NOVEL NEXT Chapter 106 - : Volcano Furnace
Chapter 106: Volcano Furnace
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Hort asked earnestly, “Is there really a choice in everything?”
“There must be one. If there isn’t one, it means that we haven’t found it,” Su Ye said.
Lake said helplessly, “Your words are too absolute. If you’re ever faced with a desperate situation, you will definitely regret what you said today.”
Su Ye smiled and had a docile look on his face.
Not far away, Palos opened her spellbook and thought for a long time, even showed a small look of disdain. She then solemnly recorded Su Ye’s words.
Suddenly, Su Ye looked forward.
Carlos slowly turned his head, and his gaze fell on Su Ye.
Carlos stared at Su Ye, and anger surged in his heart. But, a few seconds later, a complicated expression appeared on his face. He changed direction and faced the Great Plato Temple.
Carlos, carrying his backpack, bowed deeply three times and then left in large strides.
After Carlos disappeared from his sight, Gregory slowly turned around and walked back, his steps staggering.
The students dispersed one after another while Su Ye waited on the road.
Until Gregory approached.
“I don’t think you like Carlos,” Su Ye said.
Gregory instinctively opened his mouth to refute, but he didn’t even say anything. He glanced at Su Ye and silently walked forward.
“If you did like Carlos, you would definitely be searching for the crook who threatened him, not standing here looking like a wild dog who just lost a fight,” Su ye continued.
Gregory continued to walk forward without a single retort.
“The day Carlos is killed, you will finally come to understand this.”
After Su Ye finished speaking, he turned around and left.
Gregory walked for a while, then turned and watched Su ye disappear at the end of the road.
“Niedern, you’re so lucky…” Gregory muttered to himself.
At night, as soon as school had let out, Su ye bade farewell to Hort and went to find Niedern as per their agreement last night. The two of them walked towards the side door of Plato Academy.
Today, Niedern was very silent.
After the two of them had walked for a bit, Su Ye asked, “Teacher, do you really not have many mana source badges left?”
“Enough! Hurry up and write an essay on the Cone of Learning and various memory techniques and hand it to me—I’ll submit it to the Congress of Magic for you. When you get your first Mana Source Badge and become an honorary member of the Congress of Magic, you can submit it yourself.” Niedern couldn’t even be bothered to look at Su Ye.
“Alright, then I’ll go back tonight and compile two essays. But… can you trust the people from the Chamber of Commerce?”
“I don’t trust the people of the Chamber of Commerce, but the dwarves are trustworthy. Even President Hartsock isn’t willing to do anything that would make the dwarves unhappy. I also brought a barrel of barley wine,” Niedern mentioned.
Looking at Niedern, Su Ye said, “It seems the legends are true, Master Plato is truly amazing. While within the doors of Plato Academy, the teachers effectively all have their own enormous storage space. I hope I can get a magic artifact like this.”
“Even the cheapest gold coin storage pouch costs three thousand gold eagle coins, which is equivalent to a silver magic artifact. A storage magic artifact that can fit anything inside of it is at least a saint-level magic artifact, which you wouldn’t be able to find for less than fifty thousand,” Niedern responded.
“It’s that expensive? No, that can’t be right—Hutton said that a magic carriage costs only two thousand gold eagles… Okay, I suppose he doesn’t know the true value of magic carriages at all.”
“An ordinary magic carriage is indeed only worth three thousand gold eagles. The ones that can fly are worth more than ten thousand, and the ones that have large spaces inside are all saint-level magic artifacts. I can’t afford them. Right, Master Cromwell has one of those. It looks very small and shabby on the outside, but in reality, it’s even bigger than a complete dwelling.”
The two chatted as they arrived at the Dwarven Workshop in Plato Academy.
Clink… Clank…
The loud, resounding sound of metal being hammered passed through them. Su Ye looked in the direction of the noise and saw a small volcano that was 100 meters tall that he hadn’t noticed before.
The entirety of the volcano was pitch dark, and thick black smoke came out from the top of it.
Lava rivers of various colors flowed out from the top of the mountain, each winding their way to their own places. They were processed by the dwarven craftsmen who had been waiting a long time and either sent into different molds or mixed in different proportions.
There were dozens of lava rivers on the entire mountain, and some of the rivers were empty.
Su Ye, only after seeing those molds, realized that what was flowing out of the volcano was not lava, but different liquid metals. There was molten iron, copper, tin, silver, and gold…
He saw the dwarves, each of whom were only one meter tall, bustling around.
These dwarves had their hair combed into uneven, rough braids, and their beards were disheveled and messy. It was as if they would catch fire should they be touched a spark. However, their bodies were exceptionally strong.
Unlike human muscles, these dwarves’ muscles were like pieces of iron that were embedded into their bodies. When they swung their hammers with great force, their muscles did not tremble at all, different from human muscles that had obvious quivers.
Su Ye even suspected that the hundreds of dwarves here were all black iron warriors. The skin on the surface of their bodies emitted a striking metallic luster and looked even tougher than that of the black iron warriors.
The air so hot that it could burn skin, the beautiful flowing liquid metal, the continuous crisp knocking sounds, the flying iron hammers, the burning flames, and the angry shouts of the dwarves formed a scene completely different from that of the city of Athens.
“What talent…”
The work of the volcano and the dwarves completely toppled Su Ye’s understanding of how things are produced in this era.
This was a world where the two extremes had become distorted.
Ordinary blacksmiths weren’t even able to make ironware; they could only make crude bronze weapons. However, these dwarven blacksmiths were already able to make fine steel weapons.
Su Ye once more looked towards the volcano, asking, “Teacher, is the volcano a saint-level magic artifact or a legendary magic artifact?”
“It was originally a saint-level magic artifact. Though, after many years of accumulation, it has already become a legendary magic artifact—one that is extremely powerful to boot.” Niedern’s tone carried a hint of pride.
The volcano furnace was the only legendary magic artifact in all of Athens that could be used for metallurgy. There were also only three in all of Greece.
This magic artifact was an enormous golden eagle nest.
“Blackbeard!” Niedern shouted amidst the clamor as they approached the volcano, waving his hand at a dwarf.
One dwarf turned his head to look.
The dwarf’s beard was much darker than that of an ordinary dwarf. In addition, it was so black and shiny that it looked as though it had been smeared with olive oil.
Blackbeard wiped his beard and nodded. He held the hammer and signaled Niedern to go to the small house far away from the volcano to talk.
Su Ye took a look at the hammer. It was black in texture and full of silver patterns. One end was hemispherical, the other was flat-bottomed, and there were sharp spikes at the tip.
There were no scratches on the surface; it was smoother than even butter.
The magic array diagram on it was dozens of times more complicated than the black iron magic array diagram.
“It’s at least a golden divine piece of equipment,” Su Ye thought to himself.
The three of them walked to the door of the cottage from two directions at the same time.
Su Ye glanced at Blackbeard. This person not only had a black beard, but his skin was also black. It was as if he had been fished out of coal. His two eyes were shining, like those of a demon fish at the bottom of a dark sea.
“Su Ye? We saw what happened yesterday. How manly!”
“Hello, Master Blackbeard.” Su Ye had already developed the good habit of calling others master.