PDLP Chapter 40 [Forging the Throne, Forging Divine Weapons]
Chapter 40 [Forging the Throne, Forging Divine Weapons]
All the dwarves were focused on this incredible scene.
A highly respected rune blacksmith is paying the highest tribute to a young orc.
Lin Qi was panting heavily, and the weight of the bag he was carrying on his shoulder made his body feel heavier.
Looking at Master Brok, who was kneeling in front of him with his hands raised high, he was at a loss for what to do.
The time travel only brought basic language translation; Lynch still couldn't understand the meaning of the title, but he could see the changes in the attitudes of all the dwarves present.
A complex mix of shock, bewilderment, and a hint of awe.
Commander Thorin walked over, his body still bearing the blood and wounds from his battle with the Stonejaw Bugs.
Without saying a word, he silently took the young compatriot Brit from Lynch's shoulder.
Then, the highest military leader of the watchtower clenched his fist with his intact arm and pounded heavily on the armor plate on his chest.
This is a military salute used among dwarven warriors to express the highest respect.
This signifies that he acknowledged Lynch's achievement in saving his entire clan, as well as his value as a powerful warrior.
Lynch's status among the dwarves was thus changed.
However, the acceptance of most soldiers does not mean that everyone is convinced.
After the crisis of the mine collapse was averted, when Master Brock personally welcomed Lynch into the furnace workshop and announced that he would be accepted as his last disciple to jointly study the "divine craftsmanship" of the battle axe, doubts began to emerge.
"Master, I admit that he saved Buri and also solved the problem of the stone jaw beetle."
An old blacksmith, his beard braided into a complex three-strand braid and his arms as thick as Lynch's thighs, spoke in a deep, gruff voice, "But that doesn't mean he knows how to forge. He uses that axe with crooked tricks, magical manipulations, not the craftsmanship we dwarves have passed down for tens of thousands of years!"
This viewpoint resonated with a small group of the most traditional and stubborn veterans and blacksmiths.
"That's right! Hammers and sweat are the true essence of forging!"
"Let an orc teach us how to forge blacksmiths? The Heart of the Mountains will be enraged!"
They believed that Lynch had simply taken a shortcut and relied on a powerful magical artifact.
This power did not belong to him, nor did it have anything to do with the forging skills that the dwarves were so proud of.
Master Brock frowned, his white eyebrows furrowing, about to reprimand him.
Lynch beat Brock to the punch and looked directly at the old blacksmith who had raised the question.
"You mean, what I possess isn't skill?"
"Of course not!" The old blacksmith raised his head, his mustache almost touching the tip of his nose. "Do you dare put down that axe and, with the furnace and hammer of our watchtower, have a contest with my apprentice?"
"Ba Jin!" Brock snapped. "He's just been through a major battle!"
"I accept." Lynch interrupted Brock. He needed an opportunity, a chance to shut everyone up completely, and a platform to prove his brilliant idea.
"What are the contents of the competition?"
A smug glint flashed across the old blacksmith Bakkin's face. He pointed to a pile of dark slag in the corner, "Use the most common black iron ore from the watchtower. Whoever can use it to forge a weapon of superior quality to Commander Thorin's dagger will win."
This condition was extremely harsh, causing an uproar.
Using the lowest quality materials to challenge a commander's saber made of refined alloy steel, Ba Jin is clearly just looking for trouble.
"Okay." Lin Qi nodded.
The open forging challenge spread throughout the watchtower.
In the center of the furnace workshop, an open space was cleared out.
The two furnaces were lit, and the roaring flames illuminated the workshop in a bright red glow.
Ba Jin's most prized disciple, a young and strong man, was shirtless, using long tongs to pick raw materials from the ore.
Lynch stood before another forge. Master Brock walked up to him, patted him on the shoulder, and comforted him: "Child, don't be impulsive. The traditional forging of the dwarves relies on hundreds and thousands of folds and forgings, and precise control of the heat. That requires decades of practice."
Lin Qi shook his head: "Master, please believe me. And please, when I need it, give me some guidance."
Seeing Lynch's determined look, Brock said no more and nodded.
Lynch closed his eyes, not in a hurry to get started, as memories of Geer flowed through his mind.
Orcs may not have the refined craftsmanship of dwarves, but their wielding of power and their primal, wild instincts toward metal are innate talents.
He opened his eyes and picked up the heaviest forging hammer from the tool rack beside him.
Following the example of the dwarves, he placed a piece of red-hot black iron on the anvil and then swung the forging hammer.
"Clang!" The first hammer blow was dull and hesitant.
The dwarven blacksmiths watching chuckled, but Lynch ignored them, continuing to repeat the movements over and over again with occasional pointers from Master Brock.
From initial unfamiliarity to gradually finding the rhythm.
Lynch's modern soul displayed terrifying learning and analytical abilities at this moment.
Gale's orc body provided him with unparalleled stamina and explosive power.
time flies.
The dwarf apprentice opposite had already completed several folding and forging processes, and the weapon in his hand was beginning to take shape.
Meanwhile, Lynch was still performing the most basic shaping on the first piece of black iron.
The laughter gradually subsided.
Those experienced masters figured it out.
Every punch Lynch delivered landed precisely on the spot where he could achieve the maximum effect with the least amount of force.
Its power is wild, yet it remains under control.
Under his hammer, the impurities in that inferior piece of black iron were gradually removed, and its density increased.
First, we must use the most traditional dwarf methods to earn basic respect.
As the prototype of a battle axe finally took shape under the hammer, the dwarf apprentice opposite him began the final polishing.
"Not hot enough," Master Brock reminded him from the side. "Your temperature control is too rough."
Lynch nodded; the traditional method had reached its limit.
What follows is the moment to witness a miracle.
He placed the rudimentary battle axe in his hand back into the furnace fire, heating it until it glowed red-hot.
Then, he picked up the mysterious battle axe that was standing to the side.
Amidst the puzzled gazes of all the dwarves, they all focused their attention on their battle axes.
Lynch is attempting for the first time to combine his ability to reconstruct matter with the dwarven forging process.
The thought transformed into countless invisible hands, probing into the microscopic structure of the red-hot axe blade.
The arrangement of metallic crystals is deconstructed and reshaped.
Those randomly arranged iron crystals were disassembled and then reassembled into a more stable and compact structure.
Stubborn impurities that cannot be removed are forcibly compressed, encapsulated, and sealed deep within the crystal lattice, no longer affecting the overall toughness.
To outsiders, Lin Qi simply appeared to be holding a strange battle axe, staring blankly at a red-hot iron block in the furnace.
"What is he doing?"
"Have you given up?"
Only Master Brock sensed the same source, yet a more subtle and restrained fluctuation.
A few minutes later, Lin Qi opened his eyes.
He put down the mysterious battle axe, used pliers to take out the optimized weapon, and threw it into the quenching and cooling liquid beside him.
"laugh--!"
The outcome of the challenge shocked the Forge Workshop.
When both weapons were presented to Commander Thorin, everyone held their breath.
The battle axe forged by Ba Jin's apprentice was exquisitely crafted and gleamed with a cold light; it was a fine weapon from any angle.
The black iron battle axe that Lynch forged had a simple and unrefined design, and even the blade was too straight, lacking any aesthetic appeal.
Commander Thorin picked up his sword and swung it under everyone's watchful eyes, the blade clashing with Lynch's axe blade.
"Clang!" Sparks flew everywhere.
Commander Thorin raised his sword.
On the blade that had accompanied him through many years of battle, forged from the finest refined alloy steel of the watchtower, a nick the size of a grain of rice appeared.
Lin Qi's black iron battle axe, however, still had a smooth blade, without a trace of damage.
Bakkin and his supporters saw that this was a completely new technique that could revolutionize the history of dwarven forging!
Master Brok trembled with excitement. He rushed forward, snatched the black iron battle axe, and gently stroked the cold blade with his fingers.
"I understand... I understand!" he announced, as if he had just realized something.
"It has been forged by the fiery heat of our furnace, which has been passed down for thousands of years."
"And there is the divine axe, 'Heart of the Rock,' calmly deconstructing the 'frost' of all things, reshaping their spirit!"
"I hereby announce that this entirely new forging technique will be named—'Frostfire Forging'!"
He raised the ordinary yet extraordinary black iron battle axe high.
"This is a sacred weapon bestowed upon us by the Heart of the Mountains, to face the endless darkness to come!"
No one raised any further questions.
Lynch was no longer "that orc"; he now had his own forge and the right to use the workshop's resources at will.
He won the heartfelt respect of all the dwarves.
When all the dwarves address him, they respectfully call him "The Heart of Rock Craftsman".
That night, when the hustle and bustle subsided, Lin Qi sat alone in front of his own forging table, gently wiping the mysterious battle axe that had accompanied him through life and death.
It seems something has changed.