“Brother Baelin! I’m here again!”
Along with the voice, a boy with brown hair walked in through the entrance to the shop. He wore a linen short-sleeved shirt with some patches on it, and his eyes shone with intelligence.
“So it’s Longbottom!” Baelin had no choice but to greet him.
“Hehe, Brother Baelin, let me help you!” Longbottom snatched the cleaning rag from Baelin’s hands and began to wipe at the wooden shelves and cabinets.
His movements were practiced, and he was very familiar with the places that were often overlooked. Evidently, this was not the first time he was doing this.
After wiping the shelves and cabinets until they were sparkling clean, Longbottom expectantly looked at Baelin, waiting to be rewarded.
“Ugh, not again. Not again!” Baelin held his head, helpless.
“I told you! You’re only allowed to use it for five minutes, and you can’t tell anyone about this! You especially can’t let the boss find out!”
If not for this little kid’s beautiful sister, Baelin wouldn’t bother with him.
“I know, I know!”
Longbottom quickly nodded his head like a chick pecking at rice, and came before a shelf and took out a silver cross blade.
This cross blade was quite short, which was very fitting for Longbottom’s stature. It was about two fingers wide, and the hilt was made from pure silver. There was even a red diamond embedded within, making it seem very luxurious!
Evidently, with Longbottom’s financial background, he would definitely not be able to buy it no matter how much he saved up.
Longbottom held the cross blade carefully in his hands as if he were clasping some precious treasure.
“Hah!”
Longbottom slashed forward while holding the blade with both hands, making a crooked attack.
“Sigh… Little Longbottom, I’m not trying to be mean, but you’ll never be able to become a knight by learning with those normal soldiers!”
Baelin couldn’t help but shake his head. Potter Town was but a small one, and only the guards of the baron were knights. The rest were all made up of peasants, so what power could they have?
This Longbottom had wanted to become a knight from a very young age! For this reason, he would secretly watch the soldiers’ training.
After discovering this place, he would come over to help free of charge, with the price of having Baelin lend him something in the shop for him to play with for a while.
Out of everything in the shop, Longbottom’s favourite weapon was this cross blade.
“Brother Baelin, then who should I learn from?” Longbottom held the blade, his expression desolate, “I’m only the son of a regular hunter, and we can’t pay the expensive fees to go through training…”
Longbottom had someone in mind.
Ever since he had found out that the boss of the shop, Master Leylin, was a powerful knight, he was even more diligent in coming over. He might even become like the main characters in stories about knights, having a great talent in this area and ending up with Leylin taking a fancy to him!
“Sigh…” Looking at this, Baelin could only sigh. In Twilight Zone, it was extremely difficult for a regular person to become outstanding.
“Little Longbottom, I think you should give up on this impossible dream, and come over here to learn how to read from me every day!”
Baelin proposed seriously, “Though I don’t know that many letters, it’s enough for you to be able to read the accounts. When the time comes, you’ll be able to find some kind of bookkeeping job.”
“Thank you, Brother Baelin!” Longbottom was extremely touched. Even if he wanted to study from someone, he would need to pay an exorbitant fee, yet Baelin was actually willing to teach him for free. This was something that he was very grateful for.
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing!” Baelin turned red, “It’s for my own sake too. If boss were to see this, I might not even be able to keep my job…”
“See what…”
Leylin’s voice sounded, and Baelin was stunned.
Baelin stiffly turned back to the sight of Leylin, who had just entered.
“Bo- Boss! Why are you here now?” The smile on Baelin’s face was extremely stiff, and he was even stuttering while speaking.
He had let others play with the products in the shop, and that was already a huge offense. Leylin could fire him just like this! However, the pay here was so high to the point that Baelin was not willing to give up this job!
Baelin inwardly grumbled. Leylin had always been reclusive, and often stayed in his room or the smelting room, not making himself known for days on end. How could he be so timely today and meet with this sight?”
*Thud!*
Longbottom’s hands trembled, and the cross blade fell, producing a low thud as it hit the floor.
“Mas-Master Leylin!”
Longbottom called out while stuttering. For regular people like him, Leylin, the boss of a weapons shop, was an incredible person. Longbottom now felt like a thief who had been caught on the spot, and even his calves began to tremble.
“Oh?” Leylin shot a glance at the blade, and smiled at Baelin, “It looks like you’ve been having a lot of fun while I wasn’t around!”
“Boss! No, my lord! Please forgive me!” Baelin was so scared that he quickly knelt, while Longbottom’s body was already limp and he was unable to speak.
“I’ll settle this matter with you later!” Leylin glared at Baelin and spoke to Longbottom. “Kid, you have been touching the things in my shop as you pleased without gaining permission. How are you going to make it up to me?”
“My—My lord…” Longbottom’s teeth chattered and his voice sounded like he was crying. There were only regular people in his family, and they were perhaps even of a lower status to others. What could he give to make it up to Leylin?
“Alright! From today onwards, you are to report here and do some odd jobs here for two hours every day as compensation!
Having teased him enough, Leylin touched his chin and made his decision.
Longbottom was stunned. What terrified him the most was that Leylin might have wanted him to pay money, and then get the guards to throw him in jail. Odd jobs? What kind of punishment was that?
“What are you in a daze like that for? Quick, thank my lord!” Baelin quickly reacted and pressed Longbottom’s head down.
“Thank you so much, my lord! Thank you so much!” Longbottom only now reacted, gratitude apparent on his face.
To have a good reason to touch the weapons in the shop was basically a dream for him. He was even able to make a connection to Leylin, a legendary, powerful Knight. It was something he never imagined would happen!
“Alright! Come and work here starting tomorrow afternoon!”
Leylin nodded, turned, and went to the back of the shop.
Actually, Leylin had long since noticed Baelin and Longbottom’s actions, but he couldn’t be bothered with them. However, a few of his experiments were going quite well, and he was in a good mood.
After he entered his room, Leylin thought, “A.I. Chip! How’s the progress of the weapon blueprint simulation?”
[Beep! Weapon blueprint simulation: 100%. Completed setup of blueprint and runes!]
The A.I. Chip quickly intoned, and then sent an image of a weapon before Leylin’s eyes.
This was a black cross blade that looked to be very ordinary. It could be said to be ordinary to the extreme, but the cross section was filled with lines to loop energy, as well as runes.
[Design of exclusive weapon is complete, named “Meteor”] the A.I. Chip’s robotic voice sounded.
In these two years, Leylin had finally completely analysed the middle-grade magical artifact that was the weapon for the Branded Swordsman— the Rays of Dawn. He had combined all his knowledge on smelting and spell formations, in order to create his own exclusive weapon!
Toying
[Warlock class-specific weapon: Meteor Sword! Le
ngth: 1.67m. Width: 0.03m. Carved within are the following: High-grade energy converging runes, fire elemental brand runes, dark elemental amplification runes… Estimated grade of product: High-grade magic artifact!]
The long sword the A.I. Chip projected in front of Leylin constantly rotated, and listed large quantities of data around it.
“The design is completed. All that’s left is to find the materials and actually make it.” Leylin was excited.
However, when he entered his sea of consciousness, this joy quickly dissipated.
After two years, the silver-white crystal in his sea of consciousness was still as resilient as ever, and had only shrunk a little in size.
The spiritual force it produced allowed Leylin to increase his might from that of a regular rank 1 Magus, to the strength of a peak rank 1 Magus.
As for the cracks at the edges of his sea of consciousness, they had yet to be completely restored.
The mark left behind by the rank 3 Magus, Alric, on the other hand, had been completely expelled by Leylin.
However, the stubbornness of the mark of spiritual force left behind by the rank 3 Magus had exceeded Leylin’s expectations. He had estimated that it would take around two months to dispel, but in reality, it had taken an entire year before he was able to completely remove the mark from his sea of consciousness.
“Perhaps I should find an opportunity to make contact with the Magi of the subterranean world!”
Due to his serious injuries, Leylin could only display the strength of a regular rank 1 Magus. Hence, he had chosen to lie low. However, now that he had regained enough of his strength to reach the peak of rank 1, he could be considered the best in the Twilight Zone, and it was natural that he would want to explore.
In addition, the progress of the reparation of his sea of consciousness was going very slowly, which made Leylin furrow his brows.
He was prepared to find some methods out there to hasten this process. If not, and he were to rely on just time, he had no idea how long this would take.
At this thought, Leylin began to feel jittery.
His expression twitched, and he untied a black water flask and took a drink. Leylin’s facial muscles then relaxed, and he forced a smile, “Also, I have to find a way to control the overly emotional side effects of being a Warlock!”
For Warlocks, the ancient bloodlines did give them formidable power, but they also negatively impacted their emotions
These emotions would lie dormant deep in one’s blood or even one’s spirit, occasionally causing trouble and causing the Warlock to sink into a state of extreme emotion.
For the Magus who sought truth and control, this was not tolerable.
Hence, Leylin had been searching for a method to solve this problem.
“The inheritances found in the south coast are only useful up to a certain point, and the items left behind from the ancient era are very few. There is very little information regarding Warlocks, and there doesn’t seem to be any sorts of methods there. But this place is different!”
Leylin’s eyes shone with hope. “This is the Twilight Zone, a part of the subterranean world! Due to the lack of connection with the outside world, it has very little external influences, and preserves the inheritances from ancient times in their entirety. In other words, aside from the central continent, there are still places that might have research material regarding warlocks; this must be one of those areas!”
At this thought, Leylin touched his chin.
“Potter Town is in a very remote area, and the resources at the Woody Wastelands can, at most, attract only a few acolytes. I haven’t seen any Magi here. It looks like I have to go deeper into the Twilight Zone…”
Potter Town was only a small town in the vastness of the Twilight Zone, and while he had stayed here for over two years, Leylin had seen very few Magi.
Apart from this town, there was an even bigger city. If he advanced layer by layer, he would find the eastern capital!
Leylin was sure that there were many Magi in the city!
The rules in the subterranean world were different from the south coast. The existence of Magi were made public; they would not hide in some unknown location and isolate themselves from the world.
The Magi who wielded power were naturally of a high status. Even the nobility had to bow to them.
“Though the population of Twilight Zone is only half of the south coast, with the extensive spread of high-grade meditation techniques and their simplified versions, there are still many instances of Magi appearing. The hierarchy of Magi is similar to that on the south coast, though I don’t know how many rank 3 Magi there are, or if there are any Morning Star Magi here…”
Leylin propped up his chin using his hand, sinking into deep thought.
……
The candle on the table burned with dull yellow flames, reflecting Leylin’s long, flickering shadow onto the wall…
During the afternoon of the next day, little Longbottom punctually came to the shop.
“You are very punctual! I like kids who obey rules!”
Leylin was bored to death, so he took over what had been Baelin’s position, and was yawning at the counter. He pointed towards the storeroom at the side. “Your task is to move those metals over there to the backyard!”
“Boss! Is this…” Baelin endured for a while, but could not take it any longer, and pointed to the storeroom as he spoke to Leylin.
“Every single one of those metals is even heavier than Longbottom’s own bodyweight…?”
Following his finger, one could see, through the half-open door to the storeroom, chunks of metal that were the size of a human head.
This were the raw materials that Leylin used while smelting. They were very dense, and their weights were terrifying.
When they had been transported here, Leylin had called for three strong men, and it had taken an entire afternoon for them to transport them. In Baelin’s eyes, Leylin was obviously making things difficult for the little kid by assigning him to such work.
“It’s his choice whether he wants to do it or not!”
Leylin shrugged his shoulders, found a chair, and began to doze contentedly.
“Brother Baelin, I want to give it a try!” Seeing the mountain of metals, he gulped, but at the sight of Leylin beginning to nod off, he made his mind and began to work.
The metals were very heavy, and just lifting it a centimeter off the ground caused Longbottom’s arms to tremble.
*Thud!* Longbottom curved his back and slowly moved to the open space at the back, the metal sounding a low thud as it fell.
“Hah…” Just moving one piece of metal was enough to cause Longbottom to pant, large drops of perspiration dripping from his face.
“Longbottom, you can’t continue, or else you’ll sustain long-term injuries…”
Baelin naturally knew that the terrifying amount of work he had to do would permanently harm, or even disable, a growing child’s body!
Even if he wasn’t doing this for Longbottom’s pretty sister, Baelin felt that he could not let this youngster he got along with to continue like this.
“No!” Longbottom looked in the direction of Leylin, who had stalked off, with a resolute expression on his face.
In that whole afternoon, the residents of Potter Town could see a strange sight at Leylin’s weapon shop.
A petite young boy was slowly working, moving pieces of black metal that were half his size.
That day, after completing two hours of work, Longbottom’s arms and legs constantly trembled, and he had no more strength to fiddle with any blades, dragging his fatigued body back home.
This went on for ten days, and only then did Longbottom finish moving all the metals to the open space at the backyard.
“You really work very slowly!”
Leylin judged, dissatisfied. “Next, I want you to move them back to the storeroom. Is that understood?”
“But Master Leylin…” Upon hearing this task, Longbot
tom’s body trembled. This physical labour had caused him a sore back, and it was so painful that he could not sleep at night. And now, he had to move them back? Longbottom felt like he would die from the fatigue!
He wasn’t just having fun here. He still needed to help his parents with work!
“Boss, you’re just toying with him!”
Baelin could not take this any longer, and jumped out while roaring at Leylin.
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