Star Forge Titan

The female clerk sat amiably on the other side of the sofa, speaking politely to Ivan. Though she might have been of humble origins, she appeared well-educated. The jeweled brooch pinned to her chest suggested she was at least the store's front desk supervisor.

In fact, the female clerk's heart was not as calm as her appearance. As soon as the customer entered the store, he attracted the attention of most of the clerks.

The coat was custom-made and definitely very expensive. The seemingly simple walking stick was definitely a high-end product handmade by an old craftsman in Genoa.

What a fat sheep!

As fully trained store clerks, they all made the same judgment.

Not to mention, the young man was very handsome, and his slender and strong figure under his coat was so attractive that it was impossible to take your eyes off him. As a result, the group of young girls immediately started a "dragon fight and tiger fight" in secret.

In the end, it was the foreman who came out on top. With his superb skill of "walking at a running speed in high heels", he was able to say "Welcome" to Alvin before anyone else.

Alvin didn't notice the little fight. After chatting with the female clerk for a few words, someone came to inform him that the rune blacksmith Mr. Borok was already waiting in the VIP room.

When he arrived at the VIP room, he immediately recognized that the bearded dwarf sitting on the sofa was the manager of this branch, Borok Minsenda.

Although the other party came to greet Ivan personally, the atmosphere in the VIP room was very unusual. Borok's eyes widened, like an enraged bull, and he stared at Ivan with a look of dissatisfaction.

Feeling the solemn atmosphere, the female clerk awkwardly introduced this person as Mr. Borrock, the rune blacksmith, and then immediately left the VIP room without any hesitation, demonstrating her full wisdom for survival in the workplace.

After a moment's silence, Borok spoke first:

"Are you the Genoese kid who asked for 100 pounds of mithril?"

I see, the old rune blacksmith from before Goldbeard’s reforms.

Although the thick beard makes it difficult to tell the approximate age of an adult dwarf, and their average lifespan is over 200 years, there is actually not much difference in appearance between a young dwarf of 50 and a middle-aged dwarf of 100.

But as soon as this Borok opened his mouth, Alvin knew that he was most likely an old blacksmith who had become a rune blacksmith before Goldbeard's reform.

Because only the old blacksmiths who came from that era would still maintain this bad temper of "buy it if you want to or not".

Even Alvin could guess what kind of business tactics the other party would use next.

Here it comes, the first trick of the traditional dwarf business negotiation technique - loud voice.

"Young man! That's 100 pounds of mithril. Do you really know what 100 pounds of mithril means?"

Borok clenched his fists, and the sound was like a bronze bell, "clang clang clang" passing back and forth in the closed and well-soundproof VIP room.

"Of course I know. It's just your one-week production. Oh, calculating the time, maybe it won't even take seven days now." Alvin sat on the sofa, spread his hands and looked relaxed.

Hearing his words, Borok, who was about to continue roaring, choked on the next sentence like a fish with its throat pinched, and his eyes bulged out.

This kind of response was something he had never expected.

The old blacksmith stiffened slightly. He knew the other man was absolutely right. But how on earth could a human boy have figured out the true amount of mithril produced in the Dwarven Kingdom?

You know, they now advertise that each pound of mithril requires more than thirty days of mining and smelting, so it is worth it for the guests to pay a high price that matches their noble status.

If the human kingdom and other nations knew that the dwarves were now able to refine mithril several times faster than before, how would they be able to continue this extremely lucrative business?!

No! I have to find out his origins and how this guy knew about this!

So, the old rune blacksmith subconsciously used the second trick of the traditional dwarf negotiation technique - magical pressure.

"Who the hell are you?!" Borok stood up and took a step forward. An extremely clear footprint instantly appeared on the solid marble floor.

At the same time, the rock-solid magical pressure quickly expanded outward. This old rune blacksmith surprisingly possessed the strength of a third-level transcendent.

It was no surprise that Alvin felt the "slight" change in the external environment, and his expression, which had originally been filled with a polite smile, gradually changed.

The raw magic power was like a raging river, roaring through bones and flesh.

The slightly curly hair behind the black-haired boy was like a rising flame floating upwards.

In his pupils, a pale golden light radiated outward in a ring shape, like a ignited golden sun.

Seeing that the two were at loggerheads, they decided to have a good fight.

result……

thump.

Borok, who had a scowl on his face just now, suddenly knelt down without any warning.

Chapter 98: Ballad of the Earth

He blackmailed me?

This was the first strange thought that popped into Alvin's mind.

But soon, he denied this sudden thought.

Even though ethnic characteristics may not necessarily represent the characteristics of each individual, a dwarf who would kneel down to blackmail others is still somewhat beyond common sense.

In addition, a sense of familiarity came over him. It was the same feeling of closeness that Alvin had felt when he saw the second-generation giant, Frostland Arcade.

He later wondered where this feeling came from.

Later, Ivan realized that it must be the genetic memory engraved in the Titan's bloodline. It was an emotion recorded in the bloodline as information, just like animal instinct.

The reason why I felt like I was seeing my own sweeping robot was due to the mutual influence of personal experience and genetic memory.

Although it sounds like a joke, there is some truth to it.

As a modern man, Ivan certainly didn't have any knights or vassals of his own before crossing over. The only thing close to him in his daily life was probably his diligent and hardworking robot vacuum cleaner, or maybe even a dumb voice assistant?

In short, it is precisely because of the mutual influence between genetic memory and personal emotional experience that Ivan felt an inexplicable closeness when facing the fragments of the powerful man left by Akkad, and felt sadness and melancholy after the other party truly rested in peace.

At this moment, as the magical pressure released by both sides came into contact with each other, the feeling of familiarity came to his mind again.

It is something that can be perceived without words, relying on certain information engraved in the soul and blood.

However, compared to the extremely obvious feeling before, the closeness that Alvin felt now seemed much vague, just like looking at a colorful oil painting through many layers of gauze.

In this case, there is only one answer.

Before Alvin could say anything, the rune blacksmith Borok, who was kneeling on the ground, suddenly spoke first.

"The World Forger, the giant god who shook the earth, it turns out that the king soul of Uranus has returned from extinction."

"Dwarves, no, the people of earth have been waiting for too long!" As he said this, tears suddenly flowed from the eyes of the old dwarf who was over 150 years old.

According to the tradition of the Dwarf Kingdom, no dwarf should shed tears in front of someone who is not a blood relative, but Borok's eyes widened and he could not help but shed two streams of turbid tears, muttering to himself the ancient poems passed down from ancient times.

The sound sounded like a rumbling sound coming from underground, dull and low, revealing its heaviness and firmness like a mountain rock.

The poems record legends and stories from an unknown time ago, when dwarves were not yet dwarves.

The language Borok used at this moment was not the Xuma language commonly used in human countries, but the ancient language inherited within the Dwarf Kingdom - Stone language.

'Stone' means stone in ancient language.

At that time, they who lived in Lonely Mountain had not been affected by the outside world, and people did not call these creatures dwarves.

'People of the Earth' is the name recognized by those creatures who dig minerals underground and offer them as tribute to the gods.

The giants who descended from the sky shook the earth, gave life to the ignorant soil, and taught them how to find hidden treasures from the deep and dark underground, and then hammer and forge the world-reshaping rings that the giants needed.

The original people of the earth, their flesh and blood were mud, their bodies were covered with a rocky exoskeleton, and only their eyes were inlaid with various unpolished gem crystals.

According to legend, it is the spirit bestowed upon them by the gods, the source of the souls of all the "people of the earth", and the symbol of their status as the giant god's followers.

Over the long years, the 'People of the Earth' and other followers of the Titans, under the guidance of the Titans, transformed the original world of Palladia.

The erupting volcano was shattered by a punch, and the narrow lava channel was widened several times. In the erupting magma, the people of the earth happily tempered their shells.

The clear springs that fall from the sky nourish the cracked earth, allowing lush green plants to occupy more and more of the world.

The once chaotic primitive Palladia gradually turned to stability.

until……

Natural disasters and chaos, the death of gods, and even the people of the earth with gem spirits gradually became the dwarves we are today over the long years.

Although their bodies are still stronger than those of other races, they have become more flexible as time goes by and the environment changes.

Although their bones still have the clang of metal, they are slowly disappearing into flesh and blood under the caress of time.

The Earth People became dwarves, but the most terrifying change was not just that...

Fortunately, at this moment, the extinguished king's soul has returned!

The old dwarf was so excited that he was incoherent.

On the other hand, for some reason, even though he had never been exposed to this language before, Alvin could fully understand the meaning of the ancient language spoken by Borok.

“…” The black-haired boy remained silent.

He didn't know how the other party could see through his deepest secret.

But he knew that he should deny this immediately, and it would be best to use a more cold-blooded and decisive method to completely hide this secret.

However, although such behavior is rational enough, it is also so... cowardly!

"Stand up, I'm not a god." Ivan sighed and held Borok's shoulders.

He had dealt with this old dwarf several times in the game. When he was an ordinary adventurer, he had drooled countless times at the exquisite dwarven weapons in the window.

At that time, the old dwarf who occasionally sat behind the counter and smoked a pipe did not drive them away. He just smiled and watched the group of young people staring at the fine weapons in the window with their eyes full of hope and light.

Perhaps it was because of this experience that even when the other party knelt in front of him in a humble manner, Alvin still did not feel that he had any qualifications to be superior to others. Instead, he felt very uncomfortable.

He never needed those things to prove his pride.

Borok looked at the tall, black-haired boy in front of him in surprise. In the magic collision just now, he clearly felt that his own magic had undergone some unprecedented abnormal changes.

The dwarves have been able to sense the special magic of minerals and the earth from generation to generation. At that moment, they were suddenly excited as if they had discovered a treasure they had never seen before.

This is obviously not an abnormal reaction caused by a simple difference in strength, but a resonance that is closer to the essence.

A convergence effect of secondary magic power moving towards higher magic power.

If it were a young dwarf, he might just feel strange about it.

But a dwarf like him, who has reached the final stage of his life after hundreds of years, is qualified to know the hidden meaning.

Because they are qualified to listen to the ancient poems that have been passed down through word of mouth for countless years, and they are responsible for continuing to pass on these poems in the form of songs.

He is such a supreme being, yet he speaks to me in a calm tone like an ordinary person.

Therefore, Borok was in a state of confusion.

Chapter 99: Underground Furnace

What exactly do the Titans, those legendary giant gods, want to do?

This thought couldn't be suppressed in Alvin's mind.

From what he could tell, the giants were their soldiers, and the dwarves were their servants.

It was as if this world was the drawing board of those giant gods, and their behavior of transforming life and even the entire world with their own power was as unrestrained as a child.

These truths hidden behind the world are still things that Alvin finds difficult to access and is not qualified to access.

After all, his bloodline has not yet fully awakened, and the Foundation of the Original World has only completed the first stage of the ceremony.

Just like a child who is not tall enough wants to stand on tiptoe to touch the candy placed high up. What he needs is not frequent but futile attempts, but enough patience.

Coincidentally, as an old boy who is not only sixteen years old as his physical age suggests, Alvin is much better than his peers in this regard.

Moreover, he was familiar with the plot, so even in this world of Palladia, whose future had been changed by him, he was confident that he could find enough "growth hormones" to make himself taller as soon as possible.

Looking at the black-haired boy lost in thought, the old dwarf Borok, who was helped up and sat back in his seat, seemed very hesitant, as if a comfortable sofa had been scattered with thumbtacks and was moving non-stop.

As one of the most experienced runesmiths in the Dwarf Kingdom, over 150 years old, he should have been more composed. Otherwise, he would not be qualified to be in charge of the Kazarim Workshop in Lutetia, the capital of Lind. You know, this workshop also serves as the Dwarf Kingdom's embassy in Lind.

But the problems that the Dwarf Kingdom was secretly facing now made him feel anxious.

According to the old tradition, as long as Borok reaches the fourth level or makes significant technological contributions, he can become the kingdom's Longbeard Elder and join the Longbeard Council, the highest-level deliberative body in the entire dwarf kingdom.

Therefore, he knows more than ordinary dwarves and has greater power and corresponding unshirkable obligations and responsibilities.

"Your Excellency." After much hesitation, Borok finally chose this relatively common honorific.

He seemed to see Ivan's hesitation, and couldn't help but automatically help him imagine more than 10,000 words of complicated experiences and sad past, as well as countless powerful enemies and terrifying competitors.

"If you come here just for mithril, that is absolutely not a problem. As descendants of the Earth People, we will offer you all the treasures buried deep in the earth." The dwarf's tone was very sincere, like a friendly and generous friend rather than a humble slave, which made Alvin feel much more comfortable.

"But, if possible, I would like to tell you about some of the difficulties that the Lonely Mountain Kingdom is facing now." Borok sighed, and his tone became heavy.

"Please speak." Alvin raised his hand to signal the other party to go ahead.