Dividing the Spoils

Adamantine, as one of the hardest metals known to the world, is resistant to high temperatures, corrosion, and disintegration. It can be inscribed with runes and absorb magical energy. Aside from being overly heavy, difficult to process, and hard to find, Adamantine can be considered the most excellent magical metal. Its density is five times that of steel, its toughness is comparable to pure gold, and it is extremely heat-resistant; it cannot melt even in magma, though it will float on the surface of magma once it has absorbed enough thermal energy.

In the natural world of Faerun, Adamantine ore does not require smelting or purification. This purple-gold treasure is of extremely high purity the moment it is mined; the key lies in how to process it into a finished product. In ancient legends, there were only two ways to process and modify Adamantine. One involved the gastric juices of a super-beast from the deep underground—the Earth-boring Beast. This monster, which feeds on metal and rock, looks like a cross between a giant slug and a tortoise. By using its gastric juices combined with a special spell, the surface of the Adamantine can be slightly softened, allowing for engraving or elongation. However, to fully process a fist-sized piece of Adamantine into the shape of a longsword, the material consumption is staggering.

Nowadays, the Dark Elves, who are the most extensive users of Adamantine products, rely primarily on this method. The degree of prevalence of Adamantine goods within a Drow house is a direct representation of that house's strength. In Menzoberranzan, the most famous city in the Underdark, the most powerful families even use Adamantine to craft the fences around their estates (though, of course, there is no lack of posturing involved), which speaks volumes about the depth of their resources.

The other method is merely a legend; it is said that one can use the divine fire of the gods themselves to modify and process Adamantine at will, but no one has been able to verify this claim, except for the gods themselves.

However, the processing and utilization of Adamantine changed during the era of the Netheril Empire. A great genius mage invented a potion; through this special flux, people could change the shape of Adamantine by heating it, much like smelting lead or tin, and it would return to its essential state once cooled. The birth of this flux expanded the scope of human use for Adamantine, which to a certain extent facilitated the rise of the floating cities, as many critical components of these cities could only be supported by the properties of Adamantine. Regrettably, with the fall of the floating cities, the recipe for the flux was lost. Later adventurers discovered incomplete formulas in the ruins of Netheril, but these semi-finished products synthesized from incomplete recipes lack the potency of the original flux and are also extremely expensive.

In the years that followed, at some unknown point, a new method for using Adamantine was born. Through special magical materials, people could combine Adamantine with other metals to synthesize an alloy that possessed most of the excellent characteristics of Adamantine without the drawbacks of being so heavy and difficult to process. However, this technology sparked hostility between two races: Dwarves and Gnomes. Most Dwarves believe this method is the patent of the Soul Forger—Moradin—a precious treasure taught to the Dwarven race by the secret guardian beneath the mountains, Dumathoin. This is because the first Dwarf known to master this technique was a priest of Dumathoin, and they claim to be the first race to create such Adamantine alloys (in fact, Adamantine alloys were widely used in Netheril thousands of years ago).

The Gnomes, on the other hand, believe that alloy technology is the miraculous invention of the Spark of Wisdom—Garl Glittergold (the chief of the Gnome pantheon). Unlike the Dwarves who process alloys on an anvil, Gnomes prefer to perform operations in an alchemy laboratory. They were the first race to introduce this technology into the human world (after the fall of Netheril), and therefore, some humans believe that Gnome alchemists are the true inventors of alloy technology.

Thus, conflict arose. The Dwarves and Gnomes, who were once as close as brothers, turned into enemies. Although the two races were relatively restrained and did not engage in major warfare, it is a fact that they have since become strangers who refuse to interact. Of course, there must have been other reasons for the rift between the two races, but people are more willing (or perhaps deliberately choose) to believe that it was a recipe that sparked their animosity.

Weapons made of Adamantine naturally possess armor-piercing and magic-absorbing properties. Almost no armor (except for Adamantine itself) can withstand the attack of an Adamantine weapon; even the thick hide of a dragon can be easily pierced. If not for the excessive density and weight of Adamantine, it would be the best material for crafting protective gear.

Due to over-mining during the era of the Netheril Empire, it is now rare to find Adamantine deposits on the surface; they can only be found occasionally in the more remote underground worlds. This has caused Adamantine to be shockingly rare and expensive in the human world. Today, the value of Adamantine is about two thousand gold coins per pound, but processing it into a finished product consumes auxiliary potions of equal value, and if labor costs are added, it costs at least five thousand gold coins or more. The most critical point is that Adamantine is a seller's market with supply falling far short of demand.

Finding Adamantine in a Kobold cave is absolutely a cause for extreme joy. Singers and Torg excitedly rummaged through the Kobold ore piles, hoping to find more Adamantine. Unfortunately, to their disappointment, after searching through all the ore piles, the two did not find a second piece. The Dwarf sat dejectedly on the ore pile, staring blankly at the fist-sized piece of Adamantine. Sunderland and Aelf also sighed with unwillingness. Only Mishaer, who had no concept of Adamantine, squatted nearby, looking at this one and then that one, enthusiastically imitating the others' expressions and pretending to sigh with a bitter face. She tried to touch the purple-black ore, but was rudely pushed away by the one-eyed Dwarf. The little girl pouted, her eyes welling up with tears as she squatted on the ground.

Because it concerned his plan to forge a blade, William had asked Singers about the metal materials of this world a few days ago and was also very attentive to Adamantine, the top-tier metal material. However, he did not join the Dwarves in rummaging through the Kobold's stash. Just now, a single swing of his axe had shattered Phinia's Frost Giant Axe. William clearly felt that there was an overly hard foreign object inside the stone wall. He picked up the broken axe and scraped away the rubble and soil around the hard object bit by bit. Soon, a purple-gold scratch appeared on the stone wall—Adamantine.

William excitedly scraped away the stone layer around the Adamantine. This purple-gold material was finally revealed, and a piece of raw Adamantine ore the size of a human head crashed to the ground with a "boom," causing the ground to tremble violently. The few people startled by the sound of the ore hitting the ground looked up but did not come over to check; they remained immersed in their frustration. Only the little girl ran over happily, looking at the ore William was fiddling with, and exclaimed in surprise: "Yay! William! This one is much bigger! The bad dwarf wouldn't let Mishaer touch his small one! Hmph! I want to let the stingy guy see that Brother's is even bigger! That'll make him mad! Oh! Why can't I move it! Ah--!" The excited little girl tried to lift the Adamantine, but unfortunately, she couldn't budge it at all.

How could it not be heavy? Even the fist-sized piece in the Dwarf's hand weighed more than ten pounds, let alone this piece larger than a head. William looked amusedly at Mishaer, who was red-faced from trying to move the Adamantine. He smiled and reached out to stop the little girl's futile effort: "Alright, little one! Don't waste your energy! This little thing weighs hundreds of pounds! Let me handle it!"

The little girl gave up her efforts indignantly, circled the raw Adamantine, and watched as her brother clasped his hands together to lift it, walking out of the cave with slightly heavy footsteps. She ran back into the cave with a grin and showed off to Singers, who was trying to search the Kobold ore pile again: "Hehe! Told you not to let Mishaer touch it! Hmph! William found a bigger one! It's even bigger than your head!" The little girl gestured with her hands to show the size.

"Go play somewhere else! Little brat! You don't even know how to lie! If William could find an Adamantine piece that big, I'd have Moradin's Hammer (an artifact) in my hands already!" Torg mocked the little girl with disdain.

The speaker had no intention, but the listener did. Sunderland suddenly turned her head and stared at the little girl for a long time. An artifact? Isn't an artifact worn right on this little girl's head? William could even pick up an artifact in the wild; what else could be impossible? The female magistrate's gaze met Aelf's. The two looked at each other for a moment, then screamed and jumped up, running outside: "William! I want a share of the Adamantine too! Don't you dare keep it all for yourself!"

According to the unwritten rules of adventuring parties in Faerun, regardless of how much effort each member puts in, every member is entitled to a share of the spoils during the adventure. As for the specific distribution, it is coordinated between the respective leaders and members. It is not uncommon for infighting to occur due to uneven distribution, though of course, once this happens, the team is finished, because the entire continent is infested with monsters and the attrition rate of adventuring members is extremely fast; no one wants to join such a notorious group, including evil races.

Caressing the treasure worth a fortune, the greedy bunch drooled and made fools of themselves. Sunderland fully displayed the true colors of a magistrate from a trade city, arguing with the two Dwarves who ran out after her about the distribution of the "spoils" in a very unladylike manner, truly spitting and talking eloquently. Of course, she was not fighting for the interests of the city behind her, but for herself; the little elf also screamed and recounted her own contributions.

William, holding the little girl and Phinia, watched the spectacle with great interest from the side. The excited little girl would occasionally cheer for Aelf, who she was closer to, as she was deliberately retaliating against the Dwarf for his earlier rudeness.

By the end of the argument, the few were parched, yet they still hadn't reached a result. Sunderland, thirsty from the arguing and preparing to drink some water, finally noticed William standing to the side with a cold sneer. This thick-skinned female magistrate completely shed the childishness she had previously displayed. She regained her elegant demeanor, signaled slightly to William, and then said loudly with grace: "Stop arguing! The item was found by William! Of course, it is up to... Mr. William to decide how to distribute it! Hehe! Mr. William! As a partner who has provided enough adventuring potions for everyone, I hope to receive the compensation I deserve! And I am the only one who can find enough flux! Hehe!"

Sunderland's eyes were full of warm concern, and William responded with a smile, though what he was thinking inside remained unknown.