Chapter 10: The Dwarven Artisan

Chapter 10: The Dwarven Artisan

"Oh gods, grant me wisdom, let my mind be opened..."

Tove Stone Flame knelt on the ground, head bowed, hands clasped, praying devoutly.

The dwarves had worshiped fire and rock since ancient times, doubting whether there truly existed gods with personalities in the world. If any dwarf claimed to have converted to a religion, they'd be laughed at by everyone, or seen as rebellious and attention-seeking.

But this time, Tove had no other choice but to pray to the gods. Because with her own ordinary strength, she simply couldn't solve the problem!

Whether gods existed or not, she'd pray first and worry about the rest later! Whether it was god or man, everyone loved hearing sweet talk, right?

She repeated the prayer several times, but nothing happened.

She sighed. In the novels that came from humans, they always loved writing scenes of angels appearing before people and such. It seemed that was just idle human fantasy.

The dwarven girl sighed and was about to get up when a white object suddenly appeared in front of her.

It was a small creature floating in mid-air, pure white all over, looking both like a rabbit and a cat, with a pair of small round red eyes glancing around alertly.

"What a weird little thing!"

Tove was startled and instinctively reached for her axe, but then she heard the white creature speak in a high-pitched voice: "Are you the one who just prayed for wisdom?"

Tove's jaw silently dropped in amazement.

—R-really? It actually appeared? Gods really existed, and one had answered her prayers?!

What an astonishing phenomenon! Tove desperately wanted to study the principles behind it—how this white creature could hear her prayer from afar, and how it could cross time and space to appear before her—then write a lengthy paper and publish it in the *Journal of Earthfire*. Her chances for "Best Artisan of the Year" would be looking good!

"You... you're the god?" Her attitude became extremely humble.

As a god, this creature was a bit too... adorable?

The white creature cleared its throat: "My master heard your prayer while out wandering and sent me to investigate."

This was exactly like what human novels described! The human gods all had such high-and-mighty attitudes, ignoring their followers, always sending angels or prophets to act on their behalf.

"Yes, I was the one praying just now." Tove replied respectfully, "My name is Tove Stone Flame. As you can see, I'm an ordinary dwarf. And what might your name be?"

"Uh, you can call me Xiao... no, that won't work. Call me Kyubey... no, that won't work either. Oh right, since you think I look strange, just call me 'Xiaoqi'!"

Needless to say, "Xiaoqi" was the new alias Lyman had come up with.

While playing the part of a "cute" white creature, he observed the dwarven girl's expression.

Oddly enough, she seemed to be observing him too. But her gaze held no malice—it was more like an inquisitive, scientific curiosity, like a biologist discovering a new species in the wild.

Hmm, the dwarves truly were the scientists of the fantasy world. Their mindset was much harder to deal with than that of devout theists.

Fortunately, Lyman possessed "Masterful Acting," and even while playing Xiaoqi, his Supernatural Ability was still active.

"Alright, Xiaoqi!" Tove nodded. "Then what should I call the god you serve?"

Lyman made Xiaoqi raise its head, faithfully playing the role of a haughty servant of the divine.

"My master has many titles. Once you gain their trust, you will naturally come to know them."

"Oh..." Tove scratched her messy reddish-brown hair. "Then is your master a deity who has been around since ancient times, or one who came from another world through the 'Stellar Conjunction'?"

Huh? What did that mean? Were there distinctions between native gods and foreign gods? And what was the "Stellar Conjunction"? He'd never even heard of the concept.

Lyman wanted to ask, but he was playing the role of a god's servant, speaking on behalf of an omniscient deity. If Xiaoqi didn't even know about the "Stellar Conjunction," wouldn't that give him away?

After a moment's thought, Lyman decided to respond in the style of a riddle-master.

"Dwarf girl, I can answer your question, but what price are you willing to pay for the answer?"

Tove was taken aback, then realized she had spoken out of turn. How could she casually ask questions of a divine servant? Knowledge never came for free in this world!

Fortunately, Xiaoqi hadn't answered directly. If it had, and demanded a hefty price, it might have cost her her life!

"No, no, I don't want to know." she said quickly, "I only prayed for a bit of wisdom from the gods. I won't pry into things I shouldn't know."

"Good. Now it's my turn to ask questions." Lyman said, "Why do you need wisdom? What kind of trouble are you in?"

Tove nervously wrung her hands: "If I ask you and your master for help, what price must I pay?"

"You must become my master's follower."

Tove grew tense: "Do I need to offer sacrifices or something, like offering my head, or plucking out my eyes..."

What would I even do with your head and eyes? What I want is for you to become an Apostle and earn me rewards. Lyman thought speechlessly.

"Well," he said, "my master will give you some tasks, and you just need to complete them well. As for what those tasks are, that's for the great master to decide. Don't ask me, I wouldn't know either."

Lyman truly had no idea what tasks the Book of the Evil God would assign to Apostles. What a god he'd turned out to be...

"That sounds acceptable..." Tove let out a small sigh of relief. If it was just running errands for a deity, that wasn't entirely unreasonable.

"Our city of Earthfire holds an annual 'Craftsmanship Competition.' Every dwarf can submit one work to the competition, and a panel of twelve 'Masters' will judge the entries. The one with the highest score not only receives a handsome reward, but the creator also has a chance to be taken on as an apprentice by one of the Masters!"

"You're entering the Craftsmanship Competition too?"

The dwarven girl nodded eagerly: "My work is an unprecedented new invention. I'm confident I'll score high, but during the production process, I ran into some problems..."

She walked to a corner of the cave, where an object sat covered with a white cloth.

She yanked off the cloth.

Lyman curiously approached.

"Ta-da!" Tove said proudly, "This is my invention—the two-wheeled chain-driven human-powered self-propelled mobility device!"

—It was a bicycle.

Actually, calling it a "bicycle" was still premature. It looked more like two wheels connected by steel brackets, just a rudimentary prototype of a bicycle.

Tove, afraid Xiaoqi wouldn't appreciate the greatness of her invention, decided to demonstrate it herself. She brought over a small stool, stepped onto it to climb onto the bicycle seat, and pretended to pedal.

"See, this way the chain drives the wheels to move. As long as I keep my balance, I can move forward! Compared to walking, it's faster and less tiring, bringing greater convenience to everyone!" The dwarven girl explained enthusiastically.

"This... this invention is way ahead of its time!" Lyman flew in a circle around the bicycle. "This chain... these bearings... how were they made?!"

On Earth, the bicycle was already the most common mode of transportation, but it was actually only invented after the First Industrial Revolution. Its two most important components—the chain and the bearings—required extremely high industrial technology to manufacture, far beyond what a medieval society could produce.

Tove was surprised: "As expected of a divine servant, you've got a good eye! These chains and bearings are unique inventions of the dwarves, secrets never shared with outsiders, used exclusively in mining."

"Your tech is really this good?" Lyman suddenly felt a glimmer of hope.

"I won't claim everything, but when it comes to metallurgy and forging, we dwarves are the best in the world! No other race is even in the same league!" Tove said proudly, with her hands on her hips.

Lyman asked, "So what's bothering you?"

Hearing that, Tove's face immediately fell.

"Everything else is fine, but the wheels wear out too easily. I started with wooden wheels, but they didn't hold up long. Then I switched to iron ones—better, but still no good. If I used mithril or something, it would last a long time, but that's too expensive.

"My original idea was to make something convenient and affordable for everyone. Is there a material that's both durable and cheap?"

Tove hopped off the bicycle, grabbing her tailbone. "Also, this thing is too bumpy! Ride it around once, and your butt feels like it's split into eight pieces!"

That's easy—you need an air-filled tire!

Lyman thought for a moment, then said, "When I traveled the universe with my master, I once visited a world where a kind of tree grew. Cut open the bark, and white sap flows out. Add sulfur and heat it, and it becomes a flexible solid. If you shape that material into a tube, put it around the wheel, and fill it with air, that would solve your problem. Does your world have such trees?"

Tove silently flaunted her big eyes.

She wasn't a botanist, but she'd at least heard of most plants in the world. If something that miraculous existed, would she still be dealing with this problem?

What shocked her even more was what Xiaoqi's words revealed: it had actually been to other worlds!

So, it and its god really did arrive through the "Stellar Conjunction"? Or maybe they'd traveled around outside and then come back to this world...

Tove steadied herself, trying hard to hide the storm inside her.

"I've never heard of such a plant. Of course, maybe I'm just ignorant..."

Lyman raised an eyebrow. This world has no rubber trees? Without natural rubber, not only would bicycles never take off, but industrial development would also be held back—because steam engines needed rubber too.

He'd still been planning to dictate advanced technology to the dwarven craftsmen, sparking an industrial revolution, changing the world, and ultimately saving his "brother in faith"! Was his dream really going to die because of a rubber tree?

Wait—he seemed to have seen a description somewhere before, something similar to rubber...

Lyman stopped controlling Xiaoqi for a moment and pulled his consciousness back into his own body.

He opened the Book of the Evil God and quickly flipped to the "Appendix."

The "World Overview" recorded the unique plants and animals of various regions. The dwarves lived in the volcanic mountains of the southern continent, forming several city-states. The ecology of the volcanic mountains was quite similar to that of the Holy Nation in the north, including—

"Slimes?"

According to the "World Overview," slimes were one of the most common monsters in the volcanic mountains, attacking primarily by spitting mucus. And their mucus had "chemical properties similar to natural rubber"!

Tove noticed that Xiaoqi suddenly stopped moving, its whole body stiff and suspended in midair, its eyes losing their luster.

"Xiaoqi? Are you okay?"

She reached out toward the white creature, but her fingers passed straight through its body.

Xiaoqi was just a phantom after all!

Tove scratched her head in panic. Why had Xiaoqi suddenly gone silent? Was it because her request was too much, so it was ignoring her?

"Xiaoqi, if this problem is too hard, forget it. I can find another way..." Tove looked at the white creature with a pitiful expression.

Xiaoqi suddenly twitched.

"Slimes," it said out of nowhere.

"What?" Tove was bewildered.

"You need to go get some slimes."

Author's note:

Slime: In the end, I'm the one who takes it all [crying with laughter]