Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 234 Angel Necklace and the Craftsman
This escort was very secretive and swift. With Wayne's logistics bonus and the high-speed movement of the cavalry, it was even faster than the flying units.

They seemed to have encountered an ambush along the way. Wayne, as the secondary hero, perfectly demonstrated the power of advanced logistics. The cavalry's speed nearly doubled, and with the addition of swift acceleration magic, a single charge caused tons of damage.

Units below level 6 were completely unable to withstand the impact and were instantly breached, forcing them to quickly retreat from the battlefield.

While Wayne might be lacking in direct combat, he's an absolute first-rate hero when it comes to escaping and launching surprise attacks.

Raven returned to the capital safely. To thank Kuraki for his help, he immediately sought out the Church of Light and spent a great deal of money to purify the Angel Necklace.

Not only that, Raven also introduced a blacksmith, saying that he could help him improve the effectiveness of the treasure.

"This is Master Randall, a famous blacksmith in the capital, known as the Forbidden Blood Hammer."

Wayne led the way, bringing in a slightly hunched old man. His hair and beard were white, his eyes were somewhat cloudy, and his arms hung naturally. He looked like an ordinary old man, completely unrelated to the title of blacksmith.

But he was holding the iron box containing the treasure with one hand, which made him look quite strong.

"Boom!"

Randall opened the box, and it immediately shone brightly, emanating a divine power of light, as if an angel had descended to earth.

Angel Necklace (Sealed): Increases hero's attack, defense, strength, and knowledge by 3 each. One of the six components of the Angel Alliance combination treasure.

Sealing method: This necklace is too heavily corroded by death. Even after purification, it needs to be placed in a cemetery, where 50 white-feathered creatures must be buried every six months, or their blood must be introduced into the tomb to complete the ritual.

Randall carefully touched the angel necklace: "I never expected you to acquire such a powerful treasure. It's quite a surprise. The angel necklace is one of the components of the strongest combination treasure. You must keep it safe and never lose it."

Although the blacksmith was giving instructions, he didn't look at anyone; he was simply admiring the treasure.

Although the old man was short, he was extremely arrogant and looked down on everyone.

"I'm here today because I owe Raven a favor. But let me make this clear beforehand: I'm old enough to have retired from the sport long ago, and I won't personally take action again except in special circumstances."

I heard from Raven that you've collected all the Cursed Armor, but it's still a basic combination item, so he asked me to come and give you some pointers to see if I can improve it.

Of course, my personal expenses are not low, and upgrading combined treasures is even more costly. Think it through before you proceed.

The architect from the capital was quite skilled; though arrogant, he was knowledgeable and experienced. Even after hearing that Su Mu had collected all the cursed armor, his tone remained calm.

Su Mu glanced at the old man in front of him and suddenly remembered his legendary story.

Randall Bloodhammer, a human-dwarf hybrid, is a natural blacksmith who once forged powerful Titan artifacts for the Arcane Empire and even created a natural shield for the Barrier. His purpose in coming to the capital was to see the Angelic Alliance, but unfortunately, the capital has not used this set of artifacts for a long time, and no one even knows if they are still intact.

After all, sealed treasures need constant maintenance, and if not handled carefully, they may get out of control.

The royal family may no longer be able to assemble the entire Angel Alliance, so naturally they wouldn't allow outsiders to see it.

Besides forging weapons, Randall is also said to have participated in the construction of the Forbidden Castle and is very familiar with sealed treasures.

"To upgrade the cursed armor, the key lies in the special cursed power stones that are inlaid, as well as the accumulation of resources. Not to mention gold coins, you need at least 5..."

Randall held up five fingers, but Su Mu interrupted him directly: "You decide how much to spend. As long as the cursed armor can be made to work even better, I want to hear about its effects after it's upgraded."

Randall looked at Su Mu, the renowned rising star of the kingdom. He seemed to know little about treasure upgrades. He had heard that Su Mu possessed a hero skilled in financial management and had raised a powerful legion, but this amount of money was far from enough to combine treasures.

"50,000 gold coins is just the initial funding for the experiment. I can provide guidance, but success is not guaranteed. To ensure a high success rate, you need to provide the best cursed stones, each costing 10,000 gold coins, which are even more precious during this time of war."

As for the upgraded cursed armor, it's absolutely worth the money. Not only are the attributes improved, but it also grants a solidification effect; if your curse power is strong enough, enemies won't be able to dispel the curse for a short period.

This is truly an epic upgrade. The biggest problem with the Cursed Armor was that its status could be instantly dispelled by the opponent, making it unusable for extended periods. If the status could be solidified, it would be an absolute game-changer.

Fighting a massive legion like Isildur involves an enormous number of troops and a vast battlefield. Many spells, while advertised as covering the entire battlefield, can only actually cover the area where the hero is fighting. At most, they can only cover tens of thousands of enemies, as such large-scale battles are fought with the entire battlefield spread out and players able to unleash their full potential.

However, the status magic of combined treasures not only lasts a long time, but also covers a large-scale battle, capable of completely covering battles involving hundreds of thousands, even millions of people.

To say that the Cursed Armor is completely useless is not entirely true; at least it can withstand a few more dispel spells, but that's about it.

“Here you go! I’ll have Forrest find the Cursed Stone. As for the gold coins, they’re in short supply due to the recent war, so it’s hard to get them all at once. But if we stretch it out, I can put in this amount!” Su Mu also held up five fingers, and Randall was truly astonished.

He had only come at the request of his old friend to help out and give some pointers to the younger generation. Actually, what Randall was most interested in were the sealed treasures. He had heard that Su Mu had quite a few sealed treasures, and they seemed to have special ways of using them, which piqued the old man's interest and made him feel quite itchy.

Randall was well aware that the two countries were at war and locked in fierce combat. Although he had dwarven blood, he belonged to no faction and therefore had no sense of belonging. It didn't matter who won or lost; he was only focused on forging.

However, Kuraki is positioned on the front lines and probably doesn't have much money to upgrade his treasures. Therefore, he should take the initiative, pique the other party's interest, and then shift the topic to the sealed treasures, so that Kuraki can naturally see the special architecture.

Who would have thought Su Mu was so powerful, taking 5 gold coins so easily? It seems this kid has some savings.

"Alright, 5 is a bit low, and I can't guarantee the success rate, but it at least meets the minimum requirements. I'll do my best to guide you and ensure..."

Su Mu shook his five fingers again and shook his head, saying, "You misunderstood. I guarantee I can gather 50 spell power coins within a few months. Just ask for any resources you need. As long as we can successfully upgrade the combined treasure, everything is negotiable."

Su Mu was willing to spend so much money to upgrade his combination treasures, not just for a set of cursed armor. With the Angel Alliance and Titan's Arrow showing some promise, he needed to accumulate primal experience to prepare for an even bigger move.

Randall felt that the cursed armor was Kuraki's limit, but Su Mu knew his own limitations; he had a lot more to forge.

First, offer a hefty sum to keep Randall; we'll deal with the rest later.

Raven was truly his lucky star; after saving him, his own luck seemed to start to improve.

Of course, it could also be the effect of the money luck spell. Last month, he spent a huge sum of money to recruit soldiers. Is there really such a thing as money being able to communicate with gods?
If that's the case, then keep spending money on upgrading combination treasures; the odds should increase.

Seeing Su Mu arrogantly waving his five fingers, Randall almost couldn't catch his breath; he didn't even know what to say.

50 spell power gold coins, what does that mean? Even the National Assembly would need 125 days to convert that amount. Even if large territories have extra gold mines and cities to generate income, it would still take at least a month to accumulate. Where would Kuraki, a newly established city, get so much money?

Randall was skeptical that Su Mu was exaggerating, but there was no need for it. Upgrading treasures required real money, and if there was a shortage of funds halfway through, it would all be stopped, and all the initial investment would be wasted.

Seeing that Randall was somewhat skeptical, Su Mu directly asked Forrest to bring out 5 gold coins as a prepayment.

When dozens of boxes of gold coins were placed in front of the minter, so dazzling that he was almost blinded, Randall had no choice but to believe it.

"Okay, I'll list the materials first, and you go collect the resources to help you strengthen your treasure."

But as mentioned beforehand, there is a chance of failure in forging, so you should be prepared.

As for what happens afterward, regardless of success or failure, I must see the place where the treasure is sealed.

So that's why Randall came. The Eight Kings Palace is entirely under Su Mu's control; Su Mu can show him as much as he wants. Besides, he was introduced by Raven, so he must be a reliable person.

Most importantly, could the knowledge of the blacksmith be used to further evolve the sealed land of the Eight Kings Palace? This is the area that Su Mu wants to explore.

To deal with Isildur's massive army, the power of magic and technology is needed.

As for Randall, he was indeed a rare master.

Randall (Blacksmith): Attack 3, Defense 3, Spell Power 8, Knowledge 9
Earth element.

Characteristics: Aging and blood storage, forbidden power, lover of sealed treasures.

Advanced Forging: You can personally forge suitable war weapons and various treasures (treasures no higher than level 4, war weapons no higher than level 5, requiring a huge amount of materials).

Forbidden Blood Hammer: Uses forbidden forging techniques on a treasure to enhance its magical power and make it more powerful (may fail, causing the treasure to go out of control or become a sealed object).

Intermediate Wisdom, Advanced Earth Elemental Mastery, Advanced Fire Elemental Mastery.

Failure is inevitable, but if you spend enough money, luck will come your way.

Diligence can make up for lack of talent, and so can money.

He wanted to try it.

(End of this chapter)