“Not bad, the impossible has actually been accomplished. And yet, I still can’t figure out how he did it.” Thomas Graham Master said in a deep voice. Oscar Graham was even more astonished: “Even you, teacher, can’t see through the mysteries of this sword?”

Thomas Graham took the sword, swung it a few times, and said to Quentin Graham beside him, “Quentin Graham, what do you think?” Quentin Graham replied in his gruff voice, “The blade is too light, the edge too brittle, the spine doesn’t hold enough iron, and the connection between the hilt and the blade is weak—judging it purely as a sword, it barely passes. You could probably find an ordinary knight’s sword like this in any blacksmith shop on the street.”

Thomas Graham nodded, “Quentin Graham’s eye for detail has improved again. Well said, this sword is very ordinary.” Oscar Graham interjected, “But it has both water and fire elements fused into it, and can cast magic from both schools. To combine two completely opposing elements—on the Starforged World, only an artifact can do that!”

Thomas Graham nodded as well, “Yes, an artifact.” He swung the knight’s sword in his hand. “A fragile artifact—this sword probably couldn’t even withstand a full-force blow from Quentin Graham. Although it fuses two opposing elements, there are no magic arrays inscribed on it, so it can’t unleash powerful dual-element spells. But it truly does combine two opposing magical elements, meeting the standard of an artifact.” Thomas Graham smiled wryly, weighing the longsword in his hand. “This is probably the most useless artifact in the entire Starforged World…”

Chapter 005: Magical Weapons

Even if it’s useless, an artifact is still an artifact.

Oscar Graham understood this well: “So, teacher, you want to find this person?” “Exactly. I’m very interested in how he managed to fuse two completely opposing elements into a single weapon.”

Quentin Graham said from the side, “But Master, we came here for…” Oscar Graham cut him off before the master could speak: “Quentin Graham, you don’t understand what this sword means to an alchemist. If teacher can master this technique, he could reach the heights of Benjamin Franklin!”

Quentin Graham had heard of the famous Benjamin Franklin, and after hearing Oscar Graham say this, he quickly changed his tune: “If that’s the case, then our original purpose for coming here isn’t worth mentioning.”

Thomas Graham ignored the argument between his two attendants, continuing to toy with the longsword in his hand, his gaze entranced, like a lovesick wanderer lost among the peaks of his beloved.

Charles Barnes only found out after returning home that William Graham had already left. “He’s gone? How could you let him leave, you bunch of useless fools!” The servants, bewildered after being scolded, had one bold enough to ask cautiously, “Young master, did he steal your gold coins?”

Charles Barnes, furious, took his men out to search the streets. Although Mount Hope City couldn’t compare to those super cities on Earth with tens of millions of people, it was still a city developed over a hundred years, with crisscrossing roads and residential and commercial districts tangled together. Finding one person was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Besides, Charles Barnes was just a wealthy young master, not the son of the city lord with real power. After searching all day and finding nothing, an exhausted Charles Barnes returned home, dejected, watching his chance to enter Dongsheng Academy slip quietly through his fingers, feeling utterly unwilling.

William Graham left Charles Barnes’s house with four hundred gold coins in his pocket, suddenly realizing that being an alchemist was such a lucrative job, and the problems that had troubled him seemed to be solved.

Although he was fairly skilled, in a world full of powerful people, he might not even count as outstanding. Things like robbing the rich to help the poor were probably out of the question. To gather the huge sum needed to buy materials, opening a small alchemy shop seemed like a good idea.

Since he’d made up his mind, he had to be practical. Mount Hope City was a small city, but that also meant less competition. Starting here, growing step by step, and then gradually moving into bigger cities—that was the right path.

William Graham decided to stay and open his own little alchemy shop. With four hundred gold coins as startup capital, it wasn’t much, but it was enough.

William Graham had a clear idea of the basic goods for an alchemy shop: mostly potions and equipment. The main potions were: berserker potions for warriors, healing potions, and mana potions. As for equipment, there was a lot—long spears, short swords, great axes, heavy hammers. It was impossible to make everything at once, so he’d start by making a few to fill out the shop, and add more gradually.

Charles Barnes searched everywhere for William Graham, visiting every alchemy shop in the city. Old Hans had never met William Graham before, so he couldn’t provide any useful clues to Charles Barnes, leaving the young master quite disappointed.

William Graham rented a small courtyard and was busy crafting magical weapons. Weapons weren’t usually made by alchemists, though sometimes they played the role of blacksmiths. But a more convenient way was to buy fine weapons from the dwarves and then enchant them, turning them into magical weapons and greatly increasing their value.

Magical weapons also came in several grades.