As Thale left to prepare for the dangerous mission he would soon be undertaking, Leor continued his search for Drelk. After checking the herb fields and the Beast district, the young man eventually found the old elf in an unused section of the fortress.
Drelk stood before a large building with a long chimney on top. The chimney was filled with runic inscriptions that served a purpose Leor could not immediately understand. Beside Drelk was a short, stocky dark elf man with a well-developed frame and thick arms for an elf.
As Leor approached them, he began to overhear their conversation.
"I know little of the craft of smithing. This forge was built here long before I ever moved to this fortress. Viridrak probably required a smith on hand for one of his previous experiments. That's the only reason I can think of for its existence here."
The stocky elf beside Drelk nodded in understanding, rubbing his stubble-covered chin as he stared up at the chimney. When the man saw Leor walking over, a solemn expression spread across his face. He stopped talking and waited for the young man to approach.
"That's the human that saved our asses from the curse, ain't it?" the stocky elf asked, pointing his thumb at Leor.
Drelk looked up and finally noticed the young human's approach, slowly nodding his head.
"Yes. His Willpower talent is quite remarkable." He began, then gestured toward the elf beside him as he looked at Leor. "This is Slag. He's interested in reopening this old metalworking shop. Slag, this is Leor, one of the humans who recently arrived in our realm."
Leor held out his hand to shake. The muscly elf squeezed with a grip like a vise. When Leor felt the strength, he grinned and put some of his Beastly power on display, returning the force threefold.
"Ack! You're as strong as a damn Beast! What a lad!" Slag laughed happily as he waved his pained hand back and forth in the air.
"Leor, I'm sure you're here to ask about the library. Alina told me to expect a visit from you. Give me a moment to open up this building for Slag, and I will accompany you," he explained.
Slag and Leor followed the old elf as he stepped toward the large double doors of the metalworking building. An elven symbol lock on the door needed to be opened before anyone could enter.
"I'm not certain why this building is even locked. It should just be a forge and some simple tools," Drelk muttered as he entered the code.
As the doors swung open, a wide array of equipment came into view. Most notable was the large black forge covered in thick draconic inscriptions from top to bottom. Slag went wide-eyed and speechless at the sight.
The stocky elf followed them inside a moment later, rushing toward the forge with clear excitement on his face.
"A simple forge, he says! Hah! Is your toilet paper made of gold too?" He spoke at Drelk with a hint of spite in his tone. "This is a master forge! You could forge a plate of metal that could survive a kick from a dragon with this thing!" Slag looked around curiously as he examined the rest of the equipment.
"What's a master forge?" Leor asked.
Slag glanced up from the rune-covered hammer in his hand for a moment, then continued to examine the item.
"It's the temperature rating of the forge. You need a certain heat quality to melt stronger materials. That forge there can handle Willpower Master-quality materials. That means you could forge weapons and armor of Master quality."
Leor's eyelids slowly rose as he listened to the explanation.
"Don't get yer hopes up, boy. I ain't no master smith, and I don't see any orichalcum or enchanted steel lying around anywhere. Unless I can find a source of quality metals, this forge won't be of much use to anyone,"
Leor rubbed his chin as he listened, his gaze wandering up toward the ceiling.
"Well, we are on a mountain that is utterly dripping with spiritual power. I'm sure there are quality materials around here somewhere."
Slag laid the hammer down and stared at the forge longingly.
"Well. If you run into some, let me know. I'll make you a blade worthy of a young hero like yerself!"
Drelk and Leor left the forge to Slag and headed toward Drelk's workshop.
"I don't know what you're expecting to find, but there aren't many Willpower cultivation manuals in my collection. There are probably even fewer that are suitable for a light-natured Willpower," Drelk explained.
Leor shrugged his shoulders.
"Whatever you have is better than what I'm currently using, which is nothing at all."
Drelk opened the workshop, turned on the lighting mechanism, and led Leor toward the section of books on Willpower cultivation.
"There you are. If you don't mind, I intend to get some work done while you browse. Just let me know when you're finished."
Leor scratched the back of his head as he glanced at the intimidating stack of tomes.
"Uh, actually, I can only read the human languages, so I was hoping you would help me translate," he said with a sheepish grin.
Drelk let out an exasperated sigh and walked back toward the bookshelf. Over the next few minutes the old elf scanned through the manuals with Leor, trying to track down anything that might be of use to him. Unfortunately not a single one of the manuals was suitable for Leor's light-nature Willpower.
"I'm sorry, Leor. You would probably have better luck in the main library at Draemyer, but we don't have access to that, unfortunately."
Leor scratched his chin for a moment and stared at the wall of books intently.
"If you don't have any light-natured manuals, what about neutral? There must be a few of those at least, right?" he asked.
Drelk's brow rose in understanding as he went back to his search. Before long he had pulled six manuals from the shelf. The old elf pushed his reading glasses close to his eyes and began to read the titles to Leor.
"Hmm, this first one appears to be a manual on how to use Willpower to increase the breeding efficiency of certain Beasts. Willpower requirement neutral."
Drelk glanced up at Leor after he read the title. Noticing the unhappy expression of the young man, he continued.
"Ahem, right. I guess that's a no. The next one is a cultivation manual that allows for the supporting and nurturing of the northern fig family of spiritual herbs."
The options were less than enticing. It continued like that until there were only two manuals left, and Leor had nearly lost all hope of finding anything suitable. He kept listening to Drelk read the titles, but he pressed his face into his hands in disappointment as he did.
"Uh, hmm. Next is Unarmed Combat Mastery. How to use your Willpower to properly empower your strikes."
Leor's eyes lit up at the title. He almost reached forward to hug Drelk as he nodded quickly.
"Yes, that one! Please translate that one for me, Drelk!" he pleaded.
Drelk pressed his lips together as he examined the tome, then gently placed it to the side.
"Alright, alright. Let's at least check what the remaining manual contains. Maybe you will wish to use them both," Drelk said, lifting the final manual to his face. "Ah. My apologies. This is a manual for cultivating the power of fire. It can only be used by the draconic races."
Leor thought for a few seconds as an idea slowly came to him. He wasn't one of the draconic races, but as someone embodying a great serpent, he was close. He might be capable of using manuals that usually only dragons could successfully cultivate.
"I have a feeling I'll have some success with the fire-cultivating manual as well. Please translate both of them for me, if you don't mind, Drelk."
The old elf narrowed his eyes in a questioning manner, but he didn't object. He let out a tired sigh and took the tomes to a desk to begin the work of translating and transcribing both cultivation manuals.
Leor made himself comfortable, assuming the task would take a great deal of time. However, Drelk worked like a master bureaucrat, using his Willpower to copy images and swiftly translate the words with superhuman speed.
In merely half an hour the two thick cultivation manuals were translated and written down in the common human tongue. Drelk collected the new copies and walked over to Leor, pressing them into the young man's hands with a subtle smile.
"I never thanked you properly for risking your life to go after Rynn. Take this small help as a token of my gratitude."