Chapter 12: Just Three Days

With the format of the assessment and the penalty for failure decided, the guild hall fell silent once again.

"Snorri Thorsson!" The voice of Krag Master pulled Snorri, who had been aloof and boredly browsing the system, back to reality.

"Do you have any requirements for the venue of the assessment?"

"A sealed space, just ensure it is shielded from prying eyes!" Based on the memories in his mind, Snorri gave the standard answer.

The Rune Smith profession, and indeed the entire Dwarf society, places great importance on intellectual property; the act of stealing techniques by spying on others' work without permission is severely punished by the guild and the Clan, and such traditions happen to create convenience for Snorri to cheat.

"Since this is sudden and you have no time to prepare materials, the engraving supplies for this time will be provided by the guild! The workshop you have been assigned has a secret door that leads directly to the guild's storage vault; you may take whatever raw materials you need as required.

If there is something you need that is not in the vault, hmph, then go to the halls of the Ancestor Gods and ask them for it!" Krag Master handed a bunch of keys to Snorri with a huff.

"Insert them one by one in order! If you are stupid enough that you cannot even open the door, then go find a job with the Greenskins! Ask them if they need a war pig of your size..."

Ignoring Krag Master's habitual sharp tongue, Snorri took the keys and tucked them into his bosom; he discovered that three Runes were engraved on each key, and there was a faint connection between these Runes. This bunch of keys was actually a set of quite extraordinary treasures!

Since Snorri has a family and a home, and a Dwarf cannot run away from his ancestors, the Masters were not worried that he would retaliate against the guild by destroying the precious raw materials.

"Hmm, the venue and materials are arranged properly; next is to determine the time for the assessment. Snorri, how long do you estimate you need to forge the Rune? Don't keep us waiting too long!"

Hearing this, a scene uncontrollably emerged in Snorri's mind:

Krag Master informs Snorri that he only has seven days to engrave the Rune. Upon hearing this, Snorri smiles crookedly, shouts loudly: "Seven days is too long, I only seize the day!" Then, in full view of everyone, he activates the system and pulls a Master Rune out of thin air.

Seeing this, Krag Master expresses that although he does not understand it, he is greatly shocked, and suffers cardiac arrest on the spot, returning to the embrace of the ancestors. Snorri then takes the opportunity as a disciple to inherit his wealth and his set of legendary equipment, from then on smashing the Everchosen with a hammer and cleaving the Council of Thirteen with an axe, stepping onto the peak of Dwarf life.

Just as Snorri's fantasy progressed to marching north to slaughter his way through the Chaos Wastes and then returning to Kislev to cordially exchange experience in statecraft and governance with the Tsar and a dozen Frost Maidens, Krag Master's voice rang out inopportunely:

"What are you giggling at! Have you decided? Is seven days enough for you?" Hearing this, Snorri's soul returned to his body, and he hurriedly licked the drool from the corner of his mouth.

Considering that his system is not one of those versions from his past life that earns points by acting cool and slapping faces, the possibility of Krag Master dying on the spot was far lower than the possibility of himself being hacked to death by axes after being mistaken for a chosen of Tzeentch, so Snorri dismissed that very attractive idea in his mind.

"Seven days? More than enough, three days will be enough for me!" Through the knowledge in his memory, Snorri learned that if one is experienced and makes no mistakes, forging a Master Rune takes three days; the seven days Krag Master mentioned was likely leaving him a chance to start over if he failed once.

Under normal circumstances, such a death-seeking decision by Snorri would have caused a wave of intense discussion, but today the Dwarfs in the audience had been numbed by one explosive piece of news after another; they did not know exactly how long it took to engrave a Master Rune, so they just nodded blankly.

Watching Snorri's determined expression, Krag Master could not tell for a moment whether he was confident and well-prepared, or if he had simply given up on treatment and just wanted to struggle a bit before accepting failure.

The Molten Master and the Iron Chisel Master were shocked once again; the Molten Master still could not figure out what medicine was in the gourd of this pair of master and apprentice, whether there was really a conflict or if they were joining forces to put on a big show to hook him.

The Iron Chisel Master, on the other hand, felt pity for Snorri's youthful arrogance and his dismissive attitude toward the assessment; he did not know that Snorri only needed a "ding" to complete the assessment, and that he needed three days only to avoid wasting precious time while not violating the common sense of his kin.

"Hmm, then let us meet here again in three days and wait to reveal the results!" Watching Snorri's back as he walked leisurely into the Rune workshop, Krag Master suddenly felt a bit despondent.

For the first time in a long while, his nose felt sore; perhaps he really was old! His thoughts drifted back more than a thousand years.

It was also in this hall that he learned, grew, and experienced joys and sorrows; at that time he had teachers and friends by his side, but now he was left all alone. The passage of time and the growth of his power had made him increasingly stubborn; was this keeping a vigil for a Golden Age that could never be recreated? He did not know the answer either.

The other Dwarfs in the hall did not understand what was in Krag Master's heart; they left the hall noisily in groups of three or five, though for the vast majority of them, their destination was not the warm beds of their own rooms, but the taverns scattered throughout the city.

For Dwarfs who love to drink and boast, what they saw and heard tonight was incredible fodder for conversation! If they could not pass on this shocking news with added embellishments to their drinking buddies, and if they could not see their dumbfounded expressions as they coughed repeatedly from choking on their beer, these Dwarfs would not be able to sleep!

Reaching out to close the stone door of the workshop, which was engraved with Runes for Protection and preventing prying, Snorri no longer cared how much the sales of all the taverns in Karaz-a-Karak would increase today, nor did he ponder how many female compatriots would toss and turn because their husbands did not return all night.

Snorri looked at the layout of the room and nodded. This was a standard Dwarf workshop, consisting of two rooms, one large and one small; in the center of the large room sat a workbench, connected to heating pipes underneath, with candles for lighting hanging from the ceiling and the four corners of the room, and the walls were neatly hung with various common tools.

On the wall directly opposite the door was a keyhole; presumably, opening it would reveal the secret door leading to the storage room.

The small room contained a simple bed and sanitary facilities for the user to rest; on the bed were three bags containing stone bread—the staple food of Dwarfs, made by mixing wheat flour and stone powder in a certain proportion, which is very filling but unacceptable to other races—dried meat, and clear water, as well as a large barrel of Dwarf beer.

For many Dwarfs, beer is their lifeblood and source of inspiration, although Snorri himself was not keen on it.

After simply tidying up the room and confirming that no one was spying in secret, Snorri lay directly on the bed; considering that the Masters could judge the time the Rune was produced by the engraving marks, he was in no hurry to forge that Rune. Seeing that becoming a Rune Master was already a certainty, he decided to use these three days to make some plans for the future.