CHAPTER 58: MASTER ALEXA
"What's wrong, Anna? Have you seen this ring before?" Sky heard the familiarity in Anna's tone and his eyes lit up as he grabbed Anna's hand and asked anxiously.
"Yes...of course I have," Anna nodded.
Sky: !!!
Anna had actually seen this ring before!
Sparks burst into Sky's eyes and he tightly held his friend's hand, asking, "Anna, tell me, where did you see this ring? Who..."
"No, Sky, you misunderstood. What I meant by 'seeing it' was...I saw the design of this ring in a rare art book my brother gave me last year," Anna explained quickly, sensing her friend's anxious expression.
"This is one of Master Alexa's proudest works before he passed away. You know, Master Alexa was known as the first person to turn decay into jewelry in the Xia Kingdom. His hands were magical, and the jewelry, antiques, and calligraphy and paintings he created were all top-notch treasures in the world."
"Master Alexa's works are hard to come by, even if you have money. My grandfather, who loves to collect antiques, was lucky enough to have collected one of Master Alexa's works in his lifetime. This ring, if I remember correctly, is one of Master Alexa's proudest works, made of a very rare obsidian material."
"Last year, when I was preparing to set up this studio, my brother searched through the collector's market and finally found a rare book of hand-drawn illustrations by Master Alexa. It was in that rare book that the crafting process of this ring was recorded. Speaking of which, the book seemed to have recorded the time of the ring's production, at least a dozen years ago."
So, the origin of this obsidian ring was actually crafted by the legendary Master Alexa over a decade ago.
Sky suddenly felt that the obsidian shard in his hand had become heavy.
This precious ring was left to him by the mysterious man at the club that night.
And he...let it shatter in front of him, broken into pieces.
"Wait, Sky...how do you have a work by Master Alexa?!" Anna suddenly realized.
She knew her friend's situation better than anyone.
Although the Lan family had power and influence, Sky had long lost their protection.
When he and Aunt Mira were kicked out of the Lan family, they were supposedly left with nothing. The Lan family wouldn't have let him take the ring with him.
"I... also obtained it by chance," Sky replied, brushing off Anna's question.
"Unfortunately, even if it's a work by Master Alexa... it's still shattered and can't be repaired, no matter how much we try..."
He didn't directly answer Anna's words, only lowering his gaze and trembling slightly, his eyelashes covering the emotions in his eyes.
Anna could hear the disappointment in Sky's words. Although she didn't understand where Sky got the ring from, she couldn't just sit back and watch her friend's disappointment.
"It's not completely unrepairable," Anna said.
"Master Alexa's works were never meant to be repaired in an ordinary way. I remember the art book mentioning that his works were made with special materials. You can't repair it with the materials in this studio! But I know a place where someone can fix it!"
"Really?" Sky looked up, incredulous.
His dull eyes finally lit up with a glimmer of hope.
Anna nodded firmly. "Yes, really! It's my Second Uncle. You should have heard of him. He's a master imitator in our city's jewelry industry. If anyone can fix this ring, it's him. Let's go, I'll take you to him!"