A Blacksmith's Pride (2)

"Hmph."

Georg had ignored Shui's attitude before, but this was pushing it. He turned back to Shui with veins ready to pop from his forehead.

"Do you have a problem with my advice, customer?"

When Shui came here, he had no intention of causing trouble, but he couldn't stop himself from interfering when he heard the young man's answer to the boy's issue. This had nothing to do with whatever feelings he had for the young man, but his ethics as a blacksmith.

"I don't like to interfere, but I don't want you to fill this boy's head with inaccurate knowledge."

"What was that?"

Georg glared at Shui for he had insulted not just him, but also the experience and knowledge of his fellow blacksmiths who had helped him reach this solution. The oppressive aura of Earth Realm rushed at him, but Shui's expression was unchanged as he continued.

"When you used this method, I'm sure you managed to get the required amount of wood element in the sword, but weren't there also several traces of water element left in the sword that made it easier to melt?"

As if he was grabbed by the throat, Georg opened his mouth but couldn't utter any words. He was both surprised and interested by the fact that Shui managed to guess what was the result of using his method. During his generation of forge masters, this was deemed to be the best method, but the instructors had hinted that there existed a better method. However, this wasn't something that could be known without some degree of knowledge in the field. He hadn't realised it before, but due to the way Shui talked, Georg had the suspicion that he was also a forge master who was at least on par with him. This guess invigorated his competitive side and brought a smirk to his face. Meanwhile, the boy waited awkwardly as the two confronted each other. He wanted to leave since he got an answer from Georg, but as a forge master he felt that he couldn't miss out on an opportunity to broaden his horizons.

"That's right. My teacher told me that was a better method, but I never figured out what it was. Do you know?"

Now that Shui had made this his business, Georg wouldn't let him leave until he provided an answer that satisfied him. He secretly expected Shui to share a solution that he had learnt from his master, but Shui's explanation was much clearer than he expected.

"Of course I do. Your theory wasn't too off but you forgot about the properties of your metal. Although spirit iron is a very versatile and common metal, it still also has an innate earth attribute. Normally this wouldn't matter, but when you add excess water element in the forging process, the metal element will be drained and eventually the innate earth element will feed the metal element and give more power to the water element. Furthermore, the wood element will be overwhelmed by the power of water, causing the resulting artifact to lose the durability that it should have."

As Georg and the boy listened to Shui's words, they felt their eyes being opened. Shui managed to clear up many questions they had on the topic, and so they were impressed. They didn't know who he was, but what he was saying made sense. As blacksmiths, they were stubborn, but they would always acknowledge one's skill.

As if there was an itch in his chest that he couldn't get rid of, Georg hurriedly asked Shui to continue, but the answer he got crashed down on his excitement.

"In order to make a proper wood attribute sword, you must use a fire element supporting material instead of one with water element."

The boy raised his eyebrow in suspicion as he believed that fire element would be the worst option since it suppressed wood, but he was willing to listen further. On the other hand, Georg shook his head in disappointment.

"Tsk, tsk. And I thought you would be different."

Shui was on the verge of completing his explanation, but he didn't like George's attitude so he halted. The two faced each other head-on when Shui asked, "Do you have a problem with my solution?"

Georg shouted in response, "You bet I do! For a moment there, I thought you actually knew what you were talking about, but I guess not. In the end, you were just repeating what you heard from someone else."

Shui rolled his eyes in exasperation. He was only giving them advice out of goodwill, so he didn't really care whether they believed him or not. However, he didn't want to waste all of that time he spent talking so he asked one more question.

"Why do you think I used the words of another?"

"It's obvious. Fire element suppresses wood element so there's no way it can be used to make a wood element sword."

His logic wasn't completely off, but Shui was discouraged by the fact that he cut him off for something he was about to address. Shui shook his head with a look of disappointment on his face and walked ahead.

Georg wondered if he had realized that he had been seen through and was trying to escape, but how could he allow that when he had him cornered?

"Oi, fake! Are you running away?"

"..."

"Hmph, showing off borrowed knowledge, no wonder I don't know about you. I bet you and whoever your master is are just frauds."

Georg's first attempt at taunting him was only met by silence, but the moment he dared to insult Uncle Bartos, he made a severe mistake. To Shui, Bartos was both a master and a father to him, someone who he looked up to from the bottom of his heart. Therefore, anyone who would throw dirt on his name was his enemy.

Shui stopped in place, and then slowly turned around. Colder than the eyes of an assassin and more furious than an avenger; Georg flinched when he was hit by those eyes.

"Take that back," Shui said.

His voice held no fluctuations, but Georg and the boy knew that he was angry, and they could understand why as well. No one would like it if someone insulted their master. Georg felt that he had gone too far, but he couldn't back down so easily in front of his junior apprentice. The boy was actually hoping that he would be the bigger person, but he didn't realise that.

With cold sweat dripping from his back, Georg held his ground and responded, "A fraud, is a fraud. I won't take it back."

As he struggled to utter those words, Georg suddenly felt a cold touch on his neck. He couldn't see it, but Shui's killing intent was so concentrated that it was like a blade on his neck. Despite knowing that he would be in a lot of trouble if he went through with it, Shui still felt the urge to punish Georg. However, as his mind touched on his memories of Bartos, he changed his mind.

'No, he wouldn't want it this way.'

While the cold feeling vanished from Georg's neck, Shui raised a proposition. He took out a few bars of spirit iron along with a crystal with fire element and floated them towards the boy.

"Let's make a bet then. With these he should be able to try both methods, if your method results in a better sword, then I'll buy a material for you. Otherwise, I want you to kneel and apologize for what you said."

Seeing how serious he was, Georg wondered if his method was actually credible, but he still accepted. In two days, the results would be out. Although Georg would have the chance to mess with the results, Shui didn't think that lowly of him. Besides, in that case, he would have no reason to hold back.