Early the next morning, Umair Ironhammer arrived at the three-person room, leading them on a tour of the Gray Dwarves’ pride—the Underground City.
Laiti and Zhang Cheng followed the dwarven guide, while Lu Qiuchen, uninterested in the dwarves’ architecture, stepped aside with Umair.
From her innate space, Lu Qiuchen took out two palm-sized ingots—one of adamantine and one of mithril—holding one in each hand and asked bluntly, “Does your clan currently have the capability to craft magical weapons and armor?”
Umair’s eyes widened instantly at the metals in her hands. Then, hearing Lu Qiuchen’s doubt about their abilities, his gray beard nearly bristled with anger.
“Of course we can! But this is slander against us! Our city does not welcome—”
Lu Qiuchen didn’t wait to hear the rest of his protests. Once Umair confirmed their capability, she interrupted, quickly stating her demands: “I want you to forge me a set of mithril plate armor and a broad adamantine sword. These ingots here will be your payment.”
Umair hadn’t finished his rebuttal when he heard her offer and demand. His face flushed red and then pale, torn between anger over her questioning their skill and the undeniable allure of the adamantine and mithril.
From the moment he first saw the two ingots, Umair’s gaze was captured by their exquisite luster—he could not look away. Just from their shine, he was certain these metals were of the highest quality!
His own people knew their situation well. Since escaping here a thousand years ago, the Gray Dwarves had been digging continuously beneath Betkur, but due to geographic limitations, rare magical metals like adamantine and mithril had become scarce.
Moreover, to trade with other tribes for strong liquors and materials, most of their forging work had been on weapons and equipment of ordinary quality. The first generation who relocated here had died out, and after two generations, the new Gray Dwarven blacksmiths were gradually losing the skills required for high-end forging. Not a single smith in the clan had reached the Grandmaster level.
“It’s possible! But I must receive my payment first!” Umair finally yielded after a brief, intense internal debate.
Between grudges and profit, he decisively chose the latter. Allowing his people to practice their craft while receiving a generous reward was far more important than holding onto some “trivial” resentment.
That grudging a dwarf could be persuaded showed just how difficult life had become for the Gray Dwarves.
Besides, she was offering far too much.
Lu Qiuchen tossed the two metal ingots to Umair, who nervously caught and inspected them. Not a single impurity marred the surfaces.
His eyes burned with excitement and greed as he asked, “Which Grandmaster smith forged these? They’re absolutely flawless…”
Staring dumbfounded, Umair watched as Lu Qiuchen revealed her true aura, the previously concealed energy radiating outward. He exclaimed, “Silver Dragon!”
Dwarves were naturally loud, and Umair’s shout echoed throughout the narrow underground chamber, startling even Lu Qiuchen. Her brows rose slightly as she truly appreciated the dwarves’ boldness.
Satisfied with the answer, Umair fell silent. Facing this great dragon, the entire clan of 3,000 dwarves combined wouldn’t be a match. His earlier greed was instantly quenched.
“Wait, I have one more request,” Lu Qiuchen suddenly remembered and quickly said, “Before forging, none of you are to touch these materials with your mouths. The payment ingots must be melted down and reforged.”
Dwarves, when desperate for food, sometimes ate rocks and metals to stave off hunger. This habit led them to taste metals before forging. Normally, Lu Qiuchen wouldn’t mind, but since the adamantine and mithril had passed through her mouth first—even if the saliva was frozen and shattered without residue—she couldn’t bear the thought of the dwarves licking metals she’d tasted.
Umair found the request odd but nodded in agreement. Seeing no other demands from her, he led her to the underground city’s workshop.
The massive furnace sat at the center, surrounded by Gray Dwarven artisans bustling in the scorching heat. Umair proudly introduced it, “This is the largest furnace in the workshop! A masterpiece of the Gray Dwarves! Its temperature can fully melt adamantine for reshaping!”
Lu Qiuchen showed no interest, cutting off his bragging. Umair, considering the payment, swallowed his pride and gathered the craftsmen to explain her requirements.
Several Grandmaster smiths immediately abandoned Umair and surrounded Lu Qiuchen, shouting over each other.
“Give me the weapons! My skills are the best in the clan!”
“It should be me! Battle axes, war hammers, or greatswords—I excel at all!”
“You two kids dare compete with me? You’ve never forged adamantine before!”
“Ha! Old man, you only ever made one adamantine dagger and had to secretly remelt it after failing once. Do you think I don’t know? Guest, you must not let him handle it!”
“You brat! The enchanted weapons you made for those orcs disgraced our clan!”
Lu Qiuchen watched dumbfounded as the two dwarven Grandmasters went from bickering to swinging hammers at each other.
Her head ached watching this; she was definitely unsuited to dealing with dwarves. Not knowing who was truly the best smith, she dumped all the adamantine and mithril ingots on the ground and tossed the problem to Umair.
She then handed Umair several blueprints—Gothic plate armor and a two-handed greatsword designed specifically for Zhang Cheng.
These designs were from her memory after casually browsing forums with the system. Thanks to the dragon clan’s eidetic memory, she perfectly recreated them yesterday.
As for Zhang Cheng’s height and build, she only needed a mental scan to store the data. Equipment forged from her blueprints would fit perfectly.
Having passed the challenge to Umair, Lu Qiuchen’s business with the Gray Dwarves was done—for now. Next, she planned to visit the Dwarven Kingdom to have the Gold Dwarves craft the second set of armor and the one-handed broad sword.
She had originally intended to have both sets made entirely by the Gray Dwarves, but after witnessing their bickering and infighting, she changed her mind.
To unleash their full potential, she planned to use the hatred between the two dwarven clans as motivation.
Dwarves were a resentful people who would never tolerate their craft being outdone by enemies. Let this be a war without gunpowder.
With that in mind, Lu Qiuchen explained her plan to Umair.
“What? Those bastards want to craft equipment too? Absolutely not!” Umair shook his head vigorously like a rattle.
Lu Qiuchen smirked softly, “Why? Are the Gray Dwarves afraid of the Gold Dwarves’ challenge?”
“Impossible! Those bastards can’t compare to us! I’m just worried they’ll waste these fine materials!” Umair’s tone was fierce, but Lu Qiuchen saw the insecurity behind his anger, strengthening her resolve.
“Add more payment and some raw mithril ore, or I’ll cancel the order.”
With a wave, Lu Qiuchen pulled about one cubic meter of raw mithril ore from her space. She handled the ore casually, speaking calmly.
Startled, Umair gritted his teeth and nodded, “You mustn’t take it back! Fine… we will accept this challenge.”
This would be a battle after a thousand years! They absolutely could not lose. It was time to toughen up the old stubborn dwarves. No, this time he would have to personally join the fight, Umair decided.
Following the contract’s link, Lu Qiuchen found Zhang Cheng and Laiti, noting their relationship seemed closer than before. They walked side by side with the Gray Dwarven guide, touring the Underground City.
Revealing her intention to leave briefly, Lu Qiuchen bid them farewell.
Seeing Zhang Cheng didn’t stop her and whispered something to Laiti, Lu Qiuchen felt both satisfaction at his decisiveness and disdain for his behavior.
At their current pace, by the time she returned from the Dwarven Kingdom, the two might already be holding hands. But Zhang Cheng was still under thirty!
For him to act so swiftly—he was worse than an animal!
After Lu Qiuchen left, Zhang Cheng and Laiti exchanged smiles. They’d been discussing how to avoid Lu Qiuchen’s gaze, but she had solved that problem herself.
Her departure suited them perfectly, giving them ample time to organize their plans and set the stage.
Lu Qiuchen flew out of the Gray Dwarves’ caverns, heading to the Dwarven Kingdom in the north-central continent to find the Gold Dwarven smiths.
Afterward, she planned to return to Dragon Island to seek Odyn’s explanation and deliver the mithril to the Silver Dragon clan.
Since Odyn hadn’t stopped her from obtaining the Dragon clan’s secrets from Kaunte in the spiritual realm, it meant she’d gained his approval and entered the dragons’ inner circle. The promised answers should soon be revealed.
As for her having reported her destination as the Knight Kingdom to the elders, yet frequently leaving the destination, as long as no other dragons discovered it, there would be no problem.