As it turned out, the biggest haul he received from the GodForge was not the ability to plant mana into objects, it was the ability to plant skills into other creatures!
According to ChatJK3, the knowledge written on the GodForge wasn’t techniques on crafting or smithing metals. Surprisingly enough, it contained mostly about how skills worked and the very foundational mechanism that allowed them to work.
This allowed ChatJK3 to synthesize and mix skills together, creating an entirely new one from scratch.
Although he didn’t know why the GodForge had that kind of information written on it, he didn’t hate the fact that it gave him the ability to give out any kind of skill he could think of.
“Michael! You’re alright!” the Dwarven King said as he hurried back to the cave. There were a couple of Dwarven guards with him who were supposed to help carry Michael into their infirmary.
But from the looks of it, he was completely fine right now.
“Yeah, I just needed a little bit of time to center myself,” Michael said casually.
The Dwarven King couldn’t help but shake his head. Even though Michael experienced something that could have been life-threatening, he still had a laid-back approach to everything that happened to him.
“It was extremely impressive to see you reach the GodForge. But it is far too short to understand the knowledge hidden within. It will take us years of research and experimentation to read through the ancient texts on the GodForge. Unless we find a way to completely get rid of the fire, we will never be able to learn of its contents,” the King said, a little bit dejectedly.
“Hm? Oh, don’t worry about that. I learned what was in the GodForge.”
“Ah..good, good, you found out the secrets of the GodForge…….”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“YOU WHAT?! HOW DID YOU? WHEN DID YOU?”
The Dwarven King’s voice thundered through the obsidian cave as he pestered Michael to tell him all about what he learned from the GodForge.
Of course, Michael didn’t give him the specifics on how he used ChatJK3 to learn the contents of the GodForge. He simply told him that he had a special power that allowed him to absorb knowledge through touch alone.
Since the Dwarven King had already seen Michael break the rules of reality with his Absolute Unity Defense, he wasn’t all that surprised that Michael had this kind of strange ability.
“So? What did you find out?” the King asked, almost tiptoeing towards Michael like a kid ready to receive presents on Christmas day.
Michael told him an abridged version of what he learned, including the ability to imbue elemental mana into an object as well as the fundamental knowledge about skills.
The King listened to Michael’s explanation with his eyes glazing in joy.
At the end of Michael’s words, the Dwarven King couldn’t help but shed a tear from his eyes.
“Mithril… I can’t believe that it’s real…”
According to the Dwarven King, Mithril was a mythical material described in the historical texts that was said to have had the ability to store mana inside it despite being a non-living being.
This material was what his ancestors used to create their legendary crafts, weapons, and armor. It was the single most important material in the world.
However, it had been long lost in history, never to appear again, letting historians think that it was nothing more than just a myth and a folk tale.
But now, Michael found a way to bring them back.
“Mithril is the advanced version of Damascus Steel,” the Dwarven King explained. “We may have lost the ability to imbue mana into objects, but we still kept the knowledge to create the best material to store that mana, and that is Damascus Steel.”
Michael was amazed at what the dwarves were able to create. He could only wonder what kind of prowess they held back in the olden days, when the complete GodForge was still in their hands.
This begged the question. What led them to lose this knowledge?
Michael could only speculate for now. Even the Dwarven King had no answer to his question.
“Michael. I know that I haven’t repaid all the things that you have done for me and my kingdom, but I beg of you to fulfill this one favor of mine,” the Dwarven King pleaded, kneeling on the ground.
“Please, teach us how to create Mithril again. If you do, then we will be at your service. You have my undying word that the dwarves, from here until eternity, will forever be your allies!”
There was devotion and steadfastness in the King’s eyes, showing how much he valued this information.
Michael, on the other hand, didn’t think it should be all that serious.
“You don’t have to kneel for that,” Michael said, waving his hand. “Of course, I’m going to teach your kingdom how to make Mithril. It’s yours to begin with.”
The Dwarven King, swept up in his emotions, couldn’t help but embrace Michael, almost squeezing the breath out of his lungs.
“Thank you, friend! You have allowed us to restore our pride, our dignity! I will repay this favor with my life!”
Michael had to push the clingy Dwarven King away from him. “Okay, okay, I told you. It’s not that serious!”
And so, Michael and the Dwarven Kingdom had another agreement.
Dwarves with a lot of potential would live in the Nation of Reborn and learn everything they need to learn to make Mithril from Michael.
In return, those dwarves would work for Reborn, acting as their smiths, their craftsmen, and their loyal soldiers.
After they had sufficiently repaid the favor through years of service, those dwarves would then be able to return to the Dwarven Kingdom and spread the knowledge of Mithril to the whole Kingdom.
Michael’s citizens were also allowed to visit the Dwarven Kingdom as well, learning everything they needed to learn to make Damascus Steel. After learning everything, they would then return to the Reborn Nation and produce their own Damascus Steel.
This was another win-win situation for both territories!