Hero of Darkness

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Author here. I'm writing this announcement chapter to inform everyone that I'm going through severe muscle pain in my entire right arm.

Majority of the tendons and veins have swollen up to the point I can barely move my fingers and today, I had to visit a doctor because it kept swelling even more.

The cause being the obvious… writing daily and that too from months without any break has caused a lot of strain on my muscles, veins, ligaments and tendons.

Meanwhile, the left-hand thumb is going through the same type of pain.

And now, I'm advised to give the work at least a week's break and some medicines to ease the pain, use ice packs, and add fish oil capsules in my routine along with some restrictions on diet to reduce the inflammation to make a proper recovery with time.

Well… I kind of saw this coming because it has been a couple of weeks since the pain and muscle straining started but I didn't even take a day off and kept on with the work while my hands didn't get the necessary rest.

People pay their hard-earned money for Privilege Chapters and that's why I have been reluctant to take a break as it is kind of a breach of trust in my eyes if I don't deliver upon what I'm expected to.

Hence, I have been carrying on despite the mental and physical health issues and burnout that I've been facing for quite some time. And now…

"I'm tired of this Earth, these people. I'm tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives."

Jokes aside… my hands are forced to take a break (literally) and now, I barely have any will to live… I mean to 'write'.

So I will be on a one week break.

This chapter is to announce this situation to all the privileged readers because I'm in no position to keep writing at all.

And honestly, I don't want to sacrifice the quality of the chapters or plotline just for the sake of putting the numbers or meeting the quota of daily chapter releases.

I know it will piss off some people who paid for the privileged chapters but this is something out of my control at this point.

Otherwise, I'll end up worsening the pain to the point it becomes self-inflicted injury and results in me getting decommissioned for weeks or even a month (something I've experienced in the past with back/waist pain a few months ago).

So I hope you all can forgive me once and I'll try to make up for the break next month after I'm properly healed… both in body and mind.

Even when I'm writing this… it hurts like hell and my right arm is becoming dysfunctional these days.

So see you all next month. And thanks for your understanding. And remember…

Nothing is true; everything is permitted.

- CrimsonWolfAuthor

NOTE : Old chapter content from now because app wouldn't let me upload the above content due to word count. And Auxiliary Chapter wasn't becoming available specifically to the Privileged Readers.

Ignore the rest of the words. See you soon...

The early morning of the next day started as a military drill for both Kahn and Blackwall while Throk was their drill sergeant who woke them up by releasing his killing intent on both the disciples.

"Get into your working clothes you useless shits!

Is that how you want to become a blacksmith?

By sleeping instead of training?!" bellowed the old dwarf.

Yawn!

"What's this? Since when did you start working so early?" asked Kahn who looked like a walking corpse in his half-asleep state.

BANG!

Before he could even react, Throk leaped in the air and punched Kahn in the head.

Crack!

His head was buried in the floor as the tiles were cracked open.

"Inside the forging room, you only address me as Master!" shouted Throk with a visible fire coming out of his eyes.

He then looked at Blackwall with his fiery eyes and the abyss knight general instantly stood straight and rearranged his posture like a wooden pole. Otherwise, he too was going to receive the same wake-up call.

"Hey, why did you…"

BANG!!

"Argh!"

Another fist hit Kahn's head as he was buried even deeper.

"Hey? What 'hey'? What did I tell you to call me?" asked Throk as he released all of his orange-colored pressure full of world energy belonging to a second stage saint.

"This is going too far! This is…"

BANG!!

This time, Throk hit him even harder and Kahn's head was thoroughly buried in the flooring like an ostrich.

"So… what did I say again?" asked the saint blacksmith.

"I will wake up early from now on… Master." spoke Kahn like an obedient child as two swollen mountains appeared on his head.

"Good. Now both of you will start the forge and show me how you two perform smelting and then casting." he said in a domineering tone.

Both Kahn and Blackwall instantly went into alert mode as they felt a sense of foreboding that involved them getting beaten to death by the old dwarf if they missed a single step or made a slight mistake.

Kahn and Blackwall quickly brought in metal ores weighing around a kilo and rearranged everything in the foundry.

In the Vulcan empire, the top blacksmiths used A Rank mana cores to power the magic furnaces just like how Albestros used to do in Rakos Empire. But the equipments here were far too advanced and directly let them know of the temperature of the furnace and how close were the ores to the melting point.

Soon, the metal ores that varied in shapes started melting and they prepared cylindrical casts to pour in the liquid metal. After clearing out the slag that surfaced at the top and putting it in the crucible, Kahn tilted the furnace using a leveling level while Blackwall held onto the mold where they were to pour in this molten liquid.