"Something incredible?"
After listening to Muradin's description, Arthas immediately felt something was off. "Can you reveal what exactly it is?"
Muradin didn't know why Arthas was interested in this, but he casually said, "I heard it's an ancient ruin. Who knows what's really there? We just thought there might be gold and treasure. Do you want to come with us?"
"I probably don't have the time. You know, my father always gives me a lot of things to do," Arthas waved his hand helplessly. "But if you go, it's best to be careful. Northrend is a very dangerous place."
"Of course I know that. I've been on more adventures than you can imagine."
Muradin, whose beard was finally dry, took a tray from the oven by the fireplace. "Come, try my secret little cakes! These have special honey in them!"
Brann , quick as a flash, grabbed one and stuffed it into his mouth—although his older brother was a famous adventurer and warrior, he actually had another hobby: cooking. Especially the cakes Muradin loved, he had sought out many master chefs to learn the techniques.
Jaina looked at the somewhat rough-looking cakes and hesitated to take one. Arthas said to the female mage, "Muradin's craftsmanship is really good. You'll know once you try it."
"Hey, my oven at home is too simple to bake the kind of delicate desserts you girls like, but I'm still very confident in the taste!"
After taking a bite, Jaina realized that Muradin wasn't boasting. This seemingly ordinary honey cake was even more delicious than those she had eaten at the Stormwind royal banquet.
Arthas also took one, eating it while continuing to chat with Muradin: "When do you have time to help me forge a new set of armor?"
"Anytime, lad!" Muradin poured himself a drink and asked Arthas, "Want some?"
"I don't have the habit of eating cakes with Dwarf spirits."
Arthas quickly refused. He wasn't a Dwarf, and he couldn't stand the strange habit of pairing dessert with alcohol. Brann , on the other hand, held up an empty cup, "Give me a drink."
"Just let me talk to Magni, and we can find a time to use the Great Forge," Muradin took a gulp of spirits, "Phew~ hiccup! Do you only want one set of armor?"
"Yes, but a full set."
A good set of armor is your second life on the battlefield, after all, not every enemy is a strong one like Harraz, who can easily tear through the double protection of Holy Light and armor.
"A full set, that will require a lot of materials," Muradin smacked his lips. "Are there enough?"
"Of course, I think there's even enough to make another shield."
Arthas threw the spatial pouch onto the table. Muradin put down his cup, grabbed it, opened it, and almost popped his eyeballs out. "Whoa, good heavens! Did you rob the Black Iron scoundrels' inventory?"
"No, I didn't. Didn't you see those are Thorium ingots engraved with ancient Elven patterns?"
Muradin wiped his cake-grabbing hand on his clothes, took out a piece of fine Thorium ingot from the pouch, placed it on the table, and praised, "The quality is really good. This is good stuff smelted with magic. I can still feel the magic in the metal."
"Although the Elves' forging techniques aren't as good as ours, they do have some unique skills when it comes to metal smelting," Brann also leaned over to examine the complete ancient Thorium ingot. "Tsk, this is practically a work of art, good enough to be collected in a museum."
Muradin counted the amount of metal and said to Arthas, "Good, these are completely enough to forge you a brand new set of gear."
Then the Dwarf looked at Jaina, "Girl, can I leave the enchanting to you?"
Jaina nodded affirmatively. She was confident in her enchanting skills. Not to say better than an Enchanting Master, but at least much better than those enchanters casually found by Dwarf artisans.
"Then I'll trouble you, Muradin."
After tidying up a bit, Muradin took the materials Arthas gave him and went to find his older brother, Magni.
"You said Arthas wants to forge armor?" Magni snatched the spatial pouch from Muradin's hand and opened it to look inside.
Muradin saw that his brother was slow to return the pouch, and an ominous premonition arose. Before he could speak, Magni's next sentence almost made Muradin's heart stop.
"Hmph, such good materials, why don't I do it myself!"
"Magni! This is what Arthas and I agreed upon!" Muradin was indignant. Just because you're my brother, does that mean I have to listen to you? Who doesn't know these materials are precious? If you take them, what will I do?
The two brothers were at a stalemate. Finally, they picked up their hammers side by side and walked towards the Great Forge.
Brann's research into forging wasn't as deep as his two older brothers, but both Muradin and Magni were very traditional Dwarves. Their standards for forging techniques were as high as their standards for fine wine.
"You should be getting a pretty good set of armor." Brann held Muradin's wine and quietly filled his own flask.
Arthas fully trusted Magni and Muradin's skills. If the equipment they forged wasn't considered good, then most Human blacksmiths wouldn't even be worth mentioning.
In terms of pure manual forging craftsmanship, no one on Azeroth understood it better than the Dwarves. Even the Elves, with their tens of thousands of years of heritage, were only slightly superior to the Dwarves in magical forging techniques.
The forging lasted for most of the day. With the help of the scorching geocentric fire, Magni and Muradin melted all the precious metals Arthas had brought. Every hammer blow they landed was imbued with the power of the earth flowing in the Dwarf bloodline.
The bright silver outline of the armor gradually appeared. The two Dwarves clearly divided their work, quenching and polishing each part of this full-body armor. With Jaina's help, they inscribed complex magical runes onto Arthas's battle armor.
Precious magical metals like Thorium inherently possess a good enchanting foundation. In fact, enchanting these magical metals is slightly easier than enchanting ordinary metals—of course, if the metal's inherent properties are too stubborn, then enchanting becomes even more difficult.
For example, the even more precious Titansteel, which has absorbed some of the Titan's power, and the nearly indestructible Elementium ore. Very few enchanters can perform enchanting on metals of these levels. Every one who can achieve this is undoubtedly a master among masters in the field of enchanting.
Arthas also really wanted to get some of these rare ores and ask a grandmaster like Magni to craft equipment for him. Unfortunately, this isn't like a game; these rare metal ores are either extremely rare or found in forbidden zones inaccessible to mortals.
Even high-level Dwarf blacksmiths rarely get to practice with Thorium. It's very likely they only get a few chances in their lifetime to forge armor or weapons using Thorium as the raw material.
It was only because Magni and Muradin were two high-ranking Dwarves, whose personal strength and forging techniques were both exceptionally high, that they could perfectly utilize Thorium's formidable properties to forge a complex enchanted armor.
After a long wait, Muradin emerged from the center of the Great Forge, sweating profusely. He looked at Arthas and smiled confidently, "The armor you wanted is finished. Don't you want to see it?"
"You worked hard."
Following Muradin into the Great Forge, Arthas immediately saw the armor hanging on the display stand, emitting a faint silver glow.
"The breastplate, pauldrons, bracers, gauntlets, and greaves are all smelted from Thorium, Mithril, and True Silver in the optimal proportions. The elemental fire and elemental earth you brought also greatly stabilized their synthesis."
"To harm someone wearing this armor, it would probably require an entire heavy infantry regiment. Ordinary crossbow bolts cannot penetrate the armor."
"At the same time, it has extremely high resistance to elemental magic. A normal mage's Ice Lance hitting it is like splashing a bucket of water on you. Arcane magic can also be resisted to some extent, but not as significantly as the weakening of elemental magic. The weakening of other energies is also similar to Arcane."
"As for the amplification of Holy Light abilities, that's for you, lad, to figure out yourself. I believe your abilities should be no weaker than those priests in the Cathedral."
Magni wiped the armor clean with a rag. He was very satisfied with his work. He patted Arthas's waist. "Next time if you have such good materials again, just come directly to me. That Muradin fellow's craftsmanship isn't good enough."
"Hey! The shoulders and arms were made by me, alright?" Muradin protested, pointing to the magnificent lion-shaped pauldrons he had cast. How great they looked!
The Dwarf King simply chose to ignore his younger brother. "What color do you want for it? Still your Lordaeron blue-silver?"
"The usual, please."
"Alright," Magni nodded in agreement, then suddenly thought of something. "You still have some metal left over, but I remember you prefer using a two-handed warhammer, so you probably don't need a shield, right? What else do you plan to make?"
Arthas's own warhammer had shown some wear after so much combat, so he said to Magni, "Could you help me repair my weapon? The extra materials can be considered payment."
"Of course, no problem. But I won't take your Thorium," Magni laughed heartily. "If you ever have such good materials again, bring them to Ironforge, and I'll forge whatever you want for free!"