Chapter 4: The Price of Stone Carvings
On Ganmo Road in Fenlai City, Alice was leaning on the railing of her two-story small building’s balcony, her chin resting on her hands as she watched the passersby on the street below.
Ever since Linley had left last time, Alice had come to the balcony almost every day to watch the people coming and going, hoping that Linley would visit again. But…
“Classes start tomorrow, so I have to go today.” Alice sighed inwardly, taking one last look at the street.
She was just hoping Linley would come see her again, but unfortunately, he hadn’t visited once in the past ten-plus days. Just then, her friend Niya’s voice rang out from the door downstairs: “Alice, hurry up!” Niya, Tony, and Kalan were waiting at the entrance below.
Kalan, Niya, and Tony were from the Warrior Academy, which was relatively close to the Weilin Magic Academy that Alice attended. Since all four families lived in Fenlai City, they had a fairly good relationship.
“Alright, I’ll be right down.”
Alice glanced one last time at the street in front of the mansion, then picked up her prepared bundle and went downstairs.
…
On the evening of the third day after Alice left Fenlai City, Linley arrived at the courtyard in front of her house. He looked up at the balcony of the two-story building, but it was empty.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” The middle-aged gatekeeper of Alice’s house called out to Linley.
Linley turned his head and smiled politely. “Hello, I’m from the Weilin Magic Academy. I’m a good friend of Alice’s. Do you know if she’s still at home?”
“Oh.” The middle-aged man chuckled upon hearing this. “Miss Alice left home almost three days ago. She’s already at the magic academy.”
“I see. Thank you.” Linley said courteously.
He turned and walked away along Ganmo Road, but at the very end of the street, he still looked back at the balcony of the two-story building, a hint of helplessness in his heart.
*******
On the street leading to the Ernst Academy.
A stream of white light flew out of the Coiling Dragon Ring, transforming into a figure in a moon-white robe with white hair and a white beard—Doehring Cowart. Doehring smiled warmly at Linley. “Linley, have you fallen for Alice?”
“A little.” Linley didn’t deny it.
Doehring stroked his white beard and laughed heartily. “I didn’t expect you, boy, to finally develop feelings for a woman! But Linley, you and that Alice are in different magic academies, separated by distance. It’ll be very hard to make any progress in your relationship.”
“I know. I’ll let fate take its course. If something comes of it, fine; if not, so be it.” Linley’s mind involuntarily conjured up scenes of being with Alice.
There was the first time, when she looked panicked under the Bloodthirsty War Hog.
There was the time on the way back from the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, when she looked shy as they talked.
And there was the time under the moonlight, when she looked as moving as a moon spirit.
…
“So this is first love, huh.” Linley gave a self-deprecating smile. At his age, the four brothers in the dorm often talked about girls, and Yale and Reynolds had long had girlfriends.
When it came to feelings, Linley also held a certain anticipation in his heart.
******
At the Ernst Magic Academy, Linley trained as diligently as ever, spending part of each day on his “Flat Blade Style” carving. Both his spiritual energy and magical power steadily and rapidly improved.
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
As per the usual routine, Linley and his three brothers set off for Fenlai City with three stone carvings. They arrived at the room of Ostoni in the Pruks Club in Fenlai City.
“Nearly fifteen thousand gold coins? That much?” Linley was somewhat surprised by the price of the three stone carvings from last time.
Ostoni laughed heartily. “Linley, this is perfectly normal. The works of an ordinary master stone carver can sell for around a thousand gold coins. The Pruks Club emphasized your identity—a fifteen-year-old magical genius creating stone carvings. Just because of who you are, the price of your carvings doubles.”
“Most importantly… your stone carvings are very unique. Other people’s carvings may be beautiful, but they have certain flaws in smoothness. The lines of your works are extremely fluid. For example, the places where you used the flat knife and the jade bowl knife are so seamlessly connected that one can’t detect any breaks. The join is perfect.”
Linley couldn’t help but smile upon hearing this.
Breaks?
His Flat Blade Style carvings used only a single flat knife from start to finish, without ever needing to switch to various other carving knives. Naturally, the lines were perfectly smooth.
“Because of this unique point, combined with the aloof, proud aura inherent in your works, and your identity, the price reached nearly five thousand gold coins per piece. However, there’s still a slight deficiency in the handling of fine details and textures. Otherwise, the price could have been even higher.” Ostoni praised.
Linley understood this in his heart.
“Fine detail handling?” Linley shook his head inwardly. He used a flat knife, and while he could barely manage some special textures, the effect was certainly weaker than what could be achieved with specialized knives like the slant knife or round knife.
At the same time, Linley marveled inwardly.
Three stone carvings could sell for fifteen thousand gold coins. This money came far too easily. If Linley devoted himself entirely to carving, he could definitely produce ten pieces in a month.
Ten pieces would be worth nearly fifty thousand gold coins!
“In two months in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, I went through life-and-death crises several times and killed some assassins, only to get about seventy or eighty thousand gold coins. Master stone carvers are practically robbing people.” Linley sighed in amazement.
The price of Linley’s works already placed him among the upper tier of master stone carvers.
“If master stone carvers are robbing people, then grandmaster stone carvers…” Linley marveled inwardly.
The deeper he delved, the more he realized how vast the income gap was in the world of stone carving. In the entire Sacred Alliance, there were only about a hundred master stone carvers. The scarcity was unimaginable.
“Linley, keep working hard. I believe you will one day become a great grandmaster stone carver.” Ostoni encouraged him.
Grandmaster stone carvers not only possessed astonishing wealth but also held extremely high status. They stood at the pinnacle of this most ancient art. Even great nobles dared not act arrogantly in their presence.
Grandmaster!
This was a truly remarkable title.
It was not something that could be obtained with money or power. It was something earned when a person reached the peak of a certain field and was universally recognized, only then being honored as a grandmaster.