Completely excavating this place would be an enormous project.
After working for a while without any gains, he decided to study the combat techniques he just acquired.
—— "Defense and Attack (Basic Specialization): A combat skill that balances offense and defense. Dwarven defenders hone this combat skill over long periods until it becomes an instinct."
—— "Fierce Attack (Basic Specialization): A burst combat skill that allows your next attack to have astonishing lethality but loses some accuracy."
—— "Flowing Slash (Basic Specialization): After knocking down an enemy, you can immediately launch an additional attack on a nearby target."
These are not particularly advanced combat techniques.
However, unlike the combat skills obtained from the First World, the abilities Duncan acquired from the Dwarf Mechanized Body formed their own system. They were all light blue marks and existed as a kind of basic combat specialization. They weren’t confined to simple moves but were a kind of instinct developed after a certain level of physical training.
If one were to compare, the closest ability would be the ’Arrow Deflection’ of the First Human Form, which is purely due to training to the fullest—comprehensive body reflexes can deflect flying arrows.
"Defense and Attack is more like a combat stance rather than a specific move."
"After entering the state, the ability to parry, block, and dodge is greatly enhanced."
When Duncan tried to enter the state of Defense and Attack, a unique BUFF mark appeared on the projection page — a sword and shield mark, which displayed ’Parry Block Dodge +5’.
Then he switched to the Fierce Attack state, and it also had a BUFF mark, displaying ’Damage Greatly Enhanced +1 to +10’.
This is pure brute strength creating miracles.
Without being confined to any move, every strike is a miracle of force, trying to unleash all the body’s power as much as possible. If combined with a frenzy state, it would be as fierce as the Hulk.
"Interesting."
"The dwarves’ combat skills actually resemble the various battle stances of Warcraft warriors."
First enter the corresponding combat stance, and then display the various combat techniques you have mastered. In different combat situations, respond with various combat stances.
It feels like they developed this system of combat techniques after hacking at each other with cold weapons for thousands of years.
For Duncan, Defense and Attack is a defensive stance, and Fierce Attack is a frenzy stance.
As for the last one, Flowing Slash, it’s a combination of combat skill and bodily instinct. To put it simply, after hacking at many people, you become more adept at hacking, and after you’ve killed one, you can conveniently kill a second.
"This combat system demands extremely high physical qualities."
Duncan mastered it proficiently after a short time, switching between two combat stances quite easily, with strong mobilization of the body.
Useful.
Even if the First Human Form was engraved, close combat ability would be further enhanced.
Dimension Space.
After checking the other two projection pages, Duncan put the Third Human Form in custody and began to dig on a small scale along the dark area ahead, excavating the ancient relics.
No one knows how long it took.
With the metallic sound from the digging tool controlled by the Mechanical Arm, he then brushed away the stones in front of him and saw a corner of a furnace buried underground.
—"Soul Furnace (Ancient Curiosity): It is said that the Father God of Dwarves, Moradin, once created the first dwarves using metal and fire."
(Ritual artifact from the Mythical Era.)
(The ancient runes engraved on it represent the forging of flesh and the forging of souls.)
(Dwarves were born from metal and fire, and through the countless tempers of the Dwarf Father God, hammered their flesh as hard as a rock, Moradin used the furnace to forge the first dwarves’ souls, giving them a tenacious spirit but also making them stubborn like a stone in a latrine pit.)
(The Soul Furnace is the sacred object of the Dwarf Father God. Legend has it that the real Soul Furnace can imbue weapons with souls but requires a trial to use.) [Note: Similar to the Artifact Spirit of the East, injecting the soul.]
(It is said that the Dwarf Father God’s Forging Hammer can easily shatter any armor.)
Is this a big find?
Duncan hurriedly cleared the stones, looking for the ancient runes engraved above, which surprisingly were seven or eight points similar to the Rune Language, a lot of which he could understand the meanings. Earth’s dwarf origin is Nordic Mythology, where dwarves excel at crafting divine artifacts and mastering the Rune Language.
"Metal... fire... forging the bodies of my people..."
"Lava... earth... tempering the souls of my people..."
"Praise the great Father of Forging, Master of Many Hammers, Soul Forger—Moradin! ..."
When Duncan silently recited the sacred prayer above in his mind, his heart surprisingly trembled slightly. Simultaneously, the First Human Form also sensed something, with some wondrous resonance appearing in the Forging Domain from the God of Forging—Gwanu.
Both possess divine positions of forging.
But this Soul Forger is more powerful!
His forging is a concept; weapons, armor, curiosities, divine artifacts can be forged, as well as flesh, soul, mind, and will.
"This must be a being of strong divine power!"
"Below should be the Divine Hall dedicated to Moradin, possibly corresponding to the Pantheon within Rome."
A conceptual forging ability.
If reported to the Mechanical Divine Sect, his status would probably rise dramatically.
But Duncan definitely wouldn’t do that, who knows what could be dug up below, there might even be dwarf divine artifacts!
Dig.
Dig hard.
Duncan personally began to dig, all the way downwards, digging for a whole day and night, eventually uncovering a strange hammer on the side of the furnace, below which was a collapsed altar.
The shape of this hammer somewhat resembles Sol’s Mjolnir.
But it wasn’t heavy at all, and there wasn’t a hint of rust on it.
—"Soul Forging Hammer (Sacrificial Artifact): Ritual artifact of the Dwarf Glory Seeker—Soul Forger Clan, capable of reforging the souls of mortals."
—"Trait-Soul Forging: Activate this curiosity using a sacrificial ritual, and the Trial Taker must endure its attack. With each attack endured, as long as the Trial Taker does not perish, their willpower will be strengthened. After enduring three heavy hits, the Soul Forging ritual is completed, granting themselves the special specialization of [Steel Will]."
(Must hold the ritual beside the Soul Furnace Ritual Objects.)
(One of the two major rituals of the Father of Dwarves faith, one to reforge the soul and the other to reforge the flesh. Only those who pass the test are true Iron Guardians of the dwarves.)
There should be another hammer nearby.
.........
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