Iji held the piece of glintstone, which was a bit too small for his hand, while his other hand propped up his chin, deep in thought.
Seeing Iji’s gesture, Bai Shi felt a little puzzled.
With Iji's level of skill, a small item should be no challenge for him.
So his reaction couldn't possibly be because he had encountered something difficult to craft.
It must be that some other aspect of the object had caught his attention.
"What do you think, Old Master Iji?"
Iji looked at Bai Shi and nodded.
"Crafting it is no problem at all."
"It's just that the person who helped the academy forge these things might have a slight connection to me."
Bai Shi's interest was immediately piqued.
He had been curious before as to why a place like the academy, filled with sorcerers, would have someone capable of forging such magical items.
It seemed today this mystery would be solved.
Iji recalled some old memories and began to speak:
"How should I put this..."
"In the past, an apprentice from the Haima school came to see me. His name was Hettis."
"He followed the philosophy of the Haima school, taking it upon himself to quell conflict."
"But he wanted to learn blacksmithing from me, which surprised me at the time."
Recalling that apprentice, Iji chuckled a couple of times.
In his eyes, that little fellow was quite interesting.
"He told me back then that wielding weapons was the root cause of war."
"When one holds a powerful weapon, they try to solve problems through violence, and the desire for slaughter grows."
"So he wanted to understand what weapons were and what it felt like to forge them."
"He believed that this was the only way to find the root of war and, in turn, explore the path to peace."
"Therefore, he studied blacksmithing with me for a time and achieved some proficiency."
"But since the Academy of Raya Lucaria sealed itself off, I've had no news of him."
Iji then shook his head, not expecting to hear of him again under these circumstances.
"Just now, I found some information he left behind on this. It's a message for help."
"It's a special code that only highly skilled blacksmiths can read."
"He left a location—Raya Lucaria, the study room of the Lazuli Classroom."
"He's likely been imprisoned there by the academy's sorcerers."
Bai Shi committed the location to memory.
This method of asking for help was discreet, but it was also quite a long shot.
If the message didn't happen to reach a highly skilled blacksmith, it was unlikely anyone would ever discover his plea for help.
And with the academy completely sealed, a call for help would normally be useless anyway.
But thinking about it, it was a bit helpless. This was probably the only way he could ask for help.
Fortunately, his luck was good. The distress signal had actually made it out.
Bai Shi now knew his location, and he was indeed planning to go to the academy in a while.
The next part of the plot, then, should be to rescue him and recruit him into his ranks.
This was undoubtedly an excellent idea. After all, Bai Shi was already going to conquer Raya Lucaria, so saving him would be a simple matter of convenience.
Yes, the course of action was quite clear.
A sorcerer from the Haima school who yearned for peace was not unusual. Bai Shi even had the ashes of Battlemage Hugues.
However, what truly interested Bai Shi was Iji's positive evaluation of his blacksmithing skills.
The skills of the blacksmiths in Stormveil were indeed quite average.
While they were adequate for forging standard-issue weapons, Bai Shi and his subordinates often had their own equipment needs.
To put it simply, Stormveil's blacksmiths could only forge white-quality weapons, whereas Iji and Hewg could forge up to gold-quality.
If he were to be a little more optimistic about the blacksmithing skills of the sorcerer named Hettis, Bai Shi hoped he could consistently forge purple-quality equipment and weapons.
Weapons of that quality would be quite good, something even Bai Shi himself could use for fun now and then.
And for others, weapons of this quality would be considered excellent.
This was especially relevant since Bai Shi had quite a few Alabaster Lord's Jaws on hand, which could be made into a number of weapons known as the Alabaster Lord's Sword.
Hewg's daily workload was already heavy, and Bai Shi didn't want to reveal too much at the Roundtable Hold.
When dealing with a man like Gideon Ofnir, Bai Shi felt it was best to be cautious.
And while Iji was usually free, he couldn't just work him like a horse. Therefore, finding a blacksmith for his own faction was quite necessary.
It didn't matter if his skills weren't top-tier.
Bai Shi could have his own weapons and armor forged by the two masters, Iji and Hewg.
Hettis would just need to be able to forge large quantities of high-quality equipment for Bai Shi's subordinates.
"I've memorized the location."
"When I go to Raya Lucaria later, I'll stop by and take a look."
Just as Bai Shi bid farewell to Iji, a voice sounded in his ear.
In her distant sorcerer's tower, Ranni had been woken from her slumber by Bai Shi's voice on the 'public channel'.
Ranni despised being disturbed during her deep sleep more than anything.
She never expected, however, to be woken up because of the moon this time.
Communicating through the moonlight was not something they did often.
Moreover, Ranni had specifically added a one-to-one communication function precisely to prevent her slumber from being disturbed.
Usually, Ranni would pass down notifications, having Blaidd and Iji contact each other privately.
Of course, Ranni generally wouldn't make contact unless it was for a matter of extreme importance.
Just like when she entered a deep cooperation with Bai Shi before, she had immediately returned to her slumber afterward without a special notification. As a result, Blaidd and Iji only learned about the partnership from Bai Shi later on.
Listening to Bai Shi's voice coming from the 'public channel', Ranni raised an eyebrow slightly.
After Bai Shi and Iji had parted ways, Ranni took the initiative to speak, contacting Bai Shi:
"Bai Shi, have you already obtained the Fingerslayer Blade?"
Bai Shi was very surprised to hear Ranni's voice.
At this moment, Melina leaned over curiously. For some reason, she felt that the expression on Bai Shi's face had suddenly become very strange.
But he couldn't just ignore Ranni.
Maintaining a natural expression, Bai Shi recalled the method Iji had just taught him and began to 'private chat' with Ranni. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝘯𝘦𝘵
It seemed that Melina was completely unable to perceive this 'private chat'.
Melina's face, now close to his, gave Bai Shi a strange feeling of impropriety.
'I have successfully acquired the Fingerslayer Blade.'
Hearing the clear reply, Ranni was slightly lost in thought.
Only someone with a connected destiny could take the Fingerslayer Blade.
She hadn't expected Bai Shi's fate to be so deeply intertwined with hers, far more than she had imagined.
Destiny... what a ridiculous word.
Ranni did not want a predetermined fate, yet she was constantly constrained by it.
Especially after the stars began to move again, she could see glimpses of her own fuzzy destiny in the cosmos.
Within that destiny, she actually saw another person appear by her side, accompanying her forward.
Although the figure was indistinct, Ranni inexplicably felt that it might be Bai Shi.
Ranni shook her head, finding the thought somewhat amusing.
Destiny was indeed not to be trusted.
Ha, how could anyone walk that path with her? That was a dark road meant only for a witch.
Perhaps one day in the future, Ranni would feel ashamed of her current thoughts, but for now, she truly did not believe in this destiny.
Bai Shi was certainly a peculiar person, and he did catch her interest, but it didn't matter.
Ranni and Bai Shi had spoken only a handful of times, and she didn't think she would have any deeper contact with him.
After Bai Shi successfully conquered the academy and Ranni helped Melina regain her physical body, their cooperation would end.
Their transaction would be over, and it would absolutely go no further.
"Are you eager to have it now? I can send it over to you."
"But I think it would be better for you to wait a while before you act."
Bai Shi's words broke through the thoughts that had suddenly sprung into Ranni's mind.
After Ranni had contacted him, she had suddenly fallen silent. Bai Shi waited a moment before having to speak up himself.
In Bai Shi's view, Ranni was probably itching to carry out her plan.
After all, she had been waiting for this day for who knew how many years.
But no matter what, Bai Shi needed to persuade Ranni not to act so hastily.
Blaidd's helmet wasn't ready yet, so rushing at this moment was completely unnecessary.
Ranni didn't know why Bai Shi wanted to wait, but she didn't refute him.
She figured Bai Shi was probably afraid she would take the Fingerslayer Blade and run, worried that their cooperation wouldn't be completed.
"Rest assured, I only wanted to confirm."
"As for when I will act, do not worry. I will begin my own actions only after our cooperation is complete."
She had waited for so many years; a little more time made no difference.
Seeing that Ranni didn't seem to be in a rush, Bai Shi breathed a sigh of relief.
Ranni was not one to lie; she always did as she said.
Since she said she would wait until their cooperation was finished before acting, then she would certainly not start early.
"In that case, I'll give you the Fingerslayer Blade first."
As it happened, Bai Shi was also a bit curious about that soul of Ranni he had seen at the festival of combat, as well as the other functions of this mark on him.
Ranni was about to refuse.
But before she could speak, she sensed a change in Bai Shi's location through the mark.
Bai Shi had arrived at the foot of her sorcerer's tower.
Ranni quickly returned her soul to the doll's body, stood up hastily, and started moving books from her room.
Damn it, why is he so fast?
Couldn't he wait just a little?
Why does it seem like he's more anxious than I am?
If I had known, I wouldn't have spoken to him!
Muttering to herself about Bai Shi's impatience, Ranni finally finished stacking the books under her chair.
Wait, last time I think I used one less book than this. Crap, I grabbed too many!
But Bai Shi's footsteps were already coming up the stairs. Ranni had no choice but to quickly grab the top book, then sit down on the stack.
In some respects, Ranni cared a great deal. A very great deal.
Bai Shi walked up the stairs and saw Ranni sitting properly on her chair, as if she had been waiting for a long time.
Ranni's expression was calm as she looked down at the open book in her hands.
When she saw Bai Shi arrive, she immediately closed the book and looked at him.
"You were really fast."
Ranni seemed to place special emphasis on the words 'really fast'.
Bai Shi felt there was something off about Ranni's tone, but he didn't know what it was.
Teleporting via a Site of Grace was indeed fast. Besides, wasn't it Ranni who was eager to get the Fingerslayer Blade?
Also, although Bai Shi didn't know much about the books in the Lands Between, the one in Ranni's hand... was it possible it was upside down?
No, no, Ranni would never make such a simple mistake. He must have seen it wrong.
"Because I felt you couldn't wait to see this weapon."