Chapter 30

Crunch!

Raon gritted his teeth.

‘Ras!’

Just as he was about to reach the state of no-mind and create an aura, he was interrupted, and the aura that was about to form began to dissipate.

‘Gasp!’

He concentrated his mind and tried to condense the aura of the Manhwa Gong that was about to fade. When he tried to force the aura to settle, a chilling coldness began to seep in.

-Didn't I tell you?

Ras's voice was laced with mockery.

-I said I would strike when you are at your weakest.

‘Gasp…’

His words were true.

Ras had warned that he would attack at the most dangerous moment. Honestly, he had even predicted this moment.

But he had suddenly fallen into a state of no-mind and completely forgotten about Ras's existence.

-It's starting now!

Ras unleashed a massive burst of cold and charged forward. The chill was so intense that it made his teeth chatter.

The pain was like his bones were freezing, and he desperately wanted to open his eyes. But if he moved now, his mana could reverse and leave him crippled.

‘This bastard…’

He had forgotten for a while, but Ras was not an ally. He was a demon, the king of the demon realm, who seemed to want to destroy his body and devour his soul.

Hoooo!

As Ras's cold grew more intense, the cold in the mana circuits, which had been suppressed, began to act up.

‘Ugh…’

A scream escaped his lips. It felt like his bones and skin were splitting. The cold and the rage began to erode his mind.

-It's over.

Ras's voice was filled with ecstasy rather than anger.

-Now, your body and soul belong to me.

A numbing cold spread throughout his body, surpassing pain and erasing sensation. He felt like he was about to lose consciousness.

‘Gasp!’

Raon bit his tongue. The pain made him feel like he had been doused in cold water, and he regained his senses for a moment.

‘Think. Think!’

Ras's cold had already spread throughout his body. If he continued like this, his body would soon fall to Ras.

‘I can't stop the Manhwa Gong.’

It was too late to use the ring of fire now. Ras's cold would consume his body and mind before the ring could start spinning.

‘I need to find a way to survive.’

He continued to spin the Manhwa Gong, enduring the situation. It was like hanging on a cliff by a single rope.

-Give up. Your body is already mine.

‘We'll see about that.’

-It's a futile effort. Like that old man who burns the charcoal kiln every day.

‘Charcoal kiln… Charcoal kiln!’

There was a way to survive.

Grip!

Raon clenched his fist and summoned all his remaining strength to draw in mana.

Roar!

Not the natural mana heated by the charcoal kiln, but the mana inside the kiln itself.

-What are you doing?

‘Desperation!’

Yes, this is desperation. Dying without doing anything was enough for his past life. This life, he would not die in vain.

Crack!

A sound like leaves breaking came from the ceiling of the charcoal kiln, hardened by solid clay.

-Stop! Stop!

‘Gasp!’

Ras's cold grew stronger. The power was so intense that it froze his bones. He could no longer feel his limbs. With a final effort, he took a deep breath.

Boom!

The ground split, and an immense heat soared into the air. Flames burst from inside the charcoal kiln.

Hoooo!

Raon inhaled the heat in one breath, as if it were his first breath of life.

Not just through his nose and mouth, but through every pore in his body, the heat pushed back the cold that had taken over his body. The overwhelming heat felt like lava flowing through his veins.

Flare!

The heat, like a storm, melted Ras's cold like spring snow.

-What, what is this!

‘Disappear, Ras!’

Raon bit his lip and operated the Manhwa Gong. He drew in the massive cold that had melted from the mana circuits and led it to his dantian.

Roar!

The energy of the Manhwa Gong, which had been like a dying ember, took on a distinct form, fueled by the heat of the charcoal kiln.

Hum!

That was not all.

Next to the perfectly formed aura of the Manhwa Gong, a white energy condensed like a glass bead. It was the intense cold that had filled the mana circuits.

-Damn it!

‘Huff…’

Raon ignored Ras's angry scream and gathered all the heat in the air and the cold inside his body.

With extreme concentration, he overcame Ras's interference and entered the second state of no-mind.

* * *

“Huff!”

Balkan spat out a heavy breath as he threw firewood into the furnace.

Sizzle!

Seeing the furnace ignite with a fierce flame, old memories surfaced.

‘It's been 30 years already.’

30 years ago, he created his final masterpiece, the Jintian Sword. After presenting it to Glen Zighard, he thought his life had come to an end.

There were treasures that a lifetime of work could not exhaust, and he declared his retirement to enjoy the rest of his life.

But when he regained his senses, he found himself sitting in front of the fire.

There was no need to wake up early or stoke the furnace, but his feet unconsciously led him to the workshop.

He had stopped. Firmly.

His time had been frozen in the era when he created the Jintian Sword.

‘I can't break free.’

He had made many swords and made significant contributions to Zighard. Glen, the head of the family and one of the continent's strongest, used his swords.

His name would be remembered in history even if he retired, but he couldn't stay still. He couldn't put down the hammer or move away from the fire.

The reason he couldn't do either was one.

He wanted to continue working, but he lacked the confidence to create a work that surpassed the Jintian Sword he had presented to Glen.

In this ambiguous position, he awkwardly stoked the fire and picked up the hammer, but all he felt was futility.

‘That's why I built this kiln.’

For over a decade, he had been making charcoal, trying to create gold charcoal, which surpassed black and white charcoal.

He thought that with this special charcoal, he might be able to create even better swords.

But he had never succeeded.

He had tried countless methods, combining legends and rumors, but the gold charcoal eluded him.

Still, he didn't want to give up. It was his only obsession in his remaining life.

While aimlessly wasting time, a child came to him.

Raon Zighard.

From the first day they met, the child had breathed with the embers in the furnace. The flames, which had been dormant for over a decade, roared like a beast.

It was the first time.

The flames had never responded or intensified before.

Thinking that something might change, he allowed Raon to stay, but he didn't have high expectations.

‘This is a hell of fire.’

The heat from the kiln was so intense that even experienced craftsmen who had seen it all would avoid it. Those who came to help initially couldn't last a few days and quietly disappeared.

But the child came every day, sitting in front of the kiln, sweating profusely and biting his lip in pain.

At first, he couldn't focus on his practice due to the heat rising from the ground. The same on the second day, trembling from the heat and biting his lip.

Four days, five days, a week, a month, and three months.

Raon never missed a day, coming to the charcoal kiln.

And today.

In response to Raon's breathing, the embers in the furnace burned fiercely, and the heat from the kiln doubled in intensity.

Hoooo!

He seemed to have become the embodiment of fire, dominating the flames in this space.

‘This is!’

Balkan realized that this moment was a significant opportunity for him, not just to create new charcoal but to live again as a craftsman.

“Hoooo!”

He concentrated all his mind on maintaining the heat of the flames in the furnace. He repeated every action that could stoke and intensify the fire.

The embers came to life.

A transparent flame at the center erased the dull and hazy flames, intensifying the heat.

But something strange happened.

Instead of sweating from the heat of the kiln, frost began to form on Raon's entire body.

‘What is this?’

Panic set in as he looked around, but the cold only spread over Raon's body.

The cold gradually spread throughout his body, eventually freezing his golden hair.

‘What, what should I do?’

Raon's body shivered. He knew it was a bad state but didn't know what to do.

He knew he shouldn't interfere, but he feared Raon would die if left alone.

“Hey! You….”

“No.”

Just as Balkan reached out to wake Raon, Rimer appeared, moving like the wind.

“Rimer! What are you doing? He's going to die!”

“There's nothing we can do now.”

Rimer shook his head, frowning as he watched Raon, who was trembling more violently.

“Even a slight shock from the outside could make him spit blood and die.”

“Is this the cold you mentioned before?”

“Yes. The child has had this cold since birth.”

“Such….”

Balkan bit his lip. His heart ached.

‘This young boy…’

He felt pity for the child, who had been born with such intense cold that it could extinguish the heat of the furnace, and admiration for enduring it so far.

He wanted to help somehow.

“Is there nothing we can do?”

“No. Any interference would be dangerous.”

Rimer's expression was unusually serious. He clenched his fists and fixed his gaze on Raon.

The two of them silently watched as the cold gradually covered Raon's body.

“This, this way, he'll really die! Do something!”

“Wait! Raon moved!”

Hope appeared in Rimer's expression. He smiled wryly as he watched Raon.

“What? What…?”

Balkan turned his head to the side. The flames in the furnace suddenly intensified.

Crack!

The flames burst out of the furnace, enveloping the entire charcoal kiln. The sealed kiln exploded, releasing an overwhelming heat that covered the air.

Boom!

The heat was so intense that it made it impossible to breathe for a moment.

“Gasp!”

Even as a master craftsman, he had never experienced such heat. He bowed his head, but the heat dissipated quickly.

Roar!

The heat began to spiral and was drawn into Raon. The immense heat condensed, melting the cold that had covered his body.

Flare!

A bright red flame rose from Raon's body. No, it wasn't red.

Golden.

A golden flame, like the dawn that rose over the eastern mountains, burst forth.

Raon continued his practice, even as he was enveloped in the golden flames. He absorbed all the heat from the surroundings, not just the area around him, but from the entire North Mountain.

Hum!

When the sun revealed its full glory and the light began to fade, Raon opened his eyes.

Flash!

Balkan swallowed dryly as he met Raon's eyes. A shiver ran from his toes to his brain.

Intense golden light.

The golden flames, which seemed to capture the light of dawn, burned in his eyes.