When Morgen decided to create super heavy-armored warriors, the sound of forging weapons became the main melody over the city of Dawnbreak. In recent days, residents have lived amidst the noise of ironworking. Currently, Dawnbreak has a total of 78 blacksmiths, most of whom are low-level blacksmiths forging farming tools for farmers, and only about a dozen are intermediate blacksmiths capable of independently crafting weapons.
There is only one high-level blacksmith with half-dwarf blood, Mike, and no master-level blacksmiths. Even more advanced grandmaster-level blacksmiths only include the recently arrived dwarf—Valen Hammerfury. The levels of blacksmiths are divided into—low, intermediate, high, master, grandmaster, and legendary. Blacksmithing is a life profession and does not conflict with combat professions; anyone wishing to change professions can do so.
However, to become a master or even a grandmaster requires sufficient talent. These seemingly easy-to-enter life professions require even more effort to reach higher levels than combat professions. Valen was initially unwilling to forge armor for Morgen, especially after seeing the massive bodies of Koso and Castro. Who knows how long it would take to forge properly.
Morgen naturally would not let go of this master-level labor force. He exchanged a promise not to harm the young dwarf prince Anakin for Valen’s agreement to forge armor for Koso and Castro, under the resentful gaze of the dwarf. Of course, even if Valen, a master-level blacksmith, were to forge the armor for these two giants alone, it might take half a year to complete.
Morgen did not have the leisure to wait, nor the mind to continue tormenting this stubborn dwarf. With a wave of his hand, the entire blacksmithing resources of Dawnbreak were at his disposal. He only required Valen to forge the strongest armor in the shortest time. The mithril vein could be discovered at any moment, where tens of thousands of orcs lurked. He needed to quickly enhance his combat power, and Koso and Castro were undoubtedly the best choices at this stage. These giants had a huge advantage over ground troops that other creatures could not match.
To increase efficiency in the future, Morgen also promised that as long as the armor forged by Valen satisfied him, Valen could choose a residence within Dawnbreak. He would no longer be forced to complete a fixed task every day and could even be rewarded with half a barrel of fine wine every week. Valen, who had been forging 16 solar weapons daily to earn food for over half a month, had grown somewhat weary of blacksmithing. Upon hearing Morgen’s terms, his enthusiasm surged, especially with the reward of half a barrel of wine each week.
Dwarves and fine wine are inseparable; their love for wine is no less than their passion for weapon forging and mining. No dwarf can resist fine wine, none. Morgen smiled silently at this; human nature is always so predictable. His previous exploitation of Valen was absolutely ruthless, even suffocating the dwarf.
Now, by taking a step back and reducing Valen’s 16-hour workday to 12 hours, providing him with enough food, and even allowing him a day off each week, he immediately relaxed Valen’s mind. The visible resistance in Valen’s attitude had significantly decreased. In his relaxation, Valen seemed unaware that he was still working for Morgen, only that the work was now slightly more comfortable than before. This is the essence of how superiors drive their subordinates.
Or perhaps Valen realized this but could only fall into Morgen’s routine because the initiative was always in the hands of the superior, and the subordinate could only accept it passively. The rest of the text continues with a detailed account of the alchemical formula obtained from the dark elves, the challenges faced by Valen in forging the armor, and the negotiations between Morgen and Valen regarding the protection of Valen’s dwarven tribe in exchange for the secret of crafting shadow metal, a lightweight yet incredibly strong metal.
The narrative concludes with the successful forging of the armor and the anticipation of the residents of Dawnbreak to see the final product, which is expected to significantly enhance the combat capabilities of Koso and Castro. The story emphasizes themes of craftsmanship, negotiation, and the strategic importance of enhancing military strength in a fantasy setting.
"The density of the reinforced steel is twice that of ordinary steel. Given Koso’s size, the armor forged for him could very well weigh over 10 tons. Even Koso, who has the bloodline of ancient giants, would find his movements sluggish if he wore such heavy armor. Valen adamantly disagreed with using this material. To him, a dwarf who strives for perfection, using such heavy steel would be an insult to his title as a master blacksmith. In protest, he presented a precious alchemical formula.
‘Dark Elves?’ Morgen stood by the forge, surprised as he watched Valen wielding his heavy hammer amidst the sparks. Dark Elves are close kin to Elves. In the ancient times when Elves ruled the Glorious Main Plane, Dark Elves lived in the ancient forests just like the Elves. When the Alchemical Age rose and the Elves’ fortunes waned, the Dark Elves parted ways with their kin and ventured into the underground world to survive. Unlike the Elves, the Dark Elves underwent significant changes over the millions of years.
Living underground, they were influenced by the dark creatures of the underworld and gradually lost the traits that once allowed them to thrive on the surface, becoming creatures of darkness. They are sinister and cunning, with a penchant for slaughter.
However, becoming creatures of darkness did not weaken them; instead, they carved out a formidable reputation in the underground world. That’s why Morgen was so astonished by Valen’s claim of obtaining such a valuable alchemical formula from the powerful Dark Elves.
‘Yes, Lord Kachar,’ Valen continued, ‘the Dark Elves inherited precious knowledge from the Elves. Their slender figures necessitate wearing light armor to maintain agility in battle. But thin armor does not provide sufficient protection. Under these circumstances, the powerful Dark Elves devoted countless efforts to develop this metal that is both light and incredibly sturdy. Shadow metal’s defensive capabilities are at least twice as strong as the reinforced steel developed by Mike, yet it weighs only half as much as ordinary steel.’
Morgen’s eyes lit up upon hearing this. If what Valen said was true, what did it mean? It meant that Koso and Castro could wear thicker armor, gaining even greater defensive power, and truly become iron behemoths.
‘Moreover, that’s not all,’ Valen said, clearly energized by the topic of armor crafting. He boasted in front of Morgen, ‘I also know of an alchemical array. If it’s drawn with mithril inside the armor, it will grant the armor extremely high magic resistance. When the time comes, combined with the unique sturdy metal of the Dark Elves, even if struck head-on by a human dragon-hunting crossbow, the one-eyed giants clad in thick armor will become invincible.’
Morgen was immediately intrigued and pressed for more information, ‘How can this metal be crafted?’
Valen’s eyes flickered with a strange light at Morgen’s question. ‘Lord Kachar, this is a treasure I obtained in the underground world at the risk of my life…’
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Morgen waved his hand, cutting to the chase, ‘What do you need?’
Since Valen had dangled the bait, Morgen didn’t believe the dwarf had no demands. Next to the fiery forge, the hot air made the surroundings scorching, and the red glow of the fire illuminated the dwarf’s side profile, covered in a black beard. His dark eyes were fixed intently on Morgen.
‘Lord Kachar, if one day you discover the dwarf tribe, I hope you will spare my people.’
Oh?
Morgen raised an eyebrow. He had expected Valen to ask for the release of a dwarf or to set a time for their release, but he hadn’t anticipated such a statement from the master blacksmith.
‘Master Valen, why do you think I would discover the dwarf tribe?’ Morgen asked with a playful look, ‘I would think you have confidence in your tribe.’
In truth, Morgen had greatly underestimated the awe he inspired in Valen’s heart. Known as the Chairman of the Covenant of Darkness and likely a transcendent being of terror, he was also a vampire lord, ruler of a vast city, and had managed to achieve peaceful coexistence between vampires and humans, who were natural enemies or even mortal foes. All these factors elevated Morgen’s status in Valen’s mind. Not only was he unfathomably strong, but he was also intelligent, wise, and powerful.
Even if Valen had confidence in the dwarf tribe, facing such a formidable dark boss, he still felt somewhat uneasy. This vampire was too powerful; even with his subordinates’ strength alone, he could annihilate the dwarves. Valen had to leave a way out for his tribe. Although the dwarf tribe had not yet been discovered, Valen had an inexplicable feeling that finding the dwarf tribe was not an impossible feat for these vampires. He had been so stubbornly uncooperative to buy time for the second wave of reinforcements from his tribe to come and resolve the current crisis. Otherwise, if this vampire discovered the dwarf tribe, it was uncertain what might happen.
As for the army of tens of thousands of orcs, Valen had a feeling that what seemed an insurmountable foe for the dwarf tribe might not be a big deal for the powerful and mysterious Lord Kachar.
‘Lord Kachar, I only need your promise. I believe in your greatness, and you would not betray your own words.’
Morgen couldn’t help but smile wryly at the dwarf’s unwavering faith in him. Even the impulsive and reckless orcs knew to enslave dwarves for weapon forging; why wouldn’t he?
In Morgen’s view, if he truly discovered the dwarf tribe, their skills might even be worth more than a mithril vein.
‘Alright, Master Valen, I promise you. If one day I discover the dwarf tribe, unless they harbor hostility towards the Blood Clan and initiate an attack, I will not harm them.’
Valen visibly relaxed and nodded, ‘Lord Kachar, I trust your promise. To craft the unique metal of the Dark Elves, a very intricate process is required, and it also needs a large amount of precious ore…’
Valen then proceeded to explain the formula for shadow metal without any reservation. As a master blacksmith among the dwarves, Valen had many valuable formulas at his disposal, some even better than shadow metal, but those were the dwarves’ treasures and could not be disclosed. So, he felt no regret in sharing this one.
Mike and the other blacksmiths listened intently to Valen’s explanation, eager to remember every word.
Morgen, on the other hand, had no interest in blacksmithing. It was truly too boring for him. However, to forge shadow metal, a large amount of precious metal needed to be purchased. Metals like orichalcum from volcanic craters and cold iron from snow-covered lands were scarce in Dawn City and had to be bought from Green City.
Morgen naturally agreed to this, as long as it achieved the desired effect. Spending a certain amount of gold pucks was nothing to him. Under his orders, Harrison immediately sent people to Green City to inform Stanley to find and purchase the relevant precious ores.
Since the Covenant of Darkness became part of Morgen’s forces, the previous pattern of only he having contact with Green City had become a thing of the past. Now, Dawn City had specialized vampires responsible for liaising with the Covenant of Darkness.
Due to the Covenant’s uniqueness, even precious resources that the Crimson Mage Tower couldn’t obtain were available for purchase. Thus, Dawn City increasingly relied on the Covenant of Darkness.
Of course, this greatly relieved Morgen’s burden, allowing him to focus on other matters.
The procurement process took three full days to gather the materials needed for Koso and Castro’s armor.
Morgen spent a whopping 100,000 gold pucks for this—yes, 100,000! This emptied the monthly profits of the Crimson Mage Tower, causing Spark, who had been planning to accelerate the construction of the Ancient Alchemical Magic Circle, to complain bitterly.
If Morgen weren’t in Green City, the archmage would have stormed over to berate him.
Morgen was almost entirely involved in the process of forging Valen’s armor. He witnessed firsthand how Koso’s massive armor took shape. Although the blacksmith shop had experience in crafting armor for Koso before, their products were undoubtedly substandard industrial rejects.
Valen scoffed at their work and redesigned the entire casting process. It must be said that a master blacksmith is indeed a master blacksmith. Using the same piece of iron, the same amount of time, and even the same hammering technique, the results were completely different.
Koso and Castro’s massive bodies also posed significant challenges to the manufacturing process, but with Valen present, all were resolved one by one.
It seemed that the blacksmith shop had only added one person, but the entire establishment had risen several notches in quality.
Morgen realized for the first time just how much a master-level professional in a life skill could enhance related professions.
One day, two days, three days… until the tenth day after the casting plan began, the two sets of armor, costing 100,000 gold pucks, were finally completed.
Morgen stood excitedly in front of the blacksmith shop, with the massive Koso by his side, while Castro flapped his dark red wings, soaring under the sky. His wingspan of 16 blades drew astonished gazes from countless residents.
Dragons were probably no match for him.
The blacksmith shop consisted of an area with over ten two-story buildings as workshops. And now, the relentless hammering that had plagued the
"And at this moment, the forging that had been driving the nearby residents mad with its incessant noise throughout the night had finally ceased. Not only Morgen, but also Harrison, Amy, Nilo, Nico, and even Frey, who had always been guarding the holy land, had gathered in front of the blacksmith shop. The surrounding area was packed with the residents of Dawn City, who had been informed by the propaganda department that the blacksmiths were forging weapons for the Cyclops. The anticipation of what kind of weapons and armor would be used by such large creatures had excited everyone. Thus, when the news spread that the forging was successful today, it immediately attracted a crowd of residents.
‘Is it true that the artifact forged by Lord Kachar for Lord Koso is going to be unveiled? I can’t wait to see it.’
‘Have you seen the giant beast soaring in the sky? That’s Castoro, a divine beast created by Lord Kachar with his divine power. It’s said to be comparable to a dragon…’
‘If Lord Koso wears sturdy armor, who could possibly be his opponent? Lord Kachar is truly wise and valiant…’
‘I’m really looking forward to it. I wonder what kind of armor Lord Kachar has forged…’
The propaganda department had credited the dwarves with the forging of the armor, but the residents naturally attributed the achievement to Morgen. Because the department had also mentioned that the dwarves were not yet friends, as they had refused to cooperate with the Holy Light Blood Clan. This news had caused Valen to receive quite a few cold stares from the residents during this period.
Often, Valen felt depressed because he never knew when an old lady would suddenly appear from around the corner to mock him, and he didn’t even know what he had done wrong.
‘Here they come! That’s Master Excavator, and look what’s behind him!’
‘Quick, don’t block me, let me see! Let me see!’
‘What is that thing? It’s terrifying!’
The crowd erupted into a heated discussion, and the atmosphere was like a drop of oil splashing into a hot pan.
In the central area between the ten houses of the blacksmith shop, a large warehouse slowly opened. Everyone, including Morgen, watched with eager anticipation. Although Morgen had participated in the entire manufacturing process, Valen had not allowed him to be involved in the final step because it involved the dwarves’ most secretive forging techniques. Therefore, Morgen was also unaware of the final appearance of the two sets of armor that had cost him 100,000 gold pucks to create.
As everyone looked on with bated breath, Valen, with his face full of black beard and bound by anti-magic chains, walked out of the warehouse with his chest puffed out, followed by dozens of blacksmiths pushing something that silenced the crowd."