chsdbacks Chapter 178 Forging Furnace
Chapter 178 Forging Furnace
Chapter 178 Forging Furnace
The giant octopus has submitted, so it can no longer stay in the box.
Dui left the box space, then, carrying the box, rode a flying broom to the Black Lake at the foot of the mountain.
Then they released the giant octopus from the box.
When the giant octopus Kraken saw the lake, it became excited, as if a thirsty person had found an oasis in the desert.
After receiving permission from Dui, they couldn't wait to enter the lake.
Water is the source of power for the giant octopus Kraken. Nourished by the lake water, it regained its vitality, and its severed tentacles quickly regenerated.
It waved its twenty-odd thick tentacles, merrily stirring the lake and creating huge waves.
Kraken was enormous, almost as large as the dragon Smaug. Such a huge commotion in the lake naturally attracted the attention of the residents of Hogsmeade, on the other side of the lake.
They were startled when they saw the enormous octopus appear in the lake.
However, sharp-eyed people soon discovered Dui's presence.
Seeing that the giant octopus seemed to be subtly led by Dui, he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly accepted it.
After all, their lord already had a dragon, a giant eagle, and what seemed to be a large snake.
It wouldn't be surprising if another giant octopus were added now!
Dui also noticed the commotion from the residents across the way and commanded the giant octopus Kraken, "Remember, you are not allowed to attack the humans over there, understand?"
Kraken nodded; apart from being unable to speak, its intelligence was in no way inferior to that of a human.
It sensed that its master treated those humans differently, and naturally dared not disobey.
Just then, the sound of rapid hoofbeats rang out.
It turned out that Mayor Luke had arrived on horseback.
Because of the powerful presence of the giant octopus Kraken, the horse dared not approach from a distance of over a kilometer.
Mayor Luke did not insist, dismounted, and ran quickly toward Dui.
Luke looked at the enormous octopus and couldn't help but feel a chill, but he still steeled himself and approached Duir, then respectfully said, "Lord Duir."
Dui asked directly, "You're here to ask about this octopus?"
Luke nodded. "Sir, will this octopus be living in the lake from now on?"
Dui nodded, indicating that he need not worry.
"Don't worry about it bothering you. It's a guard I placed in the lake. With my orders, it won't attack the residents of Hogsmeade. Just continue as usual."
Luke breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, but still hesitated before saying, "Sir, some residents want to fish heavily in the lake, I wonder...?"
Dui waved his hand.
"That's not a problem. From now on, half of the lake near the castle will belong to the Octopus Kraken's territory, and the other half will belong to the town's residents. As long as it doesn't get too close to the castle, the rest is up to you."
"Your Excellency is merciful!" Luke said happily.
Luke then brought the good news back to town.
Soon, fishermen appeared on Black Lake who made a living by fishing.
The fishermen all have a tacit understanding: they only fish in the half of the lake closest to the town and never cross the line to the other side.
One day, when a fisherman's boat capsized and he nearly drowned, he was rescued by a tentacle.
The fishermen, who had previously kept to themselves, and the giant octopus Kraken finally crossed paths.
Gradually, the fishermen became familiar with the giant octopus.
Fishermen often bring all sorts of things to feed the giant octopus, especially alcohol, which is a favorite of the Kraken octopus.
The giant octopus also often drives the fish in the lake toward the fishermen, allowing them to return home with a full catch.
As the octopus's relationship with the residents of Hogsmeade improved, the giant octopus would even swim to the lakeside on this side of the town, where it would sunbathe and receive various forms of feeding.
Some daring children play with the octopus's tentacles, or hug the tentacles and play in mid-air.
The adults were completely at ease letting their children play with the octopus, without worrying about the risk of drowning.
Tourists, merchants, and poets from other places also came to admire the scene, marveling at it but not daring to get close.
After settling the giant octopus Kraken, Dui returned to the castle.
He is planning to build a furnace this time.
After acquiring the fairy's forging techniques, Dui planned to put them to use.
He happened to have several boxes of mithril ore sent by Balin, and Moria would continue to send mithril over time.
In the magical world, mithril also exists, and it is also known as fairy silver. Mithril is used in many of the fairy forging techniques, making it a very important magical metal.
If Dui wants to master the forging techniques of fairies, he will inevitably need to smelt and process mithril.
Under the mournful gaze of the dragon Smaug, the mithril ore, which had not yet been warmed by him, was ruthlessly taken away by Dui.
Dui specifically chose the thirty-third floor of the tower and converted it into a forging room.
Before that, Dui first went to the underground passage leading to the lake at the foot of the mountain and used magic to carve out a tunnel deep underground along the inside of the mountain until he found an iron ore vein.
This is just a small vein of minerals. When the dwarves dug the underground tunnels, they didn't think it was worth mining.
But now it's just right for Dui.
He went to the area where the iron ore vein was most concentrated, then took out a fist-sized piece of Mother Mithril and placed it at the core of the iron ore vein.
Then, he opened the mithril box, took out the flame crystals inside, and built an eggshell-like crystal barrier around the Mother of Mithril, mimicking the structure of the original Balrog's lair.
The flame crystals released extremely high temperatures, quickly melting the surrounding iron ore and turning it into bright red magma.
Dui drank the fire-retardant beforehand, which prevented him from being burned by the scorching temperature.
These magma formations surround the Mother of Mithril, resembling a river of lava.
Dui could sense an invisible radiation emanating from the Mother of Mithril, which was slowly influencing the surrounding metallic magma, causing it to gradually transform into mithril.
This transformation is extremely slow; initially, it might take a year to produce just one gram of mithril.
At the same time, the flame crystals are constantly strengthening and purifying the Mother of Mithril, increasing its radiation and transformation speed.
If Dui hadn't possessed the fairy's sensitivity to metal and magic, she wouldn't have noticed this change at all.
Having done all this, Dui stopped there and simply waited.
Perhaps in the next few decades or even centuries, a mithril vein will form here.
While it can't compare to Moria's mithril production, it's still a source of mithril.
As for Moria, although he owns one-tenth of Mithril's property rights, it was fine during Balin's rule, but once Balin passes away, things will be very different.
After all, this wasn't the first or second time the dwarves had broken their promises.
After leaving the iron ore vein, Dui collapsed and sealed the tunnel again.
They then went up to the thirty-third floor and began to work on building the fairy furnace.
He intended to use fire crystals to make the furnace bricks, but the temperature of fire crystals was too high, enough to melt the surrounding stone walls and ironware.
So Dui could only splurge and planned to build a furnace with mithril.
Mithril has a magical property: it is not difficult to melt the first time, but after it is forged and completely cooled, it becomes very strong and heat-resistant. Even if it is thrown into volcanic lava, it is still difficult to melt.
After preparing a bunch of forging tools, Dui took out a mithril container, enlarged its internal space, first put a few pieces of fire crystals at the bottom, and then added mithril ore one by one.
Under the intense heat of the flame crystallization, the mithril ore gradually melted, turning into scalding, flowing silver molten metal.
After continuous purification, Dui slowly poured the mithril molten metal into the mold.
After solidification, a mithril furnace takes shape.
The furnace still couldn't be cooled down. Dui held a mithril-infused iron hammer and struck the inner and outer walls of the furnace at a peculiar frequency. With each strike, he chanted a spell and infused magic into the hammer.
This technique originates from the fairy's forging philosophy that "metals have memory." The fairies believe that metals have "memory," and forging is not only about shaping, but also about "communicating" with the metal.
Therefore, the most important part of fairy forging is to awaken the memory of the metal and connect with it through spells, runes and spiritual power, so that the metal remembers the creator's intention and thus endows the item with unique magical properties.
Each time the hammer struck the wall of the mithril furnace, magical sparks would erupt.
At the same time, the magic injected by Dui, through continuous hammering, fused with the mithril, filling the already magical mithril with even more magic.
The mithril furnace was completely soaked in magic.
Dui then used a mithril engraving knife to inscribe fairy runes on the inner wall of the furnace.
By the time all this was done, a week had passed.
Even with the fire retardant, Dui was covered in sweat, whether from the heat or from exhaustion, it was hard to tell.
Looking at the furnace that was as tall as a person in front of him, Dui waved his wand.
"The water is as clear as a spring!"
The icy spring water gushed out and poured onto the furnace.
The furnace hissed and crackled, and steam instantly billowed and filled the air.
He waved to clear the fog from the room and looked at the furnace containing the finished products.
The furnace is entirely silver, oval-shaped with a large belly, and looks somewhat like an alchemy furnace. The furnace body is also covered with mysterious runes.
Then Dui took out several pieces of fire crystals from the mithril box and put them into the furnace.
Although the lid wasn't on, the intense heat of the crystallized flames was miraculously blocked inside the furnace; even touching the furnace walls only revealed the coldness of the metal.
Looking further into the furnace, the space inside seemed infinitely vast, filled with extreme heat and flames.
Dui threw in a piece of mithril ore, which instantly melted, and all impurities were burned away, leaving only the purest mithril molten metal.
Seeing this, Dui threw in all the remaining large boxes of mithril ore.
Each chest of mithril ore, from the outside, was enough to fill the furnace.
Even though it was all thrown in, the furnace accepted it all without hesitation, and instantly melted all the mithril ore and burned away all the impurities.
Dui gently tapped the furnace with his wand, and the furnace automatically shrank with each tap, eventually becoming a miniature furnace the size of a palm.
Even so, the mithril molten inside did not overflow.
This is the magical furnace that Dui created using the forging techniques of fairies.
The furnace not only has an automatically expanding internal space that increases in volume as more ore is added, but it also has the ability to enhance firepower and purify impurities.
For example, if the flame crystal placed inside has a temperature of 1,000 degrees Celsius, the furnace can increase the internal temperature to 10,000 degrees Celsius, which is enough to melt the hardest and most heat-resistant metals.
The furnace also has the ability to automatically increase or decrease in size; its size can be controlled by tapping it with a magic wand, making it easy to move and operate.
Most importantly, the furnace has one major capability.
That is, it can absorb the properties of the metals smelted in the furnace, making itself stronger and more self-healing.
With this forge, Dui had the most solid foundation to become a master blacksmith in Middle-earth.
(End of this chapter)