Chapter 67: Threads of Hephaestus

– Left!

Swish!

– Right!

Swish!

The third assistant forged with Smith’s Soul.

Weaver 1.

Crafted with loyalty, it followed my orders faithfully.

The target: the moth on the ceiling.

No way to hit a moth flying so high.

But surrender wasn’t an option.

Weaver 1 dodged, waiting for an opening.

Without new orders, it would fight until the moth or itself fell.

– Screeeech!

The moth’s high-pitched wail.

A slime-covered orb fell from above.

Crack.

It split, revealing larvae.

The moth’s young.

Emerging mid-battle, they crawled toward Weaver 1, hungry as newborns.

Slash!

The larvae were weak.

One snip from Weaver 1’s scissors felled them.

But each focus on the larvae left Weaver 1 open to the moth’s deadly attacks.

If the larvae swarmed?

Even Weaver 1 couldn’t hold.

Then—

– Lure it this way! Avoid the threads!

My command rang out.

No need to question.

– Understood.

Weaver 1 dashed toward me.

The moth’s long-range attacks weakened with distance.

Weaver 1 knew its effective range from dodging.

As it crossed that threshold—

– Screeeech!

The moth, agitated, moved its massive body.

Chasing Weaver 1, scattering dust with its wings.

As it tore through its own layered threads—

– Now!

Twang!

I fired my arrow.

Twang!

I’d lured it into range via Weaver 1 and cleared the threads blocking my view.

I aimed carefully, but as a blacksmith, not a marksman, I wasn’t sure.

The arrow ignited.

Whoosh!

Just the start.

Whoosh!

The flame grew.

The arrowhead’s spark became a sharp fang.

A blazing red eye appeared, glaring at the moth.

Antlers sprouted, and a fiery mane blazed over glowing scales.

A fire wyvern’s form.

The SSS-grade arrow’s single ability:

– Transforms into a fire wyvern to strike enemies.

This was its manifestation.

– Whoa!

I couldn’t help but exclaim.

An SSS-grade arrow, yet this powerful?

My precious materials were worth it.

Whoosh!

The wyvern burned through blocking threads, charging forward.

My aim didn’t matter.

It locked onto the moth, my designated target, and flew true.

– Screeeech!

The moth screeched, firing threads at the wyvern.

The sharp threads that pierced Weaver 1 and stone.

Whoosh.

They burned pitifully upon touching the wyvern.

Panicked, the moth spun threads faster, thicker.

A cascade of threads, defying physics.

But the wyvern devoured them, growing larger.

It reached the moth’s face and—

Chomp!

Snapped its jaws.

I thought it was over, but the moth wasn’t easy.

Just before impact, it flapped desperately, pushing the wyvern back with wind and retreating.

It couldn’t fully dodge.

– Screeeech!

One wing and its base burned completely.

Unable to fly, the moth crashed.

Boom!

Like a falling plane, trailing black smoke.

Yet it lived.

Despite losing a wing and burning, it rose on unsteady legs.

– Weaver 1, attack!

– Understood.

I sent Weaver 1.

I loaded another arrow.

The last attack was one-use, unrepeatable.

With the moth vulnerable, we had to finish it.

My regular arrows couldn’t deal fatal blows.

I left that to Weaver 1.

Twang!

I shot at the larvae crawling toward Weaver 1.

Thankfully, they were weak.

My fire arrows burned them to ash.

Meanwhile—

The moth screamed, rolling to face the ceiling.

– Cut it!

Weaver 1’s massive scissors opened wide at the moth’s neck.

Snip!

A critical hit.

Still, the massive moth wouldn’t fall in one strike.

Weaver 1, ignoring its struggles, opened and closed its scissors mechanically.

I kept firing.

Soon—

[Defeated Zone 2’s Hidden Boss, Incubated Silk Moth.]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

The moth’s death was confirmed.

– Phew…

That was close.

I nearly lost to that giant moth.

Zone 1’s hidden area lacked a boss, so I assumed this one would too.

– Next time, I’m bringing the whole mine team.

Vowing this, I approached the moth.

Weaver 1 was already collecting its items.

[Incubated Silk Moth’s Wing]

[Incubated Silk Moth’s Dust]

After gathering key materials, I ordered Weaver 1 to handle the larvae and their materials.

I headed to the passage’s end.

As expected, a massive stone door stood there.

Inscribed above:

[Hephaestus’ Forge]

It was indeed Hephaestus’ Forge.

Zone 2’s forge.

If this pattern held, Zones 3, 4, or even 5 might have forges.

Lowering my gaze—

Hum—

The door trembled, revealing an image.

[Hephaestus’ Gauntlets]

A gauntlet, black with a red volcano emblem, like Vulcanus Guild gear.

Below, as in Zone 1, required materials were listed:

[Tough Fiber x100]

[Twisted Fiber x50]

[Entangled Fiber x20]

[Mana-Infused Fiber x40]

– So many fibers for gauntlets?

Like the furnace in Zone 1.

It needed 100 iron ore, 50 tin, and rare materials like mithril and adamantium.

This was similar.

[Moonlight Silk x10]

[Cloud Thread x5]

[Shadow of the Moon x1]

Even I, who memorized all mine fibers, rarely saw these, including one new fiber.

– Weaver 1, how many Moonlight Silks do we have?

– I don’t know about the crafting team, but I collected 17 in Zone 2.

– Enough. Cloud Threads?

– 8.

Perfect.

Unlike the mithril struggle in Zone 1, we were set.

Even adamantium was being mined.

Rare materials were mostly secured.

The final material—

– Shadow of the Moon, 2.

– Great. Get 10 Moonlight Silks, 5 Cloud Threads, 1 Shadow of the Moon, 100 Tough Fibers…

– Understood.

All in stock.

No worry about the crafting team using them.

They used rare materials or below, needing my approval for ultra-rare ones.

These were likely stored safely.

Tough Fibers were in constant use, but Weaver 1 mined enough.

– Here are the materials.

Weaver 1 returned from the warehouse.

100 Tough Fibers, 50 Twisted Fibers, and the faintly glowing Shadow of the Moon.

In Zone 1, I crafted for rankers to get adamantium.

Now, no need.

– Let’s craft.

[Using Production Skill.]

Materials ready, no delay.

[Select the shape of the item to craft.]

– Gauntlets.

[Specify the details of the gauntlet’s shape.]

I input the design from the door.

[Choose the material for the gauntlets.]

I poured in the listed materials.

[Crafting begins.]

Clang!

Not ore, but fibers.

Yet the hammer felt heavy.

Hundreds of fibers compressed into gauntlets required immense force.

[Progress: 8%…]

Slow progress, but I didn’t care.

This was routine.

Compared to crafting the Zone 1 furnace, this was nothing.

Whoosh!

Spark heated the materials, easing the hammering.

A trial to open the door, high difficulty, took time.

[Crafting complete.]

[‘Hephaestus’ Gauntlets’ obtained.]

[Entry requirement for ‘Hephaestus’ Forge’ met.]

I crafted Hephaestus’ Gauntlets.

Before checking its stats, the gauntlets were sucked into the door.

The door darkened, a volcano emblem appeared, and—

Rumble.

The sealed stone door began to open.