76 The dwarves

"Did I harass Völsung so much that he sent over some stranger just to make me shut up?"

'It's me Aldi.'

"??????"

'Why are you so surprised?'

"You are a human!"

'Well observed but no. I am only a tree in humanoid form covered up by some transformation magic to make it look more realistic.'

To support my words, I released the transformation for a second before reapplying it. Seeing my more tree-like form somehow calmed Aldi down a great deal.

"Well then, it is nice to meet you again after so many years. I'd like you to meet Sindri, the greatest dwarven smith."

From behind Aldi, a stout dwarf wearing shiny blue armor stepped out and shook my hand. Common people would perhaps say that he had a strong grip but to me, it felt like he barely exerted any force. Since I wasn't sure if I could control my strength, I opted for using as little strength as possible. Which the dwarf of course noticed immediately.

"Your handshake doesn't seem very enthusiastic. Do you dislike dwarves?"

Like all dwarves, he seemed to be awfully straight forward.

'That is not the case. I'm not yet accustomed to this body and feared to use too much force.'

"Do you take us dwarves to be weak?!"

He was a dwarf so talking wouldn't solve this problem. I grew a fist-sized sphere of heavenly steel.

'I trust you are aware of the properties of heavenly steel?'

"Of course! That's what I am here for."

'Then watch closely. This is what I meant with I can't fully control my force.'

I wrapped my hand around the sphere and applied some force. Under the shocked gazes of Aldi and Sindri, the sphere was quickly deformed as my fingers sunk into the steel. Opening my hand, I dropped the recognizably deformed sphere.

"What splendid strength! Compared to you, we dwarves can truly be called weak."

And that was how one resolved a misunderstanding with dwarves. Others may feel insulted but most dwarves preferred a painfully open style of conversation where both parties just said whatever came to mind.

'Now then, you said you were here for the heavenly steel?'

"Indeed, I took a look at Aldi's gauntlet and found it wasn't only incredibly durable but also heat, corrosion, and magic resistant. What is it even made of?"

'Originally, using an innate understanding of light or similar attributes to create a certain pattern of magic. Through that, a kind of material is created that resembles what we call a metal, just that its properties are vastly superior to most natural metals.'

"How can you divulge such precious information so openly! King Sigmund has this innate understanding of light you are talking about, couldn't he too make it then?"

'He doesn't know the pattern so he can't make it. I said nothing about the layering and pattern structure and that's the knowledge that is precious.'

"Then how do you know it, who taught you?"

'Aldi brought me a piece of it and I analyzed it. And no, others can't do that, it's a tree thing. But anyway, you can't have come here just to ask me that.'

"I have attempted to make some changes to Aldi's gauntlets but I couldn't bend the metal in any way. Is there a way to shape it? Also, can I have more of it?"

'Well, you can melt it down if you have a strong enough flame. Something on the level of dragon fire or preferably even stronger. If you want to trade for some, that can also be arranged but only if you have something that catches my interest.'

"Dragon flame or stronger? That's impossible."

'No one ever said it was going to be easy. If you want I can help you look for one once I travel to the dwarven lands.'

"That would be great! Once you arrive in Nidavellir, ask for Brokk and Sindri's forge and you'll have no trouble finding us."

Having said his piece, Sindri walked past me and left the building.

'Did he just leave?'

"That's just how he is. The average dwarven lifespan is three hundred years. He will just wait for you to come to visit him and if you don't show up within ten years, he will either have forgotten you or come harass you."