mijobooks Chapter 63 [The Contract by the Forge]
Chapter 63 [The Contract by the Forge]
Bahrain's hostility subsided, and it loosened its grip on the tomahawk.
He looked down at his masterpiece, then looked up at the piece of scrap metal that Mason was holding aloft.
An indescribable emotion welled up inside me.
It was a primal and passionate declaration.
The dwarf grinned, revealing an incomprehensible expression.
He wasn't facing a group of robbers.
They were a group of apprentices in a state of ignorance, the most primitive and fervent apprentice craftsmen.
This standoff stemmed from a misunderstanding.
He put away his battle axe, a move that stunned Kahn and the radicals behind him.
In their logic, the best time to attack is when the enemy lays down their weapons.
"He's scared! Kill him!" Kahn roared, and was about to lead his men to charge.
"Stop!" Anya, along with several women, spread their arms and stood between the two groups of people.
She stopped all the impulsive men in their tracks. "Do you want your children to never see their father again?"
The radical men looked at each other in bewilderment, and their offensive crumbled instantly.
Seeing the dwarf's actions, Mason also put down the crude iron axe in his hand.
He pointed to his heart, then to Bahrain, and finally to the weapons on the ground.
The meaning is simple: we have no ill intentions.
Bahrain understood. He strode up to Mason and, under the tense gaze of the humans, picked up the ridiculous iron axe.
He ran his fingers over the uneven, hammered marks on the surface and shook his head.
Then, he pointed to his own battle axe, which gleamed with runic light, then to Mason's "work," and finally to the disproportionate pile of earthen furnaces belching black smoke in the human village.
The dwarf shook his head again, making a large gesture.
Your method is wrong.
Terra and Mason understood this simple message instantly.
Kahn gripped his spear tightly, extremely dissatisfied with Terra and Anya's actions.
In his view, this was a sign of weakness.
But seeing the resolve in Anya's eyes, and glancing at his companions groaning in pain from their wounds, he ultimately remained silent.
The tribe needs those.
A long day has begun.
Bahrain does not understand human language, and humans do not understand the dwarves' way of communicating.
Communication has become a large-scale physical performance.
Balin wanted to explain what "smelting" meant, so he imitated the shape of flowing water, gestured the shape of flames with his hands, and finally pointed to a piece of iron ore.
Humans initially thought he was hungry and wanted to eat stones.
Anya handed her a roasted animal leg.
Bahrain was so angry that he blew his beard and glared.
Mason seemed to have grasped something. He picked up a stone, smashed it against another stone, and then pointed at the iron axe.
Baffin shook his head, pointed to the campfire in the village, and then made a fanning motion with his hand, indicating that a higher temperature was needed.
A whole day.
The two sides spent the time in this ridiculous and absurd manner of gesturing and demonstration.
As the sun began to set, a very basic verbal agreement was finally reached.
Bahrain will guide them in building a "real" furnace and teach them the basics of identifying ores.
In exchange, the human tribes would provide him with food, keep watch, and assist him with physical labor during his exploration.
For example, transporting the ores he found.
When the agreement was reached, Bahrain unceremoniously stepped forward to the first furnace that humanity was so proud of.
The short, stout mound of earth and stones was, in the eyes of the dwarves, an insult to the word "forging."
Under the astonished gaze of humanity, Bahrain kicked the furnace to its knees.
He pointed to the pile of waste soil, then to a small river nearby, indicating that clay was needed.
He also plucked a handful of very tough grass, tore it into pieces, mixed it with his saliva, and indicated that he needed the grass fibers to increase the strength of the clay.
Mason immediately realized what was happening. He led a group of the strongest men and, following Balin's instructions, began mixing the mud.
Construction of the second-generation furnace has begun.
Under Bahrain's guidance, humanity has abandoned the old method of simply piling things up.
They learned to make uniformly sized adobe bricks using wet clay mixed with straw fibers.
They learned to build a furnace with a simple conical chimney to improve the efficiency of air circulation inside the furnace.
The most crucial innovation came from that highly efficient two-person bellows.
Bahrain personally peeled off two complete animal hides, used wood to make a frame, and created two huge bellows.
The principles behind this tool are far too complex for humans to grasp.
But they possess the strongest learning and imitation abilities.
When the two strongest men stood on either side of the bellows and, following Bahrain's demonstration, took turns pushing the lever, a strong, continuous stream of air gushed out of the bellows, making a "whooshing" sound.
It was completely dark.
The second-generation furnace stands tall in the center of the village.
It was taller and more complex in structure than the first furnace.
A sloping feed inlet, a reserved slag discharge outlet, and a simple chimney pointing to the sky.
Bahrain took out a fist-sized piece of iron ore with a dark red luster from his bag.
He threw the ore into the furnace.
Then he lit the charcoal he had taken from his camp and filled the bottom of the furnace.
"Huff! Huff! Huff!"
The two chosen men began to vigorously push the bellows.
A strong wind rushed into the furnace, and the charcoal was ignited.
Orange-red flames spewed from the chimney, accompanied by billowing heat.
Everyone in the village held their breath and gathered around the furnace.
The flickering firelight reflected in their eyes created a sense of tension and anticipation.
Time passed second by second.
The furnace walls were glowing red-hot.
The temperature inside the furnace reached a level that this nascent civilization had never reached before.
Suddenly, Balin let out a low growl and used a long iron spade to poke open the slag discharge port reserved at the bottom of the furnace.
"laugh--"
A stream of golden-red liquid slowly flowed out along the pre-designed guide channel.
It is no longer the ugly, semi-solidified lump of iron mixed with a lot of impurities that it used to be.
It was pure, flowing molten iron, as if it had concentrated the brilliance of the sun.
All the onlookers gasped in astonishment.
They looked at the flowing molten iron as if they were witnessing a miracle.
Mason's lips trembled as he reached out, trying to touch that power.
Bahrain slapped his hand away, then pointed to the ground next to the molten iron that had been instantly scorched, indicating the temperature of the substance.
The molten iron flowed into a pre-dug sand mold.
Upon contact with air, it cools rapidly, and its surface is covered with a dark red oxide layer.
But the metallic luster emanating from within was far purer and brighter than the piece of scrap iron they had obtained before.
"Ho—"
Someone exclaimed in surprise first.
A deafening cheer pierced the night sky over the valley.
People jumped, shouted, and hugged each other, celebrating this epoch-making victory.
They finally mastered the power to turn stone into iron!
In his old house in the countryside, Xu Ye looked at the bustling human village and smiled with satisfaction.
He was about to shift his attention to other secondary cylinders, namely the mortal realm.
In the celestial main vat, which had been calm all along, the scepter representing [forging] began to gleam!
........
【Celestial Realm】Main Tank.
Since being ascended to this so-called "divine realm," Lin Qi, the God of Forging, has spent most of his time familiarizing himself with and maintaining the material cycle of the Heavenly Dao Network.
Authority must be connected with the world order in order to have a stable existence in this place.
It is a duty, but also a constraint.
Day after day, they processed tedious data and had long since stopped paying attention to the mortal world.
The sacred mountain of artisans that he left behind was his final gift to the dwarves.
Lynch firmly believes that his people will rely on their own hammers to forge their own path.
The road has already been built for it.
Without any apparent reason, a clear and resounding bell rang deep within Lin Qi's soul!
"Clang!!" This was somewhat similar to the resonance he produced when he struck the celestial iron with his Frostfire Warhammer.
But it's purer, more primitive!
Back in the mortal realm, when Mason struck the iron sheet with a stone, the faint resonance was like a pebble thrown into the ocean, leaving almost no ripples in his heart.
But this time is different.
The ignition of the second-generation furnace and the flow of the first stream of pure molten iron marked a qualitative change from nothing to something!
This brand-new "Forging Fire" directly impacted the authority of the gods through the invisible network of the Heavenly Dao!
Lin Qi was somewhat taken aback. He directed his divine sense toward the source of the resonance.
My gaze pierced through the barriers between worlds and saw the central valley of the continent of Ashem.
A simple village, and a furnace that is burning fiercely.
Beside the firelight, a lone dwarf stands with his hands on his hips, his face beaming with pride, receiving cheers from humans.
I also saw that group of mortals who burst into thunderous cheers, their eyes filled with a yearning for creation.
They are weak.
They are ignorant.
Their skills were utterly incompetent.
But just like every dwarf apprentice who picks up a hammer for the first time.
Lynch's thoughts lingered on the furnace for a long time, as he recalled the sacred mountain of craftsmen that he had left for the dwarves.
That was a heavenly path leading to the arts of the gods.
It is perfect, rigorous, and impeccable.
But that was the path he defined.
And this group of mortals, guided by that dwarf, are using their own hands, in the most clumsy way, to find a new path that belongs to them.
This path is fraught with mistakes and unknowns.
Yet it is also full of infinite possibilities.
For the first time, Lynch began to waver about the "sacred mountain of craftsmen" he had left behind.