In order to support the Rune Armor project, Rocky had to bring in Aileen and make so adjustnts to the original arrangents.
As one of Rocky's confidantes, Aileen was already aware of the existence of runes, so Rocky relayed Orton's plan to her directly. Although Aileen might not be a researcher, she was in charge of finances, and the funding for Orton's research had to be allocated by her. It was imperative that she knew about this matter.
In response to this, Aileen offered Rocky her utmost support. Not only did she not hinder him in any way, but she also took the initiative to help plan for him and then got to work imdiately.
First, they contacted the Ruby Chamber of Comrce and several other chambers of comrce with whom they had conducted transactions in Lingyu City, settling all paynts from the previous dealings. This provided Rocky with over a million Gold Coins in cash.
With this cash in hand, Aileen first deducted five hundred thousand for a protection fee and other expenses, which would cover approximately three months; the remaining half a million was left entirely to Rocky for funding Orton's research.
After that, Aileen set off for Eternal City and began moving between the various chambers of comrce, intending to sell off all the remaining Demon Materials. Once this inventory was sold, they could at least make another four to five hundred thousand Gold Coins. In this way, the one million Gold Coins that Orton requested would be secured, and at the sa ti, the expenses for the next three months in Thunderhawk City would also be accounted for.
anwhile, as all this was happening, those old friends ntioned by Orton were arriving one after another!
On this day, Thunderhawk City saw the rare arrival of a passenger ship.
Passenger ships are the most basic ans of transport between Sky Cities, different from rchant ships and warships. They are specifically designed to transport people. Smaller passenger ships can ferry a few hundred people, while larger ones can carry thousands. To draw a comparison, passenger ships are sowhat akin to cruise liners.
The passenger ship that arrived in Thunderhawk City was a large one capable of carrying over a thousand people. However, when this huge vessel slowly landed at the Skyport, only one person disembarked, and he was a Dwarf.
"What kind of lousy place is this?"
The short Dwarf, slightly over one ter tall with whiskers on his cheeks, stepped off the ship, looked around, and then grumbled his dissatisfaction.
"Where's Orton? That fellow Orton, why didn't he co to greet himself?"
After looking around and not finding Orton, the little Dwarf casually called over a Guard and asked with a huff.
"Excuse ... are you Master Hamrfire?"
The person he had casually stopped was none other than Rocky, who had been waiting at the Skyport for quite so ti. So upon being approached by the Dwarf, Rocky imdiately asked.
"That's , what's up?"
Seemingly surprised that Rocky knew his na, the Dwarf, just over one ter tall, tilted his head back and squinted his eyes—small as soybeans—to take a good look at him.
"Master Hamrfire, I am a student of Orton's and also the Lord of Sky City. My teacher is currently engaged in research, so he sent to pick you up."
Facing the dwarf in front of him, Rocky was extrely respectful and courteous, even a bit nervous!
One should not underestimate this dwarf based on his stature, for the dwarf before you is a master smith of the Void Magic Armor!
As a dwarf, Hamrfire was over fifty years old this year, but according to traditional dwarf concepts, a hundred and fifty years was rely the age of maturity. So, despite Hamrfire looking like a sturdy old man, he was quite young in reality.
And as dwarves, this race has an inherent intense talent and interest for smithing, a trait that has taken root deeply in their genes. During the Land Era, the dwarf race produced many master crafters of mana equipnt. With the advent of the Sky Era and the ergence of Void Magic Armor, which took over as the mainstream while the traditional mana equipnt faded into the background, this change had no effect on the dwarves, who continued to have masters in the crafting of Void Magic Armor.
Hamrfire was such a master.
At over a hundred and fifty years old, not only had Hamrfire witnessed the birth of the Void Magic Armor, he had also personally experienced its developnt over the decades. During these long years, Hamrfire had gradually beco one of the most recognized masters in the field.
His achievents in the domain of Void Magic Armor were second to none compared to Orton in the field of magic energy, even surpassing him by a notable margin. Among the many models of the fourth-generation Void Magic Armor, one of the armors bore Hamrfire's na, known as the illustrious Hamrfire Armor!
Since the fifth-generation armors had been out for so ti, people had already ford definitive opinions about the nurous fourth-generation armors, even including various rankings. In all these diverse, authorship varied, and even purpose varied rankings, the Hamrfire Armor, developed under Hamrfire's personal direction, always ranked first!
The Hamrfire Armor was hailed as the most perfect fourth-generation armor, without parallel!
This armor, from its initial concept, to later design, and then to actual developnt, was all led by Hamrfire! Just this alone is enough to prove his formidable strength in the domain of armor crafting.
Unfortunately, as the Void Magic Armor reached its fifth generation, Hamrfire, the master who created the most perfect fourth-generation armor, suddenly vanished. He had also led the developnt of a few fifth-generation armors, but only one was a success, and the rest ended in failure. Even the successful fifth-generation armor did not cause much of a stir, causing Hamrfire's na to gradually fade from people's sight over the years.
Perhaps it was due to nearly identical experiences, or perhaps their areas of expertise greatly aligned, or even possible similarities in temperant, that Hamrfire and Orton beca good friends. Therefore, when Orton was preparing to start the Rune Armor project, the first person he thought of was Hamrfire and he was the first one he contacted.
However, Orton did not share many details with Hamrfire, only asking him to co to Thunderhawk City to participate in his project. That's why, after arriving, Hamrfire was so eager to et Orton.
And when Hamrfire heard that Orton did not co to et him in person and had sent Rocky instead, his wrinkled face showed an expression of discontent.
"Hmph! That old man! Let's see how I'll deal with him!"
Having said that, Hamrfire ignored Rocky and went straight toward the carriage parked not far away...
Three days after Hamrfire arrived in Thunderhawk City, still at the skyport, a passenger ship arrived, carrying a human mage who was of a similar age to Orton or, rather, even much older than Orton.
This ti, it was not only Rocky waiting to greet them. Orton also ca in person, even Hamrfire ca himself, and as soon as he saw the other party disembark, Orton hurriedly approached.
Without his usual defiant deanor, Orton respectfully bowed his head upon reaching the other person, "Senior Brother."
"Master Aniye."
Just like Orton, Hamrfire also respectfully bowed his head to the human mage and called out, "Master."
The human mage in front of them, nad Aniye, was also a master-level figure in the Magic Energy Domain. Moreover, he was Orton's senior brother.
Many people hadn't heard of Aniye's na because he was not as famous as Orton and Hamrfire, but in the academic world, his na was known to all. There was a simple reason for this: in his youth, Aniye had participated in the developnt of Sky City alongside his teacher!
Just this achievent alone was enough to immortalize him in the history books.
Three days after Aniye's arrival, the last of Orton's old friends, whom he had summoned, also arrived, but this last friend of Orton was indeed a lady.
Actually, to call her a lady wasn't quite right, for Orton was already over eighty years old this year. Had it not been for his breakthrough in magic power to the level of an archmage, which kept him fairly robust, he would have been an old man in his twilight years. And this female friend he had invited, maybe she wasn't as old as him, but she was in her sixties or seventies, so instead of calling her a lady, it would be more accurate to say she was an old woman.
However, when Rocky followed Orton and the others to et this old woman at the Skyport, he was startled, for she looked to be only in her forties and not at all like an old woman.
"You rascal, how could you also bring your old fla here!"
Standing next to Orton, Hamrfire gave Orton a hard kick upon seeing who the last person was and mockingly said.
"Shut up."
After glaring fiercely at Hamrfire, Orton took a deep breath and straightened his clothes, before finally stepping forward toward the person.
"Pelaya, it's been a long ti."
Bringing Rocky to the person, Orton tried to show a smile that was not too awkward.
"Indeed, how co you seem to be getting older?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Pelaya, who had just co down from the ship, raised an eyebrow at him and then spoke.
As an expert in the mana frawork field, don't let Pelaya's real age fool you; she may look to be in her forties, possibly due to so special thod, so when she raised her brow at Orton, she still had the charm of her youth, and Orton's face instantly reddened.
This scene left Rocky stunned; he had never seen Orton blush like that before.
"Co on, tell what you've summoned here for this ti, acting all mysterious."
Pelaya imdiately asked with a laugh, having made Orton's face turn red with just a flick of her curved eyebrows.
"Let's talk about it at the research institute; I have sothing important to show you."
Before this, although Hamrfire and Aniye had arrived much earlier, Orton had only settled them in at Rocky's City Lord's Mansion and hadn't said much to them, clearly waiting for everyone to arrive before explaining in detail.
Now that Pelaya had arrived, all the old friends Orton had gathered were finally assembled. Although counting Orton himself there were only four people, each one of them was a master in their own domain, each capable of leading an entire project on their own. Yet, now, they had been convened together!
Honestly, if this news were to leak out, one might not dare to say much else, but at the very least, it would cause a sensation in the academic world, because any project that required the participation of so many masters was without exception one of the world's most cutting-edge projects!
And now that everyone had arrived, they took a carriage from the Skyport, not going to the City Lord's Mansion but directly to Orton's research institute.
"Orton, what exactly are you up to? It's been so many days, and you haven't said anything."
Upon arriving at the research institute and going to Orton's lab together, Hamrfire complained dissatisfiedly. He had been the first to arrive in Thunderhawk City, but it had almost been a week, and Orton still hadn't said anything to him. This secretive behavior didn't sit well with the straightforward Dwarf.
Not just Hamrfire, even Aniye and the newly arrived Pelaya were also very curious, as their relationship with Orton was surely closer, yet they too were unaware of why Orton had summoned them.
However, faced with Hamrfire's questioning and the curiosity of Aniye and Pelaya, Orton rely smiled slightly, offering no explanation or further words, only effortlessly drawing a Mana Rune in front of everyone with his magic power!
"This...!"
The mont the Mana Rune was drawn, Aniye stood up from his seat, followed by both Pelaya and Hamrfire doing the sa.
"This, what kind of Rune is this! It can actually store magic energy!"
PS: The cross-era developnt of Rune Armor is about to begin, but not only does it need the support of gold coins, it also needs your recomndation support! So please, recomnd it!
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