While Kadian sat down to rest with Donnick and Blue, Erin found a corner, silently took out various exquisite alchemy props from the dimensional bag, and then took out the filthy black mud that had just been collected. Lothar reckoned that she wanted to take the opportunity to study the nature of the filthy black mud.

Lothar's mana is already much more than that of ordinary trainee mages, and he has the long mana expertise given by the star "Barrosh the Savage Wise", and his condition is still very good, and he doesn't need to rest at all. So he took the opportunity to start looking at his surroundings.

The place where they were was was a room at the end of the passage, about two hundred square meters in size. The building materials used for the surrounding walls and floors are fine limestone. This stone is excellent for moisture resistance, and is often used by deep rock halflings to build rooms for storing precious metal objects.

In the game, the random copy of the Ember Mine has appeared on every continent, although the specific terrain is different, but other content, such as the types and distribution of monsters, the branch quests that will appear, and the location of hidden treasures, are very different.

As soon as she walked into the passage, Lothar felt an unusual fluctuation in energy. The others didn't notice it, but because he had touched the Legendary Orb, he knew very well that it was the influence of the power of existence. It is precisely because of the influence of that existential power that the filthy earth and black mud cannot invade this passage.

Coupled with the fact that the building materials are different from those of other places, Lothar is sure that the room hides secrets.

Lothar looked around the room and suddenly noticed some strange stone tools among the rubble in the corner.

"Did you find anything?" A cold voice sounded beside him.

Lothar laughed, "It's really strange that Miss Irene would take the initiative to talk to me." ”

"There has been no progress in the study of filthy soil and black mud. You seem familiar with this mine, and I'd like to get more useful information. Erin said.

"Actually, you just have to use a white lie that you think I'm a good man with wisdom and excellence, and you're interested in me. I'm sure I'll know it all. ”

“……”

"Well, it was my mistake to joke with Miss Erin." Lothar glanced at the indifferent face of the future Queen of the White Nights and shrugged helplessly, "I did find something interesting. It's just that it has nothing to do with the undead. ”

Lothar picked up a smooth and delicate wrench made of stone: "This is a stone tool made by the Deep Rock Halfling. It is not used for daily work, but is a ritual utensil. I believe that in this room there is a hidden passage that leads to the altar of the halfling. We might be able to find something useful there. ”

"Will it help us get through the Ash Mine Road?"

"I think so."

"Very well, I'll help you."

Lothar took out her water bottle and said to Erin, "Inject mana into it, almost one energy level is enough." ”

Erin gave Lothar a wary look.

"Miss, maybe the other three don't know. However, I can see at a glance that your strength is far from being as simple as a trainee mage, and it is even possible that you have already condensed into your real name. I'm sure you can do it with mana. ”

The so-called release of mana is an ability that a mage has after condensing into a magic ring and reaching the level of a formal mage.

Mages can use their mental power to control the mana in their bodies, release them directly outside the body, and achieve various effects similar to spells.

It's just that because there is no spell model to shape, the mana directly released is very rough, inefficient and difficult to control.

A one-ring spell consumes one level of mana, and if you want to use mana to achieve a similar effect, it will require at least ten times the mana. Moreover, it is extremely difficult for a one-ring mage to control the mana of the tenth energy level.

Mana release is not a substitute for spells, but in many other areas, this ability can be very useful. Alchemists, enchanters, scribes and other professions all require precise and meticulous mana release capabilities.

Water is a good solvent for temporary storage of mana. Within three minutes, the pot of water in Lothar's hand that had been infused with mana by Erin contained rich mana.

Lothar picked up the kettle and threw it at the surrounding walls.

There was a wall that suddenly showed a pale blue color.

"Deep Rock Halflings use a special incense when sacrificing to their gods. When the burned soot seeps into the wall, it will reveal this blue color when it encounters clear water infused with mana. ”

Erin listened to Lothar's explanation, nodded slightly, and raised her hand to cast a rift cut.

The entire wall immediately fell apart.

The dust cleared, and a passage appeared in front of Lothar's eyes.

The other three people who were resting were also disturbed by the movement and walked over. Lothar ignored them and walked inside with Erin.

The space on the other side of the passage suddenly opened up, at least more than 1,000 square meters. On the four wide walls, there is a group of huge black reliefs, which vividly show the scene of the deep rock halfling group mining ore, casting metal, and making various construction machinery.

In the center is a huge metal altar that has been cast to resemble a hill. Lothar knew that the altar was in the shape of the Golden Hills of Falkland Steelfoot, the patron saint of the Deep Rock Halflings.

Behind the altar, the halfling statue of the god with a hammer in one hand and a wrench in the other, wearing a cowhide girdle, was Falkland Steelfoot.

"This is a meeting place for the hypocrites?" Cadian's face changed.

After the Great Collapse, the gods fell and faith was lost. But there are still those who believe that the gods they worship are not dead, but only temporarily dormant. They still hold on to their faith and are steadfast in their belief that the gods will return once again to unite this shattered world.

This kind of person is called a hypocrite.

Because their existence threatens the new rulers of the continents, the mages who once defeated the gods. Therefore, all the belief activities of the hypocrites can only be carried out in secret, and once they are exposed, they will face the catastrophe of extinction.

Lothar knows the truth about the Great Collapse and knows where the world is headed in the future. He has no prejudice against the so-called hypocrites, unlike a mage like Kadian, who has been brainwashed by lies since childhood, and is shocked.

"Whatever those Deep Rock Halflings believe, at least what they left behind is useful to us." Lothar said.

"Useful? Those broken copper and iron? Dornik sneered and pointed to the mountain of scrap metal piled up behind the idol, and turned to leave.

Erin stared at the forehead of the Falkland Steel Foot statue. There was a white-gold gem set there, which was dim and dusty, but still radiated a little brilliance.

"The patron saint of the Deeprock Halfling may be dead, but his legacy remains. That Divine Power Gem stores the existential power of Frank Steelfoot. It's small, but it works. It was this gem that formed a barrier that made it impossible for the filthy black mud to invade. ”

Erin glanced at Lothar, her eyes deep and dark as ink.

"You don't know anything like a trainee mage at all. I have seen many mages who are stronger than you, but few have I seen more knowledgeable than you. ”

"I just like to read."

Erin glanced at the divine power gem on the idol again, and said in an indifferent tone: "The power of this stone is about to be exhausted. According to you, if it loses its protection, the dirt and black mud will soon erode the area. It's hard for us to have a safe foothold anymore. ”

"So, we need to hurry." Lothar looked at the broken copper and iron behind the idol, and her eyes lit up, "Evil underneath is growing wildly. If you don't have enough strength, I'm afraid you won't be able to get out of this mine. ”

With that, Lothar began to carefully examine the reliefs on the surrounding walls.

Perhaps to others, these reliefs are just works of art that record the production and life of the deep rock halfling. But for Lothar, it means a lot.

"This relief depicts the process of creating a golem shell using the ash furnace casting method of the Deep Rock Halfling......"

Lothar stared at the black walls, and the people and objects carved from the cold stone on them seemed to come to life in his eyes, forming a vivid scene.

"You learn the art of making deep rock halflings by looking at the reliefs. Artifact crafting skill +1. ”

Lothar was overjoyed and switched to another wall.

"This is the scene where the Deep Rock half-body is human-installed with a power core for a magical machine."

Lothar continued to observe. After a while, another piece of information came to his mind.

"You learn the art of making deep rock halflings by looking at the reliefs. Artifact crafting skill +1. ”

In this way, he finished reading all the reliefs on the four walls, and among the four skills of the creation alchemy system, the artifact production was increased by 13 points, and the item enchantment was increased by 11 points.

But that's not all.

Once you have a sufficient theoretical foundation, the next step is to focus on practice.

Donic thought the old pile of metal behind the idol was tattered, but Lothar knew it was a treasure that had been sleeping deep underground. It is a powerful force for the imminent recovery.

The Deeprock Halflings perform their rituals by offering their Patronus a state-of-the-art and most powerful construct machine. Although it has been washed over the years, this machine is no different from scrap metal. However, Lothar believes that in his own hands, it can be reborn and harvest the undead along the way, helping him through the rest of his journey through the Ashes Passage.

…………

While Lothar was busy in the metal piles, when Erin was hesitating over the filthy black mud, when Cadian was worrying about whether the group could pass through the Ash Mine and relay the news of the war to Baron Charon.

Halfling Donnick and his human friends were discussing something else.

"Blue, things are trickier than I thought. I'm afraid it's hard to complete the things that the Moon Scepter Family has explained. Dornick said in a low voice.

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Thank you for the bugs pointed out by the book friends. Recently, I've been so busy that my brain is a mess, and I have confused the plot of the 1.0 draft and the 2.0 draft. It has been revised.