Chapter 118
First and foremost, there were two facts that Aden had overlooked.
The first was that the new technology of magical engineering precisely matched the preferences of the Dwarves.
The second was that once the Dwarves became obsessed with something, they would pursue it relentlessly, ignoring everything else.
“Grrrr?”
One of the Stone Golems occupying Stoneheim sensed something unusual and turned around.
**BOOM!**
The last thing that Stone Golem saw was a bright light.
The golem, along with several others nearby, was swept away by a white beam and exploded into pieces.
Watching this, the Dwarves raised their arms and cheered.
“Hahaha! We did it! We hit it!”
“How does it taste, you damned rocks!”
“This is the power of us Dwarves!”
“Waaaaaah!”
They were completely enthralled by the power and might of the magical cannon created by Gustav. They learned the technology and successfully produced their own magical cannons.
“Fire the first magical cannon again!”
“Fire the second cannon!”
“Fire the third cannon!”
**Boom! Boom! Boom!**
“Grrrrrr!”
“Grrrr!”
Once again, the light from the magical cannons swept over the golems, who had no way to defend themselves.
Aden watched this with a smug smile.
‘Indeed, Dwarves. I never expected them to produce three cannons in just a week.’
The Dwarves absorbed the knowledge of magical engineering like sponges and quickly mastered it.
Next to him, Gustav grinned broadly with satisfaction.
“Hahaha, my lord! These fellows are the first I’ve met who are as communicative and impressive as you! It’s a shame to even compare them to those in the Mage Tower!”
“…That sounds like a good thing.”
Although humans generally harbored prejudice against other races, Gustav seemed to take a liking to the Dwarves.
The feeling was mutual with the Dwarves as well.
A deep bond of friendship formed between the two races, which was undoubtedly a good thing.
However, Aden couldn’t help but feel a bit complicated about it.
Aden watched the Dwarves pour mana stones into the magical cannons and relentlessly attack the golems.
The golems, who had no distinct consciousness, were shattered by the cannon’s light, and some fled in terror.
“Grrrrrr!”
“Grrrr…”
Even those fleeing golems were not spared as the Dwarves targeted and shot them with the magical cannons.
“Hahaha! Turn to dust, you cursed stones!”
“Art is an explosion! Quietly become art, golems! Hahaha!”
“The Dwarves’ technology is the best in the world!”
**Boom! Boom! Boom!**
Their eyes were unfocused as they attacked the golems, as if repaying all the humiliation they had suffered.
The Dwarves, crazed and seemingly possessed, slaughtered the golems with magical beams.
It was hard to tell who the villains were in this mad scene.
Their insane behavior reminded Aden of a scruffy-haired wizard he knew.
The entire Dwarf race had turned into ‘Gustav clones.’
‘Dragon Slayer.’
“…Why?”
‘From what I see, it seems like you have spread a deadly contamination to an entire race.’
“…”
Aden couldn’t deny the creature’s words.
Meanwhile, the Dwarves continued firing the magical cannons and laughing maniacally.
“Become the food of magical engineering! You worm-like golems!”
“Hahaha! Hahaha!”
“…”
“…”
With the great success of magical engineering, the Dwarves succeeded in reclaiming their home, Stoneheim.
—
“Thank you so much, Prince Aden!”
The Dwarf King Hephaisto’s face was glowing with joy.
“If you hadn’t introduced Gustav and taught us the new technology of magical engineering, we wouldn’t have thought of defeating those golems on our own.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“Really… thank you so much.”
The Dwarf King’s gratitude was sincere, with a hint of tears in his eyes.
“You could have defeated those golems and taken as much as you wanted in return.”
In that unknown ancient dungeon, golems were generated infinitely, and they could have ended up relying on Aden every time to survive.
They could have been in a miserable and dependent state, having to pay a significant price each time to maintain their nation.
‘But that didn’t happen.’
The human in front of him, Aden Remes, did not exploit their crisis for his own gain.
Instead, he taught them the manufacturing skills of the magical cannon, allowing them to overcome the crisis with their own strengths.
Thanks to that, the Dwarves of Stoneheim were able to overcome their hardships by themselves.
With tears glistening in his eyes, the Dwarf King spoke sincerely.
“You are a hero of Stoneheim.”
At that moment, Aden’s system opened.
—
– You have achieved the ‘Hero of Stoneheim’ achievement.
[Hero of Stoneheim]
You have made significant contributions to saving the Dwarves’ homeland, Stoneheim, from the threat of unknown ancient golems.
You allowed them to overcome their hardships with their own pride intact by teaching them the manufacturing skills of magical cannons. All Dwarves feel gratitude and thankfulness for this fact. This title is awarded in recognition of your achievement.
All Dwarves’ favorability towards the user increases.
—
Aden listened to Hephaisto’s words and simply smiled.
‘I just did it because it was incredibly troublesome.’
For the sake of future revenge, he had a mountain of things to do. Visiting here periodically to catch golems was a pain, even if offered a fortune, he would have refused.
So, since he was introducing magical engineering anyway, he let them solve it themselves.
‘Hero, my foot.’
A passing dog would laugh at that.
But if they misunderstood on their own, it was a good thing for Aden.
“If you’re grateful, take good care of the mana stone mine issue, Hephaisto.”
“Of course. I will do my utmost with the name of Stoneheim, so don’t worry.”
Aden and Hephaisto discussed and decided that Stoneheim would fully support the mining and development of the Frozen Autonomous Region’s mines.
Normally, due to their customs of avoiding interactions with the surface, especially with humans, they would have refused. But since it was land managed by their hero, Aden, they trusted it enough.
“And the development of the mana stone mine is necessary for us as well.”
A significant amount of high-purity mana stones was needed to operate the magical cannons.
And such mana stones were rare minerals even in the underground kingdom of Stoneheim, so they needed new mines.
Hephaisto and Aden agreed to allow Stoneheim to take a share of the mined mana stones.
Considering the value of high-purity mana stones, this was a very generous deal.
The Dwarf King felt even more grateful towards Aden.
After a moment of contemplation, Hephaisto spoke seriously, as if he had made a decision.
“Prince Aden Remes, would you come with me to my workshop?”
“To your workshop, Hephaisto?”
“Yes. There is a personal reward I must give you. Please accept it.”
A reward from the Dwarf King.
Aden’s eyes gleamed with interest at that.
Seeing this, Hephaisto smiled confidently.
“I promise you won’t be disappointed.”
—
Aden followed Hephaisto into his workshop world.
“This is my workshop. Though I don’t use it often…”
Aden expressed his admiration as soon as he entered the workshop.
“It’s quite spacious.”
The workshop world he possessed was far larger than any other Dwarf’s workshop.
In fact, it was so large that it couldn’t even be called a workshop.
There were hundreds of houses, sculptures, roads, street trees, and even vast fields and lakes.
It was more of a city than a workshop.
Aden was astonished by the size of this workshop, and Hephaisto smiled with satisfaction.
“Dwarf Kings pass on their workshops to the next king before they die. This place became this large as the workshops of past kings were combined. Each house here is a workshop of a past king.”
“I see.”
Hearing Hephaisto’s explanation, Aden finally understood why this workshop world was so vast.
It was a ‘workshop city’ formed by combining the workshops of over hundreds of Dwarves.
“The gift I want to give you is at the deepest part, so we need to walk a bit.”
The two of them walked along a straight road, passing numerous workshops of past Dwarf Kings, entering the depths of the city.
‘It feels like a dead city. No, maybe that’s correct? The Dwarf Kings who owned these houses are all dead, after all.’
There was no one else there, making it feel eerie like a ghost town, with only Aden and Hephaisto present.
After walking for some time,
“We’ve arrived. It’s here.”
“Is the gift here?”
The workshop he pointed to was quite unexpected.
They had passed by numerous grand and luxurious workshops that looked like mansions.
However, the workshop they arrived at was a small, shabby wooden hut that looked precarious.
It seemed so fragile that a gust of wind could blow it down.
“This was the workshop of the first Dwarf King. No one in our Stoneheim tribe knows exactly how old it is.”
The workshop of the first Dwarf King.
Aden realized that whatever Hephaisto was about to give him would be extraordinary.
“Please wait here for a moment. I’ll bring it out quickly.”
Hephaisto opened the old wooden door of the workshop and went inside.
‘What could it be?’
After about five minutes, he came out with something in his arms.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. It was deep inside, so it took some time to find it. Here, take this.”
“Hephaisto, that is
…?”
Aden’s expression showed curiosity as he saw what Hephaisto was holding.
It was a fruit.
Specifically, a fruit that emitted a faint golden glow.
‘No way…’
However, Aden stared at the fruit in a trance.
His mana sensitivity felt it all.
Inside this apple-shaped fruit, pure mana was condensed to an incredible degree.
That mana radiated a strong life force.
The last time he saw such pure and concentrated mana was only once.
‘Dragon’s Mana.’
The mana that the dragon heart of the light dragon he had defeated contained.
The mana that enabled the duplicate self of the Underlord to perform the miracle of time regression.
The fruit in front of him held a power that reminded him of that dragon’s mana.
Aden turned to Hephaisto with a serious expression.
“Hephaisto, this fruit is…?”
“You recognized it right away.”
Hephaisto smiled meaningfully.
“Prince Aden Remes, you saved the kingdom of Stoneheim, and furthermore, the lives of our people. Therefore, I want to give you a reward that’s equivalent to a life.”
Hephaisto spoke proudly, looking at Aden.
“This fruit is the ‘Fruit of the World Tree,’ which is said to bloom once every thousand years on our fairy tree, the World Tree.”
The Fruit of the World Tree.
“It is said to be a legendary elixir that can even bring the dead back to life.”
“…”
Aden fell into deep silence.
Resurrecting the dead.
Aden received a Fruit of the World Tree, an extra life, as a gift from the Dwarf King.