This adventurer is overly righteous.

"That guy probably plans to use this artificial dragon heart to absorb the surrounding magic, then filter out the part from Nibelungen to confirm the location of Nibelungen."

This will be a rather complicated process. First, there needs to be a device capable of absorbing large amounts of magic power—this artificial dragon heart is a suffices to say. Then, a massive magic power analysis process must be carried out. Presumably, that altar was built for this purpose.

"The idea is simple, but few can actually pull it off. I have high hopes for him." Leijin stroked his beard and praised him, which surprised Kroya.

Are you looking forward to him finding the Nibelungen?

Kroya still remembered the scene that Lejin had described to him: Nibelungen was filled with a large amount of dwarven treasures, and the other party probably wanted to find Nibelungen for these treasures.

In a sense, this could be considered grave robbing, and Kroya thought that Lejin would have a very negative opinion of these guys who coveted the dwarven treasure.

"But that was so long ago. Even if there are many jewels buried inside, they have nothing to do with the dwarves of today. The dwarves who escaped from Nibelungen have all passed away. We are their descendants, and we have obtained the greatest wealth from them—the forging techniques summarized by the dwarven craftsmen of the past."

"Those gold and silver treasures are nothing compared to this. The reason I keep recounting the story of the Nibelungs is not because I covet the treasures or miss the glorious and extravagant days of the past. It's just that these things are so ancient that even many dwarves can't remember them clearly, so I have to keep recounting them."

Leikin raised the artificial dragon heart again and spoke to Kroya with great enthusiasm.

"And I would love for someone to find Nibelungen again, to bring this golden city, littered with corpses, back to life, to make it one of the world's most famous underground cities, and to gather all the renowned heroes here..."

"Kill that dragon!"

Lejin wanted to kill the dragon that destroyed Nibelungen. This hatred was partly to avenge his ancestors, but a larger part was to prove the dwarven craftsmanship he had inherited.

"It is said that the dragon's scales are indestructible, and no weapon forged by the dwarves can harm it in the slightest. Its claws are incredibly sharp, capable of piercing any dwarven armor. Its breath is more terrifying than lava, destroying all dwarven structures. Nibelungen, the land of the dwarves, the golden city—our ancestors protected that city with their wisdom, yet they were defeated by that dragon. What a disgrace..."

"Therefore, I, along with the other dwarves, will forge weapons capable of slaying that dragon. I will test just how strong its scales are, how sharp its claws are, and how scorching its breath is. We will use the armor and weapons we have crafted to defend against it, to fight it, and to kill it, so that we may wash away that shame!"

This is why Leijin wanted to forge a divine weapon, a dragon-slaying sword capable of shattering the scales of evil dragons.

"Look forward to it, Kroya." Leijin resumed his usual old-fashioned and extremely arrogant demeanor. "Perhaps the Nibelungen will soon reappear in the world, and a hero will wield the swords we have forged to slay the dragon."

  

"Sounds good." Kroya felt this might be Leijin's life goal. "So, how far are we from forging that sword?"

"I don't know, but doing everything to the best of our ability is never wrong," Leijin said confidently, after all, he had never truly witnessed the dragon's power. "This dragon heart could perhaps be used as material for that sword, but unfortunately, it contains evil power and is not suitable for human use."

"What if we could purify it?" Kroya pondered, stroking his chin. "Use purification magic to completely eliminate the evil power within it."

"That won't work. It will damage the internal structure of this artificial dragon heart, and then the thing will become completely ineffective." Leijin shook his head. "Unless the one who uses the purification spell is a very powerful high-ranking priest who can precisely control his power."

However, if the evil power within it can be completely eliminated, this artificial dragon heart would be an excellent forging material, making it worthwhile for Leigh to modify the sword's design and enhance its power.

"I can help you sell it," Leikin said, stroking his beard.

In a sense, although this artificial dragon heart cannot be used to make weapons, it is still a treasure, since such research products of mages are priceless and have no market.

"Legin, what if I could handle this?" Kroya stared into Legin's eyes and then said, "I want to use it to forge a weapon."

"..."

Leijin remained silent for a while, then began pacing back and forth inside the blacksmith shop.

"I never expected we'd disagree over something like this. This artificial dragon heart is your spoils; you're free to do with it as you see fit..."

He kept his head down, talking to himself as he sorted out his thoughts.

"How about I buy it? How much do you want?" Leijin paused midway, looked up at Kroya and said, "Or perhaps I can exchange some forging material, or my work, with you."

Kroya knew that the old dwarf was not short of money; he possessed many precious forging materials and excellent weapons of extremely high quality.

"If you want a weapon, that's the last thing I need..." Lei Jin continued, then stopped.

But none of those seem to be as suitable for Kroya as the weapon made from that artificial dragon heart.

Lejin's pride as a craftsman prevented him from deceiving himself. Kroya had once demonstrated his magic to Lejin in order to select a suitable sword. It was a magic that infused magic into a sword, greatly increasing its power. The artificial dragon heart could absorb free magic in the air, and that magic could be directly used to make magic after being converted. It was perfect for Kroya.

This is a real problem.

Conflicts of interest are always difficult to resolve. With the artificial dragon heart, Lejin can forge a better sword than previously planned, but the artificial dragon heart belongs to Kroya, and he has no right to interfere. However, he also doesn't want to give it up, which would bring their relationship to a freezing point.

The contract between the two prevents them from betraying each other, but restoring the original friendly atmosphere will be extremely difficult.

Unless someone makes a concession first, but Leijin is unwilling to concede, he wants to forge the best sword in the world, a desire that has become an obsession...

"That's settled then."

Kroya spoke up, showing no sign of being affected by the dwarf's distress, but rather displaying remarkable magnanimity and sincerity.

"Use this dragon heart to forge a sword, and I will give it to you in the autumn of the year after next. With your abilities, Rajin, you should be able to reforge it into the dragon-slaying sword you desire. At that time, I will also help you complete the engraving of the runes."

Kroya had no intention of being an adventurer for life; he would return in two years. He would probably only have two years to use the sword, so what was wrong with giving the sword to Leijin after two years? Kroya didn't feel any heartache. He could see that Leijin was obsessed with forging a perfect dragon-slaying sword, so Kroya was willing to help him achieve his goal.

"But you'd better be prepared to forge a sword that looks exactly the same. I'll take that replica with me as a souvenir of my trip."

"how?"

"I also hope that you, Leijin, can achieve your goal. I think we can be considered friends."

Kroya extended his hand to Lejin. Lejin hesitated for a moment, but the next instant, their hands clasped together, signifying that Lejin had agreed to Kroya's request.

"This is a huge bargain for me," Leijin murmured. It meant that as long as Kroya didn't die, he could get the artificial dragon heart for free in two years.

"Arguing too much with friends only makes me upset," Kroya said to Lejin with a smile. The atmosphere in the blacksmith shop was no longer as cold and tense as it had been at the beginning, but instead made him feel comfortable.

Kroya hates the feeling of being petty and calculating.

"I will make good use of it," Leijin said solemnly, releasing Kroya's hand and beginning to search through the various rare materials he had collected. He would add them to the Dragonheart Sword that was about to be forged. As a dwarf, he had his own pride and would not accept the kindness of others without hesitation.

At least he had to forge this sword to his own satisfaction; only then would it be worthy of Croya's concession and Croya's kindness.

This sword of the dragon's heart will also be a sword of friendship.