Requiem Of A Failed Hero



"This is strange no matter how much I think about it." A certain blacksmith said as he walked out with another by his side.

They were not alone, all the blacksmith that worked in the underground Rain smithy were currently evacuating under the instructions of their master blacksmith, Tae Dong-Hyun.

It was shortly after the main raid team of the guild had entered the gate, an emergency message came in through the broadcast station of the whole underground building which is rarely happened.

"Isn't the mass production the most important agenda on our table as master Dong-Hyun said." The other replied him.

"He said something about us not being able to take whatever he is about to do and I saw him pack out the white woods..." The other responded.

The blacksmith came to a sudden stop as he heard what the other blacksmith just said. He might have said it casually and not everyone understood what it meant when they say 'white woods' to most of the blacksmith that worked in smithy probably always saw Tae Dong-Hyun pack in the woods endlessly and not use them but they have never truly known of its importance.

However, some of them such as the ones that have a deepened knowledge of minerals and have worked with Tae Dong-Hyun for a while and such of a person was Tam Seon, he was one of the earliest blacksmith recruits that saw something in Tae Dong-Hyun's skills and wanted to follow him all the way, there were more people like this, and were regarded as senior blacksmith.

"What is wrong?" The blacksmith who was talking casually stopped and turned to the Tam Seon.

"Mountain ashes" Tam Seon muttered with his eyes widened.

"What is that supposed to be?" The blacksmith with him asked.

He grabbed the blacksmith's shoulder, "Are you sure you saw him take out the white woods?" He asked with shaking eyeballs.

From his sudden and trembling demeanor the blacksmith could tell that this was a matter of urgency.

"Y-Y-Yes, it was brief but I saw him take it out from the large storage." The guy responded, stuttering.

'No, what is sunbaenim trying to do?! Mountain ashes will definitely kill bim.' His eyes trembled as he stared down in horror.

"Tam Seon-ssi, is there something wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, no... I'm sorry. It's just the mountain ashes."

"What is mountain ashes? The white wood?"

Tam Seon tapped the young blacksmith's shoulder. "Evacuate as you are instructed, I have to go back to see him." He said and immediately left his presence.

The guy stood for a few seconds, confused of what is happening and why Tam Seon was in so much disturbance but with no answer to his questions he sluggishly dragged himself out.

Tam Seon ran through the channels that connected one forgery to another and particularly that was connected to the main forgery: a place that even the best of blacksmith rarely uses.

The fact that it was main did not mean that it was for a general purpose– the history of that particular smithy dated as long back as before even the thought of Rain guild came into existence when it was just Tae Dong-Hyun and his blacksmithing skills along with one young boy that used to follow him around who later grew to be the leader of the Rain guild.

It was the first underground smithy he had. Tae Dong-Hyun always had a unique personality and was very shy of working in front of others– he didn't even like it when he was being watched from the window or when he is sure the sound of his works is being heard by someone on the outside, which founded his idea of working underground.

The smithy carried his blood and sweat, the times he struggled to be good, the times he had more failures than success, the time that no one saw any good in his skills except that young and skillful guy, Mok Jae-Hwa. 

And the main smithy was the basis of every other smithy underground, that is all.aother forgeries were connected to this single one via transparent tunnels, it was an amazing architectural work to behold, impressive.

Left to Tae Dong-Hyun, he would have chosen the best of facility to do this work which is the white room but something didn't feel right about making that choice.

It only made sense that if he wanted or was about to enter a phase of tangible growth, he should stick to his roots and his orthodoxical way of forgery which was why he left all the advanced technology and went back to the basics.

He sat on the floor in front of the broken sword, crossed legged and his eyes tightly shut.

'...do I really want to do this?'

Even after telling Raith he would do it and after sending everyone away, Tae Dong-Hyun still questioned himself over and over again. According to Black's word, the moment he starts to melt that sword and hammer it, he would begin to lose all the divinity that had been upon him before now. It was a large cost, a cost if he still wasn't sure he could afford, Raith guild smithy has grown this big because of his encounter with the blacksmith god which he never truly told anyone about. If he decided to repair the demonic sword in front of him, he was letting go of all his achievements, he would not be able to use divinity to give swords special attributes like he does.

And the mass production was really around the corner, the time where he is supposed to release a massive amount of magic weapons and let the world know of his true skills, yet he was about to let all that go because of this demonic sword.

"Sword king, can I ask you something again?"

A sigh could be heard from the broken sword, the sword oozed black smoke but unlike the last time, the dark smoke didn't rise out of the sword.

"Look here friend, you are about to make a tough decision, I get it. But at one point in life we always have to embrace the tough decisions in order to move further. You yourself explained that you are faced with a wall, and it seems like you have reached the limit of your skills..."

"Then is it possible that something will definitely change, that I will grow better than I used to be?"

"Heh eh eh eh, now, now, I ain't telling you that. When did I ever say that? How you used to be? I don't know man. I just said no man handles a sword such as me and remain the same, I am a convolution of all the experiences of blacksmiths from ages I can't even remember, damn! I hate all those blacksmith... You really should be lucky I like you..I don't often do this because of my genuine hate for your kind."

"I'm so sorry, they must have caused you a lot."

"Ha! A lot is an understatement!!"

"So, are you saying now Sword king... that even my growth is not ascertained."

"I said no one handles me and remains the same, did you not hear tha part?" Black grunted at him, the oozing black smoke rose a little bit higher as if it was responding to his pitched tone.

 "Okay..." '...to be honest, I feel like his words are more of pride words than some word of wisdom.' He sighed and stood up.

"Have you made your decision?"

Tae Dong-Hyun signed once more, "More than making a decision... I don't know if I have a choice since hunter Raith said he has given me a gift... I don't want to invite the wrath of a catastrophe rank hunter."

"Hm, I see... he is quite strong if you'd ask me too... although he is equally dumb."

Tae Dong-Hyun turned to the white wood which he had filled the forgery with and he watched it with keen eyes. It was a very hard decision for him to make no matter how scared he was of failing Raith. His mind strayed down his journey this far and remembered his successes, oh how on earth would he forsake all these for one damned black sword.

Tae Dong-Hyun moved closer to the forge basin and ignited solid fuel inside the hearth. The woods were immediately caught on fire and began to burn, at first with a calm yellowish fire but soon began to shift color and before Tae Dong-Hyun even realized it the fire had began to burn with blue flames.

Just that instance, Tam Seon badged inside but with the same frequency that he entered, he flung out of the room. It was as though he entered a burning room without actual fire.

"Uh?" Tae Dong-Hyun was dumbfounded– he had forgotten how hot the heat of the flame of the mountain ash was– it was more of absent-minded situation, due to him being lost in thoughts he had totally forgotten of what the need to even react to the hot heat of the fire.

"Holy shit... the heat... I can't feel it." His eyes widened but more with excitement than with surprise.