Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 2026 1998. Complete Set [The Crucible of a Hundred Images]

"Then take a look at this, boss!"

The kitten held up the sealed box in its hand high towards Lan En, looking quite pleased with itself.

"I've learned how to load and unload war ash from weapons, meow! From now on, boss's weapons can be adjusted by me!"

"Wow, that's amazing, a pom-pom!"

"Hehe, right, meow!"

Managing and maintaining the hunter's numerous weapons and armor is actually one of the duties of a hunting cat, but in Lann's case, many of his weapons are a bit too special, so the plush ball has never had a chance to show its skills.

The hardworking Palico still felt quite uncomfortable.

But now, it has learned how to dispose of war ash, a skill that Belengal doesn't possess, which involves supernatural manipulation of weapons!
The kitten jumped for joy.

As she spoke, the velvet ball pulled out both of her small swords, her big, watery eyes shining, and handed them to Lan En with anticipation.

The Witcher took the two swords in one hand and turned to place them on Xiu Gu's anvil.

"I've come here with a lot of money."

The Witcher said jokingly to the hybrid blacksmith.

"Stop talking nonsense," Xiu Gu said, his sparse, messy head shaking as he swung his blacksmith's hammer. "I can start working once I have everything I need; otherwise, there's nothing I can do. Come on, let me forge it."

The demigod alliance consisted of elite warriors under the command of two demigods, who occasionally carried forging stones.

In addition, during the battle that night, Lan En, along with Rongbuqiu and Qilin, defeated many knights. In the end, Lan En pierced the heart of the demigod Gefia, while Rongbuqiu and Qilin worked together to drive away the dead bird.

They have accumulated quite a bit of runes.

That's why I dared to come to Xiugu to 'spend' some money.

The two cat swords didn't require many materials, and together they were about the size of a normal knight's hand sword.

Because it had already been upgraded once before, the amount of runes required for further enhancement was not small.

As for the battle ash, Xiu Gu didn't put the velvet ball on it.

Xiu Gu has already taught the fluff ball how to attach and detach war ash from weapons. The kitten believes that its fighting style can become more diverse as the types of war ash increase.

It plans to save up some runes and see if there's any chance to buy more war ash from others, which could be stored as a tactical reserve option.

It can be temporarily equipped with whichever weapon is appropriate for the time being.

Even Xiu Gu has two [Disabled Battle Ash] that can replicate other Battle Ash, and he bought them both.

After upgrading the two small swords of the velvet ball to the limit of the current materials and financial resources, Lan En, after a little thought, also placed two pieces of equipment on Xiu Gu's anvil.

One is the projectile on the left arm armor, and the other is the dagger [Fang of the Demon Wolf] on the lower back.

Xiu Gu had previously told Lan En that he wasn't good at enhancing armor or similar things, and if he were to enhance those things, the results would probably be mediocre.

He was a blacksmith specializing in weapons.

Now, as Xiu Gu looked at the two items Lan En had placed before him, his thick-skinned eyebrows furrowed involuntarily.

"This dagger is nothing special, haha!"

The mixed-race blacksmith casually, or rather skillfully, ran his fingers over the blade of the dagger, but the thick, grayish-white skin, like that of a rhinoceros, seemed to disappear before the blade of the demon wolf's fang!
Xiu Gu's thumb was cut.

“I only glanced at it briefly last time, but I never expected this dagger…” Xiu Gu held the Demon Wolf Fang up to him, examining it carefully, and said, “Its blade sharpness is only passable, but its actual effect… is it capable of cutting through space?”

The Witcher shrugged: "A connoisseur knows his stuff."

“Very creative. I never thought that space could be used like this.” Xiu Gu was no longer looking at Lan En. “I’ve made sealed prisons for people before, locking prisoners in other dimensions, but I’ve never had this kind of idea before.”

After saying that, the mixed-breed blacksmith carefully placed the wolf's fang back on the anvil.

If this thing were with the blade facing down, it could probably cut his anvil in half.

"Your weapons are quite peculiar."

Xiu Gu's meaningful gaze made the Witcher smile silently, but he didn't respond further.

The mixed-breed blacksmith didn't seem to expect to get a response from him.

He picked up the projectile he had removed from Lann's arm armor: "But this thing is more of a work of art than a weapon. Mechanical gears, elastic structure... hmm, it looks like something the Golden Law fundamentalists would come up with."

The Golden Law Fundamentals, promoted by Radagan, advocate using mathematical, physical, and logical perspectives to help believers understand the Golden Law.

Therefore, in terms of precision technology, they can be said to be a top group of researchers in the border region.

Lann had witnessed the knights using weapons supplied by fundamentalists of the Golden Law during the defense of Rodel. Exquisite pulley bows were just the basics; crossbows capable of firing at rapid succession like machine guns were also common.

While those crossbow bolts, as thick as roof beams, were being fired from the city walls, Golden Law fundamentalists were also adjusting the firing parameters next to the ballistae, holding measuring tools.

"Can't it be done?"

Lan En didn't know how long Xiu Gu had lived. But he was certain that Xiu Gu was very 'old-fashioned'. So Lan En was a little worried that he wouldn't be able to handle these 'trendy' gadgets.

But the Witcher's sincere inquiry only earned him a surprised glance: "Are you kidding me? It's just a combination of some complicated techniques."

Xiu Gu was merely intrigued by the craftsmanship of the projector, but it was not something he couldn't handle.

Lan En left behind two pieces of equipment, all the forging stones he had, and the golden fragments representing runes on his body were all taken away by Xiu Gu.

The mixed-race blacksmith said it would be done in a few hours.

The forging technology in the border region is quite good, but the consumption is also high. After Lan En finished the Battle of Rodel and defeated Gevya, he still spent all his runes in one go.

It is said that the Faded Ones were also very uncomfortable, since the power required for ancient forging was all provided by the Round Table Hall itself, and they only needed to find forging stones.

Now that everything is paid for out of pocket, those who have faded will know how much effort this is.

The velvet ball was still practicing loading and unloading war ash from weapons, while the Qilin was thinking about whether it could attach war ash to its horns, horse armor, and the like.

As an ancient dragon from the New World, it doesn't actually have any fancy fighting techniques; it relies entirely on its racial talents.

The fact that it could master the Battle Ash without having to practice so hard was exactly what it wanted.

Unfortunately, no exceptionally talented horse has yet created a war grime that suits its size.

Therefore, the hope for the Qilin is slim.

On the other hand, after leaving the equipment he could afford to upgrade to Xiu Gu, Lan En returned to his room in the Round Table Hall.

“I thought you would be reluctant to show up in the Round Table Hall,” Lann said, closing the door without turning around. “After all, this is Two Fingers’ territory. You’ve rarely shown up throughout the entire Rodel region before.”

Behind him, Melina appeared amidst a burst of blue light.

The room was filled with many old-fashioned books, all of which belonged to Baizhi.

The candlelight flickered, casting shadows in the otherwise dark room.

“Even with two fingers, they don’t have the energy to remotely monitor every target they care about.” The soul girl stood among the pile of books. “He didn’t know I existed either. Before… I just didn’t understand, and didn’t want to understand, my mission.”

Melina simply stood among the books, not looking around or moving her feet, just like Lan En jokingly called her 'little wooden block'.

The girl looked up at Lan En, who had turned around, and said earnestly, "It was the journey with you that made me determined to explore my own mission."

Lan En brought her a chair from the room, which inevitably got covered in the Qilin's pale fur, but Melina didn't care at all.

After sitting down, the soul girl withdrew her hands into her large cloak, fumbled around a little, and then stretched them out again, revealing several pieces of parchment that faintly shone with a golden light.

“As agreed, the complete [Forge of a Hundred Elephants] prayer is here.” Melina handed the parchment to the Witcher. “I am very grateful to you for leading me to the foot of the Golden Tree. I don’t think I could have done it on my own.”

Lan En glanced at the stack of parchment and frowned. "I did take you to the foot of the Golden Tree, but you didn't accomplish anything."

"Our agreement ends here, doesn't it?" Melina didn't withdraw her hand, but calmly said to Lan En, "I want to ask you to commit an unforgivable crime... I can't think of any other way to thank you. Just accept it."

"Or are you going to abandon our agreement?"

Melina's counter-question didn't have the questioning or pressing tone typical of girls. She remained calm throughout, as if she could accept whatever answer Lan En gave her with equanimity.

If Lan En agrees, then she will choose to believe him no matter what.

Faced with this girl, the Witcher scratched his head after a moment of silence, and finally stepped forward to take the stack of parchment containing prayers from her hand.

There were only five sheets of parchment.

The first document above records the "Tail of the Hundred Elephants of the Forge" that Lan En had once seen.

Following that are a fire-breathing throat sac, a ramming horn, wings for brief flight dashes, and a fast and swift tongue.

The five prayers combined form the entire prayer system of the Crucible.

Today, countless and diverse prayers have been born from the Golden Tree and the Golden Law.

However, the era explored by the Crucible of Images is too ancient and primitive, so even its expression in prayer appears so rough and direct. There are only five portions.

The Furnace of All Things is a blend of the various life characteristics of the world, and is the origin and blueprint of all life in the current border region before its divergent evolution.

For this reason, Lan En also wanted to draw on the wisdom of the Crucible to guide his subsequent 'evolution'.

(End of this chapter)