Chapter 342: Gru’s Joy and Injury

Magic rune equipment—Gulu casually gave out hundred-refined magic rune equipment. Although they were of ordinary quality, they were more exquisite than what Weir crafted himself, clearly indicating Gulu’s superior craftsmanship.

It’s normal to have give-and-take. Weir felt that the things he made were a bit subpar, so he contributed two bottles of his collection of millennium-old fine wine. Although not as high-grade as his grandfather’s, they still pleased Gulu greatly, who even looked at Weir with shining eyes.

The wizard of Stardashan seemed like a master, and Gulu needed to show respect and couldn’t easily approach him. But this young man in front of him could be a friend, and he could slowly get fine wine from him.

Although the fishing competition time hadn’t arrived, it wasn’t far off. Weir, Lilith, and others contributed their catches. Weir’s fish trap worked pretty well; because the gaps in the rattan were too large, he only caught seven or eight slightly larger fish, but they still weighed over ten to twenty catties, which was a decent amount.

Una Peck, who forgot to put in bait, unsurprisingly had a score of zero.

Rhea, who had been entangled with Lilith and had no chance to deploy her drugs, also scored zero.

Lilith, who also forgot to put in bait but coincidentally had fish come to her, actually caught three fish, and their sizes were quite good. It just goes to show how important luck is.

Only Weir knew that Lilith’s chosen location and depth were deliberate. This was not an accident, and not putting in bait might have been intentional on her part; she never intended to win.

Nicole, relying on her agility, caught five fish, but they were very small, not even enough to fill her own stomach.

Luo, the violent loli, with her explosive power and certain skills, caught twelve fish. Their size was similar to those caught by Nicole, and considering her appetite, she was also the type that couldn’t be fed enough.

Then, Mimi and Via teamed up and caught over a hundred fish, a large pile. The smallest were only finger-sized, and the longest were no more than half a foot, but they won by sheer number. So, after everyone’s unanimous discussion, Mimi and Via became the winners, making the two happy for quite a while.

“What’s your reward?” The clever Weir directly enticed them to ask for an all-fish feast, much to the annoyance of Rhea, who was trying to play tricks.

These fish certainly weren’t enough, especially after a big-bellied guest arrived. Weir didn’t hide anything; he directly summoned his magic book, and after Mimi and Rhea attracted a school of fish, a simple lightning strike caught a large pile. Even just picking the bigger ones, there were twenty to thirty.

Una Peck wasn’t good at fishing, but the butler and maids she brought were all excellent cooks. With Rhea and Lilith’s help, the all-fish feast was quickly prepared and served.

Looking at the grilled fish in front of him, Weir’s face darkened. “Rhea, are you up to something today? Why are you keep giving me these? You’ve added too much!” He completely ignored it and chose the deep-fried fish made by Lilith, which was crispy and didn’t even require spitting out bones.

The most enthusiastic eaters, besides Nicole, were Luo. Even Gulu’s appetite wasn’t as big as hers, which made Gulu very disappointed. He had originally wanted to prove that even though he was a bit short, he was strong in all aspects, but he was out-eaten by a human girl even shorter than himself.

“Gulu, what are you going to the Rose Duchess’s territory for? To reclaim your gold coins?” Lilith wasn’t too concerned about her family’s businesses, but recently, the Rose Duchess’s territory had been outwardly relaxed but inwardly tense, with strict defenses against foreign races.

Gulu swallowed a mouthful of grilled fish with effort, washing it down with a mouthful of wine. Then he shook his head, “No, although I am poor, I know that there’s no returning something once bought. Although the craftsmanship of this weapon is very poor and the weapon itself is substandard, the techniques used within it still have merit. I discovered some forging techniques different from our tribe’s in it, so I want to go there to learn.”

“If that’s the case, you don’t need to look for them,” Weir said casually. “The dwarven forging techniques of the Kendall family were sold to them by me.”

“Oh~, Brother Weir is indeed a blacksmith? From the first moment I saw you, I had a hunch that you were a blacksmith, and your skill might not be below mine.”

Gulu’s eyes lit up. “Later, I’d like to ask Brother Weir for some guidance on forging. I wonder if it’s convenient?”

“No problem. I also have a blacksmith shop in the Rose Duchess’s territory, which is mostly idle. If Brother Gulu has nowhere to go, you can certainly stay there temporarily.” Weir extended the invitation, and Gulu naturally accepted. After all, he was a wanderer, and having a temporary place to stay, especially his most familiar blacksmith shop, why not?

“Brother Weir, where did your dwarven forging techniques come from? Do you have any connection with that side?” Gulu pointed in the direction of the sea.

Weir was stunned for a moment, then shook his head. “My dwarven forging techniques come from a thousand-year-old ancient city ruin, but it only contains some basic parts; the more profound ones are not recorded. Fortunately, I still have some millennium-old excellent magic rune equipment for reference.”

As he spoke, Weir took out a short dagger and placed it in front of Gulu.

“A thousand-year-old skill, so ancient.” Dwarves generally live much longer than humans, but for ordinary dwarves, three to five hundred years is the limit. Seven to eight hundred years is the age of an official wizard, but accomplished wizards are often not on the Continent of Gods, so their people, forgotten here, no longer have many complete traditions from a thousand years ago.

“Indeed, it’s a very ancient skill. In fact, technology is constantly developing; thousand-year-old skills may not be superior to current ones.” Weir’s words made Gulu happy, but he didn’t fully agree. “We dwarves don’t hoard our knowledge, but due to wars, disasters, and loss of personnel, some advanced techniques have still been lost.”

Gulu was slightly lost in thought. On the Continent of Gods, dwarves were still too weak, unable to compare with humans and orcs, only slightly stronger than the almost extinct elves. In terms of numbers, they couldn’t even compare to goblins, ogres, lizardmen, kobolds, or halflings. But they possessed something many people yearned for: magic rune equipment!

This led to a history of blood and tears for the dwarven race. Fortunately, their individual strength was not weak; every adult was a professional, and with excellent equipment and powerful machinery, they managed to survive.

“What I obtained from the ruins is only the basic part. If it can help you, as a friend, I don’t mind sharing it with you.” Anyway, he already had better and more advanced modern dwarven crafting techniques, and you probably already have most of those things. Why not do a favor?

He tossed a beast-skin scroll to Gulu, who hesitated for a moment but eventually opened it and examined it carefully. The information recorded within wasn’t actually extensive. Paper only became popular in the last two hundred years; before that, recording information on beast-skin scrolls was very inconvenient, so they economized wherever possible, leading to the use of many simplified terms when recording information, which outsiders sometimes couldn’t understand clearly.

Gulu was a dwarf from a tribe and had received formal dwarven education, so interpreting dwarven beast-skin scrolls was very easy for him. The information recorded on the beast-skin scroll wasn’t particularly advanced, but it was comprehensive, allowing the practical-minded Gulu to gain quite a lot.

“Weir, my friend, this document is indeed very helpful to our tribe. Although it’s only basic stuff, it fills some gaps in our tribe’s lost heritage. We dwarves don’t have so many formalities, but we are sincere with our friends. You are my brother!” Gulu seemed very excited, directly taking the wine bottle and chugging it to show his gratitude.

Watching Gulu put the beast-skin scroll into his storage bag, Weir was stunned. He could only express admiration for this honest dwarf. “I just let you look at it and copy a portion; it was originally an antique, after all. But you, well, you just accepted it as a gift.”

Never mind. What’s important is the knowledge; the beast-skin scroll is just a medium and not important, at least not as important as the friendship of a dwarven forging master.

So, the two, one drinking wine and the other fruit juice, began discussing forging techniques. Weir found that although Gulu carried an axe, he was actually studying forging hammer techniques, and his research was even deeper than Weir’s, so he pulled Luo over as well. However, this silent loli was a typical practical type, expressionless and quiet, but her skill in hammer techniques, demonstrated through her movements, still earned Gulu’s recognition.

“Luo, an awakened Elven Druid bloodline, a senior warrior, proficient in dwarven forging hammer techniques, capable of crafting sixty-refined iron blanks, eleven years old.” Weir’s introduction of Luo deeply wounded Gulu.

Promoting to a senior warrior before the age of sixty was already a rare talent in his tribe, and he hadn’t even advanced to a great warrior yet. But this girl in front of him was only eleven and already a senior warrior, just like him.

What hurt Gulu even more was that when they arm-wrestled, he lost!

He lost, lost to an eleven-year-old girl. This made Gulu very upset.

However, in forging afterward, Gulu regained his confidence. He just didn’t know why, but he always felt that others looked at him with pity, while his brother Weir listened very carefully, and occasionally shared his own insights during their discussions, which also benefited Gulu.