Durin's Diary

Durin looked at the high-hoofed, skinny-boned old butler of the Aye Family with surprise. He had just delivered a letter; the head of the Aye Family, Anto, was inviting old Yishu to visit his home.

After the butler left, Durin turned to Anta, certain the girl must have said something that had convinced the old man, who no longer handled much of the clan's affairs, to make a decision—no doubt it must have been about her own advancement.

Considering that Anto was of the same age as old Yishu, he surely had met Durin's grandmother, so Durin did not see any issue—even if Anta did not say anything, these old men would likely discern the signs, and if Durin began to grow horns and a tail as his level increased, then all previous efforts to hide his identity would have been futile anyway.

In fact, it was a good thing.

Old Yishu must still have been wondering how Anta could stay, but now he had a most legitimate reason to go to the Aye Family.

What is called 'face-rolling output'? This probably was it.

It was fine by old Yishu, who happily accepted the invitation and went to the Aye Family early—"If an old friend misses me this much, I should visit him sooner."

There was still some time before dinner, so Durin decided to take Anta into the studio.

"You said you wanted to perform magic, the kind that doesn't use illusion as a blinding method," Anta asked curiously while looking at Durin.

Durin nodded and casually took a metal plate from the nearby storage cabinet for metal ingots.

"Ah, I recognize this plate; isn't it a fragment from that ancestral chamber?" Anta's eyes widened as she pointed at the metal plate: "I remember such metal plates are very hard and very sturdy, impervious even to Spell Formula and bullets."

"Yes, this time, I want to see if my ability can recast it," Durin said, raising his left hand with a pale blue flame appearing in his palm.

"I'm feeling the heat," Anta stepped back.

Durin, however, did not feel much, but his shirt cuff did not agree; under the gaze of Durin and Anta, it started smoking and then successfully ignited on its own.

After a shriek, the flame was extinguished, and Durin, with a changed set of clothes and rolled-up sleeves, started to gather the fire again, then placed the metal plate over the flame.

"Will this really work?" Anta asked, only to see the metal plate begin to curl and then start to melt. It did not drip as she had imagined, but instead, it condensed into a blob of liquid just above Durin's palm.

Surprise covered Durin's face: "Anta, if I were to cast this blob of liquid into a sword, what kind of existence do you think it would be?"

"I don't know, but it must be a very, very sturdy sword, perhaps indestructible no matter what?" Anta speculated from a distance, looking at the liquid mass in Durin's hand.

"Then why should we make a sword? Anta, pass me the hammer mold from the cabinet over there with Mage Hand," Durin shifted his approach immediately.

The mold quickly reached Durin, and placing it on an anvil, he carefully poured the liquid into it, only to find there was a little bit left over.

With the remaining metal liquid, Durin used the Spell Formula to 'shape' a Claw Blade.

The material only supported such a small blade body; elongating the blade would make it too thin, losing the required toughness and hardness.

The fire emitted from a human's body being able to melt a Titanium Alloy Plate into liquid was indeed an eye-opener; had I not witnessed it with my own eyes, I would have deemed anyone who claimed so as speaking complete nonsense.

Big Orange's sigh echoed in Durin's mind.

Yes, I think so too, but that's the fact.

While thinking, Durin completed the quenching process of the Claw Blade's blade—the walls of the studio were mechanisms that connected to the Smithy outside once opened. He stepped out to find all sorts of blacksmith tools available, with the options of water quenching and oil quenching at his disposal.

Then came the hammerhead.

Without Durin's supernatural ability, the metal liquid quickly solidified. Durin opened the mold and took out the hammerhead for quenching. After striking it a few times with a hammer to ensure there were no issues, he turned to Anta.

"Anta, bring me that ironwood handle." Durin pointed to the rack behind her.

She turned around, took the ironwood handle and handed it over.

The ironwood handles among these were standardized and usually served as experimental iron grips, tough yet lightweight.

Durin fitted the hammer handle. Although the hammer itself looked unimpressive with its dull appearance, considering it was for testing the robustness of items, Durin called over the high-hoofed butler from his family.

"You want me to strike a large iron anvil with this hammer to check its hardness, then watch closely, young master."

The high-hoofed skinny butler had helped Durin with tests many times before and was well-practiced. With a battle cry, the two-meter-tall old butler swung the hammer in his hand, then struck the large iron anvil forcefully.

The handle broke immediately, the hammerhead flew a distance, bounced twice on the ground and then stopped.

A huge dent appeared on the iron anvil.

"Young master, where did you get such a sturdy hammerhead from?" The old butler was surprised as he looked at the iron anvil, picking up the hammerhead to examine it again and again: "It's really undamaged, truly so sturdy."

"Ancestral metal, I melted it into a hammerhead. I remember your third grandchild is about to come of age, now this hammerhead is yours," Durin was not fussed about this metal—the Ancestral metal plates, as they couldn't be recast, were not widely collected, and often times, large metal plates would even be used as the roof of cattle sheds.

As for the smaller metal plates, they were used far more often, but it was a pity that they were never recast into weapons or tools—formerly, they were mostly used as reinforcement pieces for shields, and now, they were more often found in places where windows needed to be reinforced, serving as anti-theft and invasion measures.

And as a member of the high-hoofed skinny Clan, their children prided themselves on receiving a sturdy warhammer upon reaching adulthood. This reward made the old butler beam with joy. He pocketed the hammerhead and, after confirming that Durin had no other orders, left.

"I have never heard of anyone who could process these metals left by the ancestors, Durin, now that you can, you will surely become a great divine craftsman in the future." Anta looked at Durin excitedly: "Will you use these metals to craft firearms?"

"I am not even a Great Craftsman yet." Facing Anta's praises, Durin smiled and responded.

Far from just a matter of craftsmanship, in the journey called life, I have just taken the first step.

Moreover, the girl doesn't actually understand that these metal plates left by the ancestors are not all made of the same materials; some are Titanium Alloy, some are comprised of Tungsten-Cobalt and Tungsten-Titanium-Cobalt hard Alloys, while some are just Aluminum Alloy.

In any case, Durin needed to first collect the hard Alloys to make a set of tool pieces.

As the old saying goes, to do a good job, an artisan needs the best tools.