When Candice saw Lei Zhen really sitting down by the side of the wall and had no intention of announcing their arrival, she was a bit taken aback.
Nevertheless, she didn't dare to disobey his words and cleverly sat next to him, albeit just a little distance apart.
"How long do we have to wait?" Candice then asked after a few minutes.
"Shh, don't speak and accidentally disturb when a master is at work. It's rude to do so." Lei Zhen placed a finger in his mouth and whispered softly.
After telling her that, he kept his eyes closed and patiently waited for the hammering sounds to stop.
There's a famous story of the three kingdoms in which Liu Bei had to pay Zhuge Liang three visits in order to recruit him as chancellor.
So why should he be impatient for waiting some hours?
Even though Smither Gary might not have the reputation of Zhuge Liang, his achievement in blacksmithing must surely not be underestimated if people kept talking about his craftsmanship to be top number 1 after all these years.
And he was currently here to request help, so how could he dare to act imprudently?
Alas, his patience compared to Candice's was vastly different.
Candice didn't hone her patience skills like Lei Zhen had done, so she could barely keep still after sitting down for an hour.
"Didn't you manage to wait patiently when it comes to me?" Lei Zhen raised an eyebrow and asked curiously.
She was able to stand still by the side of the door each time while awaiting his orders. Yet she couldn't even maintain such a state at the moment?
That didn't make any sense.
"I'm not sure either, Master. But I just can't seem to sit still properly." Candice replied innocently, feeling slightly embarrassed.
Hearing that, Lei Zhen became suspicious and narrowed his eyes. Candice was not the type to act out of control, especially when he told her to wait patiently.
'Could there be some unknown factors here?' Lei Zhen wondered silently.
Given that his naked eyes could not see anything again, Lei Zhen decided to resort to Omnivision again.
However, the moment he turned on Omnivision to change his field of vision, Lei Zhen nearly vomited as he quickly canceled the function.
'What the hell are these??!' Lei Zhen's face was aghast, almost as if he had seen a ghost.
His breathing became rapid, and he slowly stood up while moving slightly away from the light emitting at the door.
His unusual actions shocked Candice since she didn't know what just happened. She stood up and asked him if everything was alright. A worried expression could be seen on her face.
"Nothing, I was just slightly surprised by something," Lei Zhen said to not escalate the situation and resumed his seating.
Although confused, Candice nodded her head and proceeded to sit back down.
As for Lei Zhen, he finally realized why she was acting abnormally.
It was because Smither Gary was not hammering some normal type of steel, but steel that contained monster auras. This meant that Smither Gary was hammering monsters in his smithing work.
And as for the more precise details, Lei Zhen dared not spied any longer to figure it out since it could contain some secrets of Smither Gary.
The monster aura being hammered was able to affect Candice, and that alone was enough for Lei Zhen to know when to stop.
Knowing more might do him harm than any good.
With that mindset, Lei Zhen and Candice proceeded to wait for a long time until the hammering had stopped.
By the time the hammering was done, Lei Zhen's shoulder was occupied by Candice who was dozing off with her head leaning there.
"The two uninvited guests, I wonder how you found this place?" A voice from the room afar suddenly resounded.
"Wake up, Candice." Lei Zhen quickly nudged Candice slightly to wake her up.
"Smither Gary is done with his smithing now, so we'll need to introduce ourselves now." He added.
"I-I see…" Candice rubbed her eyes weakly, not knowing why she was so exhausted.
Normally, she could stay awake for three days straight without needing to eat or rest.
However, she was so fatigued here that she even fell asleep without realizing it.
"I'm sorry for sleeping on your shoulder, Master." Candice then apologized in embarrassment.
"No need to be sorry. The environment here might be different than the one on the surface, so it's normal." Lei Zhen shook his head and didn't mind her falling asleep.
After all, he was close to dozing off as well if it wasn't for his stern mentality to remain awake.
Sometime later, the two of them walked into the room, only to see a muscular man that resembled an appearance of a dwarf.
The only difference?
He was not what the rumored perspectives people have on dwarfism regarding their species.
Instead of Smither Gary being a short dwarf, he was in fact a tall muscular one that had muscles in his biceps.
His stature was so tall that he nearly reached the ceiling, and Lei Zhen managed to take a few seconds to calm down.
ραпdα nᴏνa| сom "Sorry to intrude on you in your private base, but I wish to request you for a smithing work." Lei Zhen asked and bowed his head slightly to express his sincerity.
Smither Gary remained unfazed as he then focused his attention on Candice.
There was quite a shock on his face when he realized Candice's species.
"Hoh, a high elf, I haven't seen one in ages. Though that slave collar on the neck is quite unsightly." Smither Gary commented.
"I have no interest in working for anyone, especially a slave owner. You should just leave."
"W-Wait a minute, Senior Smither. My Master isn't like the other slave owners." Candice hurriedly intervened and said.
She then closed her eyes, and a warm light emitted around her before gushing toward Smither Gary.
A few seconds later, Smither Gary seemed to have received some sort of transmission from her.
