Chapter 55: The Coal-Dust Gambit

Spirits are fascinating creatures.  

Born from the essence of nature, they are so varied and full of personality that it’s impossible to define every type.

Scholars have tried to study and categorize them, eventually sorting them by the four elements. 

One of those is the earth spirit “gnome.”  

A short, stubby body like a teddy bear, topped with a pointed red hat.  

The gnome was hiding behind a boulder, secretly watching the human man.  

‘Stealing my minerals without permission…’  

One day that human had barged into the underground cave and started mining ores and gems like he owned the place.  

Born deep underground, the gnome was furious at the intruder who dared disturb its domain.  

But now it was the end of it. The mud golem had taken his pickaxe—he’d never be able to steal ore again.  

‘Get lost! And never come back!’  

Even though the golem gestured for him to leave, instead of reflecting, the human was raging for his pickaxe back.  

He clearly hadn’t learned his lesson.  

‘So what if you’re mad?’  

The gnome made its tentacles dance mockingly.  

The human stomped in anger for a while, then suddenly went quiet and began filling a sack with coal.  

‘Finally giving up?’  

Don’t even dream of returning! 

Even if you bring another pickaxe, I’ll just take that one too.  

But then—  

“Argh! I’m so pissed!”  

Thwack! Thwack!  

All of a sudden the man started beating the sack of coal like crazy.  

The gnome’s jaw dropped.  

No matter how angry you are you, taking it out on a sack?  

He pounded until the coal turned to powder.  

Gulp.  

The gnome watched breathlessly.  

After hammering for ages, the man stood up panting.  

Then—  

Grin—  

He flashed an ominous smile.  

Twitch!  

The gnome shuddered.  

That was pure devilish glee. 

Something stank of scheming.  

Dash!  

Sure enough, the lunatic grabbed the sack and charged straight at the mud golem.  

In an instant he closed the distance, opened the sack—  

Whoosh—  

—and scattered the coal dust all over the golem. Black powder clouded the air.  

‘He’s blinding the golem?’  

Clever, but that wouldn’t hurt a mud golem.  

The gnome shook its head.  

Even if it couldn’t see, the human had no way to attack.  

“Cough! Cough!”  

As expected, the human coughed and ran toward the exit as fast as he could.  

‘Tch tch. Pointless effort.’  

He tripped over his own feet. 

All that work for nothing.  

At that very moment—  

WHOOM—  

A massive explosion of flame erupted.  

“W-What the—?!”  

The gnome cried out involuntarily.  

In a single instant, the giant fireball swallowed the mud golem whole.  

It wasn’t to blind it?  

Dust explosion.  

The true nature of the flame was the coal dust.  

The human had planned this from the start.  

Moreover, the heat produced by the Floating Island’s coal was tremendous—enough to bake the mud solid in one go.  

Crack— Craaaack.  

The moisture evaporated instantly. 

The mud cracked like parched rice fields, losing its stickiness and crumbling into pieces.  

“N-No!”  

Despite the gnome’s anguished cry, the golem it had created shattered into dust.  

“…”  

It was bitter, but defeat was undeniable.

The situation had been overwhelmingly in the human’s favor, yet he had been outwitted. 

He had underestimated the human.  

‘Just you wait. Next time I’ll drive you out for sure.’  

Promising revenge, the gnome vanished deep underground.  

***

“I… I won!”  

Looking at the shattered golem, I let out a huge sigh of relief.  

It had been a hair-raising gamble—if I’d been any slower, I’d have been caught in the blast too. 

Luckily my quick legs saved me.  

Ding.

[The Floating Island’s affinity has slightly increased.]  

“Ah! My pickaxe!”  

I’d almost forgotten the important thing. 

Please don’t let it be broken or burned…  

My spine went cold. I frantically dug through the pile of dirt.  

“Found it!”  

Other than being a little dirty, the pickaxe was perfectly fine. 

If a pickaxe with two embedded rubies had been ruined, my heart would have hurt badly.  

“You little spirit—when I catch you, you’re dead!”  

I swear I’ll find that prankster underground and give it a proper scolding so it never pulls this crap again.  

“…”  

With the tension gone, exhaustion crashed over me like a wave.  

Time to head back.  

At that moment—  

Sparkle—  

Something glinted at my feet.  

“What’s this?”  

It had been buried in the dirt pile.

I carefully brushed the soil away.  

“A dagger?”  

Why would a dagger be here? 

The blade shone silver.  

I’d never seen it before. 

I definitely hadn’t brought one in.  

Even to my apprentice eyes, the blade looked extraordinary.  

While examining it—  

“T-This is an artifact?!”  

Ancient letters were clearly engraved on the hilt.  

No doubt—an ancient relic.  

Tremble tremble.  

My hand shook holding the dagger.  

Calm down.  

Thinking about it, the Floating Island was once an ancient training ground—it’s basically ruins. 

Finding a relic here isn’t strange at all.  

“H-Holy jackpot!”  

This was pure luck.  

It must have been mixed inside the mud golem.  

I suffered because of that spirit, but thanks to it I found an artifact, so it wasn’t a waste.  

Mysteriously, the fatigue weighing on my shoulders vanished completely.

Is this what they call “financial healing”?  

I gripped the dagger’s handle firmly.  

“Whoa! It fits my hand perfectly!”  

At that moment—  

Sparkle—  

The relic glowed softly glowed once, then the light faded.  

“W-What was that just now?”  

I glared at the dagger.  

“Hmm… oh well, whatever.”  

Humming a tune, I headed for the exit. I couldn’t stop smiling.  

“You’re grinning like an idiot—did something good happen down there?”  

As soon as I surfaced, Elenia came fluttering over.  

“Ta-da! Look what I picked up.”  

I showed her the dagger. 

It looked even more impressive in daylight.  

“Oho. You found an ancient relic? Lucky you.”  

“Lucky is an understatement—hardship came after hardship.”  

“What do you mean?”  

Elenia tilted her head.  

“Another golem appeared, this time a mud golem. Normal attacks didn’t work, it even stole my pickaxe—total worst-case scenario.”  

“Ooh! Sounds thrilling. What happened next?”  

Elenia’s eyes sparkled.  

“You wanna hear?”  

“Don’t tease—just tell me already!”  

“Piiit!” 

“Moo!”  

Dorori and even the cow had gathered beside me, urging me to continue.  

Should I pop some popcorn?  

“Ahem, so…”  

To reward their anticipation, I cleared my throat and began reciting a grand epic.  

“The tentacles came flying at me, I barely dodged and desperately looked for a way to defeat it…”  

I added a little embellishment for dramatic effect—seasoning, if you will.  

Elenia screamed in excitement, Dorori and the cow stared with perfectly round eyes, nostrils flaring.  

“…And so, deprived of moisture by the intense heat, the golem finally crumbled into dust.”  

“Amazing!”  

“Piiit!”  

“Moooo!”  

“Ahem. And the prize I earned through adversity is this dagger. How proud do you think I feel?”  

Elenia looked moved, while Dorori and the cow gazed at me with eyes full of admiration.  

They took turns examining the dagger like it was treasure.  

“But there’s ancient script on the hilt—what does it say?”  

Elenia studied it closely, stroking her chin.  

“Vulcanus. Sounds like a name. Probably the craftsman who made this dagger.”  

“You don’t know who that is?”  

“I don’t know every ancient person. Anyway, it doesn’t matter—this dagger will serve you well.”  

Even if it’s a minor item, an artifact is still an artifact. 

Modern humanity can’t even touch the soles of ancient technology’s feet.  

In other words, something that was just a random dagger to the ancients is a fantastic item to us now.  

As one blacksmith, I should use it gratefully in honor of its maker.  

Clang! Clang!  

***

“Focus! Hammer softer.”  

Following Kadu’s advice, I loosened my grip and brought the hammer down gently.  

“Well done. Your skill has improved a lot.”  

“It’s all thanks to your excellent teaching.”  

“Speaking of which…”  

Kadu hesitated before continuing.  

“That makgeolli you brought last time… you don’t happen to have any more, do you?”  

“Ah, you want some?”  

“It keeps appearing in my dreams. I don’t want to bother you, but could you bring more next time?”  

“I figured you’d say that—I brought some today.”  

I quickly pulled out the makgeolli I had prepared.  

“You brought it?! You’ve got some serious sense, lad. I’m the lucky one for taking you as my disciple.”  

Kadu hugged the bottle lovingly and grinned from ear to ear.  

“Actually, I have a favor to ask too.”  

“Anything.”  

“Could you take a look at this?”  

I showed him the dagger I’d been wearing at my waist.  

“Th-This is?!”  

Kadu hurriedly set down the bottle and examined the dagger from every angle.  

“This is an artifact! Where on earth did you get this?”  

“From the Floating Island. It’s a long story.”  

“From the Floating Island? Artifacts come out of there too? Anyway, you want me to appraise it?”  

“What do you think?”  

“Even at a glance it’s no ordinary blade. I’ll need to examine it more closely.”  

Kadu immediately went to his desk and picked up his appraisal tools. 

His face was more serious than I’d ever seen.  

“Hmm.”  

A low groan escaped his lips.  

“What is it?”  

“This is titanium.”  

“Titanium?”  

“Light as a feather, harder than steel, excellent durability, and highly corrosion-resistant—keeps its shape for ages.”  

“There’s a metal like that?!”  

I thought it felt light because I was strong, but the dagger itself was featherweight from the start.  

“Titanium is extremely rare. Among us dwarves, only a handful have ever worked with it.”  

He meticulously inspected the relic, then spotted the ancient script and brought a magnifying glass to it.  

“It’s flawless—top quality. The maker’s name is written here, but I don’t know ancient languages.”  

“I do. The maker is ‘Vulcanus,’ apparently.”  

THUD!  

Kadu shot up from his seat, face filled with shock.  

“W-What did you say? V-Vulcanus?!”  

Who the heck is Vulcanus to make Kadu react like this?  

His eyes shook like an earthquake.  

I’d seen Kadu surprised before, but never to this extent. It made even me nervous.  

“Is that person really that shocking?”  

“Of course! Vulcanus is called the God of Blacksmiths—the most renowned smith among the ancients! If this is genuine, it’s a mythical-grade artifact.”  

“Th-that’s insane…”  

Hearing Kadu’s explanation made the dagger feel even more noble.  

“However, judging by the short blade, it seems to have been made for gathering rather than combat. It would be hard to sell. A pity.”  

“That’s fine. It’s perfect for me to use.”  

It’s small and easy to carry.  

It’ll be extremely useful for farming on the Floating Island.