novelraw Chapter 114 - 113 - Friendly Debate
Chapter 114 - 113 - Friendly Debate
"Thwish ish so dewishliouish!" Annabelle was crying as she ate at the finely glazed treat after they found an open air dining area. It was a relaxed atmosphere as a cross section of what appeared to be Body Refining Realm laborers and elite World Realm masters dined on the tasty food of several shops around the courtyard.
It reminded Lind of the few malls that still had a foodcourt back on Earth. The quality of food, however, was far beyond anything Earth had. Even he had been impressed at the range of choices from a well balanced dish of meat and vegetables to pure desert!
Annabelle's eyes had glistened with joy when Lind bought her first desert. He had to restrain laughter as it was both adorable and quite funny to see her jump up and down in excitement. Many patrons smiled knowingly at her antics. A few aether children hid behind their robes as they likely remembered their own reactions long ago.
After a long journey by boat and across the land by foot, Lind was glad to finally reach his destination despite the incident on arrival. He looked around at the now truly large flow of people. Even as late afternoon was heading towards twilight, it showed no sign of slowing down.
"I am telling you the core is the problem, not the inscriptions!"
"Are you daft in your old age?! It is clearly an issue with the inscriptions, not the core!"
Lind picked up a conversation a few tables away. He looked over to see two older men. It was too difficult to filter out the Qi in the air but Lind could at least make out Iron Tier World Realm Qi near them.
Were they weapon refiners? The talk about inscriptions versus cores could be about weapons or artifacts. Between the two, cores were a vital part of an artifact that made the heart of its functions work. Much like a beast core, an artifact core was better the stronger it was. Inscriptions, on the other hand, were used for both but were more important for weapons as usually there was only room for a small core in the hilt or handles.
The core dictated the elements that could be used while inscriptions generally complete the grade of the item. A grade 1 weapon was not much better than a normal sword as it had no core and only a few inscriptions to increase its durability or other aspect. From grade 2 and above, the combination became critical.
The puzzles Lind still had from Cyntilla had been truly challenging but he had to use his staff back then to safely channel the elements to unlock some of them. It was due to the cores only accepting certain elements that had to be used at once.
The thought of the puzzles pulled Lind back to the 2 old men. One was wearing an apron over simply dark gray robes while the other seemed to be wearing pale green robes inscribed with formations for assistance in Qi control. Lind guessed the formations were at the peak of Iron Tier as well.
"Lind?" Lind was pulled out of his analysis by Annabelle who had a large smudge of honey on her cheek. He nearly snorted in laughter as he used a napkin to clean her up. She smiled innocently at him as he helped her stand up and move towards the 2 old men.
"It is clear as day to someone blind stupid that if the core can't adapt, no amount of inscription will save you, damned old fool!" The pale green robe was getting heated but the apron man calmly sipped at his drink.
"If the inscriptions don't carry the Qi of the user at all, what does the spirits cursed core even matter, old man?" Lind felt they were arguing in a circle but forgetting something important.
"While it is true inscriptions carry the Qi to the core, without the core, no function can be performed. It is the balance between the 2 that produces the result, so the balance is more important is it not?" Lind volunteered his view and both old men looked at him in irritation but he did not flinch. He produced his staff and let it extend in front of them.
"Oooh, what is that lad?" The apron man went from annoyed to gleeful looking it over while the pale green robe also started looking it over. Lind smiled as he channeled all 6 of his elements that let the staff light up with their power. Dead silence fell across the crowd as any weapon or artifact for all 6 elements was considered mythical by the world.
"All 6 elements! He has an artifact that can channel all 6 elements!" The pale green robe was now jumping up and down like a small child despite his gray beard and wrinkles.
"Are you daft?! It is clearly a weapon!" The apron man was also in awe but Lind could see an argument starting if he did not head it off.
"I am happy to show you my bound treasure as I also want to learn more about it." Lind had put off studying the staff as he had focused on his elixirs, but now that he had a good foundation and was making progress on his own, he was ready to try and fill in the other gap he was lacking. Without the staff, there were very few items he could use outside of pills or elixirs on his own.
"My forge is ready to welcome you lad. My name is Cain!" The apron old man with wild gray hair and bright smile was Cain. Now to be out done, his counterpart, the green robe slammed his hands on the table.
"My Myriad Treasures workshop can offer more than your weapons shop. I am Harold. If you come with me, we can look over this artifact in precision." Lind felt his smile twitch. His rescue came in an unexpected way.
"Lind wants to learn, so why don't you all 3 look it over somewhere easy to be together?" The innocent voice broke the tension like a hot knife through butter. Annabelle had tilted her head cutely as she voiced her question. It was impossible to be angry at her.
Both Harold and Cain had no argument to her reasonable suggestion.
Lind followed the 2 experts as Annabelle smiled next to him. He patted her head as she giggled at the attention. They finally reached a road full of the sounds of metal on metal in a set rhythmic pattern. The smell of forges did not permeate the air but smoke could be seen clearly rising from several buildings. Lind was truly curious but followed the 2 seniors.
He could now confirm they were both peak Iron Tier World Realms. He noted Cain had a strong fire flow of Qi while Harold had light and fire both in balance. Fire, earth, air, and water were thick in the air of this road compared to the rest of the city, but Lind saw bursts of light on a few forges as they passed.
They stopped between 2 rather impressive shops. There was a cold forge and anvil set up while Lind saw a place to set up a melting cauldron as well. It was a demonstration courtyard that was clearly up for use.
"Old Lu won't object to using this for the afternoon." Cain spoke and Harold nodded. Lind pulled out his staff and allowed his elements to flow briefly as he set it on the anvil.
Both men summoned from bracelets or bags some tools to examine the staff. Lind looked on intently as he felt his connection to the staff vibrate with their Qi flowing over it. Since it could not be stolen, he felt no worry, but it was the first time someone was doing a detailed analysis.
His only worry was that Immortals made this treasure so it may be beyond anyone figuring it out.
"These inscriptions are profound. The arrays between the 6 cores are fascinating." Harold was mumbling but Lind heard every word. Cain nodded but he seemed focused on something else.
"There are 12 sets of inscriptions to allow all 6 elements flow in and out safely while not interfering with each other. This is far beyond the complexity of a Sky Realm weapon." There were not disagreeing exactly, but Lind could only smile quietly as they continued to pick apart what they saw with their tools.
Now that they spoke, Lind was able to make some of it out. The 6 cores he had known as that was the only way to get it work but the arrays were far beyond him. Even these 2 experts only commented on them while focusing on the inscriptions that were not so complicated on their own but became complicated to achieve their results.
Lind waited for things to progress while Annabelle began to practice some of the techniques he had taught her. Lind occasionally channeled 2 elements for a minor expression of technique effects of higher tier Soul arts. It made the 2 old men smile wide like they had found candy for free.
"Could we take this apart?" Lind had expected the question but smiled as he offered them to try. The moment they pried at one of the woven shapes on the surface of the staff, it flared instantly and returned to Lind's belt. He sighed as experts made no difference.
"That happens every time." His frustration came through to the 2 old men and they nodded but clearly the arrays did not allow for it to be disassembled. A bound treasure often had such defenses but not always.
"What are you looking to learn boyo?" Lind felt his smile twitch as Cain seemed to talk like one of those characters that were memes on the internet. Still, Lind had noticed both men were experts in their field. Cain was more direct and blunt with his take while Harold was extremely careful looking at the interior of the staff.
"I am a 6 elemental that had some breakthroughs in the use of my 6 cores together but this staff is the only item I can use freely. I still need it to use current artifacts and weapons despite my breakthroughs." Lind tossed a jade slip to them and they both examined it. A look of awe flashed over their dark eyes as they looked at Lind in a new light.
"These are quite good. You have a gift!" Lind took the praise with a grain of salt due to the credit mostly went to the very staff at his waist. Harold likely meant it, but still, Lind had a long road ahead.
"I want to try and learn about refining in general and understand the principles. I am looking for guidance and welcome suggestions." Lind bowed humbly before the 2 experts. He hoped to be allowed to learn from someone and maybe these 2 would point out someone willing to teach a 6 elemental.
The silence stretched and Lind finally glanced up to see something stunning.
The 2 old men appeared to be playing rock-paper-scissors! While it may have evolved naturally as a game in this world, Lind highly doubted it. The practice of using it to decide something was very much an Earth origin.
"What are they playing, Lind?" Annabelle had noticed as well and was very curious. Lind only shrugged as he was unsure how to explain this particular quirk. Why were these old men doing this?
After about 5 rounds they started to have veins appear on their foreheads. Lind felt it was time to hop between them once more.
"Seniors! Please do not fight over this question. I know it is very unlikely someone would teach me much, but I am looking for anything I can get. A library would be enough for me to start." Sects had some knowledge Lind could use but it was mostly geared towards their specialties or lineages that Lind would have to pick apart to get to work for him.
He did not feel suicidal enough to breakdown a treasured production technique because he had to work it out from scratch.
Surprisingly, both old men looked at Lind in confusion at his words.
"You expect us to hand you off to someone else when you have such a remarkable treasure? Not in this life nor any other would we give that up!" Harold was very passionate but Cain was firmly nodding next to him.
"You are fighting over who trains me?" Lind was stunned but saw them nod. He almost felt giddy as he had seen fairly complete and detailed techniques in their analysis. "Why not split the time with me then? You both have different approaches and may find the other sees something that will enlighten you if you get stuck?"
Lind's suggestion nearly sent both men huffing but then Annabelle giggled.
"Lind is really smart and kind. You 2 are funny. Let's all get along!" Her naive innocence once more broke the deadlock and all 3 men seemed to rub their heads or scratch their cheek in embarrassment.
"The lass makes sense! We can put our 2 heads together. If anyone can figure out the secrets of that staff, it will be us!" Cain made a bold declaration and held out his hand to Harold who took it slowly. They shook firmly and Lind breathed a sigh of relief.
"Junior greets new Masters" Lind bowed 3 times to each man and saw them smile confidently. "I need to get Annabelle setup somewhere first but where am I going to start?"
Lind feared there would be another fight, but surprisingly, Harold pointed to Cain.
"Artifacts skip a few things in Body Refining Realm that weapon refiners are highly detailed at. Cain is at the Sunlit Forge just up this street. You should start tomorrow." Cain stuck his chest out at Harold's words but then deflated on the next. "Once you have the basics, the fine technique of artifacts will reveal the true way of creation!"
Lind bowed and quickly left before another fight could begin. Likely it would anyway, but he no longer wanted to waste the day quickly fading into night there.