After the holy sword is broken

The kingdom of dwarves has a very peculiar architectural style.

Their houses are low, the doors and windows are very small, and the streets are also very narrow, but if you look far away, you can see many magnificent man-made objects.

The huge gear set that covers the sky and the sun operates at a high place, and the gears of different sizes rotate at different speeds, pulling tracks that lead to nowhere.

A huge castle-like heating furnace stands in the open space.Surrounded by a group of dwarves on both sides, they operated the mechanical arm to continuously send incinerators into the furnace cavity and blow air into it.

The heat distorted the air nearby, and the working dwarves were sweating profusely in short-sleeved singlets.

Similar heat stoves can be seen from a distance across the house.It is precisely because of the existence of these high-temperature furnaces that the temperature of the entire mechanical city is much higher than outside, making it suitable for living.

The big mechanical clock on the clock tower pointed to the hour, and the bell rang from nowhere, and the cold and rigid voice read out a prayer to the God of Forging.

The long train spouting steam above the front of the train slowly stopped on the platform.

"The scene here is the same as what Eli said, no, it's even more amazing."

Alger's eyes lingered around, and his tone was full of admiration.

"You guys talked a lot." Burgess' voice was flat, with no emotion or anger.

Alger didn't pay attention, just observing the surrounding environment which was completely different from the human empire.

Because of the rising temperature, the thick fur cloak was no longer necessary, Alger took it off and put it on his arm.

"Here we are," said Burgess.

The style of this house is similar to that of the surrounding ones, all of which are dark in color, built with stones and metal, and even the door is polished with a whole piece of slate - the northern region is very cold, and wood is difficult to obtain.

The only difference is that this house is slightly higher than other houses, allowing adult men to move around without feeling oppressed and cramped.

Burgess rang the door bell.

Soon, the door was opened.

The boy who hadn't seen him for a long time, his eyes lit up when he saw Burgess, he rushed forward and hugged Burgess with his arms.

"Teacher! I'm so worried about you, can you bring me with you next time?"

Burgess was bumped back by his apprentice, put his arms around him, and stroked his head: "Don't worry, I'm fine, I'm back."

Apprentice Eli poked his head out from Burgess' side: "Mr. Alger, hello."

Alger nodded, his smile was as gentle as a spring breeze: "Long time no see."

Burgess let go of the young boy in his arms: "Go ahead, I asked you to prepare, are you ready?"

"It's all right, I also told the senior dwarves of the Ruger clan that you can go to them at any time.

"I've tidied up your room. The bed has been made, the quilt has been toasted and loosened. The furniture in the house has also been checked, and everything that needs to be repaired has been repaired. Would you like to sit down and have something to eat first?"

The lighting in the room is good, not as gloomy as it looks from the outside, but bright and clean.

"Good job," Burgess praised.

Eli smiled shyly, his freckled face flushed.

"Ah, that's right." He suddenly remembered: "Mr. Alger, where are you going to sleep at night?"

"He lives with me."

"The floor is fine."

Two people exit at the same time.

They looked at each other, and the atmosphere was awkward for a moment.

Elaine murmured: "Otherwise, Mr. Alger sleeps in my place, and I hit the floor..."

Burgess stared at Alger and interrupted Eli: "You have the heart to let a child sleep on the floor for you?"

"..."

of course not.

But Burgess is Eli's teacher, out of respect, it is impossible for Burgess to sleep on the ground while the apprentices lie on the bed safely.

"And you are a guest, I can't neglect you."

Alger was choked up, thought for a while, and then said: "Is there such a plan, that is, Eli and I sleep together, or you and Eli?"

This time, the apprentice responded quickly.

"Mr. Alger, I sleep badly and I will kick you."

Burgess made a final decision: "So, it's settled."

... Well, it's been so many days anyway| we fell asleep together.

Alger silently said to himself that he shouldn't get too entangled in such trivial issues.

Life in the Dwarf Empire is novel and interesting.

The whole country seems to be made up of machines, and it operates precisely according to the rules set by the dwarves every moment.But the dwarves living here are all grumpy and rough.

When the mechanical clock pointed precisely to the meal time, they sat around the big round table, eating rough food, with beer foam on their shaggy beards.

The steam car always arrived at the platform on time and left on time.The dwarves who failed to catch up chased after them and ran for a long way cursing before returning to the platform reluctantly and waiting for the next bus.

The temperature during forging should be accurate to the centimeter.The tinkling sound of forging could not cover up their loud noise.

When discussing the forging process, he was also very irritable. He opened his voice, desperately trying to get the other party to recognize his ideas.

Alger didn't understand dwarven language very well, and when Borgins quarreled with the dwarves for the first time because of the analysis of the holy sword atlas, he broke in directly.

Because the scene was too chaotic, the movement of breaking the door did not attract much attention from the dwarves. Even Burgess, who was a human, fell into the "battle of truth" and didn't even look at him.

Alger, who was left out in the cold, looked blankly at the scuffle scene in front of him, as if he had returned to the battlefield of Hell's Gate.

No, it will be even more noisy and chaotic. The dwarves can even suppress the opposite point of view with their allies, and then fall out with their companions at the previous moment because of a small detail in the blink of an eye.

"Your method is absolutely wrong, listen to me!"

"...%&*# theory doesn't support your idea, are you dreaming?"

"Obviously, you are wrong..."

"How dare you oppose me?!"

"With the glory of the Ruger clan..."

"shut up!"

With his dwarf language literacy that he had never passed, Alger understood some fragments piecemeal, his ears were rumbling, and he couldn't bear the environment here.

Take a look at Burgess, who stands out among the dwarves because of his tall stature.He was lowering his head, using fluent dwarf language, arguing with several dwarves opposite him.

Alger smiled unconsciously, and Burgess, who was arguing vigorously over there, raised his head and looked at him as if he had a sudden feeling.

Across a group of noisy dwarves, the two looked at each other, as if they were suddenly drawn into another time and space.

The heart beat heavily, causing pain in the chest, the noise in the ear went away, and only the other party remained in his eyes.

It seemed as long as an era had passed, but when they came back to their senses, the dwarf who was giving a generous speech had just said the beginning.

Alger smiled again, and silently backed out.

After arguing day and night for three full days, the follow-up work was finally settled.

"We need to debug a potion first, called [Dark Tide]."

Alger felt familiar: "It has the same name as the natural disaster in the ancient continent?"

"Yes."

During the ancient continent, gods and humans lived together.At the same time, the barrier between the plane of demons and devils and the plane of the main material is not as strong as it is now.

According to legend, every once in a while, the evil power will rise like a tide, hitting the barrier between the planes.

Dark creatures are waiting for an opportunity, and the creatures on the mainland will fall into a period of hard resistance until the rising evil force naturally falls back.

This ancient law is called "Dark Tide".

"...Why is this potion used in forging the holy sword?" Alger couldn't figure it out. In his opinion, the holy sword should be absolutely holy and not stained with any darkness.

Burgess played with a small piece of metal in his hand, and said in a light tone: "The reason, do you want to hear?"

Alger shook his head: "No need."

Anyway, I can't understand.

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No, if you are really idle, you can make a rabbit out of this piece of alloy."

Anyway, this guy can even knead Chimera's horns into powder with his bare hands.

Burgess threw the metal block in his hand to Alger and watched the other party easily catch it.

"Eli." He called into the inner room, looked at the young boy who ran out after hearing the sound, and smiled, "Come with me, I want to teach you a new lesson."

Blacksmithing is an important branch of ancient alchemy that has been passed down to the present. As a blacksmith, one must master some of the old skills of the ancestor.

The stone door of the alchemy room was closed.

The door shafts produced by the Dwarf Empire are of superior quality, enough to support the weight of the stone door.There may also be some floating and lubricated miniature magic circles inside, so that when the door shaft turns, it can be smooth enough.

Dwarves are rough in character, but they are very patient with forging and machinery, and they must be perfect.

That's one of the few cute things about these grumpy beards.

Both Burgess and his apprentice Eli entered the alchemy room, leaving Argel alone in the living room.

There was no one to chat with him to pass the time, and he was not planning to go out alone for the time being—this was the territory of the dwarves. As a priest of the poem of truth, if he accidentally exposed his identity, it would be very difficult to end.

Even for the sake of Borgins... No, it's better not to trouble him.

Alger sat on the chair alone, and as Boggins said, he began to fiddle with the small piece of alloy.

When Burgess came out with his apprentices, what he saw was a surprisingly small and cute one——

"tit?"

He picked up the metal bird on the table and looked at it repeatedly.

The metal block thrown to Alger was very small, and the finished product was of course not that big, about the size of two fingers curled up.The shape of the whole bird is chubby and chubby, and the beak is very short, which looks naive.

Burgess asked casually, "Why do you suddenly think of pinching a tit?"

It's cute, and it doesn't fit in with the serious and rigid executive.

"Don't you think it looks a lot like you?" Alger had a slight smile on his face, dispelling the stern aura inherent in his appearance.

"Where does it look like..." Burgess muttered with some dissatisfaction.

Alger chuckled lightly, and changed the subject: "How is the potion refining going?"

"It's half done. Now it should be regarded as the 'Tide of Darkness'. The dark power contained in it has reached its peak, and it is the most dangerous time for the whole bottle of potion. I added a seal to it. If you are fine, don't go to that alchemy room. "

Alger nodded and agreed.

"By the way." Burgess put the metal tit into his pocket, pretending that it never existed, and asked Alger with a serious face, "Do you want to meet the dwarf king?"

"what?"