I looked around to see if any mercenaries had heard the threat, and to my relief, we were alone. But Timun took out a crystal and poured Mana into it to create a bubble that enveloped both of us. The bubble blocked all the sound outside and expanded to cover Timun's plot.

"You can speak freely in my plot without anyone hearing your voice or seeing us inside here," Timun says.

"What is that crystal?" I ask.

"It is a Peep-me-not, a crystal created by Dwarven engineers to provide complete privacy for sensitive talks," Timun explains.

"I see... Was it my questions about Golems that revealed it?" I ask, and Timun points at his Tennis ball-sized nose.

"Dwarves have big noses for a reason, especially for stone, minerals, crystals, and metals. You can't hide it all under a fancy Shadowcloak," Timun explains.

I didn't realize that they had a smell. Even the Dark Fae Bear had to lick me to leave a familiar scent.

"About your demand for me to buy them at their base price. I was told by the other traders that your Giant Metal Bugs lack metal armor and are half the size of their species. So I will pay half each and give 10 Mana Crystals for both," I offered.

"You haven't even looked at them, and yet you have declared their worth?" Timun complains.

"I did say I wanted to look at them, but after your threat, I just want to buy them and leave without causing a scene," I replied as I took out my Mana Crystals and placed them in Timun's right hand. Then, I vigorously shook it to seal the deal. Suddenly, Timun's eyes glowed bronze, which turned to Silver before returning to normal.

"You just made me Rank Up to Silver! I have been trying to sell the Beetle and the Scorpion for a month! I have no words to describe how happy I am right now," Timun revealed.

"What kind of Job Class did you get for that?" I asked Timun.

"Hidden Monster Talent Trader! It sounds like a bad class name, but it says it all. The Beetle and the Scorpion have hidden skills that need those with good eyes for hidden talent to appreciate and buy them from me without revealing their special abilities." Timun revealed.

"I didn't even look at them! So the objective was to sell them regardless of their base price or the customer's ability to see their hidden talent without you hinting that there was something special?" I ask.

"I believed I had to find a customer with that ability or just just find a customer who was willing to buy them at base price." Timun acknowledged.

Technically I do have that ability, but I didn't use it. So it must be based on intuition or just a person wanting to collect a strange creature.

"Why didn't you lower their price if no restriction was mentioned on that part?" I ask.

"Rodwin's Trader Guild forbids any trader from selling below the base price. They want to prevent a price race to the bottom, which would affect the profit of all the traders here," Timun reveals.

"I see... Hold on! How did you know what the conditions were?" I asked.

"Through my Deity, of course," Timun answered.

"What Deity?" I ask.

"Oh, you haven't had your Deity whisper to you yet? You must not have regained your memories since you are still at Clay Rank. Everyone has someone above watching over them who whispers the conditions to rank up or evolve based on their desire when they gain enough experience from battle or work. Mine altered two monster eggs produced by the Metal bugs from Cheran. I heard instructions on what to do with them when I held their altered Eggs." Timun explained.

The acorns and chestnuts that can grow into Mana Trees had whispered instructions to those who held them. So, the natives of Artrea perceive the Interface as the voice of their Deities. That would explain how everyone knows what to do to rank up their chosen path without being able to see the details on screens.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Timun then goes over to a chest and pulls out two normal-sized insects that fit in the palm of his hands. One is a Rhinoceros Beetle, and the other is a Giant Forest Scorpion. I tried to whisper a command to the Interface to reveal their details and a notification screen appeared over the insects.

[ERROR! Creatures created by the Interface are protected]

Created by the Interface?

"Wait! Are they the ones you were trying to sell? At least, I thought they would be half the size of a carriage." I point out.

"When fed a little Mana, they grow to the size you mentioned. When they run out of Mana, they shrink back to this size. If you feed them high-density Mana, they will grow to the same height as a Forest Titan." Timun explains and then closes his eyes to concentrate on gathering Mana. He transfers it all to his hands, and the Bugs absorb and grow. They stop after they rise to the size of Horses.

"But what about the lack of armor?" I ask.

"Just feed them a Metal Ingot, and their bodies will take on the grade of metal they ate for a day," Timun explains. He then brings out two Iron ingots from his storage ring for the bugs they feed on, and their carapaces turn into Iron.

"How long before they run out of Mana?" I ask with a surprised voice.

"If you fed them the Mana, you can take it back if they didn't spend it. Then they will return to their miniature forms." Timun places his Dwarf palms on their metal carapaces and then siphons away Mana until they shrink back to their miniature forms.

"Your Deity told you all their abilities?" I asked, and Timun nodded. He handed me the palm-sized metal bugs, who immediately crawled over my Shadow Cloak to find comfortable spots. I didn't hear any voice listing out the abilities, so I will have to rely on what I have been told by Timun.

"I'm worried I will squish them by accident." I point out.

"Their metal bodies are condensed in this form, and even with your Golem body, it would be difficult to harm them. Speaking of which, I need to check a few things about you," Timun explains before speaking in a foreign language, similar to a Mongolian throat singer. I shake my head and shrug my shoulders to show I don't understand him.

"A Golem that doesn't know Dwarven! Do you know any Earth Magic?" Timun asks me.

"Umm... I have a skill that can create a Greatsword with my Mana for a few seconds. No Earth Spells, though." I decided to share it to see if it helped to gain his trust.

"Then you must be a Golem created from a Recipe!" Timun asked, and I nodded in surprise. Then, a realization dawned on me.

"The Dwarves created the Golem Recipes?" I asked.

"We couldn't wait for luck and time to produce Golems, so our Mana Crystal Engineers made recipes to create your kind artificially. The ones born naturally would have an affinity for Earth Magic and the memories of a Dwarf to speak our language. Since you have neither, a Dwarf must have created you from a recipe scroll. Do you know the Golem Summoner's family name?" Timun explains.

How do I answer this without getting caught in a lie? I should tell the truth since he already figured out I am a Golem and not the natural kind. Plus, the warrior's mind is pushing me to trust him.

"Umm... I was... no, this Golem was Summoned by me, the Dungeon Lord. He is my avatar, and my soul resides in the Dungeon." I decided to go all out with the truth.

"Oh... are you the 'Kill everyone' type Dungeon Lord or the 'Live and let live' type," Timun asked, and it caught me by surprise.

"Live and let live is what I am aiming for. How do you know the types of Dungeon Lords?" I ask.

"Well, I had a feeling you wouldn't be walking around in a Clay Rank Warrior Golem if you were the violent type. As to how I know these things, Dwarves know more about Artea's history than any other race. We know every continent has a Dungeon Lord, and they have different minions and souls each time." Timun explained.

"You know what my predecessor did?" I ask.

"The last Dungeon Lord had an Imp army that nearly conquered all of Arya. Our Dwarven Golems were able to defend our territories in the Underworld. But they lacked the numbers to go on the offensive, so we mass-produced artificial Golems from the Souls of Imps we killed. The Imp Golems slaughtered their old comrades back into the Dungeon and let the Human Heroes kill their master. It is quite a surprise that he has chosen his new Dungeon Lord to be a Golem Summoner." Timun explained.

The Demon King wanted me to use the Dwarven strategy against Arya this time. So, it's not a random coincidence that the Imps believed the Dungeon Lord would return and give them Immortal bodies. Did I reach this point by chance, or was it the manipulation of the Demon King?

[Message from the Demong King!] Rachel announced before switching her voice to the Demon King's.

[I am impressed! You are the first to take your sweet time to secretly build your strength and figure out the best strategy I intended for you to conquer this continent. As a reward, I will give you a hint that will benefit you in many ways. This Trader will acquire Golem Recipes for you if you can fulfill his strongest desire]

The message ended, and I took a minute to process what I heard.

"Did you fall asleep from my history lesson?" Timun asked me with annoyance in his tone.

"No, I wondered if you hate the Dungeon and its new Lord because of what happened in the past," I said.

"I don't care what you do to the Humans. But I hope you will spare the Dwarves who live in the Overworld and the Underworld." Timun requests.

"If they don't take hostile actions against me, my Golems, and my Dungeon, I will not seek conflict. But I wish to trade with your kind for Golem Recipes," I replied, which made Timun smile.