"Although this will delay our progress in crafting the Thunder Hammer and consume some other precious materials, Your Highness will also be able to enjoy the fruits of your research on the Thunder Hammer, and I think you will be satisfied," Stone said very sincerely. "Consider it my apology to you."
Whether it was to play along or he genuinely disagreed, Orphest said to him, "Think carefully. The materials for the Electric Alloy were all collected with great difficulty. Are you sure you want to do this?"
Stone nodded in agreement. For him, gaining experience in making weapons from alloys by forging the Thunder Spear might not necessarily be a bad deal.
Unas, however, wasn't particularly appreciative and asked doubtfully, "Won't your experiments affect my Adamantite? I never agreed to use it as your test subject."
"Rest assured, sir, refined Adamantite is extremely stable and resilient, and there will be no loss even after repeated melting," Stone assured him. "How about this: if there is any loss of more than one-thousandth, I will unconditionally make up for it for you."
That's more like it, Unas finally nodded in satisfaction, making the Dwarves in the room breathe a sigh of relief.
Orphest immediately unfurled the prepared parchment scroll and began to write a long contract, listing the terms for both parties.
Unas took a look and was only dissatisfied with the delivery time, which was six months away. He argued his case, but they only managed to shorten the time to four months.
Orphest made a copy, and after both parties signed it, he took out a Seal engraved with runes and left a mark of a silver felt and a hammer on both contracts.
The mark is like a photograph, so lifelike that you can almost see the sparks flying as the hammer strikes the felt, and the border even emits a silvery-green light—it's clearly something special.
"This runic Seal is a guarantee of our Brotherhood's reputation. If we fail to fulfill the terms of the contract, we will face the terrible punishment of losing everything. Please rest assured, my lord." Orphest handed over a contract.
Unas checked everything carefully one last time, and only after confirming that there were no problems did he place the Adamantite and the broken Warhammer on the guild leader's desk.
"I'm entrusting these two treasures to you. I hope to receive good news in four months."
"Rest assured, my lord, this may be the greatest weapon we have ever created since the guild was founded. I will do my utmost to support Master Stone in completing it."
"I hope everything goes well." After so many negotiations, Unas was quite tired and just wanted to go back to sleep. Before leaving, he reminded everyone, "Don't forget about the puppets; that's equally important."
"Certainly."
Stepping out of the Thorium Brotherhood's headquarters, the streets were deserted; it must be late at night. The Mining District outside the city or the Teleportation Array below were too far away, so Unas found an inn at random, curled up on the Dwarf's short bed, and quickly fell asleep.
The white mist in the Residential District has vanished without a trace, and the temperature in the underground space has dropped significantly. The Water Elemental transport team's tireless work day and night has resulted in the disappearance of the entire lava river, replaced by a shallow saltwater river.
Currently, the only way to get to Flamewaker Island is by wading through knee-deep water; in the future, it may be necessary to take a boat.
Unas arrived on the island early in the morning, waiting for the arrival of Dwarf reinforcements.
The mages also came early to test the newly improved Teleportation Array. It is said that after the improvement, the energy storage capacity has increased three or four times, and it should be able to teleport nearly two thousand people continuously.
The slightly pleasantly surprising news is that the Molten Giants have awakened from their slumber, and the massive amount of energy they devoured has been fully digested in the past few days.
Unas ran to the tributary to take a look, and each giant seemed to have grown a little bigger.
After devouring his opponent Magmus, Bael'Gar's body grew by a third, making him larger than any other giant, and he finally regained his dignity as the King of Giants.
These sixty-two Molten Giants possess a force comparable to a thousand armies. They are impervious to venom and sharp limbs, and should be formidable against the Giant Spiders.
Unas asked the Blood Elf, "So, have you tried? Can you summon Bael'Gar to the Canyon?"
"No, I'm afraid of damaging the Teleportation Array. Let's wait until the Dwarf reinforcements arrive before trying."
"That's fine too."
It wasn't until nearly noon that the Dwarves ' long, serpentine procession finally came from the riverbank. Unas reached a high point on the island, but still couldn't see the end of it. The reinforcements sent by Rendaen were unexpectedly large.
The knee-deep water was almost higher than the waist of most Dwarves, but fortunately they were prepared. A small group of them, with ropes tied around their waists, laboriously climbed out of the water onto the island. Then, they tightened the long ropes, Dwarves on the shore tied planks of wood to the ropes, gradually building a floating bridge.
The commander of the reinforcements quickly arrived before Unas. This strong Dwarf named Thunderaan Deeprock was originally a colonel in the Shadowforge City garrison, responsible for the defense of the west gate. He resisted stubbornly until the very end, only surrendering after confirming that Thaurissan was dead. He was the person Rendaen was most worried about.
Therefore, most of the reinforcements this time were composed of the Westgate garrison. Thunderaan knew that he would never gain the new king's trust and was prepared to be purged at any time, but he did not expect to receive the order to aid the human Paladins, which gave him a glimmer of hope.
Whether he could survive depended entirely on whether the Lord of the Holy Light was willing to offer him protection, so he gave a very respectful, standard military salute and loudly proclaimed, "Lord of the Holy Light, Thunderaan -Deeprock and two thousand five hundred elite Dwarves report for duty!"
Unas knew he had a bad reputation among the Dwarf officers, so he was prepared to swallow his pride. He hadn't expected this guy to be so polite, which made him a little suspicious. Did he really have an aura of dominance?
"No need for formalities, Thunderaan, thank you for your support."
"At your service anytime!"
Just listen to him, Unas doesn't want to delve into the reasons, he'll just treat it as a lucky surprise.
The Magic Circle had been prepared long ago, and the teleportation began immediately. The maximum capacity was not increased; it was still thirty-two humans. However, since Dwarves are smaller than humans, more than forty could be teleported at a time, significantly increasing the speed.
The teleportation proceeded smoothly, sending out a batch every minute. After about an hour, all the Dwarf reinforcements had passed through successfully, and there was even a surplus of energy in the Magic Circle. Du'an and Huoye couldn't help but cheer quietly; the Magic Circle improvement was a great success.
After charging, it was the turn of the Iron Golems. The golems were all over three meters tall on average, and only four to five could be teleported at a time. It took nearly half an hour to teleport all seventy-eight golems.
The Blood Elf mages had to rest. After Du'an recharged the Magic Circle, he took his leave, Unas stopped him, saying, "What about Bael'Gar, Headmaster? He's the last question. You can leave once he's resolved."
"Then let's get started already. I've wasted too much time on you." Du'an was quite dissatisfied, and didn't even bother with honorifics anymore.
"Dean, that's not quite right. Didn't you gain a lot of experience improving the Magic Circle?" Unas quickly tried to quell the argument. "That must have benefited you a lot too."
"I have indeed learned a lot, but building Teleportation Arrays is not related to the important project I am currently researching, so this experience is not useful for the time being."
"Speaking of the Dean's research," Unas asked tentatively, "What kind of important project is it? Could you reveal a little bit?"
Du'an sighed. "It's not some secret that can't be told, I want to create a Magic Circle to control the weather."
It turned out that the problem of food shortage had been troubling the people of the Monastery. After witnessing the tragedies caused by famine, Du'an decided to change this situation.
But he was not a plant expert and had never grown grains. He only knew that farmers prayed for good weather and a full harvest, so he came up with the idea of using his knowledge and magic to create this condition.
This is an extremely ambitious goal. Mages can cast Blizzards and rainstorms of varying degrees to temporarily change the environment, but no one has ever been able to change and maintain the weather over a large area for a long time. This is a large-scale composite spell that involves the three elements of air, fire, and water.
Du'an is a genius when it comes to Magic Circle, so he wants to build a weather Magic Circle that can at least control the weather in Farshire, so that the Monastery can have a bumper harvest with favorable weather.
"Unas can't judge a book by its cover," Unas thought, almost moved. "I never expected this middle-aged man with the Mediterranean hairline to have such a grand dream. Could this year's bumper harvest in Farshire be the result of the Dean's hard work behind the scenes?"
"I dare not take credit for this. Perhaps it is the Holy Light that has blessed us. The weather in Farshire has been very good this year. My Magic Circle is not yet complete; it only helped to dispel a few rainstorms and dark, overcast days."
"This is a great thing for the country and its people!" Unas, somewhat excited, "It's already quite an achievement to disperse the torrential rain. I'm so sorry to have kept you here for so long. Please feel free to ask if you need anything, and I will do my best to make amends within my capabilities."
"The Crimson Diamond goes without saying, but I also need Huoye and several Elf mages as assistants. Huoye was a condition we agreed upon beforehand, but it hasn't been fulfilled yet. Is this within your capabilities, sir?"
"Not for now. They are all valuable combatants, indispensable in the upcoming battles," Unas shook his head. "But I can assure you that as soon as the war ends, Huoye and the Elves you desire will all appear before you."
Du'an said, "Then I thank you in advance for your support, Warden. My research only needs a major breakthrough before the spring wheat planting. There's still a winter left. I hope you can achieve a resounding success and send them to help me as soon as possible."
At this moment, Bael'Gar finally arrived from the tributary. The shallow water was a painful punishment for his large feet, but his master had given the order, so he had to wade through the water and run to Flamewaker Island.
With a thunderous roar, as if an avalanche had erupted, Bael'Gar appeared before the group, his legs steaming and accompanied by a wave of heat and a small earthquake.
A Molten Giant completely controlled by Blood Elves is not qualified to be a leader, so the relationship between Huoye and Bael'Gar is not that of master and servant, but rather that of savior and ally.
Bael'Gar obeyed and stood on the Magic Circle. The mages were first teleported to the Canyon, where they began to summon the Molten Giant together, with Huoye as the core.
Although it is a single entity, the ten-meter-tall giant is much larger than the combined size of thirty-two humans, which the Teleportation Array cannot withstand. However, with the spiritual connection of its master, Huoye, and in conjunction with his summoning spell, it is still possible to succeed.
Unas waited on this side of the island for a long time, but the giant did not undergo any changes and remained standing in the same place without moving.
The Teleportation Array flashed, and the mages were teleported back; needless to say, it had failed.
"Is there really no other way?" Unas was unwilling to accept defeat.
Huoye shook his head. "There isn't even the slightest sign of success. I was prepared for this. Teleporting over such a large distance is a problem that no one has been able to solve for thousands of years."
The reality was unfortunate. Just as Unas was about to order an abandonment, Bael'Gar spoke up, "If you wish to teleport me over a long distance, I have a way, but it will require me to suffer some damage."
The group looked at him in astonishment. The ancient spell of Huoye could actually make Bael'Gar wholeheartedly consider his master's needs, and even take the initiative to suggest a way to harm himself. This made Unas very eager to learn it.
Huoye seemed a little surprised and quickly asked, "What method?"
"My body is a fusion, so it can also split," Bael'Gar's booming voice was deafening. "My arms and legs can temporarily detach from their joints, but this causes me to lose a lot of energy, and reassembling them also requires a large amount of energy to replenish."
Unas was overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately asked, "Can other giants split like this too?"
"Of course, no problem."
With the Crimson Diamond in hand, energy is no longer a concern. If successful, all the giants can be teleported to the Canyon, which would be a huge boost to our army's strength.
The problem is that the Crimson Diamond will be occupied for some time to replenish the giants' energy, and Du'an will be delayed again.
Knowing the importance of the Arcanist's research, Unas found it difficult to bring it up.
The scene froze instantly. Du'an knew perfectly well that the problem lay with him. After a long sigh, he had no choice but to step forward and say, "Although I am just an academic mage, I know that war is no small matter, and I understand the importance of prioritizing military matters."
Unas patted him on the shoulder gratefully, "Du'an, I really need your understanding. From now on, we're best friends and brothers, haha!"
Du'an rubbed his shoulder, which was still sore from being patted, as if the frustration in his heart had been released. He reminded him, "Don't be too happy yet. It's not guaranteed to succeed. Even if he can split, that part of his body is huge. Let's try it quickly."
Huoye immediately gave the order, and Bael'Gar sat down and began to howl in pain. First, his two arms were torn apart, and a crack appeared around his shoulder joints, from which golden-red liquid slowly flowed out. With a few loud popping sounds, his two arms were detached from his shoulders. Because it was an active split, not much "blood" flowed out.
Then his legs were severed at the waist, and Bael'Gar was like a prisoner torn apart by chariots, essentially dismembered by four horses.