Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 629 - 582 - Mackenbert’s Molten Fire
The Red Dragon Priest, silent, stepped out from the Bronze Gate, having just engaged in a rather unpleasant meeting with the other members of the Craftsmen’s Council.
"Those good-for-nothing old stubborn fools, half in the grave!" Fleisheimer favored the guise of flesh and blood more than the other Dragon Priests, for it gave him back his proud beard, a Dwarf’s favorite; second only to forging, brawling, and fine spirits.
"They wouldn’t listen to me! Their fat asses might as well be soldered to those bronze chairs! I’m ashamed to be associated with them!!!"
"Uncle, if the Master Craftsmen could only be judged by your words, my father and Mackenbert would weep," said a Dwarf in his prime, chuckling as he emerged from behind the Bronze Gate. His dark curly hair and beard merged as one, with golden rings securing braids at his temples. His dark blue formal attire highlighted his sturdy figure, he was a fine blacksmith; an imposing face framed a pair of gleaming silver eyes, shining in concert with the gemstones on his crown, he was a wise King.
Dragon Follower Tribe, the reigning King of the Molten Dwarves, Visergg Firehammer.
After Fleisheimer had become a Dragon Priest, his elder brother took up the mantle of the second King of the Dwarves, and now the title had passed on to his nephew. The forging-obsessed Priest was indifferent to power, and his close bond with his brother extended to the next generation.
Faced with the Dwarf King’s self-deprecation, the hot-tempered Red Dragon Priest showed no sign of restraint.
"They’re fools! Such a grand plan I proposed! Yet not a single one agreed! Not even you supported me! Have you no longer the strength to lift a hammer? No courage to strike it down?! The Craftsmen’s Council! Your timid behavior is utterly ridiculous and pitiable to me, including you! You’re the King! You’re the head of the Craftsmen’s Council, why would you let those gluttons dictate state affairs! Our progress has become stagnant! Can’t you see that!"
The Red Dragon Priest’s near-poking finger left the Dwarf King somewhat helpless. Uncle seemed to have had a bit to drink. "I am the sovereign, I must stand with the people, uncle. Besides, the decision was already made, one more vote from me wouldn’t have changed a thing. The Craftsmen’s Council being on equal footing with the King was a law established from the start, I can’t slap my father’s face. Moreover, uncle, personally, I would not support your view either. What you seek to tamper with is the Heart of Molten Fire, the core of the Great Furnace. To risk our nation’s loss for the slim chance of reviving an excess dragon doesn’t make sense. If I agreed with you, I must have had too much to drink as well. Our country is stable now, we have reached a completely self-sufficient stage. Harvesting the Heart of Molten Fire as you suggest will definitely lead to unnecessary chaos..."
"I’m not listening! I won’t hear it!" the Red Dragon Priest obstinately shook his head; honestly, seeing such tantrum from a Dwarf entirely lacked charm. "Visergg, our people no longer possess their former spirit of progress! They are content with the status quo, fearing the loss of what they have, just like... just like we used to be... This is dangerous, a harbinger of doom."
The Dwarf King was persuaded by the Red Dragon Priest; his expression became serious.
"Uncle, do you really insist on this?"
The Red Dragon Priest was inwardly delighted, but outwardly he still feigned concern for the nation.
"Yes, my King, we need your wise decision!"
"I understand, I refuse. As a King, I will not consent to such a preposterous decision."
The Red Dragon Priest’s face turned red with what seemed to be the embarrassment of being mocked, anger igniting his beard as he tossed aside his Magic Wand and opened his arms, like a Fire Lion ready to pounce at any moment.
"However..." the Dwarf King spoke with a turn in his tone, removing from his waist the Warhammer with a Flame Gem as its head, the King’s Warhammer, "as your nephew, I will support your decision. Uncle, I can’t sway you anyway, and at least I can bear your sin after you fail. If our kingdom is indeed decaying, then it shall be as it once was."
"Let the Dragon Priest ignite a new fierce fire,"
"Visergg, you little stinker," the Red Dragon Priest picked up the beautiful warhammer, holding it high above his head, the burning fire burst out instantaneously, like a torch. "You won’t regret today’s decision, you cunning monster of a Dwarf King."
Visergg laughed heartily, "I’d rather you praise my passion for family and the royal lineage, the Fire Hammer shall burn forever."
Freheimer let out the hearty laugh characteristic of the Fire Hammer clan.
"Inform the clansmen to take refuge, my king, for today, Mackenbert shall be very ’lively’ indeed."
The Dwarf Kingdom of Mackenbert is located deep underground, beneath its territory lies a vast expanse of active magmatic lava lakes. The dwarves used this natural fire to forge their own kingdom, making this region the world’s largest furnace, and the land of lava beneath Mackenbert became known as the Great Furnace.
The Molten Dwarves weren’t the only inhabitants of the Great Furnace; they had neighbors just as fiery and smelly as they were.
Fire Elementals.
In the low-lying areas of the magma pools, there are countless rough and uneven caves along the mountain walls. These caves are deep and narrow, yet the temperature is even higher than on the surface of the lava pools, for these are the dwellings of the Elemental Creatures.
If the Dragon Priest wanted to reach the Heart of Molten Fire, he needed the help of an Elemental Creature, because the Heart of Molten Fire was deep within the magma pool, and without the protection of an Elemental Creature, he would be burned to the bone.
Of course, there was another way, which was to have the Blue Dragon Priest, who was innately immune to fire, do the job, but the Red Dragon Priest couldn’t afford to lose that face.
Luckily, he had an Elemental friend.
With the Fire Hammer in hand, Fleisheimer found the deepest and largest cave. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
Inside the cave with a four-meter diameter, the inner walls of rock had a waxy texture to them, the twisting air made them blurry in the Dragon Priest’s vision, as if they were liquefying, and a foul-smelling rosy vapor hung over the top of the cave, reaching deep inside.
"I’m coming in!!!" the Red Dragon Priest bellowed as he proceeded inward.
He found his target.
It was an Elemental Creature with only an upper body, sculpted entirely from fire, with two arms thick as gorillas made of flame, an inverted triangle torso featuring eight melting abs, wearing a wreath on its head, composed of spark-made flowers.
The Baron of the Garden lay on a peculiar sun, with two crystal glasses on his face, smearing suntan oil on his pectoral muscles, even though those greases would evaporate into steam in the next moment.
Baron of the Garden, this was the name of the high-ranking Elemental Lord, who was one of the earliest-born elemental creatures from the Great Furnace, and the leader of the elements there. He was named the Baron of the Garden because he liked to plant flowers, which resulted in all the Blazing Flame Tequilas being unable to withstand the poor temperature, smuggling themselves off to the City of Wandering.
"What are you doing, Baron of the Garden?"
"I’m on vacation, can’t you tell? My old friend."
I only see you polluting the environment. The Red Dragon Priest didn’t speak the truth and turned around, ready to leave home.
"Then you carry on resting, I’ll find some other elemental creatures to help."
"There are no other elemental creatures left. I’m the only elemental creature in the Great Furnace now."
"What!!!" The Red Dragon Priest fell into panic, "What happened to the Fire Elementals? How did you go extinct? What on earth happened during the time I was away?"
The Baron of the Garden was lying back with his hands behind his head, his tone relaxed.
"Extinct? Not at all, it’s just that all my little brothers have moved out. They reported to me before they left, so I’m certain that I’m definitely the last Fire Elemental now."
"Moved out? Where did they go?"
"Anywhere they wanted to go? The City of Wandering’s intangible zone? Some active volcano? Or anywhere else where burning things is not illegal."
The Red Dragon Priest was very puzzled.
"But why? The Great Furnace is your home, isn’t it nice living here?"
The Baron of the Garden stood up from his sun chair, took off his sunglasses, and looked straight at the Red Dragon Priest with his flaming eyes.
"Freheimer, I see you just don’t get it. You Dwarves have become very boring nowadays. These past few years, the Molten Dwarves neither forge nor run arenas, we don’t like drinking, and in Mackenbert, we can’t even burn anything if we want to. We Fire Elementals are a bit tired of you. It’s like... hmm... even though the Great Furnace is our home, it’s not thriving. We need to seek our own path, right? We also want to find interesting things to do."
"Anyway, you Dwarves don’t need us anymore, soaking in magma all day is boring. If we migrate to the City of Wandering, we can go to the intangible zone for entertainment, if we want to burn someone we can go to the Black Abyss Arena, and besides, Arcanists are now recruiting elemental companions of any type. They even provide Water Elemental companions, oh my. Mackenbert’s benefits and compensation, how can they compare with theirs."
"What do you want Water Elemental companions for?"
"For carnal desires, what else? Why so surprised? It’s illegal to discriminate against the physiological needs of elemental creatures, you know."
"But aren’t you Fire Elementals? Don’t you have reproductive isolation?"
"Hah? How do you think those mixed elements were born? We have a very wide hunting range!"
"...I’ve been enlightened." The Red Dragon Priest realized that this mission was imperative, the Molten Dwarves truly needed to change.
"So are you Fire Elementals... having a hard time now?"
"A bit, yes. The last time I went to the Elemental Plane to chat with other elements, we were quite embarrassed, looking utterly like rootless fires without a direction. Not to mention the other elements, do you know about the Radiance Elementals? A minor elemental race that’s not even counted amongst the Four Great Elements has recently become incredibly arrogant, acting like they want to fight everybody. Damn it, I heard there’s a powerful Light Caster in the real world, and those Radiance Elementals are partying like crazy. Why don’t you show some spirit? Where is the Spellcaster idol for us Fire Elementals? Fleisheimer, you’re not weak, can you stop obsessing over blacksmithing and be an idol, give us Fire Elementals some face."
"...The idol matter, what do you think of the Red Dragon? Top Flame Mage."
Baron of the Garden rubbed his head.
"But aren’t all the dragons dead?"
"We Dragon Priests have a grand plan..." Freheimer brandished his Fire Hammer, "as long as you let me give the Heart of Molten Fire a good whack with this, I’ll give you a Red Dragon as an idol and reignite the burning vitality of Mackenbert."
"Deal!" The Baron of the Garden roared, burning his sun lotion and sun chair to ash. "I knew you wouldn’t let me down, Fleisheimer, it was worth squatting in this cave for years, even missing my date with the Ice Elemental beauty. Ah, but I still prefer the fiery passion of a Flame Lady, hahaha."
The Baron of the Garden cast protective spells on the Red Dragon Priest, hoisted him onto his back, and turned into a hot wave rushing towards the magma pool.
"Fleisheimer, by hammering the Heart of Molten Fire, you’re also hammering the heart of Mackenbert’s mountain range. Volcanic eruptions, rain of molten lava, it will definitely erupt in the Dwarf Kingdom."
"Then let it erupt, let those idiot Dwarves hear the alarm clock of life!"
"Hahaha! I like it! We really do get along!"
Deep within the magma pool, gazing at the burning core, the Red Dragon Priest raised his Fire Hammer high and brought it down fiercely.
"Recast the Heart of our Molten Fire!"
"Dwarves and fire, you don’t want to mess with us!!!"
