Chapter 1096: Moonhorn Family, Past History

Could it be that because Yinuosen developed a Mithril substitute technology, damaging the interests of the Elves, this disaster occurred?

Aside from this, Xia Duo really could not think of any other possibility.

Or perhaps Yinuosen's talent in the Magic Domain was so outstanding that the Elves felt compelled to kill him, but this possibility was truly too low.

If the Elves truly had the resolve to eliminate future competitors in advance, perhaps they would have already taken action against all humans in Netheril long ago.

One must know that even after the appearance of Great Arcanists, if the Elves truly wanted to take action, they would not have needed to pay much of a price at all.

Only now does it feel like a situation that is difficult to manage, but even so, only the nation of Keman holds the strongest hostility toward Netheril.

Take Yierlan for example; although the relationship between the two countries is not as sweet as it was in the beginning, it is still much better than the relationship between Keman and Netheril, and Eaerlann is even an ally of Netheril.

As for the other Elven Nations, some have national strength not even equal to Netheril; rather than worrying about the harmless Netheril, they should worry about whether Keman will launch a war of annexation against them.

But Mithril is different; although Magic exists in this world, it is still far from the point of being detached from material substances. Before Magic develops to a certain degree, Mithril will always be the most important basic Magic material.

Controlling Mithril may not necessarily restrict the development of Netheril Magic, but it can definitely restrict Netheril's war potential.

After all, human resources are always limited, while Magic Appliances can theoretically be stacked infinitely; wanting to manufacture powerful Magic Appliances is inseparable from Mithril.

In the Age of Discovery, as Netherese Mages abandoned Elf Magic and turned to research a new Netheril Magic System better suited for humans, the Elves would more or less feel some threat from the new human Mages.

Xia Duo's understanding of that past history is not very clear, but from the current perspective, the Elves and Dwarves have joined forces to limit the quantity of Mithril humans can obtain.

Every year there is only a fixed export quota, and the current export quantity has remained unchanged for nearly a hundred years.

Then, when humans first began to abandon Elf Magic, such restrictions might have been even more stringent.

If someone had developed a Mithril substitute at that time, would it have touched the sensitive nerves of the Elves and led to a fatal disaster?

However, these were all just his guesses. Although Xia Duo believed this possibility was high, no matter how high it was, it could not compare to hearing a living participant and witness of history personally recount a possibility that better conforms to Reality.

"Master, do you think the death of Yinuosen could be because he developed a Mithril substitute?"

"You could say that, but a more accurate way to put it is: for the sake of the Moonhorn Family's interests!"

Kangjienio's originally somewhat dim expression had restrained itself quite a bit by now. Hearing Xia Duo's guess, he did not completely deny it, but instead proposed the situation he considered most likely.

Regarding this, he explained:

"Currently, the Mithril imported by Netheril mainly comes from Danzo and Yierlan. But because of defects in the refining methods, Dwarves cannot refine High-Grade Mithril truly suitable for high-end Magic Items. This portion comes almost entirely from Yierlan, from the Moonhorn Family. Do you understand now?"

Understand, how could he not understand!

At the same time, Xia Duo also discovered a hidden piece of information in Kangjienio's words. Kangjienio said that Dwarves could not refine High-Grade Mithril because of defects in their refining methods. Being able to say such things, does it mean that Kangjienio himself possesses the Mithril Refining method?

It might even be the refining method for High-Grade Mithril!

Whether Netheril has a Mithril Refining method is itself a question Xia Duo is very concerned about, and it is also one of the purposes of his visit to Kangjienio this time.

Since the conversation had reached this point, Xia Duo took the opportunity to ask:

"Master, Mithril is so important. If Yinuosen was maliciously framed by the Elves just for researching a Laboratory product that was difficult to put into practical use, then what about the real Mithril Refining method? Would the Elves allow us humans to master it?"

Kangjienio looked at Xia Duo with a meaningful gaze, then replied: "The Elves certainly do not allow it, but we are not just letting them restrict us either."

"Currently, Netheril has already mastered the Mithril Refining method, but it is limited to medium and low grades. For High-Grade Mithril, we are still very dependent on imports from Yierlan."

There really is one! Xia Duo shouted in his heart.

Although it deviated somewhat from his expectations, having it and not having it are definitely two completely different concepts. At most, he can just develop it further in the future!

On the other hand, Netheril mastering the Mithril Refining method also means that Xia Duo's future use or even sale of self-produced Mithril will no longer be so abrupt.

As long as the purity and quantity are controlled, it will be fine.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo had a new question: "Master, since Netheril has already mastered the Mithril Refining method, why does almost all the Mithril circulating on the market come from the fixed quotas given by the Arcane Union to each Mage Tower? Netheril should have Mithril Mines, right? Why not refine it yourself and then sell it?"

"That is a good question! Just now I said that even if you didn't come to find me, I would have found a time recently to chat with you, and this question is one of the things I wanted to chat with you about!"

Kangjienio noticed the look of surprise in Xia Duo's eyes. He smiled slightly and began to recount from the beginning:

"The establishment of the Netheril Magic System was not something that happened overnight, nor was it something one or two people could research. It was a long-term collective event in which almost all Netherese Spellcasters at the time participated."

"Such a large plan naturally had to be carried out behind the backs of the Elves, but as time went on, the mentors sent by Yierlan to teach humans Magic gradually realized that humans' interest in Elf Magic was becoming weaker and weaker."

"It wasn't until a later Orc Tide that, due to the critical situation, a Netherese Mage had no choice but to cast a new 【Fireball】 created by imitating Elf Spells, that the fact that humans had abandoned Elf Magic was finally confirmed by the Yierlan mentors."

Speaking of this, Kangjienio suddenly asked Xia Duo, "In what direction do you think things will develop next? What will the Elves do?"

"I think the Elves should at least first figure out the reason why humans abandoned Elf Magic!" Xia Duo replied.

Kangjienio nodded, "You are right, the Elves should have done that, and they indeed did so. But the news brought back to Taiweimansa by the arrogant Elf Envoy was—humans are addicted to clumsy, quick-success techniques and are simply not worth teaching."

"Afterward, they even withdrew the mentors sent to Netheril to teach Magic. Even until the birth of the first human Great Arcanist, the Elves still believed that human Magic was merely clumsy Tricks."

"Of course, it is also fortunate that the Elves were so arrogant, which gave us the opportunity to develop. However, although the Elves were arrogant, they were not foolish. They soon realized the potential of the Netheril Magic System."

"When a human Mage grows into an Elite Mage that takes Elves hundreds of years to reach in just ten or twenty years, and there are even Great Arcanists no weaker than high-level Mages, how could the Elves not feel surprised? Suppression followed—"

"They united with the Dwarves to carry out very strict blockades against Netheril in every aspect involving Magic resources and Knowledge."

"Some of these blockades have long existed in name only after hundreds of years of development, but the influence of some blockades has always been difficult to shake off."

"Speaking of this, do you know what I want to say? Yes, it is Mithril. Besides the restrictions on the Mithril Refining method, what is even more important is the Mithril Mine!"