"I've prepared two full barrels of asphalt. These small rock golems will fall to the ground when they encounter asphalt and won't be able to get up. We miners have special boots that allow us to walk normally in asphalt. Cough, cough! So... I'll prepare a set of miner's clothes for you. We can take that Synthesize Crystal during that time. Cough, cough! How about it? It's not difficult at all, right! We just need to avoid being discovered by other miners!" Slaut replied somewhat wearily.
Durin fell silent.
"Sir? What do you think, sir?" Slaut looked at Durin with expectant eyes.
Durin could only let out a long sigh and nodded, "Alright, I hope you're not lying to me."
Since the other party was already prepared, Durin decided to give it a try for the extra two gold cogwheel and the debt commission.
Slaut immediately rejoiced, a joyful smile appearing on his wrinkled face: "Thank you! Sir, you are truly a good person! May I ask your name?"
"Durin."
"Thank you again, Mr. Durin! Thank you for your understanding!"
[Slaut's favorability towards you +8, Charm +1, current proficiency: 1/25]
[Charm: Your appearance and temperament are enhanced, making it easier for others to like you]
When he saw these two lines of text, Durin was stunned. This was the first time he had seen information about Charm proficiency increasing. From a literal perspective, as long as others' favorability towards him significantly increased, his Charm proficiency would also increase.
But didn't this mean that in the half a year he had been in Zaun, this was the first time someone had significantly increased their favorability towards him?
Durin was somewhat incredulous, but upon closer thought, in his eight months in Zaun, aside from initially helping others, after being repeatedly scammed, he had never meddled in others' affairs again, let alone performed any acts of kindness to help others.
It seemed that to increase Charm proficiency, he could only do more good deeds, help others, and gain a significant increase in favorability.
But doing good deeds in Zaun, where thieves, robbers, swindlers, madmen, and eccentrics ran rampant...
Durin subconsciously shook his head, left the apartment building, and headed for the public elevator.
It was almost noon, and he had to go to Kreslin's place to clean up in advance.
The elevator car was almost bursting, and the attendant blew his whistle until his throat was hoarse before the door finally locked. The pressure winches began to release the chains on the car, and it started to descend.
Durin found a seat on the lower level of the car and looked out at the continuously sinking scenery through the dark green window.
The air began to turn murky. The elevator car had already passed the Entresol Level, and Durin could already smell the Chem-Baron fumes, his nostrils starting to sting faintly.
After leaving the Entresol Level, the light became very poor.
The Hextech streetlights grew sparser, looking like constantly soaring fireflies. The light emitted by the elevator itself could illuminate the area around the car, but it was hard to say how effective it was.
The lights flickered on and off.
Durin walked to the window, peering out through the green glass along the slide.
After a moment, the lights returned to normal, illuminating the shaft outside and allowing him to clearly see the graffiti covering every inch of the walls.
"End of the line," the attendant said calmly.
The public elevator came to a halt with a groan of steel.
The iron gate opened, and Durin looked out to see an abandoned platform, with the light of the only Chem-Baron streetlight flickering at the far end.
He stepped onto the platform, and the door behind him closed quickly; when he looked back, the carriage was already ascending.
Soon, it too became a firefly, flying up towards the rift.
Silence does not exist in Zaun, including the Undercity.
Durin could already hear corroded pipes hissing steam and the low hum from distant factories and scrapyards.
He quickened his pace, heading towards the building at 753 Third Avenue.
Upon arriving at the house where he worked, Durin removed his mask, and he had to admit, the air here was very relaxing, free from any haze.
The male servant, dressed in a long grey linen robe, nodded slightly in greeting when he saw Durin and said, "Want to grab a drink after work today?"
"Of course, no problem."
Durin readily agreed.
Then, he entered the house and began cleaning as usual, waiting for Mage Kreslin to arrive.
Soon after, Kreslin walked in, dressed in a grey robe, disheveled, clutching a piece of paper in his hand, his gaze fixed on it, as if something had deeply captivated his attention.
"Mage Kreslin!"
Durin respectfully called out.
"Mm."
Kreslin nodded, ignoring Durin, and sat down on his own, continuing to study the pattern on the paper, which had many annotated texts, with a special symbol at its center.
"What is this?"
Durin looked curious.
"Runes!"
Kreslin uttered two words faintly, his clear black-and-white eyes taking in the special symbol, magic reconstructing it countless times in his mind.
He still couldn't precisely understand the meaning of this rune, but as long as he perfectly recorded it, he would decipher it eventually.
Or perhaps, this rune was the key to unlocking a new door in his life.
"Magic is always amazing."
Durin praised from the bottom of his heart.
"I obtained this from Shurima, and it is precisely because of this that I had the privilege of discussing the mysteries of runes with a great mage.
We both agreed that runes are the continuation of magic, and only by comprehending more runes can one go further on the path of a mage.
Every rune represents a brand new magic, and learning them allows us to get closer to the origin of magic."
"But after that discussion, we had disagreements about the use of runes…"
Kreslin mused thoughtfully,
"Alright, enough chitchat, let's get to work!"