I Inherited the Basement of the Tower - Chapter 35

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Inherited the Basement 1 of the Tower – Episode 35

With a tremendous tremor unlike anything before, it appeared.

Ding!
【You have summoned a new Temple resident, Ignaar.】
【The building associated with Ignaar is the Blacksmith’s Forge.】

It was a Blacksmith’s Forge.
An enormously massive one at that.

Ding!
【Ignaar’s grade is Relic-class.】

And moments later.
Something colossal emerged from within it.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Temple trembled with each thunderous footfall.
I had felt something similar before.

‘It was when Gu Jang-hun came to rescue me from the Taesan Guild.’

Even Gu Jang-hun, towering over two meters tall, carried that same aura.
But the power and momentum were on an entirely different scale.

Gulp.

Despite knowing this Temple resident obeys my command, I found myself instinctively intimidated by its sheer mass.
Could I even call it mass?
Was it even human to begin with?

A deep, resonant growl.

The face hidden in shadow was revealed.
A bald head, bronzed musculature rippling across his upper body.
His arm muscles in particular were grotesquely massive and deeply fissured.
They suited a giant far more than a human.
Typically, blacksmiths are dwarves, aren’t they?
This creature stood well over three meters tall.
Even Gu Jang-hun would appear diminished standing beside him.

“…I await your command.”

Whoosh.

Yahwi, who had drawn his Yado, was visibly tense.
Curses rippled across Elder Barkalor’s palms, ready to unleash at any moment.
However.

“Hello there, I’m Eltos.”

The giant who should have been our target of caution instead scratched the back of his head in apparent confusion.
His voice was courteous and gentle, utterly at odds with his massive frame.

“Ah, you must be the customer I was expecting? As you can see, I’m the blacksmith here. What can I help you with?”

Customer.
So that’s how I’m being treated this time.
Just as Yahwi calls me his liege and Barkalor calls me his master, yet their loyalty toward me remains equally unwavering.
Eltos, whose eyes now gleamed with anticipation, would be no different.
Our tension deflated, and we lowered our weapons.
After all, that face and those eyes were familiar.
I’d experienced this twice before.
Regardless of appearance or size, he was a resident of Nix’s Temple.
Which meant Eltos was also family.

* * *

“This is it.”

I opened a spatial rift before him.
I would have liked to throw a summoning celebration party.
But with so few Special Dungeon Layers remaining, I had much to do.
Seeing that there was no hostility, Elder Barkalor departed to his work, though Eltos tilted his head, finding his face familiar.
Well, it didn’t seem important enough to interfere with Elder Barkalor’s business, so I let it go.
I could always ask later when I had time.
Perhaps whether Eltos and I shared some connection in my past life.

Ding!
【Black Armor opens the inventory.】
【Removes a crude dagger imbued with sunlight from a Goblin.】
【Removes a helmet imbued with sunlight from a Kobold Chief.】
【Removes an iron spear imbued with sunlight from a Wild Hog….】
【Removes skin imbued with sunlight from an Iron Hog….】
【From the Solar Knight….】

Soon, accompanied by an enormous cascade of messages,

Crash!

Sunstones pouring from the inventory thundered as they blanketed the floor.
There were so many that even I, who was removing them, had to step back considerably.
Yahwi had repeatedly cleared the dungeon for meat, and besides that, I had updated my clears of the underground layers.
I had suspected there would be quite a lot, but seeing it directly made me catch my breath anew.

“Wow, that’s quite substantial.”

Yet looking at Eltos, whose frame was equally massive,

‘…perhaps it’s not so much after all?’

It appeared meager once more.

Click.

“Ah, Sunstones. Fascinating material indeed. To think such minerals imbued with the essence of the sun exist in this dark underground.”

The crude dagger held between his fingers suddenly looked like a toothpick.

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

He tilted his head forward with a cute voice that didn’t match his massive frame.
Before him sat a specialized magnifying apparatus I’d brought from the Blacksmith’s Forge.
The tools he used were equally enormous, scaled to his size.
When I first saw it, I thought it was a telescope rather than a magnifying glass.

‘With hands that large, he’d definitely need something like that to craft tools and equipment for humans.’

I shrugged and answered.

“Melt it down and extract only the Moonlight Stones. Can you do that?”
“Don’t you worry, customer.”

He flashed a good-natured smile.
Then he brought his eyes to the magnifying glass again and began working the short sword with meticulous care.
I’d been noticing it since earlier—his hands moved with remarkable delicacy when handling materials.
It was almost unbelievable how such refined movements could come from those massive hands.
So I couldn’t help but ask.

“Ignaar.”
“Yes, customer?”
“Are you a Giant?”
“Yes, sir. Does it seem out of place?”

His expression looked somewhat bitter as he said that.
Had he suffered greatly in his previous life because of prejudice about his size?
Now that I looked closer, his back—which I hadn’t noticed clearly before due to his bronze skin—bore large scars and burn marks.

“Well, it doesn’t fit the image. It’s a real prejudice, but when people think blacksmith, they think Dwarf. If you’re a Giant, there probably were Dwarves around too.”
“You’re right, customer. The person who raised me was a skilled Dwarf.”
“I… see.”

A Dwarf father and a Giant son?
It was clearly the beginning of quite a tragic story.
The way he stopped speaking after just that much reminded me of how Yahwi used to talk about his apprentice.

‘I won’t ask.’

Anyway, by the time you tackle the fourth task, you’ll experience it firsthand rather than just hear about it.

‘Though that won’t be until after I’ve cleared the Special Dungeon Layer.’

I had just finished the third task and summoned Eltos.
I had no intention of exploring the Underground Layers for the time being.

Whoosh!

Then, fierce flames erupted.
The process of melting the Sunlight Stones had begun.
Despite the heat not bothering him, he stood guard before the flames while perspiration dripped profusely down his face.
Noticing my gaze, he added an explanation.

“The dwarven mountain range where I lived was called Ignaar, known as the Spine of Flames. The entire mountain range was like one massive furnace. That’s why cold beer sold exceptionally well there. This level of heat is quite bearable for me.”

Ah, I see.
I’d wondered why the perception that dwarves loved beer had become so widespread.
It must have been because of that geography of Ignaar.

“For the Sunlight Stone’s properties to enhance holy power exactly as you desire… well, I think I’ll fail a few times.”

Eltos spoke in a hesitant voice, lacking confidence.
Yahwi appeared.

Thud!

“Don’t worry about it, junior. We have plenty of materials.”

It seemed he had just returned from today’s Underground Layer exploration.
The Sunlight Stones had increased again.

“Ah, senior. Thank you.”

Eltos brightened up and accepted the title.

“What? Se-senior? Ahahaha. You clever bastard!”

Yahwi’s mouth fell open in astonishment.
He was certainly a transparent fellow.
With Elder Barkalor, they had such terrible compatibility that fights broke out the moment they were put together, but this heartwarming scene was a first.
It was a pleasant sight.

“Just say the word if you need anything! Huh? Even though I’m only Rare-grade, I’m the senior here. My lord trusts me the most, you know. Got it!”

Yahwi shouted spiritedly.
Then Eltos also cried out adorably, clenching both fists together.
Though they were quite large, rough, and thick fists to be called cute.

“Yes, senior! I, um, need some Moonlight Stones!”
“What?”

Yahwi’s expression immediately turned serious.

“This guy’s already slacking off. From the very first day of summoning!?”
“Y-yes? But you just said to tell you if I needed anything…”
“Moonlight Stones are different!”
“B-but, from what I’ve been thinking, to fully extract the Sunlight Stones, I believe I’ll need Moonlight Stones with opposing energy…”

As Eltos began to tear up, Yahwi’s expression quickly turned flustered.

“Oh, I see? I’m sorry. Don’t cry. Ask my lord for permission before using them. Then I’ll be going…”

His shoulders visibly drooped.
Even if Yahwi was foolish, he would understand how important extracting Sunlight Stones was.
I had overheard from beside Elder Barkalor what the Special Dungeon Layer meant to me.
Being a kindhearted fellow, he seemed to think there was no helping it if his own advancement was delayed.
But I had no intention of postponing it any further.

“Eltos. According to Elder Barkalor, there’s apparently a Moonlight Stone vein in the Temple. It seems to be near the Blacksmith’s Forge here.”

I pointed toward the wall near the Blacksmith’s Forge.
Eltos followed my finger with his gaze and was startled.

“Whoa!? It’s really there! Moonlight Stones!”

Eltos was also a resident of the Temple.
Sensing the nocturnal essence contained within Moonlight Stones was something he could do as a matter of course.
Besides, it was easy to forget given his gentle manner of speech, but that creature was of relic-grade quality.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Look at that.
The vigor of those strides as he walked forward.
Of course, size and mining were two entirely different matters.
I raised my hand to stop Eltos.

“Ah, wait a moment, Eltos. If you need mining tools, I can procure one from the Wol-yeong-seok Shop—”

Crash!

“….”

Moments later, I stood speechless, staring at Eltos.
He had shattered the wall.
With his bare hands, no less.

Pitter-patter, crunch.

I alternated my gaze between the stone fragments tumbling to the ground and Eltos standing before them.
But he paid it no mind, continuing to excavate deeper into the wall.

Crash! Crash!

Deeper and deeper still.
By the time his massive form had disappeared from view into the depths he had carved.

“Oh! It’s real! Customer! There are so many Moonlight Stones here!”

Pure amazement erupted from within.
I had forgotten.
That his species base stat was giant.

Boom!
The giant’s characteristic overwhelming strength combined with
Swish, swish.

“Hey, could you throw just one sack from outside? I need to collect the Moonlight Stones!”

the blacksmith’s characteristic meticulous touch.
I would need to call Elder Barkalor and discuss additional strategies going forward.
Looking at this, it seems I won’t need miners after all.
What else would you call this but the proper tools and workforce?
And there was one person in particular who would be the most delighted by this situation.

“You’re doing great! Long live my junior! Long live the giant!”

It was Yahwi, who had moved one step closer to promotion now that Moonlight Stone consumption had ceased.
He was the type who tried to act like a senior to Elder Barkalor, squeezing out time however he could.
But look at him.
Bringing sacks on his own initiative.

“I liked your appearance the moment I saw you! You’re the best recruit!”

I smiled at Yahwi’s enthusiasm.

“Yahwi.”
“Yes, my lord!”
“As you know, I earned quite a lot of Moonlight Stones while clearing this task.”
“Yes, my lord!”
“You were my first resident and my teacher, so you’re especially precious to me. But seeing you ranked lower than those two latecomers bothers me.”
“Yes, my lord!”

Click.

After saying that much, I placed my hand on Yahwi’s shoulder.

“Let’s go. It’s about time, don’t you think?”

How long had he been waiting for those words?

“…Sniff. Thank you so much.”

Tears began to well up in Yahwi’s eyes.
A Rare-grade Resident Evolution Token cost 500 Moonlight Stones.
Half of what I’d earned this time.
But for Yahwi, it was not wasteful at all.

“I’ll purchase it.”

Ding!
【You have purchased ‘Rare-grade Resident Evolution Token’ from the Wol-yeong-seok Shop.】
【Will you use it on Yahwi?】

I nodded without hesitation.

“Yes.”

Ding!
【Rare-grade Resident Yahwi’s rank is rising.】
【Yahwi’s rank has risen to Artifact-grade.】
【The ‘Sealed’ modifier disappears.】
【You can now use your full power.】

In that instant, a tremendous aura burst forth from Yahwi.
After it slowly settled, Yahwi opened his eyes and spoke.

After his evolution, the first thing he said, aside from words of gratitude, was—

“Barkalor. Where is that old man.”

—that.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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