Feld knew this much: blacksmiths considered their hammers to be treasures. His old man used to say that "Angels" were worth ten million.
So Feld said, "I have my own hammer."
"Can your hammer compare to mine?" the dwarf asked disdainfully.
Feld didn't respond. Instead, a gleam of light flashed, and **Angel**, the heavy hammer, appeared in his hand.
Instantly, the dwarf's eyes widened in surprise.
Feld was pleased with the dwarf's expression. Almost every blacksmith who saw this hammer had the same reaction. But the dwarf's expression was more one of astonishment and disbelief.
"How about that? Impressive enough?" Feld asked with a smile. His hammer was indeed something special, praised by every blacksmith who laid eyes on it.
However, the dwarf didn't answer. Instead, he stepped forward, coming right up to Feld.
Feeling the forceful wind, Feld's pupils contracted.
Such speed! Dwarves weren't known for their speed; strength was their forte. But this dwarf's speed, even in his weakest aspect, was terrifyingly powerful!
Then, Feld felt the strength of the dwarf.
Without Feld's consent, the dwarf grabbed his hammer, as if trying to take it away.
Feld was stunned for a moment, then immediately tightened his grip on the hammer, resisting the dwarf.
But Feld, who had never lost in terms of strength, lost this time, and he lost thoroughly.
He had almost no resistance. The hammer in his hand was snatched away by the dwarf.
Fortunately, it seemed the dwarf wasn't really trying to take Feld's hammer. After seizing the hammer, he stood in front of Feld, carefully examining it. His movements were extremely gentle, as if he were afraid of breaking the hammer.
Seeing his careful handling, Feld's expression improved somewhat. Then he said, "Give me back the hammer."
If the dwarf didn't return it, Feld would have to resort to his trump card to retrieve it. This was something his grandfather had left him.
But the dwarf remained unmoved.
Frowning, Feld began to tense his body.
But just as he was about to act, the dwarf suddenly looked up and asked, "What's your relationship with Tobias?"
Feld was taken aback.
Tobias, that was his grandfather's name.
"He's my grandfather, and I'm his foster son... Do you know him?" Feld stopped tensing and asked.
The dwarf didn't answer but continued, "And... how is he now?"
"He's passed away," Feld said. "This is what he left me."
"Passed away..." The dwarf seemed to be greatly affected, taking two steps back and then lowering his head to look at the **Angel** heavy hammer in his hand, silent for a long time.
Feld didn't ask further. He could sense a deep sorrow emanating from the dwarf, even seeing tears in the dwarf's eyes.
If a dwarf, known for their stubbornness, shed tears, it meant they had lost something very important to them.
After a long time, the dwarf seemed to recover. He handed the hammer back to Feld, then, with his head bowed, muttered, "Dead... good... no more suffering..."
Feld took the hammer, unable to help asking, "Do you know something?"
"What kind of person was my grandfather?"
"He didn't tell you?" the dwarf turned to ask.
Feld shook his head.
"Then stop asking. What he didn't want you to know, I don't want you to know either."
"But since you got his hammer, it means he trusted you."
"Otherwise, he would have melted his hammer into a tombstone and engraved his name on it."
Then he shook his head, waved his hand, and said, "Feel free to use whatever you need here. I'm going to drink, don't bother me."
With that, he picked up a bottle from the ground and walked into the depths of the tavern, seeming to go off alone to mourn.
Feld silently watched, then nodded in the end.
Although he had many questions.
Such as, what was the relationship between this dwarf and his grandfather?
What was his grandfather's identity and occupation before he passed away?
What was the story behind this hammer?
But in the end, he didn't ask further.
Knowing these things now would only add to his troubles.
He had a premonition that it would be something bad, and since the dwarf, who was far stronger than him, was so silent about it, he knew that knowing now wouldn't help.
He didn't like feeling powerless. So, he decided that when he became stronger and had a better relationship with this dwarf, he would ask again.
For now, what he needed to do was refine the materials needed for Hilda's weapons.
The heat waves rolled in the blacksmith's shop as Feld looked at the red-hot metal in front of him, then raised the heavy hammer in his hand.
Ordinary blacksmith shops lacked the necessary equipment and efficiency to even heat up the **Nebula Iron** he held in his hand. But in Oren's blacksmith shop, the forge was imbued with magical runes, allowing temperatures to reach over three thousand degrees Celsius. Successfully heating up the Nebula Iron, Feld then began striking it with the **Angel** heavy hammer.
With a certain rhythm, the sound of the hammer striking the iron seemed to form a melodic rhythm, incredibly beautiful.
Refining Nebula Iron wasn't simple; Feld needed to continuously forge it at least thirty-six thousand times. In the past, he could maintain an average of two strikes per second, taking at least five hours. But after his promotion, his strength and stamina were stronger, and he could complete the refining process in just two hours.
For ordinary people, this monotonous and high-intensity forging process would be unbearable, but for Feld, it was not a problem.
Even the little kitten couldn't stand it; with the average temperature in the blacksmith shop being thirty to forty degrees, the little kitten would be sweating profusely in no time, so Feld let her wait outside.
Two hours later, Feld looked at the cooled metal block with beautiful Nebula patterns, nodding in satisfaction. The Nebula Iron had been successfully refined into **Nebula Steel**, and he had also added a bit of powdered other minerals to enhance the properties of the Nebula Steel.
He would use this Nebula Steel to forge Hilda's exclusive weapon. The design was already conceived; he just needed to draw it later.
Of course, he still needed to contact Hilda to understand her combat style better for subsequent adjustments to the plan.
He had the material for the blade sorted; now he needed something tougher for the guard, and he had something ready-made, so he didn't need to forge it.
So he was ready to say hello to the dwarf and then leave.
But when he turned around, he saw that the dwarf had somehow already stood behind him, silently.
"How long have you been standing there?" Feld asked.
"For a while," the dwarf said, then waved his hand. "Just call me Oren; always saying 'you' to me, you're not a polite person."
"Because Tobias wasn't either."
"Still, gotta pretend." Feld chuckled.
Oren didn't laugh but pointed at the Nebula Steel on the anvil and said, "Is this what he left you?"
"Yeah, I can't handle this kind of advanced material myself." Feld didn't hide it.
Nebula Iron was of a high grade. If you wanted to buy it, you had to buy it by the gram, and one gram would cost five hundred gold. Usually, it was melted into other weapons to enhance their properties. But the piece Feld held was a full pound, enough to forge it directly into a complete rapier.
So just the material alone made this sword worth over two hundred thousand gold.
But Feld didn't care, because his grandfather left him ten full pieces of Nebula Iron, with the heaviest piece weighing three pounds.
That was the reason for Feld's recklessness.
If he really wanted to sell it, the pile of materials his grandfather left him would be enough for him to live without worry for the rest of his life.
But Feld obviously wasn't someone who pursued a worry-free life.
Oren looked at the Nebula Steel, silent for a moment, then asked, "What do you plan to make with it?"
"A rapier."
"The properties of Nebula Steel do suit a rapier... for a woman?"
"You could tell?" Feld widened his eyes.
Oren waved his hand. "With your big build, you're usually swinging **Angel** around, so you wouldn't use such a rapier."
"You really have sharp eyes."
"Is it for that cat person outside?"
"No, it's for the swan (Hilda)."
Oren: "?"
Oren's gaze suddenly became somewhat subtle, and Feld, noticing this, chuckled and said, "Not an orc, a human, just a nickname."
"Oh, I thought you liked those birdfolk with tempers worse than dragonkind," Oren nodded.
Then he said, "In the future, if you want to forge, just come over to my side, and feel free to use whatever you need."
"No need for a million gold?" Feld joked.
"If I dared to charge you a million gold, one day I'd go down, and Tobias would hammer me back to life," Oren said.
Feld laughed, and surprisingly, Oren laughed along for a moment too, but quickly reverted to his usual serious demeanor.
"You and my grandfather, you're very close, aren't you?" Feld asked with a smile.
"Not good, we were archenemies," Oren shook his head.
"What?" Feld was taken aback.
Next moment, he heard Oren say in a low voice, "But we were also the best comrades..."
"Then..." Feld wanted to ask more, but was mercilessly interrupted by Oren.
"Don't ask, just get out when you're done. I need to forge." Oren picked up his hammer, indicating Feld to leave.
Feld smiled wryly. Oren and his grandfather really had the same bad temper.
"Well, I'll be off then. See you next time," Feld said.
Oren didn't turn back, just waved his hammer, signaling Feld to close the door when leaving.
Honestly, at that moment, Feld really felt like taking the door with him. He didn't know why.
Stepping out of Oren's blacksmith shop, Feld's expression became slightly solemn. Judging from Oren's attitude, his grandfather's death probably wasn't that simple. Although his grandfather passed away peacefully, there must have been something that happened before that. He felt it necessary to figure it out. But not now. Now he needed to go find Ironfist Raymond and complete that golden-level debt collection task.
"Big guy, you finally came out, meow!" Feld had just left the blacksmith's shop, and Chi-Chi, who had been waiting nearby, immediately jumped onto his shoulder and said with a pouty face.
"Big guy, I'm so bored, meow..."
After all, she had waited for two hours, and Chi-Chi was almost bored to death.
Feld smiled and rubbed her little head. "Then let's go have some fun now."
"Fun?" Chi-Chi's eyes lit up, then she nodded repeatedly. "Okay, meow!"
Soon, Feld found the Iron Tavern based on the address provided by Sains.
You know what, this tavern was hardcore indeed. The sign was made of a solid piece of steel, suspended above the tavern by a crane with steel cables, and there were fist imprints forming the word "Iron".
Feld laughed immediately. He liked this style.
Then he walked into the tavern with big strides.
With Feld's arrival, the lively tavern suddenly quieted down a lot. If it were an ordinary person coming in, most people would just give a glance. But unfortunately, Feld's stature was just too eye-catching. Actually, in this tavern, there was no shortage of big guys; there was even one who was two meters three tall, with muscles even bigger than Feld's. But to have a physique as large as Feld's and still have such beautiful muscles, there was no comparison.
Feld's physique was really good, broad shoulders and narrow waist, large build, yet giving people a sense of natural coordination. So at this moment, Feld became the most handsome guy in the entire place.
Chi-Chi felt the sharp gazes around and became a little scared, so she shrunk back behind Feld.
The mercenaries here were different from those in the outer city. Those who could be here were basically golden-level mercenaries, and there were even several platinum-level ones, whose momentum couldn't be compared to little Karami in the outer city.
But Feld didn't care at all, with a casual expression on his face, as if he were a regular, he walked straight to the bar and asked the bartender with an eight-character mustache.
"What do you need, sir?" the bartender asked politely.
"I need to find someone," Feld said.
"Who?" the bartender asked, glancing at the mercenaries around.
"Raymond," Feld said.
Instantly, half of the tavern's patrons stood up, the sound of chairs falling over resonating one after another, and the atmosphere instantly became somewhat tense.