Listening to the High Priest's resolute words, Richard suddenly recalled a note from his research on the Magic Dwarves.
Magic Dwarves are highly vengeful. A tribe of Magic Dwarves would even record their enemies' names in steel-forged books, passing them down through generations.
Every Magic Dwarf in the tribe would seek revenge on the tribe's enemies, regardless of whether they had met or how many years had passed.
Only when the enemy died would their name be crossed out.
The idea of avenging a grievance even ten generations old is a universal moral principle among the Magic Dwarves.
Even Wizards had to tame Magic Dwarf cubs to establish their loyalty.
After leaving the Gem Palace, Richard found Bruno waiting for him at the entrance.
The High Priest had ordered Bruno to be Richard's guide, leading him wherever he wished to go.
"Take me to your warehouse. I need some materials."
Without hesitation, Bruno led Richard to the material warehouse.
The Gem Palace's golden-armored dwarves weren't limited to the four guards. Besides them, there were eight more golden-armored dwarves serving as the High Priest's attendants.
The High Priest had already passed down the orders, and all the dwarves' defensive towers were informed of Richard's arrival.
Now, Richard and his group had permission to fly over the dwarves' residential area.
The location of the Magic Dwarves' material warehouse surprised Richard. It wasn't on the mountain where the dwarves lived but on another peak dozens of kilometers away.
Moreover, Richard noticed that the mountain housing the warehouse, along with several surrounding peaks, was riddled with holes dug by the Magic Dwarves.
Standing at the entrance of these holes, Richard could hear the sound of dwarves mining inside.
"Is this your mining area?" Richard asked.
"Yes, sir. This is our mining area."
"What about the mountain where you live?"
"That was a mine before the Great Catastrophe. The High Priest and the Magic Dwarf King drove the Fiend into the mine and sealed him beneath the mountains.
But this led to the mine's abandonment.
That Fiend not only turns our Magic Dwarves into Aberrants but also transforms other creatures into Aberrants.
To prevent unnecessary sacrifices among our brethren, we decided to mine a different mountain."
Richard nodded thoughtfully and then asked a few more questions about the mines.
According to Bruno, nearly all the mountains in the Mirror World had mineral veins, differing only in size.
This gave Richard a deeper understanding of the once-prosperous Wizard World.
Arriving at the warehouse, Richard found that the Magic Dwarves had multiple warehouses. Each type of ore was categorized and stored in a unified warehouse before being refined into ingots and distributed to the dwarves in need.
The prolonged conflict with Fiend Bruno had created a peculiar social system among the Magic Dwarves.
The Magic Dwarves mined together, hunted together, and their cubs attended the same school, growing up together.
Thus, the Magic Dwarves often referred to each other as brothers.
Upon reaching adulthood, Magic Dwarves were assigned to various roles based on their talents shown in school—some became warriors, others miners.
The Magic Dwarves practiced a rationing system, with warriors receiving the highest rations, miners and hunters the next, and farmers and weavers the least.
As the Magic Dwarf population continued to dwindle and their lives remained simple, with little scheming, this rationing system worked well among them.
Bruno took Richard on a tour of the warehouse, where Richard was dazzled by the variety of rare, even extinct, minerals.
Richard had to draw upon his extensive knowledge of natural history to find the most suitable minerals among the vast array.
Finally, Richard left the warehouse with a magic pocket full of ores.
After leaving the warehouse, Richard found a secluded spot and used a spell to create a temporary dwelling.
Standing before the temporary dwelling, Richard addressed Bruno and the Wizard Hunting team:
"I need to craft some things next. Guard the outside and don't let anyone disturb me."
"Crafting things?" Bruno hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Sir, we Magic Dwarves are natural blacksmiths. Perhaps we can assist you."
Without saying much, Richard pulled two ore ingots from his pocket.
Bruno watched as the ingots rapidly melted in Richard's hands, taking on a life of their own and forming the head of a warhammer.
The intricate and ornate golden patterns on the hammerhead would have taken him at least three days to create.
But Richard did it in thirty seconds.
Richard handed the hammerhead to Bruno: "You've been working hard these days. Consider this a gift. Find a hammer handle and see if it fits.
If it does, I can make more for your brothers."
Bruno took the hammerhead and then pounded his right chest with his left fist.
This was a gesture of respect among Magic Dwarves, second only to kneeling.
Richard waved his hand: "No need for that. It's just a small favor. After you try it, summarize your experience.
If there's anything uncomfortable, let me know so I can improve.
In a few days, you'll be joining me to hunt Fiends. Having good weapons will make the hunt easier."
Bruno bowed his head: "Thank you for your kindness. The Magic Dwarves will never forget your grace."
Closing the door, Richard immediately took out the ores he had selected.
With a touch, information appeared before his eyes.
[Raw Material: Celestial Crystal Ore]
[Extractable Substance: Celestial Crystal]
[Refining Cost: 500 Magic Power]
Although the Magic Dwarves also refined ores, Richard preferred to use the Miracle Furnace for refining.
Simply because the purity was different.
The Miracle Furnace produced ores with almost no impurities.
After refining all the ores into ingots, Richard sat at the table, pulled out a sheet of drafting paper, and began designing what he planned to create next.
He intended to design a set of flamethrower Magic Equipment to be attached to the armor of the Wizard Hunting team.
The Aberrants they were to deal with were flesh-type creatures, and the lethality of fire against such creatures went without saying.
Moreover, during his previous research on Fire Elemental Oddities, Richard had discovered a type of magic flame that was particularly effective against flesh-type creatures—the incandescent flame he had once used to destroy evidence.
This flame was found in a mass grave of Fire Lizards.
At the time, the flame was blazing fiercely on the corpses of the Fire Lizards.
The Nine Stars Commerce had collected it, and Richard later traded it for a mutated Flame Behemoth.
This flame's fuel was the flesh and life force of living creatures. The more vigorous the life force, the faster the flame spread.
It was perfect for dealing with creatures with formidable regenerative abilities.
Additionally, if time permitted, Richard planned to make a set of flamethrower Magic Equipment for the dwarves who would be hunting Fiend Bruno with him.
After all, the dwarves had plenty of high-quality materials for him to use.
This was the most terrifying aspect of an Alchemist Wizard—given enough materials and time, an Alchemist Wizard could single-handedly enhance the combat power of an entire team.
Unfortunately, in the Wizard World, this ability of Alchemist Wizards was not fully realized.
Because Alchemist Wizards essentially materialized a Wizard's spellcasting ability into an item for others to use.
But in a world full of Wizards, this ability wasn't as useful.
...
The process of designing the Magic Equipment went smoothly.
Although Richard was young, he had a broad knowledge of Alchemy.
Thanks to designing the Mechanist Type I Individual Armor, Richard hadn't let his Alchemy skills rust over the years. Instead, he had made some progress.
This made designing the Magic Equipment come naturally to him.
In just one day, Richard completed the flamethrower.
The flamethrower mainly consisted of a flamethrower gun and an energy pack. Richard planned to fill the energy pack entirely with Magic Essence.
Using Magic Essence as the energy source not only enhanced the firepower but also reduced the size of the Magic Equipment—without Magic Essence, Richard would have to install energy storage devices and self-charging circuits to draw energy from the air.
While this would provide ultra-long endurance, the energy pack would increase several times in size and affect the firepower, which wasn't worth it.
Moreover, the energy concentration in the Mirror World was high, and Magic Essence wasn't rare. If long endurance was needed, they could simply prepare more spare Magic Essence.
With the design complete, the next step was manufacturing.
Since the dwarves had abundant materials, many rare materials from the Wizard World were as common as cabbages among the Magic Dwarves.
Thus, Richard didn't overly optimize the design but instead chose to pile on the materials.
The nozzle needed a Rune Array to prevent metal melting? Just use Sun Tungsten!
The rune design was too concentrated, requiring too much magic power? Just use Mithril for the magic-conducting circuits! Wizards often optimized designs to reduce material costs when making Magic Equipment. But with ample materials to spare, many designs could be skipped.
With the Magic Dwarves' abundant materials, Richard spent two days creating four luxurious sets of flamethrower Magic Equipment, attaching them to the armor of the Wizard Hunting team.
"How's the effect?"
Looking at the completed flamethrower Magic Equipment, Richard asked excitedly.
Makar, looking at the long tube attached to the forearm of the armor, curiously raised his arm.
Boom! As Makar activated the flamethrower, a two-hundred-meter-long column of fire shot from his arm.
The incandescent flame instantly pierced through everything in its path.
Makar was momentarily stunned. The power of this flame rivaled his breath attack.
Moreover, the flame's duration was much longer than his breath.
Bruno, watching from the side, felt a flash of awe.
A half-meter-long tube could unleash such terrifying flames.
This was the might of a Wizard!
The flame shot out for half a minute before Richard ordered Makar to stop.
Richard examined the nozzle. Although it was radiating intense heat, there was no sign of melting or deformation.
This was the advantage of superior materials.
"Bruno, how do you think this flame will fare against Aberrants?"
Recalling the white column of fire, Bruno sighed, "Even the Fiend King might not withstand such flames."
Richard nodded in satisfaction, then asked, "How's the hammer I gave you?"
"It's excellent. Not only is it sturdy, but it also generates flames when swung. It's perfect for dealing with Aberrants."
Richard nodded: "Good, as long as it's co
mfortable to use.
Have you finalized the team? There's still some time; I can upgrade your equipment."
Bruno pounded his chest with his left fist: "It's finalized. The Magic Dwarves will never forget your kindness."