The cavernous hall of the Volcanic Star-Forge echoed with the joyful clang of heavy iron tongs.
Thirty dwarven apprentices scurried across the stone floor, hauling bins of flux, silver borax, and quenching oils. At the center of the room, the Great Star-Furnace roared with golden-white solar flame, radiating pure celestial heat that warmed every stone in the mountain.
Master Bram stood before his five-ton meteorite anvil. He rolled up his thick leather sleeves, revealing arms covered in fresh, glowing vigor from the World-Tree Core.
“To forge divine armaments, we need more than ordinary iron,” Bram shouted over the roar of the furnace. “We have the purest Star-Mythril from Torstein’s mother-lode. But to bind it with the World-Tree Core, we require celestial binder-metals! We need Dragon-Blood Gold and Star-Essence ingots!”
“How much do those binder-metals cost?” Master Lu Jian asked, adjusting his round brass spectacles as he spread out schematic scrolls across a work table.
“They do not have an ordinary market price, Master Lu,” Bram replied, shaking his copper beard. “Dragon-Blood Gold only forms in the subterranean nests of ancient flood-dragons. A single pound is worth ten thousand spirit stones. We would need ten thousand pounds to equip an entire frontline guard!”
