Chapter 586 – Holy Silver Solution

The intense longing for his dwarven homeland in Forgestar’s eyes made Mo Lan swallow the words “the Sacred Mountains would be more suitable for Morningstar Dwarves to live in.”

Although Morningstar Dwarves couldn’t survive without light elemental force, and the Sacred Mountains had the richest concentration of it, the Riftgold Dwarf Clan had been transformed into Morningstar Dwarves by the Angels using star marrow.

Was it better to find a new cage to hide in and live safely, or to brave the dangers, step out of the cage, and return to the homeland they yearned for?

For Mo Lan, she would certainly choose the former—staying alive was the only way to find a truly safe opportunity to leave the cage.

But for Forgestar, perhaps the latter was where his heart truly lay.

“It’s time!” Forgestar suddenly said, looking up at the sky.

Mo Lan was about to ask what it was time for when she saw Forgestar bathing in sunlight, his lips moving as he gathered his strength for a moment before spitting out a glob of saliva.

The portion of star marrow in his hand was divided in two. The smaller portion he absorbed into his body, while the larger portion remained in his grip—perfectly catching his saliva.

The pale golden saliva mixed with the brilliant golden star marrow, and the star marrow’s texture quickly began to change, taking on a faint, shimmering silver glow.

Mo Lan watched as Forgestar kneaded the small lump of star marrow while continuously adding his own saliva. The star marrow grew softer and softer, its color shifting as well.

Forgestar continued kneading and pressing for nearly an hour. He had drawn out all the light elemental force from the remaining unnamed crystal sand on the ground, using it to brew his saliva for forging star silver. Only when the star marrow had transformed into a silver metallic liquid suffused with golden light did he finally stop. Then a cluster of white-hot flames rose from his hand, and he used this fire to continuously temper the star marrow lump.

This flame was the very reason Mo Lan had specifically come to Shadowless Mountain.

It was said that the Morningstar Dwarf tribe possessed a type of magic capable of tempering all things: the Pure Light Flame.

Only when the star marrow lump had been tempered by the Pure Light Flame into a molten silver metallic solution suffused with golden light did Forgestar finally stop. “It’s done!”

Forgestar rummaged through the ground and found a small crystal sand bowl with a concave depression. He placed the holy silver inside and handed it to Mo Lan.

“Holy silver can only be stored in light elemental gemstones or crystal containers. The remains of us Morningstar Dwarves have a similar effect. This amount of holy silver should be enough for you to craft a holy silver wand.”

Mo Lan held the small bowl, feeling somewhat at a loss.

Although Morningstar Dwarves’ bodies were so pure and transparent that one could see traces of light elemental force flowing within them, and even their saliva contained rich light elemental force, none of that could mask the fact that holy silver was made from star marrow mixed with Morningstar Dwarf saliva—and was now sitting in a vessel made from the remains of some unknown Morningstar Dwarf.

Suddenly, the Angels’ exclusive magic metal, holy silver, didn’t seem quite so lofty and prestigious anymore.

As for crafting a holy silver wand—that wouldn’t be necessary.

On the Angels’ territory, carrying a wand infused with holy silver would be no different from wearing a sign on her head that read “something’s wrong with me.”

She put the holy silver away for now, planning to use it later as material for the Book of Cards.

“Lady Witch, thank you for your help. Might I have the honor of knowing your name?” Forgestar asked somewhat nervously.

“Moira. My name is Moira.” This, Mo Lan said in Dwarvish.

“You speak Dwarvish?” The Lady Witch had been speaking the common tongue until now, but it seemed she was equally fluent in Dwarvish. “Have you been to Durin Volcano? What is it like there?” Though Forgestar had inherited his clan’s longing for Durin Volcano, he had never once left Shadowless Mountain.

Mo Lan shook her head. “I’ve only studied Dwarvish. Perhaps someday I’ll have the chance to visit Durin Volcano and witness dwarven forging magic for myself. If you’ve decided to return to Durin Volcano, there are some cards in the Study Card Collection that would suit you well—like {Map Card – Sacred Mountains} and {Map Card – Durin Volcano}…”

Mo Lan recommended several cards that would be helpful to him, not only map cards but also some magic cards for self-defense.

Of course, in the end, Mo Lan didn’t forget the purpose of her visit to Shadowless Mountain. She used Psychic Magic to copy the memories of the last Morningstar Dwarf in Valen.

Forgestar was completely unaware of this, absorbed as he was in studying the cards to arm himself.

Although the Riftgold Clan had been reduced to holy silver forging artisans for the Angel race and had contracted the light element disease—forced to live only in sunlight, never able to return to Durin Volcano—they had never forgotten where they came from, and they had never neglected the education of their descendants.

Though Morningstar Dwarves had only half the lifespan of ordinary dwarves, Forgestar was currently a thirty-year-old minor who knew quite a lot—it was just all theoretical knowledge with no practical experience.

Mo Lan deliberately stayed a few extra days, organizing the memories she had just copied from Forgestar while also helping plan his journey home.

After reading through Forgestar’s memories, she gained a much more detailed understanding of the rise and fall of the Morningstar Dwarf race.

The original Riftgold Clan had been hired by the Angels to come mine in the Sacred Mountains.

What they mined were the light elemental ore veins of Shadowless Mountain.

But in truth, Shadowless Mountain had originally been nothing more than an ordinary extinct volcano. The Angels had created it as a treasure trove rich in light elemental ore and liquid light elemental lakes, all to house the star marrow stalagmites they had brought from another world, allowing them to continue producing star marrow.

However, only Morningstar creatures born from star marrow possessed the ability to transform star marrow into holy silver.

The Angels had deliberately hired the Riftgold Clan and then placed a group of Light-Shadow Sprites deep within the light elemental ore veins. The Light-Shadow Sprites chased the Riftgold Dwarves until they tumbled into the star marrow stone pools, transforming them into Morningstar Dwarves.

At the time, the dwarves believed they had simply been accidentally infected by this special substance, contracting a disease that forced them to live only in light, unable to survive without light elemental force.

That was when the Angels descended from the heavens, expressed sympathy for their plight, and graciously offered to let them reside on Shadowless Mountain, where light elemental force was abundant.

The dwarves were deeply grateful, and in return, they revealed that they had acquired a method for forging a new type of magic metal from the star marrow stone pools. They offered to forge this metal for the Angels.

From then on, the Angels and the Morningstar Dwarves reached an agreement: the Morningstar Dwarves would forge holy silver for the Angels, and in exchange, the Angels would give Shadowless Mountain to the Morningstar Dwarves, provide them with protection, and periodically bestow rain of light upon Shadowless Mountain.

This continued until the star marrow stalagmites could no longer produce a single drop of star marrow and the star marrow stone pools dried up completely. When the Angels could no longer obtain any holy silver from the Morningstar Dwarves, no Angel ever came to Shadowless Mountain again.

Even after the Angels abandoned the Morningstar Dwarves, the Morningstar Dwarves remained grateful for the Angels’ shelter.

Were it not for the fact that dwarves had their own faith and devotion—even after becoming Morningstar Dwarves, they refused to betray the God of the Forge—they might well have become followers of the Angels.