Overwhelming Firepower

The first train trip was a complete success. Once the King returned to Caelhart, his actions were swift.

King Ragnor called for a meeting with all the nobles in Norvaegard. He gave them twenty days to arrive in Caelhart. This was the time needed to arrive in Caelhart from the very edge of Norvaegard.

No one with a title and land from Norvaegard was exempt from this gathering. Those who did not come on time will be considered traitors and will be dealt with.

All of them received the message on the same day through their communication orbs. The second they received the message, many felt nervous.

Even though the royal power had declined a bit while the ducal houses grew, they were still powerful, and the only power the ducal houses even bothered to listen to within Norvaegard. Not to mention, most of the Tower Masters were extremely loyal to the crown.

Unlike last time, when the nobles went to the third prince’s party with their children, this time was a serious matter, and only the ones with the titles would attend.

***

In the south, Viscount Reval Drenwick was gnashing his teeth. Behind him stood his most loyal knight and guard, Bastian Duskan.

’Nothing has been going right ever since I got involved with that Lucen Thornehart.’

Nowadays, many of his peasants were trying to escape and take refuge in Dorsen. Of course, he wouldn’t simply allow that, so before they reach him, he either has them captured or, if that was not possible, killed.

Now the people in his land had greatly reduced in just a few years. That meant he had also lost a lot of coin.

’Tsk, I’ve been waiting for the Marquis to do something, but he and his group haven’t made a single move after that play. Now the king is holding a meeting with all the nobles in Norvaegard. It obviously has something to do with what he saw in his visit to Ironhold.’

Reval might have indulged himself in many vices, but he was no idiot. He understood that the flow of things was moving in a way that was favorable to the Thorneharts.

’There’s no turning back now. After what I have done...’

Reval once again confirmed what he already knew and sighed. Bastian, who was standing behind him, simply looked at his master, not revealing what he was thinking.

***

Caelhart was once again buzzing with gossip. No one knows why the king was holding a meeting, but they knew about it, and they also knew it must have something to do with Lucen Thornehart.

In the past few years, Lucen Thornehart had been the source of many rumors.

Many spoke of him as a hero who brought about safety and victory. Others think he was a dangerous individual who focused on creating weapons and knew how to poison the minds of people.

Now, the person everyone was talking about was happily explaining to the dwarves about Gatling guns.

With the help of the dwarves, many of the things Lucen thought were not possible to make with the current tech of this world were now possible.

Not only were the dwarves the best craftsmen and engineers, but they were also the greatest rune engravers in the land.

With Lucen’s guidance, they were able to make the equipment they needed to make better things.

In Ironhold, there was now an entire section where the dwarves lived. Seeing this, Lucen was slowly able to see the fantasy world he wanted to see.

***

When Lucen went to sleep that night, he felt a familiar feeling of floating. This was now becoming a familiar thing to him as he had experienced it twice now, counting this as the third time overall.

He understood now that he was being summoned by a deity. When he was in Velmira’s domain, he felt a warm breeze. In Varkun’s domain, there was this overwhelming feeling, and now he was feeling an intense kind of heat.

Lucen opened his eyes and felt heat press against his skin, not burning, but heavy, like standing too close to a roaring furnace.

He stood upon black stone, its surface cracked with glowing veins of molten light. Rivers of lava flowed in the distance, illuminating colossal forges and towering anvils that rose like mountains.

Chains thicker than castle walls turned slowly overhead, their movement accompanied by deep, grinding thunder.

The sky was a furnace dome of fire and smoke. Embers drifted downward like falling stars, vanishing before they touched the ground.

The air rang with sound. Hammer strikes echoed endlessly, deep, steady, relentless. Each impact reverberated through Lucen’s chest, not as pain, but as pressure.

The surrounding area was filled with many different weapons scattered all around. All the weapons there felt alive; they felt very powerful, something beyond anything mortal hands can make.

’Seeing the theme of this place, which reminds me of that red archer’s domain. Well, I can already guess who the deity I’m about to meet is.’

The hammering stopped, not gradually, but all at once. The silence that followed was heavier than the noise that came before it. The embers in the air froze mid-fall, hovering as if the world itself was holding its breath.

Then the heat in front of Lucen condensed. Flames twisted inward, folding and compressing like molten metal being poured into a mold. What emerged from the fire was a figure.

He was roughly the same height as Lucen, yet his presence made the surrounding forges feel like extensions of his body.

His frame was broad and dense, like a dwarf forged on a giant’s anvil, thick arms, powerful shoulders, and a chest that looked as though it had been hammered into shape rather than born.

His skin resembled darkened steel, scorched and tempered, with glowing cracks of magma tracing along his arms and neck like veins.

A heavy beard of ember-red hair flowed down his chest, sparks drifting from it with every slow breath he took. He looked like a tall dwarf.

In one hand, he held a hammer, plain in shape, yet Lucen instinctively knew that it weighed more than mountains. In the other, bare and ungloved, faint sparks danced endlessly, forming shapes that collapsed before completion.

Despite his dwarven appearance, there was nothing mortal about him. Lucen immediately understood who this was before him: the God of the Forge and Flames, Kalderos, stood before him.

Kalderos looked at Lucen; his eyes were like burning embers. Kalderos smiled at him as he approached.

”Welcome to my domain, child!” Kalderos voice was like a hammer being dropped. ”I’m the Forger of the Gods, the controller of Flame, I am Kalderos.”

Kalderos’s smile widened slightly as he studied Lucen from head to toe, as though inspecting an unfinished blade.

”You do not bow,” Kalderos noted, his ember-lit eyes narrowing, not in anger, but interest. ”Nor do you tremble. Most mortals who arrive here either fall to their knees or ask for something from my collection.”

”If you wish me to bow, I shall. But to tremble or ask for something? It is you, Lord Kalderos, who brought me to your domain. I’m simply here grateful to bask in your presence.”

Hearing Lucen’s reply, Kalderos laughed heartily, his laughter like booming thunder echoing through his domain.

”You have quite the silver tongue, child. What you say is true, I have brought you here not to make you kneel, but instead to praise you.”

”To praise me?”

”Yes, you have created something from the forge that will change the era. Your train and those weapons you have built will make things move forward again. Wonderous things will be seen in this era, and I’m thrilled to see it.”

Kalderos’s eyes of embers burn even brighter than before. ”You have created something worthy of congratulations! I do not like that hothead Varkun got to you first, but I will grant you something better than the blessing he has given you.”

When Lucen heard what Kalderos said, he got a little excited. ’Am I going to get a mythical weapon from Kalderos himself?!’

”I, Kalderos, God of the Forge and Flames, who value those who create under the forge’s flames, praise and value you, one who makes. What you have created will bring about change, wondrous change. For that, I shall grant you a gift. A blessing from me. Show me your hands.”

Lucen did as he was told, as he stretched out his hands. Kalderos nodded his head, and without warning, he smashed his hammer onto Lucen’s hand. Lucen was not fast enough to react, but the second the hammer smashed his hand, he felt nothing.

It was at that moment that he received a notification from the system.

[Kalderos favors you.]

[Gained a permanent blessing: The Blessing of Greater Flames.]

[Most flames shall not burn or harm you. One blessed by the Greater Flames will be able control most flames that your hands touch.]

Lucen stared at his hands, half-expecting them to be charred, broken, or reduced to ash. Instead, they were unchanged, yet he could feel something new pulsing beneath his skin, like a forge that had just been lit.

Even though he knew that Kalderos would not harm him, seeing that heavy hammer of his hit him was truly shocking.

Kalderos chuckled, seeing Lucen’s reaction. ”Don’t worry, child, I just gave a bit of power. You can now withstand and control most flames that are weaker than an Adult Fire Dragon’s flames. Meaning most flames won’t harm you, but it is not total immunity to them, so be warned. With this blessing, you’ll be able to control flames, which we help you with forging, and many more things.”

The god turned away, the forges roaring back to life as embers began to fall once more.

”I have given you my blessing, child. I hope that you will create more in the roar of the Forge’s flames.”

After Kalderos said those words, Lucen’s view blurred as he lost consciousness.