605 Zekhram

"Oh." Alex simply nodded, not surprised by Nelson's statement. "In any case, knowing there is a safe area here is very good for us. As for the Martial Saint, this incomplete Spiritual Weapon can block one or two attacks from them. I will use that time to create a teleportation array."

"Understood. We spirits can also block such an attack if we combine our strength." Nelson nodded, assuring him that he wouldn't be the one to fight.

Alex smiled and said, "Let's go. Our first direction will be the Dwarf. I will stay outside their settlement while you are infiltrating their rank. You will bring the sword and spear with you to see whether they would accept our request. If not, I will summon you back immediately." 

"Yes. I understand my role." Nelson nodded. "Young Master can rest assured that I will complete the mission successfully."

Alex asked, "By the way, how far is the Dwarf settlement? If we are too far, we should go with teleportation."

"They are not really far, only a few hours from here. Because I'm also not too sure about the terrain because of the lack of time, it's better to fly like this." Nelson rejected his idea.

"Well, if they are not too far, it's fine." Alex nodded. They flew in low altitude so they could land or hide when they spotted someone.

Nelson even released his shadows to the surrounding, keeping lockout from nearby spots that might have some population. Luckily, it would seem there was nothing such as settlement around this area, and there were no monsters as well, like what Nelson said.

They kept flying for a few hours without any problem. Alex decided not to summon his spirits for the time being because it might bother them if they were coming in a large group and had the potential to be found out.

Nelson suddenly halted his flying while Alex followed his movement and activated his Spirit Eyes. He found not a single sign of life around the area, so he was confused with Nelson's action.

"The settlement is actually ahead. We need to fly for another fifteen minutes. However, we should get some safe distance with them, which is this place." Nelson warned Alex.

"..." Alex furrowed his eyebrows before turning around, finding a tree nearby. He was supposed to be in the grassy plain except the fact that the grass was purple, and the tree looked ominous. "I will stay around that tree."

"Yes. There is not a single person that has come to this place in the past few months, according to Njomo, so you should be safe in this." Nelson nodded.

"Alright." Alex nodded. "The sword and the spear are in the Inventory. You can take them out whenever you like."

Nelson nodded, clasped his hands, and bowed to him. "Then, please excuse me."

Without waiting for Alex's reply, Nelson disappeared from Alex's vision, flying toward the settlement. 

…

Around half an hour later,

On the other hand, the dwarf had a similar appearance to those Alex met in the lower world. Their short stature, long braided silver hair, and those aged but sharp eyes looked perfectly similar to the ones Alex met. The difference was this dwarf wore round glasses, making him look younger than he was supposed to.

He reached the hammer on the corner of the table and placed the sword on the anvil right behind him. However, the dwarf suddenly said without any interest. "Who are you? What is your purpose for coming here?" 

"Are you the leader of this race?" A shadow appeared on the wall before two red dots that were supposed to be the eyes of this shadow flashed.

"This race?" These two words piqued the Dwarf's interest. He turned around and saw this shadow. "Appearance-wise, Nelson looked like a creature from Undead Race, but those Undead Race should already know his identity. There would be no one ignorant enough not to know about his name, so the dwarf noticed these two words.

"I will tell you the answer if you answer a question of mine first." The dwarf played it safe to confirm the question in his head.

"Let's hear it." 

"Looking at your appearance, it is similar to Undead Race, but you lack several things to be considered an Undead. I assume you are not an Undead. In contrast, you also don't have any features that symbolize a Dwarf or a beastman. We conquered this piece of the realm a long time ago, so here is my question. You are from the outside, right?"

Nelson thought for a moment and said. "Indeed."

"Good. Since you have answered a question of mine, I will also answer your question. I'm the current leader of this race, Zekhram. What purpose are you coming here? Seeing how you can infiltrate this place without anyone noticing is already impressive. If you want to assassinate me, I will only realize your present at the last minute. After all, we have been in this place for a few thousand years without a single enemy. You can't expect me to raise my guard this whole time." The elder explained.

Nelson fell into silence, having no sign to talk. 

"Haiz. If you are going here from the outside world, you must want something this much. Though I believe that war should have no report about this… and you won't suddenly stumble upon this place because of various reasons… Wait-" The dwarf stopped talking, noticing something was off.

The silence filled the entire room for a few minutes before the dwarf finished his thought. "A few thousand years ago, a visitor came here, asking us my grandfather to create a weapon. Are you…"

The dwarf didn't finish his question, but Nelson understood his intention. He corrected his words, "Not one, two."

"!!!" Finally, the dwarf opened his eyes wide. He purposely said a weapon to see whether he actually knew the secret. Hearing Nelson corrected him, Zekhram nodded and let out a long sigh. "I see. You are coming here because of those two weapons. But I still need to ask you one more question to ensure credibility. What is the weapon type?"

"Sword and Spear." Nelson also corrected him again. Zekhram tested him with a single weapon type because the record said there were two types of weapons, Sword and Spear.

"I see. Thank you for answering my question. Having knowledge about such weapons would surely incite one greed, especially for a craftsman like me. However, I didn't wish for such a thing. Hence, if you don't trust me, you can leave this place. I won't tell a single soul about your presence here." Zekhram exclaimed. 

"I am only a servant. This is my Master's sword." Nelson took out the rank 8 sword from the Inventory.

The dwarf observed the sword with great interest before looking at Nelson with narrowed eyes. "You are not afraid I will take this Sword from you? After all, you are only a Martial Monarch while I am a Martial Saint." 

"If I don't release a tiny bit of my energy, you won't notice my presence." Nelson snorted.

"Fair enough. Although you do not look like it, you might indeed be able to run away from me. Besides, I don't really like fighting unless necessary." Zekhram fell into silence for a few minutes before saying, "Follow me."

He left the room without waiting for Nelson's replied. Although Nelson believed that Zekhram didn't have any intentions to hurt him, he still put up his guard, preparing for a sneak attack.

They walked in the corridor before reaching a room in the corner. Zekhram opened the door for Nelson and took out a book on the shelf.

The room looked like a study room with light, table and books. There wasn't a single piece of furniture other than these three.

Flipping through the book, he finally arrived at a certain page. He found two drawings, a sword and a spear, and took another look at the sword. "Yeah. It's indeed the sword. It doesn't have a name yet because it's still incomplete. I'm just warning you first. My skill isn't on par with my Grandfather."

"..." Nelson narrowed his eyes.

"Although I'm not on par with my father, the gap isn't that big. Besides, I'm the best one in this race, so you are free to leave this place if you feel I'm not worth your time." Zekhram said. "Of course, I can say I'm really intrigued by such a thing, especially since my grandfather said it was his masterpiece. There are a few records about the sword and spear, so I should be able to complete the two weapons."

"That's great." Nelson nodded.

"Though I have a few problems." Zekhram paused for a moment. "To complete these weapons, I need to go to the Abysmal Tower in the Undead Race territory because it would require a lightning strike from Heaven. And that tower is capable of pulling this kind of lightning."

Nelson widened his eyes, never expecting him to require such a thing. "I will leave this weapon to you because they might look at me with hostility."

"Well, my grandfather also wished to finish these two weapons, so I'm not going to cheat you or anything. Right, you said these two weapons are your Master's weapons, how about inviting him here? With your expertise, I'm sure you two can sneak inside this place. I can talk to him about this. Even if I attack you, the weapons can block two attacks of mine, so you can escape." He added such a thing in the end.

"Even so, the other races might not have the same view as you do." Nelson shook his head.

"I have something you can bring to the Undead King, Atlas. Seeing my item, he would surely talk with you peacefully. As for the negotiation between you and him, I can't do a single thing. Whether he gives you permission to use the altar, it will be up to you." Zekhram shook his head.

"It carries so much risk." Nelson furrowed his eyebrows. 

"Actually, I also have one wish that I want you to grant. That's why I'm asking you to bring your master here." He took a deep breath before asking, "Can you show me the spear as an assurance? To make sure you get the pair…"

Nelson thought for a moment and released the spear from the Inventory. He only showed him for a few seconds before pulling it back, unlike the sword. 

"It's indeed the spear." The dwarf nodded. He also understood why Nelson couldn't trust him.

"I will ask him about it." Nelson nodded, tossed the sword back to the Inventory and vanished. 

Zekhram stared at the empty space, sat on the chair, and sighed. "Has our time finally moved again? The wish of the three races… Oh, our home."

…

Outside, Nelson flew toward Alex, who was waiting for him under the tree. "Young Master." 

"Oh, Nelson. How is it?"

"The Dwarf is rather cooperative. I can assure you with my name and experiences, he is not lying. But… we might need to pay some price for this." Nelson sighed.

"What do you mean? What kind of price?"

"There are two things actually… First, we need to go to the Undead Race and borrow their altar. The Dwarf said he could lend us something to smoothen the discussion with them. As for their price, I don't know. The second thing was about the wish of the dwarf. He refused to talk because he wanted to tell you about it, so I could only return to you."

Alex narrowed his eyes. "These weapons might be necessary for our battle against the Fire God Clan. As long as they are not asking for ridiculous prices, I think it's fine. Our original plan is to stay here until I reach the 5-Star Martial Monarch stage anyway."

"Understood. I shall lead the way." Nelson nodded.