SMACK!

Furin slammed her palm down on the Magical Device.

Startled, Zog quickly stopped her. "Hey, don’t smash it! This is the only one we have right now."

"Why? How can a one-coin Beastman huntress kill me?"

Furin stared at her character on the screen. She had just filled her Mana, transformed into a Golden Dragon, and was all set to go on a rampage. But then, she was taken down with two javelins by some huntress on Zog’s board named Ned Leopard-Tail.

"Because she’s three-star! Plus, she has the Beastman and Hunter synergy bonus, and she’s fully equipped. The fact that she didn’t kill your item-less Furin with a single javelin means she was underperforming."

"How is that fair?! A three-star is just nine units, right? Even if you threw ninety Neds at me and gave them thirty pieces of Magic Equipment, they still couldn’t beat me."

"It’s a game, sis. A game. It needs to have stats."

"What did you say?"

"A game needs to have stats."

"No, the part before that."

"Uh, sis?" Zog said, a bit confused.

"Good," Furin said, looking pleased. "Since I’m your elder, I demand you play as Furin next game. I’ll play as Ned. And don’t you dare hold back my cards!"

"Huh? How much older are you to be my elder?"

"Even one day older is still older. Hmph!"

「Twenty minutes later.」

"Why?!"

Furin raised her hand to slap the Magical Device, but she stopped mid-air, redirecting the blow to her own thigh. The firm muscle quivered slightly.

"Why couldn’t my Ned kill me?! But your ’me’ took one breath and roasted all my units!"

It was a good thing Zog and Furin had known each other for a long time; anyone else would have been completely lost by that sentence.

On the screen, Furin, transformed into a Golden Dragon, had cleared the board of Ned and her seven hanger-ons with three breaths of fire.

"You can’t win without a frontline. Want to learn how to play? I’m taking apprentices." Zog’s smug, wiggling eyebrows were a work of art.

"No!" Furin pouted, her eyes nearly turning into the vertical slits of a dragon’s.

"What about you? Where are you in this game?" Furin was determined to kill Zog in the game a few times, too.

"You’re about to see," Zog said, pointing to his screen.

When Stage 5-7 arrived, a dark red Giant Dragon appeared on the field. It was pummeled by eight heroes and even dropped a piece of equipment upon death.

"See? That’s me."

If Furin had dealt the final blow, it would have triggered the Golden Dragon’s Roar easter egg. Unfortunately, the voice-over hadn’t been added yet.

"So? Isn’t it fun?"

The current version of auto chess was still quite primitive. Many of the icons were just stick figures, a lot of special effects were missing, and bugs would frequently pop up...

But Furin had to admit, it was really fun. More fun than anything she had ever experienced. In her heart, it was already threatening the status of mahjong. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

After the excitement wore off, she began to study the massive Magical Device before her.

She wasn’t familiar with mechanical structures, but the Illusion Technique running on it was right up her alley.

She quickly realized that this Magical Device was designed to be used even by Ordinary people who knew no Magic.

So Zog wanted to bring Illusion Techniques into every household, which would naturally make Illusionists important.

It was a grand goal no one had ever attempted before.

It was, however, very much in line with Zog’s usual style.

The Magical Device stored some of the Magic, but its functionality wasn’t complete. She guessed the other part was in the Divine Remains—a brilliant idea. ’To think that Magic once considered useless could be used this way.’

So, the plan Uffie proposed was meant to solve the problem of eight people having to play on the same machine. That would certainly make it easier to popularize. ’As expected of my student.’

As for the quality of the Illusion Technique model, one could only say it was in a superposition of excellent and garbage.

It was excellent in that no Illusion Technique model had ever been so complex and vast. It was garbage in that, down to the details, the efficiency of the Inscription usage was simply atrocious.

"I can help you modify it a bit..."

Before she could finish, Furin noticed Zog staring at her with gleaming eyes, like he was looking at a mountain of Gold Coins. The look gave her the creeps.

"What are you looking at?"

"I’m looking at my future chief architect."

"I’m just helping out! It’s only because you’re promoting Illusion Techniques. I-I’m not working for you."

Furin changed the subject. "Since you need Illusionists, why didn’t you come to me sooner?"

"I did! You said something about touching the threshold of a whole new realm of artistry and that no one was to disturb you while you delved into your art. We couldn’t even get enough people for cards those days; we had to get Xin 104 to fill in."

’Delving into my art?’ Furin thought back. ’Oh right, that did happen.’ At the time, she thought her paintings were brilliant. When she looked at them again with a clear head, she immediately tossed them into the fireplace.

"But speaking of which, the materials for this Magical Device are way too extravagant. How could most people ever afford to use it?"

The prototype’s construction used large amounts of Mithril, Refined Gold, Rose Quartz, Cat’s Eye Stone, Rubies, and other precious materials. Forget commoners; even minor nobles couldn’t afford it.

"True. When we were developing it, we spared no expense to achieve the functionality. It will take a long time to optimize, but our Magical Device team has limited capabilities, so we can only do it through trial and error."

"I might have someone to recommend."

As expected of someone who knew the ins and outs of Twin Tower City, Furin’s network was far more extensive than Zog’s.

"The Dwarf, Bane Furnace. He’s the third Dwarf in his clan’s history to earn the ’Furnace’ title and is likely the best craftsman in the southern part of the Kingdom in the last two hundred years. There’s just one problem: he hasn’t taken on a job in nearly fifty years, only making things he enjoys. The Craig Clan once offered him tens of thousands of Gold Coins to help repair their heirloom Mechanical Armor, and they were turned away at the door."

’Seriously? The hapless Craig Clan still hasn’t fixed that sweet Mechanical Armor I’ve got my eye on? What have their descendants been doing? I was hoping to borrow it for a spin once it’s fixed.’

"So what does he like?" Zog asked. He put the matter of the armor aside for now; the auto chess game was more important.

"Drinking, gambling, fighting, having fun. For the glory of his clan, proving he’s the strongest Dwarf, and picking fights with those Sharp Ears. A very traditional Dwarf. Basically, whatever other Dwarves like, he likes it even more."

"Interesting..."

Zog stroked his chin, his molten-lava eyes darting around.

"How about this? Why don’t you start by recording some voice lines for your character? Just roar with the same energy you had when you used to steal my food as a kid."

"Huh?"

————————

Bane Furnace’s great-grandfather was a craftsman. His grandfather was a craftsman. His father was a craftsman, and so was he.

But he was different. He was the best craftsman in his clan’s history, which was why he inherited the title of "Furnace" from the famous Dwarf hero, Sate Furnace.

With his family name, Rodel, placed in the middle of his full name, he carried the honor of both his clan and his family—a duty more important to him than life itself.

He took off his glasses and stretched his stiff joints. He was getting old, and his body wasn’t what it used to be. Back in his prime, he could work for three days straight without any sleep.

The train engine before him was dismantled into pieces. It was his newest toy.

After he turned three hundred, he lacked for neither money nor fame. He no longer needed the approval of others; he was already at the pinnacle of his craft. The rest of his time was spent challenging himself, studying one new process after another.

The train engine was decent. It gave him a spark of excitement he hadn’t felt in a long time, but it wasn’t enough.

"Let’s go! We’re drinking at the usual spot!" he called out to a few of his apprentices and assistants.

He used to be very strict with his apprentices, but now that he was older, he had mellowed out. Not every Dwarf possessed his innate talent; it was good enough for them to just do the best they could.

Arriving in Twin Tower City, he had to admit that while Humans couldn’t hold their liquor, their brewing skills were truly impressive. All sorts of their drinks were excellent.

Except for that stuff called "cola." It tasted like medicine, was cloyingly sweet, and bubbled incessantly. He had no idea who would like it.

He arrived at his usual tavern. It looked like the sign had been changed, but he didn’t care, so long as the ale was still good.

The moment he stepped inside, he noticed a massive Magical Device that took up a quarter of the tavern’s space.

’What is that?’

’Something new the Humans have cobbled together.’

’The workmanship looks rough. If I had made something like that, I’d have smashed it to pieces on the spot.’

He raised a large mug of ale and was about to down it in one gulp when a voice suddenly emanated from the Magical Device.

"The Furnace never falters! Honor is eternal!"

"Hm?"