From the process of creating the "Mora Root", Siegel greatly opened up his mind, and many good ideas for combining runes and spells came to mind. Historically, magical items have been expensive to manufacture, making them a luxury item that only a few can use. Weakened spells can reduce the cost of consumption, but they don't solve the persistence problem. The Dwarven Rune is a good choice, and combined with the Upper Gnome's ring illusion, it makes for a very good combination.

He would love to stay in the lab and soak up the joy of inventing things, but the matter of the territory needs to be solved urgently, and the study of the golem must be on the agenda. So after a short nap, he rode with Fezak to the Zebra Mountains.

This time, instead of simply passing through the "Gold Mine Wall", he carefully inspected the construction of the Rune Arrow Tower. Each tower is a combination of one hundred and eight dwarven runes, which can activate themselves when confronted with evil creatures, forming an enchantment to defend against evil and inspire courage in battle. The area is not large, and can only cover the walls and towers, but it is enough to form an effective protection.

Each rune is clear and effective, and it is a perfect combination of power and art. Siegel recited the incantation, allowing the runes to form an enchantment, and then felt it with his heart. The surrounding magical enchantment is surging and powerful, and it seems that the dwarves have definitely not cut corners when building the Rune Arrow Tower.

Siegel himself can also make permanent runes, and although he is not as skilled as the dwarves, he can still reach a passing level. He estimated the cost of all the runes, an arrow tower only needed 12,000 gold coins at most, and the runes inlaid inside the city wall were about 10,000 gold coins. He had only built a total of three rune arrow towers, and he didn't need more than 240,000 gold coins at all.

"Fezak. Where are the dwarves now?"

"At the site of the passage of the walled mountains. Your Lordship. Fezak replied: "They are trying to dig through the rock formations. ”

So the two men walked down the tower. Enter the passage in the middle of the long wall. The passage was three meters wide, and the height overhead allowed cavalry to pass through. The dwarves designed an arched structure for this place and strengthened the side walls with solid pillar stones. If defensive machinery, such as trebuchets or ballistas, needs to be stacked on the walls, the weight can be shared without affecting the structure of the passage.

There are also throwing holes in the walls that open outward, with a clever arc that allows only one to throw pitched canisters, rough stones, or javelins. It's impossible to climb in. To avoid fire, the dwarves decorate the ceiling with glowing runes that illuminate the entire passage whenever there is a noise around it.

At the end of the passage of the walls is the mountain, from which Siegel intends to build an underground road to the north. For safety reasons, the passage is not connected to the Zebra Hill gold mines, and goes west around the Saint-Cer peak, turning a corner before extending north. If it weren't for the help of the Earth Elemental Rune Guard, it would have taken a long time for the dwarves to complete such a construction with their own digging ability.

There were no decorative lighting runes yet, so Siegel used his wand to glow and sprinkle pale colors in the passages. Tunnels in the rocks meander and twist. At first down, then up. There are places where it is difficult to excavate. As a result, there are many narrow paths, which can suddenly become steep and difficult to navigate.

As Fezak got older, Siegel performed levitation on him to save him some effort. They walked through the passage for half an hour when they finally heard the sound of chiseling stones in front of them. Oscillating back and forth in the narrow passage, the monotonous sound of bells became indistinct, like strange whispers.

After a few more moments, they finally joined the dwarves. There are a total of four miners here, using pickaxes to correct the tunnels excavated by the earth elemental. Large baskets of rocks and dirt were piled on one side, and on the other side were chests for supplies. The dwarves saw Siegel, but did not stop their work, still prying off the protruding rocks with a sound of varying lengths.

These tasks don't actually need to be done by dwarves, and the earth elementals can do it better, and the elements only need to dig with their fingers and smooth them with their palms to meet the standards of ordinary masons. The dwarves were doing useless work, and they didn't even have sweat on them, let alone look tired.

"Where's Locke Diamond?" Siegel asked.

The dwarf put down the pickaxe in his hand, wiped the dust from his face with his hand, and replied, "It's just ahead, we don't know very well." ”

"Take me to find it, I don't want to run the wrong way. Siegel snorted and said, "I can understand the signal you gave when you knocked on the wall, so you still tell me directly where the secret passage is." ”

The dwarf was stunned for a moment, and had to smile bitterly, so he had to say, "Lord Lord, wait a minute. Locke will explain the situation to you. ”

After a long time, a glimmer of light followed their footsteps. Locke carried a covered oil lamp for illumination, and in his other hand held a warhammer with runes embedded in it that glowed grayish-white. Behind him, the dwarves Grott and Mendoch ran over with shovels under their armpits and crooked iron yarmulkes in their hands.

Locke saw that Siegel had been sitting there, and the dwarven companions beside him kept glancing at him. The tacit understanding that had been formed over time made him immediately understand what was going on here. Locke looked at Siegel's face, very serious, but couldn't see any other emotions. Look at the one-eyed old man Fezak again, with a nervous expression on his face.

"Where is the difference between 240,000 and 40,000?" Siegel asked.

He thought for a moment, and then generously admitted: "My lord, Mr. Fezak, you must have come for the gold coins spent on the runes, right? We did use up a lot of gold coins outside the Rune Arrow Tower, and we didn't want to tell you. But now that you've found out, there's no need for us to keep it hidden. ”

"We've made a lot of runes, far more than the Arrow Tower needs, and they've all been used in this tunnel. Locke said, "But this involves a great secret of our dwarves, and it cannot be easily told to outsiders. ”

"This is my territory, it's my gold coins, and I need to know what they're for. ”

"My lord, don't be in a hurry. Locke lowered the hammer in his hand, and the other dwarves had their hands free. Indicates that he is not hostile. "We watched you climb to the top of Mora through the path to the top. This is the second time you've set foot on that path. Did you feel any difference?"

"Does this have anything to do with the answer I want to know?"

Locke nodded, and the other dwarves all looked at Siegel with blazing eyes.

"It's harder than the first time. "On the one hand, I miscalculated the difficulty. Originally, I thought I could use magic, but I didn't expect that there would be no elemental power on the way to the top. In addition to the things on your back, the space bag and magic equipment have lost their effect, so it is more difficult. ”

"Also, during the climb, I was hit by ice blocks," Siegel thought. Suddenly realized: "Is this matter related to you?"

"Yes. Locke nodded, "We pray to the Dwarven Patronus for a revelation. We need to know whether westward expansion is right or wrong. ”

"I don't understand. ”

Locke looked at Fezak, and then said to Siegel: "This matter can only be said to the dwarves, you are a brave man who has reached the top, so you can naturally be counted as one, but this one-eyed old man can't." ”

"What I want to know is the purpose of the gold coins, not the secrets of the dwarves. Siegel shook his head and said to Locke.

"By the Dwarven Patronus and the descendants of the bloodline, I will tell you everything you want to know. The dwarf insisted.

The other dwarves nodded. Siegel's gaze swept over their resolute faces. See the traces left by the wind, frost and blood rain, the scars left by those who fought with fierce beasts and sought a chance to survive in the wilderness. These dwarves have a sense of honor. will not break their oaths.

"Fezak, stand out a bit, I want to hear what they have to say. Siegel stretched out his hand and said to him, "Go back first and give me the ledger." ”

The old man scrutinized the dwarves with his remaining one-eye, inspecting them with his perennial skills of observing words and colors. Unless these dwarves have reached the pinnacle of deception, they can hide their lies under such a sincere face.

He left the ledger, grabbed the lantern from Locke's hand, and walked back the way he came.

The dwarves took off their round hats from their heads, put them on the ground as benches, and sat down one by one. Seeing this, Siegel sat with them, waiting for Locke to speak.

"Our Patronus struck the wall of storms with a hammer and presented the New World to the world. We are the first beneficiaries, and the top of Mora is the jewel of the Dwarven throne. ”

The dwarves have established their largest kingdoms here, and the seven clans have grown considerably. Although the Walled Mountains are majestic, they are only border walls compared to the New World.

Once upon a time on the old road, the dwarves liked to dig in the mountains and live in the mines, and they were once prosperous and rich. The best weapons and armor are made by us dwarves, and our soldiers are not afraid of any challenge.

But as time goes on, humans will spread across the continent and build prosperous kingdoms, and we dwarves will remain in caves, just as elves never set foot in the forest. But the end result of this is extinction, the extinction from this world.

"We can't afford to make the same mistake in the New World. Locke said, "That's why we're going west." ”

Siegel nodded, "I can understand this, but what does westward expansion have to do with me?"

"This involves the big work of the dwarves. Locke said, "The mines of the Walled Mountains are very rich, and we are the best miners and craftsmen, where has all the treasure that has been accumulated over the centuries gone?"

"The treasury of the Top of Mora?"

"It's basically empty. Locke said, "The gems are all made into runestones, and the metal is used to make large rune arrays. Hundreds of dwarven runemasters work every day, turning the entire walled mountain range into a giant rune barrier. Following the instructions of the Dwarven Patronus, even if the world perishes, Mora's Peak will bless the dwarves to survive. ”

"This rune array has been activated. With the exception of the West Gate at the Top of Mora, the Dwarves could not pass through the Walled Mountains from the inside out. For us, it's a dilemma. Locke let out a long sigh: "Originally, the dwarves in the Old World were too closed, but now they have directly built a cage to lock themselves in." We don't just want to save ourselves, we want to go west, to find hope for development -- and being complacent will only lead to another decline!"

"So we're building a passage through the entire walled mountain range to the Savage Continent. We need a lot of runes to hide ourselves from being spotted by the Great Array in the Mountains, and also to avoid our influence on the Great Array. ”

"We prayed to the god of the dwarves, and the answer we got was that we had to find the brave to fulfill our wish, so we had to let you climb the top of Mora again. Luckily, after coming to the Heim Realm, we learned that the Peak of St. Thur is inhabited by dragons, so the rune barrier of the Walled City Mountain Ranges bypasses here, and we can break through from here!"

"And the Lord's Spotted Mountain Gold Mine, and the underground passage you asked to build, are a portent. Our work will not stop until we reach the west side of the mountains, where challenges and opportunities abound. ”

"But we can only do it ourselves, and we can't let the top of Mora know. Therefore, the required materials must be procured in the name of the lord. Locke said, "But we'll compensate you in another way." ”

After speaking, he took out a faded space bag from his arms and carefully untied the binding threads. (To be continued......)