The sky turned pitch black as if it were chasing after the dawn. A man and a woman appeared to be doing ‘something’ in a secluded smithy.

Shaneth nervously gulped and took off her dress, exposing her white skin. She looked away in embarrassment and said, “Please… Don’t look…”

“I don’t want to,” Kang Yoon-Soo answered.

“What?” Shaneth was shocked.

“I said I don’t want to,” Kang Yoon-Soo repeated.

“Ehh… W-What…?” Shaneth stuttered.

“It’s bothersome to look away or close my eyes,” Kang Yoon-Soo said, his face still emotionless.

Shaneth looked at Kang Yoon-Soo with a mix of surprise and embarrassment. She bit her lips with slight resentment and slowly walked toward the furnace.

The furnace was not hot; in fact, it was like going for a dip in a hot bath to her. Shaneth had naturally formed a resistance to fire after receiving Ignus’ power fragment. Most of the fire was no longer hot for her.

She stood in front of the furnace, then carefully started to enter it. The wild flames started to wrap around her, but she did not receive any burns, nor did a single strand of her hair catch fire.

“Make the flames hotter,” Kang Yoon-Soo commanded.

Shaneth had no idea how to control the flames, but strangely enough, she was still able to do so instinctively because of the power fragment.

“Hoo... Heup.” She took a deep breath and clenched her fists. She then focused on the flames, and something amazing happened.

The flames that had been the source of her trauma suddenly felt so familiar to her. She felt a strong kinship with the flame, as if she were the fire and the flame were her. The flames around her started to grow stronger.

Crackle!

Thud! Thud!

The furnace could not handle the heat from the strengthened flames, and began to tremble violently.

Kang Yoon-Soo touched the Ring of Life Suppression.

There were four spirits that existed on the Sylphia Continent:

The Spirit of Fire, Salamander.

The Spirit of Ice, Icicle.

The Spirit of Light, Bright.

The Spirit of Swords, Sharpness.

The spirit Kang Yoon-Soo was trying to create was the Salamander.

To create a spirit, one first had to create a vessel to store it in. The vessel was the most important thing in creating a spirit, and the strength of the spirit created depended on the quality of the vessel prepared. The vessel required for the creation of the Salamander was a dragon’s breath.

The Spartoi’s spear was in the furnace, but it was just a small candle compared to a true dragon’s breath. That was why Shaneth had been sent into the furnace to grow the flames hotter—it was to prepare the vessel for the spirit.

Shaneth let out a moan from within the furnace. She asked, “Is this enough?”

“More,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Shaneth focused her senses, and the flames within the furnace started to grow stronger and hotter. The furnace started to tremble as if it might explode any second.

“Is it still not enough?” Shaneth asked again.

“More,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Haaaanggghh!” Shaneth said nothing, and instead just let out a loud moan.

The flames started to spill out of the furnace, and Kang Yoon-Soo could feel the heat on his face. However, he was still unsatisfied. He patiently waited and waited…

Suddenly, part of the furnace could not withstand the heat and exploded.

Boom!

“Kyaaah!” Shaneth screamed.

“It’s alright,” Kang Yoon-Soo said coldly, providing no comfort to Shaneth.

The flames had now grown so strong that the furnace began to melt. Shaneth was also at her limit; the flames were already too strong for her, and she even started to feel that they were burdensome. She stretched her hand toward the furnace door, unable to bear the heat anymore. 

Clack!

However, the door would not open, as it had melted from the intense heat. Shaneth did not even have the strength left to try and push her way out of the furnace.

Thud! Thud!

Something started to ram against the furnace.

Kwachik!

Kang Yoon-Soo’s greatsword split a part of it open. He grabbed Shaneth’s shoulder and pulled her out of the furnace. His gloves were burned and his hand sustained burns, but his expression did not change one bit.

“Cough! Cough!” Shaneth coughed. Even the hot, stuffy air of the forge felt like a breath of fresh air for her.

Kang Yoon-Soo pulled Shaneth close and hugged her. Her body started to cool down, and he took his outer clothes off and wrapped it around her.

“Wa… s... Was it enough..?” Shaneth asked.

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied curtly.

The furnace was no longer able to withstand the flames and let out a blinding light before exploding. The moment before it blew apart and sent shrapnel flying, however, Kang Yoon-Soo lifted the Ring of Suppression and said,

“Spirit Creation, Salamander.”

Booooooom!

The furnace eventually exploded, and red-hot shards of metal flew across the room. However, none of the shrapnel flew toward Kang Yoon-Soo and Shaneth. A cloud of dark smoke filled the room.

“Ah!” Shaneth exclaimed.

The flames that had been wildly raging in the furnace a minute before started to coalesce into a ball floating in midair that looked identical to a fetus.

[Please choose the gender of the Fire Spirit, Salamander. A male Salamander will have increased physical prowess, but a raging temper. On the other hand, a female Salamander will have higher magical prowess, but be stubborn.]

[The dragon's breath in the spear is unstable. The gender has been randomly selected to be female.]

A new life had been formed amid the light.

[The dragon’s breath is too weak.]

[The age of the spirit has decreased.]

[The size of the spirit has decreased.]

[The strength of the spirit has decreased. Strength -47]

[The warmth of Shaneth has strengthened the soul of the spirit. Magic +12]

[The harmony between the dragon’s breath and power fragment has increased the power of the spirit. Attack Power +12]

[You can only create one spirit from each element. The chance to create a Salamander has been used.]

A beautiful red glow emerged as the Salamander slowly started to take form. A girl with bright red hair plopped down on the ground full of ashes.

“Ouch!” A small girl fell face-first into the pile of ashes, squirming in pain.

[You have created a spirit of fire.]

[You may store it in the spirit dimension and summon it when needed.]

[It may get angry if you summon it in a cold climate.]

[A salamander may take the form of either a human or a dragonoid.]

Shaneth looked at the girl with an expression of surprise. ‘That young girl is a spirit…?’ she thought to herself.

Spirits usually hid their existence and usually supported their summoners from behind, as far as she knew. However, even though the young girl in front of her was wearing clothing that looked as if it were made of fire, she looked like any other ordinary human girl.

Kang Yoon-Soo walked toward the girl and lifted her up. She looked barely ten years old, but she was more beautiful than the sunset itself.

The girl looked at Kang Yoon-Soo blankly before sneezing as if she were cold. “Achoo!”

Kang Yoon-Soo looked away as soon as the girl sneezed to avoid her saliva.

The girl opened her mouth for the first time and asked, “…Papa?”

“I’m not your father,” Kang Yoon-Soo said with a straight face.

The Salamander started to nervously look around, before seeing Shaneth and asking, “…Mama?”

“Shaneth isn’t your mother,” Kang Yoon-Soo said again.

The little girl started to tear up. She sniffled, teary-eyed, and asked, “Papa, mama, I no have?”

“That’s right, you don’t have any parents,” Kang Yoon-Soo said coldly. “You’re just a creature I created. You don’t have any such thing,” he continued as if he weren’t bothered at all.

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

…Kang Yoon-Soo made a newly born child cry.