The legendary Moonlight Sculptor

V55C5P2 - The Dream of Dwarves

"Weed-nim!"

Oberon almost rolled across the ground running with his shattered armor.

Even the countless treasure in the dragon's lair did not hinder his sight.

"You managed to find the Brazier of Sacrifice?"

"That is right."

"The situation is dire, so can I use it at once?"

"Use it? This thing?"

"Yes, it seems that it is the only way to stop the enemy."

Oberon naturally had a lot of experience handling a brazier as he was a dwarf.

He smashed empty wagons, threw the wood into the brazier and started a fire.

The fire quickly grew into a roaring blaze!

The firepower was immense as it was a dwarven artefact.

"Brazier of Sacrifice, I will burn 30 levels and 5,000 health points. Reward me with power!"

The fierce flames of the brazier spread to Oberon.

The dwarf's entire body seemed to be trapped in the flames, but in fact, incredible power was being transferred.

Oberon's body turned bright red like metal being forged in a fire.

"The Brazier of Sacrifice. The legend was true. I will go out there again to fight. Leave everything to me and retreat."

Oberon ran towards Bademix to stop him.

"Hoorah!"

His level and health points increased by 800 and 50,000 respectively!

"Iron Rage!"

Depending on the enemy's power, it raised the attack damage up to 3x temporarily.

"Go."

Oberon swung his axe and shield alternately and pushed back commander Bademix.

He charged with his body, pushed with his shield, an original strategy of warriors!

Though he had enhanced attack, he drove forward with an overwhelming defense.

Oberon let out his War Cry

"From now on, I will take care of Bademix. Everyone guard the entrance!"

The exhausted dwarven warriors and soldiers took the time to wrap bandages and rub herbs. The dwarves recovered health points by the priests' healing spells and engaged in battle once again.

The heat of battle reigned over at the lair entrance.

"For him to use the brazier with no hesitation…"

Weed was surprised by Oberon's sacrifice.

He was well over level 500 but did not hesitate to use it in order to stop the dragon soldiers and defend his comrades.

"If you could excuse me."

Dwarves who had lost their senses for a moment came one after another and activated the brazier. They weren't as drastic as Oberon, but they offered 10, 20 levels and returned to the battle with another level of power.

The combat ability they displayed was remarkable.

Though it was only temporary, they could fight as the strongest users in Versailles.

"Come at me! You lizard freaks!"

"Let's kill them all and steal everything, K-ha-ha-ha!"

About thirty dwarves activating the brazier allowed them to prevent the advance of the dragon soldiers with ease.

Zultan and Smalling poured their magic spells, but the entrance was too narrow.

The forces were too clustered and made it difficult for assassinations. Furthermore, the draconic warriors were obstacles to aoe magic.

- Mihel: Weed-nim! It seems like Kaybern will head to the lair now.

The dwarves barely earned some time to breathe in peace, but Kaybern was about to return.

"There is really no time for breaks."

Weed realized once again that this was a battle against time.

Even if they managed to smuggle the treasure, they will be chased down unless they escape to a safe distance.

"The Brazier of Sacrifice is the utmost priority. You take this and escape the lair first."

"Yes, hyung."

Weed left the brazier to Nide. 4 dwarves pulled the wagon together and exited to the mine.

"We need more time. We would have taken a lot more if we weren't discovered by the draconic warriors…"

Weed looked around the lair in disappointment.

Not one user knew the exact layout of the dragon lair.

Weed too only got to see near the lair`s entrance before.

'I prepared so much but it still wasn't perfect.'

He thought of transporting the treasures as a whole, but there was just too much gold.

Flourishing gold lumps scattered everywhere!

To think that he would have a hard time examining treasures because of the large gold bars getting in his way.

The inheritance, antiques and ornaments of old kingdoms were too large to move with the wagons.

Regardless, if they had enough time, there wouldn't have been any leftovers, but there were still many treasures that haven't even been looked at.

- Everyone, retreat!

Weed used Lion's Roar.

The word retreat echoed inside the lair to no end.

"Let's get out of here."

"Weed-nim's orders. Move out."

The dwarves that were grabbing a load of treasures pushed the wagon and escaped to the mine.

"The wounded have to move quickly too!"

The users that fell back to the rear after losing health points from defending against the dragon soldiers pulled the treasure wagons as well.

In front of treasures, strength sprang from nowhere.

- You! You cannot escape with Kaybern-nim's belongings!

Bademix swung the halberd and went berserk, but Oberon blocked him off at close-range with the swing of his shield.

"Everyone, fall back. We will take care of the rear!"

Weed, despite Oberon's words, couldn't slip out.

He just stood there dumbfounded, watching the dwarves.

"Weed-nim! Don't worry about us and go first. Hurry! Then we can escape too!"

Oberon screamed.

Pale and the assault squad prepared to retreat as well, and the draconic warriors became rampant in response.

Dwarf Vindel ran with a full backpack.

"Weed-nim, we must go now."

"…"

"Don't worry about those bunch. We practiced this procedure dozens of times. We prepped magic scrolls too. Quickly!"

Weed was forced to turn around lonesomely.

"Urgh!"

*Slug-slug.*

< You have exceeded the maximum weight capacity.

Movement speed is reduced by 84%. >

His load was exceeding the limits of his strength and agility!

"Ugh!"

He barely passed through the passage connecting the lair and the mine. He used the Loa Sword as a cane.

- You can't leave! I will not let you!

From the rear, Oberon and the dwarves were fending off Bademix and the dragon soldiers as they receded.

The passage was narrow, so mid-sized monsters could not slip through.

Slug-slug…

Weed was filled with greed and regret as he walked.

"Sigh."

With each step, his sadness grew deeper.

He wanted to return to the treasures, but unfortunately, he couldn't.

"Scram!"

Oberon as he was responsible with the final defense line, kept the draconic warriors at bay with his axe.

If they did not use the Brazier of Sacrifice, the warriors would not have held ground, but they were excellent at their job at the moment.

Oberon pushed Bademix away and shouted.

"Collapse it!"

The exit connected to the lair!

The dwarven architects did not participate in the robbery and instead planted various traps.

They were prepared to be chased away, and now was the time to use the traps.

*Crumble!*

The ceiling collapsed right when Oberon passed through, covering the dragon soldiers.

The awfully powerful Bademix also disappeared in the stone rubble that filled the mine track. The dwarven soldiers and warriors felt the need to escape from their bodies as they saw the end of the sealed road.

"Ah, at least it's over…"

"That was one exhausting battle."

"Woo, that was fun. Let's focus. We collapsed the ceiling and traps are in place, but the soldiers will soon give chase. So, let's get out of here."

Dwarves in their drained state swayed as they ran.

Oberon in a pool of sweat approached Weed.

"Weed-nim, let's go."

"You did so well."

"It's nothing. Your load looks pretty heavy, should I help you out?"

"No."

"Pardon?"

"You must not."

"…"

Oberon pulled off an incredible accomplishment, even still, it wasn't enough for Weed to hand over his backpack!

"Weed-nim. I admire you so much when you manage to carry out difficult quests like this one alone every time. This couldn't be done by anyone but you."

Oberon showed respect to Weed who managed through such rigorous battles.

"It was truly an awesome and exciting experience. This is not over yet, but this day will be one to remember for the rest of my life."

Weed moaned in despair.

"I should have hogged it all even if it was going to be harder…"

"…?"

The treasures in the lair that were left behind haunted him and he loathed having to distribute the little treasure he had to the dwarves.

But honestly speaking, the dwarves fought so well that he could'nt think of an excuse for them to be sent home unrewarded.

Oberon continued with no understanding of what it meant.

"In truth, since the preparations began, I thought this would be impossible. You must be so happy to succeed in such a difficult quest."

"Happy my ass."

"…?"

'My gratitude towards the dwarves will fade away with time. But, the treasures are everlasting.'

It wasn't a whole lot of time they spent inside the dragon's lair, but during their stay, they recovered the brazier and grabbed rare treasures here and there.

There were two backpacks containing the most vital items earned from the lair.

'Both my eyes and hands must be swifter in future. I think I used up a weeks worth of concentration this time.'

He collected full sets of warrior and archer equipment up to level 900 and also set aside advanced magic staff and robes.

Some of the equipment properties were imbued by the dragon.

He did not have the chance to look over the small items like accessories, and there were likely to be many useful items from what was recovered by Nide, Chase and the other dwarves.

'I won't have to worry about equipment for now.'

There wasn't a single item in the lair that wasn't rare. He could change everything he wore: boots, belt, adventurer outfit, bracers, his leather armor could be replaced by incomparably better equipment.

'My combat strength will be significantly higher now.'

The equipment worn by Weed had a few lacking points.

With the exception of the Loa Sword and the Sky Ruler's Armor, several items were lower quality overall.

Nevertheless, he couldn't change them into better gear because the items were too rare and expensive for him to buy in auctions or with gold.

'Strength, agility. I could afford to increase my attack damage greatly if needed… I could also adjust endurance, enhanced recovery rate, curse resistance and other attributes in order to tackle specific hunting grounds and dungeons.'

He was no longer jealous of the equipment worn by Hermes Guild members.

With good equipment came more power. Hunting speed becomes substantially faster and more efficient.

Even his grinding would ascend to a new level.

(To be continued…)