The sunset cast a golden edge over the grass, with the new sword in Ariana's hand reflecting an orange-red glow, a mark refracted from the flame summoned by Ian for forging.
An automatically operating bellows was at work.
It seemed as if an invisible magical hand was rhythmically pulling it, producing a deep and powerful "whoosh" sound, each push making the fire in the air burn even more vigorously.
Despite lacking a proper furnace.
However.
The treasure sword was still forged.
The blazing fire continued to burn wildly in the air, the orange-red glow turning the surrounding grass red, yet not making anyone around feel much intense heat.
This was Ian's terrifying control over magic. Being an experienced alchemist, he could skillfully manipulate magic power to shape and polish the sword's blade out of thin air.
The sharp blade gradually revealed itself, emitting a chilling gleam.
It really looked quite cool.
Ian looked at his masterpiece with a satisfied smile, while Pandro, who intended to come over and make some snide remark, was instantly grabbed by Ian, ready to be refined at once.
Alright.
Not exactly refined at once.
This sword could be seen as a special "mecha", requiring a qualified "driver" to move itself, and who would be a more qualified "driver" than King Arthur?
Pandro always bragged about how great his swordsmanship was, and now Ian wanted him to show it. He didn't need to learn swordsmanship, just grab someone who did!
"What are you doing!"
Pandro was truly taken aback.
His eyes widened like two glass marbles about to pop out. Ian had already grabbed the back of his collar, and with the newly forged longsword in the other hand, he was pushing him towards the sword relentlessly. His limbs flailed helplessly in the air like a poor little bird suddenly caught.
"Wait! Let's talk this out! Let's talk this out!"
Pandro struggled relentlessly, shouting in panic, his voice echoing in the open space. Ian didn't speak, only kept pushing Pandro into the longsword.
"What are you trying to do!" Pandro wildly struggled with Ian mid-air, without a firm footing, yet he seemed to keep springing outward.
A true physics miracle... well, physics isn't really easy to apply here.
"Don't move."
Ian found that Pandro's struggling strength was quite considerable.
"I want to move! I want to move crazily! I know that look on your face! Every time you make that face, it's never a good thing!" Pandro struggled more fiercely.
The jingle of his silver armor rang as he moved.
However.
Ian's brute strength was still significant, and he secretly added some magic to himself, so under the Little Wizard's mighty power, Pandro's body gradually penetrated into the longsword.
After all, he was a soul without a physical body, indeed capable of being shoved inside by Ian, and upon proving this point, Ian became even more eager to try to push Pandro's entire soul in.
"It won't hurt! Just try it! Try it!" Ian's intention was merely to persuade Pandro to cooperate with his experiment, though saying it, he felt it sounded a bit strange.
Like a creepy uncle luring little girls into illegal acts—well, Ian thought his mind was too impure, but he still didn't release Pandro.
"Help me! Help me! Ariana!" Though being gradually stuffed into the longsword, Pandro wouldn't resign himself to being imprisoned like this. With half his body outside, he clutched the ground fiercely, pulling outward forcefully.
Ian and Pandro thus pulled back and forth, and every time Pandro pulled outward with force, Ian would increase his strength to push him back into the longsword.
Since Ian's strength was too great.
He could only seek help from his own "apprentice" practicing swordsmanship not far away. However, due to their comical movements that resembled a bizarre tug-of-war competition. Seeing this, Ariana, who's practicing swordsmanship nearby, couldn't help but laugh out loud, not at all inclined to rescue Pandro.
"Ian... hahaha... what are you... hahaha... doing..." she asked haltingly, tears of laughter welling at the corners of her eyes, her sword somewhat hard to lift due to laughing too hard.
Her entire body shook slightly with laughter, moving back and forth. Knowing Ian well, Ariana knew he would never genuinely harm a friend like Pandro too much.
Thus.
She just stood there mindlessly enjoying this ridiculous scene. However, Pandro wasn't as amused, constantly suspecting this was yet another bout of Ian's revenge.
There must be something like a hundred and eight layers of hell waiting for him inside the longsword.
Thinking further.
Pandro shuddered even more.
"Stop! Stop! Isn't it that you want to master exquisite swordsmanship without hard practice? I have a way, I have a way, just don't mess with me!"
Pandro's words were somewhat ambiguous too.
Nevertheless.
Upon hearing this, Ian paused, allowing the ancient British ruler to take a sigh of relief, which he seized as an opportunity to crawl forward a good stretch.
Yet the quick-reacting Ian still grabbed the fellow's ankle as he barely freed himself from the longsword, "Could you possibly have smarter ideas and innovations than me?"