Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 349

[ The Flame of the Golden Blacksmith has been activated. ]

The furnace roared to life.

Golden flames flared, heating the dark-blue pot.

Into it went the remains of the Molten Dragon.

Not a single piece was below S-grade.

Every fragment was packed with options that others would kill to have just by socketing them.

But Su-ho’s hands did not hesitate.

Horns, claws, wings, hide, tail—countless pieces slid in, melting down into molten metal.

Bubbling!

The heat boiled fiercely.

Flames shot up like mad.

A dragon’s body was hard—and this had been a Molten Dragon, born and dwelling in a furnace.

Its resistance to flame must have been enormous.

But now, it was nothing but a byproduct.

A material.

Once it had lived in a furnace—now it would become molten metal inside one.

Inside the furnace, the Flame of the Golden Blacksmith was god.

There was nothing it couldn’t melt—so long as it had its master’s mana for fuel.

‘I’ve got mana to spare. Melt it all.’

His mana drained rapidly. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

He didn’t care.

Mana could always be replenished.

And finally—

[ Extraction complete. ]

Ssshhh!

The blazing furnace cooled rapidly.

Through the forked channels, molten streams poured into countless molds.

Su-ho checked them one by one.

Fused dragon remnants.

Dense clusters of mana crystals.

Runes with various options.

But none of those were what he was looking for.

His hand moved to the last mold.

He checked its details—

And couldn’t help but grin.

[ Rune of the Molten Dragon ]

# A rune imbued with the power of the Molten Dragon.

# Depending on the bearer’s standing, one can acquire varying levels of the Molten Dragon’s power.

‘Jackpot...!’

It wasn’t S-grade.

It was S+.

That “plus” only appeared on things with growth potential or variability—this rune had both.

It promised tiered rewards based on the absorber’s rank.

And more—

Unlike other runes, this one carried the note “upon absorption.”

Meaning it didn’t have to be used as a crafting material—it could be absorbed directly.

A huge difference.

Consumable runes and crafting-material runes differed vastly in value.

There was no reason to hesitate.

Su-ho began the absorption at once.

The method was simple—channel mana into the rune, let it resonate, and then they would become one.

The moment he poured mana into it—

[ Infusing mana into the Rune of the Molten Dragon. ]

[ The Rune of the Molten Dragon responds to your mana. ]

[ The Rune of the Molten Dragon begins to resonate with you. ]

The floating system prompts proved he was doing it right.

Then—

Whoosh!

It was as if his whole body had caught fire.

An overwhelming heat—

like stepping into a blazing kiln as a child.

‘Focus. I need to focus...!’

The line between sauna-like heat and searing agony was razor-thin.

If he couldn’t control the dragon’s furnace-born energy, that heat would turn from sauna to torture.

Su-ho slowly sat down, focusing his mind.

In the process, a few skills triggered on their own.

[ Endurance activated. ]

[ Movement Energy Technique activated. ]

He’d unconsciously used Endurance to bear the pain.

The breathing technique had manifested naturally through concentration.

It helped greatly—

his ragged breathing steadied, and the blazing heat began to feel more like a sauna than a death trap.

Then—

[ You have successfully completed the first-stage absorption of the Molten Dragon’s power. ]

[ Congratulations! You have acquired Mini Fear (S). ]

Mini Fear?

Fear was fear—what was “Mini” Fear?

Before he could dwell on it—

Fwoosh!

The heat surged again.

Just when he thought it had stabilized, another wave hit.

Naturally—this was the second stage.

‘So that’s how it is?’

Sweat streaming down his face, Su-ho smirked—

and focused again.

Go ahead.

Heat me as much as you want.

I’ll endure it to the end.

Time passed—

[ You have successfully completed the second-stage absorption of the Molten Dragon’s power. ]

[ Congratulations! You have acquired Heatstorm (S). ]

His eyebrows rose.

Heatstorm?

Was that the one he thought it was?

Yes—it matched the one he’d copied into Memorize.

He clicked his tongue in mild disappointment.

‘Of all things, it had to be Heatstorm.’

It was a good skill—

but what use was it if he already had it?

Still—

‘No, think positive.’

Now he’d saved a Memorize slot.

Better to see the upside.

Then came the third wave.

“Kh...!”

This time, dizziness struck immediately.

The heat was incomparable to before—

so intense he glanced down at himself, half-expecting to see actual flames.

But only the wavering shimmer of heat surrounded him—his skin was intact.

‘This is insane.’

How many stages were there?

No matter—he’d endure as far as he could.

They wouldn’t kill him, right?

He clung on even as his vision blurred—

‘Ah, hell.’

His limit hit.

This wasn’t something a human could withstand—even for the Sword Saint, the agony was enough to trigger unconsciousness.

Still, he refused to quit.

Better to pass out than surrender.

As his mind began to fade—

Szzzz—

Suddenly, white steam billowed from his body.

Had he finally caught fire?

No smell of burning—but unease stirred, and he tried to cut off the resonance.

His mouth was too dry to speak.

Then—his mind began to clear.

Was it a trick?

Was he dead, free from pain?

No—the longer it went on, the calmer his body felt, and the less intense the heat became.

Then a single line appeared before his eyes.

[ Full Moon Force is active. ]

‘Full Moon Force?’

That was the power of the moon—but why now?

Could he even use Sun Force or Full Moon Force at will?

He’d thought it was a passive.

And it was—it hadn’t triggered by his choice.

In that state, he couldn’t have used any skill consciously.

Full Moon Force had activated on its own.

Whatever the reason, its cooling aspect had saved him.

With his head clear again, he resumed absorbing the dragon’s power.

Then—

[ You have successfully absorbed all of the Molten Dragon’s power. ]

[ Congratulations! You have acquired Mini Breath (S). ]

[ You have achieved a great feat. The system awards you 10 bonus stat points. ]

Fwoop!

Like a candle blown out, the heat vanished with the notification.

The shift was as jarring as being tossed from a blazing kiln into an ice bath.

He was finally free of the pain.

He collapsed onto his back.

“Haa... haa... haa...”

His whole body burned—not with fire, but as if it had been roasted through.

Without Full Moon Force, he’d likely have given up—or passed out from sheer agony.

After catching his breath, Su-ho pulled up the Full Moon Force info.

[ Full Moon Force ]

# Since ancient times, those blessed by the moon have been ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) exceedingly rare.

# When qualification is met, the power of the moon is activated, allowing the use of its bright lunar force.

# Full Moon Force is part of nature itself; its wielder possesses the Moon Rune.

# Always active; the bearer of the Moon Rune gains the moon’s blessing, increasing all stats and recovery by 1% under moonlight.

# Full Moon Force primarily holds ice and dark attributes, but under certain conditions can also carry light or fire attributes.

# Full Moon Force’s power is affected by the user’s mana; activating it requires an equal value of mana.

Reading it, he understood why his body had cooled—it was the ice attribute of the Full Moon Force.

‘So the ice aspect saved me.’

As a trait, it was always active—no need for moonlight to access certain options.

He’d simply forgotten it in the jumble of his many abilities.

The outcome was good—and that was what mattered.

Finally, still lying down, he checked Mini Fear, Heatstorm, and Mini Breath.

[ Mini Fear ]

# One of the Molten Dragon’s powers.

# You have partially absorbed its strength, allowing you to mimic Dragon Fear—albeit imperfectly.

# Can be triggered without raising your voice by imbuing intent.

# Has no effect on dragons.

[ Heatstorm ]

# One of the Molten Dragon’s powers.

# You have partially absorbed its strength, allowing you to wield its scorching winds.

# By paying mana, you emit a heatstorm from your entire body; speed and temperature scale with mana spent.

[ Mini Breath ]

# One of the Molten Dragon’s powers.

# You have partially absorbed its strength, allowing you to mimic Dragon Breath—albeit imperfectly.

# By paying mana, you can exhale a mini breath; destructive power scales with mana spent.

“Wow.”

Seeing the skill details, Su-ho couldn’t help but laugh.