Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 195 Soul Forger - Moradin!
The passage that had been dug out in front has completely collapsed.

Because of Bert, a cultist, the other injured people were mostly okay, but all the machines were smashed and so many people died, so it was impossible to continue digging for the time being.

"There should be a large underground cavity down there."

Tasia was dismantling the dwarven construct in front of her. She collected the silvery-white metal fragments and handed them to Bert beside her, saying, "Is this the legendary mithril?"

"Magic metal from the Mystic Age?"

The cultist reached out, took the item, examined it, and nodded in affirmation, saying, "It's mithril."

"Legend has it that dwarves are very skilled at using mithril."

The hired archaeologist is dead, and now it's all up to Bert, the cultist, to figure things out. He recently joined the group, and the two sides hit it off almost immediately with this cultist who has healing abilities.

Tasia glanced at Duncan, who remained silent beside her, and slowly said, "Then there should be a buried dwarf city down there."

Speaking of which.

She gestured for the other survivors to gather around, then looked around and asked, "What do you all think?"

"Should we report this ancient ruin to the Cult of the Machine God?"

"Should we dig it ourselves?"

When the Cult of Machines was mentioned, Tasia's gaze fell on Duncan, as if observing his expression.

After all, he was the only official mechanical monk here.

She herself was practically expelled from the church.

Bert was also observing the expressions of the others. Earlier, when Tasia was dismantling the dwarven construct, he had been carefully observing the enchanted patterns engraved on it, his expression showing great eagerness, as if he was quite interested in the mysterious knowledge of the ancient times.

He certainly didn't want to hand this place over to the Cult of Machines.

At this moment, a bearded mercenary spoke first: "I disagree with reporting this to the Cult of Mechanism."

"So many of us died before we dug this place up."

"If we report it to the church, at most we'll get some leftovers from the motor enthusiasts."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone else present nodded in agreement. They were all already risking their lives, so they might as well go all in. Maybe they could get into the upper district in one go and bask in the sun among the higher-ups of the capital.

Soon, everyone present turned their attention to Duncan.

Duncan knew it was time to speak up, and he said slowly, "I don't think it should be reported to the church either."

He was also very interested in the secrets hidden below.

The relics from the mythological era might yield some valuable artifacts.

Hearing his words, Tasia breathed a sigh of relief and said in a deep voice, "If we continue digging ourselves, we won't have enough manpower right now."

"Moreover, such large ancient ruins require more excavation equipment."

"We need to find some help."

Judging from her tone, it seems she can call for more help, most likely members of the resistance from other lower levels of the hive.

At this moment, Bert also spoke up, saying softly, "There might be an ancient temple down there. I can try to notify the other members of the sect to come and help."

"The more helpers we have, the better, if we don't report it to the Mechanical Church."

The area they were in should be a large dwarven ruin, buried at some unknown time. Even with his god-like perspective, Duncan couldn't observe it in detail and could only rely on the strategic map to discover some dark areas with underground cavities.

At this point, a general area has been marked on the strategic map.

—The Temple of the Dwarf Gods (Ancient Ruins).

They must have dug all the way to the dwarven temple area. As for the other areas, they haven't been opened up yet. Excavating such a huge ancient site requires a lot of manpower and resources.

Tasia gave the hermit Bert beside her a deep look and said in a solemn voice, "Then let's leave some people behind to guard the ruins."

"We'll try to recruit some more people."

Nobody knows what's down there.

But without a doubt, the risks and rewards were proportional. This underground ruin had been buried for at least three eras, and even the slightest discovery would bring them immense wealth. The existence of dwarves was already legendary in the Mystic Age, and later, with the onset of the First Industrial and Magical Revolution, almost all mythical creatures became history.

After everyone reached a consensus, Tasia quickly left with the two of them, while Bert returned alone to the lower levels of Hive City to recruit other cultists within the sect to help.

Duncan chose to stay where he was and continue digging underground on a small scale.

"What's the reason?"

"How could such a large dwarf city be reduced to ruins?"

Duncan carefully moved the boulders on the collapsed side using the mechanical arm behind him. Here, the texture of the wall could be seen, and there seemed to be some reliefs on the surface, but due to the great age and the movement of the earth, a large part of it had been destroyed.

To dig this out, we'll need heavy machinery.

After digging for a while, Duncan unearthed a bronze wine cup from a corner. It seemed to be an object used in sacrificial rituals. A section of a broken finger from a statue was exposed on one of the broken edges. The diameter of the finger was about 1.5 meters. The statue was probably very large.

"This area should also be a ley line node."

"The dwarves have a very high level of civilization."

Duncan used a God's-eye view to determine the extent of the ancient ruins buried there. According to his estimate, this temple area alone was the size of a large town.

Thoroughly excavating this area would be an enormous undertaking.

After working on it for a while without any results, he decided to study the combat skill he had just acquired. — "Defense and Offense (Basic Feat): A combat skill that combines offense and defense. Dwarven defenders will spend a long time honing this combat skill until it becomes a physical instinct."

—"Powerful Attack (Basic Feat): An explosive combat skill that allows your next attack to be incredibly lethal, but at the cost of some accuracy."

—"Following the Momentum (Basic Feats): After you knock down an enemy, you can immediately launch an additional attack on a nearby target."

These are not particularly sophisticated combat techniques.

However, unlike the combat skills acquired from World One, the abilities Duncan obtained from the dwarven constructs form a complete system. They are all marked with light blue symbols and exist as a kind of basic combat specialty. They are not limited to simple moves, but are an instinct developed through physical training.

If we were to draw a comparison, the closest ability would be the first human host's "arrow deflection," which is purely the result of rigorous training, where the body's reaction speed and other aspects combine to deflect flying arrows.

"Defense in offense is more of a fighting stance than a specific move."

"Once in the state, the ability to parry, block, and dodge is greatly enhanced."

Duncan tentatively entered a defensive-offensive state, and a unique buff icon appeared on the projection screen: a sword and shield icon that displayed 'Parry, Block, and Dodge +5'.

Then he switched to the Fierce Attack state, which also had a buff icon that showed 'Damage greatly increased +1 to +10'.

This is a classic example of how sheer brute force can produce miracles.

He doesn't adhere to any particular move; every move is powerful and miraculous, unleashing the full force of his body. If he were to combine it with a berserk state, he would probably be as fierce as the Hulk.

"interesting."

"The dwarves' fighting techniques are actually similar to the various fighting stances of Warcraft warriors."

First, enter the corresponding combat stance, and then unleash the various combat skills you have mastered. Different combat situations require different combat stances.

It feels like they developed this system of combat techniques after thousands or tens of thousands of years of fighting each other with cold weapons.

For Duncan, defense in offense is a defensive stance, while fierce attack is a berserk stance.

As for the final follow-up slash, it's a combination of combat skills and physical instinct. In short, the more people you cut, the more skilled you become. You can kill one person and then kill a second one in the process.

"This combat system demands extremely high physical fitness."

Duncan mastered it in no time, switching between the two fighting stances with ease, demonstrating remarkable control over his body.

it works.

Even if the first human host is inscribed with it, their close combat ability will be further enhanced.

Dimensional space.

After checking the other two projected pages, Duncan entrusted the third human host and began to excavate the ancient ruins in front of him on a small scale along the dark area.

I don’t know how long it took.

The excavation tool, controlled by the robotic arm, made a metallic clanging sound. Then, as he cleared away the rubble, he saw a corner of a furnace buried underground.

—"Soul Forge (Ancient Artifact): Legend has it that Moradin, the father god of the dwarves, created the first dwarves with metal and fire."

(Sacrificial artifacts from the mythological era.)
(It is inscribed with ancient runes representing the forging of flesh and blood and the forging of the soul.)
(The dwarves were born from metal and fire. Through the relentless forging of their father god, they were hammered into bodies as hard as rock. Moradin forged the souls of the first dwarves in a furnace, giving them a tenacious fighting spirit, but also making them as stubborn as a rock in a latrine.)
(The Soul Forge is a sacred object of the dwarven father god. Legend says that the true Soul Forge is a forging tool that can imbue weapons with souls, but it requires passing a trial to use.) [Note: Similar to the Eastern concept of a weapon spirit, infused with a soul.]

(In legend, the forging hammer of the dwarven father god could easily shatter any armor.)
Did they strike it rich?
Duncan quickly brushed aside the rubble, searching for the ancient runes inscribed on them. They bore a striking resemblance to runic script, and he could decipher the meanings of many of them. The dwarves of Earth originated from Norse mythology; they were skilled at crafting artifacts and were proficient in runic writing.

"Metal...fire...forging the bodies of our people..."

"Magma... Earth... Forging the soul of our race..."

"Honorable Father of Forging, Lord of Hammers, Soul Forger - Moradin!..."

As Duncan silently recited the sacred prayer above, his soul trembled slightly. At the same time, his human host also sensed something, and a strange resonance appeared in the forging domain originating from the forging god, Guevara.

Both of them possess the divine authority of forging.

But this Soul Forger is even more powerful!

His forging is a concept; weapons, armor, artifacts, and divine weapons can be forged, as can flesh, soul, mind, and will.

"This must be a being of immense divine power!"

"Below should be the Temple of the Gods dedicated to Moradin, which may be comparable to the Pantheon in Rome."

A conceptualized forging capability.

If this were reported to the Cult of the Machine God, his status would probably rise dramatically.

But Duncan would definitely not do that. Who knows what might be dug up down there? Maybe even some artifacts from the dwarves!
dig.

Dig hard.

Duncan personally took action, digging all the way down for a full day and night, and finally found a strange hammer on the side of the furnace, below which was a collapsed altar.

This hammer is somewhat similar in shape to Thor's hammer, Mjolnir.

It wasn't heavy, and there wasn't a trace of rust on it.

—"Soulhammer (Sacrificial Artifact): A ritual artifact of the Dwarven Glory-Soulhammer family, capable of reforging the souls of mortals."

—"Trait - Soul Forging: This artifact is activated through a sacrificial ritual. The trial participant must withstand its attacks. With each attack, as long as the trial participant does not die, their will will be strengthened. After withstanding three heavy blows, the Soul Forging ritual is completed, and the participant gains the special feat of [Iron Will]."

(The ceremony must be performed beside the sacrificial vessels of the Soul Forge.)
(One of the two great rites of the Fathers of the Dwarves, one to reforge the soul, the other to reforge the flesh; only those who pass the test are the true Iron Guardians of the Dwarves.)
There should be another hammer nearby.

………………

(End of this chapter)