Star Forge Titan

Saying weird things again...

Even Heidi found it difficult to maintain a polite smile on her face at this moment, and couldn't help but complain in her heart.

As if waking from a dream, a light gradually appeared in Menis's eyes. She slowly raised her head, and her whole body exuded a huge presence that was completely inconsistent with her slender figure, making Heidi, a high-level extraordinary person, feel an unbearable pressure.

"Let's talk about business." Menis opened her red lips slightly, and a terrifying magical fluctuation emanated from her body.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The female mage said respectfully:

The game comes to an end for now. In the following conversation, or more accurately, narration, Heidi describes in detail various relevant information about magic technology.

The Witch King Menes made no comment throughout the whole process, but her occasional slight nods of the head revealed some of her inner inclinations.

Finally, Menes gave a positive answer to this new technology that was born in the distant Central Empire of Linde.

"Worth a try."

Hearing this, Heidi couldn't help but raise her eyebrows. She breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, she showed an unconcealable joy.

As a northern barbarian with no background in the eyes of others, she left the City of a Thousand Towers, which was full of arrogance and contempt, and traveled thousands of miles to this remote and silent desert to excavate ancient ruins and establish a chamber of commerce to collect wealth.

In fact, there is only one real goal, which is to seek an opportunity to break through to the fourth level.

Otherwise, why would she leave the City of Thousand Towers, the continent's most storied academic atmosphere, and come to a place filled with blood, killing, and injustice? She is a very rational realist!

Even though the former has an invisible ceiling for students from ordinary backgrounds, it at least maintains superficial tranquility and peace.

It's nothing like the Silent Desert, a damn place where not only are there savages who call them barbaric cannibals when they see them, but they even use slavery on a large scale!

Oh my god, can't we at least use feudalism? Slavery and the like are so backward!

As for why Heidi would serve the somewhat neurotic Witch King in front of her, it was also to obtain some information and knowledge about the fourth level from him.

That is precious knowledge that cannot be measured by money, and it is a true 'luxury' that most ordinary extraordinary people cannot access in their entire lives.

According to the contract signed earlier, after completing this important task, she will at least be able to obtain some valuable knowledge related to the fourth-level promotion.

At this moment, Heidi seemed to see a glimmer of hope.

Could it be the luck brought by that young fellow countryman?

The moment she left the Witch King's bedroom, she even had such a strange association that made no sense at all.

After an unknown amount of time, Menis, who was still sitting beside the chessboard, suddenly muttered to himself:

"Magic technology is available."

Without any movement on her part, the lake surface, which was originally as smooth as a mirror, suddenly began to ripple.

A glass hourglass of astonishing size rises from the lake, filled with colorful crystals that occupy one-fifth of its volume.

Menice looked at the hourglass carefully, mainly to see the amount of colored crystals inside. Then she frowned slightly and began to talk to herself as if she was having a conversation.

"The stock of the Heavenly Hourglass is somewhat insufficient."

"The secret method of the earth, no, it cannot be used, and it is not enough."

"Next time, at least one-third of the blood tax must be collected."

"Their lives?"

"It doesn't matter. It's not them. It's them."

"In this world, even the Witch King will die."

"Time, time, it doesn't matter... nothing, nothing."

He waved his hand again and the mysterious hourglass sank back into the lake.

I don’t know what he was thinking about, but a hint of gloom suddenly appeared on Menis’s originally expressionless face.

"Senied actually died like this? The murderer is the Free Fist? Hum, huh, huh, hahahahahahahahaha! Aha ...

In the deserted transparent palace, Menes burst into hysterical laughter without any warning.

The laughter was so wild that the golden crown on the Witch King's head fell to the ground with a jingle.

"It's ridiculous!"

Without any warning, the laughter stopped abruptly. Menes's originally beautiful face now looked as hideous as a devil. After losing the golden crown and letting her hair fall loose, a pair of long ears, only those of elves, were revealed.

This Witch King is not a member of the desert people, but an elf from a distant country?

Completely unconcerned with his unkempt appearance at the moment, Menis panted and stared at the chessboard, his eyes sharp and crazy.

What she was looking at was the handsome swordsman chess piece on the chessboard, holding a long sword and standing at the front of the team.

"What on earth are you thinking about? Captain..."

Chapter 14 Fantasy Tavern

Novel cities are indeed attractive.

But after experiencing the initial novelty, Alvin also had to prepare for tonight's stay.

Considering the huge size of Sanwang and the considerable amount of gold sand in his pocket, he used his rich experience in the game to choose a medium-sized hotel.

An inn that was too cheap was not safe (for other people) and was not equipped to take care of a special mount like the Mountain King. Their stables would most likely only allow this hot-tempered horse to crawl in, provided it was willing.

The inn that Alvin chose was a large two-story building, with the lower floor serving as a tavern and the upper floor as the inn's rooms.

The architectural style of thick walls and small windows in the desert makes the whole building look like a complete rectangular piece of thick toast without a slice. It looks even more like it when considering the burnt yellow color dyed by the flying sand and dust.

The hotel sign was a black-painted wooden board with a bright yellow paint that contrasted sharply with the background. It depicted a large oak mug filled with beer, with a knife and fork overlapping in an 'X' shape next to it, and a key passing through the center.

The former means that the store provides pub services, while the latter represents accommodation and catering services.

Considering that the literacy rate in desert areas is limited, and it can even be said that the vast majority of the lower-class civilians are illiterate, many shop signs use various patterns with obvious symbolic meanings to indicate their business type.

This even supported some poor painters who made a living from this, but of course the number was not large.

All in all, the two patterns mentioned above, which can be understood by anyone with a normal brain, occupy nearly three-quarters of the sign.

And below them, the name of the hotel was written in a line of small, equally bright yellow letters - Warm Sand Pit.

“…Are all the people here ostriches?”

Alvin couldn't help but make a complaint, then pushed open the small double wooden doors of the tavern on the first floor that facilitated the coming and going of people.

It was a wooden door that could be opened in both directions, inward and outward, and would automatically return to its original position under the action of a metal spring.

From this detail we can see that the hotel is quite strong.

The reason is not complicated. Along the way, Alvin discovered a special phenomenon in the Silent Desert.

Ironware was scarce, or more accurately, metal objects were extremely rare. Metal weapons, in particular, were practically extinct throughout the city.

I don't know the specific reason, but anything related to metal is not cheap. Precious metal products are fine, but even ordinary ironware is very expensive. Moreover, you almost never see them sold directly on the counter.

Instead, there are a large number of tools made of obsidian or other materials.

If a dwarf who loves metal crafts stood here, he would probably have the illusion that he had fallen into hell.

Oh, there are actually exceptions to this situation. On the streets and at the city gates, soldiers loyal to the Witch King are occasionally issued metal weapons, and non-commissioned officers and higher-ranking officers have at least one metal dagger.

I don’t know if other desert city-states have similar situations. I guess they should be unified, otherwise the city-states that use a large number of metal weapons will easily gain the upper hand in the fight.

Therefore, the emergence of this special situation must be related to the several witch kings who serve as rulers.

With some doubts, the tall young man from the north walked into the tavern.

What came towards him was a roar filled with anger.

"Lhasa-Devi-Kuppa, Pidanko!"

A drunk who was staggering back towards the double doors was grabbed by Ivan. The alcohol seemed to have clouded his mind, and without thinking, he uttered something in the local slang that outsiders could not understand.

Judging from the reactions of others, it was obviously a very dirty word, so much so that many locals frowned.

Pinching the back of the drunkard's collar, which was slightly cleaner than his greasy skin, Alvin scanned the entire audience with a slightly cold gaze.

Because of his astonishing height and the huge head of the mountain king poking into the store from behind, the noise in the entire tavern instantly dropped an octave.

"I need someone to take care of this horse."

Ivan spoke, holding the drunkard above his shoulder. Even so, the latter could only barely touch the ground with his toes.

Alvin had long realized that this guy was just pretending to be drunk. He was probably a thief who pretended to be drunk and accidentally bumped into someone, but was actually stealing secretly.

Hearing what Alvin said, the tavern and inn owner who was standing behind the bar wiping the glasses with a towel immediately waved to the tavern waiter.

The latter was a young man who dressed neatly and cleanly. He had brown skin, which was common among desert peoples. Most ordinary civilians had brown skin, while only nobles with affluent living conditions considered white skin beautiful.

The brown-skinned young man trotted over and took the reins of the Mountain King with a wry smile.

And then, he just stood there in a daze.

Ra, the sun god, this horse is so huge!!!

...or is this really a horse???

No matter how hard the young man pulled at the leather reins, which were as thick as his wrist, the Mountain King stood still like a heavy statue made of steel, and at the same time looked at the sweating human in front of him with a very human and playful look.

Alvin watched the scene in front of him speechlessly, and suddenly realized that his new mount seemed to be a very naughty (or naughty?) guy.

The reason why she didn't show this in front of him was simply because after being suppressed by force (physical), she clearly realized the difference in strength between the two sides, and then she admitted her mistake very naively.

Ivan shook his head and threw the thief out of the bar door, letting him scream as he flew half the street, then plunged his legs upside down into the smelly garbage dump at the end of the alley.

Then, the two-meter-five-tall black-haired boy continued:

"Don't make trouble, he will take you to have a good meal."

"Puff puff puff!" The Mountain King pouted. Instead of getting angry at Ivan, he sprayed saliva in the face of the young man who was struggling with the reins like a machine gun.

"Hey, your name is Sanwang, not Huang O Ship!?!" Alvin scolded with a smile, then apologized to the young man and tried to persuade Sanwang again.

Finally, in the look of surprise from others, he promised to have the inn put more meat in the manger, and only then did he convince the mountain king to go to the stable.

The huge black horse, its rump as muscular as the rest of its body, swayed as it bounded towards the stables. The young waiter, looking hopeless, dragged behind him. The young man looked like a carp streamer blown by the wind, practically floating sideways.

Shanwang's behavior is not surprising. You know, judging from his age, this horse is still a young boy who has not yet reached adulthood. He just looks a little... anxious?

Walking through the whispering crowd, Alvin sat down in the empty seat in front of the bar without anyone around.

"A room. I need a place to rest tonight."

"No problem, a queen-sized room. Do you need dinner? We have some rare sandworm steaks available today."

The chubby tavern owner pretended to lower his voice deliberately, but his voice was loud enough even in the noisy environment.

"Sandworms? Can that thing be eaten?" Alvin was a little surprised, but when he thought about things like roasted cicada pupae, the appearance of roasted sandworm steaks didn't seem surprising.

"Of course they are edible. Although they are not as valuable as the large sandworms with scent glands, the meat of the small sandworms is more tender and has a texture and taste similar to beef."

The boss happily introduced this special delicacy, and his eyebrows were trembling so much that they almost danced.

"Sounds good." Alvin ordered one without hesitation.

Anyway, I can even digest plates now, so I'll just treat this sandworm steak as a new experience.

"Okay, one sandworm steak set meal." The boss called to the kitchen.

While waiting for the meal, the boss, who had nothing to do, talked a lot with Alvin about sandworms.

As a local, although the other party is not one of those "sandworm hunters who don't care about their lives" (the boss's comment), he also knows a lot about this "local specialty".

Alvin, who had nothing to do, listened for a while and then learned that an adult sandworm can actually spray out tens of thousands of sandworm eggs in one breath like an octopus.

Those egg cases, which are no longer than the palm of a hand, will be spread out over several kilometers around the spawning site, and the extremely hot sunlight in the silent desert during the day will hatch most of the new lives in just a few hours.

More than one-third of these tiny creatures, barely thicker than a finger at birth, encounter various accidents before birth. Until they enter their rapid growth period, they are eaten by various desert animals as prey.

Only a very small number of the luckiest ones can survive. They hide in the sand during their weak infancy and grow up by absorbing water and trace nutrients left by decaying animals.

But after entering the growth stage, the small sandworms, which were originally preyed upon by various animals, will violently and actively prey on all prey smaller than themselves in their territory, until they become the largest predator and the most precious prey in the entire desert.

"Tsk tsk, what a ferocious monster." The bar owner said with emotion, but then he immediately changed the subject.

"But it tastes truly delicious. The meat cut from the middle of a tiny sandworm, no more than a meter in diameter, is comparable to the finest beef. And the meat of sandworms that have developed scent glands is said to have a naturally rich, spicy aroma, making it the desert's finest ingredient."

"What a pity! I probably won't have the chance to see the meat cut from the giant sandworms with scent glands in my lifetime." The boss smacked his lips regretfully.

"Ha, if you really saw the giant sandworm, you would never have such thoughts again. You would only blame your mother for not giving you two more legs to run away." A voice suddenly interrupted:

"What?" The boss turned his head with some displeasure, but when he saw the face of the person who came, the angry expression that had just risen up immediately collapsed.