January Monthly Ticket Extra

(Posting this again for readers who don't have access to the book circle or group chat.)

(The extra does not connect to the main story's timeline, so please don't worry about where the appearing characters are at this point.)

Clang—clang—

The sound of metal striking metal echoed through the basement.

The Dwarf Grum walked down the stone steps and shouted toward the firelight, "Torin! Is that you in there?"

Clang—clang—

Only the hammering answered him. Following the sound, Grum passed through a passage piled with ore and half-finished products and arrived beside the forging furnace that radiated scorching heat.

This was probably the hottest place in the entire Northern Territory.

Grum was wearing thick winter clothes, but now he only felt sweat soaking through his back. Even the air he breathed into his lungs carried a burnt, searing smell.

Maintaining a furnace hot enough to smelt metal in such bitterly cold lands showed just how much importance the Fungal Fortress placed on the "Battle Puppet Reproduction Project" Torin was responsible for.

But this furnace was completely different from those back home. What burned fiercely in the hearth was not coal, but an enormous Heating Puji!

A Puji Furnace. Something this bizarre could probably only be seen here.

Grum finally found Torin beside a pile of scattered molds.

His friend's bloodshot eyes and sunken cheeks gave him a fright. Torin had just forged a breastplate component meant to be set with a Magic Crystal and was staring fixedly at it. There was not the slightest satisfaction on his face, only lingering agitation and frustration.

"No good, Grum. I don't have the talent. No matter how many times I try, it's never qualified!" Torin's voice was hoarse. "Why? I clearly already wrote home. Why has no one from the clan been willing