The Abyssal Forge
By @john1208
Mud, blood, and the deafening screech of a Hollow-Weaver. Varis Korveng, a fiercely proud but widely mocked bottom-tier Blacksmith, is pinned in the flooded trenches of the Ashen Caldera. His class restricts him to repairing armor; the System outright forbids him from dealing combat damage. But when a dying Vanguard shoves a severed monster core into Varis's hands for a desperate repair, the System's [Inspect Lore] skill triggers. Varis doesn't just read the core's history - he absorbs its innate magic. Suddenly, he can weaponize the horrific abilities of the beasts that hunt them. With infinite scaling at his fingertips, Varis rises from the dregs of the academy, absorbing hundreds of monstrous skills. His crowning moment arrives when a catastrophic celestial anomaly - a massive, burning meteor - plummets toward the city. Varis obliterates the sky-falling disaster with a single, devastating hammer strike. But the payoff turns sour. The media broadcasts his terrifying, shadowy aura, branding him a demonic heretic wielding forbidden arts. Worse, the System's eerie notifications change tone. The 'skills' he's absorbing are actually shards of an ancient, malevolent entity. Will Varis find a way to purge the trap hidden in his rewards, or will his pride lead him to become the ultimate calamity?
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