The sound of calm footsteps echoed in the corridor outside the workshop.
A few seconds later, the heavy iron door opened and an elderly man entered.
His silver hair was carefully combed back, and he wore simple gray clothes; clothes that at first glance were no different from an ordinary craftsman’s attire.
But right at that moment, all the apprentices inside the workshop immediately stopped working and all bowed respectfully.
Even a few master craftsmen who were busy making equipment also put down their hammers.
"Chairman."
The atmosphere of the workshop suddenly changed completely.
Without anyone introducing him, Lian and Kain guessed that this man must be the same person the apprentice had been talking about.
Chairman Roland Ashcroft.
The head of the country’s Blacksmiths’ Association, one of the most influential men in the country, he had no direct combat power, but the biggest guilds and awakened ones of the country were all indebted to him and treated him with respect.
Roland gave a quick look around and went straight toward Magnus.
"Magnus, I came about the President’s order, I heard you finally decided to set a time for making that armor."
"Whenever its turn comes, I will make it, not sooner." Magnus sneered with impatience and then added.
"Making the armor he requested is not easy, an armor that can conduct the lightning element’s currents in the smoothest way? It takes time and needs a lot of materials."
"Why does he even want such an armor? He himself doesn’t use the lightning element."
Suddenly, Lian’s eyebrows rose slightly, such an armor would be perfect for a lightning mage... and the President himself was not a lightning mage.
But... suddenly Kael’s face appeared in his mind... could it be for his secret son? A gift?
Roland just gave a faint smile, it was clear that he was used to this old man’s strange temper, but right when he was about to speak again...
His gaze fixed on the massive skin that was on the anvil, his sentence remained half-finished, and a strange silence fell over the workshop.
He calmly stepped forward, then another step, and for a few moments just stared at the skin’s black surface.
He placed his hand gently on it, his eyebrows furrowed, and under his breath, so quietly that only those nearby could hear, he whispered.
"...Where did you find this?"
Without waiting for an answer, he opened a small leather bag from his belt.
He took out several strange tools from inside it, a crystal lens, a silver pen covered with runes, and a metal plate with mana lines carved on it.
He activated the tools one by one, blue and golden lights moved across the skin’s surface.
The runes lit up one after another, for several full minutes no sound was heard, even the apprentices did not dare to breathe loudly.
In the end, Roland calmly put the tools aside, his eyes still on the skin.
"There is no mistake..." He took a deep breath.
"The leader of the World Devourer Giants race."
Those few words were enough for silence to weigh heavily on the workshop again.
Even the chairman himself did not say anything for a few moments, as if his mind was still processing what he had seen, and then he calmly turned toward Magnus.
"How did you find this? Do you want to make something with it? If this is real..." His gaze fell on the skin again.
"This is the biggest project the association has seen in the past few decades." The World Devourer Giants are one of the most famous races.
But it’s not just about the giants themselves, if it was a normal or even a Fallen World Devourer Giant, his reaction would not have been this intense.
However, the corpse here belongs to the most powerful World Devourer Giant, the leader of their entire race, and an Unholy!
Magnus just nodded calmly, this time even he did not object, and then added.
"It’s not mine, it belongs to that young man." And he pointed at Lian.
The chairman finally noticed Lian and Kain’s presence, his gaze moved over the two and finally settled on Lian, for some reason he felt this boy’s face was familiar.
As if he had seen him somewhere before.
"You are the owner of this corpse?"
"Yes." Lian answered calmly.
Roland asked.
"Hmm, your face looks very familiar to me, your name?"
"Lian."
"Family name?"
"Vorhelm." Lian answered without the slightest change in his expression.
Roland’s eyes widened slightly for a moment, he now understood why this boy’s face was familiar.
This was the same young Vorhelm who had been on the headlines of all the country’s news just a week ago.
Magnus also looked at Lian in surprise.
"Vorhelm...?"
Both were silent for a few seconds.
Lian braced himself inside, as far as he knew, the President did not have a good relationship with the Vorhelm clan.
The association’s leaders also had close ties with the government’s decision-making circle, and it was natural for him to think that they would now find an excuse to reject his request.
But... contrary to all his expectations... Roland suddenly laughed, and not a fake laugh, but a real and heartfelt one.
"Haha..." He placed his hand on Lian’s shoulder.
"So this corpse belongs to our young friend?" His smile was still on his face.
"I guess without the Titan Hammer, you can’t do anything with this corpse, right Magnus?"
"That’s right, I was planning to contact you to get the hammer." Magnus answered.
"No problem, the association will help you and is ready to give the hammer."
This time it was Lian’s turn to be surprised, he just looked at the chairman for a few moments, he really did not expect such a reaction, and then added.
"I didn’t expect you to agree so quickly."
Roland answered without any hesitation.
"The reason is very simple, making anything from such raw material is an honor for the association itself, no craftsman would miss such an opportunity." Then his gaze became more serious.
"The second reason is that in these past few days, you have done a great service to this country, the news of the border city’s rescue is still being talked about among the people."
He started counting one by one.
"You defended the Base, you saved hundreds of awakened ones, and more importantly..." His gaze locked directly into Lian’s eyes.
"You captured alive the first registered native human in this new realm."
"This is the least we can do for you."
"I didn’t expect the news to reach you so quickly." Lian said after listening, it seemed news reaches high-level people very quickly.
But this was also something that was expected, and it seemed the matter had reached a point where the head of the Blacksmiths’ Association also wanted to have a good relationship with him.
’Or could it be because of Kael?’ Of course, there was another possibility.
Magnus, who had been silently listening until then, finally could not hide his surprise.
"Wait... this boy... did all that?"
Roland laughed.
"It seems you really have been cut off from the world."
"My job is blacksmithing, not following the news." Magnus shrugged.
The chairman smiled and briefly summarized the events of the past few days.
About the border city operation, about the discovery of the ruin, about capturing the first native human, about the counterattack that broke the siege, and about Lian’s stand against the Abyssal River Drake until reinforcements arrived.
The more he went on... Magnus’s eyes opened wider.
When the talk ended, the old man just looked at Lian for a few seconds.
"Not bad, I knew you were definitely not an ordinary person, but not to this extent." He then said slowly.
"Magnus, the Titan’s Forge Hammer will be in your hands by tomorrow."
"Okay." The old man nodded calmly.
The chairman turned to Lian this time, his face no longer held a smile, it had become completely serious.
"But before starting the construction, there is something you should know." He pointed at the massive corpse of the World Devourer Giant.
"Such an armor is only made once, mistakes can happen, and if we make a mistake, there will be no second chance, and the entire corpse’s value will be lost, as you know, blacksmithing science is not 100 percent and error-free."
"So are you sure that instead of selling it, you want to make an armor from it?"