The Hero Returns

Chapter 120: Chapter 120

The meaning behind those words seemed unclear, but Su-hyeun easily understood what Kim Dae-ho was trying to say. He wanted to "return" the adamantium, which meant the master craftsman would use the ore to gift Su-hyeun with a new sword.

"With this, it's like I'm requesting a new sword from you rather than giving you a thank-you gift."

Su-hyeun waved his hands and politely declined.

Kim Dae-ho didn't originally intend to make a sword with the adamantium. Su-hyeun wanted to help that dream come true and that's why he gifted this rare metal — not for the sake of strengthening his own weapon.

Unfortunately, the older man's stubborn streak was far stronger than Su-hyeun's. "It's already a wonderful gift to handle such material with my own two hands. So stop with your yapping and give me the sword."

"But…"

"In that case, I can't accept it. Take it back with you."

Kim Dae-ho abruptly put the adamantium back inside the box and closed the lid. Then he pushed it towards Su-hyeun as if he really meant to return it.

What a troublesome situation this was. So much more so because the latter knew how stubborn the former could be.

"Urgh…." Su-hyeun groaned, looking clearly troubled before placing both the sword and its scabbard on the table. "I'll deposit the request fee at a later time."

"No need."

"Concede on this one, please. You may not know this, but I, too, can be quite stubborn."

Su-hyeun's rather manly-sounding words caused Kim Dae-ho to quietly alternate his gaze between the sword and the younger man's eyes. Eventually, though, he reached down and lifted the weapon.

"Fine. Do what you want."

Shu-rung—

He then unsheathed the sword to inspect the blade's edge. It seemed that he was confirming the condition of the weapon first.

"Looks like the blade is slightly damaged."

Kim Dae-ho tilted his head this way and that while inspecting the blade's edge. No mere events of a simple nature would be able to damage Gram's blade, yet nicks could be spotted all over it.

"I was trying to cut down a seriously tough creature, actually," replied Su-hyeun.

"A tough creature?"

"Yes. I honestly believe that without Gram, I wouldn't have been able to cut that monster down."

Out of all the monsters Su-hyeun had fought so far, the hide and scales of Ouroboros easily qualified as some of the strongest he had ever faced. That's how tough they were.

If he had been wielding a regular sword, it might have shattered during the very first attack. Only because it was Gram, crafted by Kim Dae-ho, did he manage to cut through the monster's scales and its thick hide.

"Hmm…"

As if he was weak against praises directed at the sword, Kim Dae-ho's expression became a bit bashful. He continued with his inspection and opened his mouth. "Will it be fine if I take my time with it?"

"Wouldn't it take at least half a year or one full year at the longest?"

Kim Dae-ho became somewhat taken back by Su-hyeun's reply and he glanced at the younger man. "And how do you even know that?"

"I just made an educated guess."

Su-hyeun was thinking that Kim Dae-ho might need that much of time. The latter at his prime would only need half a year, but with his current skill set, it might need at most one full year to complete the work.

The master craftsman nodded his head at that rather accurate guess and sheathe the sword back in its scabbard. "Correct. I was thinking that, too. If the adamantium is as tough as all the rumors I heard, then even melting it down will pose a great challenge."

He spoke up to there, smirked deeply and held the box containing adamantium tightly. "A sword made by refining the highest-grade Ether stone, plus adamantium added on top, too. The greatest sword will be created out of this combination. That I guarantee it."

"I'm looking forward to it."

He wasn't just being polite here. Su-hyeun was really expecting great things.

His anticipation was even greater than the blacksmith's since he had already wielded a weapon created from this combination before.

<<The highest grade Ether stone, adamantium, and Kim Dae-ho.>>

The joint effort of these three factors.

<<Balmung.>>

The greatest sword of them all, the one Su-hyeun wielded in his previous life.

It was the defining masterpiece of the craftsman Kim Dae-ho, and the item wielded by the hero, Kim Sung-in.

Rather unexpectedly, he was about to get his hands on Balmung once more. Sure, he knew that the sword had to be completed sooner or later, but the mere idea of waiting for just one more year for its actual completion was making his heart palpitate so much faster.

<hr />

Claaang, clang—!

Kim Dae-ho grunted and complained about his sore back only until a few moments ago, but as soon as the adamantium and Su-hyeun's sword were left in his care, he dove right back into his work.

Of course, he didn't forget to loan out the "best sword available in the workshop" for Su-hyeun's use for the next year or so.

While listening to the rhythmic beating of the hammer, Su-hyeun prepared to leave the workshop.

<<Uncle, you and your stubborn streak…>>

A lengthy groan escaped from his mouth. For sure, things had worked out in his favor, yet he just didn't feel so good inside.

Adamantium.

To blacksmiths, this thing was no longer a simple mineral, but more like a symbol.

<hr />

"Do you know the story of Hephaestus?" One day, when Su-hyeun came to repair his sword, Kim Dae-ho asked him this out of the blue.

"Isn't that the god of blacksmiths?"

"Then, do you know what kind of a hammer that guy used?"

Even if it was just a myth, to think that he'd casually call a god "that guy." Now that was an appellation befitting Kim Dae-ho's personality.

"No, I don't know what he used," replied Su-hyeun.

"That's right. You wouldn't know. Well, do you know what adamantium is?"

"Isn't that the mineral that came out of a green-colored dungeon from eight years ago?"

"To folks in my profession, adamantium is kind of like a symbol of pride. No, wait. Should I say it's like a myth? You see, the hammer Thor wields is also made out of that adamantium." Kim Dae-ho saying that seemed rather excited for some reason.

"Well, Hephaestus's hammer is recorded as being so big that all the adamantium in existence back then wasn't enough to recreate it, but…. Anyways, even if you're a pathetic, two-bit blacksmith, you would still create the greatest equipment in history by using Hephaestus's hammer. That's what the legends say."

"But isn't that just a legend, a myth?"

"Yup, it's a myth, alright. That's why it's so much cooler, don't you think so? There's this romantic side to it, too."

Kim Dae-ho's face back then as he looked at his own hammer was filled with anticipation of sorts.

Su-hyeun didn't get to hear the next part. However, he still understood full well that the master craftsman wished to create a hammer with the adamantium, and with that very hammer, started pounding away on fire and iron.

<hr />

That's why he felt so bitter right now.

"Looks like I'll have to find more."

Back in the previous life as well as this one, Kim Dae-ho chose to create Su-hyeun's sword rather than making his dream come true.

Su-hyeun was trying to repay his debt, yet it felt like he now had more to pay instead.

And so, just as he was about to leave Kim Dae-ho's workshop by pushing open the door….

"Ah, I forgot."

Clang, clang

He remembered one other business he had in this place. "…The dragon-slaying spear."

He stood there and pondered for a bit before eventually leaving the workshop.

He simply didn't have the heart to tell the blacksmith working hard on his sword that all of the dragon-slaying spears had been used up.

<hr />

In the end, Su-hyeun used the achievement points he got during the last trial to purchase some spare dragon-slaying spears. The number of points he got while passing the 30th floor was more than enough to buy the spears without any worries.

<<It's a bit of a waste, but it should be fine.>>

Indeed, doing this was better than delaying the completion of Balmung.

Besides, he didn't have an urgent need to spend the achievement points anyway. He initially wondered whether he should purchase another of the highest-grade catalyst or not, but the need for that disappeared after absorbing Ouroboros's power.

Su-hyeun bought a total of five dragon-slaying spears.

<<For some reason, Miru hasn't come outside for the last few days….>>

His dragon hadn't shown itself ever since completely exhausting itself during the battle against Ouroboros. Su-hyeun grew a little worried, so he called Song Hyeong-gi for advice. The latter replied in a very excited tone of voice.

"Oh, that? Your kid is about to grow a whole lot bigger! That's what's happening."

"Grow a whole lot larger? So suddenly?"

"It's kinda like a growth spurt, you see. I was worried since your Miru's rate of growth was so much slower compared to other dragons, but maybe, things will change after this."

"Sure, Miru is slower when compared to Yong…."

"I can't say much about Miru's case since that kid's growth method is different from my own Yong. But, what's happening now isn't a bad thing. The 'hibernation period' for dragons is the same thing as their growth period, after all."

The hibernation period.

That's the name Song Hyeong-gi attached to Miru, who was slumbering away. On top of that, Malcolm's book also emphasized how important hibernation was for dragons.

<<Does that mean Miru's going to get a lot bigger?>>

It had been a little over half a year since Miru was hatched.

Unlike how a dragon was supposed to reach its maturity in about a year, Miru's overall size remained much smaller than other dragons.

So, Su-hyeun did worry a little. But now, Miru was about to hit its growth spurt, so he couldn't help but feel his anticipation building up.

<<Still, I hope he won't sleep for too long.>>

Su-hyeun spent most of his time alone, so Miru was like a cute son full of entertaining little antics. During all those times when he felt lonely, he'd miss Miru behaving so lovably cute.

He soon put his thoughts of Miru away to the back of his mind and headed straight to the 31st floor's plaza.

[31st floor's trial is commencing.]

The view changed as soon as the trial went underway, and a completely new world spread out before his eyes.

The new setting was rather interesting, to say the least. Su-hyeun now found himself standing in the middle of a battle arena resembling the Colosseum, and monsters held inside the metal cages in the various corners of the arena were glaring at him.

At a casual glance, this setting seemed somewhat similar to the first floor's trial. However, there was one very noticeable difference.

"Wah, waaaah, waah!"

"Kill him! Kill him!"

Thousands, no, tens of thousands of people filled up the Colosseum's audience seats. Their frenzied glares and venomous roars were currently being directed at Su-hyeun. It was as if they were all possessed by something.

[Once every three years, Moline Empire holds an event where warriors kidnapped from other nations are served as prey to the monsters reared by the empire. You are the very first sacrificial lamb of this event.]

[Choose your goal.]

[1. Bring down the Colosseum.]

[2. Escape from the Colosseum.]

[3. Survive until the end of today.]

[The difficulty is listed in descending order. The achievement rate will be decided upon the level of the selected difficulty.]

For sure, the trial was slightly more complicated than the one found on the first floor. Not only were the levels of the monsters far higher, but the scope of his choices had also grown more varied as well.

If he chose the third option, all Su-hyeun had to do was to fight the monsters that would come pouring out next. However, if he went with either the first or the second option, then even the knights of the empire would become his enemies, as well.

Just like how the trial's description had alluded to, it was clear to Su-hyeun which option was the hardest of the trio.

"Obviously…"

There was no need to even ponder this.

"…It'll be the first option."

He wouldn't even have challenged the tenth level difficulty trials if he was planning to take the easy way out.

[You have chosen the first option.]

[The trial will not end until you bring down the institution of the Colosseum.]

He might have chosen the hardest path, but he actually felt glad about that. On this stage, he didn't need to use his head too much. No, he simply had to destroy everything his eyes could see.

Clang—

The steel cages holding the monsters back began opening up one by one.

Su-hyeun observed at the drooling monsters slowly emerging from the four steel cages. They were snakilions, a lion-type monster with three snake heads serving as its tail.

Krrrr—

"This is a perfect stage for experimenting."

As a matter of fact, he was searching for an opportunity to get acclimated with his newly-acquired power and skills. His new trait, Third Eye, allowed him to perform various things. He tried to utilize a couple of those abilities during his brief fight against Petro, but he still hadn't explored everything in depth just yet.

"Sic him! Sic him!"

The roars of the crowd were getting louder.

It was right then that the empire's monster trainers restricting the snakilions' movements finally lowered their hands.

Bark, baaark—!

The third eye in Su-hyeun's forehead opened up and glared at the snakilions dashing towards him.

And then, as he extended his hand forward—

"Sit."

He spat out one command that he was thinking about inwardly.

The backs of the snakilions dashing towards him suddenly bent down and the monsters all collapsed on the ground with a thud.

Hissss—

K-krrrrr—

Snakilions shivered and lowered their heads in a clear display of fear.

With this, he thought he could definitely tell what the first ability of his Third Eye was.

[Third Eye - Predator]