Bear School Astartes

Chapter 333: 333. Departure

During the days waiting for the magic parcel, Lann wandered around the large blacksmith shop located outside the Airetusa Academy with the merchants visiting for a tour and inspection.

Of course, he always wore a hooded cloak to remain inconspicuous. Many others were similarly dressed.

They might be spies of a great noble under the king, wanting an upgrade in armament without revealing themselves.

Or perhaps merchants trying to avoid competitors and snatch the sales rights of new products first.

Such scenes were common in commercially developed areas, where secrecy was even more crucial.

For example, in Novigrad, often called the ’capital of the world’, many people in hooded cloaks came and went, passing information to those traveling north and south.

In that city, even beggars were said to make a living through intelligence work.

Belengar was involved in designing the core procedure. After the iron ore was imbued with magic, the roughly refined ore would be sent here, then further forged by the ordinary blacksmiths recruited, eventually becoming steel billets convenient for transportation and accounting.

Lann was stunned to discover that Master Tuer Butcher, the Master Blacksmith in Gos Velen City, was also in this workshop by the city wall.

When Lann saw him among the merchants, he was carefully holding a glass bottle with short, strong arms, dripping potion onto a heated Valyrian Steel Ingot.

It was a potion that made the recasting of Valyrian Steel effortless, with the formula deduced by the renowned Alchemy Master Tishaya de Veris.

After the potion’s dripping, the originally unyielding ingot under high temperature suddenly became soft.

Swayed by the master blacksmith’s skilled techniques and arm strength, the block of steel was elongated and reshaped from a square ingot.

In less than half an hour, the dark red steel ingot had already transformed into a long strip-shaped sword blank.

Having been shaped outside the furnace for a long time, the temperature of the sword blank continually dropped. Tuer Butcher’s experience told him it was time to return the blank to the furnace to reheat it for easier work.

The dwarf master ignored the spectating merchants, knowing they awaited the finished product for testing its slice, strength, and enchantment...

He too looked forward to it, but as a technician, he knew better than to rush.

These merchants aimed to witness the performance of the Valyrian Steel again, bolstering its credibility and commercial prospects.

While he pursued new technology as a technician.

”That sword blank’s form is definitely a Mahakan Rune Sword! No doubt! I’ve sold three, and it’s sharp, lightweight, and sturdy, even without enchantments it’s magical. Only the Ancient Vihill Sword made by gnomes can compare!”

A merchant confidently stated, sounding like a weapons merchant with good relations with the Mahakan Mine, home to the dwarves.

Another merchant standing near Lann made a further guess.

”Crafting the Mahakan Rune Sword, is he testing dwarf technology on Valyrian Steel? If successful, then the limit of this steel will be further raised! Cost and sale price...”

This sparked a new round of heated discussion among the merchants.

Lann was not interested, his cat eyes under the hood were instead watching Tuer Butcher with keen interest, who brought along apprentices and helpers from the shop for this new steel practice.

Fergus and Yuna diligently ran back and forth for the Master Blacksmith, wiping sweat and offering water.

Even on her way to offer water, Yuna kept her eyes constantly on the Valyrian Steel ingots, while Fergus focused solely on serving his boss.

One wonders how this dwarf, with expertise in ’persuasion and making friends’, convinced the stubborn dwarf master to bring a human female helper along to test new technology.

After roughly understanding his stake in this industry, Lann returned to Airetusa.

He was eager to get his hands on the magic parcel.

Such a tool, capable of significantly increasing carrying weight, would provide great tactical flexibility in the hands of a well-funded alchemy master.

Shilton had visited again in the past two days, not knowing why Lann, a major shareholder in such a vast industry, disappeared out of thin air for a while, but knowing Lann was leaving soon anyway.

So, this enthusiastic dwarf quickly set up a proprietary account for Lann to conveniently allocate funds.

As a bank president, he personally delivered the tickets and vouchers, leaving no room for complaints.

...Although he left with three small amulet gifts.

One to prevent corns, and the other two still to slightly enhance physical immunity.

With the new weapon in hand, and Margaret’s reluctance, the two days quickly passed.

The feel and weight of the Turbulent Flow Greatsword were excellent, completely satisfying Lann’s requirements for ’breaking through defenses’, ’crushing’, and ’against giant creatures’.

But it differed greatly from what Lann primarily used, the Iwami style.

Currently, only the ’One-Stroke Slash’ and the advanced ’One-Stroke Slash·Double’ could be utilized from this sword.

Lann wasn’t worried that this sword would only be used in a reckless manner; the Iwami style’s expansiveness and his own talent gave him confidence in developing techniques suitable for this sword with more practice and summarization.

It’s just that his current accumulation was still too little.

When Lann thrust the Turbulent Flow Greatsword into the alchemy pouch turned into a magic parcel, and then withdrew the nearly two-meter long sword from the less than twenty-centimeter high pouch, he wondered if this could be a kind of drawing technique.

”Considering your usage environment, I won’t ask your opinion on appearance. Regarding practicality, does it handle well?”

Tishaya, leaning on the chair back, formed a symmetrical arch bridge with her hands and spoke to Lann.

The young man repeatedly fiddled with this renewably crafted alchemy pouch, while Mentos collected usage data, striving to get the owner proficient in a short time.

”The actual space is 2.26 cubic meters, much larger than promised.”

Mentos had already detected the space inside the alchemy pouch through brief contact.

”Two cubic meters is just an estimated level; the actual size will fluctuate based on the casting level of the Space Expansion Spell at the time. You’re lucky; a previous unlucky fellow had a mage with a sudden toothache cast the spell on his magic parcel, resulting in just 1.79 cubic meters.”

”Did the Academy compensate?”

Lann asked curiously.

But before Tishaya could respond, the leisurely lying Margarita on the long chair spontaneously grumbled.

”What are you thinking? This is a magic parcel from Airetusa, having one is good enough, expecting compensation? The mage’s tooth extraction costs must be borne by that person; after all, it’s an occupational injury!”

The Demon Hunter nodded understandingly.

Clearly, it was the mage whose poor condition messed up the magic parcel, but the buyer had to pay for the mage’s treatment.

Monopolized high-end technology products, if you think it’s unfair, you can choose not to buy them, but if you need them, you must be prepared to pay a premium.

Thanks to education in the information age, Lann was well aware of the intricacies within.

On the evening of acquiring the alchemical pouch that had become a magic parcel, the young Demon Hunter stepped out of the Magic Academy’s gate.