Record of a Thousand Lives

The sky turned pitch black as if it werechasing after the dawn. Aman and a womanappeared to bedoing ‘something’ in a secluded smithy.

Shanethnervously gulped and took off her dress,exposing her white skin. Shelookedaway in embarrassment and said, “Please…Don’t look…”

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

“What?”Shanethwas shocked.

“IsaidIdon’twant to,” Kang Yoon-Soo repeated.

“Ehh…W-What…?” Shanethstuttered.

“It’s bothersome tolook awayor close my eyes,” Kang Yoon-Soo said, his face still emotionless.

Shanethlooked at Kang Yoon-Soo with amix of surpriseand embarrassment. She bit her lips with slight resentment and slowly walked toward the furnace.

The furnace wasnothot; in fact, it was like going for a dip in a hot bath to her.Shaneth hadnaturally formedaresistancetofire after receivingIgnus’ power fragment.Most of the firewasno longerhot 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 didnotreceive any burns, nordid a singlestrand of her haircatchfire.

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

Shanethhad no idea how to control the flames, but strangely enough,she was still able to do so instinctivelybecause 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 thathad beenthe source of her trauma suddenly felt so familiar to her. She felt a strong kinshipwiththe flame, as if she werethe fire and the flamewereher. The flames around her started to grow stronger.

Crackle!

Thud! Thud!

The furnace couldnot handle the heat from the strengthenedflames, andbeganto trembleviolently.

Kang Yoon-Sootouchedthe Ring of Life Suppression.

There were four spirits that existed on theSylphia 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, onefirst had tocreate a vessel to store it in. The vessel was the most important thing in creating a spirit, and the strength of the spirit created dependedon the quality of the vessel prepared. The vessel requiredforthe creation of the Salamander wasadragon’s breath.

TheSpartoi’s spearwas in the furnace, but it was just a small candle compared to a true dragon’s breath.That was whyShanethhad been sent intothe furnace to grow the flames hotter—it was to prepare the vessel for the spirit.

Shanethlet out a moan from within the furnace. Sheasked, “Is this enough?”

“More,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Shanethfocused hersenses,and the flames within the furnace started to growstronger and hotter. The furnace started to tremble as if itmightexplode any second.

“Is it still not enough?”Shanethasked again.

“More,”Kang Yoon-Sooreplied.

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

The flames started to spill out ofthe 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 couldnotwithstand the heat and exploded.

Boom!

“Kyaaah!”Shanethscreamed.

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

The flames had now grown so strong that the furnacebeganto melt.Shanethwas also at her limit;theflames were already too strong for her, andshe evenstarted to feel that theywere burdensome. She stretched her hand toward the furnace door, unable tobear the heat anymore.

Clack!

However, thedoor would notopen, as it had melted from the intense heat.Shanethdid not even have the strength leftto 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 grabbedShaneth’s shoulder and pulled her out of the furnace. His gloves were burnedand his hand sustained burns, but his expression didnotchange one bit.

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

Kang Yoon-Soo pulledShanethcloseand hugged her. Her body started to cool down, and he took his outer clothes offand wrapped it around her.

“Wa…s...Wasitenough..?”Shanethasked.

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo repliedcurtly.

The furnace was no longer able to withstand the flamesandlet out a blinding lightbefore exploding. The momentbefore 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-hotshardsof metalflew acrossthe room. However, none of the shrapnel flew toward Kang Yoon-Soo andShaneth.A cloud of dark smokefilledthe room.

“Ah!”Shanethexclaimed.

The flamesthat had beenwildly raging in the furnace a minutebeforestarted to coalesce into aball floating in midair that looked identical to a fetus.

[Please choose the gender of the Fire Spirit, Salamander.Amale Salamander will have increased physical prowess, but a raging temper. On the other hand,afemale Salamander will have higher magical prowess, butbestubborn.]

[Thedragon'sbreath in the spear is unstable. The gender has been randomly selectedto be female.]

A new life had been formedamidthe 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 ofShanethhas strengthened the soul of the spirit. Magic +12]

[The harmonybetweenthe 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 tocreate a Salamanderhas been used.]

A beautiful redglow emergedas 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 fellface-first intothe 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 maytake the formofeither a human or adragonoid.]

Shanethlooked at the girlwith an expression of surprise.‘That young girl is a spirit…?’shethought toherself.

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 lookedas if it weremade of fire,she looked like any other ordinary human girl.

Kang Yoon-Soo walked toward the girl and lifted her up.Shelooked barelytenyears old, but she was more beautifulthan the sunsetitself.

The girllooked at Kang Yoon-Sooblankly before sneezing as if she were cold.“Achoo!”

Kang Yoon-Soolookedaway as soon as the girl sneezed to avoid her saliva.

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

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

The Salamander started to nervously look around,before seeing Shanethandasking, “…Mama?”

“Shanethisn’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 creatureIcreated. You don’t haveany such thing,” he continued as if heweren’t bothered at all.

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

…Kang Yoon-Soo madea newly born childcry.