Make Azeroth breathtaking

As the beasts charged toward her, Tannis snapped her fingers, and the G3 Predator, shrouded in a cold light, unfurled behind her. A chilling aura emanated from it.

"I'm just taking it out on you guys!!!"

——————————————The Thorium Brotherhood's dividing line——————————————————

Hansel has been having a really bad time lately.

As a collective organization of master blacksmiths among the Dark Iron dwarves, the Thorium Brotherhood was largely unaffected by the internal strife within the Dark Iron dwarves, and their feigned compliance with Ragnaros's faction was standard practice. However, they now discovered that not only Ragnaros's inexplicable subordinates, but also many other strange individuals had appeared in Blackrock Depths—first and foremost were the Twilight Apostles spreading the message of the impending Twilight, and, worse, some Dark Iron dwarves had actually believed them!

Fearing that the entire heritage of the Dark Iron dwarves would collapse if things continued this way, the Thorium Brotherhood met with King Thaurissan to warn him. However, King Thaurissan, who had just found a girlfriend, not only disregarded the Thorium Brotherhood's warning but also assigned them a terrible task—to go to the Burning Steppes or Searing Gorge to build outposts to 'counter the Ironforge invasion'!

'Damn Ragnaros!!'

Hansel cursed inwardly as he kicked at the scattered stones. As a Dark Iron dwarf who had lived through that tragic history, he knew very well that the current King Thaurissan's banishment of them was, in a sense, a form of protection. After all, they had been constantly teetering on the edge of Ragnaros's wrath, and could easily be burned to ashes by the Firelord, whose awakening was unpredictable. However, they were simply unwilling to let the Dark Iron dwarves perish like this...

Suddenly, he saw wisps of white mist rising from behind the distant hills.

"...That's strange, where does the water come from in the Scorching Canyon?"

With a head full of questions, Hansel ran up the hill on his short legs and looked down. What came into his view was a bunch of fire dragons that were dead beyond any doubt, and Tannis holding a knife, trying to skin the fire dragons.

"No, no, no! Miss, you can't skin these wild animals like that!"

Seeing Tennys make a move to dismantle her from the back, Hansel's instincts as a master blacksmith kicked in instantly. He pulled out his special skinning knife, yelled, and rushed down. By the time Hansel realized what he had done, he was already standing in front of Tennys.

"Then how should it be cut?"

To Hansel's surprise, Tanis did not make any threatening moves towards this suddenly appearing Dark Iron dwarf, but instead asked him for advice in Dwarven language.

"It should be like this, like this, and like this..."

Upon realizing that Tanis seemed to harbor no hostility towards him, Hansel put on gloves, took out his tools, measured several dimensions, and began to meticulously dissect the fire dragon. His movements were slow and precise, as if an artist were sculpting his most beloved work of art.

About half an hour later, he finally finished dismantling the first Smoked Dragon.

"Phew... It's been a long time since I've done this kind of work. Listen to me, young lady, besides making leather armor, the hide of the Fire Dragon can also be used as a heat insulation layer for the lining of chainmail or plate armor. Its sail has an extremely powerful heat absorption and release function, and it is the essence of the entire Fire Dragon. If you break it down like that just now, the sail will be wasted... By the way, who are you? Why are humans here?"

“Tannis, the great tinkerer from Ratchet, has come to purchase a local specialty mineral.”

Tani revealed her identity without hesitation, since there was nothing to hide.

"...Specialty minerals, you wouldn't be talking about black iron ore, would you?"

“That’s right, I’m willing to pay a high price for it.”

"This isn't a question of whether it's expensive or not... Iron ore is a controlled mineral."

"...No amount of money is enough?"

"Unless it's something of equal magical material, or something else, that might be something we can trade, but money alone definitely won't do... What is this?"

Hansel's eyes widened as he stared at the list that suddenly unfolded before him.

"Trade goods, huh? Ratchet City is currently doing business with multiple factions at the same time, offering all sorts of specialties from all over the world. See if there's anything here that we can exchange for black iron ore?"

"Well... if you don't mind, could we meet at Blackrock Bar? Perhaps you could help our Thorium Brotherhood resolve some trouble..."

15. Black Iron Bar

Blackrock Depths, Darkhearth, Dark Iron Bar.

Inside this sprawling, two-story bar, the Dark Iron dwarves of Darkforge were drinking and reveling. The bar's owner, the leper gnome warlock Prag, and his contracted demon, the succubus Namala, moved through the crowd with a tray, occasionally exchanging banter with the drunken patrons. Farax, the bar's most powerful construct, stood quietly against the wall, wary of any potential brawl that might erupt at any moment. The air in the bar was thick and murky, a mixture of the smell of alcohol, the grease of roasted meat, and the pungent spiciness of spices.

"Cough cough... cough cough cough... this smell..."

So, completely unprepared for the surprisingly pleasant air quality inside the bar, Tannis choked on her breath and coughed twice as soon as she entered. This discordant sound caused several half-drunk Black Irons to peek through their sleepy eyes and look towards the bar's entrance.

"Oh... Hansel, human female slaves aren't exactly desirable in Darkforge City..."

A dwarf of the Black Iron, his thick beard still dripping with wine and bits of meat broth, stood up groggily from his chair and reached for Tanis, but before he could raise his hand, Hansel stopped him.

"This is my guest, please don't be rude."

"A guest? Hansel, you actually have a human guest? And you even brought her here? How novel! Are you planning something bad again?"

Another Dark Iron dwarf banged on his cup and spoke loudly.

"I'm looking for Anqi. Is he at the bar?"

Ignoring the Black Iron dwarf's words, Hansel led Tannis through the narrow passage, weaving through the mess on the ground, to the bar, where he banged on the table to get the attention of Prag, who was wiping glasses.

Praggle glanced at Hansel and then at Tannis, continuing to wipe the wine glasses, completely ignoring Hansel's question.

"Damn it, you old dog! Bring me a Black Iron beer!"

Knowing what Prag's indifference meant, Hansel grumbled in dissatisfaction, took out a few coins from his bag and slapped them on the bar. Prag smiled and put down his glass, took out a clean glass from under the bar, went to the back of the bar, filled it to the brim with Black Iron beer, slammed it on the bar, and then waved to the succubus lady in the distance.

"Namara, take our guests to find the secret contract!"

——————————————Five minutes later——————————————————

At a slightly wider table, the Dark Iron dwarf known as Dark Contract filled his glass with Dark Iron beer and began to speak slowly and deliberately.

"Hansel, you know the current situation of the Thorium Brotherhood, so you brought this human woman to see me. Surely she has something to break the deadlock?"

"She is Tannis, the great tinker of Ratchet."

Hansel's introduction caused Dark Contract's hand to pause slightly.

"The second-in-command of Ratchet? I've heard of you. What brings you to Darkforge? Are you here to buy something, or to sell something?"

"I want to buy black iron ore."

"Black iron ore... I believe Hansel has already told you that it's a controlled substance in Darkforge, so you can't buy it with money alone. Even though our Thorium Brotherhood has the authority to allocate a portion of black iron ore, we can't make an exception."

“I know this is the list of things I can offer in exchange.”

With a gentle wave of her hand, Tannis projected a list of supplies onto the table using the mechanical assistant. This astonishing technology caused Dark Contract's eyes to narrow slightly.

"There are indeed some supplies here that could be helpful to our Thorium Brotherhood—you said you can take them out now?"

Tannis didn't say much, but with a flick of her wrist, she took out a ruby ​​the size of a pigeon's egg.

"I have to admire your courage as a human to bring such wealth to our Dark Iron Dwarf city of Darkforge."

Anqi didn't say anything, took the ruby, took out a small magnifying glass and examined it. A few seconds later, he nodded.

"That's right, they are high-quality rubies."

"Then, let's talk about it—about iron ore—preferably iron ore ingots."

"Why do you need ore ingots? Your Ratchet City should have enough experience in metal smelting."

"Black iron ore is only found in the Scorching Canyon, the Burning Plains, and this Blackrock Mountain. It's hard not to think that its appearance is related to that incident back then. Therefore, I'm not sure if Ratchet can smelt this metal with strange properties from the ore. So, I think it's better for me to buy ore ingots."

Tanis's words silenced the two Dark Iron dwarves of the Thorium Brotherhood for a few seconds before Dark Contract finally spoke.

“Your guess is correct... Dark Iron is named after us Dark Iron Dwarves, after our race. Its appearance is deeply connected to the towering Blackrock Mountains. Therefore, the smelting of Dark Iron can only be completed in a very special place. However, the control level of ore ingots is slightly higher than that of ore. Would you mind staying in Darkforge for a while?”

Tanis thought about it for a moment and said she didn't mind.

"Our Brotherhood needs to hold a meeting to discuss your trade request. We'll give you a response in three days at most—Black Iron Bar has room service, so you can stay here temporarily."

As he said this, Dark Contract extended his hand to Tannis, who smiled and extended her hand in return.

"no problem."

——————————————Tannis goes to ask for a guest room————————————————

Watching Tannis's retreating figure, Hansel drank half a glass of beer and mumbled something indistinctly.

"You understand why I want to facilitate this deal, right, Secret Contract?"

“I understand. Although this will make our position in Darkforge even more marginalized, how much worse can it get? If the Dark Iron Dwarves don’t want to be wiped out, some things can’t be delayed any longer—since the people of Ratchet have come to us, we have no reason not to befriend them.”

Anqi picked up a piece of smoked meat and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing it with relish.

"Will those old buddies understand? I don't want this to get to the King. If those guys who came up from below figure out our plan, then everything will be over."

This question caused Anqi to pause his chewing for a few seconds, and finally, he nodded.

“I believe they will understand us—yes, for the Dark Iron dwarves.”

16. Saffron

Booking the room went surprisingly smoothly.

Although Praggle was a leper dwarf sorcerer, which made him occasionally eccentric, it didn't stop him from making money. After Tannis booked a superior room that "guaranteed the safety of her property and life," Praggle began enthusiastically promoting his bar's specialties—not limited to strange foods such as fire pollen-roasted spider meat, lava stone baked eggs, and deep-fried smoked dragon tenderloin, as well as the Saffron he really wanted Tannis to have a drink of.

"This wine...the brewing method seems quite unique?"

After politely declining the other items that didn't sound very appetizing, Tannis surprisingly ordered a glass of Saffron, causing the Dark Iron dwarves who came to pay at the bar to look at her as if she were a dead woman. Dark Cry and Hansel, who had come with her, were also speechless.

"Of course! Saffron is my proudest creation! It's a pity that not many people appreciate it! Miss Tanyas! Drink it! You will feel a strange life unfolding before you!"

Seeing that Tanis was still cautiously sniffing the aroma, Prag climbed onto the bar and started jumping around. The news that a human had actually challenged Saffron had spread like wildfire throughout the Dark Iron Bar. Many Dark Iron dwarves rushed to the bar, jostling each other, stepping on each other's feet, and even climbing on each other to watch the spectacle.

"nature."

Tanis brought the glass to her lips, took a deep breath, and then did something that made all the Dark Iron dwarves present gasp in surprise.

"...a bite????"

"Although that glass looks small, this Saffron stuff..."

"Hansel! Your guest! If there's a problem, go find the priest yourself!"

"Anyone want to bet me? I bet this human will vomit and collapse in ten seconds at most!"

"I bet five seconds! No, five seconds have already passed!"

"...Wait, she seems alright?"

Seeing Tannis place the glass back on the bar with remarkable stability, all the Dark Iron dwarves couldn't believe their eyes—these old drinkers all knew the strength of Saffron; it was a drink that even they Dark Iron dwarves would dilute with water before daring to drink slowly, yet this human had downed it in one gulp and was still alright.

"Plag! You didn't grab the wrong regular beer, did you?!"

A half-drunk Dark Iron dwarf, who was squeezed in at the front, was shouting loudly when he picked up the wine glass that Tannis had just finished drinking from, poured some water into it, swirled it, drank the water, and in less than ten seconds, he spun around twice on the spot and lay flat on the ground.

“Very good wine, Prag.”