The Paladin in the Abyss

"Of course."

Seconds later, the barmaid pushed a heavy iron cup towards Lancelot. The cup was filled with clear drinking water, topped with ice cubes the size of fingernails. Lancelot lifted the cup and took a small sip, the cool sensation making the Human Knight feel very comfortable.

"Thank you." Lancelot nodded his thanks, then walked over to Bruto, holding the cup. He first tried to wake the Dwarf, then pushed him, but Bruto remained sound asleep.

"You'll back me up on this, won't you? I've already tried the normal ways." Lancelot greeted Little Isa with a nod, who merely covered her mouth to stifle a giggle, signaling him to hurry up and get on with it.

With the little girl's approval, Lancelot reached out with the cup and poured the cool water down the nape of Bruto's neck. At first, the Dwarf showed no reaction, but when an ice cube from the cup slid onto his neck, Bruto finally woke up with a start.

"Waaaah!" The Dwarf jumped up from the sofa, "Petrify Lizard! There's a Petrified Lizard licking me!"

Soon, the Dwarf stopped his clamoring, realizing his life wasn't in danger. He found his shirt sopping wet, while Lancelot and Little Isa stood before him with a very suspicious cup.

"If you hadn't woken up after all the water ran out, I would have had to use the cup itself," Lancelot said to Bruto, showing him the heavy iron cup, "When we're out adventuring in the wilds, it's not nearly this hard to get you up."

"Just a moment, nature's call." The Dwarf scurried to the restroom, where loud and angry splashing sounds could be heard. The duration of the noise was astonishing, and just as Lancelot was about to lose his patience, the Dwarf staggered out and threw himself back on the sofa.

"By Moradin's beard, how much did I drink last night..." Bruto pressed his right hand to his face, his thumb and index finger vigorously rubbing his temples to dispel the headache from the hangover, "Couldn't you have used a gentler way to wake me?"

"Little Isa can testify, I tried all the conventional methods just now," Lancelot said, placing a hand on Bruto's shoulder and channelling a stream of True Yuan into the Dwarf, "How's that, feeling any better?"

"What?" The Dwarf blinked in confusion, then suddenly sat bolt upright, "Whoa! Brother, you're amazing! But why are you guys here? Is there a new adventure? I'll go get my gear ready..."

"Are you that eager to go out again?" Lancelot looked at the Dwarf in surprise, "I thought you'd want to stay in Twin Bridges Town for a few more days."

"I've already visited my old man and bragged about my adventures to my kin. A month of doing nothing in Androlina almost rusted my hammer," Bruto shrugged, "But I guess you're not in a hurry to leave, right? How was your date with Tijana last night?"

"It was intense; it nearly exhausted her." Seeing Bruto's eyes widen with excitement, Lancelot added with a laugh: "We had a good fight at the training grounds, and the results were...inspiring. Anyway, that's not why I'm here. I came to ask you to make something..."

Lancelot took a piece of parchment out of his bag, on which was a sketch he had drawn based on the description from the small bamboo slip. Although Bruto was just a half-baked blacksmith apprentice, he still had no problem understanding Lancelot's needs.

"So, what you're saying is that this weird thing called a 'ding' is actually just an alchemical crucible, right?" Bruto stroked his beard, "Such a thing needs to withstand high temperatures, be able to heat evenly, plus not release any strange elemental powers... Do you have any other special requirements?"

"No, that's it," Lancelot shook his head, "but it absolutely must withstand extremely high temperatures…"

"Then I'll make it perfect for you in one go, cast in mithril, how about that?" the dwarf rubbed his hands together excitedly, "I know you can afford it, boss..."

"Mithril?" Lancelot became involuntarily cautious, "How much would that cost?"

"Hmm... about twenty thousand Gold Coins," Bruto shrugged, "Delg specializes in making these 'tools', and I guarantee he'll do it fast and well. You remember him, right? The one who dyed his beard red... you were with us when we were rescued from those demon foremen."

"Twenty thousand Gold Coins is a bit... expensive," Lancelot scratched his head, "Thinking about it, maybe there's no need to go for something that good from the start. Are there other options?"

"The cheapest is iron, and I can make it for you, just fifty Gold Coins," Bruto glanced at him sideways, "How about it?"

"...Don't joke."

"I'm serious, although my dad thinks I'm good for nothing, making a pot shouldn't be a big problem," the dwarf shrugged his shoulders, "If you find a proper coppersmith, it'll probably cost about five hundred Gold Coins. You can also make one entirely of steel, which won't be much more expensive than copper, but it will take a little longer. If you want something more extravagant, for just two thousand Gold Coins I can make you one of pure gold, but that thing can't withstand high temperatures. Although I like the idea, I wouldn't recommend you do that."

"Just make it out of steel," Lancelot said with a grimace, "make it sturdy, the kind that can be used as a weapon if necessary..."

"You can count on that, every piece of dwarven craftsmanship has that functionality," Bruto rolled up the parchment Lancelot had spread on the table, "Come with me, Uncle Delg will be very happy to repay your lifesaving favor, I believe he'll at least give you a 5% discount..."

By noon, Lancelot had received his 'ding'. This three-legged steel artifact stood a foot high on the ground, with a central spherical container that could hold about a gallon and a half of liquid, two sturdy handles made this forty-pound metal piece a potentially lethal weapon when necessary. For practicality, Lancelot did not request any polishing, engraving, or other processing on the surface, but simply smoothed out any sharp edges that could cut fingers.

After returning to Hagrid Manor, Lancelot immediately wanted to try out his new toy. He converted an underground interrogation room into his artifact refining chamber, this stone chamber allowed him to refine with little chance of accidental disturbance, and it also greatly reduced the risk of fire.

As an introduction to formations, the first thing he had to master was the refining of 'array flags'. an array flag itself was just a palm-sized leather banner, he needed to refine the collected materials into a special 'ink', and then use this ink infused with the Power of the Five Elements to write down the talisman on the flag surface. If all went well, an array flag that could be used to set up an Array would be considered complete.