MTLNOVEL Chapter 1061: Heart of Molten Fire
The three stood in front of the gigantic metal gate, looking up at the bronze giant door which stood at least twenty meters high.
Just as he was gazing at the door, Wu Heng suddenly felt several sharp gazes falling upon him.
Without a change in expression, he glanced around. At the high lookout points on both sides of the rock walls, several figures of short people were watching this direction.
It seems that besides the dwarf camp we just passed through, there are also high-level professionals stationed here.
Leander took a document out from his space ring and displayed it in all directions.
The figures at the heights retreated upon seeing it.
"Open the gate!" Leander commanded in a deep voice as he put away the document.
Accompanied by the deafening sound of metal grinding, the giant gate slowly opened.
As it opened, a wave of searing heat came rushing out like a flood.
Leander made a gesture of invitation, "It's inside, please, both of you."
Once through the gate, the temperature rose sharply.
On the rock walls lining both sides of the passage, a specially crafted illuminating stone was embedded every ten steps or so, still emitting a steady glow in the high-temperature environment.
As they went further in, the passage gradually opened up, eventually leading to a large circular cave.
In the center of the cave was a depression about fifty meters in diameter, and at the center of the depression was a black stone sphere about the size of a basketball, with traces of magma faintly rolling inside, covered in irregular cracks and mottling.
"This is the treasure of our tribe, the 'Heart of Molten Fire'." Leander's voice was full of reverence and pride.
Heng took two steps forward, fixing his gaze on the 'Heart of Molten Fire' for two seconds, prompting information to emerge.
[Heart of Molten Fire (Special Item)]
[Effect: Smelting (3.6%).]
[Side effect: Irreversible damage.]
(Description: A natural wonder born from the Earth's magma, capable of breaking through conventional forging limits.)
Wu Heng raised an eyebrow, a natural special item!
Natural special items hold high value among treasures not just because of their good 'effects', but mainly because they have almost no side effects.
Wu Heng focused his attention on the effect and the side effect.
[Smelting]: Allows any special item, equipment, or material to be put in, with a chance to generate a brand new item after smelting.
[Irreversible damage]: Any items put in will permanently disappear.
As Wu Heng was observing this, the dwarf beside him solemnly introduced, "The cost of use is 2000 Gold Coins, and the lava solution needed for activation requires 500 Gold Coins, totaling 2500."
After saying this, he glanced over, and seeing Wu Heng had no objections, he continued, "Additionally, the special items and materials required for smelting need to be provided by yourself. If the quantity isn't sufficient, you can visit the market on the west side of the city. Various special items and damaged materials are sold there, and they're not expensive, only costing around 30 to 50 Gold Coins each."
Standing on the opposite side, Retili widened her eyes more and more with the dwarf's description.
The last time she spent her entire life's savings for a dignified exit for the original leader of Gold and Silver Island, it only cost her 1000 Gold.
Without doing anything yet, 2500 Gold Coins needed to be paid first.
Furthermore, all the other necessary items and materials needed to be self-provided.
This dwarf is really extortionate!
Wu Heng, however, showed not much reaction. Lilith had mentioned it to him before coming. He then asked, "What's the success rate? It seems it doesn't succeed every time, does it?"
Leander replied, "Not at all, one of the characteristics of the Heart of Molten Fire is energy storage! You can understand it as the closer the energy is to the scope of the Heart of Molten Fire, the better the special item produced."
"The scope you mentioned, what scope is that?" Wu Heng inquired further.
Leander organized his words, then continued, "It's not always better to put in more equipment. Sometimes when too much equipment is put in, the Heart of Molten Fire will destroy all materials, so it's up to the user to grasp the quantity, getting as close as possible to the maximum tolerance of the Heart of Molten Fire."
Wu Heng narrowed his eyes, it sounded like the groundwork laid before enhancing equipment in games.
Sometimes, if the groundwork is well laid, the weapon needed enhanced easily succeeds, if not, all prior investments are lost.
"Are there any techniques?" Wu Heng pursued further.
The dwarf gently stroked his beard, revealing a profound smile, "I can share some experiences, but the final outcome still depends on your luck."
After this, he pointed at the Heart of Molten Fire, "When the Heart of Molten Fire begins to burn, steadily and uniformly, it indicates it's in a stable phase, but if one day it behaves pretty violently, it might mean it's approaching the critical point, though this is only an analysis. If it were that easy to judge, then high-quality special items wouldn't be so rare."
Wu Heng nodded, indicating he understood.
What he said might be a method, but it's definitely not that simple.
If merely observing the surface could determine the potential for high-value special items, then the dwarves' special items would appear in large quantities, and this special item would not be allowed for external use.
After pondering for a moment, he continued to ask, "Is there no method to deduce? Gold and Silver Island has a profession called Prophet that can see pictures of related matters to some extent."
Leander smiled slightly, "I understand what you mean, but using it on the Heart of Molten Fire has no effect. Special professions or special-item-like abilities can't make predictions either."
He paused slightly, then continued, "We speculate there are two possibilities. One is that the items produced by the Heart of Molten Fire cannot be deduced, as if they suddenly appeared in this world. The second is that predictions cannot assess the quality of the special item; some effects are beneficial to certain groups, while others have no use at all."