Mythology: Ragnarok

Chapter 112 Learning Runes

Agreed nodded and explained, "I originally came here for some personal reasons, but... I have other reasons now."

As he spoke, he raised the Enchanting Encyclopedia in his hand and continued.

“I want to help him finish writing this book. There are many parts about runes that he hasn’t had time to write yet. I… want to complete his unfinished work.”

Larry watched as Agreed tapped his pipe in the ashtray, then sighed, "He once told me that he tried every possible way to get you onto this path, but he left and you came. Since it's your decision, fine, I'll do everything I can to help you, for my best friend and for you."

Agreed bowed and said, "I hope you will enlighten me, senior."

So, Agreed began learning runes under Larry's tutelage.

Larry didn't waste any time and immediately began to patiently teach him:

"Let's begin now without delay. According to our ancestors, runes are a forging secret passed down to me by Thor, the god of thunder whom we dwarves worship. Legend has it that runes are the natural language that Odin, the king of the gods of Asgard, comprehended on the World Tree. In the language of Asgard, runes also mean 'the secret of the universe,' so runes are also known as the script that can control nature."

Indeed, this is true. It is thanks to the powerful abilities of runes that our dwarves' weapons have been able to lead the world. Runes even allow us dwarves, who have no affinity for magic, to use magic and give our weapons extraordinary power.

I'll teach you the strokes and basic characters of runes now, pay attention..."

Agreed listened quietly, occasionally asking questions, and respectfully used his extraordinary comprehension and wisdom to master the newly learned rune knowledge.

Time flew by, and in less than a week, Agreed had learned all of Larry's life's worth of knowledge. He also offered many of his own insights and made improvements. Even Larry had to admit that he finally understood why Milton had lured him into the world of enchanters. Someone like him would be wasting his talents in any other profession.

After learning Larry's knowledge, Agreed did not stop. He began to visit the famous rune masters of Ifeltar. Agreed offered to work for them and enchant their weapons for free in exchange for learning their rune knowledge. Dwarves are a very generous race and they don't understand the concept of keeping secrets. So Agreed only needed a few drinks to become friends with those masters and they were willing to teach him everything they knew.

Three months later, Agreed had visited almost all the rune masters, and he finally completed the encyclopedia.

The following morning, Larry called upstairs, holding a piece of mithril, "Hey kid! Hey kid! Come out and do me a favor. I need your nimble hands to carve an ornament for me!"

Then, Agreed came out shakily carrying a huge stack of books and shouted, "Here I am! Here I am!"

Seeing this, Larry quickly went over, took the books, put them aside, and asked, "Don't you know your physical condition? Why are you carrying so many things when you have no strength?"

Agreed explained, "Isn't this a return gift to those rune masters?"

"A return gift?" Larry asked, puzzled.

Agreed explained, “I have been bothering you masters these past few days. I have no way to repay you, so I present you with this encyclopedia containing knowledge of human enchanting and all runes. I hope it will be of further help to your endeavors. This is your copy, Master Larry.” With that, Agreed took out an encyclopedia and handed it to Larry.

Larry took the encyclopedia with satisfaction and said, "You're really thoughtful, kid. But to be honest, there's no need to be so polite. You've been helping us old folks make trinkets and enchanted weapons these past few days. Even if the tuition for runes is expensive, what you've done for us is enough to settle things."

Agreed shook his head and said, "I know this is far from enough to repay your kindness in teaching me. I will do my best to repay you so that I will have no guilt in my heart."

"Alright, get to work, kid. This is an order from the Dwarven royal family, don't mess it up. If you help me with this, I'll treat you to the best liquor in the Dwarven kingdom after this is over."

Agreed said helplessly, "You forgot again, my body can't feel any appetite. But a royal mission sounds very challenging. Let me take a look."

Larry laughed heartily and handed over the requirements and materials for the ornaments to Agreed. Because dwarves' fingers are thick and short, they cannot perform very fine processing like humans, which has resulted in a huge gap in the dwarven foundry industry for manufacturing small weapons and ornaments.

Therefore, all the runic ornaments and intricate items in the Dwarven Empire were basically made by master craftsmen like Larry, who put in tremendous effort. And Agred, who had become an undead, even surpassed the elven craftsmen who were skilled in ornament making in terms of the dexterity of his fingers and the control of his strength.

So Larry naturally handed over these kinds of orders to Agreed, and of course, Larry also gave all the payment for the orders to Agreed. Anyway, Larry himself was not short of money, and he was more than happy to hand over these hot potato-like orders to Agreed.

Other dwarven master foundries followed suit, and soon Agreed dominated the market for fine handicrafts in the dwarven kingdom.

Afterwards, Agreed quickly carved and enchanted the ornament and handed it over to Master Larry to complete the task. In the following months, he accumulated a lot of wealth, but to be honest, money was the most useless thing for Agreed's current situation. In fact, Agreed had been looking for an opportunity to talk to the dwarven royal family and buy a mine under certain conditions so that he could reach the Golden Bone Realm.

That evening, Larry took Agreed to the best tavern in the dwarf kingdom to relax.

Inside the tavern, Larry was eating and drinking heartily while Agreed boasted about his past experiences and stories. Agreed simply listened quietly. Although his teetotaling behavior seemed somewhat awkward and strange to the other people in the tavern, the bartenders didn't say much. After all, Agreed was very generous and even though he didn't buy any alcohol, he still handed them two gold coins as a service fee.

Agreed was clever; his direct approach not only dispelled the dwarf bartenders' aversion to this eccentric guest, but also made them serve this rare patron with utmost respect.

Just as Master Larry was getting excited, his good friend Master 'Pluto' arrived at the tavern.