crafting would never call this minor."

He grinned.

"UR-rank quests really are different!"

A hammer and a Core of the Earth to go with it.

"I'll put them to good use."

Dong—. Dong—. Dong—.

Water sounds rose through the temple that had reclaimed its divinity. The place seemed fully restored at last, functioning as a temple once more.

"The eastern dwarves will be thrilled. I'll let them know."

With the dragon that had once stood as gatekeeper gone from this ruined land, nothing would stop the temple from running again.

By reclaiming the temple, Jinwoo had officially become the successor of Brokk, the Great Dwarf God.

At the center of the temple, he settled his accounts for hunting the Evil Incarnate, Balam.

With the tower's clear, Jinwoo was entered into the Hall of Fame.

"Why did this one even register in the Hall of Fame?"

The Tower of Sulfur and Furnace had been nothing like the others.

"The two towers I cleared before both collapsed."

This one was still standing. On top of that, it had put him on the Hall of Fame board.

"Maybe because it was fused with the temple?"

It could be something that simple—or maybe there were towers that fell and towers that didn't.

"This one was pretty high difficulty, too."

Unlike the towers he had cleared before, the challenge had been considerable.

"Could be the difficulty."

If every tower crumbled, later players would never get a chance to clear them. In a way, that would be unfair.

So maybe the high-difficulty towers simply don't break.

"Then again, maybe difficulty has nothing to do with it."

Some towers fell; some stayed. That was possible too.

"Either way, not a bad outcome."

Sitting at number one in the Hall of Fame felt good for any number of reasons.

Next, Jinwoo checked Balam's byproducts.

"He was pretty strong, honestly."

Balam had been the most powerful monster he had faced so far.

"My summons are already seriously strong, and they were wearing UR+ gear on top of that."

Balam had held out against the Dragonstone Chain Scythe for a long time, and he had weathered the summons' attacks just as stubbornly.

Jinwoo checked Balam's soul first.

"As expected."

Confirming the soul's grade told him exactly how strong Balam had been.

"A UR-grade soul."

His total summon capacity was now eleven.

"That frees up a lot of room for summons."

Counting Bone, the one he had just created, he currently had seven summons in all.

"I could add at least one more without sweating it."

He moved on to the materials he had gained. Starting with Balam's soul, there were bones, essence, and materials he had never seen before.

"The bone has no grade showing, and Scale Stone? First time I've seen that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠material, and its grade's hidden too."

Aside from Balam's soul and essence, none of the materials displayed a grade.

"The Dragonstone Chain Scythe, though—that one's really solid."

He was thoroughly pleased with the chain scythe he had forged this time.

You could call it the legacy of the mute-colored crafting hammer.

And now he had a new hammer.

"Agnes."

Jinwoo wanted to put Agnes through its paces as soon as possible.

"For now, though..."

Using the question-mark materials right away felt like a waste. A hidden grade meant they were still beyond what he could properly handle.

"Both the bone and the Scale Stone are question-mark grade. Touching them now would be a shame."

He cracked a grin.

"Looks like I need to grow a bit first."

Which meant it was time to clear the quests he already had—efficiently.

"Quests in progress..."

First, the biggest of them: the Allmaster's Disciples quest. Only one remained.

No rush on that one.

There was also the quest from the Guardian of Flame and Crafting—though that god seemed to have given up expecting anything from him.

"I got that one pretty early on."

He still hadn't made any progress.

"Plenty of other quests, too."

But what drew Jinwoo's eye now was the quest given by the Dominator of Soul and Abyss.

"That's where my priorities are."

Soul refining.

"Very interesting."

His next quest was decided.

"Quest locked in."

And with materials in hand, of course came crafting.

"A new hammer. And new materials."

Of everything he had taken from Balam, the one he was most excited about was this.

"Balam's flame."

"Ohhh, nice."

Inside the Magma Bottle, Balam's blue flame writhed and rolled. It was every bit as fierce as Dragon's Flame, and Jinwoo was eager to harness that power.

"Mixing them is the real problem, though."

Carefully, he tipped the blue flame into the forge.

Fwoooosh—!

The instant the blue flame entered, the Dragon's Flame erupted into a frenzied display of heat.

Of course it wouldn't be that easy.

Blending flames was essentially impossible. The stronger one would simply devour the other. Coexistence itself was a bad idea on paper.

But ever since he had learned Harmonia Smithing, Jinwoo was certain.

They can coexist.

If he could make even opposing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠forces live side by side—

These are the same force.

Flame walked the same road. There was only a difference in magnitude; the essence was identical. That meant it was possible.

Jinwoo drew a deep breath, then reached into the flames and stirred. He wasn't just waving his hand around. He ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠linked flame to flame as if he were hammering them together.

This was a form of smithing in its own right.

"Harmonia Smithing."

The materials were two flames. He joined them.

"Flawless Tailoring."

And then, as if working needle and thread, he wove the flames into each other.

FWOOOOOSH—!

Between Flame Breath and his elevated stamina, Jinwoo endured the brutal damage of both flames. And in the instant both fires surged through him at once, he pulled his hand back.

The flames in the forge froze—mixed, and holding.

"Done."

Inside the forge, the two flames began to breathe.

Fwoosh—. Fwoooosh—.

A vivid crimson flame and a vivid blue one.

"The contrast is perfect."

Jinwoo immediately pulled out his materials. It was time to see how effective flame blending really was.

And at the same time—

"I should try out the new smithing technique."

He was curious how the newly learned Harmonia Smithing held the power of harmony—and how he could put it to use.

Flame blending complete, he laid out the materials he had gathered this time.

"Materials I have in bulk."

There was plenty from hunting the Shadow Wing and from the dwarves of Iron Helm.

"And then—"

Two UR-grade materials he had received from the top-tier miners, Yur and Artem.

"Thunderstone and Wrathful Orichalcum."

Plus, on top of those, Balam's Essence—UR+.

The last time Jinwoo had used a UR-grade material, he had lost a hammer over it.

"Working Dragonstone ended up cracking it."

Balam's Essence was a full grade above the Dragonstone he had used back then.

"From UR and up, every single step is a different world."

Techniques that worked on UR might not work on UR+ at all.

Jinwoo put power into Agnes. Balam's Essence was extremely hard. Without a hammer that could back him up, he would only end up dragged around by the material.

"Show me what kind of power you've got."

Smiling, he brought the hammer down.

CLANG—!

A single strike.

And then—

"Huh."

In that instant, Jinwoo looked at Agnes.

"This..."