Chapter 15: The Purple Flame Warrior Clan
Wearing a set of sky-blue magic robes and holding a magic staff in hand, Linley walked along the street.
This was Linley's current attire.
This time, Bebe had stayed behind in that small courtyard on Keyan Street in Hess City. According to Linley's instructions, once Clay arrived, he was to directly inform Linley through soul communication. Linley and Bebe were linked by soul, so no matter how far apart they were, they could sense each other's thoughts.
Today, Linley had come out for the matter of the "heavy sword."
"Hmm?" Linley caught sight of a weapons shop nearby and walked straight in.
The weapons shop's business was mediocre. Inside, two customers were examining the weapons on display for viewing. Linley, however, went directly to the counter and said indifferently, "In Hess City, who has the strongest ability in forging weapons?"
The attendant behind the counter took one look at Linley's attire and realized the person before him was a mage. He immediately said respectfully, "Great Mage, when it comes to forging weapons, Master Porter of our weapons shop is highly skilled. There's no weapon he can't make."
"I asked, who in Hess City has the strongest ability in forging weapons?" Linley's face turned cold. "If the weapon I require is something your so-called Master Porter can't forge, don't blame me for smashing your shop."
Startled by Linley's threat, the attendant, who had initially wanted to drum up business, dared not boast any further. "Esteemed Great Mage, the number one forging master in Hess City is Master Corby, who runs a weapons shop not far from the Temple of Light in the western district of Hess City."
"Corby?" Linley committed the name to memory and was about to leave.
"But, Great Mage," the attendant said in a low voice.
"Hmm?" Linley turned to look at the attendant, waiting to hear what he had to say.
The attendant said respectfully, "Great Mage, if you want to commission a high-quality magic staff, you should go to a magical equipment shop. This weapons shop is for warriors choosing their weapons." In the attendant's view, a mage buying a weapon and even seeking out the best forging master to commission one was indeed quite strange.
A mage's weapon was the magic staff.
And crafting a magic staff required a skilled alchemist.
Linley curled the corners of his mouth in a faint smile and walked out of the weapons shop.
Half an hour later, Linley arrived in the western district of Hess City, near the Temple of Light. Based on his investigations the previous day, the Radiant Pope and a group of Saint-level experts from the Radiant Church had not come to Hess City. He had heard that only a Red Cardinal had come to Hess City, coordinating with the King of the Hess Kingdom to arrange the troops at the border.
As for where that group of Saint-level experts from the Radiant Church had gone, no one knew.
"I really hope that 'King' of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts kills a few Saint-level experts," Linley thought to himself. That Radiant Church's Haines had cast "Divine Beast Descends" on Linley. Although Linley didn't understand the effects of "Divine Beast Descends," the "faith power" from that spell had tried to merge into his soul.
His soul.
This was the most important and core part. Linley was certain that Haines had no good intentions.
"Is this the weapons shop of the so-called number one forging master in Hess City?" Linley looked at the shop before him. The storefront was dozens of meters long, and outside, two burly men in splendid armor stood on either side of the entrance, holding weapons.
This weapons shop had quite an imposing presence, clearly of a much higher grade than the one Linley had visited earlier.
Stepping into the weapons shop, Linley saw that the attendants inside were all beautiful women. One of them noticed Linley's attire, her eyes lighting up as she hurried over and said politely, "Esteemed Great Mage, what weapon are you looking for? Please, follow me. Over here, we have all kinds of ornate court swords."
Linley smiled helplessly.
It seemed this attendant had taken him for one of those mages who just wanted to look stylish.
"I heard that Master Corby is here?" Linley said directly to the attendant.
The attendant nodded repeatedly. "Yes, Master Corby is our chief forging master. His forging skills are absolutely the best in all of Hess City. I've yet to hear of any weapon that Master Corby couldn't forge."
"Oh? Then have Master Corby come out. I'd like to commission him to forge a weapon for me," Linley said directly.
"Have... have Master Corby come out?" The attendant gave an awkward smile. "Great Mage, Master Corby never receives guests on his own initiative. If you want to see him, you have to go to him. Also... seeing Master Corby requires spending some money, or else you won't get an audience."
Linley had to admit that Master Corby certainly had a high opinion of himself.
"Fine, I'll go see him. How many gold coins?" Linley said directly.
"Not much, just fifty gold coins," the attendant said quickly.
Fifty gold coins was nothing to wealthy nobles, but that price was enough to keep an ordinary commoner working for a year or two.
"Fifty?" Linley took a pouch of gold coins from his bosom. The pouch contained one hundred coins. He counted out fifty and then instructed, "Lead the way." Linley usually carried just one hundred gold coins for incidental expenses, and he also had a magic crystal card with him; if he needed more, he could just withdraw it.
"Yes, Great Mage." The attendant was quite pleased.
...
Five minutes later, Linley followed the attendant to a simple-looking mansion. The gatekeeper clearly recognized the attendant and let them in without question.
When Linley saw Master Corby, the man was lying back in a chair, quietly sipping tea. Master Corby's hair was already gray, but his muscles were very pronounced, clearly marking him as a powerful warrior.
Most forging masters were formidable warriors.
"Master Corby, this Great Mage wishes to see you," the attendant said respectfully.
Master Corby looked at Linley and said with a smile, "Young man, my fees are quite high. The starting price for crafting a weapon is ten thousand gold coins."
Linley could sense Master Corby's approximate strength.
He was either a level seven warrior or a level eight warrior.
"Agreed," Linley said with a nod. "But for this weapon, I will provide the materials. Also, could you have everyone else leave for a moment?"
"Of course," Master Corby said, nodding to his subordinates. They all withdrew.
Master Corby looked at Linley with curiosity. "Young man, you're providing the materials? What materials?"
"Blackstone," Linley said directly.
Master Corby, who had been sitting calmly in his chair, shot up as if electrocuted, staring at Linley in shock. "What did you say? Blackstone? Did I hear that correctly?" Blackstone was a legendary forging material. In all his years of forging weapons, Corby had never even seen Blackstone.
"Yes, I want to use Blackstone to forge a weapon. Can you do it?" Linley asked, looking at Master Corby with some anticipation.
Master Corby hesitated for a moment, then finally sighed. "Young man, I really have no way to smelt Blackstone." Hearing this answer, Linley couldn't help but feel disappointed.
"Young man, could... could I take a look at the Blackstone?" Master Corby asked, a bit awkwardly.
Linley understood the longing a forging master like Corby would have for Blackstone. He took the Blackstone from the bundle at his side and handed it directly to Master Corby. The Blackstone weighed over a thousand jin, but in Linley's hands, it didn't feel heavy at all.
However, Master Corby, who wasn't prepared, felt his hand sink as he took the Blackstone.
"It really is heavy," Corby said, quickly recovering and lifting it with ease.
Still, he shot Linley a somewhat surprised glance. Being able to handle an object weighing over a thousand jin with such ease meant Linley was at least a level six warrior.
"Blackstone. Seeing it, I am satisfied," Corby said, his gaze burning as he looked at the Blackstone before finally returning it to Linley. In his heart, Corby had felt a flicker of greed, but he understood that since Linley had handed it over so casually, he wasn't afraid of being robbed.
Besides, Corby knew he didn't have the ability to smelt this Blackstone.
"Master Corby, do you know anyone who can smelt this Blackstone?" Linley asked.
Corby thought for a moment and then said, "As far as I know, the Radiant Church has its own dedicated forging masters. The Radiant Church has a long history, so they should have methods for smelting this Blackstone. I'd estimate that the imperial forging masters of the four empires and the Dark Church would also know how."
Linley nodded.
"Then I'll take my leave," Linley said, leaving somewhat disappointed.
He had already suspected that smelting this Blackstone wouldn't be easy, so he was mentally prepared. Leaving the place, Linley headed back toward his residence. But halfway there, he heard a familiar voice.
"Third Bro."
Linley immediately turned his head to look.
There were Yale, George, and Reynolds, looking at him with delighted surprise.
"Big Bro Yale, Second Bro, Fourth Bro," Linley said, excitedly running over. He hadn't expected to run into his good brothers again here. At Yale's invitation, Linley decided to go to the Dawson Conglomerate's place to catch up with them.
In an elegant mansion.
Linley, Yale, Reynolds, and George were happily chatting about their respective affairs.
"You're looking for a forging master to make a weapon? Hmm, I don't know any forging masters either," Yale said, shaking his head.
Reynolds was even more puzzled. "Third Bro, you mentioned Blackstone. What the hell is Blackstone?"
Neither Reynolds, nor Yale, nor George had ever heard of Blackstone.
Blackstone was too rare, too precious.
"Linley, I only caught a glimpse of you last time. Today, I finally have a chance to chat with you, the genius," Merritt Dawson said as he walked in from the side door of the hall, patting his big belly and chuckling. "Oh? You're talking about Blackstone?"
Linley nodded. "President, I've acquired some Blackstone and want to forge a weapon for myself. But I can't find a forging master who can smelt it."
"Oh."
Merritt Dawson, with his status, naturally wouldn't be modest. "Linley, don't call me 'President.' You and Yale are like brothers, so just call me Uncle. As for a forging master who can smelt 'Blackstone,' I do know one."
Linley wasn't too thrilled.
Because even if he knew one, that person probably wasn't in Hess City.
"Uncle Dawson, who is that master?" Linley asked.
Merritt Dawson said with a smile, "That forging master is Vincent."
"Vincent?" Linley was a bit confused.
Suddenly, Linley froze. "Uncle Dawson, which family are you talking about?"
"The Hayd family," Merritt Dawson replied with a grin.
Linley fully recalled the introduction of the four ultimate warrior families from the book left behind by his own clan. Among them, the Purple Flame Warrior clan was the Hayd family! However, there was more than one family with the surname "Hayd," so this Hayd family wasn't necessarily the Purple Flame Warrior clan.
"You've figured it out? Haha, yes. This Hayd family, like your Baruch clan, is also an ultimate warrior family. The Hayd family lives in a small city in the Holy Union's Hamu Kingdom. During this disaster, they also fled to Hess City," Merritt Dawson said with a smile.
"They're in Hess City?" Linley asked in surprise.
"And they're right next door, in the mansion beside ours. I personally arranged for their accommodation," Merritt Dawson continued.
Linley looked at Merritt Dawson in astonishment.
In fact, the forging master Merritt Dawson knew who could smelt Blackstone was more than one. Even the forging masters within the Dawson Conglomerate could smelt "Blackstone." But the other masters Merritt Dawson knew weren't in Hess City. That was why he only mentioned this one.