Chapter 79: The Road Ahead
The Pyre Wyrm’s Heart Core glowed on the apartment table, casting warm orange-gold light across the room.
Nathan sat before it, the curtains drawn against the morning light, watching the pulse ripple through the crystalline surface. The core was warm, as if the Wyrm’s heart had never quite stopped beating. Lucy was at school. The apartment was quiet.
Mirko and Kuro were in their small forms on the bed, watching him. They’d been watching for the past ten minutes.
’You’ve been staring at it for a while,’ Mirko observed. ’Are you expecting it to do something?’
"I’m expecting me to do something." Nathan opened the Bunny Girl System interface. "System. Can the Pyre Wyrm’s Heart Core substitute for the Dragon’s Heart Core as the catalyst item for the third summon?"
The response was immediate and clinical.
[Negative. The Pyre Wyrm’s Heart Core is a Legendary-grade volcanic material obtained from a wyrm-type Tower boss. The Dragon’s Heart Core is a specific catalyst item obtained from a true dragon-type Tower boss. Materials are not interchangeable.]
A pause, then more text scrolled across the interface.
[The Pyre Wyrm is a wyrm: a lesser draconic species. It does not qualify as a true dragon. True dragons are classified as apex Tower predators with sentience, elemental and magical mastery. Wyrms, drakes, and serpents do not meet these criteria.]
Nathan exhaled slowly. He’d expected this. He’d suspected the Heart Core wouldn’t work. But he’d needed to try.
"So we need a real dragon. Not a wyrm. Not a drake. A true dragon."
[Correct. The catalyst must come from a true dragon-type Tower boss.]
"So what do I do with this?" He picked up the Heart Core. It pulsed warmly in his palm, a Legendary-grade material worth more than everything else they’d earned combined. "Sell it? It would fund our Elite Class preparation for months."
’Or use it,’ Kuro observed from the bed. ’Legendary materials have applications beyond currency. The bow on your wall was forged from Colosseum materials. The ring on your finger was upgraded with Tower drops. This core could become something equally valuable.’
Nathan turned the Heart Core over in his hands. "Something to think about."
---
Valerie’s office was cluttered as always. Tower maps. Ancient artifacts. Boris snoring in the corner. The TUFF GRANNY mug steaming on the desk. Valerie herself was reviewing mission reports and didn’t look up when Nathan entered.
"If you’re here to ask for another High Class Tower assignment, the answer is no. You just cleared one. Take a week off. Touch grass. Eat something that isn’t field rations."
"I’m not here for an assignment." Nathan set a bag on her desk. It clinked with the weight of accumulated materials. "I’m here to sell."
Valerie lowered her glasses and peered into the bag. She pulled out the Tide Warden’s Core Fragment first—a piece of living coral that still pulsed with faint water-manipulation properties. Then the Silent Stone Fragment, grey and humming with absorbed sound. The Barrow Wight’s Crown Fragment, pale blue necromantic iron and various uncommon drops from their Mid Class clears.
"Not a bad haul," Valerie said as she sorted through the materials with the ease of someone who’d done it thousands of times. She picked up each item in turn, inspecting it before setting it aside.
"The Tide Warden fragment is rare. The Silent Stone is even rarer." She turned over the broken crown fragment, nodding to herself. "Bit of a niche item, but there’s a crafter in Silver Drake who specializes in necromantic materials. She’ll pay well for this."
She finished arranging everything into neat piles before looking up at Nathan.
"The guild can buy the lot at standard rates. Fair prices, quick payment." A knowing smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "But you didn’t come all the way here just to sell monster parts."
Nathan reached into his inventory and placed the Pyre Wyrm’s Heart Core on the desk.
The office was immediately bathed in a warm orange-gold glow. The mana radiating from the core was so dense it almost felt alive.
Across the room, Boris lazily cracked open one glacier-blue eye. A low, appreciative rumble escaped the enormous bear.
Nathan rubbed the back of his neck.
"So..." He looked from the glowing core to Valerie. "I’ve got a Legendary-grade crafting material, and honestly, I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with it."
He paused.
"Sell it? Store it?" A grin crept onto his face. "Throw it at the Nemesis Court and hope it explodes?"
Valerie picked up the Heart Core, turning it over in her hands as its molten glow flickered across her weathered fingers. She didn’t speak for several moments, simply studying it with the eye of someone who knew exactly what it was worth.
Finally, she looked up.
"Nathan... you’ve got a party member who’s been swinging the same plain steel mace since the day he joined you." She gave him a pointed look. "No enchantments. No special abilities. Not even a rank. Just solid craftsmanship and one stubborn kid who refuses to let it fail him."
She carefully set the Heart Core back on the table.
"Now you’ve got a Legendary-grade volcanic heart core..." Her lips curved into a faint smile. "...and a master smith who’s already done more for your party than she’ll ever admit."
She folded her arms.
"I think you can figure out the rest."
Nathan’s eyes drifted back to the Heart Core. Then to Valerie.
Finally, they settled on the mountain-and-star pin fastened to his collar.
"Vex could turn it into a weapon."
Nathan’s eyes lingered on the core.
"She forged Moonlight from materials we brought back from the Colosseum and pushed it to B-Rank. This..." Valerie said, lightly tapping the glowing core with a finger, "...is on an entirely different level. It’s legendary-grade. A volcanic heart that’s still pulsing with mana."
She looked back at him with a knowing smile.
"Give this to Vex, and she’ll forge something that’ll still be worth carrying when you’re tackling Elite Class Towers."
Nathan didn’t need to think about it.
"A mace," he said. "For Garrett."
Valerie’s smile widened as she lifted her mug.
"There it is." She took a sip. "You’re finally starting to think like a party leader."
