[Enhance has activated.]
[The next skill will be empowered.]
The skill Su-ho used was called Enhance.
He quickly recalled the information about it:
Enhance
Grade: F
Crusader-exclusive skill.
Consus 7% of total mana to increase the effectiveness of the next activated skill by one tier.
As the na implied, Enhance upgraded the next skill he used—at the cost of a significant amount of mana.
Of course, not every skill could be affected.
According to the First Crusader—the very first to walk that path in his previous life—skills had to be tested individually to see whether they were compatible with Enhance.
Thankfully, most consumable attack skills, such as sword techniques, typically worked.
And with Su-ho's current level, Enhance had automatically leveled up to Grade E, reducing mana consumption to 6% per use.
"With what's left, I’ll barely get ten uses out of this—if that."
So every use had to count.
Su-ho hurled the Guiyeong Spear through the roaring heat storm.
[Throwing Spear activated.]
The spear, enhanced by the skill, pierced through the heat wave and soared past the Molten Dragon’s head. The mont it passed over—
[Shadow Step activated.]
Whoosh—!
Su-ho instantly blinked behind the dragon.
Now out of the storm’s path, he focused his mana detection on the dragon’s Reverse Scale, then unleashed another Cloud Cleave.
"Let’s see if this one does more than tickle."
[Cloud Cleave activated.]
[Enhance has been applied.]
[Cloud Cleave’s power has increased.]
Enhance successfully activated on the Cloud Cleave.
Unlike Throwing Spear and Shadow Step, Cloud Cleave could be powered up.
The blade glead with a distinctive blue aura—the signature glow of an empowered skill.
SWISH!
The arc of the blade shimred—blue streaks slicing through the red glow—and finally, the sound he wanted to hear:
Sskk!
The satisfying slice of tal giving way.
"Got it!"
The hit was clean—not a full sever, but a definite improvent compared to the bulletproof bounce from before.
And then—
KRRAAAAAAHHH!!
[Molten Dragon has entered a Frenzied state after its Reverse Scale was damaged.]
[Molten Dragon uses Boss Monster-class Fear.]
[Dragon Blood activates.]
[Fear nullified due to the Dragon Soul effect.]
[Molten Dragon uses Heat Storm.]
The mont its scale was wounded, the dragon lost it.
Its roar echoed like tearing tal, and another Heat Storm erupted violently.
Su-ho braced himself.
"Tch!"
Even with Endurance still active, the accumulated heat had started to wear down his senses. A dizzy spell hit him hard, and his vision turned white.
Then ca the tail.
KWAANG!!
This ti, he couldn’t dodge.
The vertigo cost him precious reaction ti.
The dragon’s tail slamd into him, and he was flung across the chamber like a ragdoll—smashed into a wall.
“Ghhh...!”
It hurt.
Sure, Endurance dulled the pain—but this was a dragon's tail.
The sheer weight and force made even Su-ho grimace.
"I need more fire resistance."
But to do that, he had to collect more steel—and that required ti.
Which, unfortunately, he didn’t have.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The Ironclad Soldiers—still marching forward with their kite shields—charged again, targeting the stunned Su-ho.
Those damned things.
Su-ho shook himself out of the daze and raised his sword.
He didn’t dodge.
Instead, he swung at the lead soldier.
[Heart Cleave /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ activated.]
Skkk!
No need for Enhance.
Their armor and shields didn’t matter—not when Mana Detection revealed their core, and Heart Cleave was tailored to pierce vital points.
[You have slain a Molten Dragon’s Ironclad Soldier.]
Just as expected—instant kill.
And once the lead soldier dropped, his massive body beca an obstacle, causing the others to trip.
The whole formation stumbled, and so even toppled into the surrounding lava.
That’s when Su-ho spotted sothing unusual.
"That’s...!"
A lattice-patterned line—displayed by the Blacksmith’s Eye—appeared on the fallen soldier’s corpse.
It was strange.
The Blacksmith’s Eye had been active the entire ti, like his mana detection, but until now, it had only shown those patterns on environntal objects, not monsters.
Fla Demon, Magmanums—none of them had shown lattice lines.
But now, it did.
“Could it be that once a monster is dead, it gets reclassified as a lootable object?”
That made sense.
KWAANG!!
The dragon’s tail struck again—but this ti, Su-ho dodged it.
The tail instead smashed into a steel track, launching the corpse and armor of a fallen Ironclad Soldier high into the air.
Su-ho reacted instantly.
[Step Skill activated.]
He sprinted, jumped, and snatched the flying corpse mid-air.
Then activated his item’s skill:
[Entering Subspace House.]
A flash of light—and he vanished.
At the sa ti, the Molten Dragon narrowed its eyes.
The hourglass—previously running—halted again.
***
“Haaaah...”
Su-ho let out a long breath.
The suffocating heat was gone, and he could finally breathe freely.
He already knew ti paused inside the Subspace House.
Didn’t matter.
All his attention was on the Ironclad Soldier’s corpse.
He pulled the Blacksmith’s Hamr from his waist and began tapping at the red-marked weak points the Blacksmith’s Eye revealed.
Clang, clang, clang!—CRACK!
[Quadrant Harvest activated.]
Three strikes—and a perfect cube of tal popped out of the corpse.
Su-ho’s eyes widened.
It worked.
He quickly checked the item:
Molten Dragon’s Ironclad Soldier Fragnt
Grade: B
A fragnt from one of the Molten Dragon’s elite guardians.
These “Dragon Troopers” possess imnse heat resistance due to prolonged exposure to extre temperatures.
Grants Fire Resistance 5% when equipped.
“...!”
Su-ho's eyes flew open wider than they had at any point since entering the Forge Gate.
Goosebumps swept across his skin.
A slow smile curled his lips.
"I knew it."
Most Gates contained their own clues for completion.
It was up to the player to sense and act on them.
The mont Su-ho saw that soldier’s body fly through the air, his instinct—honed from clearing thousands of Gates—had kicked in.
That instinct had delivered him the breakthrough.
The real problem with this Gate hadn’t been the monsters—it was the environnt.
And now, he had found the key to overcoming it.
He raised his hamr again and went to work.
Clang, clang, clang!—CRACK!
[Quadrant Harvest activated.]
Clang, clang, clang!—CRACK!
[Quadrant Harvest activated.]
Each corpse yielded not one—but six fragnts.
All with 5% fire resistance.
Sure, the corpses crumbled to dust afterward, but that didn’t matter.
What mattered was the number.
Su-ho carefully gathered the materials and opened the portal back out.
Outside, the Molten Dragon watched grimly, Ironclad Soldiers glancing around restlessly.
The hourglass was still frozen.
Su-ho gazed out at them, his expression warm—loving, almost.
“Just wait a little longer. I’m gonna kidnap every last one of you.”
Fully cooled off, Su-ho exited the Subspace House.
And—
[Throwing Spear activated.]
[Shadow Step activated.]
He threw the Guiyeong Spear toward a group of soldiers, blinked forward—and instantly cut one down.
[Heart Cleave activated.]
Skk!
[You have slain a Molten Dragon’s Ironclad Soldier.]
One hit. One kill.
He grabbed the body like stolen goods and vanished back into Subspace.
KWAANG!!
The dragon’s tail lashed out again, scattering soldiers like bowling pins.
But Su-ho was gone.
And the toppled soldiers clambered back onto the tracks like it was nothing.
anwhile, inside the Subspace House—
Clang, clang, clang!—CRACK!
[Quadrant Harvest activated.]
Clang, clang, clang!—CRACK!
[Quadrant Harvest activated.]
Sa routine.
Su-ho didn’t bother dragging multiple soldiers at once.
One-by-one, quick and efficient.
The dragon’s rage couldn’t catch his mobility—not when he blinked with the Guiyeong Spear.
And finally, when his fragnt count hit triple digits, he stopped.
"Ti for the next phase."
Now he needed to combine them.
Sa rules as before:
Combine two at a ti.
Only combine fragnts with matching resistance values.
The hamr rang out again:
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!—KAAANG!!
[Material crafting successful.]
[You have obtained Molten Dragon’s Ironclad Soldier Fragnt (B).]
Then again:
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!—KAAANG!!
[Material crafting successful.]
[You have obtained Molten Dragon’s Ironclad Soldier Fragnt (A).]
Su-ho checked the item.
Molten Dragon’s Ironclad Soldier Fragnt
Grade: A
A fragnt from one of the Molten Dragon’s elite guardians.
Forged through repeated refinent, gaining enhanced properties.
Grants Fire Resistance 10% when equipped.
After a few rounds, Su-ho once again held a fragnt with 10% fire resistance.
He smiled.
Things were finally falling into place.
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