Boulder Fort.
Baron the Dwarf King stood in front of the Dwarf Forge, staring at the lifeless furnace.
He glanced back at Lu Ran and the others waiting behind him.
Then he turned back, took a deep breath, and carefully pulled out the Eternal Flame.
Back when Lu Ran first put it into his backpack, it just went right in.
Now, watching the Dwarf King hold it in his palms, it looked like a tiny candle flame, flickering as if it might go out at any moment.
Lu Ran instinctively didn’t even dare to breathe loudly.
Then,
The Dwarf King brought the Eternal Flame close to the Dwarf Forge.
Whoosh~
It was like a piece of metal being drawn to a magnet.
The Eternal Flame was instantly absorbed by the Dwarf Forge.
Immediately after,
The entire Dwarf Forge began to rumble and shake.
Thick layers of dark dust and grime started peeling off in large chunks.
As if a treasure sealed by time was finally revealing its true appearance, the originally dull red forge gradually showed its real look.
The fire inside almost instantly roared to life.
The change was so fast that even Lu Ran found it unbelievable.
At the same time,
An intense wave of heat hit them right in the face. Lu Ran felt like his hair was about to curl up.
With every breath, waves of hot air went in and out of his lungs, leaving his mouth dry and parched.
The Dwarf King was tearful with joy. After all these years of silence, the Dwarf Forge was radiant again!
On his forehead, right between his brows, and on the brows of the guards around him, including Annie next to Lu Ran,
All dwarves had a flame totem appear on their foreheads at the same time, then quietly fade away.
“A Dwarf Forge with the Eternal Flame is the true glory of the dwarves! It also allows the dwarves to transform back into the original form of Titan-forged beings, the perfect form!” The Dwarf King laughed heartily.
But Lu Ran and his group kept stepping backward.
The heat waves were getting more and more terrifying!
“Lu Ran, where’s that weapon of yours? Give it to me! I’ll forge it for you right now!” The Dwarf King turned and shouted.
Lu Ran pulled out the Sea-Calming Trident and glanced at its stats.
[Fánàn’s Sea-Calming Trident]
[Slot: Weapon]
[Quality: Titan Epic]
[Level: No Restriction]
[Class: No Restriction]
[Intelligence: 1150]
[Stamina: 500]
[Magic Defense: 570]
[Physical Defense: 570]
[Bonus: Increases base damage of water-type skills by 10%]
[Bonus: Provides passive ability ‘Follow Your Heart’]
These were the Sea-Calming Trident’s original stats.
It was probably the last time Lu Ran would see them like this. He was also keeping them for comparison with the stats after the forging was successful.
After a quick glance, Lu Ran tossed the Sea-Calming Trident over.
The Dwarf King caught it easily.
Then he walked step by step toward the Dwarf Forge.
It was hard to imagine how hot it was around the forge. The Dwarf King’s body almost looked distorted because of the heat waves.
The clothes on him caught fire and burst apart.
Even though he was a dwarf, it was still a bit inappropriate for younger viewers.
“I’m about to start operating the Dwarf Forge. All of you, get out. The temperature here is going to multiply exponentially. If you stay, you’ll die,” the Dwarf King shouted seriously.
Of course,
This wasn’t about holding back any secrets, nor was it about keeping forging methods confidential.
The thing is, only dwarves can operate and forge with this furnace. Even if other races learned dwarven forging techniques, they wouldn’t have a Dwarf Forge to use.
He told Lu Ran and the others to leave purely for their own good.
Otherwise, staying here would probably roast them alive.
Sure, Lu Ran had his undead army to take damage for him, but he wasn’t bored enough to want to experience the pain of being cooked alive.
So everyone stepped out of the hall.
Then,
The guards closed the heavy doors tightly.
The moment the doors shut, the unbearable heat disappeared completely.
“Geez, I’ve never felt this cool in my entire life!”
“The temperature of the Dwarf Forge is indeed insane. It’s hard to believe that such a tiny flame like the Eternal Flame has such terrifying energy!”
“Well, it makes sense. The Eternal Flame and the Dwarf Forge are kind of like the Elven race’s Tree of Life and their Magic Stone. They complement each other; you can’t have one without the other.”
……
That was true.
Back when Lu Ran was with the elves,
The Tree of Life, without its Magic Stone, withered day by day.
And the Magic Stone, without the Tree of Life to pair with, became nothing but a useless rock.
Now it was the same with the dwarves.
Without the Dwarf Forge, the Eternal Flame was as useless as a tiny candle flame.
And the Dwarf Forge was just a big useless lump without it.
Now that they complemented each other, setting aside the forging results, just the spectacle alone was enough to get anyone’s blood pumping!
Next to him, Annie was so excited she could barely sit still.
She kept glancing at Lu Ran, as if wanting to say something but holding back.
Liu Xinyin noticed Annie’s restlessness.
She smiled warmly and said, “Annie, now that you can forge too, are you eager to go back?”
“Yeah, exactly!” Annie nodded instinctively, but then felt a bit embarrassed. “But you guys are still here…”
“We’ll be fine. The Dwarf King will handle the rest,” Lu Ran said, catching on, and reassured her.
Seeing that Annie still seemed a little shy about leaving,
He continued, “Once we get the forged equipment, we’ll probably be leaving soon anyway. There’s no point in you staying here. Right now, it looks like every dwarf is trying their hand at forging. You should give it a try too.”
The strong desire for new gear made Annie unable to hold back any longer.
“Okay! I’ll go then!” Annie nodded.
She turned,
And ran off on her little short legs.
But after running only a short distance, she suddenly stopped and turned back to look at Lu Ran.
With a hopeful expression, she asked, “Lu Ran, we… we’ll see each other again… right?”
The world was vast, but the dwarves weren’t going anywhere, though they’d probably start moving underground soon. If he wanted to meet her, it wouldn’t be hard at all.
So Lu Ran nodded and said, “Of course.”
Annie let out an excited cheer and quickly ran off.
Lu Ran and the others waited outside, feeling a bit bored.
“No idea how long this will take?” Lu Ran asked, turning to the others.
Liu Xinyin, Ye Hongyi, and Lei Tai—the three well-informed guild leaders—all shrugged at the same time.
How would they know?
Probably no one in the entire world knew right now.
So they had no choice but to wait patiently.
Soon, the sky turned dark.
No one knew how many hours had passed.
Just as Lu Ran and the others were starting to wonder if the forging would go on until morning,
Suddenly!
From the forging hall ahead, a pillar of rainbow light burst through the dome of the hall and shot straight into the sky!
The dark clouds of the night were shattered by the light pillar, instantly splitting apart. The moonlight shone down, but the rainbow pillar remained for a long time.
About ten minutes later,
The pillar slowly faded and disappeared.
Creak, creak~
The stone doors of the hall slowly parted from the middle.
The Dwarf King walked out, steam rising from his body because of the intense heat.
It was clear he was extremely exhausted.
Forging a holy artifact had taken a huge toll on his body!
His eyelids were practically drooping.
But still, he forced a smile and tossed the object in his hand to Lu Ran.
Then he said, “Forging is complete. Take a look at the stats. Your satisfaction is guaranteed!”
