Smith had a defeated look. He had a lot to say but he couldn't lose the chance to learn some thing that no other blacksmith could do. That was one reason for him trying to break the mystery of forging eternal ice in the first place. It would make him the top of all blacksmiths in the entire city, potentially in the entire world!
"Rude brat, take those books on the top shelf and start reading. You have until tomorrow morning to read them all. then you will start to change how you circulate your energy. If you need to take notes, do that too. And you, drink up and show me what I want." Smith was ready to jump right in to copying the methods that Clark used.
its good that Ralph is figuring things out here.