Lilly and Iain followed Groob though the base camp. They had a hard time holding back their curiosity when they passed the market.
The adventurers presented a lot of novel things they found in the Frozen Hell. If they didn't have huge amounts, it was often better to sell or exchange them in the base camp. Groob explained that they didn't need to pay taxes here. Some small bribes were enough.
A few seconds later the trio reached a slightly taler building decorated with the army's coat of arms. The soldiers guarding the entrance didn't pay them any attention as they entered the building and approached a counter.
Heeding Groob's advice the siblings bought a sonar multitool, or SMT, here. While the siblings put these handy bracelets on their wrists, Groob stressed its importance.
The experienced adventurer explained how the SMT would use soundwaves to map out their surroundings. Naturally Lilly and Iain understood its helpfulness in a place without light.
Afterwards Groob led the siblings to buy a VSI Lens in the same building. Apparently, those tools were only distributed by the army.
Just as the young Rottals wanted to activate their lenses however, warnings appeared in their minds.
[Don't use those. We can help you with estimating your enemies' strengths.]
Fortunately, the siblings were slowly getting used to voices in their heads, so they kept straight faces while enduring the incoming headache.
Of course, Lilly and Iain always trusted their parents. So they only put those lenses into their eyes but didn't follow the steps necessary for activation.
Still, Lilly grew curious why theses lenses seemed problematic, so she silently questioned her mother. After all it seemed like everyone wore VSI lenses.
[Those lenses don't only spy on others' vault connection.]
A shudder ran down Lilly's back. If what her mother told her was true, then how many people are those lenses spying on. And what for…?
This thought easily occupied Lilly's mind while the trio walked towards Forgoz and Uramant. As Iain looked forward to watching another smith at work, Lilly tried to bury her concern in her mind.
After a short walk amongst crowded streets and lively adventurers Groob, Lilly and Iain climbed a few stairs and arrived at a small square.
Telling from its looks and noise this square was almost like a smaller version of craftsmen street. Iain somehow felt a soothing feeling when he took in the atmosphere in this place.
A few seconds later they met up with Forgoz and Uramant at the only smithy here.
"Got a SMT?"
The siblings were already used to Forgoz style, so they didn't think much about this question. Seeing Lilly's nod, the swordsman turned around again and waited for his weapon.
Uramant smiled apologetically towards the siblings.
"Are you ready for the Frozen Hell?"
"I don't know. I'm definitely nervous about all of this.", answered Lilly, while Iain's attention was fully grabbed by the smith's work.
"Haha that's normal. When we reach the Frozen Hell, you should stay with me. I'm in charge of defense."
"I will keep this in mind."
The friendly ice mage nodded before he added:
"You don't have to worry though. We won't take you to any dangerous places. The army naturally only allows weak beasts to survive in the camp's surroundings."
Lilly showed Uramant a thankful smile but was suddenly interrupted when Iain took twos steps forward towards the old smith, who repaired Forgoz' sword at the moment.
Lightly grabbing her brothers arm the young woman whispered:
"Don't be rude. We shouldn't disturb the smith's work."
Suddenly a weak but kind laughter sounded in the smithy. Without looking up the white-haired smith spoke out:
"Young man if you are interested in smithing you can take a look. How could this little bit distract me when doing such simple work."
A slightly displeased look appeared on Forgoz face, but he didn't oppose the old smith.
"I can? Thank you, old master!"
"Haha, you have great eyesight young man. I am really a master!"
Lilly turned around as she heard a slight chuckle from Groob. Noticing her questioning look, the adventurer pointed at her new SMT.
The young woman watched her wrist as a message suddenly appeared. It read:
'EFM Groob: The old man barely reached the master level, but this is his proudest achievements. Sadly, he probably won't advance again in this lifetime.'
While Lilly fiddled with her SMT to find out if it contained any more functions, Iain stood next to the old smith and watched his work in amazement.
Precise, rhythmic strikes of a hammer hit Forgoz' thin rapier under the smith's lead. A few sparks fluttered through the air after the smith slightly heated the rapier.
Feeling glad that someone appreciated his work, the old man didn't stop talking and explained everything to Iain:
"Heat management is the most important thing in smithing. My master always used to say, 'Smiths are the best fire mages!'.
However, he was also convinced the Frozen Hell hides a smith's haven, so take that old man's ramblings with a grain of salt."
The old smith wasn't discouraged by everyone's polite chuckles, so he merrily continued:
"Look at this gorgeous rapier here. We only want to repair it, so we must be careful not to heat it too much. However, this weapon isn't made of some lame steel but from the durable Tonorsium. That's why we are working with temperatures, which would cause steel to melt already."
In order to prove his point, the old man put his hand on a specific spot on his oven. After only mobilizing a bit of his mana, the oven's flame doubled in size.
Feeling the room's heat increasing suddenly, Iain and Lilly both had to take a few steps back. Even Groob and his team were slightly uncomfortable under this heat, but they forcefully endured it.
Noticing everyone's reactions the old smith laughed happily as he grabbed a piece of scrap metal from the side. Without hesitation he threw it straight into the oven.
Suddenly the flame danced wildly as it almost scalded the ceiling. Lilly had a feeling as if her eyebrows would burn at any second, so she hastily left the smithy.
Iain on the contrary stared in fascination at the piece of steel enduring the oven's heat. After a few seconds it already began to bend under the flames.
The old smith nodded in satisfaction as he took the steel out again. Watching the old man grabbing the scalding hot steel bar with his bare hands, Iain almost couldn't believe his eyes.
The visual impact was way more impressive than everything the young man had seen from other craftsmen. This moment allowed Iain to catch a glimpse of the possibilities existing in this universe.
"You see the drop that is forming here?", asked the old man while pointing at the bar's edge.
"This shows that the temperature is just right. This is one of the simplest tests you can do, but it works well if you are repairing Tonorsium."
Looking into Iain's amazed eyes, the old smith smiled as he continued his work. Rhythmic strikes sounded again.
"Of course we aren't only repairing the rapier's outer form here. Although fighting takes its toll on a weapon's edge, it wouldn't take that long to sharpen it again.
No. What you always must be careful about are your weapon's runes. Only very rare skills allow one to see the runes deeply engraved into a material. And even than you can only see the runic lines but not the runes they consist of.
Therefore, you should regularly bring your weapons for a check-up or the next time you want to slash out some wind blades, you might only produce a weak breeze."
Forgoz snorted in annoyance when he overheard the smith's words. Obviously, those were meant for him.
On the other hand, Iain only listened have-heartedly by now. His attention was captured by the striking hammer. Each time it hit the rapier, golden lines would appear for a split second.
In the young man's eyes those lines unknowingly became the most beautiful things he had ever seen.
Their unique golden color resembled an angel's golden curls. Their pulsation gave of the wonderful, pure feeling of a newborn's heart. Their form stabilizing the rapier seemed like a natural order.
Iain's mind turned empty while he observed the work of art before him. He ignored the heat spreading to his eyes.
For the past two days the young man had tried his best to learn the skill his father had recommended.
He wasn't able to make much progress, but he suddenly knew what he was missing.
When he observed other weapons, he only saw their surface. Only now was Iain able to see the mysterious runes which granted those advanced weapons their abilities. Only such weapons were qualified to be used by experts, masters, or even stronger warriors.
With this realization Iain felt as if an explosion went off in his mind. A single drop of blood ran down from his eye as a happy smile bloomed on his face.
[Acquired (Ex)Dismantling Eye Lv. 1]