Even a novice like the boy who had just completed the forging, knew what the appearance of the sword signified. When he had finished the sword made using his senior's method, the sword was light blue and a blurry reflection could be found on the surface of the blade, but this blade was dull brown like the bark of a tree. Of the five elements, metal and water produced the most shiny items, while earth and wood would give dull products. Therefore, the duller the sword, the more earth or wood element that it possessed.
Of course, there were exceptions to this rule such as Dull Harmony which gained its dull appearance because of the harmonious balance between the elements.
The results seemed obvious, but everyone held their breaths as the boy presented the sword to Sir Dima. He held the sword with both hands and carefully examined it through touch and spiritual sense. There were faint traces of fire, earth and metal elements in the sword as well as a few other impurities, but the wood element held a firm position above them.
When the elder heard what method Shui suggested, it sounded slightly different from the one he would use, but he knew that it would work. And so, he felt no surprise when he announced the winner.
"The victor of this bet is the young man who Georg brought. Would you like to explain why your method worked better?" the elder asked.
Shui pondered it for a moment before agreeing.
"Yes. As we should all know, spirit iron has mainly metal element, but also contains a trace of earth element. When a fire attribute material is added during the forging process, it first suppresses the metal element. As its being suppressed, the metal element will draw upon the trace amounts of earth element in order to compete against the fire element. This will decrease the fire element's advantage against metal and so the fire element will only be slightly superior to the metal element, leaving only a small amount of it that can still interact freely. When we then add wood element to the mix, a portion of it will be absorbed by the fire element, but because the wood element will be in such excess compared to the other elements it will be able to forcefully suppress them."
As the ones other than Shui and the elder listened to this explanation, they nodded their heads with looks of enlightenment. They might look like muscle-heads. but no forge master could make it far without being able to understand this much. With the explanation over, Shui turned towards Georg, only to find him already kneeling.
"My most sincere apologies! I was rash and insulted you and your esteemed master because of my shallow pride. I won't beg for forgiveness, but I hope you'll accept this apology."
Georg was so decisive in acknowledging his loss that Shui stood stunned for a moment. When he checked the faces of Georg's fellow apprentices, he could see that they were in agreement with his actions. Although he had been upset when he insulted Uncle Bartos, Shui couldn't detect a hint of deceit in Georg, so he accepted the apology and helped him back up to his feet.
"You took your loss better than I thought you would," Shui commented.
"Of course. A real man can't improve if he's unwilling to admit his failures."
It was such an admirable stance that Shui couldn't help but feel some respect for him.
Meanwhile, Adrian was meeting his father in the office room of the property he owned in Paraj. His father had a middle-aged appearance, but he was over one hundred years of age so the natural aura he exuded wasn't ordinary.
Although he was ranked tenth, Adrian's father was still on the Array Master Minor Ranking, so his estate was rather impressive. However, the fact that this property was taken care of much better than the one back home, left a bad taste in Adrian's mouth.
Nonetheless, it wasn't like he had the guts to stand up to his father over something like that, especially not in the current situation.
"You, let her go?" his father asked with a stern expression.
"...Well, yes."
As much as he didn't want to admit it, lies wouldn't work on this man. For a moment, there was no response, but Adrian knew that this was the calm before the storm. Soon after, following a snort, Adrian was pressed onto the floor under the heavy force of his father's mental control, causing him to cough up a spurt of blood. They were both in the Earth Realm, but both mentally and spiritually, Adrian wasn't his match.
"It would be one thing if she ended up dying, but you're telling me that you let her go!? Do you take your father as a joke, boy?" his father inquired in a grave tone.
Under the crushing pressure, Adrian barely got his chest off the floor to reply.
"N,no. I thought, that it would be, better if I didn't try, to restrain, her."
Adrian continued to endure this harsh pressure that threatened to crush his bones, until it was eventually removed once his father's rage subsided.
"Explain yourself."
After catching his breath, Adrian then explained how their journey went so far, up to the current situation. Noticing the point where things started to stray from their plans, his father stroked his short beard in contemplation.
"So this 'Shui' interfered with the board. I didn't expect that the girl was so loose, but for her to choose him so easily... Really, could you not disappoint me for once in your life? If only one of your brothers had formed a connection with her beforehand."
Gritting his teeth as he remembered the humiliation he felt when Emily said that she was moving, Adrian responded, "My apologies, Father."
"And? I hope you've at least tried investigating him."
"Of course. In fact, while I was investigating him, I found out something that we could use against her."
"Oh? And what would that be?"
After Adrian told his father the shocking story that he had come across, for once, he nodded in approval.
"You've proven yourself slightly useful this time," praised his father.
Despite cursing his name whenever he got the chance, Adrian still felt happy to be acknowledged by his father. No matter how distorted their relationship, their parent-child bond wasn't something that could be snapped easily.
"Thank you for your praise, father."
"Good. For now, keep watch of her when you can. Judging by her actions she shouldn't have thrown you away yet, so we can still use that relationship. I'll tell you when to take action."
"Understood."
Hiding grievances in his heart, Adrian limped out of the room. Watching as he left with cold eyes, his father silently made the decision to sacrifice him.
'I should prepare for plan B.'