Bear School Astartes

This shop is bigger than any other on Steel Street, built of wood and lime plaster, with a ceiling high enough to overlook the entire street. The two large doors are made of ebony and weirwood, carved with a hunting scene. On each side of the door stands a stone knight, clad in red armor, posed as if a griffin and a unicorn are guarding the entrance.

At the blacksmith's beckoning, a figure who had been hammering away by the furnace put down their work and walked towards the counter.

This must be 'Jandry'.

It's quite normal for the blacksmith master and owner to have apprentices greet customers before tackling real challenges or large orders.

Lann and Alia have already stepped through the doors and reached the counter.

The little girl was dazzled by the samples displayed on the counter, thoroughly enjoying her view.

Meanwhile, Lann's cat-like eyes swept over Jandry.

This boy was robust enough to rival adults who exercised regularly, though he looked only in his teens, with black hair and eyes. Such physical development could not be achieved by hard training alone; it required a combination of talent and practice.

Lann gave a friendly smile.

"The helmet's well-made, but if you aim to run a shop in the future, you should learn to be more observant from your teacher. See, we hadn't even come inside yet, and he already called you over to greet us."

The sturdy boy smiled stiffly.

"In the future, I plan to be a warrior, not a blacksmith."

Lann could see that he wasn't good at communication but still wanted to respond to others' kindness.

Then, perhaps to ease his awkwardness at speaking to strangers, Jandry fluently launched into a practiced store pitch.

"Sir, this is Tob Moote's blacksmith shop, and the master here is the best in all of King's Landing. He's the only one in King's Landing who can infuse dye into metal rather than just applying it as a surface coat. He even traveled to the Free City of Khoel to learn forging techniques from the masters there. He has mastered the spells and methods to forge Valerian steel."

"The weapons and armor here are unmatched, providing the best value for your golden dragons when spent here."

It's clear that the shop owner has full confidence in his craftsmanship.

He rolled out one impressive accolade after another.

Unfortunately, the one listening to this pitch was a complete outsider.

Lann's attention was fixated on the term 'Valerian steel'.

Judging by the order of words, this technology was clearly the pride and joy of the shop's owner.

And it mentioned 'spells and methods'... if not exaggeration, then does forging this steel involve magic?

Lann gave a nonchalant smile, as if impervious to the series of sales tactics.

He then started making casual inquiries about various items at the counter, like their prices, forging techniques, durability, sharpness, and so on.

Jandry responded fluently to these questions, but the continuous inquiries made him a bit dizzy.

At this moment, Lann noticed there were no other passersby within a dozen steps.

He formed a magic seal with his hand under the counter, emitting a faint white magical light.

[Yakxi Rune]

"Sir, perfect timing," Mentos praised Lann in his mind for seizing the moment.

Throughout the guiding process, Jandry never developed any antagonistic feelings towards Lann and kept himself in the position of a seller answering a customer's doubts.

This mental state greatly aided the effectiveness of the [Yakxi Rune].

The sturdy boy's eyes began to glaze over, with Alia giggling quietly by the counter.

Lann cast a stern glance at Alia, warning her not to make noise that could disrupt the magic seal's effect.

[Yakxi] is very fragile!

"Jandry, as a customer, I want to know, is there any truth in the master's past mentioned in the pitch just now?"

"Yes... at least I believe there is. He might really be able to forge Valerian steel, but forging a complete product from scratch? I... I don't think so. How long has it been since those methods were lost?"

"Tell me what's so special about this steel."

"Valerian steel is the best steel in the world! It's said that magic is infused into this steel, making it as light as a feather yet able to cut through any non-Valerian steel protection without getting scratched or dulled!"

"Exaggeration," Alia pouted and mocked from the side.

"The sword we have at Winterfell, last time I saw Rob handling it, it got stuck in the armor."

Lann turned to ask her, "You have a Valerian steel sword at your place? Regardless of getting stuck, was the sword blade scratched when pulled out?"

The little girl chuckled, "Hey, there weren't any scratches, indeed."

Lann rolled his eyes at her speechlessly and turned away.

Getting stuck in armor is a matter of the wielder's skill and strength, but under conditions of such skill and strength, it's quite telling of the quality that a Valerian steel sword didn't even acquire a scratch.

Lann didn't press Jandry for detailed technical questions about Valerian steel; he was just an apprentice unlikely to know.

And right now, the true master craftsman lay on a deck chair inside the blacksmith shop.

It's broad daylight, crowded with people.

Even if Lann were to use the [Yakxi Rune] on Tob Moote directly, putting aside how the master's resistance could affect the success of the magic seal,

just considering the number of people outside the shop would be problematic.

Imagine that, in a medieval city, someone barging into a shop, gesturing oddly at the owner while emitting white light, and then the shopkeeper getting dazed like an idiot... that's not how you cause a scene!

A Demon Hunter is skilled at tracking traces, and Lann has already seen this shop and its owner.

With his skills, he could easily play a game of sneaking into residences at night, using the [Yakxi Rune] to extract the knowledge he wanted.

Even Tob Moote himself wouldn't notice a thing.

The leak of this knowledge wouldn't affect the master blacksmith. When Lann fully comprehended it, he wouldn't start working in this world, so it wouldn't affect anyone's business.

Moreover, the forging knowledge of Valerian steel sounds like it involves spells. Filling in the gaps in this world would certainly be cumbersome.

But in the original world, Lann wouldn't be boasting... at least getting help from the head of a Magic Academy should be feasible, right?