"I understand. What are the dwarves’ rules for me to be able to go there?" The whale said softly.
The dwarf king turned to him, looking at him strangely. If this human were half of what Vuard said, he would already be someone from another world, and after killing the divine elf with just one movement of his follower... why would he follow the rules?
Bruno noticed the king’s confusion and sighed. "It may not seem like it, but I don’t want so much attention focused on me. The reason Vuard kept that thing a secret was precisely because I couldn’t use it directly in negotiations."
The king understood the point, but obviously didn’t believe the part about not wanting attention. So, he spoke softly, "The place is normally closed to foreigners, but there have been several occasions when humans, mainly from the Three Extremes Sect, have been there."
"Hm... were they humans with a similar appearance to mine?" The whale asked, recalling when they arrived at the coastal city for the quest and saw that fat human from the sect who looked like a twin brother to them. Clearly, he had the subtle Behemoth lineage in his body.
The dwarf nodded in response. "Yes, in history, some very powerful ones visited the kingdom and quickly seemed eager to visit the place. They even spend years working for the dwarves to gain access. There were few, but they have always existed in history."
"Great, saving so many of your people and wiping out almost all the ogres already gives me merits for that, right?" The whale spoke quickly, and the king nodded in agreement. "Just find a way to cover everything up and say it was all a mistake to others. Then, announce only these merits of mine. I came here to go to the Forge God’s temple, get an identification, and go to that secret place. My intention is not to take anything from you; I gave you much more in return."
The dwarf king became excited, but soon remembered the main problem and became serious. The whale, seeing this, continued. "As for the elf, from what I gathered in his memories, he lives in a distant place, and there is no method for them to detect his death. Eventually, they will find out, but there is no way to connect it to the dwarves... as long as your dwarf race doesn’t spill out the beans, that is."
The king sighed in relief and looked seriously at the whale. "The temple is free for you to visit. As a disciple of the Forge God, you will naturally be able to receive identification from the dwarven kingdom without bureaucracy."
"As for the secret tunnel, when I announce everything, there will be no issues with that reward. I will fulfill your expectations," the dwarf king spoke, then his gaze became tense, and he continued, "About that..."
"All dwarves, even those who live outside, are part of the kingdom, right?" The whale said dryly, and the king nodded in agreement. "So, I will hand everything over to Vuard. He will return to my city, and your daughter is now his, correct?"
The king froze slightly and clenched his fists. It was unclear whether it was because of the whale’s question or the excitement for the high dwarf’s legacy. He only had his daughter, and she was being handed over... but he had said it before and couldn’t go back now. On the other hand, if Vuard receives the entire legacy, then the high dwarves will finally exist again. Vuard wouldn’t be a pure one, obviously, but he would have their blood, bringing various benefits, and that would be passed down to future generations.
Time passed, and the king did not deny it. Soon, Vuard became excited, and Ruri smiled happily. The whale continued without caring, "This solves the problem. They will return together to my domain and continue to be part of my people and the dwarven kingdom. And your children will inherit everything from him, being able to return to the kingdom whenever they want."
The dwarf woman and Vuard joined hands in excitement, and soon, the woman took a step forward and bowed before the whale. "My name is Oldis, sir. I will follow and worship in your kingdom with my children forever."
The whale nodded slightly; this was the best outcome. They would keep the legacy under their wings. And it still maintained a very close connection with the dwarven kingdom. After all, the king was still in middle age, and his daughter was married to the only high dwarf in existence. Soon, they would have an unshakeable relationship with the dwarves.
The dwarf king took three days to cover everything up; luckily, most of the people who witnessed the event were connected to the kingdom. And the tavern where the whale stayed was practically the closest building to the king’s castle, not causing a commotion in the city.
Ruri spent this time with Oldis, chatting and getting to know each other. The dwarf general was retired from his position. Vuard assured the whale that the general was an old friend and wouldn’t cause problems in the future; he just hated ogres more than usual because his wife was captured by them long ago and died with them.
After everything, the king released the whale to go to the Forge God’s temple, saying it would take a few more days to get permission to explore the secret tunnel. The temple was in another dwarven city, and now Vuard and Oldis accompanied them while all the women stayed temporarily in the king’s castle.
It was a peaceful journey that lasted a day. Every dwarf they crossed paths with, or who recognized Vuard or Princess Oldis, quickly congratulated them. Dwarves were united and sincere, not involved in intrigues or saying things different from what they thought. So much so that the princess, despite having many suitors, simply told everyone that she already liked someone else, and they abandoned the idea without problems; if they were humans, there would certainly be disputes, possibly bloody.
The second city was equally large but simpler and without merchants of other races in sight. It was a city entirely dedicated to forging, so the god’s temple was there. There were other races, but they were only those who wanted to learn the art of forging and lived near the furnaces practicing. According to Vuard, the third city was dedicated to mining and supplied all the forges in the kingdom.
Upon reaching the center of that second city, they found a simple but well-maintained temple. Right at the entrance, the whale noticed an imposing statue of a dwarf with a blacksmith’s hammer in hand.
"Is this his image?" they asked.
Oldis replied cheerfully, "No, this is a disciple of the Forge God, an ancestor of our people. He built the temple and spread most of the stories we know. Legend has it that he ascended to the divine realm."
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The whale nodded. It would be a surprise if the Forge God were really a dwarf. Dwarves were directly connected to the laws of the earth, with some small variations. On the other hand, the Forge God, to create the runic seal, should have broad knowledge and mastery over infinite laws and elements. Dwarves studying things unrelated to the earth were challenging for them, even though they were as intelligent as any other race. It was like a sea beast cultivating the laws of fire; it was possible, but it represented a giant challenge. And each different law would be a challenge at the same level.
They entered and soon found themselves immersed in a place, as if surrounded by bright stars. In every corner of the walls, there were runic seals carved. Alm and Bruno analyzed each one slowly, then, after minutes, sighed disappointedly. These were incomplete seals, like drafts of existing ones. They even recognized some seals they used in an embryonic form.
Then, they walked to the center of the temple, where they saw a book. "These are the words of the ancestral disciple of the Forge God, about his master," Vuard said lightly.
The whale took light steps and reached out...
Then, suddenly, all the ’luminous stars’ in the temple froze. The temple started vibrating rapidly, causing everything around it to shake.
Everyone was stunned. The whale simply didn’t care and grabbed the book. Soon, they saw all the seals carved in the temple light up intensely, and rays of light emanated from them, converging everything towards the whale...
Meanwhile, Alm and Bruno sighed and closed their eyes, feeling information being transmitted to their minds.
The dwarves from the city felt the commotion and the lights in the temple, running in fear. They saw Oldis and Vuard, who calmed them down. But, seeing the whale surrounded by rays of light from the temple seals, they were paralyzed.
It took an hour for the whale to open their eyes. Ruri looked at them excitedly with the attention caused, and they waved thoughtfully without caring.
Bruno, still digesting the information, mentally said: ’It’s an intriguing method created by the disciple... it’s called Heaven Refinement...’ Then, suddenly, the green screen appeared in front of them.
[Congratulations, breakthrough achieved!]
[Level 2] [Forge God’s Dao] [Unlocked]
’What...’ Alm and Bruno thought at the same time, as a flood of knowledge poured into their minds.
They closed their eyes and took another hour to stabilize. When they woke up, they had joyful and intrigued eyes.
’The heaven refinement wasn’t a method created by the disciple. It was something that was at level two, and we got the knowledge in advance. Since we got it without buying the level two from the system, the system gave us everything,’ Bruno said with a smile. ’So it’s possible to reach higher levels without buying directly. Just learn the basic method of the higher level.’
’Yes, but there’s nothing to celebrate,’ Alm said dryly. ’Bumping into the higher level isn’t easy; we even created a different method by merging the Yin and Yang of tattoos and didn’t get the level three for free.’
’We were lucky to figure this out, but now we don’t need to rely on the system for everything. If we study up to the limit of the level and try to foresee the higher level, with our experience, we can achieve something similar and advance,’ Bruno commented, and Alm had to agree. If it was something they knew, like Yin or laws from their universe, it was possible.
’Well, we’re in the queen’s universe. There must be hints about Daos in various places; we just need to have lucky encounters, and we can get free breakthroughs, or maybe even a Divine Dao or a system technique. Everything is possible, and we found a search window for the future,’ Alm concluded.
Soon, they thought about their types of runic seals, and another screen appeared.
[Available Types of Seals: 6]
[Sharpening]
[Storage]
[Parasitic]
[Repulsion]
[New] [Prudent Elegance]
[New] [Enchantment]
Alm and Bruno saw two new level two runic seals. Let’s not forget repulsion was the one that existed on the axe they received from Oria in the celestial realm, so they read the descriptions of the new ones instead.
[Prudent Elegance - Armors become like fabrics and clothes, deceiving perception. Their defense is increased, but when the user is attacked, it is activated automatically, reverting to its real form.]
[Enchantment - Capable of fusing any type of laws with metal or ore. If the material is not resistant enough, it will be destroyed, so it is recommended to use laws that the material has an affinity with. The fused laws become something natural, as if it were born with it, creating a symbiosis between the laws and the material, enhancing both at various levels.]
The whale’s heart beat violently, and Ruri, along with everyone in the temple, felt the unusual excitement coming from them.
’This prudent elegance can be useful, but enchantment is something exceptional and came at an excellent time,’ Bruno said, almost laughing.
Alm added with an excitement rarely seen. ’We have three internal runes, we have a pure weapon spirit and the core of an immortal weapon to use.’
The two were excited, thinking about the possibilities. As soon as they found the diagram in the castle and decided to go to the dwarven realm, they hoped to create a perfect weapon for themselves. In the dwarven realm, they could find useful things and were not disappointed. Now, many possibilities have opened up.