Star Forge Titan

On the contrary, the glass box not only has the four sides, top cover and transparent bottom inlaid with extremely fine gold wire to create extremely beautiful and complex decorative patterns, but also has excellent sealing properties as a whole, which can ensure that the things placed in it will not be easily rusted and damaged over time.

"It must be fake!" Thorin's voice was full of disbelief.

Then, the young dwarf walked quickly forward, opened the glass box roughly, and quickly picked up the axe with rather crude workmanship.

“This is my first independent work.”

Looking at the axe, which was very miniature in size and obviously more suitable for children, the dwarf's eyes were excited and a little confused.

"Why is it placed in a place like this?"

Heidi and Ivan looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other's eyes.

"Perhaps, the Witch King Senedd thinks this thing is a treasure worthy of being placed alongside the Witch King's secret technique." Ivan said hesitantly in a low voice:

Then he saw Thorin's back froze.

"Is that so?" The dwarf's voice became a little hoarse.

"Hmph, what an unlikable old fellow." Thorin snorted, but his hand holding the axe handle was trembling slightly.

"Open it with that axe. The thing inside should be the treasure that Sened left for you." Alvin patted the dwarf's shoulder.

Thorin took a deep breath and did not look back so as not to let his two companions see the tears rolling down his face.

Then he nodded silently.

"it is good."

Chapter 19: Yellow Bird Spreads Its Wings

At the same time that Alvin and others arrived at the treasure hiding place, Howling Wind Mountain, in the river city of Nulnris, the fighters of the Fist of Freedom were also secretly making various intensive preparations.

"Master Brad, Fighter Dietri has sent out a carrier pigeon to report that there have been unusual movements from both the bandits and the Flesh-Eating Bee Tribe in the surrounding areas."

Behind Brad, who was flipping through the documents, a man in a white hooded cloak suddenly appeared from the shadows.

"Did Evan come true?" Brad, who was given the title of 'Master' after becoming the new leader of the Free Fist, was not surprised by his subordinates' elusiveness.

As rebels who have been in a high-pressure environment for a long time, most of the Fist Fighters are very good at stealth operations.

In other words, boxing fighters who are not good at stealth operations are more likely to be sacrificed in various operations, thus indirectly forming an objective elimination and screening mechanism.

"In just a few days, the order came from another city-state to the vicinity of Nunnris. Those guys really have a lot of hidden cards." The new master Brad thought to himself.

"No, even the troops might have arrived. After all, we had to take care of civilians on the way here. If it were a purely military group, relying on their excellent mobility to arrive here in advance, to be honest, it wouldn't be too difficult."

"Master, do you want to send the fighters out again?" the subordinate asked in a low voice.

"There's no need to make a big fuss. Besides the 'little mice' that have been exposed, there must be 'moles' hiding deeper." Brad waved his hand.

"Let the masters of the Fighter Council act with me. The rest of the Zhenggequan fighters and fighter apprentices continue to hold their posts."

"Master Brad, are you also going to participate in this operation?" the subordinate asked in surprise.

"Well, if nothing unexpected happens, the person coming this time is most likely that villain Hopt. After all, the city-state he rules is closest to Nuenris, so it is also the most threatening force." As he spoke, Brad slowly clenched his fists, but his mind recalled his mother's face.

Memories from over twenty or nearly thirty years ago have become blurred. Only that intense emotion, like a scar, is deeply engraved on his heart, and even time, the most powerful force in the world, cannot completely erase it.

"Hopt..." The subordinate fighter revealed a hint of gnashing resentment when he pronounced this name.

As is well known to the public, the vast majority of Fist Fighters were once forced into gladiatorial slavery.

After all, their physiques are naturally stronger among their kind, otherwise they would not be more talented than most people in practicing boxing.

Therefore, the experience of being a gladiatorial slave was a very common past for gladiators. It was also because of this experience that they hated the Witch King Hopt, the bloodthirsty butcher who ruled the gladiatorial city, more strongly than other Witch Kings.

However, the young man in front of him did not seem to be doing this for this reason. To be precise, he had a strong hatred towards all beings named Witch King.

"Master Brad, I apply to join this operation." The subordinate lifted his hood, revealing a young face. It turned out to be Lucas, who had just joined the Free Fist.

"Apprentice, you are too young and should not participate in such dangerous operations." Brad shook his head and rejected Lucas's self-recommendation.

"Why, I'm already stronger than some Zhenggequan fighters." Lucas tried to argue:

"Strength can explain a lot, but it doesn't represent everything." Brad was not angry, but instead smiled.

He saw the shadows of himself and many of his fellow apprentices in this young man. Once upon a time, they were also impulsive, reckless, yet full of confidence.

"But..." Lucas pursed his lips tightly and did not continue. He knew the discipline of the league and his behavior just now had actually crossed the line.

"I know you want to prove yourself." Brad sighed softly. The child in front of him was the son of his senior brother Hayden.

Although he was a traitor, it was undeniable that he was also an excellent boxer.

Lucas had clearly inherited his father's talent, excelling in boxing techniques. Even with only the ordinary Flowing Stone Fist, he was able to perform exceptionally well, even possessing a subtle aura of innovation.

However, because Hayden, or Hound General Hunter, pointed this out directly on the ring, some people within the league seemed to have a subtle aversion to Lucas.

Although they didn't show it too blatantly, the sensitive young man was obviously aware of it.

That's why he was eager to demonstrate his identification and loyalty to the Fist of Freedom's creed by completing more difficult tasks.

"There can't be any problems in this mission, so..." Taking out a roll of parchment from his pocket, Brad thought for a moment and slowly pushed it towards Lucas.

"If you can master this new boxing technique, you might be considered for the next mission."

"This is..." Lucas looked at the rolled-up parchment scroll with some excitement and confusion.

"My junior fellow apprentice, Alvin Elian, also practiced the Flowing Stone Fist before, and later made some modifications and optimizations to this style of boxing. If you can master the modified Flowing Stone Fist." Brad paused and did not continue, but his meaning was already very clear.

"I understand! Master Brad, I will definitely work hard to practice my new boxing technique!" Lucas excitedly held the parchment scroll against his chest.

That's the boxing style modified by Master Ivan Elian! The youngest and most powerful master of the Free Fist, he's also the one who actually killed the Witch King!

"Good, very energetic!" Brad clapped his hands and then signaled the excited young man to leave.

He heaved a sigh of relief only after Lucas's figure disappeared from the room. He pinched his nose bridge with a headache and felt a little embarrassed.

Sorry, young man, the boxing technique I gave you is really not easy to learn...

Alas, I don't know what's going on in my junior brother's brain. How could he come up with the idea of ​​imitating the 'Fighting Steel Armor' to strengthen the power of the configuration? This new boxing style sounds ridiculous.

Flowing Stone Fist, tsk tsk, after his modification, the boxing style was no longer even a shadow of Flowing Stone Fist, it was completely on another level. I hope that young man doesn't get hit too hard, it would be bad if he was too frustrated.

Well, let’s wait for my junior brother to come back and let him give the other party some pointers.

Speaking of which, Junior Brother's age seems to be about the same as Lucas's, right? Perhaps even younger?

Brad suddenly realized this and couldn't help but touch his old face, letting out a very helpless yet somewhat happy sigh.

On the other side, Ivan, who was being scolded by his senior brother, suddenly sneezed.

Thorin, who was standing beside him, was so frightened that he almost dropped his axe.

"What's wrong? Someone missed me? Is it Frey?" The black-haired boy muttered, then gave the dwarf an apologetic look.

Thorin rolled his eyes and clenched his hand again, the miniature axe that was the first successful forging he made as a child.

"I'm going to open it." Nodding to Heidi and Ivan, the young dwarf raised his axe again.

"Ha!" Thorin let out a low roar and accurately hit the severely rusted lock.

Although it was of crude quality, it was still an axe. The lock on the bronze treasure chest shattered, breaking the last obstacle preventing them from opening the chest.

Ivan and Heidi tacitly kept silent, waiting for Thorin to slowly adjust his mood.

"Huh..." The young dwarf let out a long breath, with a little anticipation and a bit of uneasiness. He reached out and pressed the top cover of the treasure chest.

Thorin opened the treasure chest without hesitation, but what appeared before the three of them made them fall silent.

Chapter 20: Mantis Appears

"That damn old guy!" Thorin gripped the axe angrily, his face flushed red.

But as he cursed, two lines of tears rolled down his cheeks involuntarily.

The luxurious bronze treasure chest, considering the price of metal in the desert, could be considered part of the treasure itself. However, within this luxurious treasure chest, neatly arranged were no secret ritual information or expensive gold, gems, or magical materials.

Instead, most of the space inside is occupied by wooden ponies, toy dolls, pretty stones, etc., which are treasures only for children.

Thorin silently reached out and touched these things one by one. He couldn't remember when he had received some of them as gifts, but there was no doubt that these were things that were closely related to his past.

In the center of the treasure chest, there is a bottle of dwarven liquor.

The brown glass bottle and the trademark with a simple image of a lonely mountain indicate that this is just a bottle of ordinary dwarven liquor produced in the dwarven homeland.

The middle of the glass bottle was tied with a sailor's knot with valuable silk ribbon. There were tears on the sides of the ribbon, making it look like it had been torn from pajamas.

Tied to the bottle together with the ribbon was a piece of paper with several lines of densely written words in messy handwriting. The language used was not some ancient language with mysterious meanings, but the most commonly used Xuma language on the continent.

"I hope you, whoever reads these lines, are my foolish nephew. If so, you at least survived. Well done, silly boy."

"Well, congratulations on your luck in making it to adulthood. This is your coming-of-age gift. But since you've been drinking my wine since you were fifteen, I guess you don't care about this."

"Besides, now that you're an adult, you can throw away these useless things, right? Little crybaby Thorin." The note contained surprisingly much rambling, and it was clearly a rather long letter.

"As for the Witch King's secrets, forget it. I've already thrown mine into the forge and burned it completely. Even for us dwarves, that stuff is a spiritual poison. Ha, just come with me to the afterlife and kill people."

"The remaining Gaia Disc fragment is a very valuable treasure, but it's best not to use it. Throw it under the box and leave it to those bastards to grab."

"As for you, my foolish, poor, pathetic nephew, being a bard is not a bad thing. At least you won't be short of women. It would be even better if it could increase the population of the Armitage family several times."

Having written this, there is not much space left on the note, and there is only about a palm-sized space left to write two more lines.

"If you still want to become a powerful transcendent, instead of studying the Witch King's secrets, why not take a look at the Witch King's Notes? Hey, I'm Giant Rock Sened. No, that's not my name... Forget it, I'll just be Sened. Dying as a tyrant is at least better than living as a beast."

"Anyway, the box contains my travel notes, the travel notes of a poor dwarf blacksmith. If you, a fool, want to continue on the path of transcendence, perhaps it can help you."

Thorin lowered his head and said nothing. Drops of tears fell on the crumpled note, causing the ink to blur a little, but the last two sentences were still clearly visible.

"Goodbye, Thorin—"

Senedd's handwriting left a scratch here, which seemed to reveal the lingering restlessness and hesitation in the heart of the writer.

Finally, Senedd quickly wrote another line in a sloppy handwriting.

"Goodbye, my child."

Ivan and Heidi looked at each other and both chose to remain silent.

But Thorin, who was holding the note or the suicide note of the Witch King Thaned, clenched his fist and slammed it to the ground.

The young dwarf's stubborn back bent slightly, and big drops of tears rolled down his nose and fell into the sand, leaving dark water marks dotted on the originally yellowish ground.

After a while, he slowly moved away the miscellaneous items that took up most of the space in the box. As expected, just as what was written in Senedd's suicide note, at the bottom of the box was an old travel notebook, or adventure notebook.

It was an old notebook with a leather cover, secured with a string. Tied to the string was a fan-shaped fragment.

At first glance, there was nothing unusual about it, but the familiar appearance and the unique magical fluctuations it emitted allowed Alvin to recognize at a glance that this was also a broken Gaia disc fragment, which had special permissions that gave the user access to the earth's magical network.

"This thing... is useless for a bard." Thorin said in a voice as if his nasal cavity was blocked, and handed the notebook and the fragments to Ivan.

"Are you sure?" Alvin didn't answer immediately. He was certainly not being pretentious, but some things could not be taken without hesitation just because of huge profits.

Seeing his expression, the female mage nodded secretly, and subtly expressed her satisfaction with her own vision.

"Ah, I've already said it, I just want to be a bard." Thorin raised his head, he seemed to have figured something out, and he became relaxed. Although his face was smeared with his own hair, he still showed a very bright smile.

Ivan silently took the notebook and the Gaia Disc fragment, and then saw Thorin take out a sturdy copper piccolo, standing in the middle of the treasure room and playing a very popular song among adventurers, "The Happy Busker".

The fast-rising melody is like two small half-orc ballerinas, jumping on the spot alternately. Of course, if you consider the height alone, they can also be two dwarf ballerinas, but the picture might be a little subtly uncomfortable.

In short, this cheerful tune immediately filled the air with undisguised joy.

Putting aside the burden in his heart, Thorin walked out while playing music on the piccolo.

Behind him, Alvin held the fragment and hesitated for a moment whether to remind his dwarf friend that there were still traps outside that had not been disarmed, and it would be better not to be distracted by playing the flute.

But before that, the first thing he saw was the prompt "Super Administrator Authority Fragments Have Been Connected" emerging from the void in front of him.

[Super administrator privileges are undergoing self-repair, and the total amount of mana available per day has increased to 20 universal standard units...]

With this calculation, as long as enough Gaia fragments are accumulated, perhaps we can try to complete the transformation into the giant god form purely using the magic power of the earth veins?

A subtle feeling came to his mind, and Alvin suddenly realized that the super-large magic conduction project built by the ancient Giant Kingdom was, in a sense, more valuable than any relics hidden in the silent desert.

Combined with Heidi's previous conjecture, could she try to truly change the future of this area?

It is not about simply killing a few bad guys, but about making fundamental changes to the entire area from a macro perspective.

Turning the desert into an oasis...

Listening to the dancing melody beside my ears, a spontaneous joy emerged from my heart.

Although I don't know why I am the one to inherit such a powerful power, at least I can give it a try, try to make more people on this land happy.