Chapter: 09
The Earth Dragon was strong.
Much stronger than Eugene remembered.
A colossal earthworm-like monster over 100 meters long, with a body nearly 5 meters thick.
For low-level players, its sheer size alone was a deadly threat.
Most attacks barely scratched it, and even its slightest wriggle could send everything around it flying.
There was a reason the players in his previous life had wasted so much time before finally reaching the second floor.
At this point in time, calling it a monster comparable to the apocalypse itself wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Of course, none of that applied to Eugene.
After all, he had once torn apart and killed the real apocalypse.
It hadn’t even taken ten minutes.
That was all the time Eugene needed to slice the gigantic Earth Dragon into exactly eighteen pieces and end its life.
‘Body Blessed by a God [S].’
It surpassed every skill and trait Eugene had acquired so far.
Well, except for ‘Chronos’s Hourglass [EX].’
‘The compatibility is especially good.’
The combination with ‘One Inside and Out [E]’, the trait that had been his greatest strength during his first life, was simply incredible.
“‘One Inside and Out [E]’ is invincible. ‘Body Blessed by a God [S]’ is divine.”
Honestly, with just those two abilities alone, he could climb to at least the thirtieth floor without much difficulty.
“What a lifesaver.”
Thinking back, he felt strangely proud of his past self for gambling everything on obtaining Black Wing during the Tutorial Floor.
‘Thanks to that, I got something else worthwhile too.’
Eugene grinned to himself before frowning.
“Anyway… when is that old man coming?”
He had been told to wait while Citadel guided him to the forge.
Instead, the dwarf had disappeared and still hadn’t returned.
As a result, Eugene was left standing alone inside the empty shop.
“Ugh. I’m already busy enough as it is.”
He still had to obtain the Subspace skill.
He also needed to find himself a horse.
On top of that, he had to pick out the few players arriving on the first floor who were actually worth recruiting.
Unable to endure the boredom any longer, Eugene wandered around the shop.
Since it was, at least in name, a weapon shop, quite a few items were displayed throughout the interior.
Rather than wasting time doing nothing, he figured he might as well look around.
After examining the merchandise for a while, he slowly shook his head.
“…Now I understand why this place had no customers.”
Even during his first life, Citadel’s Golden Hammer had never been popular.
If not for Black Wing [C], the place would have been completely forgotten, never seeing a single visitor.
“Why is everything that’s not a crafting material only F-rank?”
Anyone who took these weapons into the field was practically asking to die.
They’d shatter after only a few swings.
The balance was terrible, and the metal hadn’t even been properly tempered.
Naturally, the uneven hardness caused stress to concentrate in weak points, making them break almost immediately.
“So what if they look nice? Tsk. How did something like Black Wing [C] even come out of this place?”
Most likely, Citadel hadn’t forged it himself.
It was probably some family heirloom passed down through generations.
Otherwise, there was simply no explanation.
At this point, Eugene was convinced Citadel had absolutely no talent whatsoever as a blacksmith.
“You’d be better off changing careers while you still can.”
For Citadel’s own future, at least.
Granted, saying that to his face would probably make the dwarf try to kill him.
But what could he do?
It was the truth.
Boom!
A heavy crash echoed through the shop as Citadel finally returned.
“I-I brought it.”
Panting heavily, he stood before a gigantic forge.
“…I told you to guide me to it, not bring the whole thing here.”
Was the guy terrible at working too?
As Eugene stared at him in disbelief, Citadel awkwardly cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Outsiders are forbidden from entering that place, so I brought it myself. Don’t misunderstand.”
“…You’re unbelievably stubborn.”
Outsiders weren’t allowed inside?
Eugene had no idea how important that rule was.
But even now, when the sacred flame—something Citadel valued more than his own life—was at stake, the dwarf was still obsessing over regulations.
“I don’t understand it at all, but whatever. The important thing is the forge.”
If the man insisted on making life harder for himself, Eugene wasn’t about to stop him.
“So all I have to do is restore the flame inside this thing, right?”
“Y-Yes. But… is that really possible?”
Citadel still looked doubtful.
“Just trust me already. Do you think I gathered all this because I had too much free time?”
As he spoke, Eugene opened the leather bundle he’d been carrying.
Sulfur Deer Horn [F].
Blood Bat Membrane [F].
Blue Slime Core [F].
Earth Dragon Blood [D].
“Oh, and by the way, this leather wrapping is the Blood Bat Membrane [F]. It was too troublesome carrying everything separately, so I just wrapped it all inside.”
Citadel’s eyes widened as he looked at the materials.
The first three weren’t particularly rare.
Even NPC hunters could gather them whenever they felt like it.
But the last one was different.
“Earth Dragon Blood [D]… So I didn’t hear you wrong earlier.”
He let out a hollow laugh at the sight of a mere crafting material that had reached D-rank.
“You didn’t actually kill an Earth Dragon yourself… did you?”
His expression screamed No way.
But as always…
“No way” had a habit of becoming reality.
“What, did you think I went to donate blood? Of course I killed it.”
“Y-You! Do you even understand what that means?!”
Of course he did.
Honestly, when it came to the Tower, Eugene knew hundreds of times more than Citadel.
“Naturally.”
He nodded casually.
Killing the Earth Dragon meant one thing.
It meant access to the second floor.
The Earth Dragon was the boss of the first floor.
Now that it had been defeated, the path forward had opened for every player.
“That’s why I told you I was busy.”
He had to finish his business here and head straight to the second floor.
Naturally, he had no time to waste.
Citadel said nothing.
He genuinely had no idea what to say anymore.
A player who had been summoned less than a day ago…
Had already defeated the first-floor boss and opened the route to the next floor?
No player in history had ever achieved such a feat.
How could someone speak about it so casually?
“Move over. You’re in the way.”
Whether Citadel could process it or not didn’t matter.
Eugene casually nudged him aside with his foot before standing in front of the massive forge.
“Pretty flashy.”
A golden hammer was engraved across the surface of the three-meter-tall forge.
So this was where the name Citadel’s Golden Hammer came from.
‘This is what they mean by casting pearls before swine.’
The forge itself was exceptional.
Around Forge [B], if he had to estimate.
Even cities beyond the fiftieth floor would struggle to obtain something of this quality.
The strange part wasn’t the forge.
It was the fact that Citadel used such a masterpiece to make complete garbage.
After admiring it for a moment, Eugene began placing the prepared materials inside.
He spread the Blood Bat Membrane [F] across the bottom.
He stacked the Sulfur Deer Horns [F] on top.
Then carefully positioned the Blue Slime Cores [F] between them.
Every movement was deliberate.
Although it looked casual, every item had to be placed in its exact position.
In other words…
Eugene was constructing a magical formation.
“Whew. That should do it.”
He felt even more focused than when he had fought the Earth Dragon.
If he made even the slightest mistake, all these precious materials would be wasted.
After inspecting his work, Eugene nodded with satisfaction.
“Now then… the only thing left is…”
He poured the crimson liquid.
There wasn’t much of it.
But it was enough to soak every material inside.
“Done.”
The preparation was complete.
There was only one final step left.
Once he did that…
Citadel’s long-awaited sacred flame would return.
Turning around, Eugene looked at the still-dumbfounded dwarf.
“Don’t forget our deal. If you try backing out later, I’ll cut your head off and take it myself.”
He wasn’t joking.
Unlike his usual carefree expression, his eyes had turned cold.
Citadel instinctively flinched before nodding.
“Do I look stupid enough to deceive the player who killed the Earth Dragon?”
“Yeah.”
Eugene answered without even a second of hesitation before gathering his mana.
It wasn’t much.
Although he’d leveled up after killing the Earth Dragon, he still hadn’t even reached level ten.
He hadn’t obtained a single mana-related trait yet.
His mana reserves were pitifully small.
But that was enough.
His mana only needed to act as the spark.
“Hoo…”
Taking a short breath, Eugene raised his hand and snapped his fingers without hesitation.
Snap!
The mana gathered at his fingertips exploded with a tiny shock.
It immediately reacted with the Earth Dragon Blood [D].
Crackle… crackle…
Tiny sparks burst into existence.
That was enough.
Eugene stepped back and silently watched the inside of the forge.
The tiny sparks slowly grew larger.
Then—
WHOOSH!!
The carefully arranged materials erupted in blazing flames that radiated overwhelming heat.
This wasn’t ordinary fire.
It was a mystical flame shining beautifully in seven brilliant colors.
This…
Was the Heavenly Flame.
The sacred fire Citadel had longed for all his life.
“A-Ah…”
A trembling voice came from behind him.
Citadel stared at the roaring flames as though tears would fall if someone merely touched him.
“It… it was true.”
Until the very end, he had doubted.
Now…
He had no choice but to accept it.
Eugene was his benefactor.
No—
He was the benefactor of Citadel’s entire race.
“I never imagined I’d see the Heavenly Flame burn again…”
At last, tears streamed down his face.
“Thank you… Thank you so much!”
Citadel bowed deeply toward Eugene, expressing his gratitude with complete sincerity.
“It was just a deal.”
Eugene had only helped because he wanted something in return.
If not for Black Wing [C], he wouldn’t have lifted a finger even if Citadel had begged on his knees.
‘Still… this isn’t bad.’
During his first life, he never would have done something like this.
He had acted on a whim for the sake of obtaining Black Wing [C].
But seeing Citadel’s genuine happiness…
It actually made him feel pretty good.
‘Maybe if I have time later, I’ll do a few good deeds every now and then.’
The thought briefly crossed his mind.
Though, realistically…
There was a much higher chance he wouldn’t.
After quietly watching the seven-colored Heavenly Flame for a while, Eugene suddenly remembered something and called out.
“Hey, by the way.”
“Ah, are you referring to our agreement? You wanted Black Wing [C] and Blessing [C], right? Of course I’ll hand them over. You restored the Heavenly Flame, so naturally I’ll keep my promise!”
Citadel shouted enthusiastically.
“No, what are you talking about? That’s a given.”
That wasn’t what Eugene wanted to ask.
“So… how exactly are you planning to put this thing back where it belongs?”
He pointed at the forge.
More specifically…
The blazing seven-colored Heavenly Flame now roaring inside it.
“When you brought it here, it wasn’t lit, so somehow you managed. But now that it’s burning like this… how exactly are you planning to carry it back?”
“H-Huh?”
Citadel blinked blankly.
Watching him, Eugene became certain of one thing.
‘Yeah… this guy really isn’t that bright.’
