"And? What do you want, lasses? the taz dwarf, or undermountain dwarf in Common, grumbled in a gruff voice at us. His orange hair and beard were wild and unkempt, looking like he had just woken up. Co on, speak up already. Do you have any idea how damn early it is?! Dammit, go away.
W-Wait, wait! Hold on, please! I shouted out as he was about to close the door. He huffed as he stopped and looked at us. We are here for blacksmith business.
No rock hair. Im not working. And with those words, he slamd the door shut in front of our face.
It isnt that early, co on.
I knocked on his door once again, but he didnt answer it this ti. After trying it once again to no avail, I sighed and looked over to Tasianna. What did he an by no rock hair, I wondered aloud about his last words to us.
I am not acquainted with the details, but do you possibly rember the rock-like parts in Kraftjas and Ognis beard and hair? Also the rock-hide on every dwarfs ears? I nodded to Tasiannas question. Well, according to sothing I read in a book, dwarves were born inside the depths of the earth and mountains. Legends written down by dwarves say that they were molded from rock and given flesh and blood from ancient earth elentals, ant to act as representatives for them to commune with the other sentient races of Peolynca. Although, from what I heard, dwarves have changed their worship from these elentals to Goddess Crustacia after the Earth Goddesss descent to this world.
Is that why they have those rock-like features on their bodies? I asked.
At least it would explain the ears, I believe, although you might want to take this legend with a grain of salt, Lady Hestia. However, what he ant by rock hair was the fact he is missing rock-like hair in his beard and hair, a sign of having been cast out and shad by a god in Goddess Crustacias pantheon, Tasianna continued by reminding what we heard in the blacksmith guild, specifically when they ntioned he was abandoned by Bleidla, the Blacksmith God. It is a custom for dwarves to turn their beards and hair into stone using so mixture, depending on their influence in Goddess Crustacias or her subordinate gods churches. In fact, Goddess Crustacia has turned the beards and hair of her saints and champions into stone as a sign of her favor, which led to the dwarves adopting this idea.
And when he ntioned no rock hair
He confird the rumors that Bleidla or so other god was not looking at him favorably.
I scratched my head, feeling a bit down at this news. Well, that is a bumr. It makes him seem less credible as a blacksmith. Still, he is a dwarf, right? We should give him a chance at least.
Lady Hestia, you are stereotyping him. Not all dwarves are good blacksmiths. Taz dwarves can be great miners and tazlok wheat farrs instead of being blacksmiths.
Yeah, now that she ntioned it, I am letting fantasy culture influence a bit Still, we need a blacksmith.
I took out the token Kraftja and Ogni gave to , showed it to Tasianna to ask if it would work, since it was made by two inko dwarves. Tasianna ntioned tazics and inkos do not get along when it cos to artisan opinions, but since all blacksmiths served Bleidla one way or another, our stubborn blacksmith here should at least give us a chance.
So, I knocked on his door again, calling out that we had a dwarven token of trust with us. After trying it once more, shouting even louder this ti, I finally gave up and complained that we had to go to another blacksmith on the list since this one was a dead end.
As we were about to leave, the door of the RV-like wagon opened and a stocky man with two ram-like horns showed himself. His expression looked a bit stressed as he peeked his head out. Dammit, if you ca all the way to not have to deal with human steel, then co in already. Just watch out for the door slamming.
Is he a tsundere?
Tasianna and I shrugged. Since it was our reason for coming over to the slum district in the first place, refusing wasnt sothing we considered as we entered his carriage. Also, with how much of a tsundere he was, I really wondered what he was about to show us.
The inside of the dwarfs carriage was quite spacious, naturally, since the taz was extrely stocky and needed more room to move around and do stuff. As I said before, the carriage was similar to an RV the outside had wheels for transportation, although there were no equerochs, while the inside was like a one-room apartnt.
There was an open storage room with his rations and crafting materials, a table with scraps of food, an empty tankard, no kitchen in sight, a large king-sized bed in the very back, and a working station with what seed like manatech on it were the most notable. However, for a blacksmith, there was a severe lack of a slter or forge in his RV. There was an anvil, a welding wheel, a utility belt with tongs and hamrs, and barrels full of different weapons, so that gave it the weapon shop vibe Id hoped for.
It could probably fit five people inside, and if he were to expand it a bit more, it might be able to carry more than five people.
However, how was he supposed to forge weapons or armor without a place to slt ores and tals?
And the confusion on my face was quickly noticed by the owner of the RV. What is that face for, huh? Looks less appealing than a humans? Of course, we tazongs let our work do the talking, not the unnecessary glamour or decorative weapons. Hmph.
Oh, sorry about that, Mister. I do have a question though. How do you slt stuff without a forge or foundry? I asked.
The taz raised an eyebrow at , stroking his beard as he wondered what I ant by that. You, a dragonewt, have never seen a taz hamr before? Hmph. Guess youve only visited inkos. Instead of disappointed, he sounded sad as he scoffed at my lack of worldly experience. While shaking his head, he went over to his smithing area, picked a random sword from his weapon barrels and went over to the anvil.
He sat down on a chair and held his sword up. Move to my side, he told us while waving his hand to the left. Once we were no longer in front of him, the taz took a deep breath before exhaling; however, instead of air, what ca out of his mouth was a stream of flas.
Oh! Thats right, Tasianna did ntion tazics were fla breathers!
His fla breath was like a small stream, quickly disappearing after it touched the sword. I wasnt sure how well a taz could control their fire, but seeing him having no issues with it, I could imagine him working like this for hours and hours. The fla was also pretty hot, being able to lt the sword after a minute or so.
Smart. Using your own fla breath to heat up your tal will save you the hassle of having to get a forge working. It also makes sense for an RV not to have sothing that heavy to continue being mobile.
The mont the taz was done showing off, he threw the molten sword on the ground like so trash, not even bothering to cool the tal down. Thankfully, the floor was made out of tal as well, so the RV probably wouldnt burn down, but it was still a sha to see him care so little for sothing he made.
When I voiced this out to him, he scoffed at once more before grumbling, Better as molten tal than in the shape of a weapon. That junk wont impress anybody, and if it cant even impress so milk-drinking adventurer, then Bleidla will just continue laughing at . Hmpf.
It looked sturdy enough.
The taz then scruffed his hair before turning over to us, looking a bit annoyed about sothing. Anyway, why are you two lasses here, huh? Even the fact a wind elf and dragonewt are so deep in human territory is weird, but who am I speak? Co on, spit out your business and lets get it done with.
No need to be so hasty, Sir Dwarf, Tasianna answered. We are here to inquire if you could inspect so equipnt for us and if you can slt a special material.
Hmpf. Imagine asking if a tanzong can slt sothing or not. Hear , wind elf; taz or inko, the both of us can endure higher temperatures than what any human can take. Co, throw your stuff on the table. A bladdarg human will make you pay for a simple blacksmiths evaluation but a tazong wont.
He certainly had the gusto and confidence of a blacksmith, reminding how Ogni used to speak in that deep, Scottish-like accent to inspect my obsidian. When I took out a couple pieces of equipnt from my storage, the taz looked at with full-blown surprise, widening his eyes like a goldfish.
Youre a void-touched? he said after pausing for a mont. Level two at least with that [Storage Magic]. Can you do anything else? Level 5 portals? Level-Ahem. My apologies.
The mont he began to act eccentric with his fascination of my [Space-Ti Magic], Tasianna and I had to step back while giving him a look that showed we were a bit weirded out by the sudden outburst. He quickly took ahold of himself and apologized, saying we should forget what just happened. Which we did.
Hmm, voldunna tal. Stuff cos from the south, where the Human Empire is located, the taz said after inspecting the black orc knights armor we salvaged from the grimgarian battalion. Blacksmiths blessed by Bleidla the Blacksmith God received a skill called [Blacksmith's Appraisal], which acts like [Identify] for equipnt. Not any good as a tal for manatech, as it only has below-average mana conductivity and insulation, but on the other hand, its sturdier than any of the raw mana minerals. Heard its cheap in the south but costs a bit here in the north. Eoriant is a good replacent alloy.
So far so good.
How well can it resist fire?
Great. Its mined from inside mountains and volcanos located in a desert, and the closer it is to those volcanoes, the better the quality. If you were to turn this into armor, itll at least get skills to resist fire and earth elents, he smacked the armor as he said that. Still isnt strong enough to resist so good heat though, ahahaha!
He then went through the rest of the stuff we got from that battle, including the weapons and catalysts. While it wasnt exactly his field of work, he still did what he said he would, although with a lot of grumbling, Hmph. Catalysts, huh? Might be better to ask an enchanter or whatever. Marsvens symbol on the ring, probably so cultist or grimgarian. There seems to be a broken enchantnt attached to the inside of the ring, looks like it doesnt work anymore. The description has it recorded though.
He was right.
Ring of the Shadow Guardian
A ring made to gain favor with the God of Darkness, Marsven. An alchemical stone was attached designed to channel a dark mages mana to cast spells faster. A protective charm was enchanted on this ring, caused by a shamanic ritual in the worship of Marsven by granting a sliver of his goldy power as a shield of shadow. Drains 90% of the casters maximum mana as a cost and can only be used once. It resonates with any other [Ring of the Shadow Guardian], amplifying the strength of the shield.
Skill: [Dark Magic Efficiency Lv. 5] [Mana Efficiency Lv. 8] [Dark Amp] [Dark Resistance Lv. 5] [Ring of the Shadow Guardian (Broken)]
I guess if it really is a gift from Marsven, then it would make sense why my [Symphonie des Feuergottes] failed to break through it. For the cost of nearly killing themselves by draining all their mana away, the grimgarians spell better have a strong effect, otherwise I would call it a waste of ti. No seriously, if this enchantnt actually used up 90% of your maximum Mana while youve already spent a bit already, you could kill yourself with [Mana Stress] or [Arcane Corruption] and blow your limbs off from it. I still rember how that happened to the garm matriarch.
And the effect did show back then. The shamans were weakened to the point they couldnt move, where I would have had a good chance to end them if not for the tily arrival of the battalions elite units. I wonder if [Omnictus] could have broken through that massive shield?
Back to reality, while I was glad to hear the taz was able to look at the equipnt, confirming everything Id already seen myself, but sothing still piqued my interest though. Mister Dwarf?
Grimnir. Use that from now on, he grumbled.
Hestia is my na. This is Tasianna, I introduced us in return. Anyway, Mister Grimnir, while you ntioned the material and description of the gear impeccably, you still havent ntioned any attack and defense values.
One of the advantages of [Blacksmiths Appraisal] over [Identify] is its ability to show the attack and defense power of a piece of weapon or armor like what you see in video gas. Sohow, my [Identify Lv. 10] not only rged into my [Mana Eyes] making it my appraisal skill now but I also gained a lesser version of the [Blacksmiths Appraisal]. I have literally no idea how it happened, it was so random and there wasnt even an explanation for it. It was in an incomplete form, which I guess must an that Bleidla hasnt blessed yet.
As that was an important ability for a blacksmith while crafting their works, enabling them to also charge a fee during an appraisal, so it wouldnt be a proper appraising session without so numbers. And with how much his eyes were darting around, my curiosity turned into suspicion.
I pointed toward the orc knight armor. He finally said, Vitality value is 571 and Wisdom value is 401.
Voldunna Black Full-Plated Armor
A thick armor made from voldunna ore, granting the wearer resistances against sundering, fire, and earth. The armor grants moderate heat resistance but will cool down the wearer too much in cold temperatures
Vitality Power: 541
Wisdom Power: 399
Skill: [Sundering Resistance Lv. 5] [Piercing Resistance Lv. 2] [Fire Resistance Lv. 7] [Earth Resistance Lv. 5] [Enhanced Vitality Enforcent Lv. 2] [Enhanced Wisdom Enforcent Lv. 2]
That proves it. He doesnt have [Blacksmiths Appraisal].
A blacksmith without [Blacksmiths Appraisal] ant he wasnt blessed by Bleidla himself. The lack of rock hair and his own admittance that Bleidla was laughing at him were already a dead giveaway, but still, if those actually were guesses then they were surprisingly accurate. Daaaaamn.
Should I say anything?
As I was contemplating whether I should say anything about this or not, Grimnir suddenly huffed, Hmph. Enough, put all of this back into your inventory and show what you wanted to slt. While you do that, dont mind getting a drink. The bravado he showed until now was all gone as he walked over to a ad barrel and poured its alcoholic content into the empty tankard on the table.
Once the foam was overflowing, he brought the tankard to his mouth and chugged everything in one go, swallowing and swallowing with no stops. Once it was empty, he slamd the tankard on the table and burped loudly, unconcerned of the eyes looking at him right now. What? A tazong works the best after a drink. Now, where are th-burp-the things you wanted to slt? Show them already.
As I placed a piece of my scales, a tuft of Saoris white fur, and so of my obsidian on Grimnirs desk, he nodded approvingly and wiped the ad foam from his beard away before giving a look at what was on the table. He licked, slled, and pressed onto them with his fingers, all to test out whatever he was doing.
As he was doing that, Tasianna suddenly noticed sothing on the workstation a bit further away from us. She walked over there while Grimnir was preoccupied and questioned him after seeing what was there.
Sir Grimnir, are you possibly also an artificer?
His attention taken away from the monster materials before him, he grumbled at Tasianna, Hmph. Tried. Taz hands are too large and not dextrous enough compared to those from inkos. I have ideas, but everything I make just turns out wrong. At least runesmithing and blacksmithing dont require to be that precise.
Artificer, runesmithing, and blacksmithing? The guy has quite the set of skills. I wonder, can Ellaine learn sothing from him? After all, what is his definition of only trying?
Are these scales yours, lass? he asked , prompting to nod. Hmph, you got here. There is sothing under them, so sorta flammable dust, which ans these scales have to be hard and fire-resistant enough to endure that. Dragonewt scales. Didnt expect you to show them to , but I guess dragonewts love making their armor from their own scales.
I waved my hands in front of , showing him that wasnt the case. Ah, no, you misunderstand. These scales are for armor for a friend. Since we are adventurers, she will need more protection, and I thought my scales are the best for the job.
Hmph. Well, regardless, my flas cant slt these. The tuft of wolf hair can probably be used for sothing, but the dark mana flowing through it makes it unlikely that anything except dark elental equipnt could be produced. This purple glass mineral, though, is so solid mineral. Where did you find this? Ive never seen anything like this before.
His reaction was exactly like Ognis, sothing I expected since I was the only one who could create this corrosive obsidian right now. Unlike my scales, he didnt ntion anything about not being able to lt it, which led to believe he would be able to produce so gear with it.
Sorry, thats a secret for another ti, I decided to hold back from telling him anything yet. How about we finally speak business? Would you be able to make so gear with them? We might not have enough materials with us right now, I think, but there is a dungeon nearby so we can probably get them.
However, he snorted and gave a short Cant as the reply. When I asked him to explain why he couldnt, he groaned, scratching his oily hair in frustration as he spoke, Dont get wrong. Thats so good stuff. If we lt the armor and weapons you just showed and combine them with monster materials, then we can probably produce sothing marvelous. Sothing Bleidla would smile at But, if you want any of that, go to so other tazong to make them for you.
There are only humans in this city, Mister Grimnir, Tasianna answered, causing him to frown.
Tch, I rather my pride take a hit than cause Bleidla to scorn again. If I take your request and botch it, then everything Ive done to gain back his favor will be gone. And you know why? Cause I stole the chance from sobody more promising in his eyes, Grimnir slamd his hand on the table.
So? I looked at him with a quizzical face. Even if all those rumors were true and that you were abandoned by Bleidla, does it really matter? I an, youre obviously experienced, Mister Grimnir, so why should it matter if Bleidla likes you or not? We can always acquire more of the materials wed planned to use, and try again, so we wont be that angry, at least, if you arent charging us for it. Your [Blacksmithing] skill should be high, and thats all we really are looking out for. The gods dont control our lives, so why dont you try our request out?
Although, people might think crazy for saying that with a white robe, it is the truth, right? Sure, Aurena did reincarnate and was initially planning to use however she wanted, but I managed to gain my autonomy and the freedom to say these sorta things. I have not been smited yet. Aurena herself even said that the gods can watch and guide mortals, but they were never allowed to fully intervene in our lives.
Giving people skills or offering Divine Quests was their way to guide us, even installing soone as a saint or champion was a way for the gods to offer people a different way of life. However, any of this could only happen if we first accepted it. At the end of the day, we were the drivers of our own fate and only our skills mattered in the grand sche of living.
Even without [Blacksmiths Appraisal], it couldnt take away how many years Grimnir had as a blacksmith. Tasianna ntioned dwarves also had an extended lifespan, similar to the other long-living humanoid races like the elves, dragonewts, and fairies. Who knows how old this guy was?
Hmph. I dont need a lass lecturing on how to live my life. Hmph! he grumbled once again, but seed to have cald down. Even if I wanted to, the piece of gear I can make wont amount to anything you might expect, lass. A hamr is a blacksmiths most valuable tool the most important part of bending tal and to bash the impurities away and add any monster materials.
Then make one. You are a blacksmith, after all, Mister Grimnir, Tasianna said rather bluntly.
He shrugged and smacked his hand on his knees, looking at us while shaking his head. I have one, look over there. He pointed at the utility belt I saw before, holding onto two hamrs. But they are made of so normal tal and steel. Not even out of eoriant. A blacksmiths hamr has to be made out of superior tal, and I had gotten too used to mine. Another jest of Bleidla, cursing to get a laugh out of it. He knows the value of my hamr but didnt do anything when I lost it forever in a damn gulch.
Better hamrs make better equipnt? I wondered aloud.
He nodded. Yeah, simply put. The right tools for the right job, and I need a good hamr that doesnt lt or bend when I increase the heat. Ive been requesting from the hunters guild for one of their people to hunt a material down for inside the dungeon. I ca to this place cause I heard a monster in the depths had it around. The na Erald-Flare Forest sounds like a jest if you only visited the upper floors, but once you make it past floor ten, youll know why they gave it that na. A molten rock that can only be found sowhere beyond floor 15, rumored to not only be extrely heat resistant to the point I can raise the temperature to whatever I want, but also hard enough to resist the toughness of monster materials.
Jeez, floor 15? Where adventurers could encounter B rank monsters if they're unlucky? Well, I cant say I bla the guild for not being able to produce sothing like that. Does Cedarraille have any B rank hunters right now?
A bunch of C ranks, at least. The guild ntioned they have multiple B rank hunters but all of them have banded together to enter the dungeon in Griffonpeak to fulfill so high-ranking, confidential Quest. My guess is a noble, he explained. I can fight, sure, but at best Im a C rank adventurer. Going in there alone would be suicide, no matter how much I crave that rock. Either I stay patient and ask the guild every day whether the hunters have returned or I go around and hire so hunters from so other city. Too bad Im short on funds from a lack of custors.
Well, that is true
While it might be impossible for us to actually bring him more custors, there might be a way for us to help him out anyway. The Aurora way.
Mister Grimnir, do you have a party bracelet? Once he confird my question, I handed him my ID, only hiding the sensitive parts while displaying the power I had. Seeing his impressed face, I continued. My party has another B rank level mber and Tasianna here is a decent C rank. Our last mber is a bit weak right now but Im planning to train her up until then. What do you say? We will need so equipnt from you first though, oh, we can pay of course.
Are you sure? Forgetting the fact Im gonna ask a bunch of young lasses to help , probably going down there will be a real task. Its gonna be dangerous.
Youve seen my Mana and my storage. I have healing spells and combat ones. In an endurance run like dungeon diving, I already have a ton of necessary abilities to lighten our load on the trip, I pointed out, then I suddenly got an idea to fully convince him. How about this; you need to et with whoever youll be working with anyways. Youve t Tasianna and , but you dont know our two other teammates. Co with us and let introduce you to them before we continue anyway. Deal?
Gahahahaha! For the first ti since we ca into his RV, Grimnir laughed boisterously and loudly similar to Kraftja and Ogni. It seed I was able to convince him. Worth a try! Worth a try! I wont go and abandon Crustacia for Aurena, but bladdarg, if she sent you to try to win over, Im honestly tempted here, gahahahahaha! Lead the way, Hestia and Tasianna!
And so, we accidentally accepted a Quest in our training montage.
A note from AbyssRaven
Tazong = Dwarf, Taz = Undermountain dwarf, Grimnir, Inko = Surface dwarf, the ones from Firwood who made Saori's dagger and claw protector
If you guys want to support , Hestia and "A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale" (or just read up to 17 advance chapters any Patreon-only chapters) please check out my Patreon: Rawr!
If you guys enjoyed this chapter then, please follow the story. If you guys want the story to grow, then giving it a rating or a favorite will do wonders: Rawr
Thank you for reading this chapter.
PayPal
Patreon
Previous
Chapter Fiction
Index Next
Chapter
RSS
About the author
Comnts(13)
Set Compact
Log in to comnt
Log In
Load Comnts
Log in to comnt
Log In
The (Entire Website) Dark Light Dim background 0% 20% 40% 50% 60% 80% 100%
Font Size 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 22 24 28 32 Reader Width Max 90% 80% 70% 60% 50%
Font Family
Default Open Dyslexic Atkinson Hyperlegible Arial Roboto Open Sans OS Default Comic Sans Lucida Verdana Ubuntu Ubuntu Condensed Franklin Gothic Garamond Caslon Minion
Font Color
Indent
Color Sche
The Default OLED Black Royal Road Dark Dark Gray Gray Light Gray Sepia White
Paragraph Spacing
Close
Points You can specify how many points you want to give (minimum: 0, maximum: 0).
Comnt (optional) Why are you giving this user reputation?
Give Reputation Close
Royal Road is the ho of web novels and fan fictions! In our amazing community, you can find various talented individuals who write as a hobby or even professionally, artists who create art for them, and many, many readers who provide valuable feedback and encouragent.
Royal Road is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a ans for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon. Dark Light Create a support ticket
Contact Us by Email
Ads for Authors
Programmatic Advertising
Royal Road 2013-2022
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Blog | Status
Tap again to scroll to the top!
User Comments
0 comments from readers