Iji held the small piece of glintstone between two fingers—small for him, at least while his other hand propped up his chin, as though he were sunk deep into contemplation.
Seeing this posture, Lucian felt a bit puzzled.
Judging by Iji's smithing skill, something this small and simple could never present him with any difficulty.
Which meant he definitely wasn't reacting because he'd encountered something too complex to forge.
There had to be something else about this little glintstone tool that had caught his attention.
"Master Iji, what do you think?"
"Can you make it?"
Iji glanced at Lucian and nodded.
"Forging it is no problem whatsoever," he said calmly.
"Though it requires some technique, it still isn't enough to trouble me."
"But the person who helped the Academy make things like this… may have a bit of a connection to me."
Lucian's interest rose immediately.
He had always wondered how, in an academy full of nothing but sorcerers, there could be someone capable of forging magic tools of this type.
It seemed the answer to that question was finally about to be revealed.
Iji reminisced for a moment before speaking again:
"How should I put it…"
"In the past, a certain apprentice from the Haima Conspectus once came to me seeking instruction. His name was Hettis."
"He followed the teachings of the Haima Classroom and took 'settling conflict' as his guiding principle."
"But he wanted to learn how to forge weapons. Even I found that surprising at the time."
Thinking back to the apprentice, Iji let out two soft chuckles.
In his eyes, that little fellow had been quite an interesting one.
"He told me that wielding weapons is the root cause of war."
"When one holds a powerful weapon, one is tempted to solve problems with force, and a desire for slaughter rises naturally."
"So he wanted to understand—what weapons really were, and what it felt like to forge them."
"He believed that only then could he discover the root of war and, from there, search for the path toward peace."
"So he studied smithing with me for a while, and actually made some decent progress."
"But ever since the Academy sealed itself off, I have heard nothing more of him."
Iji shook his head, clearly not expecting that the next news he'd learn of the apprentice would be under such circumstances.
"Just now, on this piece of work, I found traces—messages he left behind during the forging process. A cry for help."
"These are special coded marks that only high-level smiths can read."
"He left a location, Raya Lucaria, in the Lazuli Classroom's study room."
"He's likely imprisoned there by the Academy's sorcerers."
Lucian committed the location to memory.
It was certainly a subtle method of calling for help, but undeniably too difficult for most people to ever notice.
If he hadn't happened to show it to a master smith, such a message would almost certainly have gone undetected.
And since the Academy was sealed shut, even sending a distress message didn't help much in general.
But thinking about it carefully, Lucian couldn't blame the guy, this was probably the only way he had left.
Luckily, fortune was on his side, and his SOS signal had actually reached someone who could understand it.
Now Lucian knew where he was, and coincidentally, he planned to visit the Academy in the near future anyway.
Which meant the next logical step in the "story" was to go rescue him and bring him under his command.
That was undeniably a great idea, Lucian had planned to tackle Raya Lucaria regardless, so saving one extra person would just be a casual detour.
Yes… the plan was actually quite straightforward.
A Haima Classroom sorcerer longing for peace wasn't very rare. Lucian even had the ashes of the Battlemage Hugues in his hand.
But what did intrigue him was Iji's high appraisal of Hettis's smithing skill.
The smiths in Stormveil were indeed mediocre.
They were fine for forging standard weapons, but Lucian and his subordinates often needed better equipment.
To put it plainly—Stormveil's smiths could only craft white-quality gear, while Iji and Hewg could reach gold-quality.
And as for Hettis… if Lucian dared to expect more, he hoped the mage-smith could reliably forge purple-quality gear.
That would be extremely good—good enough for even Lucian to use occasionally.
Placed in the hands of others, such weapons would be considered top-tier.
Especially since he had quite a few Astel larvae mandibles, which could be crafted into a number of "Fallingstar Beast Jaw" weapons.
Hewg was overloaded with work every day, and Lucian did not want to expose too much information in the Roundtable Hold.
Facing that guy "Two-Fingers' Intelligence," Lucian preferred to be cautious.
Iji may usually be free, but Lucian couldn't really treat him like an ox to be worked endlessly, so finding a reliable smith for his own faction was necessary.
Even if the smith wasn't top-tier, that didn't matter.
Lucian could leave his own personal equipment to Hewg and Iji.
What he needed was someone who could reliably forge large quantities of high-grade equipment for his subordinates.
"I've remembered the location."
"When I head to Raya Lucaria in the coming days, I'll take a look."
Just as Lucian parted ways with Iji, a voice rang in his ear—
Far away in her sorcerous tower, Ranni had been abruptly awakened by Lucian's earlier announcement on the "public channel".
Ranni absolutely hated having her sleep disturbed.
She did not expect that she would be woken up by the moon itself this time.
Communication through moonlight was rarely used between them.
And Ranni had added a private-channel function precisely to avoid disruptions while she slept.
Normally it was Ranni who contacted downward, letting Blaidd and Iji coordinate in private.
Except for truly, extraordinarily major matters, she typically didn't initiate communication.
For example, when she forged her deeper cooperation with Lucian previously, she immediately returned to sleep afterward, not even bothering to update anyone.
So Blaidd and Iji had only learned of it later—because Lucian mentioned it.
Ranni listened to Lucian's voice echoing from the public channel, raising an eyebrow slightly.
Once Lucian parted ways with Iji, Ranni spoke first and contacted him:
"Lucian, hast thou already laid claim to the Fingerslayer Blade?"
Lucian was surprised to hear Ranni's voice.
At that moment, Melina leaned over curiously. For some reason, she felt that Lucian's expression had suddenly become strange.
But he couldn't just ignore Ranni.
Lucian maintained a natural look, recalling the method Iji had just taught him, and began "private messaging" Ranni.
This kind of "private chat," it seemed Melina could not sense at all.
Melina's face, leaning in so close, gave Lucian an inexplicable sense of guilt.
'Yes.'
'I have already successfully acquired the Fingerslayer Blade.'
Hearing the definitive reply, Ranni fell slightly into thought.
The Fingerslayer Blade could only be taken by one whose fate aligned with it.
She hadn't expected Lucian's fate to be tied so deeply with hers, deeper than she had imagined.
Fate… such a laughable word.
Ranni never wanted a predetermined destiny, yet she was constantly bound by it at every turn.
Especially when the stars began to shift once more, she could see faint, blurry fragments of her own destiny within the heavens.
And in that destiny, she saw another figure beside her, walking the path with her.
Though the silhouette was hazy and unclear, Ranni inexplicably felt that the person looked like Lucian.
Ranni shook her head lightly, finding this thought amusing.
Fate, indeed, was utterly untrustworthy.
Heh, how could anyone walk beside her on that path? That path belonged solely to a witch, to loneliness and shadow.
Perhaps someday in the future, she might feel embarrassed for thinking this way—but for now, she truly did not believe in that destiny.
Lucian was indeed unusual, someone who drew her attention a little, but that hardly mattered.
Her interactions with Lucian were very few, and she did not believe they would ever have deeper contact.
After he conquered Raya Lucaria, after she helped Melina regain a body, their cooperation would end.
Their deal would conclude there, with absolutely no further step.
"Are you so eager for it right now? I can send it to you."
"But I think it'd be better for you to wait a while before taking action."
Lucian's words interrupted Ranni's wandering thoughts.
Just moments before, after contacting him, Ranni suddenly went silent. After waiting a while, Lucian had no choice but to speak first.
In his view, Ranni was probably impatient—ready to carry out her plan immediately.
After all, she had waited who knows how many years for this day.
But regardless, he needed to persuade her a little, telling her not to be so hasty.
Blaidd's helmet wasn't ready yet—there was no need to rush these last short moments.
Ranni did not understand why Lucian told her to wait, but she didn't refute him.
In her eyes, Lucian was probably worried that she would take the Fingerslayer Blade and run, jeopardizing the completion of their cooperation.
"Fret thee not; I sought but thy confirmation."
"As for when I shall act, be at ease — I shall set mine hand to the task only once our compact is fulfilled."
She had waited so many years already, she didn't mind waiting a little longer.
Seeing that Ranni didn't seem in a hurry to act, Lucian finally let out a small breath of relief.
Ranni was not a person who lied—when she spoke, she meant it.
Since she said she would wait until their cooperation was complete, she definitely would not act prematurely.
"In that case, I'll hand over the Fingerslayer Blade to you first."
Lucian was also somewhat curious about the Ranni-soul he had seen at the Festival of Combat earlier, and about the other uses of the mark on his body.
What—?!
Ranni had just intended to refuse.
But before she could even open her mouth, she sensed movement through the mark.
Lucian had already arrived at the base of her tower.
Ranni quickly pulled her spirit back into the doll's body, hurriedly standing up and grabbing books from the room.
'Verily… why doth he press on with such haste?'
'Could he not tarry but a moment?'
''Tis as though he groweth yet more impatient than even I!?'
If she had known, she wouldn't have spoken up at all!
Grumbling inwardly about Lucian's impulsiveness, Ranni finally placed the books beneath her chair.
Wait—last time she had used fewer books… No good, she took too many!
But Lucian's footsteps were already climbing the stairs. Ranni hurriedly snatched the top book away and sat down quickly.
In certain matters, Ranni cared—deeply.
Lucian climbed up the stairs and saw Ranni sitting on the chair, composed and elegant, as though she had been waiting for a long time.
Ranni's expression was calm, her gaze lowered on the open book in her hands.
The moment she saw him coming, she closed the book gracefully and looked toward him.
"Thou didst come with uncommon swiftness."
Ranni seemed to place extra emphasis on "uncommon swiftness".
Lucian felt something odd in her tone, but he couldn't figure out what.
Using a Site of Grace to teleport was fast, and wasn't Ranni the one who seemed impatient for the Fingerslayer Blade?
Also—Lucian wasn't familiar with literature from the Lands Between, but the book in Ranni's hands… was it upside down?
No no no, Ranni wouldn't make such a low-level mistake—it must be his imagination.
"Because I felt you must be too eager to see this weapon."