Mage Legend
Chapter 43: Episode 3: The Elder_3

Langda visibly relaxed; he had thought the mage might make some harsh demands. The value of this Mithril could rival the total worth of some small southern countries, so using it merely to exchange for residency was a fantastic bargain. Moreover, the old dwarf saw the young man before him and felt he was a nice guy, with a gentle temperament and polite manner towards others. Most importantly, this mage should possess extraordinary abilities. Allowing him to stay in Dwarf City could greatly increase the knowledge level here. Why not?

If a human heard such a good exchange offer, they would surely agree readily. Who wouldn’t want an enormous bargain! But the culture of dwarves has long ingrained in them the habit of fair trade and equivalent exchange. Even if the other party willingly handled these Mithril ores almost as a gift, the dwarves still felt they would be accepting it without merit.

What could they use to compensate this mage? Langda frowned and began counting the treasures of the Spider Cave in his mind, one by one. He first thought of various Magic Scrolls, but then immediately realized that these items might be precious to dwarves or some magic-weak races, but for Lynch from the Mage Association, they probably weren’t anything special and wouldn’t be presentable. What about the dwarves’ amazing inventions? Langda thought for a moment but shook his head. Although many inventions here had very good concepts, they always came with various minor faults, which made them incredibly unstable. The young man had already lost an arm, which was tragic enough. If any of these treasured items accidentally malfunctioned and injured the mage, it would be too impolite.

"That’s right, the arm!" Langda thought of Lynch’s severed arm and jumped up from his chair with an enlightened expression.

The other members of the elder council were also frowning, pondering what to give this mage as a reward. Hearing Langda’s words, they were all startled. They all stared at the old man who had jumped onto the chair.

"I thought of it, didn’t we have a metal arm from way back?" Langda said, looking at the others’ confused faces, "Don’t you know? The metal arm was unearthed during the establishment of this city."

The others shook their heads with an expression of "don’t ask me, I know nothing."

Langda coughed twice, "When our ancestors established this city, they unearthed some very strange fragments. Among these mysterious objects was a large arm cast in Refined Gold—for us, it’s quite large, but it’s actually similar in size to a human arm—a complete left arm with some Magic Runes. We couldn’t decipher the text on it, so we left it alone. Later, that arm was tossed into some corner of the artifact warehouse, and no one has cared about it since. I came across this record 2-3 years ago while going through some documents. I think turning that arm into a prosthetic might still be ok for you. As you know, we really don’t have anything that can match the value of the precious metals you’ve given us. This arm made of Refined Gold is at least somewhat unique. You must accept this gift."

Lynch thought about it, and it didn’t matter anyway; it was just attaching a fake arm. Moreover, if he refused their goodwill, the dwarves would feel embarrassed accepting the Mithril.

"Thank you all. I accept your gift," the mage said.

The dwarf elders noticeably sighed in relief.

"That’s settled then," Langda said, "I’ll immediately find someone to bring that thing out from the artifact warehouse. Also, today I’ll send for the best priest here; his Healing Magic will make the arm installation process a bit easier. And also, we can invite the old blacksmith ’Mallet’, who lives on the bottom platform, to come and properly refine that arm, so the metal hand can fit better. Oh yes, I remember old ’Woodblock’ has a few good mechanical attachments, let’s get one for him. They only decorate the wall at his place anyway. Oh yes, and also..."

Faced with the dwarves’ enthusiasm, Lynch could only smile helplessly and gratefully.