Looking at the demon dwarf standing beside him, Richard was momentarily bewildered.
He was not unfamiliar with this creature; a part of the demon dwarf's bloodline resided within the bloodline seed in his heart.
However, if he remembered correctly, this species should have long been a slave race domesticated by Wizards.
How could one appear in his laboratory?
The effect of the mist cage prevented Richard from moving or thinking, so he was unaware of what was happening outside.
At this moment, he still thought thirty years had passed, and that Susanna's cursed Magic Equipment had successfully extinguished the power of the curse.
"My lord, it has only been ten years since you were cursed," Makar spoke up. "The curse on you was lifted by this demon dwarf."
Richard was slightly taken aback and looked down at the demon dwarf holding a straw doll.
That straw doll indeed had the essence of cursed Magic Equipment, but it was somewhat different from the cursed Magic Equipment Richard had seen before.
Richard stood up from the animal hide, pulling out the stakes from his hands and feet.
The intense pain made Richard shudder.
Then, Richard changed into a pair of shoes and found a chair to sit down.
"Makar, clarify the situation. Why would a demon dwarf come to my laboratory, and why did he help lift my curse?"
Makar reported everything that had just happened to Richard, who listened with a thoughtful expression.
"So you are the indigenous race of the Mirror World?" Richard asked the demon dwarf.
The demon dwarf shook his head and replied, "According to our clan's records, long ago, we lived in another world.
But in a certain year, we were transported to this world by a great Wizard."
Richard nodded and then asked, "You said I am the savior foretold by your high priest; I will tentatively believe that.
You saved me twenty years; I will repay you.
But you must tell me, what is your problem?
I do not think I am particularly outstanding; in fact, there are many powerful Wizards who have come to the Mirror World, stronger than me, with deeper knowledge.
I am curious about what I can solve that they cannot."
The demon dwarf bowed to Richard.
"My lord, your curse has not been completely lifted; the straw doll in my hand can only bear the curse for ten days.
If you wish to completely remove the curse, you must go to our clan's settlement.
There, the high priest will lift the curse for you and provide you with answers to all your questions."
Richard raised an eyebrow, realizing that his curse had merely been temporarily transferred.
However, he was not angry, as this actually helped him greatly.
Before undertaking the external mission, Richard had signed a Soul Contract that specified his range of action. If he exceeded this range, it would be considered a violation of the contract.
While there were no penalties for violating the contract, he would naturally not receive his share of the rewards after the war.
However, there was a supplementary clause in this contract that allowed Wizards to escape this range under necessary circumstances.
This included, but was not limited to, being pursued, severely injured, or cursed by a Wizard from the Meteor Academy, among other necessary situations.
Now that the curse on Richard was merely temporarily transferred, leaving the range specified in the contract would not be considered a violation.
Richard stood up from the chair, and since the wounds on his feet had not fully healed, he could only slightly levitate his body in the air.
"Since that's the case, I will visit your settlement."
...
The Mirror World was a vast realm, and the battlefield of the two academies was merely the tip of the iceberg.
Following the demon dwarf, Richard trekked through mountains and waters.
Along the way, Richard and his group encountered many fierce magical beasts, which posed no problem for the Wizard Hunting team.
But the guiding demon dwarf was only a second-level creature.
It was hard to imagine how he had traversed the territories of these magical beasts to reach Richard's hiding place.
After trekking for thousands of kilometers, Richard and his group arrived at a vast mountain range.
Standing atop a snow-covered peak, Richard gazed out, the undulating mountains stretching endlessly before him.
Groups of magical birds flew between the mountains, and occasionally, the roar of giant beasts echoed through the forest.
This was an ancient mountain range, showcasing the ancient appearance of the Wizard World before it was conquered by Wizards.
"Bruto, how much further? If you don't hurry, your straw doll won't hold out much longer."
Bruto was the name of the demon dwarf; his full name was Bruto Ironfist, a steel warrior of the Ironfist tribe.
The Ironfist tribe was a relatively large tribe among the demon dwarf settlements.
According to Bruto, their tribe once ruled over half of the demon dwarf population in the Mirror World.
But now, all of that was just a thing of the past.
Crossing the mountain range, Richard's eyes were met with a cluster of low wooden houses.
These wooden houses were built at the foot of a rather tall peak, appearing sturdy and well-structured.
Aside from being too low, Richard couldn't find any faults.
But "too low" was relative; for Richard, these wooden houses were indeed low, while for the demon dwarfs, who averaged only about 1.2 meters in height, they were not low at all.
The area of the wooden houses was vast, almost encircling the entire mountain.
From the foot of the mountain upwards, the wooden houses began to become sparse, replaced by stone houses.
According to Bruto, these houses were inhabited by warriors among the dwarfs.
Looking further up, above the stone houses were numerous cave-like structures resembling a beehive.
Demon dwarfs were a race skilled in forging; they mined minerals from the mountains and forged everything they needed.
Swords, armor, jewelry, cooking pots, and bowls... there was a saying among the demon dwarfs: no demon dwarf is not a blacksmith.
Passing through the beehive-like caves, further up was the snow-capped peak.
There stood a palace adorned with jewels.
This palace was referred to by Bruto as the Gem Palace, once the residence of the king of the demon dwarfs.
But after the great disaster, this Gem Palace became a place of worship.
"My lord, this is our settlement."
Richard nodded and then signaled the Wizard Hunting team to prepare to fly to the Gem Palace at the mountain's peak.
But before they could set off, Bruto stopped them, saying, "My lord, it would be best not to fly directly there. The settlement has prepared many defensive measures against flying magical beasts. If you go recklessly, you might be mistakenly attacked."
Richard paused; indeed, living in these beast-infested mountains, it was wise to prepare some defenses against those flying beasts.
"Then let's walk up," Richard said nonchalantly.
Arriving at the foot of the mountain, a thick and tall stone wall appeared before Richard.
On the wall, a massive metal gate blocked their path.
"Who goes there!"
A loud shout came from the wall.
Richard focused his gaze and noticed two small openings the size of bricks near the gate.
Two demon dwarfs were peering through these openings, observing the group.
Bruto stepped forward to greet the guards, and soon Richard heard a string of demon dwarf dialect.
Clang, clang, clang...
A huge metal chain was released from the wall, and the massive gate slowly opened.
Bruto returned to Richard's side and respectfully said, "My lord, please enter."
...
Demon dwarfs were a silent race.
Walking through the wooden house area, Richard could hardly hear any demon dwarfs speaking.
What reached his ears, aside from the sound of hammers striking, was the laughter of demon dwarf children.
Adult demon dwarfs were as silent and steadfast as the mountains beneath their feet.
Following Bruto, Richard ascended further. Along the way, he saw many demon dwarfs.
What surprised Richard was that, aside from the children, all the demon dwarfs were first-level creatures.
Although the racial talent of demon dwarfs was decent, it was not strong enough for every demon dwarf to be a first-level creature.
This was neither logical nor consistent with the Wizards' research on demon dwarfs.
Richard speculated that all of this might be related to the great disaster Bruto mentioned.
According to Bruto, five thousand years ago, a terrible disaster swept through the Ironfist tribe, which was on the verge of unifying the demon dwarfs.
Thus, the demon dwarf empire vanished, replaced by a coalition of settlements.
The population of demon dwarfs began to plummet after that; once numbering in the millions, they now only had a mere few hundred thousand left.
As Richard continued upward, he soon arrived at the stone house area.
The demon dwarfs living in this area were all second-level creatures, and their presence was quite formidable.
Each of them resembled seasoned veterans, exuding a terrifying aura that made one hesitate to approach.
An older-looking demon dwarf warrior emerged from a stone house. (To be honest, Richard couldn't really tell the ages of these demon dwarfs. Once they reached adulthood, every one of them sported a thick beard, even the women were no exception.) Upon seeing Bruto and the group behind him, a slight smile appeared on his face.
For the silent demon dwarfs, this restrained smile was their only expression of joy.
He walked up to Bruto and gave him a hearty punch.
"Bruto, my brother, it seems you have completed the task assigned to you by the high priest."
Bruto nodded at the dwarf, a smile also appearing on his face.
He introduced Richard, saying, "My lord, this is my brother Barn. The Ironfist tribe is not inferior to my steel warriors."
Richard squinted, silently activating his energy vision.
In his eyes, the dwarf named Barn indeed possessed remarkable strength. In terms of energy intensity, Barn was on par with Bruto.
Barn slightly bowed to Richard, handed Bruto a short-handled war hammer, and then stepped aside to let Richard continue.
Above the stone house area was a densely packed cave area.
In this region, the usually calm Bruto suddenly became alert. Richard noticed that his arm, gripping the war hammer, was unconsciously tightening.
This was a sign of tension.
"Bruto, is this area dangerous?"
Bruto did not turn around, still vigilantly watching every cave around them.
"My lord, theoretically, this area should be safe. But it's always better to be cautious..."
Before Bruto could finish his sentence, a blood-red figure suddenly burst out from a nearby cave, charging straight at Bruto.
Bruto's arm tightened, and ancient patterns appeared on his purple skin.
Bang! A war hammer the size of a human head smashed the blood-red figure away.
Richard squinted; under the effect of Dragon Eyes, he clearly saw the appearance of the blood-red figure.
Although the body of this blood-red figure was highly distorted—an appendage, a tumor, flesh writhing incessantly, almost obscuring its face—Richard could still tell that this figure was a demon dwarf.
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