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'That makes a lot of sense,' said Garovel. 'I remember how much of a stir the Duels caused in the beginning. Everyone thought Rachman was insane to be challenging emperors to single combat, but if he had a Forge at his disposal, then that would explain why he was able to surprise so many people with his strength.'

'In fairness, he WAS insane,' said Worwal. 'Never have I known a more absurd individual than Dolf Rachman. He was nowhere near old enough to be threatening Morgunov and Dozer the way he did. But he was convinced he could defeat one or even both of them.'

'In the beginning, the Duels weren't to the death, were they?' said Garovel.

'That's right. His goal was to simply show the world that they could be beaten. To weaken their influence. It wasn't until the eighth consecutive duel in as many years that Morgunov finally decided that he had grown tired of the game and refused to fight him again unless they raised the stakes by including their reapers in the contest.'

'That was when the Duels began to gain worldwide attention, no?' said Garovel.

'Indeed. It was an utterly ridiculous agreement--and very captivating, I must admit.'

"It was precisely that increased pressure that made Dolf burn at his very brightest," said Abbas. "His brilliance shone through like never before. The items he was able to craft with the Earth Cruncher toward the end... they were truly awesome. They kept him alive when he should have died a dozen times over. I am convinced that Morgunov grew to fear him after that final Duel, and that was why the workshop was attacked and the Forge, destroyed. He was afraid that Dolf would finally beat him one day, and so resorted to sabotage."