Adventure: My Skills Evolve Infinitely

Chapter 508: Chapter 246: Exchange? Epic Equipment: Shadow Blood Boots

Before they were even close, a booming, muffled voice drifted from inside. "How many times do I have to teach you? You still haven’t learned! How did I end up with a son as stupid as you!"

"I don’t like the sound of that, old man. Just the other day, when I forged that sword, you praised me. Said you couldn’t have made a weapon that good at my age. How long has it been? It’s only been two days, and you’ve forgotten all about it?"

"Enough nonsense! You were the one kicking up a fuss about going out to make a name for yourself. In the end, your forging skills didn’t improve one bit, and all you learned was a bunch of useless tricks. And didn’t you just come crawling back with your tail between your legs? You’ve wasted enough time. Get back to practicing!"

"What do you mean, ’useless tricks’? Business isn’t about fighting and killing; it’s about social grace and dealing with people. If you understood that ’useless stuff,’ you wouldn’t still be working for someone else..."

"You dare talk back to me?"

"Hey—! So you resort to violence when you can’t win an argument, is that it? I never said I wasn’t going to practice..."

Lin Mo and Bainlo exchanged a glance, both struggling to hold back a smile.

Just from the sound of their voices, they could picture the scene inside.

Still, Lin Mo felt that the son’s voice was strangely familiar.

Bainlo walked up to the workshop door and knocked. "Mr. Andre," he said politely, "it’s me. I have something to discuss with you..."

Master Blacksmiths were extremely rare, equivalent to Extraordinary Level experts among Professionals. Even as the young master of the Preston Forge, Bainlo had to treat him with the utmost respect.

"Come in."

Bainlo pushed the large door open, and Lin Mo peered inside, curious to see the Master Blacksmith.

He was the very picture of what one would imagine: a stout Dwarf with streaks of white in his hair and beard, but who otherwise looked spirited and in the prime of his life.

This was also typically the period when a Dwarf’s forging skills reached full maturity, and their Physical Strength had not yet declined significantly with age. To put it simply, he was in his Peak.

Remembering the conversation from before, Lin Mo glanced over at the other Dwarf—the Master Blacksmith’s son.

And then...

The two of them froze simultaneously.

"You’re not dead?"

"You’re not dead?"

The two identical questions, spoken in unison, left everyone else in the room completely dumbfounded.

"Ah!"

Ali was quick to remember as well. "Isn’t that the owner of the forge from Roland Town?"

That was right. The Dwarf standing before them was none other than Edgar, who had worked with Lin Mo in the past!

"What are you doing here?"

Edgar asked, full of curiosity.

"I was about to ask you the same thing..."

Lin Mo pursed his lips. "Back when things went down in Lania City, I made a special trip to Roland Town to find you. Turns out you’d skipped town long before."

Edgar scratched his head. "Well, I saw the situation over there was looking grim... and business wasn’t going so well anyway, so I had to give up on my startup and come home. When you get right down to it, the fact that I couldn’t stick it out is partly your fault, you know!"

’Well, I’ll be. So this guy is a rich... uh, a second-generation blacksmith. His shop in Roland Town was just for him to ’experience life’!’

’No wonder he was so willing to lose money on his so-called "investments."’

’But...’

"How is that my fault?"

"How is it not your fault? Do you have any idea how much you fleeced me for? And then you just turned around and ran off to another city. I never heard anything after that, so I figured you were dead."

"..."

Lin Mo rolled his eyes. "That’s because you skipped town too early. If you’d waited just a few more days, you would’ve seen my name ringing throughout all of Silver Stream City!"

"A few days later, and I might have ended up as a Goblin’s after-dinner snack..."

Edgar pouted resentfully. "That damn Lord was completely unreliable—except when it was time to collect taxes! He was real eager then!"

Andre, who had been listening on the side, finally pieced it together. "So, this is the kid you ’invested’ in?"

"No... Wait, yes, it is!"

Edgar denied it instinctively, afraid his father would mock him again.

His father had been teasing him about it relentlessly lately.

’But wait, that’s not right!’ he thought, reconsidering.

’This kid came here with the young master. And who is the young master?’

’He’s the son of a Duke... Don’t tell me this kid actually struck it rich?’

’So that stuff he said about his ’name ringing throughout Silver Stream City’ wasn’t just a load of crap?’

’Doesn’t that mean I have a chance to turn my own fortunes around?’

"Mr. Andre, we’ve come today because Mr. Lin Mo here would like to ask for your help in forging a weapon."

"Oh?"

Andre glanced at Edgar, his expression noncommittal. "Young master, you should be aware that while I have a partnership with the Preston Clan, outside of our agreed-upon equipment, I reserve the right to choose if and what I forge. Let me be clear: I don’t take jobs for anything below High Level Excellent Level."

He had chewed Edgar out over this ’investment’ plenty of times recently. If this turned into a reversal, the boomerang was going to sting a little.

That’s why he deliberately raised the bar.

Normally, he would accept commissions for Intermediate Excellence Level equipment, provided the conditions were right.

"I’m sure you’ll find it interesting."

Bainlo smiled and looked at Lin Mo.

Lin Mo didn’t waste any time with words. He directly retrieved the piece of Spirit Vein Mithril from his Ring of Space.

"Mithril?"

Andre raised an eyebrow, his expression still casual. That is, until Lin Mo opened his palm and fully revealed the Mithril.

"No... this isn’t ordinary Mithril!"

A Master Blacksmith was a Master Blacksmith, after all. In less than a second, his expression shifted. He leaned in for a closer look.

"Spirit Vein Mithril?!"

After a few seconds, he finally took a deep breath, confirming his suspicions.