Hidden genius: Black belly snake

Chapter 293: If I was giving it to your mother... Part2

Miller took the long-sword from Tang Yue's hand and looked at it for a couple of seconds.

He then swung it around a few times before tossing it directly out of the smithy.

"You can now go start working with low-grade materials. Make me another long-sword."

The dwarf sternly instructed without giving any other criticisms.

I told you so! Tang Yue nodded with a big grin and went back to the work desk.

She then returned back to the dwarf after a few more hours handing him another long-sword, this time one made with heavy silver.

"Shall I start working with mid-grade materials now?" She confidently asked with big and bright eyes.

However, Miller loudly snorted. "Why?"

"Isn't the sword perfect?" Tang Yue frowned slightly. This guy was putting too much of a show alright!

"Sure. The sword is perfect but your techniques are subpar."

"With this talent, you will probably be forever stuck trying to forge a mid-grade weapon."

"You are joking, right?" Tang Yue indignantly retorted.

"I have already gained some valuable insights on the Refinement methods." 

"I will definitely be able to forge a mid-grade weapon soon." She confidently declared.

But the dwarf mockingly chuckled.

"Do you want to listen to me now or do you want to listen to me after a month when you are still failing at this?"

Tang Yue's face paled. She had indeed been failing at this technique.

Even though her comprehension of the metal's basic structure and framework had improved tremendously, she knew that she was still nowhere closer to deciphering the actual technique.

So she didn't try to put on any fake airs and directly asked. "Please advice, Master."

The dwarf revealed a smile for the first time and nodded contently.

"You have a weak constitution." He didn't mince the words and mouthed slowly.

"How is that possible?" Tang Yue was alarmed. 

She had been consistently eating several herbs and beasts and whatnot and her physical body was a superior evolved body.

Miller sternly shook his head and again repeated his words.

"You have a very weak constitution. With a foundation like this, just why the hell are you even cultivating for?"

"As for learning to smith, you might as well forget about it."

Ah~ Tang Yue blankly stared, not knowing what to respond.

Everything she did was on her own. She had a Master of sorts but that bastard was the worst and never reliable.

Miller looked at her confused expression and sighed. 

"Did you take pills for physical tempering?" He tried to explain further.

"Ummm Yes." Tang Yue vaguely answered. She didn't know how else to explain it to him.

"That's a shortcut." The dwarf reprimanded her. 

"It's very easy to cleanse your body using pills, potions, and herbs, but you will always lack a strong foundation if you go this route."

Tang Yue awkwardly smiled and nodded without talking anything back because that's exactly what she did.

"I have laid out Kirrion ores in that corner. Go pick them up and hit them with the hammer ten thousand times."

"Each hit should hold the full power that you can muster, not even a little less."

"If you are tired, rest for a bit, and then continued." 

"But you need to finish these ten thousand hits by the end of the night."

Miller continued giving out instructions and Tang Yue continued obediently nodding.

Charlotte, who was standing on the side and watching this show, couldn't help but giggle at the sight of Tang Yue being reprimanded like a small child.

"What are you laughing at?" Miller suddenly turned around and glared at Charlotte.

It was Tang Yue's turn to giggle but unfortunately, she didn't have any time to spare and quickly ran away to finish her tasks.

Facing the dwarf's icy glare, Charlotte froze and shut her mouth tightly.

Miller stared at her for a few seconds and then asked. "Are you an elf?"

"Ah~ Umm Yes, my Lord." Charlotte gulped and answered.

"You have a nice body constitution. One of the best I have ever seen, but you are still in the Saint realm?"

"Are you kidding me? What have you been doing?" 

"Even if you had just spent the bare minimum efforts you could have already become a Demi-God!"

Ah~ Charlotte didn't know how to respond. She helplessly looked at the two beast cubs next to her.

"Why are you looking at them? Are you rearing beasts? Is that all you want to be?" 

Miller mercilessly barraged her and cornered the poor girl.

No one had ever spoken to Charlotte this way before and she looked as if she was ready to burst into tears.

After a while, she couldn't take it anymore and shook her head vigorously. "No. No. No. I will hard work. I will not slack anymore."

"Young women these days are terrible, I see!" Miller coldly harrumphed. "Come here and pay respect to your master."

He is going to train me as well? Charlotte stared at the scary dwarf dumbfoundedly, but she didn't think about it too much and quickly kowtowed.

Learning from any Grandmaster was a huge deal. So she didn't squander this opportunity.

In reality, it was Charlotte's constitution, the Divine Trigram constitution that was extremely rare and too shocking.

Any Master would be delighted to have such a student as they can easily become at least a Demi-God or a Deity. 

Some people were just that blessed.

So Miller obviously wouldn't let such a good seed go to waste, especially when the young girl was close friends with Tang Yue.

The man might have been extremely strict and rude to Tang Yue, but he had changed his whole life overnight, swallowing his boundless sorrow, just to teach her a few things.

That in itself showed how much care and concern he had for her.

After Charlotte finished paying her respects, Miller loudly cleared his throat.

"I can see that you have practiced swordplay. Did you learn alchemy?"

Charlotte shook her head.

"You are an elf and you had no interest in learning alchemy?"

Charlotte blushed in embarrassment and her face turned bright red. 

Her past was something extremely disgraceful and she hated it when someone brought it up.

Just thinking about all the years she had wasted willfully pursuing Xander, infatuated like a dumb bimbo, made her want to bury her head somewhere.

Miller saw that the woman was clearly not willing to answer his question. So he moved on.

"Ok. Let me see what suits your talent."

"How proficient is your fire magic?"

"Master, I can perform a couple of high-grade spells before running out of mana," Charlotte answered solemnly.

"Fine. Summon your flames for me." Miller muttered scratching his chin, missing his beard already.

Charlotte quickly flicked her hand and several tongues of flame materialized. They were clearly a grade higher than what other Saint realm experts could summon.

Miller nodded in approval and then asked another question. "Do you have any other elemental affinity?"

"I can also sense some lightning essence, Master."

Miller couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly. "Lightning essence? Hmmm Not bad."

"Experts who manage to combine fire and lightning elemental spells are some of the most powerful combatants."

"Especially if they can also combine these attacks with their swordplay."

Charlotte obediently nodded, though she already knew these things.

Unlike Tang Yue, she was born and brought up with a lot of resources, so she had more than sufficient access to plenty of teachers.

Miller continued giving her a few more pointers about the path she needed to take in the future and then he added something else as well.

"Typically lightning essence warriors are natural runemasters. Have you ever tried rune crafting?"

"Ummm I have used them plenty of times but I have not tried crafting any." Charlotte apologetically scratched her head.

The dwarf couldn't help but rub his temples and sigh loudly to lower his blood pressure.

This was precisely why he hated teaching rich brats!

Though the missy in front of him didn't seem to be all that bad, she still very much had that nonchalant attitude, typically belonging to arrogant noble kids had.

He looked at Tang Yue who was already busy with her tasks, her full concentration on the work, and then at Charlotte who was fidgeting restlessly.

How did these two end up becoming friends? Miller sighed.

"Crafting is not just to make the ends meet." 

"A craft can also help your cultivation base, hone your affinity to elemental essences and improve your physical strength and battle prowess."

"So even if you are a young miss from the noble family, it is still worth it to excel in a craft."

Charlotte took to heart every single word from the dwarf and obediently nodded, but her face still lacked a certain resoluteness.

Miller sighed and asked again, trying a different approach.

"Do you want to stand beside and fight as equals with your friend over there?"

"Or do you want to be simply left behind in the dust?"