This was so cool.
Name: Aier Salona Race: High elf [Trace arcane divinity] [Trace time divinity] [Trace life divinity] [Trace nature divinity] [Moderate earth divinity]: Sealed, currently lesser earth divinity Class: Sixth-circle Archmage {Epic} Intelligence: Approximately 0.001 Sargeras Stamina: Approximately 3.9 Salorian Dawnseekers Strength: Approximately 0.9 Salorian Dawnseekers Spirit: Approximately 8.9 Fengdelors Agility: Approximately 2.6 Anasterian Sunstriders Spell power: Approximately 1.8 Anasterian Sunstriders
The figures on the panel brought a thoughtful look to the boy's face.
"The incomplete arcane divinity grew into a trace, and I gained four more types of trace divinity, but my base attributes haven't really changed..."
After thinking for a moment, Al rubbed his brow with a headache and grumbled quietly:
"If I hadn't passed out just now and been unable to use hyperthymesia, I wouldn't be so in the dark. What exactly happened back there?"
Turning to look at the hammer tattoo on his back in the mirror, Al sighed:
"The shape of this hammer... if I'm not mistaken, it should be the Hammer of Khaz'goroth...
"The artifact Khaz'goroth used to shape this world. Combined with the sealed earth divinity, could this mean... that old bastard Khaz'goroth was behind all this?"
"Impossible, absolutely impossible. That old bastard's been dead for who knows how many years. Even his soul is trapped in the Pantheon and can't get out. It couldn't have been him."
Al continued frowning in thought.
Khaz'goroth: Perfectly aboveboard, entirely reasonable. I actually can't argue with that.
"It's getting late. Since I can't figure it out, I'd better pack my valuables and run. Hemet's still waiting for me."
Changing into another mage's robe, Al began gathering the odds and ends scattered on the ground.
"Huh? These construct cores actually haven't disappeared?"
The boy curiously picked up a dulled construct core from the ground and examined it closely.
"No matter how many times I look, the intricate mechanisms inside are intoxicating. Ah, the fragrance of knowledge is so enticing. Since these cores no longer have the blessing of Titan power... then I..."
Al stared dreamily at the precision components inside the little sphere, occasionally letting out a foolish chuckle, drool trickling from the corner of his mouth. Now that he was out of danger, his long-absent occupational obsession had begun flaring up again.
"Whatever, let me take a little look at how these cores work first..."
Meanwhile, a handsome fellow doing push-ups said, "Two thousand eight hundred, hah... huff... two thousand eight hundred and one, whew... keep it up, Hemet...
"Whew, whew... just another hundred and ninety-nine push-ups, whew, whew, whew... and today's assignment will be done. You can do it. Lord Al is still waiting for you..."
Another three days passed.
Khaz'goroth's infusion had given Al a strange hint of familiarity with the Titan-forged, letting him take to his research like a fish to water.
On the evening of the third day, he finally deciphered a small portion of the core. Of course, it was only the tiniest bit. Something from the Titans was hardly common merchandise, after all.
"Whew, with my patchy grasp of this knowledge, I still can't fully decipher this core. Forget it, this will do for now. There'll be more chances in the future."
Rubbing his dark-circled eyes, Al tossed twenty-five construct cores into his spatial backpack. He swept a lingering gaze over everything in the chamber, shook his head reluctantly, and vanished in the glow of a teleportation spell.
Al walked through the abandoned camp, looking all around, but saw no sign of Hemet.
"Where is he? Don't tell me a passing raptor carried him off?"
Somewhat worried, Al cast an area Light Spell, instantly making the pitch-black camp as bright as day.
The boy continued deeper into the camp and suddenly spotted a wriggling figure.
Hemet was still mechanically doing push-ups. His consciousness had grown hazy, his arms lay weakly against the ground, and only his lower body kept bobbing up and down unconsciously.
The dazzling Light Spell forced the dazed Hemet's eyes shut. When he regained his senses and opened them, he saw Lord Al standing a short distance away, dumbfounded.
Hemet: ...
Al: ...
Hemet: Wait, young hero! Could you stay a moment?
Al: Can't cure it. Wait for death. Farewell.
Hemet: Don't go! Oppa!
Beneath the silent night sky rang the dwarf's heart-rending cries and the boy's rapidly retreating footsteps.
"So, Lord Al, I really wasn't doing that..."
Hemet scratched his head, looking embarrassed.
"You really weren't doing that?"
Al backed away two steps suspiciously, eyeing the old dwarf warily.
"I really wasn't doing that!"
Hemet waved his arms excitedly, doing everything he could to prove his innocence.
"Were you doing that or not?!"
Al looked solemn.
"I really wasn't doing that!"
Hemet looked equally solemn.
Al breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you were doing push-ups over there. Good thing you weren't. Look how skinny the poor kid's gotten."
Hemet: Where's my gun?
"Lord Al, did you really visit a Titan ruin?"
Hemet rubbed his hands together excitedly, so full of things to say that he seemed unable to rest until he got them out.
"Of course. I even saw a statue of that old bastard Khaz'goroth."
The boy rubbed his nose smugly, took out a handful of dulled low-grade construct cores, and waved them before the dwarf as though showing off.
Hemet smacked his lips enviously, but his expression soon dimmed. This sort of marvelous, grand adventure was precisely what he had pursued his entire life, yet his lack of strength had kept him from following in Lord Al's footsteps.
"What's wrong, Hemet?"
Al stopped sharing his joy and looked questioningly at the downcast old dwarf.
"N-nothing. Please go on, Lord Al."
The dwarf forced himself to perk up and urged the boy to continue.
Al stared earnestly into the dwarf's eyes until Hemet lowered his head and mumbled:
"I'm sorry, Lord Al. I wasn't any help to you."
Al did not answer. A long while passed.
"Hemet, do you want power?"
The dwarf raised his head in astonishment. Only after confirming that the boy was not lying did he stammer a reply.
"L-Lord... Al, what... do you mean?"
"I gained a little power from that Titan ruin. Although I haven't tested it, I think it might be of some use to you."
Al gently raised his hand, brown light glowing at his fingertips, and the level ground instantly sank.
With another gentle point, a distant mound instantly dispersed into earth and stones that filled the air. In no time, an earthen wall three or four meters tall stood before Hemet.
The old dwarf stared wide-eyed, unable to speak for a long time, but the shock he felt was plain in his blank eyes.
Hemet: Coach, I want to play basketball.
"So, are you willing to be this guinea pig?"
"I am."
Hemet spoke decisively, without the slightest hesitation.
"Won't you think it over? If this fails... I think you know what will happen."
Al looked at the dwarf with a complicated expression. He did not know whether doing this was right, either.
Hemet closed his eyes, recalling his companions' gruesome deaths, the instant when Al's fate had been uncertain after the stone guardian's blow, and his own inability to do even something as simple as carry the luggage on Fire Plume Ridge.
"I am."
The old dwarf opened his eyes and knelt on one knee before the boy, like a devout knight receiving baptism.
Al saw a sea of stars in those resolute eyes. He hesitated no longer and gently placed his hand on the dwarf's head.
Brown energy threaded with golden light appeared in Al's palm, and an endless stream of earth power poured into Hemet's body.
The old dwarf let out a suppressed growl under the unbearable burden. His skin began to crack, his black eyes turned brown, and his whole body swelled a size larger.
Sensing little change in the divine earth power inside him, Al was somewhat puzzled. Only when he saw the entry [Small amount of divine earth power]: (Recovering) did he relax.
He had intended to sacrifice this earth power to help Hemet, but unexpectedly, the divine power could actually recover on its own. This certainly counted as a pleasant surprise.
Sensing that Hemet's body was saturated with earth power, Al finally removed his hand. Looking at the dwarf, who had grown several sizes larger and was nearly taller than him, the boy felt a little worried.
The changes in the dwarf continued. As an earthen of flesh and blood, he also had divine earth power deep within his body, though it was extremely faint.
Hemet's body kept growing, only stopping once he reached seven or eight meters. His skin turned light gray, the color of stone.
Knotted muscles like sculpted marble were exposed to the air, while his shoddy leather armor had been torn into a few scraps by his swelling body.
"Just as I thought, Khaz'goroth's pure divine earth power can cause the earthen, who share its origin, to undergo atavism. Although the Curse of Flesh transformed Hemet's ancestors long ago, the potential still runs through his blood."
Al rubbed his smooth chin, carefully observing the dwarf's transformation.
"How do you feel?"
"Fantastic, Lord Al!"
Hemet excitedly waved his thick arms, each movement whipping up a strong gust.
"Does anything feel uncomfortable?"
Al shook his head with a chuckle and asked with concern.
"No. Old Hemet feels like he could beat a Devilsaur to death right now."
The old dwarf kicked his little short legs-or rather, his big short legs-while the club between them swung back and forth, nearly blinding the elf.
Al: Ahem, mind your decency.
Hemet scratched his head bashfully. Then, under his control, his body gradually shrank and his skin returned to its original sheen. The old dwarf panted slightly; apparently, that transformation had not come without a cost.
"Here, make do with this for now."
Al tossed Hemet a linen robe, one of his spare sleeping robes.
"Do you know what that move is called?"
"Avatar. I've seen the Bronzebeard lads use it. They say only those with royal blood can use it. Could my ancestors have been royalty too?"
As Hemet asked, he awkwardly tugged the linen robe this way and that, adjusting it into something he could wear.
"Of course not. Anyone can use Avatar as long as the divine earth power in their body is pure enough. Your dwarven royal families might have been among the stronger ones back in Uldaman."
"Lord Al, could you tell me the story of Uldaman? I want to know where our ancestors came from."
"Ah, that's a long story. Let's talk as we walk. Dawn's almost here. It's time to settle the score."
Al yawned. He planned to sleep properly for two days once this was all over. If things kept going like this, his adventuring career really would end in sudden death.
"Legend has it that south of Khaz Modan lies a city named Uldaman..."
Floating in the air, Freedom's Protector shone bright blue, lighting the road ahead for them. Al recounted Uldaman's story in a lilting voice, like a bard.
The old dwarf walked beside the boy, listening spellbound to his story and occasionally asking questions.
The lush primeval jungle, the elf and dwarf walking along a quiet path, and the clear moonlight spilling through gaps in the leaves onto them formed a harmonious scene.
"...So, if you want to learn Uldaman's secrets, you'll have to find the Discs of Norgannon left by the Titans. Uh, you know, I don't mean enormous platinum discs like Nablya's."
Hemet: Mm-hmm.
"Hemet, do you feel like you have boundless strength now?"
Hemet: Mm-hmm.
"Like your whole body is brimming with power?"
Hemet: Mm-hmm.
"Excellent. Once we kill Mosh, you can carry his corpse again. That beast is simply too big, after all."
Hemet: Mm-hmm... huh? Why does something feel off?
PS: First, thanks to reader 20210526134212886 for the tip. How generous, my lord~ Here are two chapters totaling 7,000 Chinese characters. This author is a little nervous right now. My editor keeps stressing a maximum of 5,000 characters a day. Too many characters means going premium, going premium early = two fewer rounds of recommendations, two fewer rounds of recommendations = no exposure, no exposure = ...
Seeing how this author is disregarding the bigger picture like this, my lords, let those monthly tickets and recommendation votes rain down even harder~
My humble thanks.