The sun was nearing its zenith in the sky. As if to prove it was different from a tomato, it shone its scorching, dazzling light directly down on Elwynn Forest, where Hunter Town stood.
Sheltered by the great trees, people walking through the town continued to laugh and play in the shade.
Perhaps because the fruits of technological development were unevenly distributed, ordinary people in this world had precious little entertainment.
Thanks to the stories he told at the tavern at night, Li Xing was greeted one after another by passing villagers as he walked beneath the trees. In short, they greeted him with nods, smiles, high fives, and all sorts of other gestures.
This tangible sign of how much his fame in town had grown left Li Xing a little overwhelmed.
Li Xing even noticed that a few young hunters in town wanted to go exploring and were calling out at important intersections, looking to form adventuring parties.
At the sight, Li Xing gave a wry smile. "Now I finally understand just how boring people's everyday entertainment is in this world."
He arrived at Uncle Turner's smithy.
"Uncle Turner, this sword of yours really is good! I like it a lot. But it's far too different from the Beast-Bite Sword I imagined. Could you forge a few more in different styles so I can compare them before buying?"
There at the counter,
a young hunter from town was examining a one-handed sword as he made his suggestion.
When Uncle Angie Turner, standing behind the counter, heard him, he slammed the weapon he had been recommending down on the counter and roared, "Buy it if you want it. If you don't, get lost! This is the style of weapon I forge. Take it or leave it.
"Yesterday, I already changed the design and forged it the way you asked. Don't push your luck. Whether you want it or not, you're not getting your money back today!"
After noticing Li Xing come in, Uncle Angie Turner softened his tone and continued.
"If I melt this sword down and change it for you today, tomorrow you'll have the nerve to ask for an enchanted lightsaber, understand?"
Seeing that Uncle Turner was genuinely a little angry, the young hunter at the counter looked ready to beg for mercy. "No more changes, no more changes, Uncle! This one's fine!"
With that, he picked up the sword from the counter, turned around, and hurried out of the smithy.
After the young hunter left, Uncle Turner looked over at Li Xing, who was standing awkwardly to one side.
"Hmph, you're here. Sit down!"
"I'm sorry, Uncle Turner! Sorry for the trouble I've caused you!"
Li Xing put on an apologetic smile and sat down at the table used for receiving guests.
"Uncle, there've been quite a few cases like that recently, haven't there?"
"Thanks to you, my shop's been a lot more popular lately, but there really aren't many people buying anything."
After setting a cup full of water on the table, Uncle Turner stared at him and spoke.
"What? You didn't come today to ask me to forge you some elven sword that glows when enemies are near, did you?"
Li Xing looked at Uncle Turner's tightly clenched fists, which were creaking.
"No, no, no! How could I?"
He quickly shook his head and explained why he had come. "I came to ask you about someone!"
"Go on!"
After Uncle Turner sat down, Li Xing told him what he had experienced that morning.
When he had finished, Angie Turner looked at Li Xing appraisingly.
"That's right! He is my brother. For certain reasons, he came back from the army and settled outside town.
"But you're pretty impressive! You mastered his 'Miracle' after practicing it just once, and you have a construction-type 'Miracle' yourself. As it happens, I've been pretty busy lately. Since you have nothing to do, why don't you come help out at my smithy tomorrow?
"That'll also let me see how your talent managed to wear out a hammer I forged.
"As for smithing, how much you can learn will depend on your own ability!"
"Thank you very much! To be honest, I was just thinking about how to find work. Your invitation is like a timely rain to me."
"No need to be so polite!
"But my younger brother's suspicions do make some sense. Li Xing, sometimes you're too tactful, just like those nobles.
"You're not as forthright and direct as we are.
"It's all right, though. I suppose that's just how you Pandarians are! Hahaha..."
Li Xing merely smiled faintly when he heard that.
Then he fell silent, a complicated expression on his face as he watched Uncle Turner laugh.
Seeing Li Xing fall silent, Angie Turner knew there was something else and asked about it.
"What is it, young man? From the look of you, there's something else you haven't said, right?"
"Yes! There is something else..."
"Whatever it is, go ahead! It's not like I'm going to give you a hard time!"
Looking at Uncle Turner's puzzled expression,
Li Xing stammered, "Well, um, you see, I... I just mastered your own younger brother's 'Miracle,' so I was hoping... hoping you could forge me... a..."
"Oh! It's not another one of those blasted elven swords or dwarven battle-axes or something, is it?"
Li Xing watched Uncle Angie Turner's brows gradually knit together as he spoke, while his fists, each the size of a sandbag, began to creak.
Li Xing hurriedly denied it.
"No! No! Just an ordinary iron sword! An ordinary one is fine, since I need it urgently. Haha... ha..." He kept the wry smile on his face as he explained to Uncle Angie Turner.
Angie Turner relaxed his fists, though his brow was still furrowed. He turned and headed toward the back of the smithy, saying, "Wait here! I'll go get you one from the back!"
After Uncle Angie Turner left, Li Xing breathed a sigh of relief.
He actually had wanted Uncle Turner to forge the elven sword he had in mind. But seeing how Uncle Turner had grown annoyed with the elven swords from his stories, he abandoned the idea.
Before long,
Uncle Angie Turner returned with a longsword he had forged, wrapped in cloth, and set it on the table in front of Li Xing.
Looking at the object before him, Li Xing knew this was the sword Uncle Angie Turner was recommending to him!
"Unwrap it and take a look! I forged this longsword according to my own ideas, using the descriptions in your stories and the designs the town's young hunters have been asking for lately as references."
Hearing Uncle Turner's words, Li Xing said awkwardly, "An ordinary longsword will do! Just an ordinary one!"
Uncle Turner rolled his eyes at him, drained a cup he had picked up at some point, and said,
"All right! Stop pretending. Don't think I don't know you youngsters!
"When you told your stories and talked about elven swords, didn't you always say, 'Strength is temporary, but looking cool lasts a lifetime!'? Why are you acting so coy now?"
Li Xing could only laugh awkwardly. He pulled the cloth wrapped around the sword away.
A silver-white steel sword appeared before him.
The whole sword was roughly as long as the distance from his navel to the ground. Its blade was no different from that of an ordinary silver-white steel sword, tapering from the hilt to the tip. The grip was wrapped in a polished wooden structure of unknown material and was shorter than an average person's forearm. It was somewhat like a hand-and-a-half sword and could be used with either one or both hands. The straight guard crossed the blade and grip at right angles, forming a cross.
To give a clearer picture, the longsword's design was somewhat like the "Greek sword" he had seen before transmigrating: a Frostmourne with a harmonious, smooth blade, without the inexplicable protruding spikes and ram's head on either side.
Seeing the sword, Li Xing remarked, "Uncle, you're a genius! The blade is incredibly close to that elven sword: elegant without being flashy, smooth without sacrificing sharpness. This is the sword I want! Uncle, could you sell it to me a little cheaper?"
Then Li Xing suddenly realized something and looked at the money pouch inside his clothes.
"Never mind! Uncle, you'd better give me an ordinary longsword. I probably couldn't afford this one even at a discount!"
Seeing how dejected Li Xing looked, Uncle Turner raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Take it! I won't charge you for it. Consider this sword payment for helping me out for the next while!"
Li Xing looked at him in confusion.
Uncle Turner went on to explain. "I've been to the lumberyard. My old friend told me you threw the whole lumberyard's work schedule into disarray! He could see you got so absorbed in your work that you often ignored your own body. But he also knew you were short of money at the time, so he didn't stop you from working. He just underestimated how much work you could do, Li Xing. You earned quite a few gold coins from my old friend, enough to nearly affect the gold he had to put into the work afterward!"
"I didn't think that much about it at the time. I just wanted to earn money to deal with my immediate struggle to survive. I didn't expect..."
Hearing how the uncle at the lumberyard had looked after him without saying anything touched a tender place in Li Xing's heart once again.
"Young man, I know. That's why I'm giving you this weapon as payment for helping me out for the next while! You should know I don't have as much spare money as that old friend of mine! Understand?"
With that, Uncle Angie Turner thrust the sword straight into his hands, leaving him no chance to refuse!
Feeling the sword in his hands, he recalled the words of the lumberyard uncle that day and what Uncle Angie Turner had just said. Warmth welled up in his heart once more.
Clutching the longsword, Li Xing bowed deeply to Uncle Angie Turner and said, "Thank you!" Then, holding back his tears, he left the smithy with the longsword that now belonged to him.
Watching Li Xing leave, Uncle Angie Turner murmured, "He really is a child who's had a hard life! Just a little care and consideration moved him so much.
"Was the way people treated each other where he used to live really so terrible?
"Still, to grow up in such a harsh environment and remain kind at heart, he's certainly a young man worth looking forward to!"
On his way back, Li Xing made up his mind once again. "I must repay the kindness the people here have shown me!"