That's right, that's what adventure is like!

Roland picked up the stone slab first, not the hammer.

The front was in Dwarven language, which he couldn't understand.

The reverse side uses common language, which is concise and to the point.

"Intruders, your only chance is to complete the tempering and forge the Molten Core Hammer."

"Remember, the 'Burning Veins' clan respects every enemy with exceptional forging skills!"

My palms feel slightly clenched.

"What did it say?!" Emmett's voice was slightly distorted.

The Lava Giant Lizard was an extremely powerful alien monster, and he had no idea that the three of them could survive against it.

But Roland believed there was a chance.

"Hold me off! I'll finish the final forging. Once it's done, we can leave!!"

"Are you even capable!?"

Emmett was still doubting when Yog had already fired the heavy arrow, which sparked a string of sparks on the lava giant lizard's scales but did not break through them at all.

That's why Roland didn't delay; he could tell almost instantly that the thing was beyond the reach of his longsword.

The risk is too great.

It would be better to have two teammates skilled in archery hold the line; that would be a more effective way to delay the enemy.

Concentrating his attention on the platform, he focused his gaze on the metal lever on the right, which was covered with intricate runes of unknown meaning and was now dull and lifeless.

The stone slab did not mention how the final forging was completed, but he could more or less guess that it was simply a matter of heating the weapon to a suitable temperature to increase its hardness and strength.

Roland ignored the roars, howls, and clanging of metal coming from behind him, placing the heavy hammer in the dented hole and grasping the metal lever.

It felt hot to the touch.

It wasn't the kind of burning pain, but rather the heat of putting his hand into freshly boiled water, which instantly caused beads of sweat to appear on his forehead.

One inch... two inches...

As the lever moved, a burst of scorching flames erupted from beneath the stone platform. He could see the floor beneath his feet turning red, and the hammerhead also beginning to glow slightly red.

However, the runes did not light up.

Roland frowned and continued pulling, this time with a larger range of motion. The flames grew stronger and stronger, and there was even a crackling sound of metal contacting high temperatures.

However, the runes remained dim.

"wrong--"

He released the lever, his brows furrowed, not understanding what was going on.

Could it be that I misunderstood?

"Hurry!!! I can't hold on any longer!!!"

Emmett's voice behind him had long lost the composure of a half-elf, replaced by anxiety and restlessness.

Although Yogurt didn't make a sound, the frequency of her bowstring plucks decreased significantly, indicating that she was also starting to struggle, and even had very few heavy arrows left.

Sweat dripped from Roland's forehead as his gaze swept rapidly across the entire stone platform, finally settling on the lever engraved with intricate runes.

This thing...

His eyes turned cold, and he made an extremely bold move: he immersed all his consciousness into the runes in the lever, trying to find a way to activate them.

Warmth, pain, burning...

Finally, there is flow.

He keenly sensed that these runes were not completely lifeless, but rather, like those on the metal doors, there was an extremely subtle flow, only less noticeable and easier to miss.

What is flowing?

Roland grasped the answer almost instantly.

magic.

The same problem as the one at the hotel is before him again, this time more urgent and more direct. He must sense magic in a very short time to resolve his current predicament.

Once again, he immersed his consciousness into that flowing magic.

boom!

As if noticing his spying, the originally slowly flowing magic power instantly began to surge and spin at an extremely fast speed, with extremely complex patterns that he could not notice at all.

too fast!

He gritted his teeth, trying to lock onto a trajectory, but just as he saw it, it vanished in the next instant, appearing in a new form, almost identical to the previous one.

Emmett's shouts from behind grew increasingly urgent: "Hurry!!! We can't hold on any longer!!!"

Yogurt hadn't plucked the bowstring for a long time; instead, a roar echoed through the hall, accompanied by a sharp metallic whistling sound, clearly indicating that he had used a double-edged axe.

The roar of the lava giant lizard vibrated Roland's eardrums, and beads of sweat dripped onto the stone platform, turning into white steam.

No, this is too slow!

He doesn't have that talent.

Since he lacks talent, he'll gamble on pushing his body to its limits!

click -

The red-hot hammer was gently tossed into the air, and Roland proactively extended his left hand, placing it on the path it was bound to fall.

Although it is not yet finished being forged, this heavy hammer is still heavy enough to easily smash his entire palm!

This is exactly what he wanted!

The hammer fell rapidly, and at the last moment before it touched the left hand, time suddenly slowed down, or rather, it became sluggish.

It was so slow that he could see every inch of the falling hammer's movement, so slow that he could see the fine hairs standing on his palms, so slow that the sounds of battle behind him kept getting longer.

Time slot!!!

Roland never imagined that his first active trigger during his adventure would not be for combat, but to gain a brief moment of focus.

But it works very well.

He saw that the wildly spinning runes inside the lever finally revealed their true form in this slowed-down time.

Those twinkling stars are magic.

Those interwoven patterns are the pulse of magic.

They are regular; the runes in the lever have three nodes that all trajectories pass through, completing a cycle every half breath, and each cycle has a total of forty-three secondary nodes.

Roland was perfectly conscious.

He began to pull the lever, this time not by feeling, but by following the pulse of magic within the runes.

When the first rune passed by, it paused for an inch.

A fierce flame rose up, not from beneath the stone platform, but from inside the heavy hammer, enveloping it entirely, while identical runes lit up on its surface.

The second rune paused three inches away as it passed.

Runes lit up on the heavy hammer again.

The third rune is the slowest; all the magical trajectories only pass by simultaneously in a fleeting moment, while the afterglow illuminates forty-two secondary nodes.

But Roland captured that moment.

boom--

The hammer body burst forth with an astonishing orange-red light, and lines lit up one after another, shining from the reddish hammerhead to the handle, seeping from the surface into the interior.

when!!!

The moment the runes were fully constructed, the time gap ended.

The still-warm hammer slammed down on Roland's hand, but only brought brief pain before stopping and floating in the air.

It was the power of the runes that gave it the levitation effect.

Roland didn't even glance at the skin tearing open on the back of his hand, blood flowing continuously, and the bones cracking.

He picked up the hammer with his right hand, turned around, and fixed his gaze on the lava giant lizard that was about to breathe fire.

That's not enough! This molten core hammer is missing one final step!

Without any hesitation, he planted his feet on the ground and shot out like an arrow!

"Kill it!!!" Yogurt's roar exploded from the side.

The lava giant lizard began to shrink back when it saw the already formed heavy hammer, trying to swing its tail to knock it away, but it was too late, Roland had already arrived in front of it!

No skill was needed at all; the hammer seemed to sense something, its runes lit up, and it floated up, carrying Roland's body.

Then, it slammed down heavily!

bang——

The cracking sound echoed through the metal hall, and the orange-red runes on the heavy hammer shone with a blinding light. It wasn't an impact, but a form of absorption!

Surging flames erupted from the lava giant lizard's body. It struggled frantically, but countless runes formed a prison, binding it firmly in place.

The flames, along with their life force, were devoured by the heavy hammer!

Roland pressed down on the hammer handle, his left hand, a bloody mess, also pressed against the orange-red light. The scorching air gave it a burnt smell, yet he still held on tightly.

"Die!!!"

boom!!!

After another loud explosion, the giant lizard's roar abruptly stopped, its vertical pupils gradually lost their luster, and it finally collapsed to the ground with a thud!

Runes serve as the catalyst, and beast blood is used for tempering.

The molten core hammer is now complete.