by Zhuang Bifan
But in the eyes of two old fellows, it was like having seen a ghost…
Their eyes were dazed as they watched. They had hidden in the room for half a month, yet still failed to accomplish the task. But when it fell into the hands of this kid, it seemed to be as easy as having a meal for him. Look at how he landed the hammer, and at the strength he used for hitting—this was a standard that only a veteran blacksmith could achieve.
The two old fellows looked at each other with a strange look on their faces.
Between the two of them, Aldwin knew the most about Lin Li. At least, he knew that the kid was a real magic genius who was picked up by Andoine in the Sunset Mountains. But Andoine never seemed to have said that besides being a magic genius, the kid was an impressive blacksmith as well…?
Macklin had it even worse—he had just blown his trumpet in front of that kid, saying he was some Blacksmith Master. In the mere twinkling of an eye, he had found that the kid was 100 times better than them in workmanship. This was more embarrassing than being caught catting around…
Luckily, the old fellow's skin was thick enough…
"Although I am not a Master of Forging, I've actually picked up a real Master of Forging anyhow. This is something of a feat…" Macklin consoled himself at the side.
On the other side, Lin Li had already put the iron sword into the water bucket.
There was a sizzling sound, and a plume of white mist rose—the iron sword had gone through the final quenching.
Lin Li put the hammer aside and clapped the dust on his hands.
"The iron sword is ready, Mr Macklin. As for the level-15 spell…"
The old fellow was secretly gloating when he heard a sizzling sound. By the time he had come back to his senses, that kid was already asking for the level-15 spell. Macklin gave a start of surprise. "So fast?"
Lin Li rolled his eyes, and mumbled to himself, "It's considered slow this time…"
Macklin was not convinced. He stepped up to the bucket and tried to pick up the half sword body that had just been quenched.
He had just stretched his hand out when he felt as if something had bitten him. Macklin retracted his hand in alarm, only to find that his hand had been cut a thin slit…
The old man was dumbfounded for a moment.
"Kid, come with me!" Macklin did not even address the wound on his hand as he dragged Lin Li out of the room.
"Mr Macklin, what's the matter?"
"Just come with me and you'll find out."
They left the low-rise building, and returned to the guild hall. This time, Macklin did not stop. Instead, he took Lin Li straight up the spiral staircase, all the way to a room on the third floor.
Macklin stood outside the door and whispered a short spell. Then, Lin Li saw the closed door suddenly open…
"Come in with me."
"Okay…" Lin Li followed promptly.
The furnishings in the room were quite simple—a table and several rattan chairs were all the things in the room. Lin Li looked around and found that there was not even a trash can in it.
"Tell me frankly, kid…" Macklin's face was grave, but his voice sounded slightly agitated. "How do you know forging?"
"This…" Lin Li hesitated for a moment, and did not know how to explain it. Was he going to tell the old man that his forging knowledge was all because of something called the Scroll of Wishes? Wouldn't the old man kill him with one of his fireballs…
"I'm just asking, you don't have to be so nervous." Macklin thought the kid was frightened by his serious manner seeing the look on his face, and he immediately regretted it. This kid was the treasure of the Guild of Magic now, and he could not be frightened. If he was frightened badly, it would be trouble for the whole Guild of Magic.
The old fellow spoke some words of comfort as he squeezed out a smile on his face, but to Lin Li, it felt like a weasel paying respects to the hen—someone harboring ulterior motives.
"Mr Macklin, as a matter of fact, I do not know forging, but my family runs a blacksmith shop. I just learn whenever I'm free…" After thinking about it, Lin Li finally chose such a reason that was more easily acceptable.
"Oh…" Macklin had just asked a casual question, and the answer he had gotten was reasonable, so the old fellow naturally did not suspect anything.
"Do you know how to forge other metals besides refined iron?" Macklin seemed to be worried that he would not understand him, so he made a point of explaining, "Magical metals such as mithril."
"I think I know a little…" Lin Li answered cautiously before knowing Macklin's purpose.
"Great!" Macklin slapped his t.h.i.g.h, and stood up excitedly. "Felic, you've done us a great favor!"
"Ah?" Lin Li was bewildered.
"No hurry, no hurry… I'll tell you later." Macklin's felt a sense of relief, and his old face was beaming. He reached out into his pocket and fumbled for a while, then pulled out a roll of crumpled parchment. "You put this away first. This is the level-15 spell, Mana Disruption."
Lin Li received it nonchalantly. "Alright, thank you, Mr Macklin."
"Don't look down on this spell, kid." Seeing the indifference on his face, the old fellow kindly reminded him, "This is a really good thing. If it weren't for your help, I wouldn't take it out. To tell you the truth, this is a level-15 spell, but if it's used well, it could be more powerful than a level-17 or 18 spell. Do you understand the meaning of Mana Disruption?"
"No, I don't…" Lin Li answered matter-of-factly.
Lin Li was not to be blamed. Such was the case of a spell recorded on a scroll—before one learnt the spell, one wouldn't know the kind of effects it had. One could only analyze the structure of the spell from a few isolated words and phrases, and guess some useful information from it. For example, the crumpled parchment in Lin Li's hand—he could only analyze the structure to know that it should be a spell that was highly dependant on the mental strength because there were several characters in the spell which were used to stimulate the mental strength.
"The so-called 'Mana Disruption' refers to the use of mental strength to deal an impact, interfering with the opponent's mana, and thereby creating an effect similar to Mana Retroaction. Of course… you'd have to have a strong enough mental strength. If your mental strength is not strong enough, this spell, which disrupts the opponent, will probably make you suffer in turn."
Macklin's face revealed a trace of pride. "As long as you master this spell, even if you don't know any other spells, you could walk with airs in front of an Archmage."
The old fellow continued bragging, but Lin Li did not respond at all.
He was entirely appalled. What kind of a concept it was to use the mental strength to deal a direct impact…
Such a spell had come into his hands; providence was probably the only explanation for it.
Lin Li knew very well the condition of his own mental strength. The "strong enough mental strength" that Macklin had mentioned was not a problem to him at all. Under the impact of his massive mental strength, perhaps he could really be able to walk with airs in front of an Archmage…
Chapter 114 - Sword Sage of the Storm
At the thought of all that this spell might bring, Lin Li tightened his grip on it in spite of himself.
"How about that, kid? This is worth the help you've given us, right?"
Lin Li nodded profusely. "Worth it, worth it…"
Although Macklin's iron forging skills were bad, he knew how to strike while the iron was hot. As soon as he saw how fascinated Lin Li was with the spell, the old fellow took advantage of the situation and added, "How about doing us another favor?"
"What is it?"
"Help us forge a magical weapon!"
"This…" There was some hesitation on Lin Li's face. Magical weapons were not difficult to forge; anyway, these two old fellows didn't have strict requirements. He could just make them any two weapons that carried magical attributes. But Lin Li constantly had the feeling that this matter was not something
of the ordinary; there was an eerie feeling to it from the very start.
Think about it carefully…
Skip the part about the two powerhouses hiding in a room while forging iron—it could be a mere hobby or interest, after all. There were many wonders in the world. Anyway, even SM had many fans; it seemed to be not much of a big deal forging some iron…
However, an ordinary iron sword was exchanged for a level-15 spell—and it was such a powerful level-15 spell, no less. Lin Li was baffled. Macklin was not an idiot; would he be that silly not to be able to differentiate whether the ordinary sword or the spell was more precious? Lin Li never once felt that he had some kind of a kingly aura, and that when his body moved slightly, he could scare such figures like Macklin and Aldwin into bowing down.
One who is unaccountably solicitous is hiding evil intentions!
Lin Li had kept these words in mind.
"How's that?" Macklin was a little anxious, seeing that Lin Li was silent for a long while. He continued to entice him. "Just a magical weapon. It doesn't have to be very strong, just containing some magical attributes will do. You can consider it; as long as this thing is done, us two old fellows will be very grateful to you!"
Lin Li scratched his head, but kept mum. He wanted to hear what exactly was the gratitude the old fellow had mentioned…
"Let's do it like this." Macklin saw that empty promises were not enough, so he bit his teeth, and said, "Once you forge this magical weapon, you can ask us a favor. As long as it is within our power, the two of us will definitely help you!"
"…" As soon as Macklin's words were uttered, Lin Li's hair stood on ends in horror.
For the two old fellows—one a level-19 Archmage, and the other a level-21 legendary mage—to say such words in their capacity, it was evident that the weight of the matter was not ordinary.
This request held too many meanings. If Lin Li was willing, he could even ask them to sweep out the Shadow's Nest so that the Jarrosus Guild of Magic would never have to worry about the enemies coveting the Demon Fall Valley again.
"By the way… I'll start by saying, the request and the trial are two different matters. This trial is arranged by the Supreme Council. No matter how bold Aldwin and I are, we would not dare to poke our heads in it."
Lin Li shook his head in denial of his assumption. "Of course I'll have to depend on my own strength for the trial."
"So, you agree to it?"
"This… Can you tell me the reason behind it?" Lin Li hesitated for a long time, and his tone finally relaxed. To be frank, he was filled with curiosity about this matter.
"Sure," Macklin replied coolly. "Do you know of the Sword Sage of the Storm?"
"I don't know…" Lin Li was telling the truth. Since the transmigration, the profession he had contact with the most was the mage—and it was all because of Andoine. He had always been concerned about stuff related to magic, and had not paid much attention to what a Sword Sage or a Shadow King was.
"You know Aldwin's strength, right? Felan Kingdom's most powerful level-21 mage."
"Mhm, I know."
"In the Felan Kingdom, those who can compete with Aldwin can be counted with one hand, and the Sword Sage of the Storm, Al'Akir, is one of them."
"So formidable?" He had always thought that it was more than enough to have a demon above level-20. Unexpectedly, there was more than one such monster in the Felan Kingdom.
"That's nothing…" Macklin pursed his lips, and went on to say, "This b*tch, besides being a level-21 powerhouse, is actually the one behind the Alanna Adventurers Guild!"
"…" Lin Li was confounded. The fellow's status was probably stronger than that of Aldwin's. What was the idea of the Alanna Adventurers Guild? It had the most deformed monsters in the Felan Kingdom, and an astronomical amount of money in addition to millions of adventurers. It was horrifying just to think about such a force.
"There's more…" Macklin shook his head, looking somewhat depressed. "This b*tch is also a Master of Forging!"
"Very impressive!" Lin Li still didn't get it. "But… What's that got to do with me?"
"Be patient; listen to me."
Macklin rocked softly in a rattan chair, recounting to Lin Li about a bizarre bet.
It happened more than a year ago, when the Guild of Magic discovered a High Elf relic.
For any mage, the legacy of that era was full of fatal temptation at all times.
Nobody, including President Aldwin, was willing to pass up on this opportunity.
So, the work of exploring the relics began to proceed in an orderly way.
They begun with a search of all the information related to this relic from the mountainous pile of books on the Dark Ages, and the Magic Shooters inside the guild worked day and night to extract silk from the vast amount of information.
At last, the Guild of Magic found it.
The remains turned out to be the mausoleum of Highlord Osric!
The key to opening the tomb was buried at the highest peak of the Nightmare Mountains, and it was guarded by a level-22 magical beast, the Lord of Inferno.
That morning, under the leadership of President Aldwin, the Guild of Magic dispatched all the members beyond the level of an Archmage. Their goal was the Lord of Inferno on the peak of the Nightmare Mountains and the key it guarded.
But as they climbed up the Nightmare Mountains, they suddenly found that there was a group of people who were also eyeing the Lord of Inferno—it was a group of adventurers led by the Sword Sage of the Storm, Al'Akir.
At the moment, even Aldwin's temper was triggered. He had studied so hard, but the result was stolen by others. Was there anything more annoying in the world than this?
However, he soon realized that the Adventurers Guild was even more enraged than Aldwin himself—especially the Sword Sage of the Storm, who was so angry that he had demanded a duel with the latter on the spot.
Fortunately, both sides had some self-restraint in the end.
Through the personal mediation of His Majesty the King, the conflict that had shaken the whole Felan Kingdom did not occur, but was replaced by an arduous negotiation.
Even Macklin himself was unaware until he had participated in the negotiations.
All of this… was merely a coincidence!
It was just too much of a coincidence…
The two guilds found the relic almost concurrently. They had both looked for clues from books, and discovered where the key was buried at the same time.
The leaders of the two guilds were both wise men. After the misunderstanding was cleared, things became much simpler. The two guilds soon reached an agreement to kill the Lord of Inferno together, and everything would wait until the key was dug out.
Although the Lord of Inferno was at a powerful rank of level-22, were Alanna's two major guilds an ordinary force? Together, there was more than a dozen people who had broken through level-18 in the two guilds. After battling for a whole day and night, even a power like the Lord of Inferno did not manage to escape the fate of losing its life…
With the fall of the Lord of Inferno, the ownership of the key was naturally to be put on the agenda.
There was immediately a huge rift between the two forces who had once fought side by side.
In order to get the other half of the key in the other party's hand, the two guilds had each offered an earth-shaking price without any prior consultation.
At the end of the negotiation, the Adventurers Guild even suggested that half of its revenue would be allocated to the Guild of Magic in the next ten years!
But in front of Osric's mausoleum, the power of money was insignificant.
Thus, the negotiation entered a stalemate.
Finally, the Sword Sage of the Storm, who believed in force, made a suggestion.
The leaders of the two guilds would fight a fair duel, and the one who won the duel would have the right to use the key, while the one who failed would receive a small portion of the benefits from the High Elf relic
as compensation.
To be honest, this was a perfect solution.
However, a bizarre scene unfolded before them when it was implemented.
The two fellows, both level-21, completely tied with each other. They had fought for two days and two nights. In the end, one ran out of mana, and the other one ran out of stamina; both fainted on the ring at the same time…
It was like walking into a dead end when things got to this point.
Fortunately… someone had reminded them.
Besides being level-21 powerhouses, one was a Master of Inscription, and the other was a Master of Forging.
Chapter 115 - The Ins and Outs
Both parties came to a consensus quickly. Since violence could not solve the issue, they could only use their knowledge to determine whom did the key belong to.
Frankly speaking, this was an absurd suggestion.
Forging and Inscription were two completely different fields.
Furthermore, the heads of both guilds and both of these two figures were at the peak of their own fields.
It was ridiculous for either of them to come out on top of each other.
After that, the negotiations revolved around a single point. Was there any method to prove which guild was more superior when both guilds were from different fields?
After another round of arduous negotiations, both sides finally came to an agreement.
In the new round of debating, the deciding factor would no longer be the two heads of the guilds, but the members of the guild. Regardless of rank and position, they could partake in this competition as long as they were members of the guild.
According to the agreement from both sides, the following was decided.
Should a member of the Adventurers Guild be able to produce a high level mageweath, it would be the Guild of Magic's defeat.
Conversely, should a member of the Guild of Magic forge a magical weapon, it would be the Adventurers Guild's loss.
Lin Li was astonished after hearing this.
As a master of both fields, how could he not know the difference?
Making magical weapons might sound mysterious, but in reality, it was not complicated. With a magical metal, most middle-tier blacksmiths had a chance of producing magical equipment. On the flipside, producing a high-tier mageweath would be much more difficult. Only a high-tier inscriber had a chance of doing so.
