Chapter 8: Krag the Grim (Part I)

Unlike the morning when the Ironbreakers smashed the wooden door into pieces with their shields, this time the door was blasted directly into powder; it was clearly the effect of a Rune.

Watching the silhouette gradually emerge from the dust formed by the shattered wooden door, Sinuoli thought to himself:

"Holy crap, is this what they call being blasted to smithereens in legends? This door panel is too pitiful; I have to replace it with an iron one—no, no, a meteorite iron door is the only thing that would be right! And it has to be, it has to be engraved with a Master-class Resistance Rune!"

As the dust gradually dissipated, Sinuoli stopped his mental reverie. Standing at the doorway was a Dwarf with extremely distinct physical features.

His beard dragged on the ground but seemed to lack maintenance, appearing quite scorched and withered; his eyebrows drooped to the same level as his nose, and his gaunt face was covered in the wrinkles brought by time.

His sparse remaining hair was tied up casually with a ring, and his upper body was bare, wearing only an apron; his already withered muscles were exposed. His lower body was obscured by the floor-length beard, but one could tell he was wearing heat-insulating trousers meant to block the heat of the forge. Such an outfit made it clear he had rushed over directly from the workshop.

In Dwarf society, the older a Dwarf is, the more they value decorum in cities or settlements.

A well-groomed and maintained beard, comfortable and appropriate clothing, and accessories that show off one's wealth just right—but preferably without too much "copper stench"—are preferred; compared to gold necklaces, gemstone rings and the like that are not brightly colored but engraved with Runes are more popular.

If a young Dwarf is unkempt and covered in dust, it can still be assumed that they are working tirelessly to build a career and have no time to tidy up their appearance.

But if an elderly Dwarf still makes himself look like this, it is like telling his clansmen that this guy did not work hard when he was young, having neither accumulated wealth nor mastered any skills, just wasting his time—if he even has any offspring.

Since the Dwarf female population is only half that of the males, unsuccessful male Dwarves rarely have the opportunity to marry and have children, and his offspring would be shamed because of this.

However, these conventional standards of judgment did not seem to apply to the slovenly old Dwarf before him.

As the saying goes, "The expert watches the technique, the layman watches the show," but whether expert or layman, one could easily feel his extraordinariness.

For a Dwarf like Sinuoli who had mastered Rune power, the old Dwarf before him was almost the embodiment of Rune Magic in the Mortal World; the surging Rune energy within him radiated light to his surroundings like a beacon in the dark night.

As he approached, Sinuoli felt the Rune energy within his own body become lively, and the charging speed of the Runes engraved on the surrounding objects also accelerated.

For Dwarves who had not mastered Rune abilities, the items in the old Dwarf's two hands were also eye-catching enough.

In his right hand, he held a massive Forging Hammer, and in his left, he held a relatively rare item—a Rune Tunteng.

The Rune Tunteng looked similar to a cross, engraved all over with various Rune letters; it could be used to densely carry Runes, making them easy to store and use, but because it was difficult to craft and almost no one had a use for it, such an item existed almost only in legends.

This is because for the vast majority of Rune Smiths, it is already good enough if the Runes they master can fill their own weapons and equipment.

According to the rules of Rune Magic, each item can carry at most three Runes; a full set of equipment from helmet to battle boots plus accessories can easily accommodate around twenty.

For Rune Masters who have mastered Master-class Runes, although each piece of equipment can only carry one Master-class Rune, since the effects of duplicate Master-class Runes on a set of equipment cancel each other out, in most cases, a Rune Master cannot fill all their equipment with the Master-class Runes they have mastered.

Even if one's Rune reserves are truly vast, engraving the less frequently used ones onto a Doom Anvil is a more convenient and practical choice.

Observing the Forging Hammer that had blasted his door to smithereens in one blow, Sinuoli understood that this was a true legendary weapon.

"Hammer of the Grimm!" he muttered to himself.

In this world, the quality of weapons and equipment is generally divided into five tiers:

The first tier, ordinary quality, is used by average Human soldiers; for the Dwarves, a race famous for their forging skills, no one would use such things. They have a unified name among Dwarves—trash.

The second tier, fine quality, is the steel armor equipped by ordinary Dwarf warriors; temporarily conscripted Miners and Dwarf Warriors use them. For the Empire of Man, only elites of the level of Greatswordsmen and Reiksguard have the chance to wear them.

The third tier, rare-level equipment, is often made of meteorite iron, or fine-quality weapons engraved with Runes. High-level Dwarf units like Ironbreakers and Hammer Guards will equip them, and some wealthy Changxu Dwarf may also possess this level of equipment. As for the Empire, only generals or Demigryph Knights are qualified to equip them.

The fourth tier of equipment is called exquisite; this level is already considered a treasure whose value cannot be measured by money. In Dwarf society, they are made of meteorite iron equipment engraved with common Master-class Runes.

In Sinuoli's memory, these often appear on weapons as Master-class Power Runes and Master-class Striking Runes, or are commonly used on armor as Master-class Meteorite Runes or Master-class Resistance Runes.

Such equipment is often held by Dwarf commanders at the level of Clan Chief or Chengse Lingzhu. In the Empire of Man, only the twelve Runefangs passed down through generations by the Elector Counts as symbols of power and a few pieces of equipment enchanted by Elf Archmages reach this grade.

Equipment above exquisite is called legendary; these weapons and their users can almost all leave their own stories in the long river of history.

For Dwarves, only when a Master-class Rune and two auxiliary ordinary Runes are properly coordinated as monarch, minister, assistant, and envoy can it be called legendary.

However, because the raw materials capable of carrying a 1+2 Rune combination are almost all unique, even if the same Master-class Rune is used as the core, the combination of Runes that can achieve the best effect is not fixed and needs to be adjusted according to the original material of the equipment. This requires rich experience and a certain amount of luck.

Most such equipment was produced by the Ancestor Gods during the Golden Age of the Dwarves, and only a small portion was manufactured by the most outstanding Rune Masters.

Many Dwarf citadels have only one or two pieces as heirlooms, and only the most powerful Dwarf citadels have the conditions to arm their strongest warriors with a set of legendary equipment.

In Human society, the holy hammer Ghal Maraz, symbol of the Emperor's imperial power, is in this rank, and the rest are perhaps only those that gods with powerful divine might can sporadically bestow upon their believers through divine grace.

The Hammer of the Grimm, as the name suggests, is a weapon tailored by Krag the Grim for himself; this is his most famous work.

The Krag Rune on the hammer face and the two Runes on the hammer head and handle shine in mutual reflection; under one blow, let alone a wooden door, even meteorite iron would shatter in response.