The City of Galicano was built against the mountains, and for anyone, it was a formidable fortress; but for Malin, this damned place was the purgatory of all ironclad straight men—to peek inside a shop across the street, one had to climb nearly thirty steps before pushing the door open.
This city had a large population of Dwarves. In the last era, this region was once a Dwarven Kingdom, which later perished under the wave of Chaos, before the people reclaimed it.
When the Dwarves of that kingdom returned, they found that it had become a human realm. After negotiations, the Dwarves were granted the right to live in this city, and then, with the signing of the various civilization accords, Dwarves began to cohabit with humans in this region.
Malin was somewhat of a celebrity in the Dwarf circle—now the Carterburg Dwarven Great Workshop was a household name in the entire Western Human World, drawing a multitude of Dwarven artisans every day. Some came in admiration, diving into the craft to learn superior skills; others came with the goal to surpass the rivals who had bested them, diligently studying in the workshop.
The God of Dwarven Craftsmanship and their chief deity had more than once issued divine decrees recognizing the reputation and status of the Great Workshop within the Dwarf circle, and Malin had heard that the Deity of Craftsmanship had bestowed upon him the honor of being a Great Craftsman within the artisan circle—a recognition nearly at the limit of what the deity could confer.
So every time Malin entered a Dwarf shop, he would receive a warm welcome—unlike the closed-off nature of human world news, in circles like those of the Dwarven sub-race, word of Malin’s travel to the south had already spread widely.
Malin, too embarrassed to face the Dwarves’ welcome with a thick skin, often offered some pointers on their craftsmanship—most of these Dwarven shops specialized in various tools and weapons, with some armor shops as well.
This was Jessica’s favorite; unlike other girls who went into clothing stores, she would drag Malin over to have a look.
Malin was unsure whether this wolf girl was showing off or genuinely interested in seeing the equipment of different regional styles.
Malin’s advice wasn’t meticulous, often confined to trendy techniques in Carterburg, but the brilliance was that these little skills hadn’t spread outwards.
Malin shared them with the Dwarves, feeling that although they were a bit more sincere of heart, they didn’t have as many ulterior motives. Teaching them these skills was also to give those who bought their equipment a better chance of survival.
In the end, Jessica didn’t buy anything—after all, beside her stood the real owner of the Great Workshop, so with the Dwarves’ farewell, Malin and the girls gathered and began advancing toward the City Lord’s mansion—the lord of this region was still a member of the Moriti family, only this time, it wasn’t someone like Mr. Richie from the middle generation.
The master of this city was the eldest of the Moriti family, with a mixed heritage of Sun Elf and human, the legendary battle mage Domi "Greenleaf" Moriti.
Greenleaf is Elvish, and this legendary woman was an old lady. Her father was the only child of the Moriti family of that time with a Nine Heavens talent. The Moriti family conducted three bloodline verifications on this child to reaffirm that she indeed was a child of the Moriti lineage. The old family head decided to let her enter the Mage Tower, under the Tower Master of Farol’s central province.
Over the next thirty years, she climbed step by step to become a legend, and eventually took over the family leader’s staff from the old head.
In Farol, she was the first female family leader in history, which was met with much controversy.
Nonetheless, she and her father held the Moriti family together during the last Tide of the Dead—Galicano Basin Defense Area was the only defense area in the thirteen provinces of central Farol Principality that had not fallen; the basin protected one hundred and ten thousand people.
After the Tide retreated, she rejected all the surviving Earls’ requests from the North, turned away the guards who wanted her to become a Duke, and eventually reclaimed the only surviving daughter of the Farol Grand Duke from the Southern Nobles.
She supported this child until she came of age, until she chose a Prince from the Sidney royal family as a husband, until she was too old to walk, and finally passed on the royal family to her eldest son.
The Moriti family, known for their loyalty, was regarded by the Farolians as the flag of national defense.
Lady Domi welcomed Malin outside the main gate, which made Malin somewhat uneasy—no matter what, this was an extremely kind looking elder who was over a century old, and by any measure, deserved Malin’s respect.
"Lady, good afternoon, my trip to the south and to your city has been an intrusion," Malin said, smiling as he offered the Mage’s salutation—given the choice between a Mage’s and a Noble’s greeting, Malin would, without a doubt, choose the Mage’s greeting, which was the respect a young mage owed to an older senior.
Lady Domi smiled back with the Mage’s salute. Although her face showed signs of age, her movement and the liveliness in her eyes did not reflect the expected frailty and listlessness of an old person: "Malin, I have heard your story. Before I met you, I thought it was simply a way for the Mowish family to pave the way for you."
Malin felt slightly embarrassed—the legendary mage had enough power to see through the strength of Malin’s soul. From the outside, Malin appeared to be just a kid in his teens, but if a legend were to assess Malin’s strength... through Lady Anna’s eyes, Malin’s soul manifested as a child sitting on a magnificent throne, smiling without wearing a crown. Instead, crowns were scattered on the ground at his feet.