Reyn's thoughts swirled around affinity element information like a whirlwind.
All affinity elements belonged to the "unusual abilities" class and were at least rare level. For example, "Wind Affinity" was a rare element.
Unusual ability elements had a feature: they couldn't be enhanced by fusing identical elements like physical elements, or raised in rank by infusing spiritual power like secret elements.
Reyn had two such elements: "Metal Touch" and "Will of Truth."
His other elements had progress scales that could be filled with energy for enhancement, but these two had remained unchanged since acquisition.
Unusual ability elements could only evolve during the soul transformation ritual.
This evolution wasn't a level-up but a qualitative change.
For example, a common element could become rare, and rare could become superior. But the chance was extremely low; most Superhumans never encountered it in their lifetime.
Nevertheless, over thousands of years of research, Superhumans had discovered properties of unusual ability elements and learned to utilize them.
If an element couldn't be enhanced, then fuse with multiple identical ones.
For example, "Fire Affinity." If a Superhuman had two, they wouldn't merge into one stronger element like physical ones but remain two separate elements acting simultaneously.
Each time fire magic was used, both affinity elements would activate.
One "Fire Affinity" gave initial elemental closeness, two—medium, three—high.
Affinity above high level, which existed before Superhumans, other races called super-high affinity. Some gifted individuals, like certain high elves, were born with it and were innate mages.
In the previous era, such geniuses were also born among humans, but after the Dark Lord's curse, they nearly vanished.
Now the only way to gain super-high affinity was to fuse with a superior element.
And superior affinity elements were typically obtained precisely through evolution during soul transformation.
The more identical unusual ability elements a Superhuman had before the ritual (e.g., two or three "Fire Affinities"), the higher the evolution chance.
Many unusual ability elements had predetermined development paths.
"Fire Affinity" evolved into the superior element "Blazing Furnace." If another evolution occurred, the famous legendary element "Crown of the Fire Demon" appeared!
Fire Affinity, Blazing Furnace, Crown of the Fire Demon.
These three elements formed a single series. Each evolutionary step greatly increased fire elemental affinity, elevating fire spell power to unimaginable levels.
A similar sequence existed for the earth element: "Earth Source," "Earth Pulsation," and "Heart of the Earth."
However, in this series, only the first element, "Earth Source," granted earth affinity. The next two no longer increased it.
Reyn's "Will of Truth" was also part of such a series.
"Unyielding Will" evolved into "Iron Will," which in turn became "Will of Truth."
Reyn lacked the first two elements; he had directly acquired the highest-level one, which included the previous abilities.
"Lightning Affinity" was a rare element, the first in its series.
The next evolutionary step was the "Lightning Form" element.
"Lightning Form" was a superior element, extremely rare even among superiors. The "Book of a Thousand Souls" mentioned it occurred very infrequently.
Elementalists and magic swordsmen—for developing these two Superhuman professions, fusion with various affinity elements was required.
Fire elementalists or gale wind magic swordsmen were common, but lightning elementalists, let alone thunder magic swordsmen, were a great rarity. There might be only a few in the entire Empire.
The reason lay in the rarity of the "Lightning Affinity" element itself.
Even fusing with one was lucky; finding a second for an ordinary Superhuman was incredibly difficult.
And without two or three "Lightning Affinities," how could one hope to evolve into "Lightning Form"?
As for the third element in this series, legendary-level lightning affinity, there were no records even in the "Book of a Thousand Souls." It was unknown if it existed at all.
Reyn shook his head inwardly.
The conditions for lifting the hammer were too harsh.
Were superior elements that easy to obtain?
Anyone acquiring a superior element first thought of fusing with it. Only if it didn't suit them at all would they sell or auction it. Such opportunities were extremely rare.
Reyn couldn't even imagine the price of "Lightning Form," but he knew it was beyond his means.
By comparison, fusing multiple "Lightning Affinities" and attempting evolution seemed more realistic, but still incredibly difficult. It required vast effort and resources, unlikely to be achieved quickly.
Moreover, even three "Lightning Affinities" didn't guarantee evolution during soul transformation.
Perhaps four or five were needed for certainty.
But pursuing this path would severely limit future magic soul fusions. For "Lightning Affinity," many other, possibly stronger and more useful souls would have to be forsaken.
Of course, if he could lift Mjolnir and claim this legendary weapon, such sacrifices would be justified.
But even with "Lightning Form," one more problem remained.
Reyn looked hopefully at Zoltan:
"What about the hammer's runic spell?"
"I don't know," Zoltan spread his hands. "The Ironbeard Clan knew best about the spell. But they retreated to the World Mountains and, lacking their own fortress, were forced to join the Copper Ring Clan in the Lava Fortress. Over time, they gradually faded away.
"Now, perhaps only a few dozen Ironbeard Clan dwarves remain in the Lava Fortress. No trace of their former glory."
Sadness flickered in Zoltan's eyes. He patted the ancient book at his belt.
"Otherwise, they wouldn't have sold me this book."
"Nothing about the spell in the book?" Roger asked curiously.
"I've leafed through it hundreds of times. No mentions of the spell, or I would have noticed long ago," Zoltan stated confidently.
Reyn nodded, believing the dwarf.
He surmised the Ironbeard Clan hadn't recorded the spell and likely hadn't passed it to outsiders. It was a clan relic; they'd surely guard such a secret.
But how did Emperor Elfa learn the runic spell?
Elfa claimed Mjolnir a thousand years after the Ironbeard dwarves left. At the time, he was an unknown youth. He couldn't have gone to the Lava Fortress to question the dwarves.
And the Ironbeard dwarves had no reason to tell Elfa the spell.
By then, the clan had declined, and the spell itself might have been lost.
And the usurper Walden, living even later, another thousand years on? How did he learn it?
Historically, Walden always called himself heir to Emperor Elfa, but not by blood or imperial family member. The spell unlikely passed from Elfa to him.
Whether Elfa passed the runic spell to anyone was also unknown.
Reyn quickly pieced facts together and reached a conclusion.
Different people from different eras, with great time gaps, lifted the hammer. This meant the spell wasn't passed orally but recorded somewhere.
Obviously, the runic spell was hidden here, in this treasury!
Reyn shared his deductions. Zoltan and Roger's eyes lit up—the assumption sounded very logical.
"Let's search quickly!"
Zoltan jumped down from the anvil and began inspecting the treasury.
Roger started searching too. His cat-like sharp vision scrutinized the wall bas-reliefs, his pupils contracting and dilating.
For a while, the search yielded no results.
Zoltan focused on the runic circle but found no useful clues.
Reyn's gaze returned to the hammer. After hesitating seconds, he noticed the hammer's handle pointed precisely at one bas-relief.
He traced the direction with his eyes.
The bas-relief showed a tall, majestic dwarven god in battle armor. He stood amid a huge round runic circle with an anvil at center. Under blows of his hammer, an unusual war hammer took shape.
Reyn immediately recognized the scene—the bas-relief depicted this very treasury!
It was the legend of Moradin forging Mjolnir!
His eyes, like a powerful microscope, scanned the bas-relief inch by inch, missing no detail.
And then he spotted it: on the depicted hammer's handle was engraved a chain of tiny symbols.
They were dwarven numerals, just five.
Reyn recognized them. He approached the pedestal, gripped Mjolnir's handle again, and pronounced them clearly.
But nothing happened.
Zoltan and Roger watched him puzzled.
"Reyn?" the dwarf asked questioningly.
Reyn had to explain. His companions first rejoiced, but then, like him, pondered, trying to unravel the mystery of these five numerals.
"Maybe the order's wrong?" Roger tried reading them backward, but it didn't help.
Reyn's gaze slid over the bas-reliefs and stopped at the stele with text. Sudden insight struck.
These five numerals weren't the spell itself but a simple cipher.
And the cipher key was on the stele!
He mentally arranged the numerals in ascending order and found the corresponding five dwarven runes on the stele. These five runes didn't form a meaningful word together; each was monosyllabic, and he knew how to pronounce them.
Taking a deep breath, Reyn gripped the hammer's handle again and pronounced loudly:
"Gai! Er! Ma! La! Zi!"
As the last sounds faded, Reyn felt a slight vibration from the hammer.
"The spell is correct!"
Reyn exulted. Zoltan and Roger stared wide-eyed.
In the next instant, runes on the hammer began to flicker—it activated. Thin lightning snaked over the head, ran down the handle, and touched Reyn's hands.
"Uh!"
Reyn groaned hoarsely. His whole body went numb, as if he'd grabbed a high-voltage wire. Pain pierced every cell.
In intensity, this pain rivaled the soul transformation ritual. He could endure it for now. Reyn tried lifting the hammer but found the electric discharge made applying force difficult.
"Aaaaa..." he roared, desperately trying to lift it.
Before Roger and Zoltan's eyes, the hammer finally budged, slowly lifting from the pedestal depression, inch by inch upward.
The higher the hammer rose, the stronger the lightning grew.
Finger-thick golden discharges shot from the hammer, flowing into Reyn's body through his hands. The air smelled of burning.
Reyn had long maxed "Steel Body" and buffed himself with "Dragon Power" to boost magic resistance and reduce shock damage.
His face paled, veins bulged on neck and arms, vessels showed under skin.
When the hammer rose half a meter, terrifying electric arcs nearly enveloped the anvil. The treasury shook; the giant runic circle activated fully, resisting Reyn.
Roger and Zoltan retreated several meters.
The pain became unbearable. Reyn's clothes above the waist began smoldering. "Steel Body" protection was strong, granting some magic resistance, but under the lightning assault, it gradually failed.
He unhesitatingly activated the music player on his phone.
The pain quickly subsided, becoming almost imperceptible.
The hammer rose higher but grew heavier. Reyn gritted his teeth, refusing to yield. He wanted to claim this legendary weapon without "Lightning Form"!
Zoltan and Roger had retreated beyond the runic circle.
Horror froze in their eyes. Reyn's body was nearly hidden by a dense shroud of electric discharges. Mjolnir, held high overhead, emitted blinding golden radiance. Reyn stood as if holding a small sun impossible to behold.
Several minutes later.
Crack!
A quiet snap. A patch of skin on Reyn's arm suddenly burst.
"Dragon Power" expired; magic resistance dropped. An electric arc struck his arm directly. Skin blackened instantly and turned to ash.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Holding the hammer, Reyn couldn't reapply "Dragon Power." More body areas charred from shocks; blood oozed from wounds.
Zoltan shouted loudly:
"Reyn, drop the hammer! Without 'Lightning Form,' you can't endure!"
Roger shook his head too, urging retreat.
Reyn's gaze remained firm. Phone battery drained rapidly, going to wound recovery.
But he lacked regeneration elements. Simple energy repair was far less effective than lightning damage. Wounds multiplied; soon he was a bloodied figure—terrifying sight.
Yet Reyn felt no pain. His face stayed calm, not even frowning.
In truth, this was his weakness. If he didn't release the hammer, lightning would burn him to cinders, to death.
Holding on minutes more, Reyn's body suddenly swayed.
Sign of severe injury.
Though he straightened and regained balance, arm strength involuntarily weakened. He could no longer hold the heavy hammer.
Boom!
Mjolnir crashed back into the anvil depression.