Star Forge Titan

"As for materials, this mithril should be enough. I wonder if you could... help me?"

"It's Elrond's Diplomat Ring." Unexpectedly, Heidi immediately called out the name of the ring, which made Ivan look surprised.

You know, unlike universal magic equipment like Ogre Gloves and Giant's Belt, which even ordinary adventurers can name, magic equipment with a single purpose like Elrond's Diplomat Ring is often not well-known outside, and even professional alchemists may not be able to recognize it at a glance.

Since Heidi knew this name, it meant that she either had a complicated background or had some complicated experiences.

"It's a coincidence." As if guessing what Alvin was thinking, the female mage waved her hand and explained.

Then, she showed that cunning and bright smile like an Arctic fox.

"Or do you want to question them about this?"

“…” Alvin held his forehead and felt a headache.

This woman is so difficult to deal with!

"It's okay, I was just a little surprised."

"What a coward..." Heidi muttered in a low voice, then explained:

"Well, actually I saw the same thing on the hand of a school girl I knew before."

"When she came to the City of a Thousand Towers to study, she wore this special magic ring on her hand because she was worried that the Elrond demon nobles' unusual qualities would cause trouble."

"So that's how it is." Alvin looked as if he had suddenly realized something.

If it was a demon noble, it wouldn't be surprising to have such a ring.

"So, can it be repaired?" He then asked:

"My attainments in alchemy are not particularly profound, but if you don't mind me using some witchcraft, it's not impossible." Heidi rolled her eyes and continued:

"But then the ring might not look the same as it did before."

During the conversation, the sorceress cleverly avoided questions about the ring's origins and her curiosity about Ivan's identity. It was obvious that she also understood the truth that curiosity kills the cat.

"As long as it can maintain its original camouflage function, it's fine. If that doesn't work, at least it shouldn't be completely damaged. This ring has great commemorative value to me."

"Oh? I seem to smell the sweet scent of love." Heidi glanced at the tall black-haired boy in front of her with a teasing look.

Aiwen blushed, pretended not to hear and continued:

"By the way, it's different from ordinary magic rings. It has been blessed by the power of some advanced magic creation." He didn't care about the issue of information leakage.

The two sides have reached an alliance. Although this alliance is only preliminary, he doesn't mind showing a certain amount of sincerity first.

Only when there is give and take can the covenant become stronger.

"How high-level magic items are?" Heidi's eyes twitched, and she asked calmly:

It would be a lie to say I wasn't curious about this mysterious fellow from the North. Judging from the current situation, he has quite a few secrets.

"It's probably several stories high." Ivan said with a slightly concealed smile:

Just kidding, although the legendary magic sword in his hand is already very powerful, only the true immortal magic creation can be called a holy weapon.

There are only a few magical creations that have reached the immortal level in the entire material world of Palladia. How could he possibly say it so casually?

As for whether the other party will discover something during the repair process or play some otherworldly joke, if the power of high-level magical creations can be analyzed so easily, the number of immortal-level magical creations in the entire material world would not be so pitifully small.

Hearing what Ivan said, Heidi's brows subconsciously raised, and her curiosity became stronger. But she hid it very well and didn't show it at all.

"Okay, I get it. Leave the ring there and I'll see if the problem is serious."

Looking in the direction the female mage pointed, Alvin's movements inevitably seemed a little hesitant.

Because there are a bunch of props for making wool felt...

Damn it! Don't return to your own Ring of Elrond's Diplomat after a while, as it will have transformed into a very, very cute, pink, girly doll ring.

But now that things have come to this, he is too embarrassed to change his mind and ask someone else to fix it.

So, under Ivan's uneasy gaze, Heidi took out a pair of black-framed glasses that looked very bookish, put them on, sat down in front of the wool felt making table, and pulled out a needle to poke the ring.

With a cry of "Ah", the ring, which was originally a dead object, was poked with Q-version eyes, a nose, and even a talking mouth!

"You hurt me!" the ring screamed in a shrill voice.

Ivan was stunned. Even I, a giant spirit driver who had traveled all over Palladia and had seen a lot, had never seen such a scene before! ! !

Then, he saw Heidi communicating with the magic ring that had come to life, like a doctor.

Soon she seemed to find the problem and made a reassuring gesture to Alvin.

Then, a needle pokes the ring to death.

Poke...dead!?!

How did you kill it!?!

How does this make me feel at ease!!!

Ivan thought that the other party would continue to treat the ring like a doctor, but he watched helplessly as Heidi, cold-blooded, merciless, and cruel as the guillotine of the Ba O people, stabbed the magic ring that had come back to life to death with a needle.

Then, the witch picked up the ring and the mithril that Ivan had prepared and threw them directly into a beaker.

What is this going to do?

Ivan's eyes widened. At this point, he was ready to discard the ring.

Anyway, the thing was already broken. Strictly speaking, it would be fine as long as it wasn't completely destroyed. Otherwise, Frey would probably have to say some soft words. The soft-hearted Demon King should be easy to coax... right?

While he was daydreaming, the next scene he saw almost made Alvin jump up.

"Don't worry, it's not a big deal." Although she said this, Heidi's hands movements did not make people feel at ease.

She actually threw the beaker containing the ring and the mithril block directly into the large stew pot filled with star-colored liquid in the corner and started to cook it!

This is the witch's method???

Chapter 21 New Image

Fry, deep-fry, cook, and boil.

These four words should originally be the steps required to make food.

At least before today, Alvin had never associated these words with alchemy...

Compared to the hot daytime, the desert nights are so cold that they are like two extremes.

So, even when standing in front of a nearly boiling pot, Heidi was dressed very warmly.

She was wearing a black dress that dragged on the ground, with a pointed soft nightcap on her head that she had forgotten to take off. Her long, slightly curly black hair flowed down her shoulders, making her look deep and mysterious as if it had merged with the black dress.

This outfit, coupled with the way she stirred the stewpot and the ancient language she whispered, made her look like a witch in a bedtime story.

Of course, compared to most of the ugly and old witches in the story, Heidi looks much younger and more beautiful. Her tall figure and the undulating curves under the black skirt, coupled with the title of witch, make her look more weird and mysterious than usual.

In short, when Heidi used a spoon that was almost as long as her slender calves to fish out the brand new diplomat ring from the stew pot, the black-haired boy who once thought he had seen everything in his travels felt numb.

Without paying attention to the client's expression, Heidi picked up the ring with tweezers and took a look at it.

In terms of appearance, this magic ring with the function of camouflaging its image has basically not changed except that the overall shape has become more "bling bling" as if a filter has been added.

"It should be fine. I replaced the original overloaded and melted magic circuit with a new one made of mithril. Now, even if there are abnormal fluctuations in external magic power, it won't affect the equipment itself."

As she spoke, Heidi's eyes raised slightly and her expression became curious.

This ring contained a very strange power, and she vaguely felt that it even involved the mysterious concept of time.

Therefore, under the premise of not affecting the original structure and this special magic as much as possible, Heidi repaired the damaged parts inside the ring as simply as possible, and at the same time slightly optimized some designs that were outdated due to the times.

Generally speaking, none of this was difficult, but on the other hand, it was also hard for her to imagine.

What kind of dramatic environmental change could this ring, already a solidified magical effect, be severely affected to the point of disrupting its normal operation, even causing the magic circuit within the item to melt due to the abnormal changes in the external magical environment?

Considering that it involved personal privacy, Heidi was curious but did not say it directly. However, the look in her eyes when she looked at Ivan was inevitably a little strange.

"Thank you." Alvin thanked him and took the ring.

His keen senses made him notice that the weight of the ring had not increased but became lighter. This might be the change brought about by replacing part of the raw materials with mithril.

Compared to other magic-friendly metals with excellent magic conduction effects, Mithril can be said to be the lightest and strongest type among them, and the change in weight is precisely a very intuitive point.

"Don't you want to give it a try?" Heidi's voice was quite calm, and she was obviously very confident in her alchemy skills.

Considering his incredibly strong resistance to external unnatural magic, Alvin was not worried that his new partner would take the opportunity to have any bad intentions. He was only worried that the effect of the ring would be weakened after repair, which was a common problem after many damaged magical items were repaired.

If the camouflage ability of the diplomat's ring is not strong enough, it will result in the diplomat being unable to disguise his or her unusual body shape, and this is actually not a simple personal image issue.

Considering that the upcoming fight for the 'Witch King's Secret' is different from ordinary adventures and will inevitably take place both openly and secretly, a new image that is different from one's true image and less likely to attract attention is particularly important.

Before putting on the ring, Alvin hoped to at least make his body shape similar to that of a normal person.

But when the magic ring took effect, he found that he was worrying too much, or rather, his worries were in the wrong direction.

Although the witch's alchemical methods are unique, the effects are excellent, even too good.

The Diplomat's Ring, originally enhanced by the power of the immortal magical artifact, the Crown of Time, now allows Ivan to adjust his appearance according to his age. This allows his muscular body, transformed by the Elrond mysteries, to appear more like that of an ordinary person.

At that time, considering the limited adjustment range of the diplomat's ring, Alvin's disguised appearance was probably that of a strong young man about 1.85 meters tall.

Although it still cannot be called particularly ordinary, at least it will not be particularly eye-catching.

However, the diplomat's ring, which was repaired by the witch Heidi, made Ivan's image at this moment very different.

The northern man, who had the same black hair as the witch, possessed a charm that was perfect. Although it was not entirely a feature of his appearance, it certainly included his outstanding looks.

Under the influence of the genetic factors of higher creatures, this kind of handsomeness is truly perfect.

Combined with his tall stature, he exudes a solemn and majestic aura, like a statue of an ancient god. If combined with the relatively slender body of a young man...

He is a typical beautiful boy~!

Hearing the obvious change in Heidi's breathing rate beside him and looking at his new image in the mirror, Ivan felt helpless.

What the hell is this? As a macho player, you should have some shame!

Even though his heart was roaring like a tiger, Alvin had to admit it.

"Just because of the disguise, it's really hard for people to associate me with my real appearance."

Are you kidding? A two-meter-five-meter-tall man, as strong as a demigod hero in mythology who walks the earth and accomplishes all kinds of great deeds, and a slender and tall young man, as handsome as Adonis, the god of spring. No one with a normal mind would easily associate these two people with completely different appearances.

The magic ring's camouflage is comprehensive, so there is no accidental incident of clothes slipping off due to inappropriate size. At the same time, it also makes Alvin, who uses the ring to change his body shape, look more exotic.

Heidi stared at the exotic and beautiful boy in front of her, who touched the ring helplessly and put back his disguise.

"Tsk."

In an instant, he heard an undisguised and obviously dissatisfied smacking sound.

It seems that even the Northern Witch, whose strike zone is mainly concentrated on muscular men, has little resistance to beautiful boys.

"Excellent alchemy technique. Do I need to pay any compensation for it?" Alvin pretended not to notice and changed the subject.

"No need, you brought all the materials yourself." Heidi waved her hand and said generously:

Then, the witch's eyes suddenly turned and a cunning look appeared.

"If you really want to express your gratitude, then use your disguise more often in front of me."

“…” Alvin’s expression froze.

Then, as expected, he saw the witch in front of him put on a hateful smile of successful persecution.

Of course, considering the next plan to find people related to the Witch King's secret magic, the unexpected discovery of the magic ring also gave Alvin some new ideas.

According to the preliminary information Heidi collected, the competitors for the Witch King's secret magic can be mainly divided into three forces.

The most powerful among them are naturally the personal guards sent by the remaining four wizard kings to ensure that the secret magic is not leaked.

In fact, Ivan suspected that the assassin who had provoked the previous conflict might also be from one of the Witch Kings. They were undoubtedly the most powerful, but there was also competition between the four Witch Kings, so there were some hidden dangers within this faction.

Secondly, there were the rebels hidden throughout the Silent Desert—the Fists of Freedom. To completely defeat the Witch King's Fist fighters, they would certainly not easily give up the shortcut of finding their weaknesses through the Witch King's secret techniques.

The fact that they were able to kill a Witch King, even if there were other hidden motives behind it, proved that this resistance force had reached a point that could not be ignored. Therefore, Ivan believed that they should be the second most powerful of the three forces.

The last remaining force is the various wild supernatural beings attracted by the Witch King's secret magic, including a large number of adventurers with some supernatural powers, as well as lone supernatural beings like Heidi who came from other areas to seek further possibilities.

They are undoubtedly the most disorganized force, but they are also the most unpredictable. God knows what choices those free-spirited adventurers will make, and it is difficult to guess what the apparent identity of the lone extraordinary person is.

Apart from these three forces, the rest are the possible masterminds behind the whole incident.

Too many coincidences made Alvin conclude that there was an invisible hand quietly moving behind the leakage of the Witch King's secret magic.