Horn hefted his shrunken money bag with fifty gold coins in it and showed a smile of poverty.
Not only the chilling long sword, but all the weapons hanging in this shop were extremely expensive. The cheapest and very plain long sword cost twenty gold coins.
He wasn't sure if it was the right choice to come here for advice, after all, he was short of money...
After learning that Horn wasn't here to buy anything but to wait for the boss, the clerk's expression turned cold.
He got a commission for selling weapons, and if Horn and his companion didn't buy any weapons, he wouldn't make any money.
It didn't take long for Horn and his companion to wait before the boss returned from his blacksmithing work. He casually grabbed a towel, wiped the sweat off his body, draped the towel over his shoulder, and came up to the two of them.
"Do you two want me to make something? If it's a weapon, you can first look on the wall to see if there's anything suitable."
He had slightly dark skin, graying beard, and was already quite old. His strong muscles seemed to contain boundless strength, but what puzzled Horn was that this boss was just an ordinary person.
Without thinking further, Horn pushed the shield in front of the boss and said,
"I'm not here to have a weapon made. I want to know what material this thing is made of."
The boss's action of wiping his sweat froze. He carefully picked up the shield and examined it. After a while, he looked at Horn thoughtfully and said,
"Kid, this is the Sacred Artifact of the North Wind, right?"
"Right. You have really good eyesight." Horn flattered him. He was able to recognize the Sacred Artifact of the North Wind thanks to the teachings of old Douglas and the way the shield worked when it was in effect. It was quite knowledgeable for an ordinary blacksmith to recognize it as the Sacred Artifact of the North Wind just from its current shabby appearance.
The boss didn't even bat an eyelid. Such flattery was just commonplace for him. He continued to say to Horn,
"I won't ask how you got this shield. Anyway, you definitely won't tell me. But can I ask why you want to know the material?"
"Does it matter to recognizing the material of this shield?" Horn asked.
"No." the boss replied.
Horn pushed his glasses and said, "Then it's just out of curiosity."
"Curiosity, tsk tsk, curiosity." The boss clearly didn't believe it, but he didn't press further.
"Judging from the crack, the inner - layer metal of this Sacred Artifact of the North Wind is thunder silver."
"Thunder silver?" Horn asked in confusion. He had never even heard of this kind of metal.
"This kind of metal is very popular among the Thunder Church. It's much harder than ordinary metals but difficult to forge. The Church of the Thunder God has a special method to forge this metal."
The boss picked up the water cup on the table, took a sip of water, and said.
"And then?" The inner - layer material was thunder silver. What about the outside?
"I need to study the rest. I'll have the result by tomorrow at the latest."
"Okay then. I'll leave this thing with you. We'll come to pick it up tomorrow."
Horn left these words and was about to leave.
"You're not going to run away with this thing, are you?" As they reached the door, Enoch suddenly turned back and said.
The boss let out a dumb - founded laugh. "If this sacred artifact were still intact, it would probably be more expensive than my most precious sword. But in its current broken state, any sword here is more valuable than it."
Enoch scratched his head and thought it made sense. A non - functioning sacred artifact was even worse than a handicraft. Its value was only as a souvenir.
The two left the blacksmith shop and headed for the grocery area.
On the way, they passed the slave area.
The slave area was far dirtier and messier than the weapon area, and the flow of people was also different.
Thick wooden stakes were standing everywhere by the roadside. There were at least five or six ropes as thick as an index finger tied to each stake, and at the end of each rope was a half - naked and listless slave.
After seeing these stakes, Horn closed his right eye and stood still for a while to calm his emotions so as not to lose control and burst out with electric light. Old Douglas's teachings had made him naturally resistant to the act of slave trading.
But it wasn't just seeing the slaves that made Horn lose control. These stakes reminded him of the pyres in Leon City.
He sympathized with these slaves, but he didn't want to liberate them either. His own mission was already heavy enough, and he didn't have the ability to take on the burden of the slaves.
At this moment, Horn suddenly wondered which was more tragic, these slaves in shackles or the wild witches tied to the pyres?
Both were bound, both couldn't see the future. Was losing freedom, dignity, and personality more despairing than losing one's life?
Horn couldn't figure it out.
With a heavy heart, the two left the slave area and arrived at the grocery area.
When they got to the grocery area, they were shocked again. Well, they had been shocked quite often since they came to Mam City.
The grocery area was different from other areas. There were a large variety of miscellaneous things here, which was quite eye - catching at first sight.
But precisely because there were so many and varied things here, it took even more time to find what they wanted.
The total quantity of things Horn needed wasn't very large, but there were a great many different kinds. The two split up to buy things and wandered around the grocery area until they were dizzy before finally managing to buy everything.
As it was getting dark, Enoch and Horn each carried a large bag and came to the grain area. They were here to buy monster blood.
The meat of many monsters was a high - end ingredient in Ceylon, but the blood of monsters wasn't expensive. If Horn hadn't said he wanted to buy it, many merchants would have thrown away the blood they had drained.
Spending only a few gold coins, the two carried a string of water bags filled with various monster bloods back to the inn.
...
In the backyard of the dwarf uncle's blacksmith shop, the boss sat seriously on a chair and talked to a young man.
"Is he the disciple of the mage?"
"Right, the real deal."
A man sitting leisurely on a chair eating something replied. He was actually Ilya, the dragon slayer!
"Why did he come to my place? Did you give him any hints?" the boss asked Ilya in a low voice.
Ilya propped his hand on the table, put his chin on his hand, pretended to think for a long time, and then said,
"Probably... it's a coincidence."
After hearing this, the boss frowned. He flicked his right index finger at Ilya's forehead in a feigned motion, and when his finger snapped, there was actually a loud sonic boom!
Ilya suddenly tilted his head back. When he moved his head back, there was a bluish - purple bruise on his forehead!
"There's no such thing as a coincidence. I don't believe this nonsense. There must be a reason for him to come to my place!"
Ilya covered his forehead and patted the boss's shoulder. "Don't worry. If something really happens, I'll take the blame. Even if I can't handle it, there's still you, Uncle Ji."
The boss fell silent.
"You, Iron - Fist Kielborg, aren't just a name in vain. Just smash the enemies if there are any."