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Being able to resolve the cultivation issues of the Wild Ox Force that had long plagued him was a tremendous stroke of good fortune. William believed that once this problem was solved, his own strength would see a leap in development; by comparison, any minor side effects were not worth mentioning. It simply required Phinia to exert herself a bit more to soothe the man's restlessness.

Although William's transformation caused panic among the group, the casting work continued. Three days later, the main body of Aelf's rapier was finally completed. The entire forging process had been carried out primarily by William, and he had even wasted over a day in the middle to resolve his personal physical issues. However, the gnome Nanfudo refused to work with William any longer, going so far as to prefer mingling with the dwarves he detested most.

Even though his group had only one person doing the heavy lifting, William remained the primary force in forging the adamantine for both teams; his individual work speed was far faster than that of Singers and his two companions combined. By the time the forging stage of the rapier was finished, the progress on the alloy axe handle hadn't even reached the halfway point because the dwarves had encountered a difficult problem. For the sake of weight, they had cut one of the Cold Star Iron bars into two pieces, paired one of those with another twenty-pound bar, and sandwiched a thin strip of forged adamantine between them, using a method similar to "steel-wrapping" to force them to bond.

Due to the performance differences between adamantine and Cold Star Iron, this operation was clearly not an easy task. The worst part was that adamantine and Cold Star Iron were difficult to fuse, and since Singers and Torg were unwilling to trust Nanfudo—the only one capable of solving this—the burden ultimately fell on William.

The poor gnome returned to William's side trembling, but he would scramble far away every time William swung his hammer.

After adding the refined solvent specially prepared by Nanfudo (which was, in fact, a ready-made reagent the gnome had pilfered from the alchemy advisory board's laboratory), the forging of the alloy handle began to get on track. When the orange-red axe handle began to shift toward a golden-red hue, Singers made a request to William.

"William! I think we need more hands! We simply cannot complete such heavy work on our own!" the one-eyed dwarf said solemnly to William.

"I never thought you'd be the one to suggest it! Ha! Half-beard! This is the first time I've ever seen a dwarf admit defeat!" The naturally optimistic and seemingly carefree gnome seized the opportunity to mock him. The dwarf immediately retorted, and the two began to bicker once again.

"Shut up, both of you!" William loudly halted their argument. He looked at the dwarf with a serious expression and asked, "Are you serious, my friend?"

Upon receiving Singers' affirmative reply, he thought quietly for a moment and said, "In that case! Wait until Torg and Sunderland come over tonight! We shall all discuss who we should bring in!"

That evening, Sunderland and Torg arrived at the forge together, and the group discussed the issue of adding personnel. After all, this was no small matter; it concerned the source of the precious adamantine and, more importantly, the adamantine mine itself. Those invited had to be trustworthy.

"We cannot look for residents of this city! Most of them have already been corrupted by money and wealth! We cannot determine who can be trusted and who will succumb to temptation," Sunderland stated her view first.

"But those outsiders are even less trustworthy! They are nothing but opportunists and thieves! If they find out about the adamantine, the results will be even worse!" Torg, who was responsible for the city's security, retorted.

As the one who first proposed adding help, Singers, who had remained silent since the discussion began, spoke up: "I do know of someone suitable! He is absolutely trustworthy!"

"Who?" Hearing this, everyone turned to look at the one-eyed dwarf.

Singers swallowed and said, "Buster Bracer! An excellent dwarf craftsman! He belongs to no merchant faction, nor does he possess the mercenary nature of the traditional Mirabar locals! I think he and his kin would be a good choice!"

"You mean that wandering dwarf of the Battlehammer Clan? While his craftsmanship is good, I find it hard to trust him! How can one feel at ease with a decadent fellow like that? Though, come to think of it, the chieftain of the Battlehammer Clan also came to Mirabar a few months ago. William! That strange adventuring party traveled with you for a time, didn't they?" Torg said, shaking his thick beard.

Nanfudo chimed in, "Dwarves are the least trustworthy creatures! Second only to humans!"

"Shut up, gnome!" The gnome's words offended everyone, and he shrank back into silence.

Singers defended the craftsman about to be invited: "That was because Buster Bracer felt despair over wanting to return to his ethereal homeland! But he has been revitalized ever since he heard that the Dwarf King had left Icewind Dale! There is no conflict between him and us!"

"But..."

William stopped Torg, who wanted to continue arguing. He exchanged a glance with Sunderland and made a decision: "Alright! Singers, you are responsible for convincing Buster to join us! Does anyone else have anything to say?"

Sunderland shook her head and said, "I have other news, do you want to hear it? It concerns the Dwarf King Bruenor Battlehammer and his friends! News from the city of Nesme says that a month ago, Bruenor and his adventuring party entered the Trollmoors. What a reckless bunch! William! They are your friends, aren't they?"

William said vaguely, "I suppose so!" He couldn't help but think of that drow with the decent blade skills. Encountering a fellow expert in this world was a pleasant thing. As for the other three, William didn't care much; the only one who left a deep impression was the bad-tempered dwarf he had kicked—though, naturally, it wasn't a good impression.

Buster Bracer, a down-and-out old dwarf, was a drunkard who, if not for the care of a few fellow clansmen, would have likely had his bones chewed to dust by some coyote long ago. Buster did not want to cower in the cold, remote Icewind Dale like the Dwarf King Bruenor; he would rather be killed by the monsters occupying his homeland on his own native soil. During the disaster at Mithral Hall, he and several companions tasked with exploring underground passages had inadvertently ended up in the dungeons of Mirabar.

Although Buster could not find the route home on the surface, he knew that the underground world of Mirabar had tunnels connected to Mithral Hall. This was the reason he and several clansmen who refused to go to Icewind Dale remained here, but the damned Mirabar Council had closed that tunnel and allowed no one to approach it.

Not long ago, Buster heard that the Dwarf King of the Battlehammer Clan had left Icewind Dale and found several powerful companions. Although Buster had always considered Bruenor a detestable coward, he was still overjoyed to hear that his chieftain had set foot on the road home. Of course, there were some unpleasant rumors, such as Bruenor and his three companions being defeated by a teenage boy, and the Dwarf King being beaten into a serious injury. If anyone dared to mention this in front of Buster Bracer, the enraged old dwarf would surely stuff their head back into their own backside.

There was another thing that left old Buster deeply regretful: when Bruenor came to Mirabar to treat his injuries, the old fellow had been dead drunk in a tavern and missed the meeting with the Dwarf King. Otherwise, he would have joined Bruenor's party without hesitation. But by the time Buster sobered up, the Companions of Icewind Dale had already been gone for several days.

Filled with remorse, Buster resolved never to touch a drop of ale again until he returned to Mithral Hall. However, when evening came, the old dwarf, unable to resist the temptation of the brew, decided to drink only one barrel of ale a day. But the five clansmen who had volunteered to supervise him firmly stopped him; the Battlehammer dwarves were very worried about Buster's alcoholism.

Another dwarf in Mirabar who loved to drink was Singers. The one-eyed dwarf had met Buster while drinking in a tavern, and the two had become close drinking buddies from then on—both equally idle, both harboring complaints against the leaders of Mirabar, and, of course, both equally fond of alcohol.

When Singers went to invite Buster, the dwarf, who was currently fighting his companions for a barrel of ale, refused him without hesitation. Buster, who had been regretting his vow of sobriety, fought a great battle with his companions every day for the right to drink, though he was the loser every time. But when Singers mentioned that one of the forgers was a "friend" of the Dwarf King, old Buster and his companions were tempted.

"William? You mean that bastard who allegedly defeated Bruenor? Damn him! I'm going to rip his head off and kick it like a ball! Could the great Dwarf King be defeated by a beardless little brat? Old Buster is going to beat him into a meat patty! Otherwise, I'm just a gnome with a beard!" Hearing the news about William, Buster puffed out his beard and shouted. The other five Battlehammer dwarves were equally eager to fight. The group dragged the one-eyed dwarf toward the outskirts of the city in a hurry—via the underground tunnels, of course.

Wanting to challenge that freak William? Singers tried to dissuade them a few times, but he couldn't convince the stubborn Battlehammer dwarves. He couldn't help but worry about the fate of Buster and his group. After spending time together, Singers and the others had a profound understanding of William's superhuman strength. He was now very surprised that only one person had been injured in the fight between the Companions of Icewind Dale and William. Although Sunderland's identification spell had confirmed that William was indeed a human, Singers still suspected he was a dragon or some other powerful creature in disguise; after all, there were too many ways in this world to make magic fail or go wrong, and dwarves didn't trust the power of magic much anyway.

The inexplicable hostility of the six angry, bearded dwarves surprised William. Although it was a bit troublesome, it didn't add any real difficulty for William, as he would need the help of these six fellows later, so he controlled his strength. Under the pitying gazes of Torg and the others, Buster and his five companions were kicked and tossed about by William like six sacks of rags, finally collapsing on the ground, bruised and battered, groaning. The gnome squatted nearby, making snide remarks:

"Oh! How pitiful! To actually dare to provoke that terrifying fellow! And to have survived in one piece! I am quite surprised by this! Hahaha! What a fine bunch of dwarves! Groundhogs! Hahaha! Ugh!..." Old Buster, who was rolling his eyes, spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm, causing Nanfudo to retch on the ground. The world was suddenly quiet.