The dean may have not trusted him with the dungeon core, no matter what he said, but he at least knew of someone that would. It was already very late in the night when he arrived back at the academy, but the mana lamps stood in the roads for that exact reason.

Illuminating the dark, he walked through the empty shopping district, everything closed and with no student stupid enough to forsake a good rest for their muscles and cores.

Once again, pushing his shamelessness to the limits, the boy finally found the sign, which dimly reflected the lamp’s light.

The bell chime reverberated through the empty shop, somewhat apprehending him. Seeing that no person stood behind the counter, Conall was confused, worried that the guys from the builders’ guild might have pestered Heph too much.

Nevertheless, the feeling quickly floated away, a new one appearing instead. From the planks touching his shoes, the boy felt an encompassing vibration, right through every corner of his body, quickly warming it before the heart needed to work up a sweat.

In perfect, constant frequency, the vibrations never failed to appear on time. Walking through the curtains, Conall quickly entered the stairs, immediately experiencing nightmarish heat, incomparable to the times when he first visited Heph’s smithy.

For a second, he wondered if he found himself in the depths of hell. His heart and stomach working quicker than ever, the body started to cool itself as he went deeper down the stairs.

A loud sound assaulted his ears, not so a clang, but still reminiscent of one. Behind the old man, Conall stood firmly and watched the glowing red body of his move individual strands of muscle as he kept on hitting a red-hot metal on top of the glossy, obsidian-black anvil.

Each of his strikes generated a slight shockwave, shaping up the large piece of ore into a long sword, so quickly, yet so precise Conall couldn’t catch up.

A rough shape was made, his heavy strikes allowing the metal to keep its most optimal heat. Despite hitting so roughly, however, the surface was perfectly flat, with no impressions or depressions whatsoever.

Still, as the sword was made, Heph took the hot metal with his bare hand, glancing at it from a few angles before becoming disinterested. Throwing the sword back into the scorching furnace, he sat still, as though waiting for something.

“Are you not scared somebody will steal from the shop?”

“Hmm?”

Heph wondered before bursting out into a chuckle.

“I sure will if a coal suddenly started walking.”

Conall’s eyebrows furrowed as he heard him.

“What do you mean?”

“The doors have an inscription installed. But don’t worry, I already excluded your spirit from interacting with it.”

The boy swore he could imagine Heph’s lips moving into a smile. Nonetheless, the topic changed quickly, the shopkeeper asking the important question.

“What goods did you bring this time? I feel like you had a good trip.”

“Is that a new sense I don’t know about?”

“It’s the talent of a business man at heart. So?”

With a smirk on his face, Conall rummaged through his divine artifact, quickly finding two things. He needed to bring out the appetizer first. Though, for normal blacksmiths, just this appetizer would make their eyes gleam in greed.

A crystal, bright red heart appeared in Conall’s palm, to the man that already turned around in anticipation. Seeing the crystal, however, he couldn’t help but voice out his astonishment.

Blinking and opening the eyes wider, he brought out his glasses to inspect the item better.

“Now, how the hell do you have this? Even though it's Grade B, I haven’t seen many of these little pearls.”

Letting Heph examine it closer, Conall crossed his arms.

“Although my friends helped me a bit, I was the one to finish it off. However, I have to say that it isn’t for sale, nor use. It’s reserved for one of the party members.”

“You’re not trying to eat it, are you?”

“No, it’s for something else.”

“It’s a shame, but I’m glad you’re at least thinking properly.”

Disappointed not to be able to use up such a precious resource, his eyes faltered, but he was still sure Conall didn’t come here just to show off. Even if it wasn’t as good as the dragonheart, Heph made it a promise in his heart to deliver the best product to his dear friend.

Witnessing the look on his face, the boy couldn’t help but snicker inwardly.

“Catch.”

Saying a single word, he startled Heph, who quickly brought his hands to catch a brightly glowing, light-blue, but more on the whitish side sphere.

Once it touched his hands, however, realizing what the heavy energy inside was, Heph dropped it before swiftly standing up and backing away.

Yet, when it made a glass-like sound after hitting the hard floor, with nothing happening even after a few seconds, Heph opened his mouth, letting out his loudest laugh Conall had ever heard.

Crouching and inspecting the dungeon core, he couldn’t help but glance at the boy with a radiant grin.

The red-haired knight himself also smiled, asking a blatantly obvious question.

“What do you think?”

“Hahaha! I think I need to give you a permanent free charge for life. If you don’t stop shocking me like this, you will certainly receive an award for the best customer.”

“I’m definitely flattered, but can you do something with it?”

He didn’t question his abilities in the slightest. It was just that no one in history had the chance to even hold a dungeon core without it exploding and leaving nothing behind.

“I will have to see, if you don’t mind me keeping it.”

“You’re definitely better off with it than I am. I have my hopes in you.”

Staring at the dungeon core in his hands, holding it as though it was nothing, Heph examined the sphere before turning to him yet again.

“I’m guessing you want it to be merged with fang, right?”

He nodded, after getting a nod from the other side. It was an impossible task, really, but he was here because of that reason. To defy the odds.

“Is that all?”

Conall thought for a second before shaking his head. He remembered something in his head, quickly taking it out.

“I also received this sword, but it had been cursed over the years. Do you have a solution.”

Even though he tried hearing him, it was as if water washed over him. Staring at the deep blue handle and the metallic blade that started to become slightly translucent, with crystals protruding all over it, the core in his hands started to slip away as Heph muttered under his breath.

Despite the many changes it experienced through its life, he could still tell apart what was his creation.

“Naise.”

Fondness filled his eyes as he stared at the long blade. How long was it now? He couldn’t even remember, yet, the nostalgia and emotions associated with making the sword assaulted his mind.

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Clouding his head, the many thoughts couldn’t realize the shock plastered on Conall’s face.

“Heph. Can you hear me?”

He walked up to him, only to give the sword in his hands. Gratefully taking it, the old man asked.

“Hmm? Ah. I’m sorry, I just hadn't expected something like this in a long time. Tell me, how did you acquire it?”

“After killing Kreon, or what little of him remained after he partly became a curse.”

“I see. Haha.”

Tears welled on the edges of Heph’s eyes as he recalled certain memories.

“So it was still with that moronic kid, huh?”

He brought the blade closer to his body, feeling the curse and remains of the core’s powers within. Despite that, he still caressed it, even if the blade dared to slice his tough body.

Suddenly, on the side, Conall felt something dangerous. The brutish heat quickly dispersed, the air getting hold of something much more powerful.

As though he was crushed, the boy felt as if he was carrying the world, his body bending under the extreme pressure Heph exerted. Barely able to lift his head, he stared at the shirtless old man, who raised his sword in the middle of the smithy.

A thick and dense, deep red layer covered the whole blade, but it was flowing smoothly like the wind. No, like a raging fire, the blade was extended nearly twice both in width and length.

From the sword, the remains of the curse were quickly brought out, and a lanky, shadowy figure tried to quickly escape, all in vain.

Grasping it with aura, the man held the curse against the wall. The sword together with the arm, in unity, moved a millimeter, or at least, that was how Conall saw it.

Moving his gaze upwards slowly, he stared at the large hole in the rock, the curse fully dispersed from the instantaneous attack.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, he breathed once again, taking heaps of it at a time and coughing.

Hiding the aura, Heph quickly apologized, though he was still impressed the boy hadn’t lost his consciousness.

“I’m sorry Conall, but I had to.”

Once again staring at the crystal-free sword, the material crumbling under his aura, it had come back to its pristine condition.

Still, the curse left some of its effects permanent, the almost transparent look remaining, though it wasn’t a bad thing after Heph sensed the sword’s integrity.

Helping the boy stand up, the other side quickly collected himself and looked at the renewed sword still in Heph’s hands.

“I have an idea.”

Said the blacksmith, making Conall stare at him confusedly.

“What kind of idea?”

He simply pointed at the remaining sword in the knight’s possession as well as the dungeon core.

“The best sword there ever was for the best customer I ever had.”

“You don’t mean-”

“I mean it exactly. I will merge the two together, using the dungeon core as the main point. That’s why-”

He didn’t finish, but simply showed him. Taking the sword off of him, he took out some blade he had in the back of his shop before leaving Conall alone in the street while no longer replying as he was too immersed in the craft.

Once again under the lamps of the streets, Conall stared at the onyx longsword that was specifically designed for Grade B knights, plenty sharp to make up for the temporary loss of fang.

As black and dark as the night itself, it swiftly moved through the air under his control. Of course, he still had his complaints about the matter.

‘Great. Losing fang just before Atrophy Mountains.’

He had already talked it through together with the dean. For all the important books he gave away, he had been allowed one of the spots for the event. Gaining one of the ten spots for each year, he was alongside the goldens, in the large student group of fifty people.

Lorine, on the other hand, just like in the game, was part of the twenty five professors going there, together with Morgana and Vilathe.

However, the academy wasn’t the only place that was allowed to send so many people. In Calypia, except for two, every Kingdom and the Empire were allowed fifteen spots each, while Etra and Taeyr sent out ten times that, half of the places belonging to the academy, the other to the capital and big cities.

Frankly, this annual event was everything that people prepared for a few months in advance, battling to choose the perfect candidates.

Because it only lasted seven days, each ruling state sent out their best soldiers under the rules Etrians and the elves provided.

All in search for the great natural treasures, rare beasts, and hidden dungeons within the blessed lands.

Though, Conall didn’t really want to go there for that. A much grander thing was hidden inside the mountains. Something that would finally grant him some power after coming to this world. The second skill he needed to get, right after Blessed Blood.

With a resolution that glowed through the darkness, he gripped the new sword. It was time to finally rest a bit. He really wanted to go and train in the academy’s forest, but Lorine asked him to meet up, for a mysterious ‘reward’ she meant to give him after helping her with Linna.

So, he silently moved through the academy grounds, quickly reaching the dormitory area. With a sudden slump, he fell to the bed, not even washing himself.

…

For yet another time, Conall missed his lectures for the whole weekend, making him somewhat of a celebrity among the circles in the first years, though it wasn’t really anything positive.

On his way through the main road of the academy, he heard many questionable statements, one standing out amongst many. The two male students whispered, not so quietly.

“You see that guy? Apparently, he’s the dean’s pill eating bastard.”

“Is that true? No way.”

He couldn’t help but shake his head while chuckling inwardly. Hearing such outrageous rumors definitely made his day brighter, though he quickly forgot about the gazes after entering the floor where Lorine’s lab was located.

However, before he could see the doors in the front, a soft voice resounded in his ears.

‘Conall, are you visiting Lorine?’

Hearing Juliette speak through their spiritual connection, he quickly replied.

‘Yes, do you want to come? We’ll be doing an experiment.’

‘I do. I want to meet you two after your dungeon delve. Also, there’s something else.’

‘Is it the mountains?’

For a few seconds, as he walked towards the doors, nothing replied before a somewhat distraught voice reached him.

‘Yes. I will talk to you in the lab.’

Conall’s light smile quickly changed, putting on a solemn look. Truthfully, he didn’t know how to feel about all of this. Juliette had never ventured into the lands in the game because she was already dead.

Since all of the assassin attacks failed, the Order must have resorted to this. He had a bad feeling about the situation, especially because there was nothing he could do, but watch the girl be a part of the Order’s team.

That didn’t mean he would give up. As hopeless as the scenario was, the boy would give all he had to let the girls survive.

Thankfully, he had an idea how to do so, even in the worst of outcomes.

‘Alright, I will be waiting with Lorine.’

And, after a few minutes, Juliette’s figure could be seen walking through the academy, the building’s walls protecting her from the heavy rain, though she didn’t really care about what the students thought.

The dark circles under her cold eyes quickly deterred any professor or an older student that wanted to mess with her.

She smoothly made her tired self go to the location where Conall was through their spiritual connection, letting it guide her rather than the building’s path.

In a few minutes, she stared at the familiar doors, knocking on them without waiting any longer. They, as well, didn’t wait long, almost immediately opening.

Walking through the corridor leading up to the lab, however, the girl with silvery hair halted, a confused look on her face.

“Just put it in already.”

“I can’t. You’re too stiff.”

With a horrified expression, Juliette opened up the doors as fast as lightning, a strange image before her eyes.

A shirtless Conall was sitting in the middle of the lab, Lorine standing beside him with bendy, thin tubes in her hands.

“What are you doing?”

The girl suddenly asked, looking at all the tubes connected to his body and the large femur floating inside a large, glass vessel filled with some transparent liquid.

“Ah, hi Julie. It’s just a little project I had in mind.”

Leaving the boy alone, Lorine came up to hug Juliette, who reciprocated the greeting before she went back to the experiment.

“Are you trying to revive the giant’s bone?”

She asked, promptly receiving a reply that left her doubtful.

“Kind of, but not really. I want his blood to replace the genetic information inside the bone.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Normally, no, but the heart he bears isn’t normal to begin with.”

Hearing the answer, she couldn’t help but get interested in the matter. The girl was sure this wasn’t all there was to the experiment. Already in a better mood, she asked. Though, once she did, her heart dropped.

“That’s true, I guess. What will you do if it works?”

“Replace the bones.”

Conall, as well, looked at her with a horrified expression, but he couldn’t do anything, as the chair he was sitting in was the same one when he got injected with foreign blood. The straps on his arms were far too tight and strong for him to move away.

“Hey, hey, hey, you didn’t tell me that.”

“Maybe you should have told me about your suicidal mission first, then, fufu.”