Eternal Thief - Chapter 1171: First Try at Forging!

Without wasting any time, Elder Dewey ordered Lloyd to lead them to the Weston Clan Estate Forge. Since the Weston Clan have a rich background of Spirit Weapon Forging and their ties with the AIG Sect were extremely deep, the clan estate of the sect city naturally had a forge, which was the best forge in the entire city except for the Inferno Weapon Smith Association.

Now that George was under the scrutiny of being a Dual Runic Talent, no one dared take it lightly. Even Elder Homer was completely solemn and wanted to see if George was really what he was claiming to be.

As for Lloyd and the elders under them, their hearts were racing and filled with ecstasy and a hint of worry. The former because if George really turned out to be a Dual Runic Talent and since he was found in their clan’s city, they would earn massive merit, while the latter because they were regretting their approach with him and weren’t able to establish any kind of goodwill or able to rope him in.

Alas, it was already too late with Elder Dewey. They knew they wouldn’t be able to rope him in unless Elder Dewey lost his interest, which at this point was completely impossible.

On the other hand, Ace was quite confused as he could clearly feel something was wrong with everyone’s emotions, and despite him asking about what led to this, no one bothered to tell him. He was only told to show them his talent in both Spirit Rune Crating and Spirit Forging before any further information.

Nonetheless, Ace was still fine with it as long as he got to enter the AIG Sect, and from what he could tell, if they confirmed whenever they were hoping for it, it might bring him an unexpected surprise.

The forge was quite large, almost spreading out over a mile square meter.

There were all sorts of equipment for Spirit Forged, and there were many displays of beautiful weapons, blueprints, and murals. It would not be wrong to call this a museum rather than a Forge.

“John designed it?” Elder Dewey was full of melancholy and nostalgia as he thought about John’s personal forge in the sect. He knew John loved to display his proud creations and treat them like art.

Lloyd’s expression was pained as he nodded in reminiscence: “Yes, my little brother personally designed it, and he always loved to spend time here. But now, alas…sigh…”

Even Elder Marguerite’s eyes were misty as she watched the beautiful forge and instantly thought about how John loved to brag, show her around, and talk endlessly about his new creations.

However, one person asked this mourning bunch, ‘Are they talking about John Weston, who was assassinated by the Fiend Assassin Guild’s blood puppet assassins?’ Although I only got a very small portion of his memories because of the broken seal, I do know he belonged to the Weston Clan. But I never expected he would have this kind of standing!’

At this moment, realization dawned on Ace as everything finally started to make sense as he glanced at Elder Dewey’s melancholic expression.

‘So that’s why they were here! It’s all because John Weston and seemed to have an extraordinary relationship with this Forger Elder, probably a master-disciple relationship. If only his storage ring had survived his suicidal explosion, I might’ve got some clues…’ Ace lamented in secret.

That day, after getting rid of the blood puppets, he searched for John’s belongings, but there was nothing but ashes; even his storage rings hadn’t survived. So, he didn’t know John’s actual status in the AIG Sect.

Elder Dewey no longer thought about the past as he knew John was already gone, and he wasn’t here to reminiscence.

He looked towards George and said, “Alright, lad.

You can use anything you want here. Those materials stored here should be enough to forge a Grade-9 Runic Treasure.

I don’t know what your specialty is, but it doesn’t matter if it’s armor, weapons, or even accessories.

“If you create a Grade-9 Runic Treasure, I’ll provide you materials for 1-Star Spirit Rune Crafting.

Once you manage to pass both of my tests, I promise I’ll personally teach you and help you break into the 1-Star Spirit Forger Realm of weapon specialists!”

Although Ace had never really forged, he was still confident in his imitation abilities as long as he had memories. Furthermore, Elder Dewey didn’t have any specific treasure forging request.

He knew whether it was a runic smith or spirit forger. They all had their own specialty.

Some were proficient in forging weapons, and some made the best armor. This is similar to rune crafting, which has talismans, arrays, and formation arrays.

Nodding in acknowledgment, Ace moved towards the forging platform, which had a towering black furnace in the center, an anvil filled with runes. There was a thick iron forging table, and there was a shelf display with a dark brown hammer, which was like a work of art in the center of this shelf, and within the other sections were tongs, chisels, and such tools.

It was the entire collection for Spirit Forging, and Ace could tell with a glance that they were all at least Upper Ascension Grade-1, especially that hammer.

However, Ace didn’t have any intention to touch them because, from all the memories of runic smiths, their most sacred treasures were none other than their forging tools, and it was taboo to touch them as they were equal to their lives.

Furthermore, a true runic smith would always use his own tools until they break, it was some kind of bond between a smith and his tools, they will never discard them and keep them as a memorial for they represent their blood and sweat, an embodiment of their achievements. Although John was dead, and he even got permission from Elder Dewey to use his tools, Ace had a hunch that it was a test to see his ‘smith integrity’ and how he honors his fellow craftsmen.

It should also be about to see his nature.

After all, Elder Dewey was a smith through and through, and he would notice these small details even if others overlooked them.

That’s why Ace selected tools from his own ‘warehouse’; he has plenty of them, and he knows what to do with them. At this point, elemental-grade treasures were even akin to trash for him, but he still kept them as a memorial of his past and had no intention of getting rid of them unless necessary.

Seeing George didn’t take any of John’s tools, and he even bowed slightly towards the hammer as a gesture of respect before starting to take out his own tools, a small smile broke on Dewey’s face as he nodded in appreciation. Others also have quite a favorable impression of George because of this small gesture.

‘He did have the integrity of a forger. Not bad!’ Elder Dewey nodded in approval.

Just as Ace suspected, this was really a test, and he hasn’t even started forging yet!