"These ashes are essential materials for making my rune tablets. Don't touch them."
Balin's voice came from beside the furnace without him looking up. Renato had no choice but to put down the bottle of demon ash.
As someone who had transmigrated to this world, he was quite interested in these magical creatures from the Outer Planes. Earth's literature always depicted demons as powerful and sinister. He wondered whether the demons of this world were similar.
In Ereel's religious texts, priests mostly described them as great enemies bent on destroying the world. In the Mage Association's publications, however, demons were considered merely a type of otherworldly creature that followed specific laws.
The Dwarf sat on a stone stool before the furnace, utterly absorbed in his work.
His left hand steadied a dark gray tablet whose surface had been polished as smooth as a mirror. In his right, he held a specially made adamantine engraving knife, moving it slowly across the stone.
Crimson light seeped from the depths of the carved grooves, flowing through the rock's natural grain.
"Balin, what rune is that?"
Renato had visited plenty of magic shops in Fried City and considered himself fairly familiar with common runes. Even if Dwarven and human rune systems differed, their basic forms ought to share some similarities.
"You'll find out when the time comes." The Dwarf did not look up, his voice slightly strained with concentration. "Don't bother me. I don't have time to chat."
"Bring the sword back tomorrow. I won't finish today."
Balin's hand was steady, every stroke painstakingly deliberate. Enchanting was delicate work, and Renato knew better than to disturb him.
Besides, the Dwarf had already told him to leave, and the first floor of the Deep Hammer Tower was unbearably hot and stuffy. Renato got up and