Your war hammer is too fake

An Jiyue tilted her head: "You'll learn it once you've seen it."

The High King and the High Priest were silent together.

"You should have all heard about my making of a flying battleship. The reason why it can fly into the sky is due to a magic device I designed. Dwarves absolutely cannot use magic, but they do need this kind of flying steel beast," An Jiyue continued, "Grim asked me if I had any solution, so I designed this rune."

"Little Moon," the High King began, "Where is your rune? Can I see it?"

"Of course. Xiao Fan!"

The author says:

Author's words: PS: The plot of the protagonist knowing dwarven runes feels a bit too long... (scratching my head

Chapter 222: Rune Blacksmith An Jiyue

An Jiyue rubbed a total of ten master-level levitation runes - Thorgrim and Dagna almost pouted when they heard this number - and prepared to take them to Plateau Castle for Grimm to use. According to the girl's understanding of the dwarf engineer, this number is enough for Grimm to use for at least three or four years.

With the dwarves' pursuit of excellence, a new product must be repeatedly polished until it is perfected before it is produced (except Malachai), the Hammer-class frigate designed by Grim would be lucky if the first ship could be rolled off the production line before the end of 2504. It is impossible for it to be like her Kingfisher-class, where the entire design work was completed in just one month.

This is not to say that the Kingfisher class is a hastily designed product that was hastily launched, but rather that the Kingfisher class itself is positioned as a transitional product, an equipment used to undertake high-intensity air combat before the next generation of true main frigates come out, so the design is relatively conservative. An Jiyue's armament development ideas have always been very clear: first solve the problem of having and not having, then solve the problem of being good and bad. Of course, the overall combat effectiveness of the Kingfisher class will definitely not be bad, it's just not that good.

The development progress of the Hammer class is naturally not as fast as that of the Kingfisher class. An Jiyue suspects that by the time this thing comes out, her next generation of frigates will have been fully deployed. However, in contrast, once the Hammer class is completed, it will be a highly mature design. Even if the Kingfisher class has become an antique, this thing will still be the main equipment of the Dwarf Air Force.

[Xiao Yiyue: I looked at the design specifications you sent me, and the performance of this thing is a bit outrageous. Except for the slow speed, the firepower and protection are first-class, and they are not achieved by sacrificing other aspects of performance.]

[Group leader #An Jiyue: Nonsense, the Hammer class is destined to be difficult to mass produce, so we must pile up the combat power of a single ship as much as possible. ]

[Xiao Yiyue: Because the key to making it fly is the master-level rune you invented? ]

[Group leader #An Jiyue: Right. This thing can’t be mass-produced. ]

Even in Plateau Castle, where rune science is highly developed and there are a lot of rune fairies, there are only a handful of people who can create master-level runes, not to mention the difficulty of creating a master-level levitation rune, which is considered high even among master-level runes. Master Kurgaz has evaluated An Jiyue's little invention, and he said that this thing can be used as a promotion assessment for Rune Lords, and those who can successfully create it deserve the title of Rune Master!

If there weren't a lot of ancient rune blacksmiths in the Recasters who could help with rune making, An Jiuyue felt that letting the dwarves play with flying fleets was simply nonsense considering the current situation of the declining runeology in the Mountain Kingdom.

After carefully examining the box of runes for a long time, Thorgrim took a master-level levitation rune. The High King planned to let the Runesmith Guild of Eternal Peak study it first. At the same time, he also wrote a letter to Iron Peak Castle, asking Torek Ironbrow to try to spare time to visit Eternal Peak after completing "that thing". After all, Krag the Grim was still stranded in Plateau Castle and had not returned yet, so Torek could only be consulted for rune matters (Note 1).

Krag is making good progress. Master Kurgaz believes that in ten to fifteen years, Krag will be able to make a new Doomsday Anvil on his own. The old dwarf recently announced that he will take the Butcher's Oath after making a new Doomsday Anvil and atone for his sins with death.

No one persuaded him to cherish his life. The dwarves thought it was natural, but An Jiyue and Barel knew that they could not persuade him. After visiting Thorgrim, the governor was going to the South. But just as the girl was about to take Dagna back to Black Rock Castle, Thorgrim suddenly found her and the first sentence he said stunned the girl.

"Little Moon," the High King said with a serious expression, "Are you willing to join the Runesmith Guild?"

"Rune Blacksmith?" An Jiyue pointed at herself: "Me?"

What the governor didn't know was that the Eternal Peak Runesmith Guild had already been in an uproar over her matter. A human had mastered the secrets of dwarven runes and even quietly invented a new master-level rune. This kind of fantastic news was like a heavy hammer, hitting the runesmiths dizzy and dazed... Before the old stubborn people could recover from the shock, a reckless short-bearded boy asked for some unknown reason: "Do you want Ms. Young Moon to join the guild?"

When Thorgrim got the news and rushed to the guild, the bruised runesmiths were helping each other apply medicine, even though the wounds on each other were caused by their own hands. Stubbornness and inflexibility are the inherent labels of the dwarves, and now the runesmiths have to face problems that they have never encountered before and will never encounter in the future, and they must be flexible to solve them.

Dwarves are a race that is good at keeping secrets, and they have always protected their skills very well. Dwarves will teach their blacksmithing skills to other friendly races. It was with the help of dwarves that the Imperials quickly completed the evolution from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age (Note 2); however, runes are different. Dwarves will never consider teaching this skill to other races under any circumstances, no matter how good their relationship is.

Under normal circumstances, it is impossible for a foreign race to master the method of forging dwarven runes, but they are facing an abnormal situation now. What's more terrible is that An Jiyue has not stolen the technical secrets of the dwarves, either subjectively or objectively. The complete set of design drawings for recasting the triangle was handed over to the girl by Gazul himself.

Beforehand, An Jiyue swore in the name of her grandfather who had been a volunteer soldier that she would never reveal the secret of the dwarves to anyone; afterwards, An Jiyue very straightforwardly returned the complete set of drawings, and never made any backups from beginning to end.

Even the most demanding dwarves could not blame An Jiyue for anything, as she had fulfilled all her promises to the letter. So the question arose, since theoretically all rune blacksmiths had to join the guild, what about An Jiyue?

To be precise, is An Jiyue really a rune blacksmith? The old stubborn people in the guild had an in-depth discussion on this, and in the process they fully appreciated each other's bare-handed combat skills. In the end, under the personal mediation of the Supreme King, the rune blacksmiths reluctantly reached a consensus: Let's ask the ancestors what they think first!

"Little Moon, I know you didn't mean it, but you did create a problem for me, Eternal Peak, and the entire Mountain Kingdom. The ancient tradition is crumbling, and the Runesmith Guild has to face the danger of splitting," Thorgrim said in a deep voice, "Some people think that tradition is tradition, how can humans join the guild? Others think that the ancestors used your help in reforging the triangle, which means that in the eyes of the ancestors, at least you are special."

"..."

"Finally, we all went to Granni's temple to seek guidance from our greatest ancestors," the High King said, his expression relaxing a little. "We didn't expect Granni to respond. The ancestors are not our babysitters. They are teachers and guides, not overly doting parents."

"To my surprise, Granni gave an answer. Each of us heard his voice clearly, not the oracle that only the best priests could interpret in the past. He was very happy that his skills had another excellent successor. He said that as long as you are willing, you can certainly become a rune blacksmith."

After a pause, Thorgreen added: "He also asked me to tell you, 'Thank you for your anchor.'"

An Jiyue's eyebrows twitched uncontrollably: "...Did Granny say anything else?"

"He wishes to have a meeting with you at Granni Stone Hall," the High King said. "Granni did not mention how the meeting would proceed. He said you knew what to do."

"Okay, I'll keep the appointment," the governor nodded. "Is the procedure for joining the guild complicated? If it is, let's wait until I come back from Plateau Castle. If it's not complicated, let's get it done quickly."

"The Sons of the Rock don't have the meaningless formalities of Pointed Ears," Thorgrim said immediately, "Follow me, the guild is ready."

……

Note 1: Don’t ask why we don’t look for our ancestors, “short-bearded guys” also have self-respect.

Note 2: During Sigmar's time, humans were still using bronze tools, while the greenskins of the same era were able to smelt iron.

Chapter 223 Granny

East of Eternal Peak, Granni Stone Hall.

The traces of the battle at the beginning of the year had long since disappeared, and even the rat corpses that were piled up and burned outside the base had returned to the ecological cycle of nature under the hard work of wild wolves and other creatures. Since then, this base named after the ancestor god has never been invaded by the enemy again.

The dwarves were unaware of the inside story and thought it was the blessing of their ancestors. Only An Jiyue knew the real reason - as the location of her faction's main anchor point, it was also the first area where the order progress reached 100% and the order domain was permanently solidified. The tens of thousands of square kilometers of land centered on the Granni Stone Hall had been completely under An Jiyue's control since then.

Once the Order Domain is permanently solidified, the biggest benefit is that the area will become a forbidden area for demons, and the minions of the Chaos God in the real world will be severely weakened once they enter the area. Any demon who steps into this range will be killed instantly, and the points in the corresponding war book will be turned into points.

This is the core function of the Solidified Order Domain, but it is not the only function. The Master of the Code has absolute control over the Solidified Domain, which is similar to the more detailed Warhammer Total War: as long as the Master of the Code is willing, he can instantly query the resource distribution, biome, magic wind activity status and other information of the area at any time, and as long as a hostile target enters the area, the Master of the Code will receive a warning. Parentheses, this warning can be turned off or set priority. The old house and the flow handle.

Then, the greenskins and rats around Granni Stone Hall became extinct... As long as it was within the coverage of the solidified field, no matter how deep or secret the rat's nest was, An Jiyue only needed to use the automatic search function to scan it once, and the whole process would take no more than one second; as for the greenskins, due to their special reproduction method, they could not be killed completely under normal circumstances. No matter how you searched, there would always be some corners where you would miss a few big mushrooms.

The Anxi Army had some specially reinforced infantrymen that had been active in the Granni Stone Hall area all year round. The dwarves said that they were training in mountain warfare. Since both sides had a military passage agreement, the dwarves did not say anything except being curious, until they suddenly realized that Granni Stone Hall had not encountered any enemies for more than half a year.

After several joint operations with the Shadowbeard Brotherhood, it didn't take long for the entire Eternal Peak to know that their new ally had some special search skills. The dwarves were very curious about this, but the Cathay people only used the word "magic" to completely dispel the dwarves' interest in further questioning.

When An Jiyue and Thorgrim arrived at Granni Stone Hall, they happened to catch the last group of Shadowbeard passing through here on their way to the nearby winter camp. It was already December of 2502, and it had snowed on the Eternal Peak since last month. However, thanks to the extensive network of tunnels, the dwarves' activities were basically not affected by the heavy snow.

In the past, heavy snow did not mean that the dwarf settlements could live a peaceful life. The lack of food in the winter meant hungry wolves and other dangerous beasts, whether it was manticores, wyverns or groups of trolls, which were deadly to those small settlements that lacked heavy equipment.

But this winter was different. Shadowbeard and his men didn't see many wild wolves during their patrols, and the trolls were completely extinct because of the points they gave. Only harmless birds were flying in the sky, and the manticores and wyverns were either strangled by the Eagle Guards and Lei Zhenzi, or shot down by Luo Yanlang. Even the activity frequency of the griffins decreased a lot.

The people of China generally do not kill griffins, but if the griffins place their nests near the dwarven strongholds and surface trade routes, they will try to drive them away. If they cannot drive them away, they will use force to deal with them.

"Your people are very efficient," said Thorgrim, who was walking side by side with An Jiyue. "In just half a year, they accomplished what the Sons of the Mountain and Stone could not do in many centuries."

"You just lack the means to quickly and accurately find the enemy," the governor said disapprovingly, "I arranged three regiments (Note 1) to rotate, and every time they come back, the luggage carts are filled with things sent by the dwarves."

The High King laughed, "That's what they deserve."

The two climbed up the stairs. The Eternal Guards holding Star Iron Hammers lined up on both sides of the stairs and bowed their heads to greet them as they passed by. At the end of the stone steps, several Granni priests were waiting for them to arrive.

"As a result, every time someone drinks the dwarf's wine, they are sent to the hospital. No matter how much I emphasize it, it's useless," An Jiyue said somewhat dissatisfiedly, "It's okay to drink a small bowl to taste it, but who would drink a whole bucket?"

Martial artists basically don't get drunk, but extraordinary people are only a minority after all, and the main force of An's Zhendan is still those ordinary people who have received training. Although there are varieties of dwarven beer for humans, only a few breweries will produce this kind of export product. The most common beer in the Mountain Kingdom is still various strong beers that even Kislevites can't stand.

"Humans are a race with potential," Thorgrim continued, "but that doesn't include their ability to drink."

"I'm already thinking about whether or not to punish these fools who can't control their tongues..."

As they talked, the two walked up the last step and arrived at the gate of the magnificent Granni Temple. Several Granni priests with gray beards came forward, and the old man with the longest beard said in a loud voice: "Welcome, noble Lady Young Moon! The ancestor has been waiting for a long time, and He requires you to go in alone."

An Jiyue tilted her head to look at Thorgrim, then took a step and walked into the door that was slowly opened by the Eternal Guard. The door of the temple then slowly closed under the influence of some force, blocking all sight outside.

The moment the door closed, a dialog box suddenly popped up on the Holy Book of War.

[A space-time bridge request from the benevolent entity 'Gronni' has been detected. Do you want to allow it? Yes/No]

The girl clicked "yes" with her mind. The next moment, although the scene in front of her did not change at all, the girl knew clearly that she was no longer in the real world.

"Hello, lady," a voice came from the other end of the temple, "We finally meet."

"Granni," An Jiyue nodded slightly to the dwarf god in front of him, "What do you want to talk to me about?"

"First of all, I have to thank you for everything you have done for the Son of the Mountain," said the old dwarf with a thick curly beard and a height that can be called a giant by dwarf standards. "To be honest, I never thought that you could learn the greatest and most important skill of the dwarves just by looking at my design drawings... But that doesn't matter anymore."

"The rune blacksmiths don't think so." An Jiyue couldn't help but complain.

"This is an accident, but it shouldn't be an obstacle," Granny said. A stone table and two stone chairs covered with blankets appeared on the smooth floor that was originally empty. "Please sit down, ma'am."

After the two (?) sat down, the ancestor god continued: "In the world of dwarves, whether it is a rune blacksmith, engineer, or anyone else who has mastered a certain skill, they must have a master. You will become my apprentice. Don't worry, this is just a title. Don't worry that I will really treat you as an apprentice and teach you a lesson."

"I actually do mind having a new master all of a sudden," the girl said, "Don't ask why. I don't want to explain this."

"You don't like to get too close to others, whether they are familiar or unfamiliar. Loneliness is a kind of protection for you." Granny stretched out his hand, and a large pot of water appeared on the stone table. "I know you can't drink, but unfortunately I don't have your tea."

The Ancestral God and the Outer God clinked their cups of water together and said, "I understand where your rejection comes from, but after you have this identity, you will find that many things that were originally difficult suddenly become incredibly simple."

An Jiyue squinted her eyes and said, "For example, how to convince those stubborn people to accept my land leasing plan?"

"There are many other things. I know you have many plans, and I also know what you are worried about." Compared with the slightly gloomy Gazul, Granni's personality is obviously more enthusiastic. "Barel is also one of you, right?"

An Jiyue nodded.

"Gazul should have mentioned to you that when I was still a mortal, I had foreseen your arrival," Granni said, "Now it seems that it was not me who foresaw the future, but the future that took the initiative to reveal something to me. Gazul has reached a verbal agreement with you before, and now it is time to make it a formal covenant."

The ancestor god took out a roll of what looked like parchment and spread it out on the table. Although it was only a piece of paper, when the governor cast his eyes on it, he "saw" that if translated into Zhendan language, it would have at least 50,000 to 60,000 words. This was a covenant with very detailed terms, and it was fair enough for both parties.

At the end of the parchment, there are seven names written from top to bottom on the left side, and the first one is "Granny"; a small blank space is left on the right side.

An Jiyue looked at the blank space and said, "Don't tell me that I have to collect signatures from other people one by one."

"Your signature is enough," Granny said. "As far as I know, you represent all of you."

"Okay. Regarding this covenant," the Lord of the Supreme Scripture nodded, "I agree."

As soon as he finished speaking, An Jiyue's name appeared in the blank space on the parchment in simplified Chinese. Then, the parchment was split into two, becoming two identical contracts. Granny put one away and said, "The land leasing plan does not necessarily have to rely on those monkeys. Barrel's creations can also be used."

The girl was stunned for a moment, and it took her a moment to realize that "Barel's creation" referred to the system dwarf.

"Now that the covenant has been signed, the ancestral gods will naturally guarantee your actions," Granni said, pulling out a huge star iron box from under the stone table. "Some traditions cannot be changed for eternity, but some traditions should be allowed to become part of history. Take it, you deserve it."

The governor opened the lid of the star iron box and found it surprisingly light. Inside the box was a set of armor, and the girl knew at a glance that it was made according to her body shape.

"Young Sigmar saved Kulgan Ironbeard, who was unfortunately captured. The High King gave him the rune hammer Ghaal Maraz as a reward for Sigmar's kindness," Granni's voice gradually became more and more distant. "Young An Jiyue brought hope to the Mountain Kingdom. Granni should thank him with the rune armor he made himself, the Eternal Armor."

"According to tradition, the Rune Blacksmith's equipment must be made by himself. But just as there are butchers in armor in this world, there are always exceptions to some things... Young Outer God..."

After the last syllable fell, An Jiyue returned to the real world. Granny, the stone table, the chairs, and the kettle all disappeared, and only the star iron box containing the Eternal Armor was placed at the girl's feet, proving that all this was not an illusion.

An Jiyue looked at the star iron box under her feet and sighed softly.

"It seems that when I visit the Dwarf Stronghold next time," the girl said, "I will have one more story to tell."

……

Note 1: An Jiyue was speaking Khazarid here, so she used "tuan". It was actually "zhuang".

The author says:

Author's words: PS: I'm having a headache. I originally wrote a Grasshopper-level setting, but I found out that if it's over 200 words, it has to be a VIP chapter. If I post a short section first and then change it to the full version after uploading... Meow's free chapters cannot be modified by myself, and I have to contact the editor to handle it. I can't bother the editor every time I post the setting, right? Posting the setting as a VIP chapter is even more outrageous...

Chapter 224: Nayes in Trouble

The spellcaster Nayis opened her eyes with difficulty.

The elf picked up a small stone and drew a line on the wall, then counted. "The 30th day..." She murmured in a voice that only she could hear.

After receiving the summons from the Mage Queen Ariel personally conveyed by the Twilight Sisters, Nayis asked the Skarlock Archer to return to the Forest of Athel Loren first, while she herself used the roots of the Oak of Ages to go to the distant Southland to visit her good friend, Lord Morgan Ringo, the youngest weaver in the history of the Asrai clan and the only one.

In the Forest of Athel Loren, Lord Morgan is a legendary figure. She was promoted to Spellweaver at the age of 30, and many people believe that her magic power is strong enough to rival Ariel herself. Of course, more famous than her magical attainments is her undisguised rejection and hostility towards forest spirits, or more precisely, towards all kinds of wooden people.

Although the Asrai live in the Athel Loren Forest and protect this magical forest planted by the Old Saints together with the forest spirits, the relationship between the two sides is not as harmonious as outsiders imagine.

Whether it's the dryads that are the same size as humans, the larger dryads, or the tree men that are as tall as giants, the wooden men in Warhammer are not as kind and gentle as the tree herders in The Lord of the Rings. It's better to say that the personalities of the two are almost the opposite: the wooden men of Athel Loren can be roughly divided into two factions in terms of their attitude towards outsiders. The moderate faction believes that any outsiders who break into Athel Loren should be killed, while the radical faction believes that Alais is also an outsider and should all be killed.

Woodmen are generally sensitive, paranoid, gloomy, and even vicious. Their hearts, which are very different from flesh and blood, are always filled with endless resentment. The largest treemen and tree spirits with complicated origins are relatively better, while the smallest tree demons are almost the embodiment of this emotion of hatred. They not only reject the existence of Asrai, but sometimes they even steal Asrai's babies.

Morgan was nearly stolen at birth. Her parents broke into the secret base of the dryads to rescue their daughter, and were killed by the dryads. When the dryads were about to kill Morgan, a team of Wildwood Rangers appeared and rescued Morgan. This incident caused an uproar in Athel Loren, and many woodland lords publicly expressed their dissatisfaction. The Wildwood Rangers, who had been fighting against radical forest spirits for many years, were mobilized, and civil war was imminent.

In order to appease the angry tribesmen, Ariel ordered the execution of the group of tree monsters, and Dursu, the only remaining tree elder, remained silent from beginning to end.

Many people thought that the matter was over. They were wrong, very wrong. The decision of the Mage Queen only delayed the conflict for thirty years. Thirty years later, on the day when Morgan was promoted to Spellweaver, this elf girl who became an orphan at birth proposed to settle accounts with the forest spirits in front of Ariel.

In the Athel Loren Forest, there is a special area called the Wildwood. The Asrai used the power of the Guidestone to build a magical barrier to lock up the radical forest spirits. The Wildwood Ranger is the jailer of this magic prison. Morgan publicly stated that this approach is too weak and full of hidden dangers. She believes that the army should be summoned to kill all hostile creatures in the Wildwood.

Upon hearing this, Ariel flew into a rage and denounced this idea in public as absurd and radical. When the Mage Queen was about to have the guards drag Morgan away, one after another, the Asrai who enjoyed a good reputation in the forest stood up and publicly supported Morgan's proposal, and the rest of the people, even if they did not support Morgan, at least did not oppose her.

Amid the clamor, Dursu spoke.

"Child, is killing the only way to quell the resentment in your heart?" asked the forest elder.

In Nais's memory, Morgan did not answer at that time, but just looked at Dursu with a very strange look. Before the dispute escalated further, Morgan announced that she would go to the South to open up a new home, and she welcomed any upright Asrai to join this great work. As for the forest spirits, Morgan said that no moving trees were allowed in her territory (Note 1).

Another demigod leader of the Asrai clan, the incarnation of the hunting god Kunos in the mortal world, the King of the Woodland, Orion, was furious. He believed that Morgan's move was a blatant attempt to split the Asrai clan. Before Ariel could stop him, Orion threw a spear at Morgan, but Morgan instantly deployed the [Shield of Sapphire] and easily blocked the attack.

Finally, Ariel, who didn't want to start a civil war, grabbed her husband. The couple, one helpless and the other furious, watched as one-third of the tribe chose to follow Morgan to the Southland - until now, Nayes didn't know how her friend had quietly connected so many people.