The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor

V55C4P3 – Dragon Lair Defense

Weed and Nide, searched the lair thoroughly.

“Is it here?”

“It’s not here!”

“Search thoroughly. We are running out of time!”

*Srrrrring!*

The dwarves scraped gems like rubies and sapphires into their sacs as if they were sand.

*Cling!*

There were so many gold coins being kicked around the floor, that no one paid attention to them anymore.

Not one eye turned, even if they were gold coins from the old Niflheim Kingdom or the Kelten Kingdom worth hundreds more than their face values!

A whisper arrived for Weed.

– Bajo: There is good news. Kaybern is not leaving Castle Bawell.

“Why is that?”

– Bajo: I think it’s due to its arrogance. Since it began the destruction, it plans to see it through to the end.

Kaybern realized that intruders were inside his lair. However, he did not return preemptively.

It decided to destroy Castle Bawell; his arrogance dictated that he must finish the job that he had started.

“Indeed, villains fall because of their pride.”

Weed was anxious thinking that Kaybern was going to return any moment, but now, he even felt lighter. It was like stopping for coffee at a vending machine while being chased by police after a robbery.

Weed spoke out loud.

“Focus on grabbing things; this is the moment of our lives.”

While his eyes were scanning the lair for the Brazier of Sacrifice, his hands never stopped.

There were more treasures available as Haruna dispelled the magical traps.

He identified the treasures like someone with no tomorrow and immediately seized things worth over 100,000 gold.

‘Shield of Amanta. The current market price is 278,000 gold. 5% platinum in its composition. I can get 40,000 more for reputational increase. Pelsian’s magic modifier will be an additional 30,000, and with an added margin for an appropriate rip-off…’

He was nowhere near as good at calculating as Scholarly mathematicians, but he was quite formidable in terms of market price.

*Swish.*

*Swoosh.*

Every time Weed passed by, the quality treasures disappeared.

The dwarves were filled with nervousness, but were also overtaken by a strange feeling.

‘Let’s pack them.’

‘Feed and die.’

‘I lived to see this moment.’

The dwarves watched as their leader lost himself to feverish greed.

With such a role model, they gradually lost their minds; their hands seemed to know only how to grab and snatch.

A loud bang from an explosion right beside them did not hinder them from grabbing the treasure. Not a second could be wasted.

Though they bought some time with extensive buildings in Caste Bawell, it wasn’t plentiful.

“Weed-nim, I found a door here!”

Dwarf Vindel found a small door in the corner of the lair. The Cleansing Torch wore out the illusion magic, causing the wall to sway and uncover the form of a door.

“A secret door?”

Weed, Nide and Haruna quickly ran up to Vindel.

“It is locked by magic. I will dispel it right now.”

“Get on with it.”

“Yes, I am. I need time…”

“You have to be quicker. Hurry up!”

“…”

Finally, the spells on the door were lifted and the door opened on its own.

What laid beyond the other side was another mountain of treasures!

“There are traps in the passage too. I will dispel as quickly as I…”

All of a sudden, Haruna was surrounded by dwarves watching her with glittering eyes.

They had already laid their eyes on the treasures.

They remembered that upon death in the midst of this robbery, they would be granted two additional treasures.

“To save time, I will charge through this passage.”

“No, there is no need to do…”

*Crash!* Split!* Crumble!*

The dwarves relentlessly charged into the magic traps, shaking the lair violently.

“…”

Haruna was lost for words.

The traps in the passage were activated by force and taken down respectively, resulting in the death of over 40 dwarves.

“Ow, ouch. That hurt…”

“I survived. I should have been dead. How wretched my life is.”

“K-ugh. I would have died for sure if I took off my armor.”

They were the dwarven accident fraud team!

The dwarves that were barely wounded writhed and pretended they were dying.

The dwarves fighting at the lair entrance advised Pale to retreat. However, the dwarves here were different.

Standing beside Weed, they were swept away by the atmosphere without realizing it.

They were in great anticipation and didn’t know how to hold back.

They were under the impression that a little more would grant them wealth and honor for life!

It was to save time before the monsters began flooding in, but if it weren’t for pure greed, the charge would not be possible to carry out.

The dwarves, the natural born capitalists, all ran to the treasures at once.

“Weed-nim! There’s a brazier here. But.. This isn’t the Brazier of Sacrifice. Nonetheless, I think it’s in here.”

There was a pile of utensils for blacksmiths, tailors and farmers.

Big sparkling jewels were in the mix as well with other incredible items.

“Raktisha’s plough? It is instilled with the essence of nature, and it triples the amount of harvest and substitutes for the requirement for growing the best crops. It also has 100,000 additional health points.”

“Look at this Cloud Sprinkler. Increases the chance of rain and enriches the soil.”

There was especially a lot of equipment related to farming.

Farming equipment was rare among magic items, and these equipment were truly amazing finds.

“Grab them!”

Weed and the dwarves wildly loaded the equipment onto the wagons.

Production type items were more precious than any other and there was high demand for them.

Quickly, they swept away anything in sight. The treasures inside this secret room weren’t protected by magic traps.

Using his know-how from working in moving companies and delivery service, Weed stacked them nicely on top of the wagons.

“Move!”

“Secure the best traffic.”

Upon sighting treasure, two dwarves pushed the wagon at full speed.

They swindled the treasure out like machines.

“Weed-nim, I found the Brazier of Sacrifice!”

At last, the Brazier of Sacrifice was found.

When Weed approached the dwarf who shouted out, he saw a rusty brazier about 2.5 meters tall.

It was undoubtedly worn out, looking like it endured rain and snow for five years, in the corner of a pawn shop.

“To find the brazier so early… Identify!”

< Brazier of Sacrifice.

The forgotten artefact of the dwarven race.

An item of the legendary blacksmith.

It generates intense heat and perfectly removes the impurities in mineral ores.

It is capable of combining various special metals into alloys of the highest strength.

It is also capable of crafting massive weapons.

A brazier of honor, only to be used by the best among the dwarves.

If returned to the dwarves, they will return the favor with the best treatment and a high degree of respect.

On the other hand, there is a mysterious legend about the brazier, and that was how it obtains power by burning away the user’s own health points and levels.

Health points and levels poured into the brazier are melted away forever, but as a result, the user will turn radiant for a short moment.

Production Requirement: Advanced Blacksmithing level 7 and higher.

Dwarf only.

Properties: Blacksmithing skill effect increased by 79%.

The dire concentration with the aura of fire increases the chance of crafting a masterpiece by 4 times.

Produces items with high durability and minimal flaws.

Starting the fire in the Brazier of Sacrifice and throwing in health points and levels will grant 10 times the power.>

“This is the Brazier of Sacrifice!”

It’s abilities were just as what Weed knew already.

‘If I take this back, the dwarven race quest is a guaranteed success. This is such a desirable object.’

If he were to install it in Morata or the Earth Palace, I could create the best tourist trap for the dwarves. All artisans of blacksmiths will gather as well.

‘Anyway, that’s something to think about later… 10 times the health points and level.’

What he heard from Oberon was accurate.

A limit of 10% meant by a simple calculation that a level 500 user was allowed to burn 50 levels.

Well, it’s not necessarily good to burn as much as possible. Honestly, just about 50 levels sounds grotesque already.’

The higher the level, the slower the growth rate will become.

In Weed’s case, he started as a sculptor, which had the worst growth speed, and mastered it, only to take his foot and stick it on the path of the necromancer as well.

So, even though he had the confidence to level up twice as fast as any other person, 50 levels were still a huge sacrifice.

If the best rankers of Royal Road used the brazier, they would plunge from the peak to merely the level of casual players.

‘I am glad that I succeeded with this quest, but… This right here is truly the devil’s artefact.’

Weed decided to take the Brazier of Sacrifice with the dwarves.

***

“Hurry up, Sh-Sheek!”

“Greetings to big brother’s wife!”

Geumchi2 took 50 apprentices to Orcland.

For them to have arrived so fast despite being so far away, was thanks to Yurin’s Paint Teleportation Skill.

“Thanks, Yurin.”

“It’s nothing. It’s easy to draw you guys.”

“We have pretty thick lines.”

“You all have the same hair-style and similar muscular physique, so all I have to do is make slight adjustments to the angle of the eyes, nose and mouth.”

“…”

Geumchi2 and the apprentices recognized one another, but the reality for other people was that it turned into a game of hide and seek if they grouped up!

They could have been ticked off, but instead, they laughed in joy.

They were tearfully thankful for her calling them Oppa even if she were to curse at them a hundred times.

The reason being that over half of them had been called “Sir” since their teenage years.

“Can I go too?”

“Of course. You’re always welcome.”

Yurin decided to stick around since she came all the way to Orcland.

“Dragon, Sh-sheek. It seems to be looking for something, Sheek!”

Seechwi led through the broken orc villages and explained the situation to Geumchi2 and the apprentices.

“This is strange, for sure.”

“Yeah. A dragon doesn’t usually look over anything like this.”

Geumchi2 and the apprentices walked around the orc village with a serious face, but in reality, they had no particular thoughts.

‘I’m hungry. When are we going to eat?’

‘I wish there are some strong monsters around here. My body is turning stiff.’

‘I’m just going to act like I know something, concerned about something. Though I have no clue.’

In spite of their serious appearances, they were just acting like they were thinking!

After a long investigation of the village, Seechwi couldn’t help but feel something was strange.

‘What should I do? I think I need to look into this further.’

For the time being, she decided to look for more orc villages.

The Red Dragon Landony did not destroy every week, unlike Kaybern.

It was just roaming around, while destroying orc camps and strongholds.

Orcs with extraordinary reproductive abilities already made establishments in a different location.

‘Could the dragon be controlling the population balance of orcs?’

Seechwi eventually got to such conclusions, but they weren’t viable.

‘The Red Dragon is known to be more tyrannical than the Black Dragon. It doesn’t protect peace or nature like the Green Dragon. It loves destruction and genocides.’

There was a need for further investigation.

“Let’s track Landony, Sheek!”

In the end, they planned to follow in Landony’s path and collect information.

(To be continued…)