Star Forge Titan

As a magical material, Fire Elemental Crystals can be used to craft magical equipment and alchemical products. If they are exceptional crystals, they can also be used as consumables in the advancement rituals of certain core talents, such as 'Boiling' and 'Burning Embers', which are spellcasting talents involving the elemental realm.

Compared to the simple introduction given by the system, the information conveyed to Alvin by 'Core·Reshaping the World' was simpler and more straightforward.

[Crystal fragments of the Earth Realm. Swallowing them can slightly increase the range and speed of reshaping materials. They can also be used as consumables to add explosive properties to objects. If higher-level crystals are swallowed, the corresponding properties can be infused into objects without consumption.]

What do you mean?

It's very simple. He can directly swallow the materials needed for other core talent advancement rituals to enhance his own core talents, or use them as spellcasting consumables to increase the explosive effect of the sculpture.

Simply put, their advanced materials can only be used as dog food to accelerate the growth of "Core·Reshape the World", or more accurately, they are only suitable for use as dog food...

Although I had been mentally prepared before, cultivating this kind of talent with amazing effects would inevitably require a lot of time, effort and resources.

But after seeing the description of advanced materials being used as dog food, Alvin still felt like he was going to collapse.

All half-bloods are like this. Could it be that pure-blooded Titans grew up eating flawless gems?

The ingredients for dog food already required full-quality elemental crystals. He couldn't imagine what the key ingredients needed for true talent advancement would be. Even the ritual ingredients would probably have to be at least superior-grade gems.

Thinking about it this way, it’s no wonder that Alvan Erian, the Star-Forging Titan who originally appeared as the big boss in the game plot, had to wait nearly half a century before launching his plan.

It seems that he has spent all this time looking for dog food and talents!

"What's wrong?" Seeing Ivan standing there in a daze, Afrediya couldn't help but ask.

"Nothing." Alvin forced a smile.

"I thought of something interesting."

"What's interesting?" Afrediya continued to ask.

"I heard that there is a gem museum in the Shield Dwarf Royal Court, which is filled with all kinds of excellent gems." The smile on Ivan's face gradually became sinister.

"I heard that the ancient white dragon of the Hiigara Peak in the north has collected a flawless gem called the North Star." A shadow covered the handsome face of the black-haired boy, but his smile was extremely sunny.

The more Afrediya listened, the more confused she became.

"???"

Ivan looked up at the sky, and there seemed to be a flash of light in the corner of his eyes.

"Actually, there is always a way!"

Chapter 14: A Flaw

Although this news is a bit disheartening, a true hardcore player is never afraid of the depth of the pool.

Moreover, from this unexpected information, Alvin also inferred some other relevant intelligence.

Since matter infected by the power of the elemental world can promote the growth of his own core talents, perhaps this can also show from another aspect that the mainstream view of Lind historians that "Titans are the ancestors of giant creatures" is not correct.

On the contrary, those giant gods might be closer to some kind of god-like existence worshipped by the ancient giants as described by the elven time recorders. They might have created the giants but have no direct bloodline relationship with those huge creatures. Even the Titans' bodies might not be as huge as the giants.

After all, the giants are just some large humanoid creatures living in the material world, while the Titans obviously have a more complex way of existence.

Otherwise, their growth would not require forces outside the material world, just as animals growing in the desert do not need to eat seaweed to grow.

Looking at himself, Alvin felt more and more that this guess was probably closer to the truth. Otherwise, why wasn't their secret tribe that actually had Titan blood a tribe of giants? Instead, it was a hybrid like him who looked closer to humans.

According to the main storyline of the fifth edition of the game, Palladia, in the ancient era when the gods were not yet born and there were almost no records, there were some advanced creatures that today's intelligent races cannot understand. The plot related to this will not officially appear until the sixth edition after the natural disaster.

According to this inference, the Titan Giant God is very likely one of them. Perhaps in order to upgrade his talent of "Reshaping the World", he has to go to other planes such as the Elemental Realm.

Sighing, Alvin decided to put aside those things that were too far away at the moment.

After concentrating his energy, he completed the identification of all materials and equipment in less than three hours.

What is somewhat surprising is that as a commercial city located at a transportation hub, the amount of extraordinary materials and equipment circulating in the Flanders black market is obviously not large. This is not natural, coupled with the abnormal behavior of the local Alchemist Association.

"It smells like a large-scale mission." Alvin muttered to himself as he turned the elemental gem in his hand.

"Hmm? What did you say?" Afrediya, who didn't hear clearly, glanced at him.

"It's nothing. Take your time eating. We still have at least 27 hours of safe time." Alvin shrugged.

Unfortunately, he was not a player in Elrond's camp in the past, and he was not clear about the missions that took place in this area in the first version of Rise of Kingdoms, otherwise he could have made some guesses.

At this moment, the two were sitting in a restaurant on Flanders Central Commercial Street.

Just now, after Ivan completed the task and made the delivery, Jabba said that he would prepare the materials on the list and the remaining payment before sunset. He also took the initiative to help them book this restaurant, which was highly rated by most people, saying that this was an extra token of gratitude for completing the appraisal work ahead of schedule.

It was obviously no coincidence that the fat merchant was so fat. The venison and lamb chops provided by the restaurant he recommended were very delicious, and paired with the expensive spices sent from afar by the Genoese merchant, they were far beyond the reach of ordinary restaurants.

Afrediya used the cutlery in her hand to take and cut the food gracefully and quickly, and the plates in front of her piled up at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Safe time? You didn't seem to mention it before." Hearing what Ivan said, the red-haired girl paused.

"It took much longer than I thought, and telling you about it would affect my mood, so I simply didn't tell you." Alvin said lightly.

"Don't hide such an important thing. I'm not a child anymore. There's no need to take care of me in this kind of thing." Afrediya puffed up her cheeks and seemed a little unhappy.

However, even though she said this, the corners of her mouth subconsciously raised into a beautiful arc.

"How do you calculate the safe time? Wait, let me guess. What spell did the wizard use last time?"

"Well, there is indeed some connection." Alvin nodded.

"Actually, the principle is simple. As long as we take Flanders as the center, substitute the average movement speed of ordinary fourth-level professionals, and then set the nearest major cities as the starting point, we can estimate the approximate time it will take for the enemy reinforcements to arrive after discovering us." Alvin said nonchalantly. Those spies whose forces did not exceed the second level were not a big threat to him, so he needed to pay more attention to the enemy's high-level professionals.

"Haven't you ever considered the possibility that there are high-level professionals from the other side stationed in this area?" Afrediya was a little surprised, but she felt that the black-haired boy in front of her would not make such a simple mistake. Obviously, there were other reasons that prompted him to make such a judgment.

"Well, think about it. Flanders is a commercial city, with frequent and large-scale caravans coming and going. Therefore, the undead faction that studies plague and necromancy is naturally more unwelcome here than elsewhere."

"If they are just some spies, the local forces may just ignore them, but if they really send high-level professionals here, the Governor of Flanders will definitely be the first to stand up and oppose it." Alvin briefly explained his judgment.

"So, if you were the other person, how would you deal with such a problem?" The black-haired boy looked at the red-haired girl with interest, who did not stop using the knife and fork in her hand while thinking.

What? I didn’t expect this guy to be such a glutton. But this also seems to explain why she, um, has developed so well.

While thinking about something bad, Afrediya's voice came to my ears again.

"Sending ordinary subordinates who won't be driven away, etc., seems too inefficient and requires too many people, which is not realistic."

"In addition to our own people, other people can also be temporarily mobilized for matters that do not involve core secrets." Alvin gently reminded.

"Yes, they can completely rely on other forces within the city. There is no need to consider the governor. The only ones left, besides mercenaries and adventurers, are..." Afrediya paused.

"Those who manage the dark side of the city?"

"Yes, including the big gangs that manage black market transactions and the various small gangs scattered in the slums, all people active in the dark side of the city can be temporarily recruited by them." Alvin said calmly.

"Although the Undead faction is suppressed by other factions within Elrond, to ordinary people, they are still the high and mighty wizard masters, and we would never dare to easily refuse their requests."

"So you're still going after the black market?" Afrediya's heart tightened. But while she was a little naive, she wasn't truly stupid. Otherwise, she wouldn't have become the forty-third Demon King.

So apart from this question, Her Royal Highness the Princess simply raised her eyebrows and continued to put who knows how many lamb chops on the plate without changing her expression.

Seeing Afrediya's performance, Ivan nodded approvingly.

"According to the information they have, who is the person you are working with now?"

"A somewhat eccentric barbarian." At this point, Afrediya began to understand his thoughts.

"Yes, a somewhat weird barbarian." A smile with a hint of irony appeared on Ivan's lips.

"Pfft." After figuring it out completely, Afrediya couldn't help but laugh out loud.

At the same time, Jabba, who had just finished counting the materials and equipment, was also listening to the reports from his men.

"They came back this morning with Old Hans' caravan. The two sides met on the main trade route of the northern ice field. The man even sold a white bear skin to Old Hans. At that time, the two claimed that they were travelers who did not have time to leave the ice field during the white tide, so they had to hide from the blizzard in a nearby tribal settlement." The subordinate whispered.

"Sounds like there's nothing wrong." Jabba pinched his carefully maintained mustache and put away the ointment in his hand.

"By the way, is there any news on the people that Dead Face is looking for?"

"No, speaking of this, it seems that they are also looking for a man and a woman. Could it be..." The subordinate's eyes moved, and he looked at Jabba uncertainly.

"Did you cum your brains on those bitches last night?" Jabba looked at his subordinate as if he were a moron.

"Those Dead Faces are looking for a barbarian with a woman, and our distinguished guest, although he just left the ice field, is an alchemist. Damn, rich alchemists, do you know that even their toenails are a hundred times smarter than those barbarians on the ice field." Jabba laughed as he spoke.

"If this is a new joke you came up with, hahahaha, I have to admit that it's a pretty good joke! Hahahahahaha!" Jabba laughed so hard that his mustache trembled and his fat body swayed like waves.

"Ha, ha ha." The subordinate smiled awkwardly.

Suddenly, Jabba's smile faded without a single symptom.

"If you know, why don't you go find them now? We can't afford to mess with those dead faces!"

In the restaurant, Afrediya wiped the corners of her mouth with a white napkin, with an embarrassed blush on her face.

"You are so healthy, Your Highness." Ivan said jokingly while looking at the stack of plates with his chin supported by one hand.

"Yes, is there a problem?" Afrediya glared at him with a red face.

"No, I just feel that the man who marries you in the future must be very rich, otherwise he might be eaten out of poverty." Alvin sighed in a pretentious manner.

"Go to hell!" Afrediya kicked his calf lightly under the table.

"I have a reason for doing this." The eldest princess protested, but then she hesitated and did not explain the specific reason.

"Okay, enough joking. There is no mage organization in Flanders. After ruling out the mage tower as an option, should the ceremony be held at the local Blood Order or the Alchemy Association?" Alvin said seriously.

"The Blood Order has always been a loyal member of the royal party. Although they may not support the reformists, at least they will not go against the Gusmith royal family. Therefore, the local order must be under close surveillance by the Undead Cult. If we want to hold a ceremony, we can only choose the Alchemist Association." Afrediya made a wise judgment.

"Then let's go to the Alchemist Association and rent a venue." Alvin nodded.

"I just so happen to be curious about what they're busy with. They can't even carry out routine work like identifying magical items."

"You, don't forget that we are still being hunted. Please don't cause any more trouble." Afrediya pressed her forehead with a headache.

"Well, it seems that there is really no tension." Alvin scratched his cheek.

"Who is to blame?"

"Is it my fault?"

The two looked at each other and laughed at the same time.

An old salted fish human flesh plug-in player is knowledgeable and fearless, while a princess magician has too many great undertakings and important things to do.

Faced with the reality of being hunted by a fourth-level wizard, both of them remained exceptionally calm and just acted according to the original plan.

After joining the Alchemy Association, Alvin did not make any trouble. As an outsider, he rented a spell laboratory from the front desk receptionist.

As a commercial city, Flanders has many outsiders coming in every day, so the corresponding rental services are naturally very developed, and even the public laboratory of the Alchemist Association is no exception.

For the sake of the shiny gold pounds, the house was fully equipped with all kinds of facilities, but after paying a small deposit, Alvin's wallet was completely empty.

"The equipment is quite complete. What should we do next? The materials will probably take a few hours to arrive." Afrediya asked casually after checking the equipment.

"Well, this is indeed a problem. If you have nothing else, please teach me the basic grammar and writing methods of Xuma." Alvin suddenly thought of his "illiterate" characteristic.

“…” Afrediya’s eyes widened.

"Well, only at times like this do I feel like you're really a barbarian."

"What's wrong with the barbarians? They didn't eat your bread, did they?" Alvin spread his hands speechlessly.

"Hehe, before the establishment of the Border Knights, the barbarians of the northern ice fields were a scourge to the north of Elrond."

"Oh, I promise that it has absolutely nothing to do with the tribe I used to be in. We are all honest hunters." Alvin said very affirmatively.

Even without awakening their core talents, those Titan hybrids were already comparable to Tier 2 professionals based on their exaggerated bloodline bonuses. Even if the entire Border Knights were equipped with undead horses and were all Tier 2 noble knights, they wouldn't necessarily be able to stop them.

However, thinking about it this way, the adult white dragon that was able to annihilate them all was indeed strange...

"Hmm? This is the first time you've mentioned yourself." Afrediya narrowed her eyes and looked at him strangely.

"...Because there's really nothing much to say." Alvin sighed somewhat melancholy.

"Okay, then let Mr. Gu Smith teach you how to read. But students who are too stupid will be punished." Afrediya seemed to realize something, so she gently changed the subject.

An afternoon passed quickly.

"Were you really illiterate before?" Afrediya showed a skeptical look.

"God Odin, I have never learned Huma language before." Alvin said a little guiltily.

In just one afternoon, he was basically familiar with the grammar and common rhetorical devices of the Xuma language. All he had to do next was to increase his vocabulary before he could call himself a cultured person... probably.

At least the 'illiterate' feature on the system panel has disappeared, replaced by a new entry of 'rough mastery of the Huma language'.

At that moment, there was a gentle knock on the door. Afrediya asked Ivan to continue reciting the borrowed dictionary while she put on her veil and headscarf before opening the door.