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Edward looked at the statue while analyzing it. Then, he placed his hand on the Grimoire and injected his mana. The process lasted two hours without stopping. If it were any other mage or even races with naturally high magic power, they would have fainted long ago.
Ignoring the shocked look of these dwarven chiefs, Edward waited until the process ended. Then, a light came from the statue to scan his body; he could tell it was determining if he was human or not.
So, Edward quickly sealed away his Higher Life Essence, which he previously unsealed after studying the devil's body. A few seconds later, the statue lit up before a projection appeared in front of everyone.
"The Wizard Sage," said the chiefs in unison. Then, they stood straight before saluting it with the utmost respect. Meanwhile, Edward calmly looked at the middle-aged man who exuded wisdom.
"Mage of the future, if you're seeing this, it means that you have met the requirement that I have left. I do not have long, so I won't waste your time. According to my prediction, the seal I place on "him" will not last long.
"So, you must quickly gather the remaining part of my Grimoire; it is the key to reinforcing the seal and preventing the unleashing of such evil on this world again.
"I do not know how long after my death I can finally find a successor, but it should be in the very distant future. By then, the seal should show signs of breaking.
"So, please hurry. The fate of the world lies on your shoulder."
The projection disappeared, then a Grimoire with a Heart Symbol and a queen inside floated in front of him. He held it before opening it; it was blank with nothing written inside.
He took out his Grimoire, which elicited a response. The two grimoires fused after shining golden lights. Edward quickly opened it before and saw no changes besides a heart symbol appearing next to the 6 Clover Leaf.
He closed his eyes to sense anything different with the Grimoire and felt it connected to something. However, it was so faint that he could not detect what it was.
"Interesting," he muttered.
Subsequently, a map appeared in Edward's mind to show him the location of the other Grimoires. One was in the Diamond Kingdom, while the second one was in the Land of the Sun.
Edward frowned as he pondered the entire situation. He had no information about the Origin Grimoire in his memory from the main timeline. So, why did it appear now?
Additionally, the mana test of this statue was extremely abnormal. No human should be capable of passing this test; it was as if it was designed specifically for me.
'This can be explained in two ways: the Wizard Sage can predict my arrival thousands of years ago. Or, my arrival caused a ripple across space-time and altered this timeline beyond the norm.
'It could also be a combination of the two.'
Edward was leaning more on the third explanation. However, for now, this did not matter. This short projection revealed a lot of information, for example, who is this "he" the Wizard Sage was referred to.
He observed a slight fear in the Wizard Sage's eyes when he mentioned it, and the fact he did not even reveal that thing or person's name tells a lot.
'The "He' he's talking about might refer to the God who controls Elysium. Additionally, the dwarves' records talk about being of extreme good and evil. By that logic, since there is a God who rules Elysium, there might be another who rules the Underworld.'
Countless thoughts flashed across Edward's mind as he pieced many of the puzzles together.
'The Underworld God, let's call him Satan, might be dead–or at least severely injured.'
He theorized this based on Lucius, or to be precise, the devil Astaroth's actions. He believed that Astaroth wanted to get the power of all the other two underworld leaders.
He now believed with their powers, he could either ascend to the position of Satan or use it to revive the dead or injured Satan.
'This could also validate my other theory that God seemed to be planning to use Asta and Liebe's Anti-Magic to deal with the underworld.'
Edward continued to ponder as he felt the Universe Will might be a significant factor in all of this mystery. However, he still lacks a lot of meaningful information.
'In the end, I still have to rely on Zuriel to get more answers.'
Edward placed the Grimoire before turning around to be greeted by these dwarves who looked at him with more respect and reverence.
"What is now?"
"Sir, it would be our utmost honor to accompany you on your journey to save the world," said Duril, who removed his crown and appeared to have secretly brushed his hair and beard. And he was not the only one.
Edward did not know whether to cry or laugh. These dwarves have been isolated for so long that they rely on stories, legends, and myths to entertain themselves. As such, they all seemed intrigued by the prospect of leaving the island and going on epic adventures.
Oddly though, most of them never leave the island.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but there is no grand adventure."
"Why?" asked the dwarves in puzzlement; they all heard the Wizard Sage's message.
"That's because even if the Wizard Sage were alive and at his peak, he would not be my opponent. So, I can deal with relative ease whatever opponent or great evil he could not in his time."
The dwarf chiefs did not know how to react; they knew little about Edward and his ability. However, given that he was chosen as the Sage's Successor, he must be pretty powerful.
However, could he really be more powerful than the legendary hero who saved the world?
"Wouldn't it be better to have our help?" said Duril, which made Edward ponder for a moment. Ultimately, he decided to have the dwarves help him build a few magical artifacts to aid in Elysium's invasion.
So, in the next few days, Edward designed unique artifacts for each magic knight and captain participating in the upcoming battle. He also took time to learn the craftsmanship method of the dwarves while also sharing his. Chief Duril finally got a chance to examine the ring that he's been eying for some time.
The crafting method of the Dwarves was similar to the Engraving in the Empire as in they involved inscribing magic runes or circles on the artifact to enchant them with magical properties.
The difference is that the dwarves used the same Mana Method as the Heart Kingdom. However, instead of setting magic arrays to boost spells, they do it for enchantment.
Edward liked this [Mana Method Enchantment] as it was not as physically tiring as engraving enchantments by hands. All you have to do is control the mana in the surroundings to create the magic runes, then use a special technique to burn the array on whatever items need to be enchanted.
The burning process can be done after the item is forged; however, that requires a higher level of skills. So, most dwarves can only do the enchantment process while forging, which makes the burning process easier at the cost of reducing some of the enchantment's power.
With his Artificier's talent and the title from the Akashic Record, Edward did not take long to master this enchantment technique to its highest level. He also exchanged some techniques with the dwarves.
During his time with them, he learned a lot about this race. What fascinated him was the fact that they were a race born for the profession of Artificer. All dwarves had the natural talent to detect precious magical ores near them.
They had a long lifespan, between 300 to 800 years, and their reproductive abilities were above average compared to most long-lived species. They were the perfect race to bring back to the Empire.
With their Artificier talent, once they receive the proper education, the magical technology of the Empire will have another boost.
Edward held a hammer in his hand that he had just forged. Lightning flashed across it after injecting his mana. He smiled before whispering to the hammer:
"Whosoever holds this hammer, if they be worthy, shall possess the power of the Thor."
After saying these words, the hammer lit up, and Edward placed it on the ground, asking the dwarves to try to lift it. Duril was the first to try and easily pick it up.
A black and gold armor appeared on his body, boosting his strength. Duril raised the hammer in the sky with excitement to summon a thunderstorm that covered the entire island. Luckily, he controlled himself in time, so he did not cause a disaster.
After that, all the dwarves tried and lift the hammer. Edward was embarrassed as he remembered all the dwarves were innocent or pure of heart, so it made sense they could lift and use the hammer.
In the end, he changed the requirement to lift the hammer to their crafting skills level. That way, only a few dozens of people were worthy and could lift it.
After satisfying his ego, or childhood dream, he tasked the dwarves to create the artifact he needed for the invasion before continuing east to the Land of the Sun.
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