Dungeon Prowler : One Man Army 157 Gift of gratitude

With Hephaestus being the nice guy he was, his status deteriorated from star to uncle in mere hours, so rather then become the town fool, he took his leave from everyone promising to come by and play now and then.

Inside the forge was the dream world of any smith, most notably, was the extensive library written by bygone smiths from great many era, it was not unlike a personal diary showcasing the path each of them took to chase after divine smithing, Other than that, this place had an amazing furnace that can go from cold to melting a planet with a turn of a dial, tools that were beyond the understanding of Balin, he claimed them to be immortal tools, to be used even after life itself died out.

With Balin back to fangirl mode, Hephaestus brought Yunan over and gave him a few pointers on forging a sword, an item that was definitely unnecessary for Yunan, but the contents of this lesson could be felt by Yunan in his own soul. He felt like anything he thought about could be forged by taking the same steps "one hammer, one furnace, one sword, all of creation" that was how Yunan described the forging technique imparted to him by Hephaestus.

When Balin was about to forge, Hephaestus told him some words secretly before leaving him to work on his own and departing from the forge with Yunan. Balin later on would tell his disciples "all paths are one, you are just walking on small section of the road". The enlightenment Balin got from Hephaestus took almost a week before it ended, he forged and reforged the same clump of materials to the point it started to crumble.

Hephaestus left soon after imparting his knowledge, he left behind him the chest from the Lamia and some modifications to the portable home. Yunan did not open the chest and left it as a decorative item. It was dazzling to see and very attractive to behold, there were multiple tries to steal it or open it according to the genie and Yunan did not need to know who or why.

A day after Hephaestus left, Yunan was told by the Black Fate to open the chest, as there was a message Left by Hephaestus in there, Yunan left the party to their devices and walked into the room where Drogon has been sleeping for months now with no signs as to when he will awaken. In there Yunan opened the chest, inside it was a golden book, two fruits, and a piece of paper, Yunan picked up the paper and read what was on it.

" Thank you for taking care of Lamia and myself, it was fun to meet your friends, i never imagined such an eccentric bunch could coexist together, it was fun watching you. I have made a few upgrades to the house since i felt it was lacking for something i made, as you know, the pursuit of perfection is endless and i will never allow any of my creations to be less than their maximum capability. And i may have accidentally inconvenienced you and delayed your adventures so i gave you a small gift in return. As for the fruits, give one to the sleeping critter and put one into your fermentation pit. Enjoy your stay in Tartarus and grow Faster, your wife misses you too".

Yunan felt like his luck has been spent for the next millennium simply by getting an advice from Hephaestus, and now Hephaestus feeling indebted to him was possibly stealing luck from others in this world, Yunan prayed silently for the unlucky souls in this world.

Yunan opened the untitled golden book and a beautiful rainbow light surrounded him and knowledge was poured into his brain like a light rain, it soaked his mind gently and tenderly. When it was done and the light faded so did the book, Yunan felt so grateful he had tears in his eyes. He then stood up and fed one of the fruits to Drogon and gently caressed his scaly head for a while, afterwards Yunan left to the fermentation pool and dropped the other fruit in there as commanded.

Reaching the control room Yunan sat on a chair and told the genie to scan the house and identify all the new functions, it took until midnight before showing the results. The screen it showed had the following written on it. "Mana core : storage and efficiency enhanced. Communication rings and communication room now provide visual and auditory feed as an option, mental link and emotional link added as options to the rings. Home is now an independent space, now the rules of Tartarus do not apply on those inside."

Yunan knew that luck had stopped being a factor when he read those words on the screen, it must be the gratefulness Hephaestus had for something or the other, because giving someone and independent space; a whole dimensions so to speak; was not something that luck would influence, and definitely not something that Hephaestus would feel obliged to do and there is not enough money on this planet to pay for an independent space especially one that was built and augmented by Hephaestus.

Yunan decided not to dwell on it nor speak of it to the rest, it was not something to share, but to keep close and appreciate with fondness and gratitude. While Yunan was thinking this way he could feel a strange vibration in his soul, not long after, Drogon roared loud enough for the whole house to shake with him, Yunan sent a message to calm down everyone, "my reptile just woke up".

Yunan teleported Drogon to the control room, there he held the little critter in his arms and gently pet him, he had missed the reassuring presence Drogon offered him when it was hanging beside him and Drogon returned the sentiment, although it was only a few months, he acted like he had not seen Yunan in centuries, revelling in this proximity. It sent a message to Yunan through telepathy "we dragons take a parent instead of a master, we link our souls to you in search of kinship, when we stay far from you for long time we feel our souls torn apart and only by returning to you do we mend and heal".

Yunan simply smiled and kept petting the dragon "i missed you too, partner" he mumbled under his breath. He then sent a thought to the Black Fate "scan me and show me everything, use as much mana as you need, tell me later when i come back here" after that Yunan teleported to his bedroom with Drogon, there he spent a few moments having some sweet pillow talk with the girls before sleeping soundly.

Chapter end